Hope you had a Firecracker 4th! We spent the 4th in the mountains of North Carolina with my sister and her children. We had a great picnic at the house, saw great fireworks and built a really nice bonfire where we tossed a lot of sparklers to cap off the evening. My niece is an avid reader, and thus I brought her a few "books that girls love." I love giving her books that I know will not get raves from my sons. My nephew is not a reader, but I can see my younger son burying his nose in a book to try to convert him!

Last weekend's American Library Association Convention in DC was a great experience. Everywhere I turned in the convention center there were wonderfully informed librarians ready to chat up books. They not only knew books, they knew ALL about them. Sitting at various breakfasts and lunches I enjoyed their conversation about plots, themes, recent releases, old favorites and trends. Each title I mentioned was met with informed discussion with none of those awkward silences that usually occur when people meet for the first time.

When we left off last week I was headed to Texas. I had forgotten my own advice about not flying at night during the summer because of the travel delays that are precipitated by thunderstorms and found myself stuck for hours going both ways. There is only one way to beat this --- a good book to escape with. I had this week's Beach Bag title with me --- THE MANNY --- and I found myself happily ignoring those ominous announcements that go something like "In 39 minutes we will move into position and will be number 22 for takeoff!" Instead I read --- and laughed --- a lot.