Keri Recommends: Recent Comments

Comment on Officer Buckle & Gloria by Peggy Rathmann copyright 1995

Tabitha — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 04:24:45 GMT

We love Officer Buckle and Gloria here. Good night, Gorilla is also a huge favorite. I will have to check out Ruby the Copycat. Thanks for reminding me of some favorite books. I'll have to dig them out for the little ones!

Comment on Happy New Year!

Mike Wiggett — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 02:02:53 GMT

Happy New Year, and Happy Anniversary! Is it really 4 years? How time flies! :D

Comment on Amazon vs. local bookstore, a different view

Mike Wiggett — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 10:08:40 GMT

Thanks, Keri! This article shows 20/20 vision on the future of book sales. Indie bookstores only have a future as a social experience - coffee shop and all - that people are willing to use regularly. Otherwise, stop whining! In the UK, this issue is comparable with the demise of the dear old village shop. Middle class folk at the local pub deplore its disappearance, while themselves driving their SUVs every week to stock up with groceries at the out-of-town hypermarket. Hypocrisy!

My behaviour as a compulsive book buyer may be significant: I now get 95% of my books via Amazon. I used to go to Waterstones a lot (the best UK book chain), but now do so only rarely. To cope with all those overheads, Waterstones is pushing high turnover pulp fiction and chicklit at the expense of variety. It's no longer a magnet!

Amazon offers a vast variety of books at low prices, and not always from its own warehouse. A lot of the books I buy come from indies on Amazon marketplace.

The downtown bookstore, alas, is a moribund business model. Indeed, downtown in general may be moribund!

Comment on The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows, copyright 2008

Jane Buttery — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 01:45:56 GMT

I loved this books and agree with you that the historical details woven into the story added to its' value for me. I loved the way the Islanders worked together and the fun they had as a society. The pathos in the novel also moved me.

Comment on The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman copyright 1992, 1995, 2004

Jane Butery — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 01:38:19 GMT

I loved this book ;it was most helpful. We are helped to see how a spouse shws love. It maybe hrough words, gifts or acts of service. Understanding the different ways we show life, helps us understand the person.
There one for children oo

Comment on Gift Tag, edited by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong

janet wong — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:29:26 GMT

Yes, Amy's snow poem is terrific! So simple, but she really captures the excitement of those first flakes of snow falling down.

And, yes, making e-books is so much fun: an author can be spontaneous and take chances without worrying that the words are irrevocably imprinted on 10,000 books.

Happy celery-chopping, everyone!

Comment on Gift Tag, edited by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong

Keri Collins — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:49:53 GMT

Hi Janet!

Thanks for dropping by! I heard from Amy this morning and edited the post to remove the section about the tags. It's an amazing aspect of e-books, this ability to substantially change the design after it's been "published" because something didn't have the anticipated effect.

I *loved* Joan Graham's poem -- it made me teary-eyed. What a lovely neighbor, and beautiful memory. When so much bad news bears down on us every day, it helps to remember that individuals can make a lasting impression simply by being kind.

I also love Amy Ludwig VanDerwater's snow poem. It led me to her blogs -- another gift!

Happy Thanksgiving and best of luck with Gift Tag!

Comment on Gift Tag, edited by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong

janet wong — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:19:13 GMT

Thanks so much, Keri! I'm so happy that you blogged our book, because it led me to your site--which I LOVE!

A note on the little tags: we actually decided to take them out of the book yesterday because we felt there's still fun mystery and more accurate poem-guessing without the tag clues. (You have an early version--now a collector's item!) Some of the photos still lead to WOW-surprises, like Margarita Engle's paragraph (drums inspiring a story about a h***e--not to spoil the surprise!).

Would love to know your favorite poems in the book! Mine change every day, but I think today's favorite is Joan Graham's poem about her neighbor who let her choose an orchid for the pennies she emptied from her pocket and said it was "just right." I doubt they would go for that at Best Buy!

Comment on An Innovative Approach to Selling a Manuscript

Jane Buttery — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 05:13:32 GMT

I loved this article and the ones it led me too. Greg's advertisement has given me an idea for advertising a book I just finished called, Nana,I miss you. It's about a small boy and his grandmother who gets sick. He eventually finds out it is cancer and she dies, but not before leaving him a gift. Nana goes to a Hospice for her last days and I have been a Hospice volunteer for many years. I wrote this story after helping an sight year old one evening who was unhappy about her grandma's imminent death and a nurse asked me to talk with her because I do pastoral work. The idea for the story came out of that chat.
I can see how I can tell this now. Thank you

Comment on PiBoIdMo Official Sign-Up is Open!

Bonnie Adamson — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 23:11:24 GMT

Aww, thanks for the shout-out, Keri.

Hope the little light-bulb buggies do the trick!