Monday, October 5, 2009

Scholastic Book Orders

I just found out today that I'm supposed to be checking Landon's file at daycare. Apparently I'm the only parent who didn't know that as I found his folder stuffed to burst while every other kid only had the new October newsletter tucked inside. One of the items in the stack was the Scholastic Books pamphlet. Do you remember getting those in school? Brightly colored pages filled with age-appropriate books at discounted prices. Back before Amazon- back before there was even a bookstore within 20 minutes of my house- the Scholastic Book order (and Book Fair, which happened twice a year) was HUGE. I remember my teacher walking us through each pamphlet, highlighting books she thought were particularly good or appropriate. My family and I were major supporters of the local library through our weekly presence and late fees, but sometimes I'd be allowed to pick out one or two books to order. I waited anxiously for the day books would be passed out in class and feel giddy now just remembering the headiness of unwrapping the plastic on a brand new book. I still love the smell of crisp new pages waited to be turned for the first time. I hope Landon loves to read- I think it's been one of the greatest gifts in my life. In a practical sense in that I think it's a major reason why I did so well in school and on standardized tests, but reading means so much more than that to me- it's my escape and indulgence, my entry into other worlds.

Speaking of all three of those things, I finished Diana Gabaldon's latest novel, An Echo in the Bone yesterday. I shouldn't have started it- I had a mountain of work to do this weekend and my sleep was sacrificed to a terrible extent, but I had to finish it. After slogging through the first 500 pages of scattered, stop-and-go narrative, everything suddenly came together and next thing I knew it was 4 a.m. and I was furious with Ms. Gabaldon for not publishing book #8 at the exact same time as #7. The book finally picks up, characters finally cross narrative paths, and then it just ends? She did that in her earlier books too, but I didn't discover the series until the first five were written so that didn't bother so much- I'd just pick up the next one and continue reading.

The good news is that by not publishing the next book right away, she is helping me to not get fired from my job. October is going to be a tremendously busy month. I don't read or work when I'm with Landon, and my body needs more sleep than it's currently getting. I finished drafting my sections of a Motion to Dismiss very early this morning and had a productive day filled with finishing touches. Now I'm working on a different motion. I'm glad to get the opportunity to do more writing, it's something I enjoy and the reason I chose law over medicine, but some mindless doc review sounds rather appealing right now. As does my bed. Or the Scholastic Book Fair. Or a quick peak into Diana Gabaldon's working file for book 8.

13 comments:

  1. Oh I love it when I find a book I can't put down!! I hope the business settles down soon so you can get some rest! I'm up late working tonight myself (but it's a once in a while thing for me these days).

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  2. I LOVED scholastic book orders- I have such great memories of those! But I would always beg to get the books that were combined with other stuff- you know like a heart locket and other stuff. I can't wait until Jacob is old enough to bring them home!

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  3. i felt the same way about echo...i wish she would have cut waaaay down on the first 5 or 600 pages and finished the series out. i love her, but i wonder if she caved to outise pressure to stretch the last book into two??

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  4. whoops, meant to write outside.

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  5. I was so excited to find a Scholastic book order in Harry's cubby at preschool last fall-- and we've been ordering ever since. Now we are TOTALLY out of book space. I have had to take a carload of my books to my office, and just this weekend, I gave up ANOTHER shelf. But still, book order day is a fun one in this house :)

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  6. OMG I remember the scholastic book orders. ON a similar note, this morning we drove by an elementary school and saw the announcement of the annual "Book fair." I told my husband "remember when the book fair would come and you got to pick out books" I'm glad they still do it!

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  7. Those were the absolute best, it was like Christmas when those books came in all fresh and new. So exciting!

    (ProtoAttorney)

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  8. I loved those book order forms. They also included posters of kittens. :)

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  9. I get those scholastic book things from my daughter's preschool and my other daughters 1st grade class. They both want books. I'm going to go broke.

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  10. I am only a few chapters into Echo, I started reading about a year before Firey Cross came out and have hated waiting for each one. I didn't take time to reread before this one came out though and am just not terribly excited to read it, I'm not really interested in what I've read so far and like you don't have time to be up until 4am waiting to find out what happens (because I know eventually it will pick up, it always does).

    And my favorite part about being a teacher? The scholastic book orders!

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  11. I forgot about the Scholastic book orders! Good times...

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  12. I loved Scholastic book orders. We had them in New Zealand, too, although much more expensive due to import costs (and, dang, my poor parents paid a premium for all my Babysitters Club books!) Pumpkinhead started with Scholastic in Kindergarten and between that and the book fair, I have spent way too much money on books for him. Good thing he is a huge reader!

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