I’ve always loved books. When I was little, I used to take my book to the dinner table and hope that my parents didn’t notice I was still reading as I ate. I’d walk into my parents’ bedroom and say things like “Little Women is my favorite book” as a subtle hint for them to buy me a new copy. I made my wedding theme revolve around books, and I still get excited about going to the library on a Friday night.

The only thing I love more than books is sharing books

Lucky for you, last weekend at the Texas Book Festival a publisher shared a bunch of books with me. I went to a panel held by Vintage Books called Writers on Reading, aimed at readers interested in reading groups, and they passed out a tote bag full of free books to every single person that walked in there. I was so excited about getting free books I figured you would be too. So I’ll be giving away the books as I go through them.

This week’s book is Cherries in Winter: My family’s recipes for hope in hard times, by Suzan Colón.

It’s a beautiful mixture of the author’s stories and her grandmother’s old recipes, which Colón uncovers after she’s laid off from her magazine job and realizes she needs to trim her budget. Freelance writers will find it very relatable, but so will anyone who’s been through hard times and has looked for comfort in food and family. I love how the recipes act as triggers for memories and stories of the women in Colón’s family, how each provides nourishment in more ways than one. Read more about the book here.

To enter to win the book, simply leave a comment below and tell me about a book that’s given you nourishment, in any sense of the word. It can be a cookbook, a novel that made you feel good, a non-fiction book that helped you grow as a person, a children’s book that nourishes your inner kid. You can also retweet this post (just make sure to tag @InkyClean so I can keep track of them) for extra entries.

I’ll start: When I moved to Texas, my mom gave me a copy of the Peruvian cookbook she’d used as a newlywed and throughout my childhood. It’s called Qué Cocinaré Hoy? by Nicolini (What will I cook today?) and it’s filled with all the Peruvian meals that mean home to me. I follow the recipes but they don’t always come out the same as when my mom cooked them. She must have added her own touches

Oh! And you have until Tuesday at 6 p.m. Central to enter! Good luck.

photo credit: Leo Reynolds

It’s been a while since I’ve done Fun With Words. Today’s FWW was inspired by a recent Twitter conversation I had with PS Jones about Trapper Keepers and Lisa Frank stickers that got me all nostalgic about the early 90s.

You know what I really miss? My favorite television show as a kid. It was SO fun with words. Anyone here remember Ghostwriter?

I’m not talking about the recent Ewan McGregor movie.

I’m not talking about its homophone, Ghost Rider (although when I first met my husband and told him how much I loved Ghostwriter growing up, he thought he’d hit the jackpot with a fellow comic book geek).

I’m talking about the early 90s PBS show about a ghost that helps a group of kid detectives by writing to them. Anybody remember this?

Ah, the side ponytails and scrunchies. The dancing with thumbs up and finger snapping. Don’t you just love how it oozes the 90s?

If you don’t feel like watching the whole opening, at least stick around for the first two seconds when the theme song kicks in: Ghostwriter--WORD!

In honor of National Library Week coming to a close tomorrow, I thought I’d share a website that does an amazing job of showing why libraries are so important. Trust me, you’ll never look at a librarian the same way once you’ve read:

Awful Library Books

Mary Kelly and Holly Hibner are public librarians in Michigan who started the blog in April to emphasize the importance of keeping libraries properly updated. Their definition of “awful library books” are those which are still found on shelves even though they would probably misinform readers more than they’d inform. The majority of books posted are submitted from anonymous libraries across the US and even the world.

A couple of examples on the blog: Computers In Action, published in 1972, was found on the shelves of a UK library even though its illustrations showed a Central Processing Unit the size of a desk; a book on Special Effects Photography has no mention of computer programs like Photoshop because it was published in 1985; and Men of Medicine, found in a small library’s youth collection and published in 1957, has no mention of women in the medical field.

If you’ve ever thought a librarian is just someone who scans your book when you go to check them out and shushes those speaking above a whisper, this blog will make you think again. Imagine being in charge of managing hundreds of thousands of books and making sure they’re meeting your community’s needs and staying current. As Mary Kelly puts it:

“A public library’s mission (at least the one I work at) is committed to providing patrons current information in a variety of subject areas of interest to the community. Since each community is different, the collections will reflect that difference… Hopefully, these funny titles and dated materials will get everyone interested in setting collection quality standards.”

On the flip side this is the fact that browsing these titles really takes you back. Some of these books belong in a museum for how well they capture the values and cultures of a certain time. Home Ec-50′s style, anyone?