Les miserables is worth it, really.

Or, how to read a monster-length book and still have room in your bag.

This is absolutely wonderful and engaging, laugh, cry, growl, the works. You may find yourself bringing it up in extremely unrelated conversations, "Thats like when in Les Miz. [insert approprite anedote]."



To avoid carrying a brick around, I recommend buying a cheap paperback copy like the one shown. Find the start of the four or five books that make up the volume. Carefully break the spine at the start of each books and carefully take an exacto knife to the seam between pages.



(If you care about rereading or think you might pass it on to a friend, make new covers for each section with cardstock and packing or duct tape.)



Enjoy your newly carriable volumes of Les Miserables!

Book List still lives, really.

56. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke



57. Ant Farm and Other Desperate Situations by Simon Rich



58. Willful Creatures: Stories by Aimee Bender



59. Green Angel by Alice Hoffman



60. The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket



61. Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith



62. Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoir by Writers Famous & Obscure, edited by Smith Magazine



63. Enchanted Again by Nancy Madore



64. The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice writing as A.N. Roquelaure



65. Beauty' Punishment by Anne Rice writing as A. N. Roquelaure

66. Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket

67. The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket

68. The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket

69. The Comopolitan: Poems by Donna Stonecipher

70. Beauty's Release by Anne Rice writing as A. N. Roquelaure

71. The Garden of Eye Candy

72. Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid by Lemony Snicket

73. Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life (Vol. 1) by Bryan Lee O'Malley

74. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Vol. 2) by Bryan O'Malley

75. All You Need to Be Impossibly French by Helena Firth Powell (re)

76. Matilda Bone by Karen Cushman

77. The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hays (re)

78. Fables: Vol. 9- Sons of Empire by Bill Willingham, etc.

79. Welcome to To Your Brain: Why You Lose Your Car Keys but Never Forget How to Drive and Other Puzzles of Every day Life by Sandra Aamodt Ph. D. & Sam Wang Ph. D. , 2008 edition

80. Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Saddness (vol. 3) by Bryan O'Malley

81. Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket

82. Scott Pilgrim Gets it Together (Vol. 4) by Bryan O'Malley

sundries that travel with me

cell phone
So family member can text me for library materials or grocceries.

hankerchief
for allergies, mostly pollen & book dust.

planner
o I can pretend to be in control of my life and so that I can be inspired by the bird & goldfish I pated on the cover.

journal
so that when I feel like laughing or crying at inappropriate times I don't.

Chai Rose lip balm
My lips get chapped otherwise & the smell make me happy, also sort of energizing.

Orange Lavender lip balm
Chapped lips and the smell is very calming.

Creative Zen mp3 player
life soundtracking

knitting
to keep my hands busy in waiting rooms and conversations.

bottle of bubbles
for joy.

mini sharpie
things come up...

pill box
ibprofen, caffeine, and a days worth of vitamins.

novel

massive keyring.

black & silver wallet

fish coin purse

"If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" brings me back to bedtime storytime.

"If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" reminds me of bedtime when I was little. Before I could read I would memorize my favorite picture books. Adults who didn't know me thought I knew how to read until they gave me a book that wasn't mine. I can almost still recite this though not nessesarily in the order in which it occurs.
I get really excited whenever a little kid comes to check this out at the library.

the book list lives!

21. Free Range Knitter by Stephenie Pearl-McPhee

22. The Colossus of New York by Colson Whitehead (THIS is what I love about New York!)

23. Gargoyle

24. Cautionary Tales for Children by Hillaire Bellog, rediscovered & illustrated by Edward Gorey

25. Frank Miller's Sin City: Vol 7- Hell & Back

26. The Dress Lodger by Sheri Holman

27. The Discovery of Chocolate: A Novel by James Runcie

28. An Underground Education by Richard Zacks (Awesome random information.)

29. Letters in the Attic by Bonnie Shimko

30. A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary by Xiaolu Guo

31.Fables Vol 3. Storybook Lovey by Bill Willingham, etc.

32. Leftovers by Laura Weiss

33. After School Nightmare Vol. 9 by Shona Mizushiro

34. Snow by Tracy Lynn

35. (As Francesca): A Novel by Martha Baer

36. 500 Handmade Dolls: Modern Explorations of the Human Form, Lark Books (Gorgeous, absolutely.)

37. Parnassus On Wheels by Christopher Morley (Utterly delightful adventure for the joy of books.)

38. How to (Un)Cage a Girl: Poems by Francesca Lia Block

39. Fables Vol. 4 March of the Wooden Soldiers by Bill Willingham, etc.

40. Fables Vol. 5 The Mean Seasons by Bill Willingham, etc.

41. The Diving Bell & The Butterfly by Jean-Dominiques Bauby (The writing is so amazing you might forget how sad the circumstances are.)

42. The Bell at Sealy Head by Patricia A. McKillip (Fantastic & amazing as McKillip almost always is.)

43.Women (photogrphs) by Annie Leibovitz & Susan Sontag

44. X-Ray by Nic Veasey (X-ray photos of common things. Awesome.)

45. Fables Vol. 6 Homelands by Bill Willingham, etc.

46. Mouse Guard, Fall 1152 by David Peterson (If you loved Redwall and wish there was a graphic novel like that, well there's this...)

47. Nightmares & Fairy Tales: Vol. 4 Dancing With the Ghosts of Whales

48. Fables Vol 7. Arabian Nights & Days by Bill Willingham, etc.

49. Fables Vol. 8 Wolves by Bill Willingham, etc.

50. The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar

51. Unpacking the Boxes: A Memoir of A Life in Poetry by Donald Hall

52. Snake Hips: Belly Dancing and How I found True Love by Anne Thomas Soffee

53. 500 Handmade Books: Inspiring Interpretations of a Timeless Form, Lark Books

54. Someplace to be Flying by Charles De Lint (De Lint never lets me down for inspiring, thought-provoking, dream-inpiring urban fantasy. Love, love, love.)

55. Passive Aggesive Notes: Painfully polite & Hilariously HostileWritings. ed. Kerry Miller

joy by post

pirate bandaids
pirates are awesome. and bandaids should have cool stuff on them to help people feel better.

chocolate
chocolate makes people feel happy. their favorite chocolate if I know it.

small collage
well, I'd base it on who it was going to. it would make them smile & maybe remember something I did that made them laugh at some point.

wind-up toy
traiin, hopping bird, wobbly robot

pocket-sized hand-made blank book
because people should at least be invited to keep track of their thoughts, especially when in new situations

Yellow Butterfly Doom Bag, better than a towel.

black & silver wallet
for coffee & groceries. for gas for the van.

planner
so I can make "to do" lists for myself & also to help me feel in control of my life.

red journal, full
because I haven't blogged my book list out of it yet

wanderlust journal, empty
because the red one is full

mango lotion in a bottle
my hands get dry from processing books and washing pint glasses

asiany blue zip bag, large
It holds my knitting, currently an anatomical heart knit in pink-purple-brown stripey sock yarn, also a click-clack row counter, tapestry needles, pattern instructions, a pen, cabling needles, and a london shot glass trying to get to the kitchen.

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter08/PATTheart.php

pebbley beret
to keep my head warm and to stave off dumb questions in yarn stores

asiany blue zip bag, medium
mp3 player & headphones, to allow me to instantly inprove my mood while driving, sorting books & sewing.

digital camera in blue felt zip bag
in case something awesome shows up

glue stick & double sided tape
in case something else awesome shows up

mini tin
pills, for too sleepy, allergies, or aches

packet of pirate tissues
in case I forget to put a hankerchif in my jeans' pocket

black pens, loose
for the books that need writing in, or to write notes to myself on the back of my hands

How to (Un)Cage a Girl: Poems by Francesca Lia Block
in case I have to wait in a line or in case I run out of things to go online.