Wendy Gassaway
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wendygassaway.bsky.social
Wendy Gassaway
@wendygassaway.bsky.social
700 followers 1K following 280 posts
New librarian, old teacher, enthusiastic about books, hikes, and dessert. Title Chair for Oregon Battle of the Books. 2023 AASL Innovating Reading grant. 2025 Connie Hull Grant. 2015 Book Love Foundation grant. RPCV & Fulbright exchange in Latvia. She/her.
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wendygassaway.bsky.social
Thanks to the fabulous State Library of Oregon's ILL program, I got to read two books about school library management and leadership for the cost of return postage! My fave was Leading for School Librarians: There is No Other Option by Hilda K. Weisburg. PAGES of notes. #book #tlsky #skybrarian
July 7, 2025 at 5:09 AM
wendygassaway.bsky.social
Literally on the wall where I’m reading this!
Mural of James Joyce and Nora Barnacle with hand lettered caption describing their first date on June 16, 1904 and the effects she had on him. Randomly on the wall of a guest room at the Mcmenamins in Forest Grove, OR.
June 17, 2025 at 1:27 AM
wendygassaway.bsky.social
The pond my husband built, meaning he dug the hole with a shovel, wrestled the lining in, and hand placed every damn rock before planting it with plants he chose after several trips to the Portland Japanese Gardens. The lily pads in the pond. They’re not very green yet, but if you look closely you’ll see a frog sitting on one, like he’s in a cartoon. Closeup of the frog by the edge of the pond. His legs are definitely doing the frog kick. He’s kind of olive green and looks annoyed that I’m photographing him. Or her.
June 8, 2025 at 3:36 AM
wendygassaway.bsky.social
This is bullshit. My mom had hers for 40 years. Mine is starting to fail after a mere 23.
Screenshot of search results stating the lifespan of a kitchenaid stand mixer is 10-15 years.
May 31, 2025 at 7:31 PM
wendygassaway.bsky.social
Went hiking 2 weekends in a row for the first time in at least 15 years and am now wondering why forest flowers are white or pale and alpine flowers are bright colored. (Also,I’m in so much pain after “moderate” hikes!)
Looking down on an array of bright green bracken fern. Mossy branches arching over a dirt trail. Lots of shades of green. Windswept meadow with a few oaks and Douglas Firs and a view north across the Columbia towards Washington. Bright purple penstemon, trailside.
May 26, 2025 at 8:15 PM
wendygassaway.bsky.social
Impressed by the Beaverton event. Turns out my mayor, Lacey Beaty, is a badass! Bonamici was polished, a councilwoman whose name I missed was nervous, then Lacey KILLED IT.
Panorama of a protest on a beautiful day. Part of a crowd at a rally. Part of a protest crowd. An older white man in blue is sitting on the ground holding up a sign that reads “Fight Truth Decay.”
April 6, 2025 at 1:16 AM
wendygassaway.bsky.social
Trillium Festival and Hands Off protest. Excellent Saturday.
Protest sign resting against someone’s knees. It reads “Of Trump (crossed out) by Musk (crossed out), for the rich (crossed out) with each cross out being replaced with “the people.” Photo of a trillium shot from above. Three white petals, three green leaves, and yellow stamens.
April 6, 2025 at 1:06 AM
wendygassaway.bsky.social
Everything is terrible and getting worse but I got outside today
Chubby lady with glasses and a fuchsia raincoat absolutely beaming in front of her cute husband. They’re in slushy woods. Forested hillside with a scattering of snow Pink flowers budding on a tree idk what but they smelled nice
February 17, 2025 at 12:46 AM
wendygassaway.bsky.social
A stuffed donkey in a cardboard barn. The creators told me it’s Jesus’s donkey and there are pictures of his girlfriend on the barn walls. I chose not to clarify if they meant the donkey’s girlfriend or Jesus’s, as I find both versions equally surreal.
February 13, 2025 at 2:43 AM
wendygassaway.bsky.social
Neahkani Mountain from the beach in Manzanita Oregon. Gorgeous sunset fog hovers over a hill rising sharply from the Pacific. A summer sunset on the Baltic Sea with a silhouetted figure striding through the water.
February 13, 2025 at 2:37 AM
wendygassaway.bsky.social
Facing the familiar dilemma of I want to be home but I don’t want to drive home.
Three panel comic of dog asking “pls throw??” Then as a hand reached for the ball in the dog’s mouth the now frowning dog says “No take! Only throw!” This is akin to my current mood of “No drive home! Only be home!”
February 11, 2025 at 12:59 AM
wendygassaway.bsky.social
Finally got a buddy reading program going and about died of happiness seeing 4th and 5th graders read to kindergarteners in 2 languages. #TLSky #Skybrarian
A big kid in a bright blue shirt reads to a little kid with a light blue bow in her hair. The littler one is scooted half off her chair in her interest in being as close to the big kid and the book as possible. Two pairs of reading buddies. The ones with their backs to us both have dark hair, the younger one in pigtails. The ones facing us are both blonde, though I’ve used a smiley face sticker to hide the face that’s not obscured enough. Two boys reading together. The younger one has reached out to hold the corner of the book the older one is reading to him. Two kids reading an Elephant and Piggie together. The little one has pigtails and the big one is showing her where he’s reading with his finger.
February 1, 2025 at 6:16 AM
wendygassaway.bsky.social
I've read 3 short books borrowed digitally from my library so far this year, and each have been wonderful. Today I have two great childhood memoirs. Born Naughty reminds me of The Land I Lost and of The Good Master. Takei's picture book is more accessible to the intended audience than the GN was.
The Cover of "Born Naughty: My Childhood in China" by Jim Wang with Tony Johnston, illustrated by Anisi Baigude. The title is in red, and the subtitle and most of the art are in shades of blue. We see 8 year old Jin in the crook of a tree, high above a few figures on the ground. She has ponytails popping off each side of her head, and has torn her pants. She looks very happy. The cover of "My Lost Freedom: A Japanese American World War II Story" by George Takei, illustrated by Michelle Lee. A young George, in a white t-shirt and jeans, kneels to cuddle with a black shaggy dog. Barbed wire and silhouetted soldiers are behind them. Above the authors name it says "Activist. Actor. American."
January 3, 2025 at 3:28 AM
wendygassaway.bsky.social
My year end bookmarks. 📚💙
A bookmark listing some of the best books I read in 2024. Mystery series: Cash Blackbear, Ernest Cunningham, Sunshine Vikram, and Thursday Murder Club. Leguin re-reads: Wizard of Earthsea, Tombs of Atuan, Left Hand of Darkness. Middle grade magic: Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody, Dealing with Dragons, Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series, The Swifts series, The Magical Imperfect. Perfect Picture books: Exactly as Planned, Knight Owl, A Polar Bear int he Snow, There was a Party for Langston, This Very Tree. Flip side of my bookmark of best reads of 20204. NW Connections: Burning Fence, Skin and Bones. Putting the Story in History: The Lost yEar, THe Paris Library, Yours from the Tower. Unique: Elf Dog and Owl Head, The Eyes and the IMpossible, Seasonal Work, THistlefoot, Wrong Place, Wrong TIme. Graphic novels: Be That Way, THe Mythmakers, Squished. Stars of the Year: LIstening to audiobooks on my commute, making kindergarteners laugh with my picture book read alouds.
January 2, 2025 at 4:51 AM
wendygassaway.bsky.social
Not sure why Gary D. Schmidt likes making me cry. Having read Orbiting Jupiter aloud to classes several times means it's pretty entrenched in my heart, and this sequel is just as painful and gorgeous and wintry and piney. 📚💙
Cover of Jupiter Rising by Gary D. Schmidt. The outline of a boy's torso and head is filled with an illustration of someone with a small child on their shoulders leading a horse. A classic white garmhouse and two red barns are behind them.
January 2, 2025 at 4:40 AM
wendygassaway.bsky.social
How it All Ends by Emma Hunsinger is a delight. Tara skips 8th grade and enters high school feeling like a baby, but of course, manages to sort it all out in the end. Her flights of fancy, her hilarious and loving family, and her wry expressions all add to the fun. #booksky 💙📚
December 18, 2024 at 5:01 AM
wendygassaway.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#Books
#BookSky
💙📚
#BookChallenge

Day 20
Cover of Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher. It’s nearly the cover I had in the ’70s but I swear the border was pink, not brown. The illustration, by Martha Alexander, is the same. Betsy, a brown haired , very pale little girl with her hair pulled back in a low ponytail, sits in a wooden rocking chair holding a doll in her lap. Her feet, clad in white tights and black Mary Janes, are crossed at the ankle and rest on a tiny rug. To her left is a small end table covered with a tasseled shawl that drapes nearly to the floor. The table holds a sort of lamp that looks like two white globes stacked together, and a book.
December 8, 2024 at 6:18 PM
wendygassaway.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#Books
#BookSky
💙📚
#BookChallenge

Day 19
A reprint of The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne "with decorations by Ernest H. Shepard." There's a frame of grass green background with little bees sprinkled all over it, and in the center area, along with the title and attributions, there's a colorized sketch of Christopher Robin knighting Winnie-the-Pooh. CR has a yellow bob, loose green shirt, and darker green shorts with sandals. Pooh is naked and bowing with one paw on the grass while CR dubs him with a long stick.
December 6, 2024 at 4:29 PM
wendygassaway.bsky.social
I no longer have a Twitter account, but still like to look at funny tweet compilations. Thought this was an accurate description of teaching the last weeks before winter break.
A screenshot of a tweet by @HaliPhacks, whose Avi is a black and white photo of Jim Carey with a bright red Santa hat on. It reads "Hey that's my circus! *does double take* And my monkeys!!"
December 6, 2024 at 4:20 PM
wendygassaway.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#Books
#BookSky
💙📚
#BookChallenge

Day 18
The 1998 cover of Betty Crocker's Cookie Book, but just because I can't find an image of the 1970s copy we had when I was growing up. This is the edition in my own kitchen though, even though it's missing some of the best. This cover's cookies include a red and white pinwheel, some peanut butter criss cross cookies, some sort of wedge drizzled with chocolate and white chocolate, a minty chocolate thing, something involving pecans, and of course, a chocolate chip cookie. Now I'm hungry, and these aren't even the best cookies in the book!
December 5, 2024 at 10:37 PM
wendygassaway.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
#Books
#BookSky
💙📚
#BookChallenge

Day 17 (and I'm really not going to stop at 20, sorry/not sorry)
The cover of Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt. The author's name is in all caps in blue, and the title is in all lower case in yellow. Both are against a white background that blends into a black and white photo on the bottom third of the cover. It's a misty day, with a leafless tree barely visible in the background. A young man walks on the edge of a road with his arms tilted out and up, as if he's balancing. There's snow on the ground, but not on the road.
December 5, 2024 at 1:53 AM
wendygassaway.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#Books
#BookSky
💙📚
#BookChallenge

Day 16
Original cover of The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. A photo of a stormy gold sky over a dirt road that bends around a corner. An indistinct blur along the sunlit road might be trees or hills. The Title is written in red lettering that looks gouged onto the page, and there are subtle scrawled words handwritten all over the bottom part of the photo.
December 3, 2024 at 11:43 PM
wendygassaway.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#Books
#BookSky
💙📚
#BookChallenge

Day 15
Cover of The Sentence by Louise Erdrich. Her name is bigger than the title. Both are in black against a geometric background of triangles in black, white, yellow, red, blue, and green. The effect is quilt-like.
December 3, 2024 at 12:29 AM
wendygassaway.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#Books
#BookSky
💙📚
#BookChallenge

Day 14
Cover of Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. The cover is blue, the writing is gold.
December 2, 2024 at 5:09 AM
wendygassaway.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#Books

#BookSky

💙📚

#BookChallenge

Day 13
Cover of Grandfather’s Journey by Allen Say. A watercolor painting of a young Japanese man in 1920s western attire, notably a long woolen coat and a black bowler hat. He’s hanging onto the hat to keep it from being blown away, as he’s standing on a ship deck, ocean and land behind him. The golden Caldecott award sticker is placed as if it’s the sun about to set behind the hills.
November 30, 2024 at 1:55 AM