Thursday, December 31, 2009

A New Year's Eve Challenge


It's only a few minutes into 2010 and I just had to check my email before deciding to go to bed, and happened to notice there is an LM Montgomery Challenge for 2010 that I need to sign up for. I don't know how long I have been sitting on the Anne of Green Gables series, but I am seriously ready to get them read, especially now that I have a Kindle and saw that this entire series is free in the kindle format. Tomorrow when I am more awake I will finish adding the challenge information to my sidebar.

I also devoured one last book for 2009 - Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay - fabulous! My review will be up tomorrow/today/January 1.

I also looked back over my list of books this past year...ending the year with 222 books read. I'm feeling pretty good about that. I think it's been a few year since I topped 200, which I mostly attributed to having children. Now that they are getting a little older it does seem to be giving me a bit more time to spend on reading.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Another Challenge

This is yet another challenge calling my name. In 2009 I had just started this blog and signed up for the War Through the Generations Challenge which focused on books taking place during World War II. I actually think I read the five books I intended to, but never really actively participated in the challenge. This year War Through the Generations is hosting another challenge for 2010 focusing on the Viet Nam War. The following is challenge information taken from their website:

This year's War Through the Generations 2010 reading challenge will be the Vietnam War. The challenge will run from January 1, 2010, through December 31, 2010.
Rules:
This year you have options when reading your fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels, etc. with the Vietnam War as the primary or secondary theme.
Books can take place before, during, or after the war. Books from other challenges count so long as they meet the above criteria.
Dip: Read 5 books in any genre with the Vietnam War as a primary or secondary theme.
Wade: Read 6-10 books in any genre with the Vietnam War as a primary or secondary theme.
Swim: Read 11 or more books in any genre with the Vietnam War as a primary or secondary theme.
**Note**
*Participants anywhere in the world are eligible for most prizes in the post-challenge drawing!**
*Prize drawings will be for participants finishing either their personal goal or five books.
*Participants can always read more than their initial goals, and even if you sign up for 11+, but read just five, you officially completed the challenge and are eligible for prizes.
You can decide which books you’d like to read right away, or you can choose them during the course of the challenge. Check out the
Recommended Reading: Vietnam War page for suggestions.

I'm starting out slowly and committing to reading five books set in this time period. After looking over the recommended reading list I know of three or four books that I have intended to read for some time - this will give me some incentive to get them done.

Liar


ARGH! I am pretty sure that is not how I should feel after finishing reading a book. Liar by Justine Larbalestier is a well written teen novel that I really liked at first. Plus, I have read so many positive reviews that I couldn't help but want to read it. Each review gave so very little away and made me so curious. Writing a review of this is almost impossible as I don't know what I can say that won't be considered a spoiler.

Micah is a liar. That is about the only thing I think I can tell you for certain. A number of things happen in the book - all things Micah tells the reader. By book's end I am not sure if I can believe any of her story, aside from the fact that she is a liar. The whole book changed for me when Micah tells us she's a __________. I'm not sure I agree with Larbalestier's decision to have Micah be a ___________. Could the story have been developed a different way? That made the whole book more unbelievable, which perhaps is the point. Peaceful Reader and I have talked about this a bit, but I would love to talk to a few more people who have read this book.

And Liar received so much attention because of the cover (both of which are pictured above), that maybe I didn't think too much about the plot before reading it.

Interesting. Thought provoking. Frustrating. Entertaining.

Children's Classics Mystery Challenge


This is another challenge I read about a while ago at 5 Minutes for Books and knew it was calling my name. The year I started teaching I didn't feel like I had any real time to read adult books, so I started re-reading some books I had read while growing up. Nancy Drews (and The Babysitters Club books) made up a large part of my reading. I also finished my masters degree during that time and my research paper focused on different series books for girls written in the 1980s, comparing them to the Nancy Drew series and the roles of female protagonists in both. Since then I haven't spent much time reading series novels - I think it was a bit of overkill. I loved reading Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden mysteries when Iwas growing up. I saved my money each year to make a few trips to a city with a big book store where I could purchase several new books. It was on these trips that I bought my first ever Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew books. As an adult I rounded out my collection with Ebay purchases, and will pick one up from time to time. This challenge is for the first half of 2010, and is rather open-ended allowing participants to decide how many books they are going to read from the classic childrens' mysteries. Right now my goal, although perhaps not seemingly to be too much of a challenge, is to read one Trixie Belden book and one Nancy Drew book each month. Hopefully that will revive my love of these super sleuths and I may want to read more.
Look for my posts on the second Tuesday of each month.

My List of TBR Books - Challenge 2010

Last night I signed up for my first (but not last) challenge of 2010: The 2010 Reading From My Shelves Project hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea.

Following is a list of books I intend to read for this challenge. I could have picked hundreds (yes, there are that many to choose from) and I know I will read many books from my different TBR piles/stacks/boxes/shelves throughout the year. However, I only have 24 books on my list- 12 adult books and 12 young adult/middle grade books. That is 2 books per month, and while it might not seem like a lot, I don't think I can commit to too many more than that and still be able to read the new things that are coming out that just call my name and seriously hinder my ability to read my huge stacks of library books. So, we shall just see how it goes.

TBR List 2010
Adult Titles:
1. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
2. Clara's War by Clara Kramer
3. While I'm Falling by Laura Moriarty
4. After You by Julie Buxbaum
5. The Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson
6. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
7. Shelf Discovery by Lizzie Skurnick
8. The Bright Side of Disaster by Katherine Center
9. Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
10. Mockingbird by Charles J. Shields
11. Sister of My Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
12. Black and White by Dani Shapiro

Young Adult/Tween Titles:
1. Rumors by Anna Godbersen
2. Tell Me Who by Jessica Wollman
3. Dangerously Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
4. Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson
5. The Alchemyst by Nicholas Flamel
6. The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt
7. Blue by Joyce Meyer Hostetter
8. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson
9. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
10. What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
11. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
12. Percy Jackson - The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

As I looked through books this morning, there were several I wanted to start immediately, and a few more I have thought of while typing that should have made this list but didn't.
Be lookign for a few more challenges to pop up within the next day. I know of a couple more that I want to join within the next day or two.

Waiting on Wednesday


Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.


Jodi Picoult's newest book, House Rules, is scheduled for release in March 2010. Following is a synopsis taken from Picoult's website.
HOUSE RULES is about Jacob Hunt, a teenage boy with Asperger’s Syndrome. He’s hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, and like many kids with AS, Jacob has a special focus on one subject – in his case, forensic analysis. He’s always showing up at crime scenes, thanks to the police scanner he keeps in his room, and telling the cops what they need to do…and he’s usually right. But then one day his tutor is found dead, and the police come to question him. All of the hallmark behaviors of Asperger’s – not looking someone in the eye, stimulatory tics and twitches, inappropriate affect – can look a heck of a lot like guilt to law enforcement personnel -- and suddenly, Jacob finds himself accused of murder. HOUSE RULES looks at what it means to be different in our society, how autism affects a family, and how our legal system works well for people who communicate a certain way – but lousy for those who don’t.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

A Challenge for 2010

This challenge is one I knew I needed to sign up for when I heard about it a few weeks ago. I still don't have the books selected that I plan on reading (since we are supposed to have more snow tomorrow, I will probably be stuck at home anyway, giving me plenty of time to peruse my shelves, stacks, and boxes of books), but I have such an overload of books that I always intend to read - I really must do some cleaning out. I am looking forward to going through books and finally reading a few that I have been meaning to get around to. If you would like to join the challenge:

grab the button
decide how many books you want to read from your shelves (minimum of 20 - no maximum)
find a new home for the books once you read them
post the titles and the authors of books you've read and passed on
project runs from January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010
crossover challenge books are allowed

Best of 2009

Every December I enjoy looking back over my reading journal and reminiscing about the different books I read over the past year. Most books elicit some type of memory of where I was or what I was doing while I was reading it in addition to a recollection of the plot. While I enjoy compiling a list of "best" books of the year, I also know that my list only encompasses what I read in a year. There are so many great books I still have sitting in my TBR piles, some of what I read in 2009 is already several years old, and my "best" might not be what anyone else would pick. So, with that disclaimer, here's my "best" list of 2009:

1. American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld - a fictionalized version of Laura Bush's life story. For whatever reason, even though I know it's fiction I have a hard time separating Laura Bush from American Wife. I liked Laura Bush before reading this, and I still like her after.

2. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford- I read this one right when it was published; Target picked it as their book club pick. A World War II story about a Chinese American living through World War II in the Pacific Northwest. Years later he tries to find the Japanese American girl he befriended and fell in love with after they were separated during the war.

3. Everyone is Beautiful by Katherine Center - this one is just light women's fiction -not quite chick lit- about a mother who is bogged down by the duties of child-rearing. By novel's end she has made some changes in her life making her happier and healthier.

4. The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson - the second and third part of a trilogy (the third book won't be out in the US til 2010) these installments are suspenseful, entertaining and impossible to put down. The third book provides a satisfying resolution. This is one series I would recommend to anyone.

5. Coop by Michael Perry- I always enjoy Perry's offbeat memoirs. His ability to live without extravagance should be a lesson to all and he provides humor as well as perspective about life in general as he navigates the various twists and turns of adulthood.

6. Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls - this book - although labeled as fiction- is what I call a fictionalized memoir about Walls' grandmother. I fell in love with Walls and her unique parents in her memoir. The Glass Castle. Learning about her grandmother sheds some light on Walls' own parents and their erratic behavior.

7. In His Sights by Kate Brennan - I read this early in 2009 and still think about it every once in a while. Brennan (who writes using a pseudonym) recounts with chilling detail her own experience being stalked by an ex-boyfriend. This educated and intelligent woman is still his prey and shows how little is being done for women who live through this type of psychological torment.

8. Shanghai Diary by Ursula Bacon- I'm not sure if it is the fact that this one is still fresh in my mind, my love of memoirs, or the interesting perspective provided in this book, but Bacon's account of her years in Shanghai after fleeing Hitler's persecution in Germany are so interesting to read about. I am anxious to read more of her work.

9. My book of the year - and it has made numerous lists- The Help by Katherine Stockett. I love, love, love this book. And I will gush about it and call it a "must read" for a long time. This is a debut novel, set in the South, exploring so many themes -friendship, racism, mother/daughter relationships - to name only a few, and has a wonderful plot, characters I wanted to laugh with, cry with, and a few I just wanted to haul off and hit. It will take a long time to find another book I feel so strongly about.

I still have my own personal "best" YA books, but since I now have two children waiting in line for the computer, those may need to wait until later tonight.

Chaucer's First Winter

Stephen Krensky's picture book Chaucer's First Winter has been an enjoyable and cute read aloud at our house. Chaucer, a young bear, decides not to hibernate for the winter. Instead he watches his parents fall asleep, and then leaves their cave to explore and experience a winter without a nap. Snowball fights, sledding down hills, ice skating (on his paws) and enjoying the beauty of snow and ice -everything winter- take up Chaucer's time. Eventually spring comes and while Chaucer is anxious to tell his parents about his adventures, hewill have to wait to do that until he catches up on some sleep.
My own children loved this book. It would be a great companion read aloud with Karma Wilson's Bear Stays Up, which provides rhyming text about a bear who tries to stay up for Christmas, despite how tired he is and how he wants to fall asleep.

I have already ordered this for my school library and know that my students will love hearing this story during the unit we do on snow and winter.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Shanghai Diary

It is always sad to have a good book come to an end. In this case, the ending of Shanghai Diary marked a very happy turning point in the life of the author, Ursula Bacon, and her family.
Shanghai Diary: A Young Girl's Journey from Hitler's Hate to War-Torn China is a memoir about Bacon's own childhood. At once idyllic, her life changes dramatically when she and her parents flee Germany and persecution from Hitler. Luckily Bacon's family was affluent enough to buy passage out of the country for them, but they were unable to get to America, instead opting for China. Continuing to dream of life in America, Bacon and her family spent more than eight years in China, living out World War II in a foreign country and learning of news from home only sporadically. While life in China was certainly not their dream, they soon realized how much more fortunate they were than those left behind in Germany. Bacon's parents were resourceful and intelligent enough that they were able to reinvent themselves in a country so foreign from their own. And even though Bacon did not experience the care-free childhood or teen years she dreamed of, her experiences were memorable and she did develop friendships with others in a similar situation that she has sustained her entire life.
It is evident from the beginning of this book that Bacon and her family are able to survive their years in China, yet her account is extremely interesting. And just when I wonder if there can be another dimension to World War II that I don't know about, I am always amazed to find that there is.
This was a wonderful memoir about a tragic time period in history which Bacon recounts with great detail and a great resiliency and positive attitude.

Visit Ursula Bacon's website.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Random Friday on Saturday

Christmas break has been very busy these past few days. Despite the fact that neither my husband nor I are from large families, we have had plenty of places to go. On Christmas Eve Day we were at my parents' house. Only my sister and her husband didn't make it back because of the weather. Yesterday morning we had to unwrap our presents from Santa, and then went to my in-laws for lunch and the afternoon. Today the girls had sled rides from our neighbor who hooked up his tractor and pulled a sled down our road with the girls riding on it (I heard from my husband after the fact that this was probably dangerous and I should be happy I wasn't watching it). We also went to a few shops with my mom and then took in the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. Tonight we ate pizza at my parents' house along with one aunt and uncle and cousins. Tomorrow we leave for a 3 day trip to the Twin Cities to see aunts, uncles and cousins, do some shopping, and take in Hansel and Gretel at the Old Log Theater in Excelsior, MN. It also happens to be my birthday and wedding anniversary tomorrow. I do have a stack of books to read and yet when I look through them none seem to be calling my name. I started The Maze Runner by James Dashner, but just haven't been able to get into it -I think I will try it again before giving up entirely. It seems that when I start to read anything I am interrupted which makes it hard to get into a book, and that is what I am blaming my reading apathy on. And since Ihave been interrupted about every two seconds over break so far, I really can't see an end to this problem until after break is over.
I hope to get some reading done on our car trip, look over the books I have read in 2009 and post my own personal best list of the past year, and also get signed up for some challenges for 2010. There are a few I have been looking at, but need to commit myself within the next few days.
If I have time tomorrow before we leave, I will try to post a review or two since I have several books that I have finished that I need to write about soon.

Friday, December 25, 2009

The Kind of Friends We Used To Be

The Kind of Friends We Used To Be by Frances O'Roark Dowell is a great tween novel for girls showing the growing and changing that take place among girlfriends during middle school. Interests develop, girls mature at different rates, and things change. This is the problem facing Kate and Marylin. Both girls still want to be friends but it is quite obvious that things are changing with them and both girls like different things and have different friends to hang out with. Marylin is a cheerleader, and hangs out with the other cheerleaders. While she doesn't necessarily like how Mazie, the ringleader of the cheerleaders acts, she doesn't have enough confidence to stick up for herself or her friends, either. Kate is more into her music - wanting to learn to play the guitar and write her own music. She marches to her own beat and finds some new friendships by doing this.
As an adult I can appreciate how common it is for friendships to change and grow, and sometimes even end as years go on. Girls should be able to relate to Kate and Marylin and find some solace in the fact that what they may be going through in their life is completely normal.
Visit Frances O'Roark Dowell's website.

Other reviews of The Kind of Friends We Used to Be
Becky's Book Reviews
Abby the Librarian
School Library Journal
The Reading Zone

This is the sort of book that has left me not knowing exactly what to say about it....a good story, great realistic fiction, something I will think about for a while. And who can resist the wonderful cover showing girls making snow angels, while we are sitting here in the midwest in yet another snowstorm?

Christmas Treasures



Once again I have given books for Christmas gifts. This year my girls received several. My middle daughter, after the opening was done, exclaimed, "Good! Mom got the books she wanted!" Yes, I will love the kids' books as much as they will, but really, I didn't get them for myself.
The selections this year included:

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas



She had her first Son, and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in the manger because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:7


Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Waiting on Wednesday


Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.
I have enjoyed all of Emily Giffin's books (she has four so far)....a bit of chick lit that is easy reading. On May 11, 2010, Giffin's fifth book, Heart of the Matter will be published. Despite much searching, I can find no synopsis for this book, but Giffin's website does provide an excerpt from the first chapter.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"Blomkvist did not say anything about the implications of what she told him, but asked questions until he was satisfied. He sounded like an anxious brother, but his mind was working on a completely different level as he reconstructed key points (153)."


The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson


This one still isn't published in the US, so I am enjoying the copy I purchased from a UK company, The Book Depository. So far, the third book is just as wonderful and suspenseful as the first two: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and the Girl Who Played With Fire.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Let Me Tell You About My Day

Today is my first official day of Christmas vacation. My girls are still at school which means I got an early start on my day and spent a lot of time running from store to store finishing my Christmas shopping. I thought I was off to a great start...to Target by 8:30 AM...then Hobby Lobby, Barnes and Noble, and on to my fourth store by 9:45. Unfortunately, things slowed down. I did find inspiration for my parents and in-laws thank goodness, but unfortunately I had to stop at 3 different stores to take care of their gift. I also stopped by the library and picked up another book to read over break. While there my babysitter called to tell me my youngest daughter had a fever. Of course I would love to have a houseful of sick kids over break! What could be better? She does seem much recovered this evening, but my middle daughter has a scratchy throat and voice along with a very runny nose and my oldest daughter just got up to tell me her nose won't stop running. UGH. I am still quite happy to be DONE running around looking for gifts. I still have wrapping to do, but will attempt that tomorrow while the girls are at school for their last day before break.
I started the third Stieg Larsson book, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest....initial thoughts:
1. it picks up right where the second book ends (which was rather unforgettable)
2. I maybe have to concentrate a bit more because of the British-ness of it
3. I am a little confused somewhere around page 90-ish because I think they are giving some back-story that I am not quite understanding.
4. I am planning on reading til my eyelids can't stay open any longer tonight.
5. The book is 600 pages long which provided a great division problem for my daughter as she tried to figure out how many days it would take me to read it provided I read X number of pages per day.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Purge


Purge by Sarah Darer Littman is what I would call an "issues novel." It deals with an important young adult issue- bulimia. And, while it is that type of book, giving information on a sensitive topic and allowing us to see into the life of one bulimic in particular, it is also well written. Littman's book allows readers to care about Janie and want to know why she has chosen bulimia as a means of coping with her problems.

Janie doesn't feel like she measures up to her older sister. She always feels as though her father and mother are comparing her. Whenever she eats, she feels full, as if she can feel the food she has eaten attaching itself to her body, making it fat. At first she begins purging only after she binges, but eventually purging becomes a way of life. Something happens at her sisters' wedding that sends Janie over the edge, bringing to light the unhealthy way Janie is dealing with eating and food. Janie begins to journal about things while she is in treatment at Golden Slopes, a facility that helps people with eating disordesr. The journalling lets readers get a glimpse of why Janie behaves the way she does and her interactions with others affected by eating disorders shed more light on this problem.

I enjoyed the perspectives that the various characters in treatment provided to readers. Each person had their own reason for binging and purging, or starving themselves. At one point in the book during a group session someone seeking treatment comments about how their behavior doesn't seem that different from their friends and family on the outside. The examples they gave showing unhealthy attitudes about food, eating and body image seem consistent with what I have noticed myself. One suggestion for Janie and her friends in treatment consisted of something called "mindful eating." Instead of eating while engaged in other activities, thinking about your eating and really enjoying it while you are doing it is encouraged. So is being aware of your body's signals about food. A lot of this is common sense, but the advice is good for everyone, not just people affected with an eating disorder.

Littman includes a variety of sources for seeking additional information on this topic. This book covers a very important problem and dealt with it in a sensitive and thought provoking way.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Breathing


Cheryl Renee Herbsman's novel Breathing was a wonderful, entertaining young adult novel...including some Southern charm and a bit of happiness.
Savannah (named for Savannah, Georgia) suffers from asthma, a condition her mother told her she developed when her father walked out on their family. Savannah, her mother, and brother Dogwood (Dog for short) live in North Carolina, scraping by to make ends meet as Savannah's health problems create a financial burden that is too overwhelming to a single mother who keeps losing her job whenever Savannah has to be hospitalized and she has to miss work to care for her.
Savannah is an interesting character...she seems sort of naive, yet is extremely smart, working at the library as a part time job. When she meets a boy, Jackson (yes, he is named for a city, too) the two are instantly interested in each other and begin a relationship. Despite the grown-ups around them who believe that their relationship is a passing thing since both are so young, the two remain connected to each other, even when separated by distance. Savannah begins to believe she needs Jackson around to breathe. Both yearn for the other to achieve their dreams and it is Jackson who convinces Savannah that she can learn to breathe on her own.
The writing in this book is so full of Southern charm - I loved that about it. I also loved how wonderful Savannah and Jackson's relationship was. I wonder if it is believable - I certainly didn't know of any relationships like that from my teenage years, but what an example of true love for teen readers.
I look forward to reading any of Herbsman's future work. A great YA novel.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Random Friday

Once again this is a Random Friday post...after finishing up my last day of school before break, I am not sure I can actually compose a book review at this point.
I am so going to enjoy my two full weeks off. My daughters have school on Monday and Tuesday which will leave me with a bit of time to finish up wrapping and shopping and organizing. I also have some new books that arrived this week that should give some people some serious book envy: The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson showed up on Monday. Larsson's first two books: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire were wonderful (despite the fact that I almost passed them up because of their strange covers). The third title won't be released here in the United States until mid 2010, but the United Kingdom has them available and I was lucky enough to get one from Book Depository (an online bookseller) for $23 with free shipping. I am ready to get reading on this one.
Today I received Nanny Returns by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus from a pre-Christmas Amazon purchase for myself. I really liked The Nanny Diaries, so this one is also calling my name.
Other weekend activities include the Christmas program at church on Sunday and working at the library tomorrow morning. I also need to get busy and do some cleaning. The mountain of laundry in our tv room is out of control right now.
Let Christmas break begin!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

African Acrostics


African Acrostics is a book of poems by Avis Harley and beautiful animal photographs by Deborah Noyes.

Looking through this book, I feel there are a variety of different uses for this book. Some students will enjoy looking at the beautiful photographs of these African animals. Some will enjoy reading the acrostics about the animals, enjoying the interesting word choice. At the book's end there are a few pages giving more information about each animal and also information about acrostics and how to write them.

Every year students at my school try their hand at writing their own acrostics and this book gives some great examples of wonderful poetry as well as the information on writing this poetry. I predict this book will be a huge hit in my library.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.
My Waiting on Wednesday pick this week is The Spellmans Strike Again by Lisa Lutz.
I have enjoyed the first three in this series, and am looking forward to the March release of what they call "the final book."
An overview from the author's website:

At the ripe old age of 32, former wild child Isabel "Izzy" Spellman has finally agreed to take over the family business. Let's just say the transition won't be a smooth one.
Her first priorities as head of Spellman Investigations are to dig up some dirt on the competition—slippery ex-cop Rick Harkey—and to track down a stolen screenplay called The Snowball Effect. Next, faced with a baffling missing-persons case at the home of an aging millionaire, Izzy hires an actor friend to infiltrate the mansion as an undercover butler. Only he enjoys the role a little too much.
Meanwhile, Izzy is being blackmailed by her mother, who threatens to distribute photographic evidence of Prom Night 1994 unless Izzy commits to regular blind dates with promising professionals—an arrangement that doesn't thrill Connor, an Irish bartender on the brink of becoming ex-boyfriend #12.
At Spellman headquarters, it's business as unusual. Doorknobs and light fixtures are disappearing every day, Mom's been spotted crying in the pantry, and a series of increasingly demanding Spellman Rules (Rule #27: No Speaking Today) can't quite hold the family together. Izzy also has to decipher weekly "phone calls from the edge" from her octogenarian lawyer Morty, as well as Henry Stone's mysterious interest in rekindling their relationsh ... well, whatever it was.
Just when it looks like things can't go more haywire, little sister Rae's internship, researching pro bono legal cases leads the youngest Spellman to launch a grass-roots campaign that could get an innocent man out of jail—or land her in it.
This final installment in the bestselling, award-nominated series is hands-down the most hilarious, thrilling, and moving one yet. And it proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Isabel Spellman, no matter how much she matures, will never be able to follow Rule #1: Act Normal.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"But word spreads quicker through a church than chicken pox through a preschool, and before long the phone is ringing off the hook. I let Mama and Dog deal with it."
Breathing by Cheryl Renee Herbsman
I love the picture that sentence creates, even though it is hard to get an idea what the book is about. This book's Southern charm can be heard in that line, though, and that is one thing I am loving about it.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Christmas Stories

I absolutely love Christmas stories and wish I had months to read them to groups of students instead of the week I have allowed myself. I will admit to randomly reading a holiday book here and there if it is new or the mood strikes, but for the mostpart we read them mainly during the few days leading up to our holiday break. This week I have set aside two new ones as well as an oldy but goodie.

Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas by Jane O'Connor is the latest installment in Nancy's life, who is happy that at Christmas time her house is decorated and fancy looking. As usual, she manages to throw in a few good vocabulary words along the way.


I'm Not Santa by Jonathan Allen is a great Christmas book for younger kids. Hare mistakes Baby Owl for Santa, using certain characteristics as evidence of his identity. The two work things out by the end, and things are all good once Santa arrives.



The oldie but goody that I enjoy each and every time I read it is Diane De Groat's Jingle Bells, Homework Smells featuring Gilbert and his gang of friends. In this holiday book Gilbert finds fun winter activities to participate in, and ends up forgetting to do his homework. His solution to this problem is creative and students usually have a good conversation about what Gilbert should have done verses what he did.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Library Loot

I know, I know. I just finished cleaning out a rather large number of library books and returning them. It felt great....and then today I visited the library and found some interesting new things that I couldn't pass up. Luckily most of these aren't due until 2010 so I have a little time- and a two week break for me to try and read as many of them as possible.

The first thing I checked out a few days ago is U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton. I have read every other mystery in this series and feel like Kinsey Milhone is an old friend. When I see a new installment coming out, I am always happy to read it. This is at the top of my stack because I know this one is one that is highly requested at the library.


My other finds are:
Adult
Final Exam: A Murder 101 Mystery by Maggie Barbieri (I like this series quite a bit, too).
The Good Soldiers by David Finkel

Young Adult
Undercover by Beth Kephart (Frenetic Reader had good things to say about Kephart's writing, prompting me to try this one)
Five Minutes More by Darlene Ryan
The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd
Purge by Sarah Darer Littman (the author of Confessions of a Closet Catholic, an Iowa Children's Choice Book which I loved)
Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have by Allen Zadoff
Breathing by Cheryl Renee Herbsman

And one non-fiction middle grade book:
The Mysteries of Beethoven's Hair by Russell MArtin and Lydia Nibley

Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'easter


This is the book I should have been reading during our snowy weather - at least the title fits. Lisa Patton's debut novel is a fun read I enjoyed from it's first page.

Leelee Satterfield has the perfect life: two beautiful children, a wonderful, charming husband, great girlfriends, and a home in Memphis, Tennessee, where she grew up. When her husband, Baker decides that they should move to Vermont and run a bed and breakfast, Leelee follows along, despite her reservations.

Things don't turn out as Leelee or Baker expect. Baker's high expectations and enthusiasm are dashed while Leelee has to call upon her inner strength to make it through some hard times.

I rushed through the end of this book this morning just so I could find out how Leelee's life turns out. The ending was not disappointing, but not as clear cut as I wanted, either. To say more would give things away, but anyone looking for a good book to curl up with on a cold (or hot) day, should give Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'easter a try.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Operation Yes


Sara Lewis Holmes' book Operation Yes was a perfect snowy day read. Now that I have cleared out a good portion of my library books I have actually read a few things of my own- books that aren't even dust covered yet.

Operation Yes is a book with a great teacher - the creative kind that I love reading about and wish I could be. Ms. Loupe is into theatre and is starting an improv group for her students. She brings an ugly couch into her classroom, a castoff from a production that has signatures on the bottom, including her brother Marc's who is fighting overseas.

The kids in Ms. Loupe's class know a lot about fighting and war - this is an army school and kids move in and out frequently. Bo is worried he and his family will have to move again and can't commit to an improv group that will go on long after he is gone. Gari his cousin has come to live with his family since her mother was deployed. Originally not happy to be there, Gari, Bo and the rest of Ms. Loupe's class band together to raise money for injured soldiers after Ms. Loupe's brother Marc is injured in the war.

I am interested to see how kids react to this book. I really enjoyed it and was happy to have long spans of reading time these past few days to get to spend reading.

A Personalized Message from Santa


A friend of mine sent me this website and it is too cute! I have filled out the information three times now for all three of my daughters and I can hardly wait for them to watch Santa's personalized message to them.

Click on the image if you want to try it out yourself!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Another Snow Day

Two snow days in a row! A second day of sleeping in, which I could really get used to....although the idea of being stuck in our house isn't such a great feeling. Luckily we could get out and about by the afternoon and made it into town for a trip to the library and to swimming lessons tonight. Tomorrow we will be going to school on time and then have a lovely weekend off.
I did finish one book today, which I will review tomorrow, but my main project has been starting my eight year old and a good friend on their own book blog they are working on together. Stop on over and visit www.readingfever.blogspot.com. They are pretty excited about this, and I must admit I am a bit jealous because in the whole twelve hours they have been blogging they have acquired three followers. In my year of blogging I only have four followers. Sigh.
My reviewing will have to wait until tomorrow because it is already late and I have a few pages I would like to read before I fall asleep.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Luxe-Better Late Than Never


Ahhhh.....a family snow day at home. Three kids - two who had no school, and a husband that had no work today, and me without school as well. This added up to a really nice, long run on the treadmill and finishing up some books. I finally convinced myself that it would be OK if I finished reading it even while I wasn't on the Airdyne bike, which had been my previous plan. While the bike is a great place to get some reading done, it also doesn't allow for me to get a huge chunk of a book read in a sitting, so it felt great to read the last one hundred pages without having to stop a few times in between.

And, like the other reviews I have read of Luxe, I have nothing but good things to say. I love historical fiction books, especially YA historical fiction. New York City in 1899 is an interesting setting and focusing on the upper class of that time period was also entertaining. Godbersen sucks readers in from the very first chapter when everyone is attending Elizabeth Holland's funeral. The rest of the book is set a few months prior to the funeral and continues up until the last chapter which gives information as to what actually happened to Elizabeth, who is just days away from marrying an eligible bachelor that will keep her family from the poorhouse.
There is a lot of drama in this book, lots of secrets, and plenty of loose ends that make me want to crack open the second in this series very soon.
I've read reviews that liken this to the Gossip Girls....well, the Gossip Girls is a lot more scandalous to me.....I almost felt a small hint of Sunfire Romance, with a little more smut, of course.
I only wish I would have read this book right away...I actually bought a copy right when it was first released. This is the one tragedy of having a TBR pile that is totally out of control.
Visit the Luxe books website.

Waiting on Wednesday


Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week's Waiting on Wednesday pick is Whiter Than Snow by Sandra Dallas. Due out March 3 , 2010, I have read all of Dallas' books so far and am always excited to see she has something new coming out.

St Martin's Press offers the following synopsis: "Whiter Than Snow opens in 1920, on a spring afternoon in Swandyke, a small town near Colorado’s Tenmile Range. Just moments after four o’clock, a large split of snow separates from Jubilee Mountain high above the tiny hamlet and hurtles down the rocky slope, enveloping everything in its path including nine young children who are walking home from school. But only four children survive. Whiter Than Snow takes you into the lives of each of these families: There’s Lucy and Dolly Patch—two sisters, long estranged by a shocking betrayal. Joe Cobb, Swandyke’s only black resident, whose love for his daughter Jane forces him to flee Alabama. There’s Grace Foote, who hides secrets and scandal that belie her genteel façade. And Minder Evans, a civil war veteran who considers his cowardice his greatest sin. Finally, there’s Essie Snowball, born Esther Schnable to conservative Jewish parents, but who now works as a prostitute and hides her child’s parentage from all the world.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
"'It means I've heard complaints about Miss Loupe from the School Commission. It means that I've given her the benefit of the doubt, and I've hoped that you could handle yourself with such a young, inexperienced teacher. But maybe I was wrong (154).'"


Operation Yes by Sarah Lewis Holmes

Monday, December 7, 2009

The Muppets

I loved watching the Muppet Show when I was growing up. I am so sad that my kids don't know anything about it. But, now on youtube The Muppets perform Bohemian Rhapsody. Could it get any better than this?

Sunday, December 6, 2009

The Gift of an Ordinary Day

The Gift of an Ordinary Day: A Mother's Memoir by Katrina Kenison is making me feel extremely guilty right now. My girls are testing my patience lately....the usual kid stuff - not listening, not doing anything that I ask, fighting with each other.....and then I read Kenison's book and I am reminded to remember the simple things in life. Kenison doesn't try to act like her family life is perfect, either. Her boys are growing up and there is the usual rebellion that teenagers subject their parents to. She fondly remembers the boys' growing up years, perhaps wishing to go back to the years when her sons were smaller and needed her more.
This memoir shows a family who is transitioning to an empty nest, who has moved to a new home, new town, and is making new friends and finding their way. And most of all, in this book Kenison shares her own fears and worries for her children, something mothers everywhere will be able to relate to. Reading this book may not give me all the answers about how to raise my own children, or how to not lose my patience with their constant bickering, yet I feel like I did get something out of this book, that Kenison's own admissions were helpful to me. That her ability to share her feelings help validate my own.
Kenison has written one other book, Mitten Strings for God that I will be looking for, and I look forward to any of her future work and finding out what she and her family are up to.

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice


Sometimes I am better than others about reading the childrens book that wins the National Book Award. Unfortunately I usually haven't read the one that wins prior to its winning, even though I may have heard of it. (I still have last year's winner sitting in my TBR pile). Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose is this year's big winner that I managed to be the first to check out from the public library.

This is probably a middle school book, although some of my upper elementary students would get it, too. Most of my students are familiar with Rosa Parks and her story, so knowing that Claudette was the catalyst for Park's own refusal to give up her seat adds to her story. It is interesting to me that Colvin has faded into anonymity while Parks has become a person that every elementary teacher talks to her students about. I also did not know that Colvin and Parks knew each other prior to becoming famous. The photographs and other bits of information help to give perspective to the events of this time period in the South. My own education about Rosa Parks only consisted of a teacher mentioning that Parks was not the first person to refuse to give up their seat, but no other information was volunteered.


A must-have for anyone wanting to know the whole story about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Alabama bus boycott.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Random Friday

I'm not sure who else participates in Random Friday, but I always enjoy reading Lisa's Random Friday posts on Books, Lists, Life. Since this week has been hectic, today is a great day for a Random Friday post, especially since I haven't finished anything else to review.

I know this is just a busy time of year, but this week has really been a little bit too much for me. We started out the week by having the girls' elementary Christmas concert on Monday night. On Tuesday I had an after school tutoring session for some fourth graders. When I got home we quickly got on swimming suits and headed off to swimming lessons. However, when we arrived the teacher was leaving. She said she left a message on my cell phone, but when I checked later there was no message or missed call. So.....we spent an hour in the car driving to and from lessons we didn't have. Wednesday, which should have been my day to catch up, really didn't help me out much. I had another after school meeting and my husband was gone at a wrestling meet he had to help with. My mom was nice enough to watch the girls, but they returned home and claimed they were starving because my mom hadn't made supper. I doubt that was the whole story, but we looked into our refrigerator and didn't see much to choose from, so we ate some old pizza leftovers and a few other snacks. Last night I had another after school tutoring session and my husband's Christmas party for work. And - we also had our first real snow of the year. UGH. The roads were horrible. My normal 20 minute drive was 40 minutes long, and the last few miles from town to our home I drove 5 miles an hour on what appeared to be a sheet of ice. I would like to say that tonight I can relax, but Friday nights is gymnastics night, so that is where I will be.

On the agenda for the weekend:
* grocery shopping and writing up my menu for next week so I feel a little more organized
* finishing my Christmas shopping (mostly on-line so I don't have to brave the crowds)
*Christmas program practice at church
*getting my oldest daughter to and from a birthday party
*a trip to the library because I went through my big stack of books and just feel like cleaning out!
*getting in a nice, long run
*hopefully reading and relaxing

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Children of War


Right now my fifth grade book club is immersed in The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis. I love this book, depressing though the story is. The kids love it, too, and while I am not sure they can truly comprehend how horrible life is for Parvana, we talk a lot about how this is reality for some children right now. Children of War is another of Ellis' books that help teach kids about a life different from their own. Ellis has included stories from many (maybe twenty-ish) different kids ranging in age from 8-adulthood and how their lives have been affected by war. Each person tells their story and what has happened to them personally. Some have left Iraq and made their homes in other countries. Many have lost their fathers, who have been killed violently. All have been affected economically and emotionally. Some have bad feelings toward the United States and the president.

It is so interesting to hear each person's unique experience and I am hopeful that students will be very interested in this personal look at children who are just like them, but who are experiencing different life circumstances that are altering their hopes and dreams and futures.

I love Ellis' work and am eager to share this book tomorrow with my fifth grade class.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Waiting on Wednesday


Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week's Waiting on Wednesday pick is the latest Julia Spencer Fleming mystery due out in May, One Was a Soldier featuring Claire Ferguson and Russ Van Allstyne.
No image is available yet, so at left is a picture of two other books in the series.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Weekends at Bellevue

Weekends at Bellevue by Julie Holland, MD, is a great memoir of Holland's time as a psychiatrist at the oldest hospital in the United States, reknowned for its work with the mentally ill. Holland shares different stories of her patients along with her own work experiences at the hospital. Along the way, Holland completes her schooling, dates and marries her husband and has two children. After nine years in a memorable profession, Holland is ready to move on to private practice exclusively, and pens a memoir of her experiences at Bellevue.
First of all I love memoirs, and this is no exception. I also like Holland, her writing voice is honest as she admits to shortcomings she has and the second guessing she does about different decisions she makes in her job. The patients Holland comes into contact with are interesting and diverse and Holland often wonders if any of us are without our own mental illness.

Looking for a good read offering a perspective on mental illness that few have? Weekends at Bellevue is a great selection.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"That's why it's so weird to be friends with someone like me. She couldn't just stay mad and wait for me to apologize. She had to worry about me and suck it all up, because I was infected with a terrible disesase (57)."

Positively by Courtney Sheinmel
( I know I cheated and added a third sentence, but it was too good to leave out, and gives a little bit better idea what this book is about).