Monday, October 31, 2011

Bigger Than a Bread Box



Laurel Snyder's Bigger Than A Bread Box combines realistic fiction with a hint of magic. Normally the mention of magic would make me look the other way when selecting a book, but this one intrigued me, and aside from a bit of magic really did read like realistic fiction.

Rebecca's mother has gone with her children to Atlanta to stay indefinitely with Rebecca's grandmother, leaving her father by himself in Baltimore - a part of a trial seperation between Rebecca's parents. Unhappy to be in Atlanta, Rebecca is amazed to discover that a red bread box she located in her grandmother's attic seems to grant her wishes. She merely asks, and then receives a cell phone, ipod, and other wonderful treasures. Even though her life is far from perfect, this bread box and its magic do provide a little glimmer of happiness in Rebecca's life. She is still hoping her mother will take her back home, all the while trying to make friends and fit in at her new school.

Things come to a climax as Rebecca must think about how the bread box and its magic have affected other people.

Snyder's novel gives a realistic glimpse of those tween years and trying to fit in. A wonderful story, it would also make a great read aloud.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Sunday Salon

Last night my husband and I attended a Halloween party. We are not really dress-up people. My husband enjoys it more than I do, and there were numerous discussions about what type of costume I would wear. On Friday I saw an on-line article about our local theater renting out costumes. Over lunch I paid them a visit and found a wonderful selection of costumes. I was very happy with our Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy outfits, even though I decided not to do face paint (we had church today and I just didn't want to have to work at getting it off).
Tomorrow is trick or treating in our town and the girls are very excited for it. I'll have to post a picture with this year's costumes. I didn't do very much reading this weekend. I have started a few books and just wasn't in the mood. I am glad this doesn't happen very often to me, because I hate being in a reading funk. I may give these titles another try at some point, because I am really blaming it on myself and not the books. While adult novels have been a hard sell, I have read and enjoyed several tween novels. I am thinking this is a good thing, and eventually I'll find an adult book that clicks.
I tried to purchase Tom Brokaw's new book while at Sam's yesterday, only to be told by the cashier that it wasn't supposed to have been displayed yet and they were unable to sell it to me. I'm sure I'll read it at some point, and I did save $16.

I am so glad that this week there is no after school tutoring for me to teach. The kids and teachers are excited for a break. November is just around the corner, something I find amazing!

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Dancing Home



This week I seem to be in the mood to read some tween novels. Considering the fact that I have checked out two huge stacks from the library, this is a good thing.

Dancing Home by Alma Flor Ada and Gabriel M. Zubizaretta is the book I have been searching for to have in my school library. My school has a large number of Latino students and many could identify with Margie and Lupe. Margie is intent on being American despite her Mexican heritage. When her cousin Lupe moves in Margie is embarrassed at first because Lupe only speaks Spanish. Margie is worried what her friends at school will think of her.

Lupe arrives to live with her aunt and uncle and cousin. She misses her family in Mexico and also wants to find her father who has come to the United States but has not contacted her family in a few years.

I loved this story - a family coming to a new country, trying to fit in, and eventually accepting who they are. I could see so many of my students in this story. While at first I feared this was going to be a predictable story about two girls who did not get along, this book was so much more that.

I am always on the lookout for novels that feature Latino characters, and this one is a must read (and must own for elementary libraries).

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Something to Hold



I selected this book from Amazon Vine without knowing anything about it at all - simply the title and cover that called to me. Upon receiving it I wanted to begin reading immediately and found this story to be wonderful.

Kitty and her family move frequently. This particular move leads them to the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon where Kitty and her family live among the Indian tribe. She feels lonely as the school year begins and making friends is hard. She is also becoming aware of how badly the Indian children are treated by other white people, including teachers in the school. Kitty has a strong need to do the right thing and when she is given a chance, she must decide if she dare risk everything to speak out against injustice.

Katherine Schlick Noe's book is a work of fiction, yet was inspired from her own experiences growing up on an Indian reservation. Set in 1962, Noe includes themes of friendship, honor, and pride in this coming of age novel. I especially appreciated this unique perspective on reservation life and the relationship between whites and Indians.

Although I have just turned the last page of this book, this is one title I can't stop thinking about. I have already recommended it to several friends; this is a must-read for fans of historical fiction as well.

Visit Katherine Schlick Noe's website.

Throwback Thursday



Remember when I wrote about Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume as my Throwback Thursday pick? I promised then that it would not be the only title by Blume to make this list. It's Not the End of the World by Blume is a book I re-read over and over and over. I'm not sure why I loved this book so much, but I would get done with it and just start right over reading it again.

Karen is upset by her parents' seperation and divorce. Her older brother, Jeff, and younger sister, Amy, are dealing with it in their own way. Karen feels stuck in the middle, unable to relate to her friends at school anymore. She meets up with another girl whose mother is divorced while spending the weekend at her father's new apartment and this new friend is able to offer her some advice. Nothing is easily resolved in this novel, but Blume's book covers a topic known to many, many children.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Silhouetted by the Blue



Serena Shaw is dealing with a lot of stuff. She is still grieving the loss of her mother, who died just over a year ago. She is busy with the school musical, where she was cast as the lead. And, she is left to care for her younger brother, Henry, because her father is struggling with depression - unable to even get dressed each day.

There were times when I was reading when I hesitated to turn the page, wondering what else could possibly go wrong in Serena's life. Although Serena puts up a good front, she does call her father's brother for help. However, he is busy with his jet-setting life, and doesn't quite realize the depths of his brother's despair.

Parts of Jones' book were a bit predictable to me, yet a tween reader might not have been able to guess where this story was headed. I appreciate Jones' desire to create a book that deals with depression and its signs and symptoms. There are certainly young readers who are enduring this same thing and will find Silhouetted by the Blue to be a book that resonates with them.

This was a fast read about an important subject and Jones does a good job of showing this illness accurately and sensitively while still making the topic readable to her young audience.

Waiting on Wednesday

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

This week's selection: No One Is Here Except All of Us by Ramona Ausubel

Due out: February 2, 2012



Product Description taken from Amazon:
In 1939, the families in a remote Jewish village in Romania feel the war close in on them. Their tribe has moved and escaped for thousands of years- across oceans, deserts, and mountains-but now, it seems, there is nowhere else to go. Danger is imminent in every direction, yet the territory of imagination and belief is limitless. At the suggestion of an eleven-year-old girl and a mysterious stranger who has washed up on the riverbank, the villagers decide to reinvent the world: deny any relationship with the known and start over from scratch. Destiny is unwritten. Time and history are forgotten. Jobs, husbands, a child, are reassigned. And for years, there is boundless hope. But the real world continues to unfold alongside the imagined one, eventually overtaking it, and soon our narrator-the girl, grown into a young mother-must flee her village, move from one world to the next, to find her husband and save her children, and propel them toward a real and hopeful future. A beguiling, imaginative, inspiring story about the bigness of being alive as an individual, as a member of a tribe, and as a participant in history, No One Is Here Except All Of Us explores how we use storytelling to survive and shape our own truths. It marks the arrival of a major new literary talent.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

The End of Molasses Classes



Ron Clark, author of The Essential 55, founder of the Ron Clark Academy has written a new book, The End of Molasses Classes, providing 101 tips for parents and educators on how to engage students.

I really enjoyed The Essential 55 and could appreciate all Clark had to say. This also is true of Molasses Classes. Clark's advice and suggestions are not exceptionally amazing. They are for the mostpart, common sense. And yet, I found myself wanting to take notes as I read. Almost every one of the 101 points he makes I could see myself nodding at. Yes, vocabulary is important. Yes, I believe in high expectations. Yes, travel is a wonderful way to educate children about the world. There were also several points I felt were especially important for parents to read and understand. Reading Clark's book gave me some good ideas, but his passion for education and teaching is infectious. I am sure that teachers line up to visit his academy and also to work in this unique and amazing school.

Of course as an educator I am drawn to books like Clark's, but I will recommending it to my friends as well as my colleagues and adminstrators.


This book was read on my kindle.

Monday, October 24, 2011

The Night Strangers



The Night Strangers, Chris Bohjalian's latest book, had me from page one. I had read some reviews about this one, calling it creepy and spooky. Mostly I would say those words provide an apt description of this novel.

Set in the small town of Bethel, New Hampshire, the Linton family is trying to make a fresh start. Chip, the patriarch of the family, was a pilot until his plane crashed and 39 people on board perished. Although the crash was not his fault, he is consumed by guilt and is in counseling. His wife Emily has moved the family out of West Chester, PA, and begun work as a lawyer in a much smaller firm. Their ten year old twin girls are becoming accustomed to this new life as well.

From the first page, there is something creepy about the new house the Lintons purchased, and also the many women who grow herbs and befriend this family. While the Lintons don't suspect anything unusual, too consumed by the trauma their family has endured, the women's conversations made me very wary about their interest in the twins. It is obvious that something isn't quite right, but despite knowing this, I was still amazed when all was revealed.

As I raced toward the ending, I wondered how this story would be resolved. There weren't many pages left, not as many as I thought necessary to finish off this story, and yet somehow Bohjalian managed to create a satisfying -and creepy-ending.

Reviewers on Amazon give this an average rating, and while it may not be my favorite work by Bohjalian, I did enjoy the psychological thriller aspect of it. And as always, I enjoyed his writing style, and his New England settings .

I'm still waiting for a few of my friends to read this one because I'd love to discuss it.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Sunday Salon

Today I am feeling rather lazy. Yesterday we had an almost all day Professional Development at school. This is what happens when your school gets the distinction of being a School In Need of Assistance and now a Persistently Low Achieving School. The meeting itself was not horrible, but the jobs that I normally get done on the weekend don't get done when I spend half the time at work.
I did finish Chris Bohjalian's latest book, which I will review tomorrow. I am still thinking about it and trying to decide what more I can say beyong "read it for yourself." I loved it. Now I am working on a tween novel.

My middle daughter had a Halloween party at a friend's house, and while she was there the other two girls went to my parents' house to carve pumpkins. I decided to go shopping and found a pair of jeans, shirt and two necklaces. None were essential, but I have been on a clothes buying kick lately. It needs to stop, yet fall and winter clothes are my favorites. And since we seem to need to wear them for most of the year I like having variety.

I managed to acquire quite a few books this week, too. Peaceful Reader had a book fair at her school and I found a few things there. One of my book orders from Scholastic arrived. A title I ordered long ago from Amazon showed up, and I finally signed up for Net Galley and did the crazy thing of downloading 15 titles.

This coming week is looking a bit cooler here. Sigh. There's still lots to get done tonight, and I have one book on my kindle and one sitting right here from the library that I can't wait to get to.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

How To Save a Life



Sara Zarr's latest book, How To Save a Life, is further evidence of Zarr's writing talent. I have read other books by Zarr, and each time I feel her work is somewhat like Sarah Dessen's, another YA author, and Jodi Picoult, who writes for adults. These authors are able to create stories that are easy to become absorbed by, impossible to put down.

How To Save a Life is narrated by two girls: Jill and Mandy. Both girls are very different from each other. Mandy is a pregnant, unwed teen, planning to give her baby to Jill's mom to adopt. Her home life in Council Bluffs, Iowa, is less than ideal and she was sexually abused by her mother's boyfriend. Her decision to leave and give her baby a better life is one that took great courage.

Jill is angry with her mother's decision to adopt. The two are still grieving the death of their father and husband. Jill no longer has friends, although she and her boyfriend, Dylan, are still struggling along. When Mandy comes to live with them, Jill is not happy about the decision, but is also suspicious of Mandy's motives.

Zarr's story is so interesting and I could appreciate both Mandy and Jill's perspectives. I enjoyed how things unfolded as well. And, I loved the Denver setting. Having been to Denver, I could picture the area where this story takes place and see the cliff divers and monkey at Casa Bonita.

Zarr's latest book is a definite must read for young adult readers who enjoy realistic fiction.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Whistling in the Dark



I have to feel a little bit bad about putting off reading Whistling in the Dark by Lesley Kagen. I have seen this book around for a few years. This summer when we were on vacation with my mom it was the book she brought along to read as her book club selection. And I heard good things about it, but despite all of that I never picked it up to read myself.

This past week I downloaded it on my kindle. I had seen Kagen's follow up novel, Good Graces, coming out and was instantly smitten with the cover. I checked out Good Graces from the library, the entire time planning on reading Whistling in the Dark prior to the sequel. So, last Sunday I began digging around in my TBR piles, certain I owend Kagen's first book. After much looking I finally realized that Whistling in the Dark is not a book I own. So, even though I had to return Good Graces before I would have a chance to read it, I was bound and determined to read Whistling in the Dark. The good news is that it forced me to use my kindle, and I loved the book.

Sally O'Malley, a ten year old girl living in Milwaukee in 1959, is a narrator I fell in love with. I could see things through her ten year old eyes. I loved how her Grandma's thyroid problem was located in her leg somewhere. I loved that St. Francis the Sissy was a little light in his loafers. There was plenty of opportunity for me to chuckle to myself while reading.

Sally O'Malley's life isn't easy, either. Her father has died in a car accident, her uncle brain damaged in the same accident. Her mother makes a hasty remarriage to Hall, a man who is anything but loving or fatherly, and then leaves her daughters in his care when she must go to the hospital after being diagnosed with hepatitis. To top it off, Sally is trying to figure out who the child murderer/molesterer is in their neighborhood. Two girls have gone missing and then found dead and Sally is certain the culprit is Officer Rasmussen, their police officer neighbor.

While this is categorized as a mystery and there is a good deal of suspense, I was more taken in with Sally's character and the way she was able to handle the various challenges that came her way.

A brief interview with Kagen is included at book's end. I always enjoy reading what other author's have to say about their path to being published and the way in which they went about writing that first book. I still have those dreams of eventually sitting down someday and writing something, and was encouraged to know that Kagen didn't have Whistling in the Dark published until she was fifty-seven. As I see the number of books she has managed to write now, I smile.

Whistling in the Dark is one of those books I will be telling a lot of people about. I loved it.

Bedtime Reading

Yesterday was my lucky day. We had conferences at school, and while the contract time of 12:30 PM - 8:30 PM was less than desireable, I was ecstatic to receive three boxes of books from Baker and Taylor in the mail. They are all stamped and almost half are ready to go out on the shelves. I took home three of them to read to my own girls last night.

Five Little Monkeys Reading in Bed by Eileen Christelow is a cute book, expanding on the Five Little Monkeys Jumpin on the Bed theme. My youngest daughter especially enjoyed this one, and I am already planning on using this for a kindergarten story time.

Monkey with a Toolbelt and the Seaside Shenanigans by Chris Monroe was one all three girls were excited to see. They loved the first two Monkey books by Monroe, and this third installment is funny and cute as well.
Amanda and Her Alligator by Mo Willems was our last read aloud. While the book looks long, it was a quick and funny read. What else would I expect from Mo?
All three of these are ones I want to share in read alouds with my class. Today I plan on reading several more picture books and bringing home a big box for the weekend. I love getting new books!!!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Throwback Thursday

When I was little my mother bought several hardcover books for us that were read over and over. After we outgrew them she took them to her kindergarten classroom. And when she started teaching high school students she had three crates of books she no longer needed. It was fun to go through the titles and recall reading them so many times. One of those books, The Little Old Man Who Could Not Read by Irma Simonton Black, is one I have read to my early elementary students. This little old man who didn't see a need to know how to read until his wife leaves him home over night does a good job of showing how necessary reading is. In true 1970s childrens book fashion, my students always marvel at the fact that one two page spread is in color, and the following two page spread is black and white. I just looked at this book yesterday as I was reshelving books in my office, glad I had run across it since it brought back many happy memories of reading this book as a child and now as an adult.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Beneath My Mother's Feet



Nazia is fourteen, on the cusp of becoming woman in Pakistan where her family lives. Her life consists of school and friends until her father suffers a work injury and Nazia is forced to drop out of school and begin work cleaning houses with her mother. Although Nazia's station in life has changed greatly, she feels compelled to help her mother and remain by her side. Despite her diminished status Nazia manages to find more possibilities than she ever imagined for herself and must make some decisions about her own future and whether or not it will include the marriage her parents planned for her.

I enjoyed Nazia's relationship with her mother and it's complexity. Nazia loved her mother yet struggled with being dutiful. She still wished for things for herself but wanted to please her mother. I could feel Nazia being torn in two directions and applauded her final decision.

This is a debut novel by Amjed Qamar, a great young adult novel about another culture.

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.
This week's pick: Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection by AJ Jacobs

Due out April 10, 2012


Product Description taken from Amazon:New York Times bestselling author and king of “immersion journalism” A.J. Jacobs tackles his most challenging experiment yet: a yearlong mission to radically improve every element of his body and mind—from his brain to his fingertips to his abs.Having lifted his spirit in The Year of Living Biblically and sharpened his mind in The Know-It-All, A.J. Jacobs had one feat left in the self-improvement trinity: to become the healthiest man in the world. He doesn’t just want to lose weight, or finish a triathlon, or lower his cholesterol. His ambitions were far, far greater.
The task was massive. First, he had to tackle a complicated web of diet and exercise advice, most which is nonsensical, unproven, and contradictory. Second, he had to consult a team of medical advisers. And finally, he had to subject himself, over the course of two years, to a grueling regimen of exercises, a range of diets and nutritional plans, and a brutal array of techniques and practices to improve everything from his hearing to his sleep—all the while testing the patience of his long-suffering wife.
This latest book bursts with hilarity and warmth, all the while testing our culture’s assumptions and obsessions with what makes good health and allowing the reader to reflect on his or her own health, body, and eventual mortality.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Crazy 8



























Middle Sister turned 8 today. Crazy. She especially enjoyed me explaining how eight years ago last night I was sitting around with my brother and future sister-in-law and husband and not feeling very well. And lo and behold, just 10 hours later, 8 hours after arriving at the hospital she was born.

Middle Sister already had her birthday party with some girls on Friday night and got henna tattoos. Today she opened her gifts -purple boots in one picture and her Disco Queen Halloween costume in another. This is the first year she has requested money, which makes her seem kind of grown up. I think she is saving for something big like an iPod Touch. This evening we went out to eat at a Mongolian grill restaurant for the big event, and afterward I took the girls shopping for new jeans. It seems that even though I have three girls and we should have plenty of clothes being passed down, everyone needed something for fall.

I would love to be cuddled up with a good book right now, but have a few things left to do before I get to relax. I have just started Chris Bohjalian's latest and am loving it so far. And, in an attempt to read more on my kindle I am reading Ron Clark's new book on teaching and Whistling in the Dark by Lesley Kagan. I also have a few reviews from books I read this weekend to share, which I hope to get to tomorrow.

Monday, October 17, 2011

The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth



I wish somebody would have told me that the geeks shall inherit the earth back when I was in high school. I will admit to always marching about a half step off of what "everyone else" did. I think my adult friends now call me "off-beat." As an adult, I am Ok with that. But as a teenager being different from the norm is nearly the kiss of death.

Alexandra Robbins' book explores several different students (and one teacher) who are outcasts for different reasons. While hearing their stories, Robbins also includes research about those students called "cafeteria fringe." She includes the names of several famous people who were either picked on or didn't fit in and later achieved great things because of the very same criteria that caused them to not fit in.

While I enjoyed all of Robbins' book, I was especially interested in the portion where she discusses the position of schools in this day and age discouraging student individuality and being creative and unique. Many schools that are struggling are mandating dress codes (my school included) and also eliminating teacher creativity by having teachers very nearly read their lessons from a manual. I can see this happening, and while the intent behind it is to increase student achievement, the long term result may be might different. Without those "out of the box" thinkers, our world would not be what it is today.

While it is certainly hard to be a geek, emo, or any part of the cafeteria fringe, these students maintain their own beliefs despite peer pressure. Robbins book is a good look at these often ignored and misunderstood subcultures.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Running Away to Home



Jennifer Wilson, the author of Running Away to Home, is someone I felt instantly connected to. She is a mother from a small Iowa town (Colfax), now living in Des Moines with her architect husband. We are roughly the same age, both having grown up in the 80s. I could very much hear my own inner thoughts as Wilson questioned if the "American Dream" she and her husband and children were living is what they really wanted. In Wilson's case, she and her husband sold off most of their possessions and decided to take a year living in Croatia, where Wilson has ancestors. The fact that Wilson is a travel writer made this plan feasible as she was able to work from anywhere.

Mrkopalj, a small Croatian mountain village, became home to Wilson's family for several months. They came to enjoy a simpler life, enjoying their children's ability to find entertainment without needing toys or being plugged in. Visiting with the locals, sharing a beer at the local bar, milking cows, and waiting for their rented apartment to be finished while living in the third floor dormer of their guide's home quickly became their way of life.

Although the transition was at first a bit rough for Wilson, the entire family enjoyed this experience, and Wilson did in fact find some distant relatives to her family. While it was this search that initially sent them to Mrkopalj, what they found there was more than just their family tree.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Weekend Cooking





Despite the fact that it was a sunny, mid-60s day, I listened to Christmas music in my van while I ran errands and just got done making a yummy batch of chili. This recipe is one I have used for a decade now and despite trying a few other recipes, I always return to this one. It is easy - so easy that my girls can do nearly all of it and just require a bit of supervision- and has great flavor.



Four Bean Taco Chili

2 lbs ground beef

3 cups tomato juice

1 jar (16 oz.) salsa

1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 can great northern beans, rinsed and drained

1 can butter beans, rinsed and drained

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can tomato sauce (8 oz)

1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste

1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies

1 envelope taco seasoning.

After browning the meat, combine all ingredients, bringing to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

I will admit to simmering much longer than this. Often I will have the kettle on my stove for a while, allowing us to help ourselves to some chili at different points during the day.


Weekend Cooking is hosted Beth at Beth Fish Reads

Friday, October 14, 2011

Farishta



Patricia McArdle worked as a diplomat, stationed overseas for her career serving in various countries. One of my uncles just retired from his nearly thirty year career as a U.S. diplomat and I have long been interested in this lifestyle. McArdle's book, although a novel, is somewhat based on her own life.

Angela has been sent to Afghanistan by the U.S. Embassy. She is not excited about the assignment at all, and is counting down her year there. As the lone female in this post Angela is lonely and not welcomed by many of the men. Although it happened nearly twenty years before, Angela is still dealing with the death of her husband Tom - also a diplomat- who was killed when they were stationed in Beirut. She continues to grieve for him and the child she miscarried just days later.

McArdle has included a lot in this story. While I am not sure I understand the ins and outs of Angela's job or other details, I enjoyed the story immensely. Angela befriends a young Afghan woman who is working to gain rights for women in the country, and begins thinking of a way that she can make a difference in the lives of these people. There is also a bit of suspense as Angela hides her ability to speak Dari in order to determine who is making money from growing poppies.

As the year passes, Angela does find a few friends in this country, and when her year is nearly up her life's twists and turns are perhaps not surprising, but very believable.

Farishta has been on my radar for a long time. It is the winner of the 2010 Breakthrough Novel Award Grand Prize for Fiction from Amazon, and is definitely worthy of the distinction.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Safe From the Neighbors



Steve Yarbrough's Safe From the Neighbors is on my list of books to read for the Read From Your Shelves challenge. I started it a week ago while riding my Airdyne bike and was happy I had a title that kept me wanting to keep exercising.

Lucas May is a high school history teacher in his hometown, a small southern town affected by James Meredith's enrollment in college. Now years later, May begins thinking of this time in his life again, especially when the new French teacher arrives in town and May realizes that this is a girl he grew up with long ago. Maggie's mother was killed be her father the night of this key civil rights movement event, and May begins to solve what really occurred that night and how Maggie's mother was killed.

May's own marriage begins to unravel, and he faces a variety of challenges including his parents' aging and health concerns, his daughters' departure for college, and his attraction to Maggie, his new co-worker.

I enjoyed this story and Yarbrough's writing. I could relate to May, probably because of his role as a teacher, and wanted things to work for him. It is always interesting to like characters, yet not agree with the decisions they make, and I found myself frustrated with many of May's actions.

Throwback Thursday



In my pre-teen and early teen years I was absolutely obsessed with soap operas. I watched Days of our Lives, Another World and Santa Barbara, much to my mother's annoyance. I would set the VCR timer each day for my shows, hoping my dad would not turn it off, something he was prone to do if my bed wasn't made or some other such infraction. I went each week to pick up the latest issue of Soap Opera Digest from the grocery store and would nerdily try to write down actual dialogue while watching the shows.

I was delighted when Soaps and Serials published books each month retelling each soap's story from Day One. I read - and still have- all the books put out about Days of Our Lives. Most of the plots I already knew of because of my obsession and reading about my favorite soap opera. To me the residents of Salem seemed real, like good friends. Every once in a while I've caught a glimpse of Days of Our Lives since my high school days (Another World and Santa Barbara have long been off the air), and I will admit to how cheesy and unrealistic I think these shows now are. But back then I was totally into these shows and the various super couples: Bo and Hope, Kim and Shane, Steve and Kayla, and Roman and Marlena.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Waiting on Wednesday

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

This week's pick: A Good American by Alex George

Due out February 7, 2012

Product Description taken from the author's website:


Frederick loved America. He loved its big open spaces, the sunsets that drenched the evening sky in blistering color. Above all, he loved the smell of promise that hung in the air. Europe, he could see now, was slowly suffocating under the weight of its own history. In America the future was the only thing that mattered. Frederick turned his back on everything that had gone before, and looked ahead into the bright lights of the young century. Here, a man could reinvent himself.
A GOOD AMERICAN is a story of immigrant hope.
Set in a fictional Midwestern town and spanning more than a century, the novel tells the story of three generations of the Meisenheimer family. Beginning with an improbable love affair ignited by the power of song, the story follows an unorthodox young couple as they flee to America in search of a new life together.
From bare-knuckle prizefighting and Prohibition to sweet barbershop harmonies and the Kennedy assasination, the family is caught up in the sweep of history as they find their place in their adopted country. Accompanied by a chorus of unforgettable characters, from a chicken-strangling church organist to a malevolent bicycle-riding dwarf, each new generation discovers afresh what it means to be an American.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Checking In

A few weeks ago Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea commented that there were only 92 days left in 2011. This caused me to pause and think a bit. I have a few challenges I signed up for in 2011, none of which I have completed. The rate things are going, they simply won't be completed. Back in January I published this list of books I have sitting on my shelves that I really would like to move through. And I have read some. But, I have read books from my shelves that aren't on this list. And I continue to read library books ahead of my own purchases. Part of me is irritated with myself, and part is happy that at least I have a list and am making progress- even though it is not great- and thatsome of those books that otherwise might get lost in the piles again have been read.
Obviously I have some work to do. And many of these titles I would enjoy if I took the time to sit down and read them. So far I have read 12 of the 42 titles. While I know I won't get through all the titles, I can make a pretty good dent in the rest and have a few that I have already started.

Adult Titles:
1. Clara's War by Clara Kramer
2. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
3. Shelf Awareness by Lizzie Skurnick
4. The Bright Side of Disaster by Katherine Center
5. Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
6. Mockingbird by Charles Shields
7. Sister of My Heart by Chita Banerjee Divakaruni
8. Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
9. Safe From the Neighbors by Steve Yarbrough
10. Roses by Leila Meacham
11. The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale
12. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
13. Without a Backward Glance by Kate Veitch
14. Four Spirits by Sena Jeter Naslund
15. Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart
16. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
17. Self Storage by Gayle Brandeis
18. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
19. Ask for a Convertible by Danit Brown
20. Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire by Rafe Esquith
21. Little Bee by Chris Cleave
22. Dirty Secret by Jessie Sholl

Middle Grade and YA Titles:

1. Tell Me Who by Jessica Wollman
2. Dangerously Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
3. Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson
4. The Alchemyst by Nicholas Flamel
5. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson
6. Percy Jackson the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
7. Sugar and Ice by Kate Messner
8. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
9. Countdown by Deborah Wiles
10. Extra Credit by Andrew Clements
11. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
12. Eli the Good by Silas House
13. Assignment Rescue: an Autobiography of Varian Fry by Varian Fry
14. Good bye, Mr. Chips by James Hilton
15. The Road Home by Ellen Emerson White
16. Envy by Anna Godberson
17. Alice on Her Way by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
18. White Sands, Red Menace by Ellen Klages
19. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams Garcia
20. Blue Plate Special by Michelle D. Kwasney

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Island's End



I have always been fascinated by remote civilizations who seem unaffected by our modern world. Padma Venkatraman's Island's End is a work of fiction, yet is based on experiences the author had living on the Andaman Islands and interacting with the "primitive" people who reside there.

In this novel Uido, a young woman in a tribe living on the Andaman Islands is chosen to be her group's spiritual leader. She is trained to heal the sick as well as "see" into the future. Her tribe is what I would have expected - a group of people who work hard, hunting and fishing for food and living without the complications of the modern world. However, their island is visited by strangers bringing with them bandages and matches, which piques the tribe's curiosity of the outside world. And when Uido's younger brother becomes very sick, Uido travels with him to find help. Uido struggles with the need to keep her tribe intact and the temptations of the outside world.

This was a fascinating story, especially since Venkatraman has managed to meet a tribe who lives much like Uido and her tribe. I especially appreciated the author's notes at the end of the book, which give more background knowledge about these groups of people. Venkatraman's first book, Climbing the Stairs, was a marvelous read and this second novel is amazing as well.

Sunday Salon



This weekend is gorgeous here in Iowa. Yesterday it was in the upper 80s and today should be more of the same. It is too bad that I went through the girls' clothes last weekend since most of the summer stuff is no longer out.

Once again the weekend is flying by. Yesterday I attended a thirty-one party that a friend threw. They have such cute stuff! I bought two things and my oldest daughter would now like us to throw a party since there is a little kickback/incentive and we could get a few more things of our own. We'll see. I really hate parties like that because it seems like if you attend you have to spend money, but I also have done my fair share of going to those parties for friends and spending money.

Our main fiasco of the week began last Saturday when we purchased a couch for our basement. We sold the last one in our garage sale a few weeks ago, so right now there is just an oversized recliner down there. We all went looking last weekend and found one we liked that was in our price range. The furniture store brought it on Monday and met my husband - who took time off from work- to put it in the basement. Late in the morning on Monday I received a phone call from my husband telling me that the couch didn't fit. They had to take it back. I was waiting for him to tell me he was kidding at the end of the conversation, but he didn't. And when the store called me to get my credit card number so they could credit it, I knew it was true. In the grand scheme of things, I know it is just a couch, but it was disappointing. I have been shopping two more times and did buy a different couch yesterday. It seems we have some length issues, so this one is 12 inches shorter than the last, and our door is narrow - 32". This couch- with legs removed- is 27". It is not my dream couch. But, I have children who may destroy it and we had to find one that would fit. Now it should be dropped off on Wednesday. And this time when I get home from work there should be a couch in my basement, not three disappointed children and an irritated husband.

This week looks busy, of course. I am teaching Sunday School this morning, need to work at school, and then want to take the girls to see The Smurfs at the local dollar theater. Last night some friends in our neighborhood had a bonfire, so it was a late night at our house and not a night of rest like I thought it would be. I'm not complaining, because we had a great time, but there seems to always be too much to do.

What about you? What's up for your week?

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Second Nature



Jacquelyn Mitchard's newly released novel, Second Nature, is one I knew I would read, even though I knew absolutely nothing about it. Although some of her books I have not liked as well as others, I do always enjoy Mitchard's writing.

In addition to Second Nature being well written and enjoying the story, there were some other good surprises along the way.

Sicily Coyne was in a deadly fire at her church when she was thirteen. Her firefighter father died in the blaze and Sicily underwent twenty five surgeries which left her somewhat better off than she had been, but still badly scarred and disfigured. Sicily's face was the primary location of these burns, and her once lovely looks were a thing of the past. Until a woman named Eliza Capadorra calls Sicily and suggests that perhaps she should look into a face transplant. At first Sicily is uninterested. She is planning on getting married soon to her childhood friend, but when a secret is revealed about their relationship and the wedding called off, Sicily changes her mind.

As soon as I heard Eliza Capadorra's name a little light went off in my head. The Capadorra family is the center of Mitchard's The Deep End of the Ocean, where Ben Capadorra is kidnapped - taken from his mother in a hotel lobby and living near the family for nine years before he is returned. Eliza Capadorra is now Ben's wife. Once she is introduced the rest of the Capadorras soon follow, and Beth, Ben's mother, is hired to take pictures of Sicily's transformation. Sicily meets Vincent the oldest brother who lives in California and makes movies and promptly falls in love with him.

Although Mitchard's book is really about Sicily, I loved looking in on the Capadorras and seeing how their lives moved forward. The face transplant was an interesting story - one that Mitchard must have done a great deal of research to write. I enjoyed Sicily and Vincent's relationship - as much of a struggle as it was - and continued to root for them.

Second Nature is another winner by Mitchard. I'm already curious about future books and whether readers will get to see Sicily again.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Moonglass




Moonglass is a debut novel by Jessi Kirby, a great young adult read.

Anna and her father have relocated over the summer before her junior year. Anna is unhappy about the move, angry to leave her friends, although she does feel that her father has picked a great location - a cottage on the beach -to move to. Anna finds out that her mother, who died when she was just seven, grew up on this same beach in this same town. Anna has few memories of her mother, one of them of their time picking up moonglass from the beach. Now that she is living in a place her mother once knew, she is beginning to wonder a bit more about her mom, although it is hard because of how she died, and Anna's feelings about this.

Kirby's novel explores a lot of different things- Anna's relationship with her dad, her coming to terms with her mom's death, and Anna's forays into dating and friendship at her new school. I was especially surprised by the way in which Kirby incorporated a man who appeared to be homeless who walked, hunched over all day each Sunday on the beach, with the message "Repent" on his t-shirt. When his true identity is revealed, it fits very well into the story and left me smiling.


I liked this novel a lot. I've been seeing a lot of Moonglass on the internet and happily agree with the many positive reviews out there.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Throwback Thursday



I have long been a fan of Mary Downing Hahn's work, especially her historical fiction. However, back in sixth grade my friend Stephanie let me borrow a book she had checked out from the library (yes, I know....something I tell my kids never to do - loan a library book out to someone else while it's checked out to you!). Daphne's Book by Hahn was so fabulous I continued to think of it for some time.

Jessica is paired with Daphne, the weird girl in the class, for a writing assignment. Of course she doesn't like her partner, but does realize Daphne is talented. The two strike up a friendship, and then Jessica begins to realize what Daphne's home life is like.

My school library's copy of this one is old and nearly ruined, but I would love to read this one with my own girls. This is another example of one of those books that gave me a good idea what the difference was between an average book and an extraordinary book.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.
This week's pick: Running Away to Home: Our Family's Journey to Croatia in Search of Who We Are, Where We Came From, and What Really Matters by Jennifer Wilson

Due out October 11, 2011

Product Description taken from Amazon:
A middle class, Midwestern family in search of meaning uproot themselves and move to their ancestral village in CroatiaJennifer Wilson, her architect husband, and their two kids lived the typical soccer-and-ballet practice life in the most middle-American of places: Des Moines, Iowa. They overindulged themselves and their kids, and as a family they were losing each other in the rush of work, school, and activities. One day, Jen and her husband looked at each other - both holding their Starbucks as they headed out to their SUV parked in the center lot while the kids complained that the store didn't have their favorite soda - and asked themselves: "Is this the American dream? Because if it is, it sort of sucks." Jim and Jen had always dreamed of taking a family sabbatical in another country, so when they lost half their savings in the stock-market crash, it seemed like just a crazy enough time to do it. The family packed up and left the troubled landscape of contemporary America for the Croatian mountain village of Mrkopalj: land of Jennifer's ancestors. It was a village that seemed hermetically sealed for the last 100 years, with a population of 800 (mostly drunken) residents and a herd of sheep milling around the post office. For several months, they lived like locals, from milking the neighbor's cows to desperately seeking the village recipe for bootleg liquor. As the Wilson Hoff family struggled to stay sane (and warm), what they found was much deeper and bigger than themselves.

This one is due out in just a week, and being from Iowa I am interested in the Iowa connection.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

The Buddha In the Attic



I was definitely behind the times in getting to When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka, so I am happy to report that I have already read and enjoyed The Buddha in the Attic which was just released this fall.

Otsuka's new novel is another slim volume of work, this time telling the story of Japanese women who came to the United States to marry Japanese men, thinking they were wealthy and successful. What they found were men who hired someone to write letters to these women for them, who married them and then subjected them to a life of hard work in the fields or as maids. While Otsuka's novel does not tell the story of any one woman, it is the story of every woman, the different ways in which their lives played out - some as mothers, some happily married, many not, their experiences here in America. Later as these women have children who grow up in the United States, who are truly "American," World War II breaks out and the Japanese are forced to internment camps.

The Buddha in the Attic was a sad story to me, although I don't know that that was Otsuka's intent. There were so many struggles in the lives of these women. So many hardships, and then despite everything they fought for, they were taken to internment camps and treated as criminals. Yet, I did not sense bitterness in these women.

Otsuka's writing is beautiful and The Buddha in the Attic is a moving read.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Ho-Hum Harry



I had almost finished my post about reading Harry Potter aloud to my girls, detailing what I perceived to be a lack of interest on their part, when to my amazement, as we finished The Sorcerer's Stone last night, the girls appeared to be enjoying this book more than I thought. It is true, my oldest daughter does not really like the fantasy genre. She also doesn't like suspense. But, she did agree that we can read the second book, as did my middle daughter. I have not seen any of the movies, and told them that after we read this book we could watch the first movie. I don't think reading all the Harry Potter books is a prerequisite to being well read, but I did want them to at least give it a chance.

A few years ago I tried reading Harry Potter to them, and we gave it up, which I blamed on them not being quite old enough. I do have friends who tell me how their children love, love, love the Harry Potter books. I also always thought that someday I would read them all to my kids. That may not be the case. We do spend a lot of time reading, and I do try and read a variety of literature to them- things they may not pick on their own. But, I have no intention of forcing them to listen to all seven Potter books if they really don't want to.

It just goes to show, that not every book is for every kid. Even something as wonderful as Harry Potter may not be interesting to some readers. Tonight we will begin a new read aloud. I am taking home several selections from school to give them some choice in the matter, which usually helps get them a bit more interested.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Blast From the Past




Looking back through my reading notebook from long ago, I am mostly unimpressed by what I read in October of 2001. I was still working my way through Sue Grafton's series and re-reading a few favorite kids books. In addition, here are five titles I also managed to read:




September in Review

I am finding leisure reading time harder and harder to come by. The enormous stack of library books often does not get read right away - or at all - before they have to be returned. While I still read a good number this past month, I am feeling very busy with school and taking kids here and there so that some night I am not able to read until I go to bed at night, where I promptly fall asleep.

Here's September's books:

1. 22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson
2. The Art of Forgetting by Camille Noe Pagan
3. Killing Kate by Julie Kramer
4. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
5. Alice on her Way by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
6. The Alchemy of Loss by Abigail Carter
7. The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield
8. The End of Everything by Megan Abbott
9. Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu
10. The Grief of Others by Leah Hager Cohen
11. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
12. The Sacred Acre: The Ed Thomas Story by Mark Tabb
13. Sweet Jiminy by Kristin Gore
14. Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close
15. The Sixes by Kate White
16. The Luck of the Buttons by Anne Ylvisaker
17. The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman
18. Gooney Bird on the Map by Lois Lowry
19. One Summer by David Baldacci
20. A Year Without Autumn by Liz Kessler

14 of the 20 books were adult, 6 were young adult/middle grade
2 were non fiction, 18 were fiction
2 were written by males, 18 by females
7 were from my shelves, 13 were from the library
1 was on my kindle
2 were read from the Read From Your Shelves challenge

I have several books I am in the midst of right now, so I am looking forward to finishing some up in October, and for the many sitting here that have been waiting in my library stacks.