Nightstand, 6/23/14

Made a few adjustments in the nightstand stack, but several of last week's titles are still here.

Books Read, Week of 6/16/14

Not as many as last week, but still a good week of summer reading:

~ Vikings in the Attic by Eric Dregni for neighborhood book club. The author came to speak at our meeting, which was fantastic. I made orange Jell-O salad. :)

~ Iggie's House for what I'm calling my Judy Blume project. This was one of my favorites of hers when I was a kid, and it was so fun to revisit. I love the new cover (see link.)

~ The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan with the kids. This was our bedtime read-aloud, inspired by my eight-year-old nephew's birthday party theme. I wanted Felix to "get it," but wondered if he wasn't quite ready for this story. He loved it, and Skye & I enjoyed the re-read. We also listened to some of it on audio, and I thought it was nicely done.

Nightstand, 6/16/14

More fun reading to come!

Books Read, Week of 6/9/14

Look at all the books I finished this week! From bottom row to top:

~ Three books about Jackie. I really enjoyed the section about her in Dreaming in French, so was inspired to find more. The biography for young people was a good place to start -- better than I thought it would be -- and One Special Summer was such a surprise and treat to find.

~ I am starting a Judy Blume project; I'd like to read all of her work, in the order she wrote it. Kids helped me get started by listening to her two books for youngest kids on audio.

~ Enjoyed the next Commissario Brunetti mystery by Donna Leon; I'm reading them in order.

~ Finished Jerry Spinelli's Hokey Pokey; impressed with his wordplay and want to finally read Maniac Magee.

~ So impressed with Breathing Room, one of this year's Maud Hart Lovelace Award nominees. Beautiful book.

Nightstand, 6/9/14

First week of summer vacation! Big reading plans. Can't wait.

Books Read, Week of 6/2/14

Very good, excellent, and just for fun, in that order.

~ I love E. Lockhart. We Were Liars was very well done, but The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is still my favorite. And I love her Toys Go Out books (as Emily Jenkins.)

~ Sylvia & Aki is a book I'd love to read with students. Historical fiction that is so nicely told and relatable. Beautifully done.

~ Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: What can I say? It sort of works, in a weird way. And so much of Austen's words are left intact, that I couldn't help but keep reading. She's one of my favorites.

Nightstand, 6/2/14

And here's the first week of June. Much the same. It would be fun to see all of these photos side-by-side. Maybe I'll do that at the end of 2014.

Books Read, Week of 5/26/14

Two books finished this week:

~ The Littles Go Exploring was for the weekly book group at Felix's school. They enjoyed it, and as an end-of-year gift, I gave them each another Littles book. I'll miss those kids!

~ I read Tinkers for our neighborhood book club. Glad I did. It made for good discussion, and it's interesting to see which books are picked for the Pulitzer each year.

Nightstand, 5/26/14

I'm behind on these posts. Here's what it looked like the last week of May! More to come.

Books Read, Week of 5/19/14

Finished up several books this week:

~ Hooray! The first Warriors series (six books) is complete! Now, Felix can read any others he is interested in on his own.

~ I listened to Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson on audio. Skye had read it and loved it. I did, too -- so much that I also read the physical book as I listened.

~ Felix is loving Stick Dog. He met the author, Tom Watson, at school. I gave him this second book in the series as a congrats gift at his piano recital, and he insisted we read it together. Cute.

~ I was so impressed by Sex & Violence by Carrie Mesrobian; I see why she won the Minnesota Book Award for Young People's Literature this year for her first novel. Evan was, to me, a modern-day Holden Caulfield.