Nightstand Photos, Summer 2014

June 30

July 7

July 14

July 21

July 28

August 4

August 11

August 18

August 25

What I've Been Reading, Summer 2014

I haven't posted since June! Why does it always seem like summer will be full of free time to do things like blogging? It's truly the opposite. I did keep up with my book photos, though. Here's the line-up of what I read, from June 23-August 31.

Week of June 23:
~ The Judy Blume Project is progressing, with Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing on audio with the kids, and Are You There God? It's Me Margaret for me. (Check out my old editions from Scholastic book flyer purchases in elementary school.)
~ Enjoying the Maud Hart Lovelace nominees; this week, it was Patricia MacLachlan's Kindred Souls.
~ I really want to get through all of the Donna Leon mysteries. This week was #11: Willful Behavior.

Week of June 30:
~ Fudge! We love these books. Superfudge on audio this week.
~ Brunetti! #12: Uniform Justice.
~ MHL nominee! Another Patricia MacLachlan: Waiting for the Magic.
~ An old Skye favorite! Read aloud to Skye & Felix: Adam Gidwitz's A Tale Dark & Grimm. Started out as a bedtime book, but moved to a daytime read, as it is fantastically creepy.

Week of July 7:
~ More Fudge! This week: Fudge-a-Mania on audio with the kids.
~ Felix and I finally finished The Luck Uglies by Paul Durham. The author visited his school last spring. We both recommend.
~ Perfect cabin read, lent to me by my friend Jen at bibliotonic: The Vacationers by Emma Straub.

Week of July 14:
~ Another past favorite, shared now with Felix: Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead.
~ A new Skye favorite: The Shadow Hero by Gene Luen Yang. (We got to meet him! Twice!)
~ A favorite writer's new book: Kate DiCamillo's Flora & Ulysses.
~ A book based on one of my favorite themes: mythology! (This time, Norse mythology.) Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby, another MHL nominee.

Week of July 28: Yes, I missed a week, but I finished up double the books in the following week, including these three great graphic novels and one fantastic graphic memoir:
~ This One Summer (Jillian Tamaki & Mariko Tamaki)
~ Level Up (Gene Luen Yang & Thien Pham)
~ Monster on the Hill (Rob Harrell)
~ Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?  (Roz Chast)

Week of July 28, continued:
~ The Sea of Monsters on audio with Felix. It was fun to read all five of these with Skye; I look forward to doing the same with Felix.
~ Brunetti #13: Doctored Evidence.
~ A quick bedtime read: Roald Dahl's The Twits. I guess he wasn't a great person, but his books never disappoint as read-alouds.

Week of August 4:
~ Otherwise Known As Sheila the Great on audio. I guess this is now known as one of Judy Blume's Fudge books, but he only appears in the beginning, I think. This is really a Sheila story.
~ 43 Old Cemetery Road #5: Hollywood, Dead Ahead by Kate Klise & M. Sarah Klise. We love these stories! Always fun to read them together.

Week of August 11:
~ Another from the Old Cemetery Road series: #6: Greetings from the Graveyard. How do they keep coming up with cute ideas for these?!
~ Then Again, Maybe I Won't. Thank goodness for Judy Blume!
~ Blood from a Stone, Brunetti #14.

Week of August 18: Four Books & a Movie
~ Before I Go to Sleep. Ugh & blech.
~ The Days of Rondo. Bittersweet & well-told.
~ It's Not the End of the World. Real & true.
~ Mom & Me & Mom. Surprising & lovely.
~ Amour. Quiet. Powerful.

Week of August 25: Must be the week before school starts. Felix read the first book (The 13-Story Treehouse); Skye was curious and read it, too; they went to the cabin, and my mom started reading Felix the second book (The 26-Story Treehouse), which ended up becoming our bedtime book, since the one we'd been trying hadn't been working for any of us. (You may see it later, if we decide to pick it up again.)