Poetry Friday: Garrison Keillor's 77 Love Sonnets

From "November":

Readers and writers are two sides of the same gold coin.
You write and I read and in that moment I find
A union more perfect than any club I could join:
The simple intimacy of being one mind.
Here in a book-filled sun-lit room below the street,
Strangers -- some living, some dead -- are hoping to meet.

I just finished Keillor's book of sonnets, and enjoyed so many of them. This was one of my favorites, and appropriate to post here both for its title and its book-loving thoughts. Others I particularly liked include "Supper," "In a Cab," "Speak to Me," "Sonnet for a Major Birthday," and, from his twelve-months cycle, also "March" and "December."

Just a quick note for Poetry Friday this week. I hope to write more sometime soon about Keillor and his poems, as well as his bookstore, which is the "book-filled sun-lit room below the street" in the poem above. I haven't had much time to post recently, but plan to get back to it soon. You can find more lovely poetry reading over at Scrub-a-Dub-Tub, this week's Poetry Friday host.

Poetry Friday: Runny Babbit

My kids and I just finished reading Shel Silverstein's Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook. If you haven't seen it before, you can guess from its title how the poems are written.

Both Skye and Felix loved it. We'd read each poem in "Runny Babbit talk," and then do a translation together. Each poem has a Shel Silverstein vibe to it, and the added bonus of a new language is fun to explore. I think playing with language in ways like this helps to expand children's literacy.

I was really pleased to find a YouTube version of one of the poems. Click here to read/watch "Runny on Rount Mushmore."

Shel Silverstein's website is wonderful! There's a special area for kids, where they can do things like play games, print a bookmark, and send an e-card. In the books area, you will find more poem animations. Ideas for teachers, parents and librarians include some lesson plans and activities for Runny Babbit.

Here's one of my favorite Shel Silverstein poems:

Draw a crazy picture,
Write a nutty poem,
Sing a mumble-gumble song,
Whistle through your comb.
Do a loony-goony dance
'Cross the kitchen floor,
Put something silly in the world
That ain't been there before.

Head over to the Teaching Authors blog to see more Poetry Friday posts!

All Hallow's Read (Postscript)

After posting about All Hallow's Read, of course I had to participate! Here's what I gave:

After browsing in my favorite used bookstore, I picked two mysteries to give my parents, who babysat for us this past weekend. My dad likes quick mysteries with short chapters, those chocolate bon-bons of the reading shelf. He also loves Paris. I've never read Harlan Coben before, but spotted Long Lost and grabbed it for him. It may not be great literature, but I hope it's an enjoyable read. I've heard some good things about these Myron Bolitar thrillers.

I also got them a signed copy of A Carrion Death. Michael Stanley is actually the writing team of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. I recently heard Trollip speak about their mysteries, and loved what he said about their writing process: "People ask me how we write together. They think it must be difficult. I think it must be difficult for authors who don't write with others!" That's not an exact quote, but it's the way I remember it.

I had a great time shopping for my kids. I went to our local independent children's bookstore and first browsed the Halloween display. Felix has been loving Amelia Bedelia lately ("But why does she take everything literally?"), so I scored a signed copy of Happy Haunting, Amelia Bedelia for him. I also got him Spooky Sara because the pictures were so cute and I thought he'd like it. (He loved both of the books.)

For Skye, I asked the advice of the bookseller there. I told her about Skye's three recommendations, and she immediately went to the shelf to look for Eva Ibbotson's Which Witch? They didn't have it in stock, so we ended up choosing The Secret of Platform 13 instead. Skye hasn't felt motivated to give it a try yet, but she says she'll read it with me when we are done with our book for mother-daughter book club. I hope she likes it!

I couldn't resist getting them a couple of other goodies: Day of the Dead paperdolls for Skye, and two Dover Little Activity Books for Felix. Skye loved the paperdolls; Felix enjoyed a few mazes. I'll have to get them out again this weekend.

Poetry Friday: "When the blaze is blue"

Since I'm all about All Hallow's Read right now, I thought I'd pick a poem that truly scared me as a kid. But I loved it, too, with its dialect which made it fun to read, and the lovely new words. I'd beg my mom to read it again and again:

-----

Little Orphant Annie
by James Whitcomb Riley

Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,
An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,
An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an' sweep,
An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an'-keep;
An' all us other children, when the supper-things is done,
We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun
A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about,
An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!

-----

You can read the rest of the poem here. (Beware! Creepiness ahead!)

As I was searching for this poem online, I came across a folk singer who had set some of Riley's poems to music. Click here to see Anne Hills singing her musical verion of Little Orphant Annie. I thought it was really neat. I love how the audience joins in at the end of later verses.

Head over to The Writer's Armchair to read more poems this Poetry Friday.

Have a wonderful All Hallow's Read, everyone!

All Hallow's Read, Part 2

Yesterday, I posted about Neil Gaiman's great idea, along with some scary book suggestions from my kids. Now, Gaiman’s created an All Hallow’s Read website.

Here are the other suggestions I promised:

From me, for young adults

~ A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
Gothic, historic, fantastic fiction. What’s not to like?
~ Rebecca by Daphne duMaurier
“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” Sigh. I first read this one in high school, and it was the perfect time for me to read it. Loved it.
~ How about some Eva Ibbotson, in honor of her amazing writing life?
~ And of course you can't go wrong with The Graveyard Book or Coraline. Our All Hallow’s Read host knows his scary stuff!

From me, for adults

~ We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
The Haunting of Hill House is spooky, but I think this one is spookier.
~ Memento Mori by Muriel Spark
Senior citizens start receiving phone calls informing them that death is coming. “Remember, you must die.” Spark’s storytelling is unexpected and sly.
~ Dracula by Bram Stoker
But of course! How could you pass up an opportunity to give someone this classic horror story? Told from a variety of viewpoints, the pieces come together in a creepy, satisfying way.

Happy All Hallow’s Read, everyone!

All Hallow's Read, Part 1

Have you seen Neil Gaiman's great idea? He proposes we give someone a scary book this Halloween season. Tonight, the kids and I looked at our book collection and they picked out a few of their favorites to recommend. Here are their suggestions, with comments about each book:

From Felix, my almost-six-year-old:

~ Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler, illustrated by S.D. Schindler
"A skeleton has the hiccups. (Hic hic hic!) He tries to get them away. It's funny because he drank some water upside down! Read the book to find out how he got rid of them."
~ We're Going on a Ghost Hunt by Marcia Vaughan, illustrated by Ann Schweninger
"Two kids go on a ghost hunt. They go past things that look spooky to them. Who is the ghost? Read the book to find out!"
~ Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
"Max was being mean. His mom called him a 'wild thing' and sent him to his room when he says, 'I'll eat you up!' There, he does his imagination -- went in a private boat with his name on it. Read the book to find out what happens next!"

From Skye, my eleven-year-old:

~ The Witches by Roald Dahl
"This book isn't about fairy-tale witches. They don't have tall, pointy hats and ride around on broomsticks. This book is about real witches. Once you get started, you want to read more and more. It's that kind of book -- very suspenseful! (Just so you know, no real witches are here today. Thank goodness!)"
~ Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of a Mystery by Deborah and James Howe
"A family finds a rabbit in a movie theater and they name him Bunnicula, after the Dracula movie they were watching. The story is told from the point-of-view of the family dog. His friend, the cat Chester, thinks that Bunnicula is a vampire, and together they assemble clues to the mystery. Everything turns out okay! They don't have to drive a wooden stick through Bunnicula's heart, and their house doesn't have to be garlic-reeking forever. A very funny book!"
~ Babymouse: Monster Mash by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm
"If you saw the first book of Babymouse, you might have thought that it is a girly-girl book, probably because it's all pink and it's called Babymouse: Queen of the World. I thought that. But when I saw this book, this changed everything. I was begging for the other books. Its cover is orange, not pink, and it has a funny picture. Once I started reading it, I didn't quit. It is simply hilarious, especially the narrator, and Babymouse is just a riot. So stick with me and say, 'Step back, Superman, make way for Babymouse!'"

Tomorrow, I'll post some suggestions for young adult and adult readers.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (Aimee Bender)

As I ate my take-out pad thai today, I tried to discern all of its flavors and nuances: the location of the farm the onions and peanuts came from, the factory that made the noodles, the deepest feelings of the cook, the creator of my meal. After reading The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, I wonder what it would be like to feel all of these things whenever I eat.

Rose Edelstein is able to do this. She realizes she's got this talent the week she is turning nine. She tries a piece of lemon cake with chocolate frosting that her mother's made for her. "A practice round," her mother sweetly calls it, a classic example of something made with love. But Rose doesn't taste love there; what she tastes makes her feel particularly sad and terribly ill.

How can she live with this strange gift/curse? What does it mean to know someone better than they know themselves, but also know that the people you love are truly strangers to you? This coming-of-age story has a nice dose of magical realism and a profound sadness about it. I liked it, and I admire the writerly curiosity and creativity and honesty it took to tell it.

Here's an interview Ms. Bender did about her book. In it, the interviewer asks her about why she doesn't use quotation marks for dialogue. I remember noticing she had a different way with dialogue, that there was more being said underneath the words; she put the words together in unique ways to make them say more. I hadn't even noticed the technicality that she didn't use quotations marks, which tells me it probably worked for me the way she wanted it to. Ms. Bender's answer to the question: "I often don't [use quotation marks] and I don't in this book. Kind of aesthetic choice in certain way because I like how it looks, but it also feels like that line between her internal and external world is a little blurry, which I think is kind of her deal."

Home Sweet Home (Page)

Things are shaping up here at Leaning Tower. Check out my sidebar, which I tidied yesterday. Swept the cobwebs away and dusted off the book lists.

And dusting book lists leads me to, what else? Thoughts of books, of course. Memories of dearly loved books, to be exact. As a child, I delighted in stories with "housekeeping" themes. Still do. Do most people enjoy them? I am not such a good housekeeper. I'd much rather talk about it and daydream about it than actually do it.

Here are a few titles I remember very fondly, plus a new one I recently discovered:

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
My mother read this one aloud to us, her three children. This story of four orphan siblings who have to figure out how to survive on their own -- they find a boxcar to live in -- had us captivated. As the oldest, I was then in charge of our Boxcar Children games. We did not take on the particular roles of the children in the book; rather, we were ourselves, in a Boxcar Children dilemma, and must make do with what we had.

Do you want to know what we had? A typical play session involved a collection like this: four wooden matches (little twigs we'd broken and lined up on a step), one small pot for boiling water on our pretend fire, a cup that we pretended was cracked, like Benny's, and a small handful of raspberries we'd picked, laying on one of our father's old handkerchiefs. Delicious, all of it. I remember begging our parents to let us scrounge up treasures at the dump, and wondering why they didn't think that was a good idea.

This was the first chapter book I read aloud with Skye, when she was just turning five. She was just as fascinated with the details -- Benny's cracked cup! -- as I remember being. We plan to read it with Felix soon.

Mandy by Julie Edwards
This was another of my mother's read-alouds. I'll have to ask her where she first heard of this one. I remember her telling us proudly that this was the author's pen name. It was really Julie Andrews, in disguise! Lovely Mary Poppins/Maria wrote a children's novel? I was sold from the start. (Of course, now I know Julie Andrews and her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, are big kidlit advocates.)

Mandy is an orphan, and hops over the orphanage wall one day -- which is really out of character for her, and shows you how desperately lonely and restless she feels. She soon has the good luck of finding a little abandoned cottage, and proceeds to clean it out and tidy it up and create a secret space for herself.

I hope to read this one aloud to my kids someday soon, and relive the abandoned cottage fantasy with them.

Miss Suzy by Miriam Young
Melissa Wiley reminded me in a recent blog post of this lovely picture book. When I was little, my mom signed me up for a Parents Magazine Press book club. So exciting, to get books in the mail! This is my original copy.

I just read the story to my kids tonight. Miss Suzy has a sweet little house in an oak tree. "She liked to cook, she liked to clean, and she liked to sing while she worked." One day, some mean red squirrels chase her out and eat up all the nuts she had stored for winter. (At this point, I looked up at my silent kids; their faces showed clear feelings of horror. "Why are they mean and quarrelsome?" asked Felix. I always have a hard time giving a satisfactory answer to questions like this. Why, indeed?) Eventually, Miss Suzy discovers a dollhouse in an attic, and noticing the cobwebs and dust, she can't help but clean it up. Soon, she finds herself settling in there, with five toy soldiers for company -- she found them in the attic, too. Can you guess what happens next? It's Skye's favorite part. Felix tells me his favorite part is the "quarrelsome squirrels."

Do go over and read Melissa Wiley's post about this book. A descendant of the author responded in the comments! I'm crossing my fingers that we'll see another Miss Suzy/Miriam Young post soon at the Bonny Glen.

The Maggie B. by Irene Haas
This is the new discovery, a housekeeping book I would have loved as a child. I believe I first saw mention of this one over on the Fuse #8 blog. Now I can only find a brief mention of it there, with a link to this post from a different blog (Jenny Reads Books), so I'm assuming I clicked over and read about it and then requested it from our library.

This sweet book tells of Maggie and her little brother, who set sail for a day in a boat named for her. Their adventures mostly involve homey comforts, like Maggie creating meals (fruit trees grow on the boat, and a goat and chickens give them milk and eggs), giving her little brother a bath, and singing him a bedtime song. My kids and I felt so cozy after reading it. We went on an Irene Haas binge after this.

-------

As for blog housekeeping, I'm still trying to decide what to do with my current list of reads for 2010. My 2009 list is now a blog post, and it became neater when I separated it into categories: what I read for me, with my daughter Skye, with my son Felix, and for the literature circles I led. Something like that could work in the sidebar, but could get unwieldy as the year goes on. Hm. Maybe I'll keep a running blog post for the list instead.

Oh, and I think I'll use hokey cross-stitch phrases for the titles of my posts from now on.

What I Read in 2009

For me:
1. Shakespeare Wrote for Money (Nick Hornby)
2. The Eight (Katherine Neville)
3. Jerk, California (Jonathan Friesen)
4. Cold Comfort Farm (Stella Gibbons)
5. Book of a Thousand Days (Shannon Hale)
6. The Little Giant of Aberdeen County (Tiffany Baker)
7. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (E. Lockhart)
8. Austenland (Shannon Hale)
9. Letter to My Daughter (Maya Angelou)
10. The Tenderness of Wolves (Stef Penney)
11. Little Bee (Chris Cleave)
12. The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman)
13. The Careful Use of Compliments (Alexander McCall Smith)
14. Emiko Superstar (Mariko Tamaki and Steve Rolston)
15. The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday (Alexander McCall Smith)
16. The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)
17. Death and Judgment (Donna Leon)
18. Cheerful Weather for the Wedding (Julia Strachey)
19. Shakespeare's Landlord(Charlaine Harris)
20. The Believers (Zoë Heller)
21. How I Live Now (Meg Rosoff)
22. 44 Scotland Street (Alexander McCall Smith)
23. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Junot Diaz)
24. Olive Kitteridge (Elizabeth Strout)
25. An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter (Cesar Aira)
26. Tender Morsels (Margo Lanagan)
27. The Actor and the Housewife (Shannon Hale)
28. Acqua Alta (Donna Leon)
29. Julie & Julia (Julie Powell)
30. The House at Riverton (Kate Morton)
31. The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Agatha Christie)
32. Sarah’s Key (Tatiana de Rosnay)
33. Catching Fire (Suzanne Collins)
34. Brain, Child: Summer ’09 issue
35. Quietly in Their Sleep (Donna Leon)
36. The Principles of Uncertainty (Maira Kalman)
37. A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L’Engle)
38. When You Reach Me (Rebecca Stead)
39. The Clothes They Stood Up In (Alan Bennett)
40. The Lady in the Van (Alan Bennett)
41. The Lost Art of Gratitude (Alexander McCall Smith)
42. Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading (Lizzie Skurnick)
43. The Help (Kathryn Stockett)
44. A Wind in the Door (Madeleine L’Engle)
45. The Amazing Mackerel Pudding Plan (Wendy McClure)
46. Spiral-Bound (Aaron Renier)
47. The Guinea Pig Diaries (A.J. Jacobs)
48. The School of Essential Ingredients (Erica Bauermeister)
49. A Redbird Christmas (Fannie Flagg)
50. Amy Unbounded: Belondweg Blossoming (Rachel Hartman)

For/with Skye: (grades 4-5)
1. The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey (Trenton Lee Stewart)
2. Babymouse #4, #5, and #6 (Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm)
3. Bud, Not Buddy (Christopher Paul Curtis)
4. Rapunzel's Revenge (Shannon and Dean Hale)
5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (J.K. Rowling)
6. Pippi Longstocking (Astrid Lindgren)
7. Deltora Quest #01: The Forests of Silence (Emily Rodda)
8. Sisters Grimm #1: The Fairy Tale Detectives (Michael Buckley)
9. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (J.K. Rowling)
10. Harriet the Spy (Louise Fitzhugh)
11. The Homework Machine (Dan Gutman)
12. Savvy (Ingrid Law)
13. The Lightning Thief (Rick Riordan)
14. Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning (Danette Haworth)
15. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Jeff Kinney)
16. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules (Jeff Kinney)
17. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw (Jeff Kinney)
18. Amulet, Book One: The Stonekeeper (Kazu Kibuishi)
19. Caddie Woodlawn (Carol Ryrie Brink)
20. Amulet, Book Two: The Stonekeeper’s Curse (Kazu Kibuishi)
21. Warriors #4: Rising Storm (Erin Hunter)
22. Castle Waiting (Linda Medley)
23. The Lightning Thief (Rick Riodan) – reread for book group
24. Millicent Min: Girl Genius (Lisa Yee)
25. Grampa and Julie: Shark Hunters (Jef Czekaj)
26. Babymouse #7, #8, and #9 (Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm)
27. The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma (Trenton Lee Stewart)
28. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Barbara Robinson)
29. The Magician's Elephant (Kate diCamillo)

With Felix (and often Skye, too): (Pre-K)
1. Two Times the Fun (Beverly Cleary)
2. Magic Tree House #01: Dinosaurs Before Dark (Mary Pope Osborne)
3. Catwings (Ursula Le Guin)
4. Magic Tree House #02: The Knight at Dawn (Mary Pope Osborne)
5. Maybelle in the Soup (Katie Speck)
6. Adventures of the Bailey School Kids #06: Frankenstein Doesn't Plant Petunias (Debbie Dadey)
7. Moongobble and Me #1: The Dragon of Doom (Bruce Coville)
8. Catwings Return (Ursula Le Guin)
9. Mummies in the Morning (Magic Tree House #3) (Mary Pope Osborne)
10. Stage Fright on a Summer Night (Magic Tree House #25) (Mary Pope Osborne)
11. Pirates Past Noon (Magic Tree House #4) (Mary Pope Osborne)
12. Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings (Ursula Le Guin)
13. Jane on Her Own (Ursula Le Guin)
14. Ellen’s Lion (Crockett Johnson)
15. Owly: Tiny Tales (Andy Runton)
16. Owly: The Way Home & The Bittersweet Summer (Andy Runton)
17. Owly: Just a Little Blue (Andy Runton)
18. Maybelle Goes to Tea (Katie Speck)
19. Owly: Flying Lessons (Andy Runton)
20. Owly: A Time to Be Brave (Andy Runton)

With lit circles: (grade 5)
1. Dear Mr. Henshaw (Beverly Cleary)
2. Spy X #1: The Code (Peter Lerangis)
3. Spy X #2: Hide and Seek (Peter Lerangis)
4. Spy X #3: Proof Positive (Peter Lerangis)
5. Spy X #4: Tunnel Vision (Peter Lerangis)
6. Freaky Friday (Mary Rodgers)
7. Room One: A Mystery or Two (Andrew Clements)
8. The Family Under the Bridge (Natalie Savage Carlson)
9. The Tiger Rising (Kate diCamillo)
10. Tuck Everlasting (Natalie Babbitt)

Bless This Mess

I do intend to come back this blog, I really do. Now that the kids are in school again, I've started to sort through my towers of books, working to come up with a plan for Leaning Tower. Just yesterday, I did a bit of organizing in the sidebar, and I have lots of blog post ideas jotted in a notebook.

Here's a view of one of my current book messes:


Maybe I'll try a schedule for writing, as well as for book sorting. I really think I'm going to have to block out time on my calendar for this. If I pick a certain day/time each week, that could help make it a habit. Any other suggestions?

Stay tuned.

unwrapped

We did it! All of the books have been unwrapped, as of 6 p.m. yesterday. Stay tuned for talk of the favorites and the ones that fell flat.

I'm working to post more here in 2010 -- one of my new year's resolutions -- and I'm prepping the blog by updating sidebars and such. If a link doesn't work, it's probably something "in progress."

One of the books I gave Felix came with the poster below, which is a pretty accurate visual representation of me this Christmas.



Hope you've all had yourselves a merry little Christmas -- full of the gifts of sharing stories, enjoying words and language, and reading together.

Merry Christmas and Happy Book Stacks!

I went overboard with the book stacks this year. Throughout 2009, I collected titles I found that caught my eye at the used book store, in the Scholastic flyers, and at my favorite independent bookshops. And it is so easy to find a rationale for buying a book for a child: Oh, this was a favorite when I was her/his age! Ah, s/he keeps checking this one out from the library; better get our own copy! Wow, this is a children’s classic, and at this price, I can’t pass it up! And heck, I really should throw in some of those just-for-fun titles s/he circles in the book flyers.

As I type, the book stacks remain under the tree, the only unopened gifts, patiently waiting for the kids to put down their Nintento DS gaming systems and delve into their rich and varied contents.

I obviously made them too big. They look intimidating, like homework stacks or research stacks. Or maybe they just look dull, like a-gift-that’s-really-for-mom stacks.

Last year, Skye tore through her book stack, smiling and shouting with glee at each title. Then she called to Felix and commanded he do the same, helping him along the way. He indulged her, sitting back and admiring her indefatigable joy at ripping off all the wrapping for him and announcing each new book as it was revealed.

That wasn’t quite the vision I had for the stacks. I’d thought the kids would leave them for last, and then, at each moment on Christmas Day when they needed a gift-opening fix after steamrolling through the main event, they’d migrate to their book stacks, open one, and then, if the book felt right for the moment, they'd open the gift they found inside and settle into a story. (“Read this, Mom! Please?” my sweet little Felix would command.)

Lovely picture, isn’t it? And maybe that’s what will happen today. There are lots of goodies inside all that wrapping, books I’ve been saving, some for close to a year, peeking at them on the shelf in the closet and looking forward to seeing which covers make their eyes light up the most.

(And yes, I’ll share the stacks with you, too... perhaps a little at a time would be best. For now, you can enjoy last year's book stacks post, in case you missed it.)

Infinite Summer

I'm taking the plunge. I'm going to dive into Infinite Jest this summer, along with a whole bunch of other bibliophiles. If I'm going to read it, this is the way to do it. Infinite Summer is sponsored by The Morning News, who brought us the Tournament of Books.

Last night, I began exercising the David Foster Wallace area of my brain by starting A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, an essay about a Caribbean cruise he took in order to write about it for Harper's. I'm twelve pages in, and already I've laughed out loud several times.

I expect Infinite Jest will be much different, being that it is fiction and over 1000 pages long (including footnotes/endnotes.) We'll see. I'm going to give it a try. My expectations for myself are not too high: See what it's like and enjoy the ride. Even if I determine IJ is not my style and decide to abandon it, I will learn a bit more about why DFW is so admired, and I will have discovered his essays, which already makes this endeavor more than worthwhile.

Reading Circle Group Reads

I'm finally back. I'm going to be lazy and copy some posts I wrote about the group reads we picked for the Reading Circle. I am actually proud that I've read and posted about all three of them for 2009.

January: Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

SPOILER ALERT: There are some spoilers below for this book.

I enjoyed Cold Comfort Farm. It was a bit different from what I expected, but once I got into the rhythm of the story, I settled in. Flora was a wonderful character. I don't think I know anyone quite like her. She's so contradictory, in a way: you wonder at the start if she's terribly lazy, preferring to live with strange relatives rather than work and be independent, but then she goes to work on the people at Cold Comfort Farm, making all of their lives better.

I loved the transformations, and how Flora was able to pinpoint exactly what each of them needed. Amos should go round the country in "one o' they Ford vans," preaching. Seth should be a movie star. Elfine and Dick Hawk-Monitor belonged together. Reuben needed to run the farm himself. Etc., etc.

The names made me laugh, plus the little details, like Flora suggesting to Adam a little mop for "clettering" the dishes instead of using a twig. (The made-up words had me giggling, too.) The ending, with the wedding, and Flora *almost* getting her questions answered, then being interrupted, then Flora and Charles flying off in his plane, was perfect.

I saw the movie afterwards, and it was quite well done. The actress who played Flora was so likable, and the other characters were almost all how I pictured them. I especially enjoyed Stephen Fry as poor Mr. Mybug and Ian McKellan as Amos.

Here are some great quotes from the movie.


February: The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker

This novel was also different from what I expected; for some reason, I thought it would be a bit funny, or maybe quirky is a better word. The characters are a little quirky in that they are all quite unique, but Baker doesn't take advantage of their quirkiness, and that's a great thing.

There is a sort of mystery that you learn more about as you read. Actually, there are several mysteries, but this isn't written as a mystery novel. I thought Baker did a great job with the plot, showing us glimpses of the full story, just a bit at a time. The story is told by Truly (the "Little Giant" of the title), but sometimes Baker lets us in on something Truly doesn't know yet, and she was quite skillful in working the point of view in order to do this.

I loved the themes Baker explored, and the little places where the themes showed up surprised and delighted me. Even the packaging of the book (the cover, chapter headings, and page breaks, etc.) had fun with the themes.

I thought this was a very good first novel. There was one event that I didn't quite believe, but maybe it's just that I didn't see it coming. I don't want to say much more about this, just in case anyone reading this would like to give this book a try.


March: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

SPOILER ALERT: There are some vague spoilers for this book below.

I loved this book. My IRL book group met in March, and when they asked what I was reading, I was in the middle of this. Since I raved about it, we chose it for our next book. I think it will be a great one to discuss.

I loved how many of the chapters could work as a short story: the friendship with Scarlett, the trip through the ghoul-gate (yikes, that was scary!), dancing the Macabray, etc. Gaiman is so skilled with words; he chooses them so carefully, and there's never too little or too much. And I love his sense of humor. The poet, Nehemiah Trot, especially made me laugh: "Hola, young Bod! I hear that excitement is the master of the hour, that you fling yourself through these dominions like a comet across the firmament. What's the word, good Bod?"

What fun Gaiman must have had creating this book. I watched him read the Interlude: The Convocation chapter here, and he looks to be having a blast. See the twinkle in his eye?

He was recently on The Colbert Report. He linked to it in this journal entry. Brave man! He wrote more about the experience here.

The Morning News Tournament of Books, 2009

Jennifer told me about the Tournament of Books a few years ago, and every year I watch it more closely. The idea is this:

...take 16 of the most celebrated and highly touted novels of the year, seed them in a March Madness-type bracket, conscript them into a “Battle Royale of Literary Excellence,” and, in honor of David Sedaris’s brother, present the author of the winning book a live rooster.

The contenders have been announced, the judges are ready to go, and you can even download and print out the brackets to fill in your own guesses.

The Tournament begins on Monday, March 9th, and will launch here.

Which book do you think will win?

The Newbery Medal, 2009

The Newbery Medal

I have a great fondness for this award, the first book award I ever knew of; I recall as a young adult noticing the Newbery Medal seals on special books. Starting a few years ago, my parents have made it a tradition to give me the Newbery and Caldecott winners for my birthday, which is conveniently in February. They've added some past winners to my collection, too, and hope to see it complete someday.

Here are this year's winner and honor books, with notes:

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
I'm pretty happy for Gaiman! I've read and enjoyed his Coraline and Stardust, plus a couple of his Sandman comics. I've recently felt in the mood for some more Gaiman, and, why look, here it is.

The Underneath by Kathi Appelt
I first heard of this book from my friend Susan, who hadn't read it but thought it looked interesting. I looked it up and put it on my TBR list. Now it's moved closer to the top.

The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle
Our library has only one copy of this one. (I bet they'll be ordering more now!) It looks fantastic.

Savvy by Ingrid Law
What a great idea for a story! I want to read this one with Skye. It looks like her kind of book.

After Tupac & D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson
Woodson is such a prolific writer, and this gives me reason to move her closer to the top of my "must read" list.

Congrats to all of the winners!

Persephone Books: Happy Birthday to Me!

I just received my annual order of Persephone books, and I'm so excited to dig in! But no, let's just gaze at them awhile first, because they are so gorgeous....



Okay, now on to the decriptions of this year's books. (Make sure to admire the lovely, unique endpapers for each of the books when you click on the links.)

~ No. 3: Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple
Every year, I order one starting at the beginning of their list, and as this is my third year, I ordered #3. It's the story of "an ordinary family... struck by disaster when the husband, in a moment of weak, mid-life vanity, runs off with a French girl," and the Spectator calls it "A very good novel indeed about the fragility and also the tenacity of love." I've never read any Dorothy Whipple, and I look forward to this one.

~ No. 16: Saplings by Noel Streatfeild
I should someday read Ballet Shoes by this author. For now, I'm going to try one of her books for adults. This novel is about children being separated from their families during World War II in Britain, something that was necessary in many cases for physical survival, but psychologically had many consequences. In the afterward, Dr. Jeremy Holmes says Streatfeild's "supreme gift was her ability to see the world from a child's perspective" and "she shows that children can remain serene in the midst of terrible events as long as they are handled with love and openness."

~ No. 38: Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia Strachey
This one sounds like a lot of fun: "A brilliant, bittersweet upstairs-downstairs comedy." (Shena Mackay, The Guardian) It is about a wedding, of course, but perhaps not a cheerful one. The soon-to-be bride knows she is about to make a big mistake.

~ No. 81: Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson
This is one of the newest Persephone publications, and it looks delightful. Miss Buncle is an single woman (hence the "miss") who writes a novel based on the village she lives in. She does this for practical reasons: she needs to earn some money. I can imagine the hijinks that might ensue... Her granddaughter says Stevenson's books are "a soothing balm." Lovely.

And now, the big question: Which one should I read first?

The Cybils were announced!

The Cybils: The Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards
You can read more about these awards here.

The 2008-9 winners have just been announced. So many great titles here! Several of them are already on my TBR list, and of course I'm adding the rest, plus some titles from the finalists list and past winners/finalists (see sidebar on the site.)

Here are the winners of this year's Cybils, with notes:

Easy Readers:


I Love My New Toy
written by Mo Willems

Around here, we love Mo Willems, and the Elephant and Piggie books have brought us lots of giggles. Felix chose one for his library summer reading program reward. I don't think we've read this one together yet.


Fantasy and Science Fiction:


Middle Grade:
The Graveyard Book
written by Neil Gaiman

Gaiman's book won the Newbery Medal this year. I've enjoyed other Gaiman stuff (Coraline and some Sandman comics, and especially Stardust.) I'm really looking forward to reading this one.


Young Adult:
The Hunger Games
written by Suzanne Collins

I've heard really good things about this one. I'm happy to see it here, and I can't wait to read it.



Fiction Picture Books:


How to Heal a Broken Wing
written and illustrated by Bob Graham

This one is new to me, and it looks lovely. I'll have to try it with Skye and Felix.




Graphic Novels:


Elementary/Middle Grade:
Rapunzel's Revenge
written by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale
illustrated by Nathan Hale

I just read this one, and then immediately told Skye she should read it, too. We both loved it! So much fun. Shannon Hale is a wonderful writer, and I bet she had a blast writing this with her husband. The illustrations by Nathan Hale (no relation) are fabulous.


Young Adult:
Emiko Superstar (Minx)
written by Mariko Tamaki
illustrated by Steve Rolston

I never would have heard of this one, and I'm going to see if my library has it. I'm glad graphic novels are starting to really be recognized as a legitimate literary form.


Middle-Grade Fiction:


The London Eye Mystery
written by Siobhan Dowd

I doubt I'd have heard of this one if not for these awards. It looks like something I'd really enjoy, too. I'll have to check it out.



Non-Fiction MG/YA:


The Year We Disappeared: A Father-Daughter Memoir
written by Cylin Busby and John Busby

I'm positive I wouldn't have noticed this one but for the Cybils, and now I think I should check it out. I'm not much for crime fiction, but this one seems to be more about family than anything else.

Non-Fiction Picture Books:


Nic Bishop: Frogs
written and illustrated by Nic Bishop

I don't go looking for award winning non-fiction for kids, and now I think, why not? I'll definitely make a point to check out Nic Bishop.


Poetry:


Honeybee
written by Naomi Shihab Nye

I love Naomi Shihab Nye (Nineteen Varieties of Gazelle, Habibi), and I expect I'll love this, too.




Young Adult Fiction:


The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
written by E Lockhart

This one looks delicious! It was also a Michael L. Printz honor book, and is a contender in the Morning News Tournament of Books. I've got it out from the library now, and plan to read it soon.

Readolutions 2009

1. I will read at least 50 books.
2. I will read some of my shelf-sitters, including Newbery winners, Persephone books, poetry and short stories, parenting books, and something in French.
3. I will read every day with my kids, use my book lists (from Under the Chinaberry Tree, The Read-Aloud Handbook, and Book Crush) to request books for them, and take them to the library regularly.
4. I will keep my reading journal/calendar up-to-date.
5. I will keep a monthly TBR list, and start a list of books I'd love to read someday.
6. I will keep lists for "books purchased/received" and "books lent."
7. I will keep my Amazon wish list updated.
8. I will post on this blog regularly, hopefully at least weekly, and keep my sidebar updated.
9. I will post on friends' blogs.
10. I will participate in BAFAB week at least once this year.
11. I will participate in some reading challenges.
12. I will participate in several book clubs, online (the Reading Circle and maybe Chicklit) and offline (women's book club and mother-daughter book club).
13. I will read all of this year's Reading Circle group reads, and reply to all of the discussion threads.
14. I will post every week on the Reading Circle, and post at least monthly on Chicklit.
15. I will buy fewer books.
16. When I buy books, I will do my best to buy independent/used, or to buy in support of a charity (public library, school, etc.).
17. I will order some Persephone books for my birthday!
18. I will work on organizing my book shelves, and find a new home for some of my books.

My Best of 2008: Young People's Literature

I decided to give young people's literature its own category in my favorites, as I read so much of it this year. It's been wonderful to have two kids that enjoy books and ask me to read with them often. (I did ask Skye to help me put together a list of her top five or ten books this year, but as we looked through her 2008 book list, she couldn't choose. She loved them all!)

I am not going to include picture books here, just books for older readers, middle elementary and up.

Favorite book:

The Watsons Go to Birmingham -- 1963
Christopher Paul Curtis
How do I sum this one up? It's one of those books that makes you laugh a lot, and cry a lot. It's about so many things: what it means to be a family, where home is, racism in America. I was especially impressed with how Curtis explains the "why" of racism. That's the question every kid asks, and a question adults have a hard time answering: Why are people racist? Why do some people have such strong racist feelings that they do horrible things, hurting innocent people, even children? In the book, when the main character asks this tough question, his parents have a difficult time explaining why. It's his older brother that helps him process the sad things he's learned.

Favorite (start to a) series:

The Penderwicks and
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street
Jeanne Birdsall
Skye and I read these for our mother-daughter book club. These stories of a family with four girls are reminiscent of classic young people's literature. Jeanne Birdsall was a great reader as a child, and she says in this interview that "the first Penderwicks is really a love letter to the books I read as a child." She lists some of them: "Noel Streatfeild’s books, All of a Kind Family, Edward Eager, E. Nesbit." I love the list at the end of that interview of all the books mentioned by Jane, the biggest reader in the Penderwicks family. My daughter's online nickname here, Skye, comes from her favorite Penderwicks girl. Birdsall plans on three more Penderwicks books, and we look forward to them.

Favorite author discoveries:

Sharon Creech
One of Skye's friends always sings the praises of Sharon Creech when we talk books. In working on a Brownies Try-It badge, they were challenged to read something recommened by the other. Skye and I both read and enjoyed Granny Torrelli Makes Soup and Pleasing the Ghost, and we look forward to more Creech stories.

Ellen Raskin
This author is a re-discovery for me. Skye and I read The Westing Game and The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) for her school book club last year. I remember carrying that second one around with me in elementary school, facinated by it. I love Raskin's quirky sense of humor and creative puzzle stories.

Andrew Clements
What a great writer for kids! Frindle was Skye's choice for our first time hosting mother-daughter book club. I've read another of his since (The Landry News) and Skye's read at least two more (The Janitor's Boy and Lunch Money). We don't think you can go wrong with a Clements book. (And how cool is it that Brian Selznick does the illustrations?)

Honorable mention:

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
Excellent! I missed this one as a kid, so it was a treat to read it with Skye.
Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
Another pick from our mother-daughter book club. Beautiful writing, beautiful story.
Babymouse books by Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm
These comics are great! I love that a sister/brother team writes them. Check out Babymouse's neat website.
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
How can you not want to read a book with a title and cover art like that? MBS did not disappoint.
Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath
This is a possible future mother-daughter book club read. Think of the food possibilities for this party! Great story; I want to read more Horvath.