Have to put in a plug for City Dog, Country Frog, picture book by Mo Willems and Jon Muth. A brilliantly simple story about ageing and dying, with a perfect pairing of text and paintings.
QuoteHave to put in a plug for City Dog, Country Frog, picture book by Mo Willems and Jon Muth. A brilliantly simple story about ageing and dying, with a perfect pairing of text and paintings.
My DH spontaneously found and brought home this book a while ago, and I. Cannot. Read. It. It's crushing.
Oh my gosh, I just made the mistake of reading it while still at work and the froggy smile at the end just did me in.QuoteMy DH spontaneously found and brought home this book a while ago, and I. Cannot. Read. It. It's crushing.
Yeah, I picked that one up in the bookstore and was in tears by the last page. I don't know if I could handle attempting to read it to my kids. :cry2
I just finished THE CABINET OF EARTHS, which is exquisitely good, and I just started ABOVE WORLD, which is smart, fast-paced, and full of sass. It's always nice to hit a vein of quality MG fantasy from new authors...
I'm so very glad you guys liked CABINET! (And now my lifelong dream of making it into the "Whatcha reading" thread at Verla's has come true!)
:thankyou
I just read THE HUMMING ROOM by Ellen Potter--a very faithful remake of THE SECRET GARDEN (only with scenic rivers and conservatories!)
and am reading the Cassandra Clare books for the first time, because my kids said I really really should!
and have just bought a pile of new books to keep me out of trouble . . . .
Just finished the first three books in the Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa, and ready to start the fourth. :icecream:
Shadows (sequel to Ashes) by Ilsa Blick-- great!
Wonder by RJ Palacio-- loved this one
Readicide: How Schools are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It
This is an amazing book about how schools, specifically the NCLB policies and push toward standardized testing, is in fact LOWERING test scores. Anyone who is involved with schools, reading or writing should read this book. (especially if you have kids).
keep reading,
dave r
Happy to jump on the CABINET OF EARTHS bandwagon!
I just read Margot Livesey's wonderful THE FLIGHT OF GEMMA HARDY, a retelling of JANE EYRE. I sank into it and didn't resurface until the last page. And then I was bereft, having finished.
Rab, I also could not put down "The Flight of Gemma Hardy" and was sorry to finish it! I then searched for other books by the author and took out, from the library, "The House on Fortune Street". I was upset to find myself not being able to get into it. I tried forcing myself to read further, certain it must be a great book if I could just get hooked. I never got past a 1/4 of the book. I'm wondering if it was just too different from the subject matter and Character of Gemma, and too soon after reading that one, to launch into Fortune Street. I do think "Homework" looks interesting.
I'm reading Rae Carson's The Girl of Fire and Thorns. This is the first time I read a sample (on Kindle) and then HAD to get the book RIGHT NOW.
I'm reading Rae Carson's The Girl of Fire and Thorns. This is the first time I read a sample (on Kindle) and then HAD to get the book RIGHT NOW.
It's child-neglect levels of good.*
*I'll see you in a few days, kids. The can opener is on the counter if you get hungry....
Shannywriter, I recently met Lindsey Ward at a bookfair and got a copy of WHEN BLUE MET EGG. She was wonderful, and so is the book. She told me all about the illustrations, really making me see things I wouldn't have otherwise---fascinating!
Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver, so far I prefer Delirium. But I'm only half-way through.
Just finished When Blue Met Egg by Lindsey Ward (PB- I teach kindergarten) And I cried! I love it. :garden2
I MUCH preferred Delirium. Agreed!
Ooh, I want to read SCORPIO RACES too. Gosh, I haven't done ANY reading for awhile.Yes, do! So worth it!
Just finished A CONFUSION OF PRINCES by Garth Nix. A fun read but not up to the standards of SABRIEL, which is one of my favorites.
OKAY FOR NOW. One of the best books I've ever read. Ever.
Shanny, I read the library's copy of Scorpio Races twice, and ended up buying my own copy so I could make notes in the margins. SUCH an awesome book!!I am sort of embarrassed to say that I read Scorpio Races again, for the third time! Okay we went camping, at the ocean, and again, nothing else on my tbr pile appealed to me, and I'd just ordered Sweetly and it hadn't shown up yet.
I just finished Carolyn Mackler's THE EARTH, MY BUTT, AND OTHER BIG ROUND THINGS. That was a great book. I loved Virginia, felt for her, cheered for her, and really enjoyed watching her find her power.
{Julia! Welcome back! It has been ages since I've seen your avatar!}
...
Just finished Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler (loved it) and now reading A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly. Picked it up used at the little bookstore by where we are camping and the MC is 16 but I'm not sure if its YA.
Now reading Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor :skull
I just finished WITCHLANDERS, by our own Lena Coakley. So lovely! I'm glad to see that straight fantasy seems to be making somewhat of a comeback.
Just finished our own Amber Turner's SWAY...a lovely, quirky, touching middle grade novel with a very fine voice.
I highly recommend.
Congratulations, Amber, on a terrific first novel.
Just finished PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ by A.S. King - I loved it! I also loved DUST OF 100 DOGS, Need to get Everybody Sees the Ants now.
Reading and loving VIOLET RAINES ALMOST GOT STRUCK BY LIGHTNING by Danette Haworth.
Just finished Helen Simonson's debut novel, MAJOR PETTIGREW'S LAST STAND, which I highly recommend. It is slow-paced, but gorgeously written, with unforgettable characters and a tremendously moving love story.Agreed - I loved this.
I've definitely been in reading slumps myself. I was in one recently and then I read WONDER by R.J. Palacio and it broke me out of the slump for some reason.Great - thanx!
(Pippa, Gary Scmidt has a new book out in case that's of interest to you since you liked his last. It sounds totally different than OKAY FOR NOW plot-wise though. I think it's called IT CAME FROM THE STARS.)
I'm reading Girl Parts by John Cusick (who's an agent and author) and The Diviners by Libba Bray. I usually only read one book at a time, but I can't read The Diviners at night. Too scary.
I can't wait to read The Raven Boys. I'm throwing out wild hints that it would make a fabulous birthday or Christmas present for me. If I can wait that long... :)That's my next one, Rose! So excited!
Just finished Rae Carson's Crown of Embers. I'm so glad fantasy seems to be making a comeback in YA! And somehow I thought it was a sequel but not a middle book, but behold, when I come to the end, I see there is a whole nother book waiting for me. (Well, figuratively. I have to wait a year or whatever.) In any case, it was a strong story in itself and didn't suffer from the saggy middle book syndrome at all.
I'm rereading Little Women, and for some reason it's making me miss my childhood. Or maybe it's the holidays doing that, but I'm blaming the book.
Ally Condie's Reached (finally!)
J-Bert and Olmue: I'm glad to be in such great company! I'm already thinking--would it be weird o finish it and then immediately start reading it again? I don't think I've ever done that before.
I'm reading SIEGE AND STORM (Leigh Bardugo's sequel to SHADOW AND BONE), and enjoying it tremendously so far!
I'm happy to report that I loved ELEANOR AND PARK - and not just because it's set in Omaha where I happen to live. What I really liked about it was that it's a genuine teen love story and it's about teens who don't always appear in books - multi-ethnic kids, kids from broken families who live on the wrong side of town (so to speak). It's a very realistic portrait of growing up in a place where high school graduation isn't an automatic assumption and your mom sends a note saying you were sick for the school field trip because she doesn't have the $3 fee. And yet first love is just as glorious there as it is anywhere else.
Wondering if amnesia is the new thing--I'm reading a book called Unremembered, but I just read another book called Forgotten. Then there was Unspoken... Or maybe it's UN titles that are in right now??
Just finished rereading THE TRUE MEANING OF SMEKDAY and now I'm reading THE LETTERS OF E.B. WHITE. I love this man. :)
J-Bert, just curious, what would you consider her best works? I want to dive into her books, but not sure where to start.
Listening to Lauren Oliver's Delirium; reading in print Sara Zarr's The Lucy Variations and Colm Toibin's The Master.
Oooh, I loved the LUCY VARIATIONS. Enjoy!
Has anyone read THE ONAHLOSSEE RIDING CAMP FOR GIRLS? It's been getting lots of buzz as a breakout novel for the author. I'm only part way through.
The author spoke at a local bookstore and did a short reading. I have to be honest: based on that I chose not to buy or read the book. The reviews I've read have been mixed. I was floored to discover that the author had gotten a seven figure advance for it---no wonder it's being so heavily promoted. (I think it's YONAHLOSSEE.)
Hi 'Updog' - 'The Lightning Thief' is a great read! Enjoy!
I'm reading WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY BESIDES OURSELVES by KarenJoy Fowler. Wonderful and weird.I read that one recently, and really liked it.
You all were right about "The Lightning Thief". Now I'm going to have to watch the movie too... and buy the rest of the series. Next up: "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman.
I just finished The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton DiSclafani (a woman). It's adult literary fiction but it's one of those books that I think could be considered YA or New Adult as the main character is 16. Sexual and suspenseful; I couldn't put it down. . .
Do you like them? Which is the best? What's Black Heart about? (Just give us a sentence.) Thanks.
I'm reading THE OTHER TYPIST, and I'm not as in love with it as I thought I would be. I just finished rereading CODE NAME VERITY, though, and it might be suffering from Not-Code-Name-Verity Syndrome. Some books need a proper mourning period before jumping into anything else. :)
And I loved David Almond’s Skellig and Francesca Lia Block’s Weetzie Bat." I'm with him on all the adult novelists and FEED, but don't know the other two books. Should I?
I just finished CROCKETT JOHNSON AND RUTH KRAUSS: HOW AN UNLIKELY COUPLE FOUND LOVE, DODGED THE FBI, AND TRANSFORMED CHILDREN'S LITERATURE. It's a great insight into some of the most crucially formative years and personalities in kidlit, especially for picture books.
I just finished CROCKETT JOHNSON AND RUTH KRAUSS: HOW AN UNLIKELY COUPLE FOUND LOVE, DODGED THE FBI, AND TRANSFORMED CHILDREN'S LITERATURE. It's a great insight into some of the most crucially formative years and personalities in kidlit, especially for picture books.
Just finished Yann Martel's Life of Pi -- I'd seen the film version several months ago on DVD and enjoyed it very much, but the book is simply awesome. :yup
Rereading THE HOUSE OF THE SCORPION, by Nancy Farmer. What a fine book! I'm dying to read the sequel, but I haven't decided if I should ask for it for Christmas, or pick it up right now...
Next up: Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman.
Stayed up late last night to finish Far Far Away, by Tom McNeal. I almost didn't pick it up in the first place because I read another one of his books and it just wasn't my thing (3rd person present omniscient, contemporary issues book). But I'm really glad I gave him another try!
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowel is everything they say it is and more. Not sure how to move on after this reading experience.
Also loved Eleanor and Park. New favourite author.
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowel is everything they say it is and more. Not sure how to move on after this reading experience.
Also loved Eleanor and Park. New favourite author.
THE SCORPIO RACES by Maggie Stiefvater. It took me a few chapters to get into it, but I'm hooked now. It's great so far.Anthony, I read this 4 times! I loved it that much. :)
And I also just bought: The Owl Who Liked Sitting on Caesar: Living with a Tawny Owl.
G. R.
I usually like John Grisham, but I just didn't connect with The Painted House. What did I miss?
Rereading, for the first time in years, The Once and Future King. It still has the power to move me.
Can we turn this discussion to possible ALA winners? I'm thinking maybe RAIN REIGN for the Newbery. It's about a "high-functioning autistic" child who's living with a very emotionally damaged father and her attachment to a dog she calls "Rain." It's good, but I still like COUNTING BY SEVENS (also about a girl on the spectrum) better.
Any other candidates? I want to read some of them during the holidays.
I liked GHOSTS OF TUPELO LANDING by Sheila Turnage. Her THREE TIMES LUCKY won an honor a year or so back, and I thought this sequel was just as good.
I don't know why Claudia Mills isn't more of a household name by now because her writing is sharp, funny, and charming.
And for a break I dashed through The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks which blew me away for different reasons. I see now why it was so acclaimed.
ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE, which some of us discussed in this thread, just won a Pulitzer for fiction.
A Ring of Endless Light --- the dolphin scenes are truly amazing and helping to serve as a mentor text to my own MG
Schriscoe, my copy of that novel is in tatters from being read so often---I love those dolphin scenes, especially. For an equally evocative dolphin book for slightly younger readers, Karen Hesse's THE MUSIC OF DOLPHINS, about a girl raised by dolphins, is worth a read if you don't know it.
I'm reading The Wizard of Earthsea. It's the first one of a trilogy. Ursula LeGuin is a great fantasy writer.
Just finished THE THIEF by Megan Whalen Turner. It's a Newbery Honor Book from 1997 and was reissued in 2009. I LOVED! this book. It's narrated by Gen who claims he can steal anything--yet, he's in prison for doing exactly that. An outsider looking in might think he's a loser, but Gen is the narrator and through his wry sense of humor you just know there's more to him than meets the eye. I won't ruin the story for anyone who hasn't read it, but loved Gen and everything he was up to. Best of all, it had a great ending. Truly satisfying. :-)
Venus Brown, you are so lucky! You still have The Queen of Attolia and The King of Attolia, both starring Gen, and another book starring Sophos still ahead of you. I wish I could read them again for the first (or even tenth!) time.
Jody, A Drowned Maiden's Hcair is one of my favorites. And I just finished my favorite book of the year (out of 106 read so far): Laura Amy Schlitz's THE HIRED GIRL. Just loved it -- such a wonderful narrator in 14-year-old Joan/Janet, a 1911 farmgirl who joins the household staff of a wealthy Jewish family in Baltimore. Her story shows some shades of her dear Jane Eyre, as well as Anne Shirley. I loved every page and it made me cry an awful lot for such a warm-hearted and optimistic book.
How come second books by the same author seldom measure up to the first book?
Just started Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Yes, I know, I'm way behind the crowd on this one. Easy, cool kids. Easy.
I'm loving Katie Kennedy's LEARNING TO SWEAR IN AMERICA. Yuri and Dovie and Lennon are such wonderfully charming, flawed characters. The sarcastic humor is so much fun---here's a favorite example:
"Hey, it's the Spockovskii!" Lennon called, splitting his fingers in a Vulcan salute. . . .
Yuri nodded to Dovie's parents, who were washing the dishes together. "'Skii' is ending for adjectives," he said. "I'm noun."
"Knowing that is proof you're the Spockovskii."
There are so many great lines I want to write down, but I'm too busy turning pages. No wonder this book is getting starred reviews!
Let's revive this thread, shall we?
The War I Finally Won, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, is so, so good. It is making me cry in all the right ways. It's the sequel to The War That Saved My Life, which won a Newbery Honor.
It's been a while since I read a book that I felt in my insides like this one.
I loved The War that Saved My Life. I hope our library has the sequel.
I'm still feeling very :xmastree and the book I loved best was Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden.Oh, I LOVE Rumer Godden! I have a copy of HOLLY AND IVY and re-read it just a few weeks ago. I think for me it is going to be a "read this every Christmas" kind of book. My kids aren't really old enough for it yet, unfortunately.
I read J.R. Tolkien Letters to Father Christmas. The book had the actual letters in their envelopes with artwork. Enjoyed the book and I thought it was fun to read like you could read it to your small child.
I love this thread. But I'd love it even more if some of you would tell why you chose the book you're reading--and what you like and don't like about it. Or at least, a line or two describing what the book is about, so the rest of us can decide if we'd like to read it. Thanks.I'm currently reading "Inheritance" by Christopher Paolini (4th book in series). It's wonderfully and intelligently written. The world-building is great and the character development is so good that the characters feel as though they are part of my family (it probably helps that the books are rather long).
I did not read the book, but I've seen the movie Eragon, and it was enjoyable.
I know what you mean, Carrots. I also have a problem with movie versions of dearly loved books.
This novel is painstakingly researched and reads like a mystery. (I'm told there's a movie, but can't quite warm up to the idea of seeing someone else's interpretation of these characters I hold so dear...)I know what you mean. Sometimes it works out, but often not. I dearly love the Inspector Gamache series of mysteries by Louise Penny, but didn't last more than five minutes with a movie version on television. The people I was watching on screen were strangers to me.
You made me laugh, Jody. So I decided to follow you on twitter. Now I see that we have school in common. I worked as a teacher and counselor. And now writing!
I, also, see my twitter handle doesn´t appear here. I must change that. It´s @Z_RiveraMorales, just in case.
This is a suspense/mystery which takes place at a boarding school, with the majority of the tension between twin sisters and their adult advisors -- you know from the get-go that one of the twins is murdered, but you don't find out which one until about 2/3 through...then it's waiting to see if the murderer will be caught (it's not really a mystery who it is -- just if the person will be caught before more are killed). I'd say it's more of a psychological suspense than anything else.
I just started "The Rosie Project" a humorous story about a professor who decided it's time to find a wife.I'm so in the mood for something humorous. This sounds charming.
OLIVER TWIST by Charles Dickens
A WOLF CALLED WANDER by Rosanne Parry
recently finished Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff, a Pulitzer Prize winner.JFriday, I loved that book. Back when my book group was active, it sparked one of the best discussions we ever had. Plus we met at a Middle Eastern restaurant that became one of our favorites. :sigh remembering eating in restaurants :sigh
JFriday, I loved that book. Back when my book group was active, it sparked one of the best discussions we ever had. Plus we met at a Middle Eastern restaurant that became one of our favorites. :sigh remembering eating in restaurants :sigh
I read "Never Cry Wolf" by Farley Mowat.I'm guessing this is the book the movie was based on? It was a fantastic movie (came out probably 30 years ago?), and I'd heard it was closely based on a book.
But if you're giving it to a child maybe you should mention that imprinting isn't a good idea.:lol I'd be sure and do that. ;) I checked out Never Cry Wolf after I saw the movie, but I don't think I read the whole thing. It was pretty similar to the movie (for the most part), so I knew the gist.
I'm reading Elizabeth Bunce's delightful MG Victorian mystery series that starts with Premeditated Myrtle. Currently on the second one, How to Get Away with Myrtle. They're fun. :)
. . .and so far I'm enjoying both the similarities and the differences in the book.I love when that happens.
I'm reading Elizabeth Bunce's delightful MG Victorian mystery series that starts with Premeditated Myrtle. Currently on the second one, How to Get Away with Myrtle. They're fun. :)I didn't know Elizabeth was writing again. I thought A CURSE AS DARK AS GOLD was brilliant and I enjoyed STAR CROSSED, too. She had taken a break from writing for a while, so I'm obviously behind the times. PREMEDITATED MYRTLE sounds delightful.
I was intrigued to hear that the MC was actually herself.Oh, that's cool! I haven't read that book in ages ...
I don't read MG anymore, but I've read Laini Taylor before, Debbie.
It's YA according to our library.No, she's generally YA. I was (confusingly) commenting on the post before yours. I wasn't being clear at all.
No, she's generally YA. I was (confusingly) commenting on the post before yours. I wasn't being clear at all.
I put off reading it because I find LMA's father incredibly annoying, but while the author doesn't sugarcoat Bronson Alcott's failings as a parent and provider, she doesn't make him into an uncaring monster, either. I still want to give Bronson a good talking to, but it worked out in the end, and I learned how much I had forgotten about the transcendentalists (lit major here, with a really good AmLit prof).
I mean...how often do Iranian or Amish kids get to have superpowers in books?
Cool! I've been working my way through my state's library system's writing manuals, and the book I'm currently reading is about how authors should never include different ethnicities or cultures or religions in children's books, and it upset me so much. What the author plainly meant was "no culture except my Anglo-Saxon culture, because it's too foreign".
English is nowhere near my family's first language (depending on the relative, it's anything from third to fifth), and even though I'm of European heritage, I have nothing in common with Anglo-Saxon culture - I was raised in a different community. I was excited about all the calls for more diversity in children's fiction, and I'm pretty shocked that a Big Five publisher put this manual out about what they like in books for kids. :shrug
the book I'm currently reading is about how authors should never include different ethnicities or cultures or religions in children's booksWhat's the copyright date for that particular book?
but I don't know how you can possibly write a believable, well-rounded character if you shave off all the cultural things that help create real people in the first place.:exactly
I want to give it to every person I know.:wow
I just read Brother's Keeper, a MG by Julie Lee. It's a story of a 12YO girl who has to get herself and her little brother to Busan, Korea (south end of SK) from somewhere north of Pyeongyang (North Korea) in 1950 after they get separated from their parents. It's based on the life of the author's mother and takes place in a very scary time during the Korean War. I cried when I read it, just realizing the kinds of things that people have had to go through (and are still going through in many parts of the world).
My library is FINALLY open to walk-ins!! I am thrilled. It's all I can do to not check out every book on the shelf, lol. I recently (As in, this week) read 6. All Thirteen: the incredible cave rescue of the Thai boys' soccer team, by Christina Soontornvat. It's NF but won a Newbery Honor (along with her other book that came out the same year--A Wish in the Dark). Both were EXCELLENT.