SLJ's Battle of the Kids' Books

For the past several years, School Library Journal has hosted the Battle of the Kids' Books, and this year's contenders were announced today. I follow along each year, but usually have only read about half the titles. This year, I've decided I'm going to have all the books read by the time the competition starts in March, and make my picks. The best thing about this battle is reading what authors think of these books - their insightful, eloquent, sometimes humorous reviews. Check out the website and follow along!

I'm currently reading an adult mystery - Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains by Catriona McPherson. So far, I'm loving it and will tell you more about it when I've finished. I'm also listening to Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt, which was just announced as an Odyssey Award Honor audiobook. I read the book back in April, and after following all the discussions on the Heavy Medal blog, I kept meaning to re-read it, and listening to the audiobook seemed to be the perfect idea. The narrator, Lincoln Hoppe, is amazing, and even though I know what's coming, I'm so completely drawn into Doug's story all over again.

Thoughts on the Comment Challenge

Yesterday was the first check in for the comment challenge. The goal is to leave five comments a day on blogs; I've averaged that. Some days I leave fewer, some days a few more. I'm impressed with the people that are leaving many more than that!

I've found some great new blogs to read, and I've loved getting comments on my blog! My additional challenge is trying to keep up with them and respond, but that's a good problem to have.

I read quite a few blogs before I started this challenge, and even before I started blogging. And while I knew there were tons of book blogs out there, this challenge has been a reminder of all the people that love reading and talking about books. Even though I spend my days in a library, it's sometimes easy to forget this...some days I have lots of people asking for books, and telling me about what they are reading, and other days it seems like all people want are dvds and help on the computer. (For the record - I totally don't have a problem with libraries circulating popular dvds, and I think - no, I know - there are so many people needing computers to use for homework and job searches and the library is their only option, and I'm glad that's a service we can provide. Just saying my job isn't always about books and reading.)

So whether you're blogging about picture books or young adult titles, or writing books, whether you're blogging about your personal reading or about getting books in the hands of kids, it's both wonderful and refreshing to see so many people passionate about reading and sharing that passion with others. It's been an additional benefit of this challenge to see and be reminded of all that enthusiasm for reading.

Pottered Out

So, you may remember my goal to read all the Harry Potter books this summer. I read the first three really quickly and enjoyed them so much; I was surprised by how much I didn't remember.

And then I picked up Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. And it was long and it seemed like the book that would never end. I can't say for sure that I would have finished reading had I not found myself home sick for a couple of days. But I soldiered through, and when finished, was even more determined/obsessed with reading the rest. I read book 5 (while watching the first movie, the only movie I'd seen) and moved on to 6, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Do you know what I remembered from book six? That Bill and Fleur were engaged and the ending, where Dumbledore dies. A lot happens in between! I'm really not the person that reads the beginning and skips to the end, but I'm wondering if I did that with this book. How could I have forgotten so much? And, the whole reason I didn't read the last book when it came out, was because I heard someone talking about horcruxes, and I thought, "Horcruxes? I don't remember those. Are they important? Maybe I better figure that out before picking up a book I'll be lost in." Well, we learn about horcruxes in the middle of book six. Which apparently I might have completely skipped. Anyway, I finished book six, and watched the movie, and now, I'm a bit tired and I still haven't read the last book!

Here's the thing - I read the first book not too long after it was published. I introduced several friends to Harry Potter. I went to a midnight showing of the first movie. I eagerly awaited the next book. And somewhere along the way, the books began to matter a little less.

I will finish this series. I'm determined. But, having read the first six in a little under two weeks, I'm taking a break. I'm reading something else (probably Rules of Civility by Amor Towles - New York, late 1930s - it couldn't be more different than Hogwarts). I'm pottered out.


Side note:
Here's an interesting article - Conjuring the Next Harry Potter, from The Wall Street Journal.

Hello, August!

• Here in Texas, it's a given that summer will be hot. But, we have now had 30 consecutive days of triple-digit temperatures - we may hit 107 later this week - and it is HOT. I would like nothing more than to hide in my air-conditioned house and read all day.
• I am so excited for The Help to come out this month! Are you planning to see it?

• I decided sometime last month to re-read all the Harry Potter books this summer (and read the last one for the first time). Summer is slowly ticking along, and ummm....I haven't started yet. But, I convinced a friend to re-read them, too, so she's supposed to keep me on top of this project. It's not that I'm not excited by this, it's just I have so many other things I want to read as well. My new plan is to get all the books read, watch the first part of the last movie, and see the second part while it is still in theaters. We'll see...
• I'm currently reading Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury...so good! I was hooked from the very beginning, when the book opens with:

"Put the book down, darling," my mother said from her chair beside the mirror. "The chapter's end is only a short way off," I replied, reaching out with my other hand to flip the page. Despite the ache in my shoulder from holding the book at arm's length so the dressmakers could work on my gown, I didn't want to give it up. (p. 3)

Agnes Wilkins, an avid reader and huge fan of Mansfield Park and Pride and Prejudice, is getting ready for her debut. One of the first events of the season is a party in which a mummy is unwrapped! Guests take turns cutting the wrapping, and anything they find - trinkets, jewels, etc. that were wrapped with the mummy - they get to keep. Only it turns it this mummy might be cursed. I'm loving this!

Currently...

I'm reading Entwined by Heather Dixon - a young adult re-telling/re-imagining of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. Loving it so far - I'm racing through it, which is good, because it's overdue at the library and I can't renew it.

I'm also reading State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (adult fiction), which is just insanely brilliant. Highly recommended.

And, while I rarely listen to audiobooks, I'm trying out Corduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall Smith, for something a little different.

What are you reading? Any good recommendations?

Too Many Books!

My library lets patrons have 50 items on request at a time, and I'm usually maxed out. It really only turns into a "problem" when I get a flood of books at once. Then, I play a juggling game, deciding what I have to read first, because I won't be able to renew it (others on the waiting list) and what I could possibly return without having read and then request it again.

Here's what I got the other day:

Through Her Eyes - Jennifer Archer - time-travel ghost story; I must have read a really great review of this somewhere. (young adult)
Sideways on a Scooter: Life and Love in India - Miranda Kennedy - travel narrative; I'm always drawn to tales of people packing up and moving off somewhere foreign. (adult)
State of Wonder - Ann Patchett - Bel Canto was amazing. I read and read and finishing was like coming up for air, in a good way. I read Run a little differently - one chapter each night, to really savor it. Have been anxiously awaiting this one. (adult)
Exposure: A Novel of Truth - Therese Fowler - has gotten mixed reviews, but I'm curious about this; drawn from real events, about sexting (adult)
Blink & Caution - Tim Wynne-Jones - 2011 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Excellence in Children's Literature, Fiction winner (young adult)
Sweet Jiminy - Kristen Gore - Gore's Sammy's House was a light, enjoyable read. This is really different, but I'm intrigued. (adult)
Cloaked - Alex Flinn - the author Beastly and A Kiss in Time, who always writes enjoyable fairy tale re-imaginings. (young adult)

And here's what will probably arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday:

Bumped - Megan McCafferty - I loved the Jessica Darling series. This is so completely different, but I can't wait to read it. (young adult)
Divergent - Veronica Roth - getting LOTS of buzz (young adult)
Moonglass - Jessi Kirby - Sarah Dessen blurbed this. It's got to be great. (young adult)
Sweetest Thing - Christina Mandelski (young adult)
Summer of Firsts and Lasts - Terra Elan McVoy - All I needed to know about this book to make me put it on hold is that it's about summer camp. (young adult)
Dreamland Social Club - Tara Altebrando - saw an ARC of this at TLA (young adult)
Betty Bunny Loves Chocolate Cake - Michael B. Kaplan - a picture book that looks and sounds adorable! She loves chocolate cake so much wants to marry it.

So many great books!

Keeping Bees and Peaches...Or, What I'm Currently Reading

Sometime last year I read a non-fiction book called The Hive Detectives: Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastrophe by Loree Griffin Burns. It is fascinating look at the life of honey bees, with great photographs by Ellen Harasimowicz. The book offers an explanation of the mysterious disappearances of honey bees, all the factors that may be contributing to the disappearance, and what is being done to understand this colony collapse disorder. It's accessible and interesting enough for older elementary school kids, but also equally wonderful for adults, especially as an introduction to this topic. I've been wanting to do more reading on the subject, so when I saw ARCs of The Beekeeper's Lament: How One Man and Half a Billion Honey Bees Help Feed America by Hannah Nordhaus at TLA,  I eagerly picked one up. (It will be available on May 24.)

At times it might be a little more in-depth than what I wanted, and it got off to a slow start (talking about cars?) but it's really gotten incredibly interesting. I am underlining things, feeling like I am working on a research paper. (This is a good thing, enjoyable to me.) I had no idea just how migratory bees are - some are transported all over the country and their migration has a huge impact on much of our agricultural system. They pollinate everything from almonds to cranberries to lettuce to blueberries.

Did you know that bees are not native to North America? They came over from England with the first settlers. And bee migration is not new - beekeepers in ancient Egypt moved bee colonies up and down the Nile River. I could keep going with the facts...Seriously, this book has so much information and, first few pages aside, it's written clearly and is easy to follow.

If I haven't managed to convince that reading about bees can be really interesting, I'm also reading The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen.

I picked it up not really knowing what to expect, and it's been a pleasant surprise. It has a hint of magical realism in it, which I wasn't sure about at first...and there's a scene toward the beginning of the book that I'm hoping gets explained more later on, but the characters and the mystery, have kept me up way too late reading each night to see what's going to happen.

Willa Jackson comes from a prominent old family in her small Southern town; unfortunately, her ancestors hit hard times and lost their fortune, and their historic home. One of Willa's former classmates, and a local socialite, Paxton Osgood, is renovating this house, the Blue Ridge Madam, and turning it into a grand inn. Plans take an unexpected turn when a skeleton is found buried on the grounds, under a peach tree. Willa and Paxton find themselves becoming friends as they try to find out what happened years ago, and how their grandmothers were involved.

With the hints of magical realism, superstitions and ghosts, a mystery and a little romance, this book has completely drawn me in.

What are you currently reading? Any good recommendations?



Reading in Snatches

I have several books that I've been reading in snatches - they are written in ways that I can easily pick up the book and choose a section to read, then put it down and come back later. These are great books, and I'm enjoying making them last. Plus, it is always nice to have something to pick up and read when you only have ten or fifteen minutes.

Everything I Need To Know I Learned From A Children's Book
edited by Anita Silvey

This is a collection of essays by a wide range of notable people. Each person discusses a book that impacted his or her life. Each entry also contains a selection from the book mentioned, as well as a bit of background information on the book and author. I got this book for Christmas, and every now and then I take it off the shelf and read an essay or two. I'm not going through the book in any particular order, I just read what catches my eye at the time. Highly recommended, especially for anyone who loves children's literature.

Let's Bring Back: An Encyclopedia of Forgotten-Yet-Delightful, Chic, Useful,

Curious, and Otherwise Commendable Things from Times Gone By

by Lesley M.M. Blume 

I am loving this! In the format of an encyclopedia, Blume writes about an array of things that she would like to bring back. It's a fascinating look at history, and it's interesting to me, that many of the things she writes about I have learned of from reading other books. She writes of calling cards, and immediately I was reminded of Laura's pa giving her money to purchase name cards from the printer, and the time she spent deciding on which design to select (Little Town on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder). And, I am personally vowing to start using the term acquaintance more.

(Blume is also the author of several wonderful children's books.)

A Family of Readers: The Book Lover's Guide to Children's and Young Adult Literatureby Roger Sutton and Martha V. Parravano (editors of the The Horn Book Magazine)                                 This book contains so much information! I'm taking my time my reading a library copy, and have just about reached my limit on renewals. Geared toward parents, it covers reading from birth to teens - board books, young adult titles, poetry, nonfiction...this is a book you can easily pick up and simply read the section that pertains to you and the age of your children.

I feel like this quote from the introduction sums it up perfectly, when Sutton calls this a book "for parents who wish their children would be a wee bit more understanding when Mom or Dad is lost in a book." (p. xiii) If I had kids, that's totally the kind I'd want. But seriously, this is a great resource.

Currently Reading

I wanted to find a good balance between writing about adult, young adult and children's books, but adult books take me longer to read, so I feel like I've done more posting about children's books, especially picture books lately.

I'm going to periodically post what I'm currently reading, and hope that you will chime in with a comment about what you're reading and what you're liking about it. Or not liking, if that's the case.

Right now I'm reading Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart.  This book was published in 2007, and I've had it sitting in various places in my house since then. I was so excited to get a copy of it; I'd read great reviews and was looking forward to reading it, but I was waiting for just the right moment to read it. You know, when I'd time to really appreciate it. It's okay to think that sounds crazy. Anyway, I picked it up the other night and finally started reading it, and it has not disappointed. It's proving to be a quick read, a delightful trip back in time to the summer of 1945.

That's the summer when Marjorie and one of her sorority sisters from the University of Iowa move to New York for the summer. They are certain they'll get jobs at Lord & Taylor, but end up working at Tiffany & Co. There, they are the first women to work on the sales floor - they work as pages, delivering packages to the repair and shipping departments and the book is full of tales and behind-the-scenes glimpes of the store. They are working when Judy Garland visits the store on her honeymoon, when Marlene Dietrich stops by to shop, and Marjorie even models earrings for a notorious gangster.

Even though they spend the summer pinching pennies to be able to afford living in New York, the two have some really incredible experiences, including being in Times Square on VJ Day.
This is a great mix of a biographical tale of a young woman living on her own for the first time, as well as a different, and personal, look at New York in the summer of 1945.

What are you currently reading?

Currently Reading

Oh! Spring has arrived! Maybe only temporarily, but it's here. The weather has been gorgeous, after such a mess of snow and ice. I spent the better part of yesterday afternoon reading and soaking up the sun. Today, with the weather equally nice, I walked my dog at the lake and listened to birds chirp. I noticed green shoots in my yard, meaning the daffodils are not far behind. I think I've had a productive enough morning that I can read outside again this afternoon. I just can't get enough of this sunshine!

I'm currently reading The Summer We Read Gatsby by Danielle Ganek. I read a lot of blogs about books, and reviews in different places, and have a habit of scribbling down titles of books that sound good on various pieces of scrap paper. And then sometimes I lose the scraps of paper. This is one of those books, and I just happened to come across when I was browsing at my current favorite library.

I started it, and didn't think I was going to finish it - there are references to The Great Gatsby, which I read in high school and don't remember much of, and I was afraid the book was going to consist of an awful lot that I'd simply skim over. But, that turned out to not be the case and I'm really enjoying it.

Two half-sisters, who are complete opposites, have inherited a house in Southampton from an aunt. They are supposed to spend a month in the house, before selling it, although there is some disagreement as to whether they should sell it. The book is sharp and witty and an entertaining story with great characters.

Here's a quote I love:
"Our first party on the porch started as summer vacation does, giddily hopeful. The early part of the evening, with its fragrant, darkening air, held such expectation, like the beginning of summer: this is going to be fun." (p. 45)

And, like the beginning of summer, and, I think of spring, too, this book is fun.

What are you currently reading? And do you have a good system for keeping track of what books you want to read?