In My Bag From Cover to Cover

I so love the first days of summer vacation as a reader. I love looking ahead to some extra reading time. For the last few years, Mother Reader's 48 Hour Challenge has been at the very beginning of summer vacation for many of us. Although it has not been timed right for me to participate fully in the challenge, I love the 48 Hour Read and participate in other ways as a reader. Today, the Central Ohio Bloggers celebrated the 48 Hour Read by getting together for breakfast and a bit of book shopping. I took this trip as an opportunity to set up my next few weeks of reading. Sally, at Cover to Cover, is always so wonderful about sharing ARCs with us and we are all pretty good about sharing the ARCs with each other. We all leave the store with great piles. I find shopping for books to be as fun as reading them. I have several plane trips coming up so I am hoping to get lots of these read in the next few weeks. Here is what I left the store with.

I was excited to pick up a copy of AMELIA EARHART: THIS BROAD OCEAN by Sarah Stewart Taylor and Ben Towle. This book was actually released in February but I hadn't seen it. A graphic novel biography of Amelia Earhart. If you read the Satchel Paige graphic novel/biography, this one is very similar.

I also received a copy of WHAT HAPPENED ON FOX STREET by Tricia Springstubb. This book is due out in August and it looks amazing. I hadn't heard about it and am so happy that Sally pointed it out to me. From the back cover, it looks like this is a book about grief and growing up. I read the first paragraph and loved it immediately. And the author is from Ohio. I am very excited to have discovered this one today.

CANDY FAIRIES by Helen Perelman looks like a series that will appeal to all of my Rainbow Fairies fans at school. Love the idea of candy fairies, especially Cocoa, the chocolate fairy. This looks like a fun series. Each book is a little longer than the Rainbow Fairy books so it might be good as those readers once they move beyond those books.

Then I bought a stack:


I was very excited to see the FRANKLY, FRANNIE series. I am always on the lookout for new series books. And, I must say, there are very few characters in children's books with a name like Franki, Frannie, Frances, etc. The cover is definitely engaging and I was happy to see two books already available in this series. From what I can tell, this is another series about a spunky, independent girl. You can never have too many of those.

Two books that I am VERY excited about are AS EASY AS FALLING OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH by Lynne Rae Perkins and KEEPER by Kathi Appelt. Mary Lee says it is her favorite novel of the year and Monica Edinger reviewed it for the NY Times this week.

Sally suggested WORD AFTER WORD AFTER WORD by Patricia MacLachlan to me and Mary Lee agreed that it is a great one. I wasn't even aware that MacLachlan had a new book out and she is one of my all-time favorites. I am sure I will love it.

I also picked up Andrew Clements' new series BENJAMIN PRATT AND THE KEEPERS OF THE SCHOOL: WE THE CHILDREN. Kids seem to love everything by Andrew Clements and this looks like something a bit different for him. Still a school story and with a great premise.

I was happy to see a new Loud Boy book. DANIEL BOOM AKA LOUD BOY: GROW UP by D. J. Steinberg looks like another that kids will love. I am happy that so many graphic novels are becoming series. This will be a great support for readers--having characters they can read about again and again. Daniel Boom is definitely a character that kids enjoy.

THE SECRET LIVES OF PRINCESSES by Philippe Lechermeir is one I've read about on several blogs. I thought it would be a great one to add to those princess books that I can't keep in the library but after buying it, I think the humor is definitely for an older crowd. I think some upper elementary kids will crack up at this one.

Now if I can just find the time to read all of these before I add to the stack.

48 Hour Book Challenge

I did not officially take part in Mother Reader's 48 Hour Book Challenge. But I've participated in spirit.

Today I spent 4 solid hours reading. As I promised myself, I re-read AS EASY AS FALLING OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH. I loved it just as much the second time around.

I spent 3 hours with book/blogger people at NorthStar and Cover to Cover. I have 5 arcs and 2 new books to read and blog about. (Still ignoring the giant piles of Notables for the time being...)

I just spent the last 2 hours reading (or at least skimming) the 522 blog posts that have piled up in my reader the past couple of weeks. (On a happy note, check out Barbara O'Conner's new book trailer. On a more sobering note, see what the BP oil disaster would look like in your backyard.)

In the past 48 hours, I've celebrated the end of the school year with our staff and with close friends. I've napped (twice...hands down the most restorative thing I've done in the past 48 hours). I've weeded a bit, though the tomatoes still need to be staked. I've done a half-hearted job of cleaning the house and I've done a couple of loads of laundry. It feels so good to be released from the to-do lists that have been monopolizing my every waking moment for the past few weeks.

Congratulations to those who have read, and blogged, and challenged themselves, and set and met goals. After sprinting and hurdling (hurtling?) over the finish line of the school year, what I needed most was to slow down and wander through a couple of days with no agenda. Mission accomplished.