Two More

While waiting for the fuel pump in the VW Golf to be replaced (warranty/recall) for the SECOND time, and I probably shouldn't count either one:

Too short to be counted, but I will: Baby Mouse: Beach Babe, by Holm and Holm
#21 Children's

Skimmed it enough to know I haven't trained right for next week's open water swim at Alum Creek: Open Water Swimming, by Dean
#12 Adult

I put "Random Books From My Library" back on, but I got it at the bottom of the sidebar where it's not so annoying.

Mid-Year Reading Goal Report Card

YEARLY GOAL: 52 children's books
MID-YEAR TOTAL: 20 books
In the last week: The Sisters Grimm: The Fairy Tale Detectives, Buckley
Gossamer, Lowry
Fly By Night, Hardinge

YEARLY GOAL: 20 adult books
MID-YEAR TOTAL: 11 books
In the last week: We Are All Welcome Here, Berg
Teacher Man, McCourt, audio

Thoughts, comments, and reviews to follow.

Whew!

From a review in the New York Times Book Review of the book DOING NOTHING: A HISTORY OF LOAFERS, LOUNGERS, SLACKERS, AND BUMS IN AMERICA. This reviewer (Dave Barry) obviously doesn't know what it's like to be a teacher:

"I suspect that most people -- like me and the Federal Reserve Board -- think they work pretty hard. But it isn't always easy to tell the difference between working and slacking, especially in the modern American "information" economy, where relatively few people do anything that is inarguably work, such as going down into a coal mine and coming back up with pieces of actual coal. A lot of us would have to admit that if we skipped a day or two of "work," or even a couple of months, or maybe even three or four years, we might miss our paychecks, but the impact on society would be minimal, or in the case of some professions (consultants, editorial writers, Paris Hilton) nonexistent."

As for me, I know without a DOUBT that I've worked hard for the last 180 days and that my impact on society is SIGNIFICANT and if they want me to come back and do it all over again next fall, I better have a couple months off to rest and recover!

Let the summer reading begin!

Desperate Housewives

Okay, so on the Desperate Housewives final episode last week, Susan states she "writes children's books". But, in fact, she is a children's book illustrator. I know this because I am a big Desperate Housewives fan. I guess the general public sees no difference in people who write books or the ones who illustrate books. They should know this--at least the writers should. UGH! And, since we are talking about desperate Housewives, I so hope that Mike didn't die --I hate having to wait until fall to see if he is okay:-)

Just finished DIGGING TO AMERICA by Anne Tyler. LOVED IT. It was exactly the book I needed. I love all of her books but I think this may be one of her best. As always the characters stay with you. I highly recommend this one.

On my next read list: WEEDFLOWER and maybe THE GIRLS.

My To-Read List

WEEDFLOWER
GOSSAMER
Elizabeth Berg's new one
the first in the GRIMM SISTERS series (that's what I'm reading currently)
TWICE TOLD

...and a few others. It's an imposing pile.

And, yes, I'll probably read THE BOOK THIEF.

THE BOOK THIEF

So, are you going to read THE BOOK THIEF? I keep hearing that it is amazing. But, I can't decide. I have WEEDFLOWER and FLY BY NIGHT on my stack but FLY BY NIGHT cannot win the Newbery because it was published in England first. WEEDFLOWER is already on a few lists for the Newbery.

NY Times Book Reviews

In a special children's book section of the May 14 NY Times Book Review, these books (among other picture books and a few nonfiction) got reviewed: THE MIRACULOUS JOURNEY OF EDWARD TULANE, 1st page of the section, glowing; GOSSAMER, positive; THE WRIGHT 3, two thumbs down; THE BOOK THIEF, "brilliant and hugely ambitious." More from the review of THE BOOK THIEF: "But it's the kind of book that can be life-changing, because without ever denying the essential amorality and randomness of the natural order, "The Book Thief" offers us a believable, hard-won hope. That hope is embodied in Liesel, who grows into a good and generous person despite the suffering all around her, and finally becomes a human even Death can love. The hope we see in Liesel is unassailable, the kind you can hang on to in the midst of poverty and war and violence. Young readers need such alternatives to ideological rigidity, and such explorations of how stories matter. And so, come to think of it, do adults."

Sounds like a must-read. And a good antidote for Yonwood.

Yonwood-esque

Life is imitating DuPrau's art.

In the Sunday Dispatch: A Franklin County commissioner is frantic about stray cats in central Ohio because a few cats on an island somewhere on the other side of the Atlantic have been found carrying the bird flu virus.

Happy Me!

Happy Me! I found a link to the galleys that are being given away--upcoming children's books. I am so happy! So many of my favorite authors have new books coming out in the next several months--Gail Carson Levine, Kimberly Willis Holt, Katherine Paterson! Just had to share the fun:-)

I did pick up HOMEWORK MACHINE by Dan Gutman. Seems to be making lots of lists. I also picked up a very cute picture book called BIG SISTER, LITTLE SISTER LeUyen Pham. Love it! I also picked up ALIENS ARE COMING: THE TRUE ACCOUNT OF THE 1938 WAR OF THE WORLDS RADIO BROADCAST by Meghan Mccarthy. A great nonfiction picture book.

Maybe this blog should be about books we buy, not books we read:-)

Prophet of Yonwood

Well, I finished the book tonight. I liked it. It is pretty equal to her other 2 books. Some interesting issues to think about as always. A character I could like, not love. A nice message for kids. The interesting thing to me is how she took what is going on now in the world (terrorist, doing things in the name of God, war, good vs. evil) and put them into this plot. Pretty smart. This book is definitely worth a read, although it is not on my list of possible Newbery winners. So far, I don't think I have read anything up to Newberyness. If I had to pick out of the 6 I've read, it would have to be GOSSAMER by Lois Lowry.