Winter Break

It's here! Winter break is here! It's been a wonderful school year so far, but I must say that I am looking and feeling a little ragged around the edges and could definitely use some r&r. I won't be online much over the break, but I thought I'd join this challenge at least in spirit because I do plan on reading a ton over these next two weeks.

Books that I have checked out from the library:
Bright young things /
by Godbersen, Anna.

Catching fire /
by Collins, Suzanne.

The exiled queen /
by Chima, Cinda Williams.

Extraordinary /
by Werlin, Nancy.

How to say goodbye in Robot /
by Standiford, Natalie.

The hunger games /
by Collins, Suzanne.

The Mockingbirds /
by Whitney, Daisy.

Nightshade /
by Cremer, Andrea R.

Revolution /
by Donnelly, Jennifer.

The sky is everywhere /
by Nelson, Jandy.

You all know how long I've been meaning to re-read The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. Because I still have a borrowed copy of Mockingjay, well, mocking me, in fact. So, those three are top priority.The rest will be left up to my moods. :)

Have a splendiferous holiday season! (Did you catch that kidlit reference?) See you next year...

Filling in the gaps

During my clicky clicks from blog to blog over the weekend, I stumbled upon this fantastic idea.

Choose 100 books. Books to "fill in the gaps" of your personal literary canon. Books that most people have already read (or perhaps just say they have), and you have not. Books that you truly have been meaning to read but have avoided because of their daunting length or exalted literary status or an array of other excuses that just will not do. Books that every person "should" read.

Of course, I was inspired. This is exactly what I need! Sure, GoodReads is fine and well for keeping track of newly released books that I want to read right now, but what about all the others that I just never get around to? So, I decided to make my own list. And I will slowly fill that gap, one book at a time.

According to Vasilly and Moonrat, the challenge is supposed to last 5 years from the start date. Ha! There's not a chance in the world that I can read these hundred books in merely 5 years, considering the amount of kidlit and YA reading I do. Even giving myself 10 years would still mean that I'd have to finish 10 books a year, which is a little less than a book a month, which again, is not realistic given my reading habits. What to do, what to do? I'm honestly not much for long-term planning, so this is very new territory for me.

My goal: I don't yet have 100 books on my list - I'm about halfway there. But since it's such a long challenge, I'm okay with that, as I'll be continuously adding books to it. I do plan to check in every year around this time, the winter holidays, to assess my progress. If I read a handful of these books in one year, I think I'll be satisfied with that.

I'd love to know if anyone else is doing something similar. Or if there is a group out there committed to doing this challenge and encouraging each other along the way. The book blogosphere is ginormous - it's sometimes hard to figure out who's reading what and what challenges are hot. If I so obviously missed the "host" of this one, let me know, please!

Without further ado, my list of books to fill in my personal reading gaps:

A
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Persuasion by Jane Austen

B
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

C
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

D
White Noise by Don DeLillo
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

E
Middlemarch by George Eliot

F
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safron Foer
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

G
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

H
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

I

J
The American by Henry James
The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

K
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

L
Lady Chatterly's Lover by D.H. Lawrence

M
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Beloved by Toni Morrison

N
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

O
Nineteen Eight Four by George Orwell

P
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

Q

R
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice
Housekeeping by Marilyn Robinson

S
Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare 
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Dracula by Bram Stoker

T 
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolsoy
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

U

V 
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

W
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf 

X

Y

Z
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin


What do you think? Am I crazy? Are there any other "classic"-type books you'd recommend?

Fall into Reading

I confess that I haven't been keeping track of my other challenges lately, but one of these days, I will catch up with the progress I've made.

But that doesn't mean I could resist the temptation to join another. :) Hosted by Katrina over at Callapidder Days, this is a laid-back sort of challenge just to inspire and encourage some more reading during the chilly, rainy autumn days. Not that you could tell that it's autumn around here - it's 9:20pm and it's still 77 degrees outside, yeesh.

Anyhow, the challenge runs from September 22 until December 20, 2010 - that's four months of fall reading! I know that I get into a reading slump this time of year, what with school and the holidays approaching. Here's my list of books that I hope to read during this time:

Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves
because everyone loves it

The Body at the Tower by Y.S. Lee
because I liked the first one

The Cardturner by Louis Sachar
because I love to play cards

Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin
because I liked Impossible
 
The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, and June by Robin Benway
because I loved Audrey, Wait!
 
A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn
because I love retold fairy tales

The Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schlitz
because I love all things fairy

Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George
because Jessica Day George is awesome

Savvy by Ingrid Law
because it's a Rebecca Caudill Award nominee

Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld
because Leviathan made me so happy

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
because Oprah said so

I will inevitably add more books to the list and perhaps take some off. But that's a pretty good start.

What's on your nightstand?

1. I'm alive and well. Just trying to get settled into my new life.
2. I've not been reading much else besides back-to-school & library-themed picture books.
3. I miss blogging, but there aren't 26 1/2 hours in a day - which there should be.
4. So, I present you with a new-to-me meme that I quite like for the moment. 

5. Because it's easy to post a picture.
6. I leave you with a view of the tower of books on my nightstand.

7. No, I won't read them all. Maybe not even half.
8. But I am reading those top two.
9. Three, four. 
10. What's on your nightstand?

Okay reading

The last nine (NINE!) books I read were just okay. Not bad, but not wowing either. Not much to write about there. Not much of a reaction. Just a steady enjoyment throughout with little thought involved. Which I suppose is normal for summer reading, but I'm a bit tired of it now that I'm back home and nearly back at work. I'd like to be wowed, thank you very much.

I have a few books checked out that I think will do it for me, but I'm scared to dive into them because what if they don't wow? It's too much pressure. It's just not fair to them. Here they are anyway:

Countdown by Deborah Wiles
Newbery predictions for this one - I hesitate mostly because I rarely agree with the Newbery committee. And really, I've had my fair share (and yours too) of 1960s fiction.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Again with the 1960s fiction, but this one's for adults, so I guess I should give it a try. So many people and their mothers have read and raved about this one. And I currently have it checked out after being on an eons-long waiting list, so I HAVE to read it. The first page is always the hardest.

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
I don't know how I've resisted the temptation to absolutely devour this one. But I really want to re-read Shiver first and actually savor Linger. And I don't think I can do that right now. Oh, but the font is green!


So, this is just a little note to say, Hi! I'm still here and reading! Just haven't had much to say lately. Hope that changes soon!

Summer reading - adult fiction

Well, May was an excessively busy and stressful month. Job interviews, a pesky cold, graduation, my birthday, and trips to see the family made my month go by all too quickly. I've mainly been reading to relax and de-stress, hence the absence of blog activity lately. And now I need some reading recommendations.

I try to read more adult fiction in the summer because I have much more free time, and I feel like I need some balance from the children's and YA fiction-heavy school year. Here's what's on my to-read list so far:

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson

Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder (and the next Study book)

A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee

Last summer, I read Julie and Julia by Julie Powell, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, What Happened to Anna K? by Irina Reyn, and The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale - all of which I loved. Throw in some Janet Evanovich and Christine Feehan, and that's about all the adult fiction I can handle in a summer. I certainly don't stop reading children's and YA fiction!

So, now you have a sense of my adult fiction tastes. What can you recommend for me?

Library Loot: March 17-23, 2010

Library Loot is a weekly meme hosted by Eva at A Striped Armchair and Marg at ReadingAdvenures. It encourages bloggers to share what they've scored at the library that week.

This week's loot is collected at Eva's blog.

Middle grade, YA & Adult

Soulless: An Alexia Tarabotti Novel by Gail Carringer (currently reading)

Heist Society by Ally Carter

The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets: An Enola Holmes Mystery by Nancy Springer

Paris Pan Takes the Dare by Cynthea Liu

Kitchen Princess (Vol. 1-10) by Natsumi Ando

Dani Noir by Nova Ren Suma

After next week's spring break, I'll be back in the school librarian's chair, teaching K-5 students, so I thought to do some author studies with the little ones, to ease myself back in the role and just because they're always fun for everyone. I haven't decided on all the books or even the authors yet, but this is what I'll be perusing during my break.

Kindergarten - Kevin Henkes

  My Garden

Chrysanthemum

Chester's Way

Kitten's First Full Moon

Julius: The Baby of the World

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse

First Grade - David Shannon

 Good Boy, Fergus!

Alice the Fairy

The Rain Came Down

Duck on a Bike

Too Many Toys

David Goes to School

Second Grade - Tomie dePaola

Tom

Big Anthony: His Story

Strega Nona's Magic Lessons

Strega Nona: Her Story

The Unicorn and the Moon

Here We All Are

26 Fairmount Avenue

The Art Lesson 

The only one that I'm absolutely sold on is Strega Nona (because it's one of my favorites) and maybe some more of her stories if the kiddies enjoy it. Personally, I'm not a fan of David Shannon, but I think the little ones do like him quite a bit.

Any personal favorite read-alouds from these authors?

It's Monday, what are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading? is hosted by Sheila at One Persons Journey through a world of Books.

It's a way to highlight books read in the past week and books waiting to be read this week.

Read last week:

 

Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough

Yep, that's it.

I didn't review this book because I read it so quickly, and I didn't have much to say about it. I liked it, and it was exactly what I needed at the moment. The main character comes from a family of witches, whose Talents surface at age 8, but she never discovered her Talent. Not until it was absolutely necessary - like life and death necessary. Honestly, I could have done with a little more character development, but the action was enough to keep me going in this one. I recommend it for witch fans (obviously) but also if you're looking for something quick and engrossing.

Currently Reading:

 The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

(taking a break, but on page 243)

 

Going Bovine by Libba Bray

(on page 131)

So, I did it. I finally started Going Bovine. And I have to be honest, I'm not in love with it. I wish I read it long ago when it didn't have that imposing Printz sticker on its cover. I have a slight issue with Printz winners, but I'll save that for another post. I like it, but there's only so much sarcastic, angsty, swearing teen boy I can handle in one sitting. It takes a hundred pages for us to find out that Cameron has the human version of mad cow disease (which you'd already know if you read the one-sentence CIP summary), and at this point, I really don't feel sorry for him. Is that awful? I can understand the teen appeal, I guess, but so far, it's eh for me. 

Later this week:

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

By popular demand, I may start reading Leviathan, but only if I get through Going Bovine. If not, I'll have to take a break and read something I can zoom through. Perhaps:

or

Gone by Lisa McMann or Aurelia by Anne Osterlund

Not to mention the manga awaiting my attention... Here's hoping for a better reading week!

Library Loot - March 3-9, 2010

Library Loot is a weekly meme hosted by Eva at A Striped Armchair and Marg at ReadingAdvenures. It encourages bloggers to share what they've scored at the library that week. This week's loot is collected at Eva's blog.

I have a library addiction. I'm a big fan of my library's website (though I don't love their catalog), so I request most of my books while sitting here reading blogs, and like magic, they appear on a shelf at the library with my name on them. Yes, I'm a lazy library user. Generally, I have at least a dozen books/DVDs requested, thinking that they won't all arrive at the same time.

They all arrived at the same time. I nearly fell down at the sight of these beauties waiting for me to pick them up and take them to their new temporary home.

 

Gone by Lisa McMann

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Aurelia by Anne Osterlund

My Life in France by Julia Child

Ahh, where do I begin!? Do I really betray Going Bovine and start one of these instead? I've already given up on The Eyre Affair, after getting more than halfway through the book! I do like it, but I don't really care for where the story is going. It's more about the quirkiness of the world and the literary allusions, and I'm just not in the mood for that at the moment. But one of those books up there, oh, how can I choose?

I also visited another library today, where a book was specifically purchased for me. How cool is that? It's a high school library, so I browsed their graphic novel section too.

 

Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It by Kelly Gallagher

Kitchen Princess (Vol. 1-3) by Natsumi Ando

Chibi Vampire (Vol. 1-3) by Yuna Kagesaki

So, that's what's new this week. But I still have about 20 others checked out. I think I will have to read Once a Witch tonight/tomorrow morning, since it's due tomorrow, and I'm not allowed to renew it again. Perhaps I will get to Going Bovine over the weekend. 

And which of the new books should I read first? I welcome suggestions. :)

It's Monday! What are you reading?

Just discovered this meme hosted at One Persons Journey through a world of Books by way of Jan at Eating Y.A. Books.

It's a way to highlight books read in the past week and books waiting to be read this week. Sheila has a bit of extrinsic motivation working for this meme - for every 10 comments on a fellow It's Monday! What are you reading? post, one entry will be contributed to a prize box - sounds yummy to me!

Since I've already told you about my week in books, I'll skip ahead to what I hope to read this week.

Currently reading:

The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff

It's a busy week for me, so I'm hoping to read at least one of the following:

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Hot Six by Janet Evanovich

What are you reading?

Myriad of mysteries

I did take last week's challenge to myself seriously (read out of my comfort zone), but I might have chickened out a bit. Instead of faeries and princesses, I gravitated toward mysteries during yesterday's library trip and came back with a nice selection. Had I not been forced to read in multiple genres in an LIS course I took last spring, I don't know that I would have ever stumbled upon mysteries again in my adult life. Sure, I read Nancy Drew and the Boxcar Children as a kid, but I don't think that I realized that they were "mysteries." I associated them with series like Sweet Valley High and the Baby-Sitter's Club. After a little bit of genre study, I found that all kinds of books I was reading were in fact mysteries. Here are the ones I picked up yesterday:

The Case of the Left-Handed Lady (An Enola Holmes Mystery #2) by Nancy Springer
published January 2007 by Penguin
192 pages (hardcover), middle grade

I am so happy that I gave Enola Holmes another chance. I gobbled this book up last night and want to read the rest of the series RIGHT NOW. For some reason, I thought that she was younger than 14 in the first book, which is partly why I didn't fancy it so much. I thought that she was acting much older than her age, but I stand corrected. She is her mother's daughter, an independent gal who can take care of herself just fine. Her relationship with Sherlock develops some in this book, and I grew to enjoy the multiple plot lines - it's not just about the mystery of the left-handed lady, but also about Enola's adventures in London, her efforts not to get caught by her brothers, and her desperate need to communicate with her runaway mother. Oh, I just loved it.

Murder at Midnight by Avi
published September 2009 by Scholastic
272 pages (hardcover), middle grade

Confession: I've never read a book authored by Avi. There are plenty of them, so I see on my library shelves, but I've never had the impulse to pick one up. So, I asked my boy, who was on this library trip with me, to choose a "boy book" from the children's new books section, and this was his selection. It's set in Renaissance times, which just might kill me, but I will give it a shot because the story does sound compelling (murder! magicians! midnight!) and well, it's Avi.

The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd
published February 2008 by Random House
336 pages (hardcover), middle grade

It's been on my to-read list for too long.

When Ted and Kat watched their cousin Salim get on board the London Eye, he turned and waved before getting on. But after half an hour it landed and everyone trooped off - but no Salim. Where could he have gone? Haws he spontaneously combusted? (Ted's theory.) Has he been kidnapped? (Aunt Gloria's theory.) Is he even still alive? (The family's unspoken fear.) Even the police are baffled. Ted and Kat follow a trail of clues across London in a desperate bid to find their cousin, while time ticks dangerously by ...

Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief by Wendelin Van Draanen
published August 1998 by Random House
176 pages (paperback), middle grade 

This may prove to be another addicting series. Samantha Keyes is a seventh-grade sleuth, who happens to be at the right place at the right time - that is, snooping out her window with a pair of binoculars, spotting a hotel theft. I imagine it will be a quick read.

The Calder Game by Blue Balliett
published May 2008 by Scholastic
379 pages, middle grade

Well, I loved Chasing Vermeer and The Wright 3, so it's about time that I followed Calder and Petra in a new adventure. Unfortunately, this one doesn't take place in my beloved Chicago but instead in a small English village. I can only hope for the same sort of puzzles as the first two books, the main draw to the mysteries for me. But oh boy, it is a hefty volume.


Cover-Up: Mystery at the Super Bowl by John Feinstein
published August 2007 by Random House
304 pages (hardcover), YA

I read Feinstein's other sports mystery novels The Last Shot and Vanishing Act at a time when I had absolutely no interest in sports - and I enjoyed each one of them quite a bit. Therefore, I'm rather excited about this one because it's about football - a sport I've grown to love recently. Woohoo! My boy also informs me that John Feinstein is a sports writer that he follows regularly, so I suppose the author has a bit of credibility to his name. Honestly, I had no idea.

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
published February 2003 by Penguin
384 pages (paperback), adult (YA appeal)

I can't begin to count how many times I've checked this book out of the library - never to even glance at the first page. The trouble is - my expectations for this book have reached so high that if I don't love love love it, I'll be rather disappointed. And I'm afraid that I won't recognize all of the literary allusions. Does it come with a Cliff's Notes guide?


High Five (A Stephanie Plum Novel) by Janet Evanovich
published June 2000 by St. Martin's
340 pages (mass market pb), adult

I used to be a literary snob, and then I got over myself. I started reading the Stephanie Plum series last spring, and oh, what fun! When I need a break from serious reading or I'm in a reading rut, these books pull me out and let me laugh hysterically. I won't turn my nose up at bestsellers anymore. You know, they're bestsellers for a reason. Like most people, I read for a variety of purposes, and I'm no longer ashamed to read fluff or formulaic fiction, both terms that serve to devalue some books. That's the shame.

Kirkus' Best YA of 2009

Since I've declared January my catch-up month for reading, I thought I'd browse around for some more "Best of 2009" lists. Not sure how I overlooked Kirkus' lists - there are so many! I was most interested in their Young Adult Best Books of 2009, so here are three that I've decided to add to my to-read pile:

Serendipity Market by Penny Blubaugh
published March 2009, HarperTeen
288 pages (hardcover), YA

Inside flap:

When Toby breathes on Mama Inez's bird-shaped invitations, giving them the power to fly, plans for the Serendipity Market begin. Soon, eleven honored guests travel from afar and make their way to the storytellers' tent to share their stories. Each tale proves what Mama Inez knows—that magic is everywhere. Sometimes it shows itself subtly—a ray of sun glinting on a gold coin, or a girl picking a rose without getting pricked by the thorn—and sometimes it makes itself known with trumpets and fireworks. But when real magic is combined with the magic of storytelling, it can change the world.

Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr
published October 2009 by Little, Brown
224 pages (hardcover), YA

Inside flap:

Samara Taylor used to believe in miracles. She used to believe in a lot of things. As a pastor's kid, it's hard not to buy in to the idea of the perfect family, a loving God, and amazing grace. But lately, Sam has a lot of reason to doubt. Her mother lands in rehab after a DUI and her father seems more interested in his congregation than his family. When a young girl in her small town is kidnapped, the local tragedy overlaps with Sam's personal one, and the already-worn thread of faith holding her together begins to unravel.

Crossing Stones by Helen Frost
published September 2009 by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
192 pages (hardcover), YA

Inside flap:

Eighteen-year-old Muriel Jorgensen lives on one side of Crabapple Creek. Her family’s closest friends, the Normans, live on the other. For as long as Muriel can remember, the families’ lives have been intertwined, connected by the crossing stones that span the water. But now that Frank Norman—who Muriel is just beginning to think might be more than a friend—has enlisted to fight in World War I and her brother, Ollie, has lied about his age to join him, the future is uncertain. As Muriel tends to things at home with the help of Frank’s sister, Emma, she becomes more and more fascinated by the women’s suffrage movement, but she is surrounded by people who advise her to keep her opinions to herself. How can she find a way to care for those she loves while still remaining true to who she is?

Except for Once Was Lost, which has gotten quite a bit of media exposure, I hadn't heard anything at all about these books. Which makes me think about a recent blog post I read (and for the life of me, I can't remember where it was or who wrote it) about popular books receiving tons of media attention, especially when they get reviewed on blogs, which generates even more buzz and readership. But books from smaller presses don't get much hype at all and tend to get overlooked. It also made me think of So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld, which deals with how trends are created - and now I'm being challenged to read The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, which apparently deals with similar topics. Although it all seems tangential, these are the thoughts that came to me while I was browsing through a "Best of" list - because wouldn't you think that if a book makes it to such a list that I would have heard about it before then? But if only Kirkus seems to think it's a "Best of" book, then no, probably not. It makes me wonder about how much influence bloggers really have about what gets promoted/read/sold - and that's a scary thought.