My F2F Book Club Schedule

Here's what we're pondering for our reading schedule this year:

October: Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell (this one is underway, so therefore is NOT in the pondering stage!)
November: Mallory's Oracle by Carol O'Connell
December: Skipping Christmas by John Grisham
January: Blink, The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcom Gladwell
February: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
March: 1776 by David McCullough
April: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
May: ?

Comments? Suggestions?

A Bunch of Mini-Reviews of Various YA Books!

So, you may remember awhile back I mentioned that I'm reading a pile of YA books in order to prepare for the book fair that I do over at the elementary school. So, I've been working on those, but haven't been posting on them. So here's a little run-down of what I've read so far:

Incantation by Alice Hoffman: a little, very quick-reading book about the religious unrest and Jewish perscution in Spain during the 1500's. It was a great insight into what happened there at this time, but somehow, the style made me just not really care about the characters. And it bugged me that I didn't care. Hmmm.... not sure exactly what it was about the writing, maybe just aloof, or something.

The Old Willis Place by Mary Downing Hahn: I really enjoyed this story about a couple of kids living on their own, when a new girl moves in next door and things start happening. It's a ghost story, with lots of chilling parts, but not TOO chilling, perfect for kids I'd say. Lots of twists and turns and surprises. Great story! And a great lesson learned at the end too.

Code Orange by Caroline B. Cooney: My first book by this very popular teen author. (Well, she's not a teen but she writes for teens... but you know what I mean!) Anyway, at first I was turned off by the subject, but then I really got into it. It's about this kid who has to write a report for school about a disease and he ends up picking smallpox. He discovers an old medical book with an envelpe that has a smallpox scab in it. EWWWW!! Anyway, things get going crazy from there! It was quite the page turner and so I ended liking it after all.

Shadowland by Meg Cabot: The first book in the Mediator series. This one I read not necessarily for the book fair, but just for my own Meg Cabot fix of the month! What is it about her books that I love so much? Hmmm... anyway. This book starts the adventures of Suze and her new life in California. Her problem? She can see dead people... ghosts who are stuck here for some reason and her job is to help them solve whatever is causing them to be stuck and move them on to where they should be. There's a bunch more books to follow, so I' m guesssing she has many ghost problems to solve down the road. Now I just need to find that second book!

Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell: I'm still in the process of this one, but I can tell you already that I'm loving it! Of course it's because it's about King Authur, Lancelot, and company! This one told through the eyes of Elaine of Shalott in a very poetic, lyrical style. We see all the familiar characters portrayed a little differently, especially Gwynivere, who we are NOT sympathtic to at all this time. Anyway, I'm anxious to be done with the computer so I can go finish this one!

Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke: Also still working on this one, by one of my favorite authors. However, this story isn't grabbing me quite as much as her other stories. Not sure why, could be that I'm too distracted, could be that it's written for a much younger audience than some of her others, I think. But anyway, still a really cute story about a girl whose ambition it is to be a knight. And she has just begun an adventure that I'm guessing will help her in that endeavor!

Review: Sea Glass by Anita Shreve

Book: Sea Glass by Anita Shreve

Rating: A

Genre: Literary Fiction

For: Both the TBR Challenge and the Something About Me Challenge

I'm finally catching up on some Anita Shreve books! The first one, A Pilot's Wife, I liked so-so, but this one, I really liked. I cared about the characters, and loved how all their lives came together, and apart, at the end.

This story takes place just as the stock market crashes in 1929 and how all the different characters deal with this tradgedy and how their lives are affected. It also centers around the mill workers strike and how that fires them up and gives them something to live for, yet also makes a complete mess of their lives.

Anyway, it is a sad story, but still, I enjoyed it and I think that if I lived by a beach, I could really get into collecting sea glass!

I've got a couple more Anita Shreve books on my shelves waiting for me, and soon, I'll be getting to them!

Booking Through Thursday: Sunshine and Roses

The reverse of last week’s question:

Imagine that everything is going just swimmingly. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and all’s right with the world. You’re practically bouncing from health and have money in your pocket. The kids are playing and laughing, the puppy is chewing in the cutest possible manner on an officially-sanctioned chew toy, and in between moments of laughter for pure joy, you pick up a book to read . . .

What is it?

Can I say the same book as last week? No?

Well, then. When things are happy, that's when I want to just get going and read EVERYTHING!! I pile all the books I'm anxious to get to around me on the bed, and I thumb through them all, feeling them, smelling them, reading the blurbs. And then whichever one calls to me the loudest, I start reading!

So I guess for happy times, there's no specific book (unless the answer is that same as last week!) and it's just that feeling of wanting to accomplish a lot and get reading like crazy and work on that never ending TBR pile!

Book Club Tomorrow.... My House!

So tomorrow the "neighborhood" book club (I need to think of a better name!)is gearing up for yet another fun year of reading! We'll be meeting here at my house and dicussing ALL THREE Twilight books. We are inviting the young teen girls in the neighborhood, and our daughters and new friends that haven't come before but are major Twilight fans. I'm so excited! We are going to have quite a housefull.

I'm planning on doing some trivia questions, sharing Stephenie Meyers FAQ answers from her website, playing some of her playlist music she's listed on her website, discussing the all important Edward vs. Jacob question, and eating lots of yummy snack junk food!

So, my question to you, my book blogging friends, is this: If you were coming to my Twilight book club tomorrow, what would you have to say about these books? What would your input be? Are you "thumbs up" or "down"? Are you pro-Edward or Jacob? Why do you think Stephenie Meyer is having such amazing success with these books? What's going on with that? What's her secret?

I'd love to know what you all think!

If we have time tomorrow night, we may even discuss Harry just a bit too. But I have a feeling Bella, Edward and Jacob will take over. I also hope to plan our upcoming reading year. I let you know what we decide.

Here's a video that's full of fun Twilight books quotes:

Author Blogs

I may be a bit slow, but I'm just now discovering some great author blogs! I love 'em! It's so fun to read about their normal lives and their writing processes and their journey through the publishing world. I'm learning that for me, the love of reading isn't just about the books themselves, but about the authors behind the books. I find it fascinating to compare the style of different authors and once I find a style I love, then to go out and read every book by that author. I think we're all that way. But having this added dimension of reading their blogs really adds to all that. I love it!

So what are some fun author blogs that you all have discovered? I've just recently added Meg Cabot and Scott Westerfeld to my line up. I've been reading Shannon Hale's for awhile, and Colleen Gleason's a bit.

So who else do I need to get added to my blog pile and start reading?

Booking Through Thursday: Comfort Food

Booking Through Thursday

Okay . . . picture this (really) worst-case scenario: It’s cold and raining, your boyfriend/girlfriend has just dumped you, you’ve just been fired, the pile of unpaid bills is sky-high, your beloved pet has recently died, and you think you’re coming down with a cold. All you want to do (other than hiding under the covers) is to curl up with a good book, something warm and comforting that will make you feel better.

What do you read?


The first thing I thought of was Pride and Prejudice. I would want something happy, funny, familliar. I would also not mind reading Twilight, or parts of it, when I'm feeling bad. Really, any kind of nice, happy, romantic and brainless book would work!