Ten 1001 Children's Books, Joyful June, and Mary Berry's Best-Ever Brownies

I've been working on the 1001 Children's Books You Must Read challenge since 2014, and I'm proud to say that this week I've finished ten more books on the list. That puts me at 660/1001. 

The Ship That Flew by Hilda Lewis  This was my favorite kind of story when I was a little girl. If I'd been able to find a copy on the shelves of my library, I would have checked it out ...more

My Friend the Painter by Lydia Bojunga Nunes  Claudio and the painter are great friends. The painter teaches Claudio much about art as well as life. But the painter dies and people say he killed himself...more

Two Weeks With the Queen by Morris Gleitzman  Colin's brother Luke has terminal cancer and Colin is being shipped off to England to stay with distant relatives during Luke's final days. This gives...more

Tow Truck Pluck by Annie M. G. Schmidt  This is a children's picture book and it's a children's chapter book. And it's absolutely delightful. It may be my favorite of the 1001 Children's Books...more

A Walk in the Park by Anthony Browne  Smith and Smythe go to the park, each with a child and a dog. The dogs are first to befriend each other, chasing each other merrily through the park. ...more

The Little Bookroom by Eleanor Farjeon  The Little Bookroom is a collection of twenty-seven of the best short stories of Eleanor Farjeon for children. These stories are wildly imaginative...more 

The Winged Watchman by Hilda van Stockum  Joris Verhagen and his family live in a windmill in Nazi-occupied Holland. The family finds ways to help those who are fighting the Nazis, especially ...more

The Demon Headmaster by Gillian Cross  Dinah knows something is wrong as soon as she arrives in her new school. Everything is too orderly, and no one steps out of line. But what is going on ...more

Good Night, Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian  War is imminent, and William, an eight-year-old boy, has been evacuated out of London, away from his life with a disturbed single mom, to stay with a ...more

Grinny by Nicholas Fisk  Grinny appears out of nowhere, on the family's steps, announcing she is the family's Great-Aunt Emma. The trouble is that no one has ever heard of Great-Aunt...more

It probably won't surprise you to learn that I am currently reading the rest of the 1001 Children's Books I got from the Houston Public Library last week.

I'm joining in Classical Carousel's The Four Loves readalong in June. The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis is a relatively short book, and it's based on radio talks Lewis gave on the BBC in 1958. To join in, simply comment here.

Longtime reading expert and teacher Donalyn Miller should be announcing her Annual #Bookaday Challenge soon.  I plan to join in, starting on June 1st, and hope to tweet a little about each book I read.

It's time for the Joyful June calendar from Action for Happiness. Download your own PDF file for printing here. 

I made a batch of Mary Berry's Best-Ever Brownies this week. Instead of walnuts, I used pecans from my backyard. 

I also baked six dozen milk chocolate chip cookies. It's my own recipe, with lots of butter, chocolate, and a secret ingredient.

How did your week go?

Did you finish any good books?

Have you run across anything book-ish that you would like to share with us?

I invite you to link up here and/or at the Sunday Salon page on Facebook each weekend (Friday-Saturday-Sunday-Monday) and let us know what you have been doing. Visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there.

Other places where you may like to link up are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

My linkup for Sunday Salon is below. If you wish to also post a link at Facebook, you can also do that. 

Migration Celebration at San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge: Face Painting

Migration Celebration at San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge in Brazoria, Texas is a weekend of families spending time outside in nature. There are guided hikes; kayak rides; a butterfly tent; live turtles, snakes and alligators; nature exhibits; food; and more. I spent the weekend painting animals on faces. Here are some of the seventy-five faces I painted over the two day event. 

Can you find my face among these? (Hint: I'm the only grownup.) Can you identify what animals I painted? Which animal face paintings do you like the best?

For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by A Web of Stories. To participate in Saturday Snapshot: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken and then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky at A Web of Stories.

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My Favorite Books Published in the Last Ten Years

Thank you, Anne of Head Full of Books, for suggesting this list of our favorite books released in the last ten years, with one book for each year. 

Best Book Published in 2018:  American Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West by Nate Blakeslee

Best Book Published in 2017:  The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Best Book Published in 2016:  Some Writer! The Story of E. B. White by Melissa Sweet

Best Published in 2015:  Mango, Abuela, and Me by Meg Medina

Best Book Published in 2014: The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

Best Book Published in 2013:  Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Best Book Published in 2012:  We Sinners by Hanna Pylväinen

Best Book Published in 2011:  I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen

Best Book Published in 2010:  Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration  by Isabel Wilkerson

Best Book Published in 2009: Life-size Zoo: From Tiny Rodents to Gigantic Elephants, an Actual-size Animal Encyclopedia by Teruyuki Komiya

Here are the complete lists of the books I loved in the last ten years:

Best Books I Read in 2018

My Favorite Books of 2017: 53 Books You Must Read Now

Top Ten Best Books of 2016

Best Books I Read in 2015

Best Books of 2014

Best of 2013

Best of 2012

Top Ten Favorite Books I Read in 2011

Top Ten Books I Read in 2010

The Post In Which I Brag About How Many Books I Read in 2009

What were your favorites of the last ten years?

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.

Steal Like an Artist and I Don't Keep Books, Plus 35 Books Checked Out from the Houston Public Library

 The Forest for the Trees: An Editor's Advice to Writers by Betsy Lerner

I love to read about writing. Probably more than I actually love to write. Although I do love to write. This book is a new look at writing. Instead of ...more

Friday's Tunnel by John Verney

There are 1001 Books you almost give up hope of ever reading; some books are long out of print and completely unavailable in your country. But then, suddenly...more

Normal People by Sally Rooney

Connell and Marianne pass each other in the halls, seemingly strangers, living in completely separate worlds. But are they really strangers? Connell...more 

A Place to Belong by Cynthia Kadohata

Hanako and her family---her father, mother, and little brother---are moving to Japan. The war is over, a war which the family spent interred in a detention camp and...more

Wilderness Essays by John Muir

I may have finished reading this collection of essays, but, now that I have found him, I will never stop reading John Muir. Muir takes you deep into...more

I brought home thirty-five books from the Houston Public Library yesterday.  Here's the reasoning behind that move: An author was coming to speak that evening, but I wanted to arrive at the library well before time to avoid the traffic. I knew I could check out up to fifty books, and I knew I could check out books for six weeks. So, I decided, why not? The stack in the middle are 1001 Children's Books, so I'm especially happy about those.

I heard Austen Kleon speak at the Houston Public Library. He's the author of Steal Like an Artist, Show Your Work, and the brand-new Keep Going. The audience was packed with artists and writers. I wish I'd had enough nerve to photograph these folks. If their art is anything like their attire, they must be wildly original.

In I Don't Keep Books, I shared both why I don't keep books last week and pictures of the few books I do keep, like this family Bible, smuggled out of Nazi-occupied Norway during the war.

I shared some of my favorite author photos from the recent library conference in Texas Library Association Conference: Authors last week.

I'm still thinking about what I learned by reading three books dealing with America's alienation and the contemptuous political climate. If you haven't read and commented on my blog post, What Happened to My America? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

My daughter-in-law, Stephanie, graduated from college last Saturday, eight weeks after having her second child. We are very proud of her.

Saturday is my dad's wife's birthday. Rosa will be ninety years old. Her kids are throwing her a big birthday party. Both Rosa and my dad are in excellent health, and no one ever dreams they are ninety and ninety-two.


After the birthday party, my husband and I are headed off to Dallas to go fossil hunting. Internet will be spotty there. But we will have access at the hotel in the evening. So don't worry if you don't hear from me right away....

How did your week go?

Did you finish any good books?

Have you run across anything book-ish that you would like to share with us?

I invite you to link up here and/or at the Sunday Salon page on Facebook each weekend (Friday-Saturday-Sunday-Monday) and let us know what you have been doing. Visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there.

Other places where you may like to link up are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

My linkup for Sunday Salon is below. If you wish to also post a link at Facebook, you can also do that.