The Last "It's Monday! What Are You Reading?!" of 2013

                 

What I Finished Last Week Last books of 2012.  Six more 1001 Children's Books to cross off my list. Talk about going out with a bang! (Reviews coming soon) 183. How Children Succeed by Paul Tough Why are we always so quick to reject the wisdom of older people as outdated?  Don't we always come back around and take another look and find they were...more 184. A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggers There is nothing that makes me happier than picking up a book, reading a couple of pages,  and knowing in my heart that the book is going to be wonderful...more 185. Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot Unexpectedly simple. Quietly true. And it's all poems. By T. S. Eliot, no less. And all about cats. 186. The Duck in the Gun by Joy Cowley A 1001 Children's Book You Must Read that really deserves that title.  And yet it is not widely available any more and, more, it's out o...more 187. The Hodgeheg by Dick King-Smith Very short little animal story. Courage. Bravery. In a hedgehog, no less. 188. The Seven Sisters by Margaret Drabble Candida Wilton is stuck. Her husband has left her. She is estranged from her children.  She has moved off to the wilds of London and all that is keeping...more 189. Exploring J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit by Corey Olsen  190. The Magic Fishbone by Charles Dickens 191. A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas 192. A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote 193. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

What Arrived in the Mail Always happy to have children's picture books come my way, like these that arrived this week: Fifty Cents and a Dream and Look! Another Book!

What I'm Reading Now Good Prose by Tracy Kidder is awaiting me today.

What are you reading today?!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!

I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! As part of this weekly meme Book Journey loves to encourage you all to go and visit the others participating in this meme. Book Journey offers a weekly contest for those who visit 10 or more of the Monday Meme participants and leave a comment telling BJ how many you visited.

Mysteriously

I love surprises.

Six bags of beautiful books appeared at my house yesterday. Six bags. That's sixty-four books. All children's books. All mysteries.

These will be perfect for my school library, of course.

But how can I pass them on without perusing them a bit first?  ;->

Don't these look wonderful? 

Have you read any of these? 

Thoughts?

The Sunday Salon is open to anyone who'd like to discuss books of a Sunday (or, frankly, any other day of the week). We've actually been around for some years -- see http://dhamel.typepad.com/sundaysalon/ -- but managing the group via that site became a problem because of its size and we had to limit membership to a little over 500 members. I'm now throwing the doors open to anyone who'd like to participate. Discuss what you're reading here, or link to relevant blog posts, or comment on one another's posts. Enjoy.

Last Lights of Christmas

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme 

post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken

 then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky at At Home With Books.

The 2012 Cybils Finalists!

So at last I can drop this tiresome coyness and reveal my Cybils favorites.

The 2012 Cybils finalists have been announced!

Take a look:

Book Apps
Easy Readers/Short Chapter Books
Fantasy and Science Fiction (Middle Grade)
Fantasy and Science Fiction (Young Adult) 
Fiction Picture Books 
Graphic Novels
Middle Grade Fiction
Non-Fiction: Middle Grade & Young Adult 
Non-Fiction Picture Books 
Poetry
Young Adult Fiction

I served on the nonfiction picture book panel this year, reading 98 of the 100 nominated books. (BTW, I'm still on the waiting lists of three libraries for the remaining two books.) What a glorious time I had. I read biographies, books about Matisse and Gutenberg and the founder of the Girl Scouts and the man who created Batman. I read books about animals, books about bats and pufflings, dolphins and beetles. I read books about history, books about the Boston Tea Party and the Underground Railroad and an all-brothers baseball team. I read math books, books about time and about symmetry and about big numbers. I read books that almost defy categorization, books about  houses around the world and celebrations around the world and endearments around the world.

Finally I chose my favorite twenty-five.

It would have been lovely if the other panelists had liked the same books I did, but, no, that would have been much too easy. Instead, we had a wrestling match, debating to the very end the merits of the nominees. There was a little blood, but that is to be expected, I think.

Happily, all seven of the finalists are in my favorite twenty-five. Here they are, for those of you who prefer not to go bouncing around all over the Internet:  Looking at Lincoln; Island: A Story of the Galapagos; Mrs. Harkness and the Panda; Balloons Over Broadway; Eggs 1, 2, 3;  and Dolphin Baby!

I'm also proud that two of my nominees made it to the finalists in their categories: Bink and Gollie: Two for One by Kate DiCamillo in Easy Reader/Short Chapter Books, and Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson in Non-fiction for Tweens & Teens.

Top Ten Books I Resolve To Read In 2013

Gone are the days when I make resolutions to read a lot of books that I end up forcing myself to read. This year, I've decided to make some open-ended resolutions, resolutions I can't help but accomplish in course of a year. 

Here, then, are the books I hope to read in 2013:

1. Classics.

I'm thinking about either
Anna Karenina or East of Eden.
My ftf book club is reading
Pride and Prejudice in February and
To Kill a Mockingbird in March, so
I hope to reread both of these.

 2. Books about Italy.
I've accumulated an enormous stack over the last two years,
as we'd hoped to go to Italy last summer, but didn't.
I might read A Thousand Bells at Noon;
Songbirds, Truffles, and Wolves; That Fine Italian Hand;
Italian Days by Barbara Grizzuti Harrison;
Italian Soup Cookbook;
A Traveller in Italy by H. V. Morton;
or The Seasons of Rome by Paul Hofmann.

3. 1001 Children's Books You Must Read.

I plan to read Wendy Orr's Peeling the Onion,

David Almond's The Fire-Eaters,

Robert Michael Ballantyne's The Coral Island, and

Margaret Mahy's The Changeover 

as all of these are on our schedule in coming months.

4. Books about Happiness.
I've signed up to join in a blog tour of
Sonja Lyubomirsky's The Myths of Happiness in January.
I hope I will read other books on happiness this year.

5. Writing Books.
I'm taking an essay writing class next semester.
I have Good Prose by Tracy Kidder awaiting me.

6. Poetry
William Stafford's You Must Revise Your Life
is here. Hope to find others.

7. Photography Books.
Happily I received Photo Op for Christmas,
so I hope to try one photo project each week in 2013.

8. Children's Picture Books.
Always happy to have these come my way.
Like these that arrived this week:
Fifty Cents and a Dream and Look! Another Book!

9. Good Nonfiction.
Maybe Pico Iyer's Falling Off the Map.

 10. Good Fiction.
Thinking about Elizabeth Taylor's A View of the Harbor
and Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore.


What are your book plans for 2013?
I'm always interested in your recommendations
and suggestions.

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.