Whatcha Reading?

What I Reviewed Last Week If week before last was Reading Week (I read an amazing 15 books!), and last week was Books-in-the-Mail Week (lots of books in the mail), then this week is Reviewing Week. The Thing About Life is that One Day You'll Be Dead by David Shields When people ask me, “What do people mean when they talk about personal essay?”  I can do no better than refer them to this book...more Manuscript Found in Accra by Paulo Coelho It was with trepidation that I agreed to review Manuscript Found in Accra.  I will say upfront that I am not a big fan of The Alchemist and, if you are...more The Bird King by Shaun Tan Curious about what goes into the pages of an artist’s notebook? I was.  I was curious enough to buy this little book with snippets from...more The Changeover by Margaret Mahy Laura Chant is a teen growing up with her divorced mom  and younger brother in New Zealand.  Laura sees that something is happening to her brother...more Life After Life by Jill McCorkle One of my constant worries as a reader is that a beloved author will disappoint.  It is especially true when the beloved author hasn’t published anything...more The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson This is the second book I’ve read this year about a man who has left his home  and taken to the road and both books were European. (Is this a new trend...more Blossoming in Provence by Kristin Espinasse All you need to say is “French setting” and I come running.  I read Espinasse’s earlier book, Words in a French Life, a few years ago and liked the way...more Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb I've been reading this book, Antifragile, for almost four weeks.  I call it reading. I've turned all the pages. I've read all the words. That's reading...more Peeling the Onion by Wendy Orr The car accident changed Anna’s life forever, crippling her,  giving her perpetual high-level pain, and ending her future as an athlete. Anna...more The Dark by Lemony Snicket and illustrated by Jon Klassen The Dark is scary when you are four, isn’t it? When you are eight?  Even ten and twelve, sometimes. So what is this little book about, with its scary...more French Twist by Catherine Crawford American children are brats. (Ouch. That hurts.) That’s true. We know it is true. But it still hurts to write it down...more The Incident Report by Martha Baillie Do you like one-of-a-kind novels? Do you enjoy novels that surprise you?  Do you look for novels written in unusual formats? Look no further...more More Baths, Less Talking by Nick Hornby I’ve read a good bit of Nick Hornby,  but I have to say that my favorite Nick Hornby books are these...more A Long Way Away: A Two-Way Story by Frank Viva What do you call words that read the same forward and backward?  A palindrome, right? Well, this story is a palindrome story...more The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros Do I really need to tell you about this book?  Do you really need to know anything more than that this book is about a lovely...more

Whew! That's a lot of books reviewed. 

I hereby vow never to let my unreviewed books pile up again.

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.

Book-ish Me

Time to read some scary stories. Reading to library classes Super Reader! Cat in the Hat, of course! Home from TLA

Doktor Books shows how not to take care of books. Cooking pumpkin bread in the library Cowboy campfire for Go Texan Day Fancy Nancy Day Visiting with Ladybug Girl at the Texas Book Festival Reading The Night Before Christmas  to the whole school.

Top Ten Books I Recommend The Most

Nothing gets past children. I'm always sharing books with kids at my school library and saying, "This is my favorite book!" I said that last week when I did a dramatic reading of Green Eggs and Ham and one boy said, "Mrs. Nance, you always say that. Is every book your favorite book?!"

And, of course, he is right. I am always saying that. I have a hundred favorite books. Maybe even two hundred. 

So here is a list of ten of the many, many books I'm always trying to push on people:

Gilead is the gentle novel of a dying 76-year-old man who is writing a letter to his young son, sharing with him stories about his family and reflections on life. Beautifully written and deeply thoughtful.

I happily spent the entire last day of my spring break carefully rereading To Kill a Mockingbird. I don't know when I've enjoyed rereading a book more than I did that day. It was pure pleasure, reading a little, writing down the quotes I liked, making a list of all the things that marked this as a book from the Deep South, and thinking about the amazing Atticus Finch.

I rarely reread, yet The Good Earth is one I've read and reread a half dozen times. I'm fascinated with the way the family started poor, struggled, saved their money and worked hard, became wealthy, and became decadent and lost the things for which they had worked so hard.

What do you do when your religious beliefs come up against your beliefs about the creation of art? That's the struggle in this brilliant novel, My Name is Asher Lev.

Yet another book I've read several times that seems to get better with every read is The House on Mango Street. The struggles of young Hispanic girls growing up in a big city are beautifully told.

I can say, with authority, that The Little Prince is an amazing story, whether you read it in English or in French or in Spanish; I have read it in all three languages. You could read this in any language, at any age and it will enchant you.

Here's a just-for-fun novel, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. I can't resist pushing it on just about everybody. It's not a deeply philosophical book or a book filled with great language, but it's a nice little trip to a lovely part of Africa.

How can I leave out a good book of poems? Poetry 180 is a very readable choice, filled with poems that send you scrambling for scratch paper so you can scribble down lines to read again and again.

It's long, but don't let that put you off; you really just can't put A Short History of Nearly Everything Down once you start reading it. It really is a little bit about everything science-y.

And I'm always recommending books that will list recommended books. The first great list of books I ever owned was this one, Good Books: A Book Lover's Companion. It is probably out of print now, but, by browsing through this book, I've found my way to more good books over the years than from any other book of its kind.

How about you? What books do you recommend the most?

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.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?!

What I Got in the Mail Last Week If last week was Reading Week (I finished an amazing 15 books!), then this week is Books-in-the-Mail Week. I didn't finish any books last week and I didn't review any books last week, but my mailbox was stuffed full last week:       Wow! I can't wait to read these.

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.

Azalea

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.

For more wordless photos,

go to Wordless Wednesday.

Embarrassing Book Obsession Confessions

The Top Ten Books I HAD To Buy...But Are Still Sitting On My Shelf Unread

Some are books about reading and picture books that I thought I wanted to read:

    

Some are books in a series; I read and loved the others in the series...Why not these?

  

Some are ridiculously short; I could read these in an hour. Why haven't I?

Six-word memoirs. Six words.  And look at the size of Red Pontiac Convertible,

John Gorman's poetry chapbook. It's thirty-two pages. Ridiculous.

Not one, but two copies of East of Eden.

  

 

At least this one is understandable. It's 2,000 recipes. Good grief.

Was I really thinking I'd be reading this one cover to cover?

Okay, this is probably the most embarrasing of all:

I buy a book called How to Read a Book and then I don't read it.

It probably has tips on how to control your book obsessions. 

If I would ever read it.

Please tell me that you have worse stories. 

Share them, if you will. 

It will comfort me.

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.