2009

4 Cybils I did love – or at least like a whole lot

I didn’t plan to read quite so many of these last night but it happened and it was fun. There were four that I loved or liked a whole heck of a lot.

First, a non-fiction MG/YA – 11 Planets A New View of the Solar System – the only concern I have about this book is its listing as a YA. It’s a little young and a little light for a YA. Though, honestly at 45, I found the refresher pretty interesting and even helpful when I started reading Unca Joe’s latest book Marsbound (but that’s another post entirely.) So maybe it is YA – for the really non-science geek crowd? It was well written, well organized, great photos, interesting charts in the back. It almost made me wish I was in 4th grade and needed to write a report about the planets.

Next, A River of Words (non-fiction picture book) – what a fantastic book about William Carlos Williams. Great illustrations, they were perfect and really helped make the book so interesting. I’d like to own this one.

After that, Houndsley and Catina and the Quiet Time hahaha – great book and not just because Catina feels the way I do about the snow (or she did at the beginning of the book.) Nice illustrations. This is a book I think all of my big kids would have asked me to read to them over and over again – and then enjoyed reading on their own.

Last but not least, a last minute read when I needed an easy quick book to read so that I could start Unca Joe’s book as soon as TW had finished it – and she wasn’t quite finished – Alvin Ho (middle grade fiction.) I laughed out loud. A lot. It reminded me a little bit of the graphic novel, American Born Chinese – without the illustrations (though there were some and the ones that were there were fabulous.) When Alvin has his “Astroman” incident I seriously laughed out loud which is good since I’m like Alvin’s dad – do not touch my toys, darn it! I loved, loved, loved this book and I’m hoping to convince Liz to read it.

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Finished 2 Cybils that I did not love…

The problem with having so many easy readers and picture books on a challenge list is that I can read a half dozen in an hour and then figuring out how to properly blog them is difficult. I’m going to give this a shot… group them by how much I liked them, or didn’t like them… as the case may be.

The Cybils finalists that I did not love were America at War (poems) and Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek (a fiction picture book.) It’s not that they were bad, I just did not LOVE them and I want to love Cybil books. 😉

The poems in America at War were fine. There were some we’d all find familiar and children should definitely be exposed to them. There were some that I’d like us all to find familiar and those were the ones I was happy to see in the book. There were others that… just bored me. And poetry about war should not bore me.

As for Abe and his friend Austin – I liked the premise. I just didn’t like the way the author told the story. While I agree that children should be introduced to the idea that “history” is only a version of what may or may not have happened… I think the whole “back up, have them crawl across the log” was ridiculous. Then the “where’s Austin” page, umm really was that necessary? I don’t know, I just didn’t like the book and when I finished it I was glad I no longer have children who might bring this home and expect me to enjoy reading it to them.

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Home Girl

I received a free review copy of Home Girl ages, and ages, and ages ago. While we were still in Florida. TW read it while we were still in Florida which caused much discussion of payday loan stores and beeper stores and high end shoe stores in Chicago and its suburbs. I believe the reason we are not living on Dempster in Evanston is directly related to a payday loan store, a beeper store and this particular book.

So thanks for that, Judith Matloff. (I can’t decide if I mean that thank you seriously or sarcastically. I often wished we lived over there… but am also often very glad that we do not.)

But, since Judith Matloff and her husband are obviously INSANE, I don’t think she cares one way or another whether I blame her for my current living location. I mean really. She must be insane. I don’t think the level of her insanity really hit me until she brought her baby home (oops, spoiler – sorry) to the muchachos… in all of the time they were renovating and dealing with the business, she never seemed to have second thoughts about living there with this potential child she was daydreaming about. That’s the only part of this story that troubled me.

They left Russia because they wanted to have a family – where there was anesthesia and she wasn’t putting her life or her kids’ life in danger – yet throughout all of that madness, she doesn’t mention having second thoughts due to the possible danger to the child she hoped to have. She mentions it later, 200 pages or so later. Weird.

The rest of the book… loved it. I was thrilled to read it. And thank goodness I did read it… it helped me realize that no matter how cool and interesting and fun I might THINK buying a rundown house in a depressed area of Chicago might be… it is so, so, so not something I really am cut out for.

I do wonder what happened to Clarence and Miguel, though.

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Skeletons at the Feast

It took me three days to get through the prologue of Skeletons at the Feast and I was ready to give up – several times. (Really troubling for me since I am a Chris Bohjalian fan.) TW heard me griping about how SLOWWWWWWWW and BORINGGGGGGGGG it was, grabbed the book out of my hand and said “Oh that was really good, keep reading.” So I did.

And it was.

I was either really really tired (probably) or the prologue was just a little slow (ok a lot slow) but sticking with it was worth it. I’ve even taken back my vow to never read another Nazi Germany book again (which is what I kept saying during the prologue.)

Good characters. Bohjalian writes solid women characters and I like that and the guys weren’t too shabby either. Nice little ending, too.

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My Cybils Challenge

I enjoyed the Printz Award Challenge so much that I really wanted to do another YA/Kids type of reading challenge. Sassymonkey suggested a Cybils Challenge so I’m going to give it a go. It might be a little challenging to read all of the finalists but let’s see how I do.

Easy Readers
Houndsley and Catina and the Quiet Time (1/10/9)
I Love My New Toy (1/25/9)
I Will Surprise My Friend (2/16/9)
Maybelle Goes to Tea (2/16/9)
Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig (2/16/9)

Fantasy & Science Fiction
Cabinet of Wonders (1/17/9)
Graveyard Book (2/2/9)
Lamplighter (5/28/9)
Magic Thief (2/16/9)
Savvy (3/9/9)
Airman 6/3/9)
A Curse as Dark as Gold (9/3/9)
Explosionist (9/15/9)
Graceling (8/9/9)
The Hunger Games (4/20/9)
Wake (9/16/9)

Fiction Picture Books
Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek (1/10/9)
Big Bad Bunny (1/25/9)
Chester’s Back (2/16/9)
How to Heal a Broken Wing (3/10/9)
Katie Loves the Kittens (3/28/9)
The Sea Serpent and Me (3/28/9)
Visitor for Bear (3/28/9)
Wabi Sabi (3/28/9)

Graphic Novels
Chiggers (1/17/9)
Into the Volcano (1/25/9)
Jellaby (2/2/9)
Rapunzel’s Revenge (2/16/9)
The Savage (2/16/9)
There’s a Wolf at the Door (2/28/9)
Emiko Superstar (3/10/9)
Kin: Good Neighbors (4/12/9)
Life Sucks (4/12/9)
Three Shadows (3/4/9)
Skim (2/16/9)

Middle Grade Fiction
Alvin Ho (1/10/9)
Diamond Willow (2/5/9)
Every Soul a Star (2/19/9)
Shooting the Moon (5/24/9)
The London Eye Mystery (5/21/9)

Non-Fiction MG/YA
Planets: A New View of the Solar System (1/10/9)
Ain’t Nothing But a Man (1/25/9)
Body Drama (read this last year)
King George (9/4/9)
Lincoln Through the Lens (8/30/9)
Swords (8/30/9)
The Year We Disappeared (9/24/9)
We are the Ship (8/30/9)

Non-Fiction Picture Books
A River of Words (1/10/9)
Astronaut Handbook (1/25/9)
Duel! (3/3/9)
Fabulous Fishes (5/24/9)
Nic Bishop Frogs (5/24/9)
Wanda Gag: The Girl Who Lived to Draw (5/15/9)
Wangari’s Trees of Peace (5/15/9)

Poetry
America at War (1/10/9)
Honeybee (1/25/9)
Imaginary Menagerie (2/28/9)
More than Friends (3/10/9)
On the Farm (3/10/9)

Young Adult Fiction
Audrey Wait! (1/16/9)
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landeau-Banks (2/5/9)
I Know It’s Over (2/7/9)
Jellicoe Road (3/7/9)
Sweethearts (5/24/9)
Ten Cents a Dance (9/13/9)
Thaw (7/21/9)

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From the Stacks Challenge – 2009

Since last year’s FtSC was such a success, I think I’ll give it a try again this year. All through the day, I’ll be wandering through my bookshelves, selecting books I have not read – from every color of my book rainbow. My goal is 12 books this year.

Black:
Home Girl (1/10/9)
The Shape of Snakes (10/28/9)

White:
Eccentric Neighborhoods (11/9/9)

Red:
Four Sisters of Hofei (11/23/9)
A Family Christmas (11/25/9)

Orange:
Ellen in Bloom (11/4/9)

Brown:
Quickening (11/7/9)

Yellow:
Tathea (11/14/9)

Green:
Kabul Beauty School (8/1/9)
The Devil in the Junior League (2/15/9)

Blue:
Quaker Summer (7/16/9)

Purple:
The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters (1/27/9)

From the Stacks Challenge – 2009 Read More »

The Worst Noel

Sassymonkey was right about Let It Snow but not so much right about The Worst Noel. I was pretty darn bored all the way through it – and TW didn’t even bother to read it all.

The only interesting thing I can say about this one is that I’ve decided I really do not like Anne Patchett which is too bad since I really liked Bel Canto. (Did I read the Magician’s Assistant? Have I read Run? Heck, I dunno anymore.)

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