Sunday, June 30, 2013

It's Monday - where did July come from?!?


Here we are again - a new week!
This past week has been pretty quiet with the exception of celebrating my grandmother's birthday. But this week coming up should be a little more interesting. I'm back to work on Tuesday. Thank goodness we have off on Thursday for July 4th! It makes easing back into a work week a bit easier. We are also psyched that our sister (aka former foreign exchange student) will be here for the next month from Germany.
Now to the books!

Read This Week:
The Betrayal
The Betrayal
By Helen Dunmore

Reading Now:
The Interestings
The Interestings
By Meg Wolitzer

Posts from this Past Week:
It's Monday
Reviews of Monsters of Men and March

Up Next:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
By Rebecca Skloot


What are you reading this week?

Friday, June 28, 2013

Review: March

March
By Geraldine Brooks
Penguin 2005
280 pages
From my shelves

March

Millions of young readers have fallen in love with the little women of the March family and the novels that tell their story. But Little Women focuses heavily on the children themselves. While Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy grow and change, their father is absent for most of the book and their mother is presented through the worshipful eyes of children. In March, Geraldine Brooks imagines the patriarch of the March family as he grows up, falls in love with Margaret Day, and learns about the terrible realities of slavery and war.

When you approach beloved characters and give them a rewrite, you can expect to get some angry responses. Many readers hate the things that Brooks does with the beloved characters of Marmee and Mr. March. But I think she has made them human. In Little Women, Marmee is endlessly patient and loving which is, of course, how we like to remember our mothers. But in this version of their story, Marmee has a terrible temper and is not afraid to use it to stand up for what she believes to be right and alienate people in the process. Mr. March has character flaws as well - he is often oblivious to the feelings of others and acts without considering the consequences for those closest to him. Their marriage is not without turmoil, especially when Marmee learns the details of her husband's past and his true experiences during the war.

Brooks is an incredible writer. She creates rich characters and gives the readers a very true sense of time and place. You may feel like you know about slavery and the Civil War but this author will make you feel anew just how dark and awful that time period was. I've read many books about this era in our country, but still felt like setting down the book multiple times because I was overwhelmed by the cruelty of slaveholders and soldiers and the hopelessness of slaves and the people whose lives were ruined by a terrible war. 

March  is a slight book, but it's not a quick read. Ms. Brooks brings a dark time to life with terrible clarity while focusing on one flawed man, one woman trying to hold a family together, and one marriage that struggles to survive the turbulence of a long time apart and closely held secrets. If you love Little Women, read March to find new depth in a favorite story. If you thought that Little Women was a simplistic book for children, read March to discover what really happened to the parents of one of literature's most beloved families.


Other books by Geraldine Brooks: Year of Wonders, People of the Book 

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Review: Monsters of Men

Monsters of Men (Chaos Walking #3)
By Patrick Ness
Candlewick Press 2010
603 pages
From the library

Monsters of Men (Chaos Walking, #3)

Well, we have reached the end. Three books and more than 1,600 pages later, the story of Todd and Viola comes to a conclusion. Patrick Ness ends his story in a way that will make your heart ache and give you lots to think about. If you want to find out about the beginning before we discuss the end, hop over to my review of the first book The Knife of Never Letting Go. There will be spoilers for the earlier books in this review.



Things have gotten incredibly complicated for Todd, Viola, and the people of New Prentisstown. The town is split into two factions - one ruled by the tyrannical President Prentiss and the other by the guerrilla tactics of Mistress Coyle. A shuttle has landed with two scouts, sent ahead of thousands of settlers who will soon arrive on the planet. And at the worst possible moment, the aliens known as the Spackle descend on New Prentisstown, seeking revenge for the atrocities that humans have done to them over the years. 

As this series progresses, we are given more viewpoints. In The Knife of Never Letting Go, we heard Todd's story. In the sequel, the point of view was split between Todd and Viola. In this final book, we hear from Todd, Viola, and a Spackle who is known as The Return. Each POV is unique. You know that an author has done a good job when you are sad to leave each character, but excited to view events through the eyes of another one. 

"War makes monsters of men," the characters and the readers are told. Todd, Viola, and many other characters must make decisions that will save one and sacrifice many or save many and lose someone irreplaceable. Each one of them think that they must fight for the good of their people until they come to a single moment when the person they love or need most is in danger. Each of them try to do the right thing. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes they fail and sometimes the right thing isn't clear. The fascinating thing is that no one, even the most evil villains, seem beyond redemption and our heroes are always on the edge of doing something horrific when faced with impossible choices.

As I read through this book, I wondered how Patrick Ness was going to neatly tie up an epic story that asked big questions. The answer, of course, is that he doesn't. Things don't get neatly tied up and not every part of the story is resolved. I won't tell you what the ending was but I will say that it was the sort of devastating end you would expect at the end of this series, but it does not leave the characters or the readers without hope.

Chaos Walking is a fantastic series and Monsters of Men is a fitting end to this story of two kids discovering what it means to love, to trust, and how to retain their humanity in the midst of endless violence and fear. 

Sunday, June 23, 2013

It's Monday and I am listening to an audiobook for once!


Welcome to a new week, my friends. How is everyone?

I got a little bogged down with reading The New York Trilogy this week. The three stories contained in the book are connected. I had to balance my desire to take some time in between them and the necessity to read them quickly to keep the connection strong.

I also started listening to an audiobook this week, which I have not done in a long time. With a little guy around the house, it's tough for me to put on a story when I don't know if there is anything inappropriate for young ears. I drove a few hours to visit my best friend this weekend, so I was able to start listening to Songs for the Missing by Stewart O'Nan. I'm not sure when I will find time in an kid-free house to listen to the rest of the story, but I will do my best!

Read This Week:
The New York Trilogy
The New York Trilogy 
By Paul Auster

Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches
Loving the Little Years
By Rachel Jankovic


Posts from this Past Week:
It's Monday
Top Ten Tuesday - Summer TBR List
Wednesdays with David: Friends Forever
Reviews of The World's Strongest Librarian and All That Is


Listening Now:
Songs for the Missing
Songs for the Missing
By Stewart O'Nan

Reading Now:
The Betrayal
The Betrayal
By Helen Dunmore

Up Next:
The Interestings
The Interestings
By Meg Wolitzer

What are you reading this week?

Friday, June 21, 2013

Review: All That Is

All That Is
By James Salter
Alfred A Knopf 2013
290 pages
From the library

All That Is

My review of All That Is can be read at The Atlantic Highlands Herald.

Have you read Salter's latest novel? What did you think?

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Review: The World's Strongest Librarian

The World's Strongest Librarian
A Memoir of Tourette's, Faith, Strength, and the Power of Family
By Josh Hanagarne
Gotham May 2013
291 pages
From the publisher for review

The World's Strongest Librarian: A Memoir of Tourette's, Faith, Strength, and the Power of Family

Josh Hanagarne is a librarian. He's also a Mormon...well, a lapsed Mormon. He's a husband and a father. He's an athlete. And he has been living with Tourette's Syndrome since he was six years old. In this incredible memoir, Josh tells readers how all of those things come together to create one complicated, beautiful life. 

I don't think this is a book I would have picked up on my own. Although many of the bloggers I trust were raving about it, I couldn't see myself really getting anything out of a book about a weight-lifting Mormon librarian. I was seriously wrong. Josh Hanagarne has a gift for story and he tells his own with such humor and humanity that you can't help but be drawn right in. 

Each chapter is ordered by the Dewey decimal system, of course. Most of them begin in the library, as Hanagarne reveals his literary loves and some of the bizarre things he sees as a librarian. He then delves into his life as a small child living a life of wonder and imagination, as a young man on his mission for the Mormon church, and as an adult looking to control a disease that is wreaking havoc on his life. 

It would be easy for Hanagarne to look for our pity as he struggles with physical tics, a voice he can't control, and infertility. But he's not looking for our sympathy. Instead, he shows readers how the support of family can hold us up in our darkest moments. Some of the best moments in this book are Hanagarne's memories of his happy childhood with his supportive parents and a merry gang of siblings. 

He also has a heart for others trying to live with Tourette's Syndrome. As he worries that he might pass on the disease, he enumerates the successes and failures that he has had with various medical treatments. In the end, he found the most success with training his body through vigorous weight lifting and training with a former Air Force sergeant. Who knew exercise could be so hilarious? 

This book is a delight to read. It's the perfect choice for librarians, people who love libraries, Mormons, weight lifters, people living with Tourette's or people living with people living with Tourette's. Actually The World's Strongest Librarian is for anyone who loves a great story and an unforgettable narrator. 


To the ladies and gents of the FTC: I received this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Wednesdays with David: Friends Forever

Toy Story 2: Friends Forever
Step Into Reading, Step 2
By Melissa Lagonegro
Illustrated by Studio Iboix and the Disney Storybook Artists
Random House 2009
32 pages
From our shelves



The story: If you have a small person living in your house, you know this story forward and backwards. Woody is kidnapped by a toy dealer who reunites him with the Roundup Gang. But the toy dealer plan to ship all of them to Japan! Buzz and the other toys must find Woody and bring him back home to Andy.

Mama opines: I don't have much to say about the story here, because what mom or dad doesn't know and love it? Or wish to never hear it again because the movie is on repeat in their home forever? 

What I find interesting is the whole idea of the Step Into Reading books and other series that are supposed to help your child improve their reading skills. I haven't particularly seen them help David improve, but I certainly understand the excitement for a child who finds a book they can read all on their own. What are your experiences with tiered books like the Step Into Reading series? 

Thoughts from David: In Toy Story 2: Friends Forever, Buzz, Woody, and some other of the toys from Andy's house get into some kind of adventure. Although it is quite scary and hard, it is a mission to save Woody. First, they go across the windowsill. Then they walk on the sidewalk to the place where Woody was kidnapped! Next, they go to the building where Woody is. Then they go through the heater vent. Then they go back without Woody because Woody didn't want to go back. He didn't want to leave his friends behind. Then they go back. It will look like they will have a happy day. 

Favorite part: When they go through the heater vent 'cuz Rex uses his tail to swing the door of the heater vent open. 

Happy Reading!

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Top Ten Books at the Top of My Summer TBR (Top Ten Tuesday)

Hey there, Top Ten Tuesday people! It seems like you all have a blast every Tuesday, so I thought I would join in. Here are ten of the books I am psyched to read this summer:

1. The Interestings
The Interestings Picked it up from the library this weekend - hooray!


2. Night Film 
Night Film Marisha Pessl, it has been a long time since Special Topics in Calamity Physics, ok?


3. A Guide to Being Born: Stories
A Guide to Being Born: Stories Ramona Ausubel's novel No One Is Here Except All of Us was one of my favorite books of last year. I can't wait to read her stories.


4. When Women Were Birds
When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice After hearing Rebecca Schinsky rave about this book on Bookriot, I knew I needed to check it out. After her mother dies, a woman sets about the task of reading the journals her mother left to her. But all of the journals are blank...Intriguing, right?


5. The Arabian Nights
The Arabian NightsI've been fascinated with Shahrazad since I was a child. And look at this pretty edition my husband got for me!


6. Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art
Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art Madeleine L'Engle is so much more than that lady who wrote A Wrinkle in Time (although I do adore that book!). She is perhaps the closest thing we get to a 20th century saint, aside from Mother Theresa, and I am determined to read every word she has written.


7. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks I know, I know - last to the party. I picked it up at my library's book sale and I am excited to finally read it.


8 and 9. The books of Rainbow Rowell (Attachments and Eleanor and Park)
Attachments                               Eleanor and Park
Everyone and their mother are raving about the hilarious writing of Rainbow Rowell. This is the summer I will finally understand what they are talking about.


10. Started Early, Took My Dog 
Started Early, Took My Dog Kate Atkinson is a genius, I think. I loved her book Life After Life this year and Started Early, Took My Dog is the latest edition in her Jackson Brodie series. I would say it's a mystery, but that is just scraping the surface of Atkinson's insightful writing and unforgettable characters.


What will you be reading this summer?

Monday, June 17, 2013

It's Monday - how's it going?


Hi bookish people! How are you? It's been a busy weekend at the literary house. We celebrated our nephew's second birthday on Saturday and on Sunday, we celebrated the dads with a yummy brunch. I am looking forward to spending a little quiet time at home this week (well, at least as quiet as you get with a five year old and an infant!). 

I expected to get a bit more reading done because March and Personal Days are both on the short side. I just barely finished the two of them this week, though. Oh well!

Read This Week:
March
By Geraldine Brooks

Personal Days
By Ed Park

Posts from this Past Week:

Reading Now:
The New York Trilogy
The New York Trilogy
By Paul Auster 

Up Next:
The Betrayal
By Helen Dunmore 

What are you reading this week? 

Friday, June 14, 2013

Review: Altar Ego

Altar Ego: Becoming Who God Says You Are
By Craig Groeschel
Zondervan 2013
233 pages
For review 

Altar Ego: Becoming Who God Says You Are

On any given day, how do you feel about yourself? Do you feel like you are failing at the things you hoped to achieve? Are you depressed by how others see you? In Altar Ego, Craig Groeschel tells his readers that we are searching for self-worth in the wrong places.

"My ego, that self-constructed identity I worked so hard to build, came from a twisted combination of my accomplishments and other people's opinions of me. If you liked me, I felt good. If you didn't, I felt bad. If I succeeded, won, or made the grade, I felt worth something. If I fell short, lost, or failed, I felt worthless. I loved myself just as conditionally as I assumed everyone else  did. That Saturday morning, I realized I didn't have to continue this way. Someone did love me unconditionally."  

This book is divided into three sections. In the first, Groeschel urges readers to leave behind the labels that we are given in this life by others and realize that the ways we have lived in the past do not have to be the ways we act in the future. God creates each person with unique skills and places them on this earth at a certain time so that they can find meaning in their lives and fulfill a specific purpose. 

In parts two and three, he addresses things that can prevent us from achieving our goals, such as impatience, and a lack of integrity, honor, or gratitude. Once we have dealt with those behaviors, it's time to become bold. If God is a God of big plans, then we too must be prepared to do bold things. 

Altar Ego is an easy read with big potential to change the way you view your life and yourself. Groeschel writes in a very conversational manner and often points out his own failings with humor and grace. At times though, his emphasis on using his own life as example makes a book about losing your ego seem strangely ego-centric. While this may not be a book you will run out in the street to rave about, it is a good pick for the  reader who is looking to find renewed purpose in their lives.


To the ladies and gents of the FTC: I received this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Review: Sight Reading

Sight Reading: A Novel
By Daphne Kalotay
Harper Collins 2013
352 pages
ARC from the publisher 

Sight Reading: A Novel

One warm spring day, Hazel spots Remy on the street. She hasn't seen her in years, but they have a connection that will last forever - Remy is now married to Hazel's former husband. Sight Reading is the story of Hazel, an artist; Remy, a violinist; and Nicholas, a composer and conductor; and the ways in which they inspire and hurt each other.

Kalotay brilliantly creates realistic characters and relationships. In another author's hands, the story of a handsome and charismatic musician who is attracted to someone young and talented in his field while his devoted wife waits for him to come home would be cliche and tired. But Remy and Hazel really give this story a new face as we see them moving in opposite directions. Hazel begins as the faithful wife who takes care of the family. When her marriage falls apart, she has to become comfortable with herself again and search for happiness on her own terms. Conversely, Remy begins this book as a young woman focused on herself, her own career, and her own desires. As the story progresses, she must learn to consider the needs and desires of her new family in tandem with her own.

Music and art are woven through every chapter of this novel. The characters struggle with what it means to make art and what it means to be a success and a failure. One of the most interesting parts of the story is watching two artists try to hold together a relationship and their commitment to their work. In Hazel and Nicholas' marriage, we watch Hazel set her art aside in order to follow Nicholas around the world and take care of their daughter. Nicholas' best friend and colleague Yoni feels threatened by Nicholas' success. Remy and Nicholas both wonder if they can live with being good, but not achieving the success that they expected to find.

This is a great book with interesting characters and lovely writing. This book may be especially insightful for those readers who know what it is like to agonize over a single brushstroke or to rehearse a line of music until it is perfect. But sight reading, or playing a piece of music without rehearsal, speaks to all of us if we are willing to stop planning out our lives and just live.


To the ladies and gents of the FTC: I received this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

You can find my review of Kalotay's debut novel Russian Winter here

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Review: The Ask and the Answer

The Ask and the Answer (Chaos Walking #2)
By Patrick Ness
Candlewick Press 2009
519 pages
From the library

The Ask and the Answer (Chaos Walking, #2)

Spoiler Alert: There will be spoilers for The Knife of Never Letting Go,the first book in this seriesNew to Chaos Walking? Check out my review of The Knife of Never Letting Go here.


Todd and Viola finally make it to Haven after a long and dangerous journey only to discover that its citizens have peacefully surrendered to Mayor Prentiss and his men. They are separated and Todd is forced to work with Davy, who is Prentiss's son and the man who tried to kill Viola. She is taken to a House of Healing and gets to know the women who work there, specifically the stern and mysterious Mistress Coyle. Viola discovers that some residents are not as compliant as they seem and becomes a part of the resistance movement.

Patrick Ness keeps writing incredible stuff in the second book in this trilogy. One of the things that impressed me the most was his character development. In this book in particular, we see both Viola and Todd make decisions that they (and we) know are wrong although they seem like the best choice at that moment. We also meet characters who are not easily categorized as good or bad. In two instances in particular, I was floored by the humanity that we see in one "bad guy" and the ruthlessness of one of the "good guys."

The second book in this series is much more insular than its predecessor. While The Knife of Never Letting Go saw Todd and Viola traveling over great distances and encountering a lot of people, this book takes place within and around Haven. While it might seem less thrilling to not have them on the run, Ness actualy manages to elevate the level of tension. There is nowhere for them to go and, at times, they wonder if they really want to get away from Haven and its enigmatic ruler. Todd and Viola are never sure who can be trusted. Perhaps they can't even trust each other.

Much of this book is about a town living under occupation. The residents of Haven, now known as  New Prentisstown, have surrendered voluntarily. They believed that surviving and living under the rule of President Prentiss would be preferable to the slaughter that Prentiss wrought on other towns that resisted. And for a time, it seemed like it might be so. Prenitss spares the life of town's former mayor and even bandages Todd's wounds when he first comes to town. But the President's plans are not for good - men and women are separated, people are tortured for information, and his promises to keep Todd and Viola safe as long as they cooperate are not to be trusted.

Patrick Ness manages to avoid the second book slump with The Ask and the Answer. The tension stays high, the characters continue to evolve, and the Ness writes a science fiction story with situations that have terrible and insightful relevance to real life. I can't wait to see how the story of Todd and Viola concludes in Monsters of Men. 

Sunday, June 9, 2013

It's Monday (well, Sunday) and the Tony Awards are on!


Hello, friends! How are things going?

I am a happy camper tonight since I'm watching the Tony Awards while writing this post. I am a huge theatre nerd to go along with my book geekiness. Books plus theatre plus this bowl of ice cream I have next to me = a happy Lindsey.


Read This Week:

The World's Strongest Librarian: A Memoir of Tourette's, Faith, Strength, and the Power of Family
The World's Strongest Librarian
A Memoir of Tourette's, Faith, Strength, and the Power of Family
By Josh Hanagarne

Monsters of Men (Chaos Walking, #3)
Monsters of Men
By Patrick Ness


Posts from this Past Week:
It's Monday
May Wrap Up
Wednesdays with David: Junie B. Jones Has a Peep in Her Pocket
Review of Tiny Beautiful Things 


Reading Now:
March
March
By Geraldine Brooks

Up Next:
Personal Days
Personal Days
By Ed Park

What did you read this week?

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Review: Tiny Beautiful Things

Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on love and life from Dear Sugar
By Cheryl Strayed
Vintage Books 2012
353 pages
Borrowed from a friend 

Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar

On a somewhat obscure literary website called The Rumpus, there is an advice column known as Dear Sugar. A year into the column, it changed hands to a woman named Cheryl Strayed. But no one knew the identity of this anonymous advice giver. She took her readers by surprise when she imbued her columns with the pain and joy of her own life, offering her own experiences in answer to the letters she had received. Some of them were about writing, as you might expect on a website about books and literature. But most of them were about life, about broken hearts and relationships, about the big questions of life. Tiny Beautiful Things is a collection of these letters and Cheryl's answers.

It's difficult to really explain a book like this. I would certainly tell you to read it, just as I would tell you to read Strayed's memoir Wild. One should really read her columns (and this book) with tissues close at hand, because this is a writer who knows exactly how to reach down into the deepest part of you and bring up all of the things you tried to bury. She is an incisive writer but, perhaps even more importantly, she is a empathetic and compassionate person.

It sounds silly to read a book full of advice columns. Will you really get anything out of them if you are not, like the writers of these letters, a mother desperately praying that her daughter will survive brain surgery or an elderly gentlemen wondering if he can find love again? The short answer is yes. But showing you is easier than telling you...

"I'll never know, and neither will you of the life you don't choose. We'll only know that whatever that sister life was, it was important and beautiful and not ours. It was the ghost ship that didn't carry us. There's nothing to do but salute it from the shore."

"Most things will be okay eventually, but not everything will be. Sometimes you'll put up a good fight and lose. Sometimes you'll hold on really hard and realize there is no choice but to let go. Acceptance is a small, quiet room."

"You get no points for the living, I tell my students. It isn't enough to have had an interesting or hilarious or tragic life. Art isn't anecdote. It's the consciousness we bring to bear on our lives. For what happened in the story to transcend the limits of the personal, it must be driven by the engine of what the story means."

"I can’t tell you what to do. No one can. But as the mother of two children, I can tell you what most moms will: that mothering is absurdly hard and profoundly sweet. Like the best thing you ever did. Like if you think you want to have a baby, you probably should.

I say this in spite of the fact that children are giant endless suck machines. They don’t give a whit if you need to sleep or eat or pee or get your work done or go out to a party naked and oiled up in a homemade Alice B. Toklas mask. They take everything. They will bring you the furthest edge of your personality and abso-fucking-lutely to your knees.

They will also give you everything back. Not just all they take, but many of the things you lost before they came along as well.”

"I suppose this is what I meant when I wrote what I did, sweet pea, about how it is we cannot possibly know what will manifest in our lives. We live and have experiences and leave people we love and get left by them. People we thought would be with us forever aren’t and people we didn’t know would come into our lives do. Our work here is to keep faith with that, to put it in a box and wait. To trust that someday we will know what it means, so that when the ordinary miraculous is revealed to us we will be there, standing before the baby girl in the pretty dress, grateful for the smallest things.”

In the first pages of this book, Strayed is asked "What kind of advice do you give?" She answers, "The best I can think of." Her best advice is beautiful and honest and hard to take, and we are all the better for it. 


I couldn't help it. Have you seen a better example of a
tiny, beautiful thing?  I think not. 

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Wednesdays with David: Junie B Jones Has a Peep in Her Pocket

Junie B. Jones Has a Peep in Her Pocket
By Barbara Park
Illustrated by Denise Brunkus
Random House 2000
66 pages
From our shelves

Junie B. Jones Has a Peep in Her Pocket (Junie B. Jones, #15)


The story: It's the end of the school year and Junie's kindergarten class is taking a field trip. They are going to a farm, which should be exciting. But Junie is terrified. The babysitter once let her watch a show called "When Ponies Attack!" and June is sure she will be trampled by a horse. Or she might be attacked by a mean rooster. Will Junie get over her fears and enjoy the trip?

Mama opines: Parents and teachers are heavily divided about Junie B. Jones. Firstly, she is an extremely precocious and often naughty child. Girl has a bit of an attitude, if you know what I mean (and I know you do if you have kids!).  
She also speaks exactly like a five or six year old, which means that you get passages like this: "Only I couldn't even swallow that good. 'Cause I was still upset about the field trip, that's why." and "I singed that song a jillion times, I think." Apparently Junie's incorrect grammar, although perfectly normal for a kid of her age, will forever confuse young readers. But I don't think that reasoning holds up. Our kids speak like this and so do their peers. I'm pretty sure no one is going to college saying twoth instead of second. (Yup, that's one of David's - I sort of hate correcting him on that one...) Junie B. Jones is the Ramona Quimby of this generation and I rather love her. 

Thoughts from David: At the end, Junie B. Jones meets a baby chick named Spike and they learn that school will end for summer vacation.
Favorite part: When the chick named Spike is holded by Junie B. Jones.


Happy Reading!

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

May Wrap-Up

So long, May. It was a good and crazy month for us. We met our little girl and are slowly getting used to life with two children. So we are short on sleep, but a little drunk on cute baby faces. And we are still managing to get some reading done. Onward to June!

Books reviewed in May: 9
Pages Read: 3108
Fiction/Non-fiction: 8/1
Female authors/male authors: 6/3
My books/library books: 3/6
Lindsey's favorite books in May: The Knife of Never Letting Go and Life After Life


Books reviewed with David: 2

David's favorite book in May: The World According To Humphrey


Four generations 


What was your favorite May read???

Sunday, June 2, 2013

It's Monday and I have my computer back!


Hello, lovely readers. How are things?
This week was an interesting one because my hard drive decided to up and die. I am happy to report that my husband has done some sort of computer magic and retrieved almost everything. Hooray!

Read This Week:
All That Is
All That Is
By James Salter

Altar Ego: Becoming Who God Says You Are
Altar Ego
By Craig Groeschel

Posts from this Past Week:
It's Monday
Review of A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True

Reading Now:
The World's Strongest Librarian: A Memoir of Tourette's, Faith, Strength, and the Power of Family
The World's Strongest Librarian
By Josh Hanagarne

Up Next:
Monsters of Men (Chaos Walking, #3)
Monsters of Men
By Patrick Ness


What are you reading this week?