Archive for December, 2009
« Previous EntriesThe Best of My 2009
Submitted by Book Nut
You do it three times, and it’s a tradition.
(I’m doing this early, though, because — if all goes well — we should be driving back from Texas today. So the numbers aren’t quite exact. But that doesn’t really matter, does it?)
Presenting my best of list for this year.
By the Numbers:
Middle Grade Fiction: [...]
December Jacket Flap-a-thon
Submitted by Book Nut
Another Middle Grade issue of the Jacket Flap-a-Thon. I promise next month will be more up to our usual diversity standards… In other news, stay tuned for the best-of-post tomorrow!
All the Broken Pieces (Scholastic Press): “Two years after being airlifted out of war-torn Vietnam, Matt Pin is haunted: by bombs that fell [...]
Sunday Salon: 2010 Reading/Blogging Goals
Submitted by Book Nut
Those of you who’ve been following my blog for a while know that I don’t really go in for blogging goals, let alone reading goals. I tend to just let things flow the way they do, not really worrying about “achieving” something. But, as I was sitting here, thinking about the end [...]
Because I Can’t Get Enough of the Cybils
Submitted by Book Nut
I’m going to join Michelle’s Cybils challenge! I know it started on December 1 (and runs through the end of 2010), but I was so wrapped up in my own Cybils reading that I let joining go until we finished (which we did, yesterday, but you can’t know what we chose until [...]
2009 Challenge #9: What’s in a Name 2
Submitted by Book Nut
Nothing like scraping in under the wire, is there? But, I managed to finish the What’s in a Name 2 challenge.
What I read:
1. A book with a “profession” in its title. Captain Alatriste, Arturo Perez-Reverte (also for my challenge)
2. A book with a “time of day” in its title. Evernight, Claudia Gray
3. [...]
The Heretic’s Daughter
Submitted by Book Nut
by Kathleen Kent
ages: adult
First sentence: “The distance by wagon from Billerica to neighboring Andover is but nine miles.”
Support your local independent bookstore, buy it there!
This is a fascinating, harrowing tale about a time in American history that I know very little about: the Salem witch trials.
Our main character, Sarah Carrier, is growing [...]
Christmas Book Week, Day 6
Submitted by Book Nut
From the Dr. Seuss Christmas Classic:
So he paused. And the Grinch put his hand to his ear.
And he did hear a sound rising over the snow.
It started in low. Then it started to grow…
But the sound wasn’t sad!
Why this sound sounded merry!
It couldn’t be so!
But it WAS merry! VERY!
HE stared down at [...]
Christmas Book Week, Day 5
Submitted by Book Nut
Happy Christmas Eve! This one should be obvious…
But I heard him exclaim,
ere he drove out of sight,
Happy Christmas to All,
and to All a Good Night!
(Which begs the question: do you have a favorite version of this story?)
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Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]
Operation Yes
Submitted by Book Nut
by Sarah Lewis Holmes
ages: 9+
First sentence: ”
Review copy provided by publisher.
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Over the past two months, I have read a lot of books about war, death, loss, and kids dealing with all of that. Some of have been moving and made me cry, some have been [...]
Christmas Book Week, Day 4
Submitted by Book Nut
From Baboushka, retold by Arthur Schollet, and illustrated by Helen Cann. A not-so-subtle reminder to get out from under the business and just *enjoy* the season.
Now everyone was itching for news. No one could work. No one could stay indoors. No one that is, but Baboushka. Baboushka had work to do — [...]
Happy Holidays
Submitted by The Thin Red Line
Libdrone will not be updating again until after January 1st. Ron and Alan wish you a Happy Holidays and hope you will visit again next year.
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Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]
Positively
Submitted by Book Nut
by Courtney Sheinmel
ages: 10+
First sentence: ”
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
There are some books that quietly creep under your skin and stick there. Sure, you know up front that they are issue books, that the sole purpose of the story is to raise awareness on [...]
Christmas Book Week, Day 3
Submitted by Book Nut
gFrom The Little House on the Prairie, which has been made into a lovely picture book called Santa Comes to Little House.
Laura and Mary never would have looked in their stockings again. The cups and the cakes and the candy were almost too much. They were too happy to speak. But Ma [...]
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg
Submitted by Book Nut
by Rodman Philbrick
ages: 9+
First sentence: “My name is Homer P. Figg, and these are my true adventures.”
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Life is not good for Homer P. Figg. His father was felled by a tree. His Dear Mother passed away, leaving Homer and his [...]
Christmas Book Week, Day 2
Submitted by Book Nut
Happy Midwinter everyone! Find some sunshine, if you can, and pull out your (hopefully well-worn) copy of The Dark is Rising, and enjoy. If you haven’t read it yet, here’s a teaser to get you (hopefully) interested.
The snow lay thin and apologetic over the world. That wide grey sweep was the lawn, [...]
Christmas Book Week, Day 1
Submitted by Book Nut
I thought, this week before Christmas, amid all the reviews and other things (read: Cybils reading, girls home from school) I’ve got going on, I’d share some of my favorite quotes from Christmas books and stories.
To start off, because we’re going to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol tonight, a couple from the [...]
Leaving the Bellweathers
Submitted by Book Nut
by Kristin Clark Venuti
ages: 10+
First sentence: “It is nighttime in the village of Eel-Smack-by-the-Bay.”
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
File this one under delightfully odd.
The Bellweathers are a family that leave in the Lighthouse on the Hill by Eel-Smack-by-the-Bay. There’s dad, Dr. Bellweather, an inventor who [...]
Babysitter’s Review: A Puppy, Not a Guppy by Holly Jahangiri
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
In the first of what will be a series of “Babysitter Approved” book reviews by my newly certified 12 year old babysitter in residence, here is a review of Holly Jahangiri’s new children’s book, A Puppy, Not a Guppy.
As a new babysitter, I’m always looking for ways to entertain the [...]
Library Loot #49
Submitted by Book Nut
Twas the week before Christmas,
although we were all very merry,
we still found time to get
a few books from the library.
We don’t know how much we’ll read
Since we’ve got lots of stuff to do
But that won’t stop us
from checking them out, until the year’s through.
Okay, that was kind of lame.
For A/K:
Hush, [...]
The Ship of Lost Souls
Submitted by Book Nut
by Rachelle Delaney
ages: 9+
First sentence: “‘You there!’”
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Support your local independent bookstore, buy it there!
Think of a book that’s one part Treasure Island, one part Pirates of the Caribbean, one part Peter Pan, and you’ve pretty much got an idea of the feel of this book.
Scarlet McCray is [...]
2009 Challenge #8: Lost in Translation
Submitted by Book Nut
Another challenge down. (Only one left for this year…) I have realized that the problem with year-long challenges is the wrap up post. I can’t remember what I thought of half of these books!
Anyway… for the Lost in Translation Challenge I read:
1. Captain Alatriste, Arturo Perez-Reverte
2. Inkdeath, Cornelia Funke
3. The Death of [...]
The Wine-Dark Sea
Submitted by Book Nut
by Leonardo Sciascia
ages: adult
First sentence: ‘Your Majesty,’ said the Minister of State Santangelo, tapping Ferdinand lightly on the shoulder with one finger, ‘this is Grotte.’”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
I’m not a fan of short stories. I don’t know why that is, really. Perhaps it’s because I feel disjointed from [...]
Year of the Bomb
Submitted by Book Nut
by Ronald Kidd
ages: 10+
First sentence: “There were Martians in the backyard.”
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Support your local independent bookstore, buy it there!
It’s 1955. It’s the middle of the Cold War. There are frightening things all around, from the threat of nuclear war, to McCarthy’s Communist hunting, to the monsters in the [...]
10 Questions for Shannon Hale
Submitted by Book Nut
Shannon Hale has been one of my favorite authors for years. Almost since she first started publishing (I liked the story, but I didn’t like her author blurb). I swear she can do no wrong when it comes to her books — more right and less right, yes, but no wrong — [...]
Adventures of a Christmas H.O.
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
This isn’t me. It’s some other H.O.
I am generally an excellent H.O. (Holiday Organizer) but this year I got sidelined with the flu right after Thanksgiving and was sick for 10 days. My lists and plans had to wait until I could breathe and cross a room without hacking up [...]
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