What are you reading?

[janswizard]

I'm on book 7 of the Left Behind series and just received the first of the new triology by the same authors. Have you read any good books lately? I'm always looking for some good titles/authors.

[Skywatch_NC]

An oldie classic called "Candy" by Robb White...I've also read another classic of White's called "The Haunted Hound."

[sunny]

I am finishing up "Europe's Last Summer : Who Started the Great War in 1914?" by DAVID FROMKIN. I like history. Another good one is "No One Left Behind : The Lt. Comdr. Michael Scott Speicher Story" by Amy Waters Yarsinske - but I was screaming at the end of that one.

[JenBayles]

Michael Crichton's State of Fear. It's a work of fiction, but he does an awesome job of taking on wacko environmentalism with well-footnoted sources.

[Miss Mary]

Last book I read on a best seller list would be the one that Hallmark movie was made from.....The Magic of Ordinary Days. The movie was very good. The book also. I'd highly recommend either (if the movie will air again).

I'm on the waiting list at our local library for a new book about 9/11: 102 Minutes: The untold story of the fight to survive inside the twin towers. Every critique I've read about it has been superb. Most say it's the most complete book since 9/11 happened. From the survivor's viewpoint (not rescuers, the government, families, etc.). Not that we can ever have enough books about 9/11, but this is the first one to come along with such detailed and compiled survivor stories. I know I'll cry but ever since I read reviews on it, I feel compelled to read it just the same.

Mary

[alicia-w]

The Time Traveler's Wife and The Sensualist

[weathermom]

I am currently reading "Crispin, the cross of lead" by Avi. It is a Newberry award winner. Yes, it is a children's book, but I like to keep up with some of the things my kids are reading. Sometimes I think their books are better anyway. Too much descriptive violence in some of the books written for adults.

[Miss Mary]

I am currently reading "Crispin, the cross of lead" by Avi. It is a Newberry award winner. Yes, it is a children's book, but I like to keep up with some of the things my kids are reading. Sometimes I think their books are better anyway. Too much descriptive violence in some of the books written for adults.

Wxmom - we've had similar discussions like this before I remember now! I've enjoyed all the Anne of Green Gables books with my daughter Nina. And prior to that the Little House books as well (I've read the Long Winter several times, wondering if their winter that year could have been as bad as Laura remembers it).

One book I've never read and keep thinking I should is Little Women. And at our used book store, they now stock the Newberry books (brand-new) for school kids that need to pick one up. I pass by this display and wonder if I should re-read some of these....b/c it was eons ago when I read some of them!

Mary

[weathermom]

Mary, I could give you a list of good kids books! Almost anything by E.L.Konigsburg. The Artemis Fowl books. Anything by Cornelia Funke, I especially liked the concept of Inkheart, about a man who could "read" characters to life out of books. Eragon, written by a teenager, is an excellent book. My kids read so much that I sometimes think they should get involved in book reviews, maybe a site for other kids or something!

I read Little Women years ago. I loved it. I also loved Heidi.

[Persepone]

My grandchildren are homeschooled, and they are voracious readers. I'm the one who gets to hunt down books, often on specific subjects or themes, but I'm always looking for good books for kids at just about all levels (5 kids).

My current hunt has been for good books on WWII and also books on the holocaust. I do have a lot of books already, but am always interested in hearing recommendations.

I'm also interested (future need) if anyone has recommendations for books for children/teenagers about the war in Vietnam.

[weathermom]

Most of my suggestions are from the female side, since I have 3 girls.....

Anything by Tamora Pierce or Philip Pullman,or Margaret Peterson Haddix according to my 13 yr old.

Anne Rinaldi for historical fiction, all based on the story of various girls at different periods in american history.

Holocaust- Number the Stars, Good Night Maman, Journey to America, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, the Devils Arithmetic, obviously the Diary of Anne Frank. My daughter(13) also mentioned one called night, but she hasn't read it, doesn't know how it is.

The guardians of ga'hoole series by Katherine Lasky. The Dear America Series, or the My America series. ( dear is more girls, my is more boys).

There is also The Amulet of Samarkind by Jonathon Stroud, and there is now a sequel, just don't remember the name.

Charlie Bone books are good, by Jenny Nimmo. There 3 so far.

For younger kids, the Ramona books, Junie B Jones, and of course, Charlottes Web or anything by E.B. White. The Cricket in Times Square and any of the others by George Selden. Stories about Judy Moody, Amber Brown, and also the Judy Blume books, whichever are appropriate for the childs age.

Obviously, The Chronicles of Narnia (The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe etc.), good for all ages, depending on reading ability.

For us the hardest part has been finding reading material for little ones that read way above grade level. It is hard to find books that challenge enough to be interesting, yet have appropriate material.

I am sure they will come up with more. I'll let you know.

[Miss Mary]

Great list there wxmom!

When my oldest was in 6th Grade, she had to read The Giver. She said for years that was her favorite book. Or up there with Anne of Green Gables.

I called my two local libraries to see where I was on the list for the book 102 Minutes......the one I'm in the hundreds still. The other, there are 7 ahead of me. I don't want to purchase it, I do have several excellent 9/11 books we've purchased thru school book orders. I'd rather wait to read it via the library. I expect to get much busier now that spring is here - painting, cleaning, yardwork. It's just that up until now, I had lots of time to get into a book like 102 Minutes (from everything I read you need to clear several days to finish it, you can't put it down). I just wish I'd get that call it's on the shelf waiting for me....

Mary

[weathermom]

Miss Mary, The Giver was an excellent book! I meant to include it on my list. There are 2 more that kind of go with the giver, my daughter said they were good, I just haven't read them yet. Gathering Blue and Messenger. Also by Lois Lowry.

[Cookiely]

Blowfly. I was very disappointed.

[ColdFront77]

I'm a message board reader. I also enjoy reference books.

[Miss Mary]

Here's a question.....do any of you enjoy spending an hour or two in your local library? Just flipping thru magazines, publications, browsing thru new releases, etc.? Just curious...since our daughters were babies, if I had a few hours to myself, I headed to the library. But tell that to other women/mom's, in other words my peer groups, they think I'm just nuts! Their answer for a break is to go shopping!!! LOL

Well, the other thing I used to almost kill for back then (multiple overnight bottle feedings, kids that wouldn't nap well, etc.) was a nap for me. But that was impossible. I had to leave the house when hubby gave me a break, to catch a break! So the library was it. Just sinking down into a comfy library chair with a few current magazines, was sheer Heaven to me years ago. And it still is today.

I also signed my children up for story times at the library. Before age 3, children sat on parent's laps. But once they were old enough to go in by themselves and line up, mom's waited in the library. When my youngest was 3, I had 20-30 minutes to myself - free time. I can remember Laura looking at me confused-like - Mommy, what will you do while I'm in story-time? Cute huh!

Thanks in advance for anyone who replies.

Mary

[bfez1]

Just finished Blood Brother by Scott Peterson's half sister, Anne.
Getting ready to start "The Notebook".

[Persepone]

Here's a question.....do any of you enjoy spending an hour or two in your local library? Mary

Yes, the library has always been a refuge. As a kid I played hookey from school and went to the library... As an adult, I still go once or twice a week. When my daughter was little she went to the story hours, etc. When she was older, the "hung out" there. Her kids spend a bunch of time in the library. It is sort of a "family habit."

Libraries have all sorts of things besides books. They have music, art, sometimes "pets" and they are a wealth of information about local communities--but the one they are in, and via the librarian's informal network, about other communities as well. A librarian knows how to "find out stuff" so they can often get information you can't get formally.

Interlibrary loan can get you just about any book, videotape, etc. that you need or want. It's amazing what they can come up with on relatively short notice. You missed some special on PBS? Some library somewhere has the whole shooting match on VCR/DVD and you can borrow it and hole up for the weekend and watch all 40 episodes!

Much better place for your teenager to hang out than the local mall...

[streetsoldier]

Right now, I'm digging into "The Sunne in Splendour" by Sharon K. Penman; it's about the Wars of the Roses, and specifically Richard III Plantagenet.

[Dee Bee]

Yes, Mary, I began library time with my daughter when she was very young. When she was old enough to be in storytime without me, I treasured just sitting in a comfy chair reading while waiting for her. Her first volunteer job was as a junior library aide; my first paying job in my teen years was as a library aide (to the grand sum of .90 per hour).

If I could totally retire from teaching, I'd catch up with all the reading that slips past me now, as well as revisit old favorites. One positive effect of my recent physical challenges has been the luxury of reading during forced bedrest.

Last week, I started "Ancestors of Avalon" by Diana L. Paxson (from outlines left by the late author Marion Zimmer Bradley, whose "Mists of Avalon" is one of my all-time faves). Any day now, the newly-released "Emma and Me" should be arriving for me from Zooba Book Club [a fairly good deal for anyone who can commit to 1 book per month for .99 with no shipping costs -- check it out at http://www.zooba.com].

Since Christmas I've also read "Light on Snow" by Anita Shreve and "The Amateur Marriage" by Anne Tyler. I've also yet to start (the non-fiction) "Spanish for Dummies" -- my self-improvement project for '05.