Read, read, read...

Once again I've gotten behind on my reading updates. So, here are some of the highlights of my recent reading.

The Dark Is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper. Five books make up this series: Over Sea, Under Stone, The Dark Is Rising, Greenwitch, The Grey King, and Silver on the Tree. I chose to read it because the The Grey King is a Newbery Award winner and The Dark Is Rising is a Newbery Honor book. They fall into the fantasy genre with each book containing a quest of sorts and a battle of good vs. evil, or in this case light vs. dark. There are also elements of time travel, strange people and critters, and hints of Arthurian legend throughout. They were ok to read, but not my favorite. I was really glad when I finally finished the last one.

Illusion by Frank Peretti. I've been a fan of Frank Peretti for a long time, however, I read his newest book, Illusion, about a month ago, and I still haven't decided if I like it or not. It is a strange story involving magicians, an accident, government conspiracies, time travel and lots of other things that are hard to explain. It is definitely a compelling read, but also one that will leave you scratching your head and saying "what?"


The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Unseen Guest by Mayrose Wood. This is the third in the Incorrigible series, and if you haven't read any of them yet, you are really missing out on some fun reading. In this one, the wolf children head back into the woods to track down a runaway ostrich. Along the way we meet mama wolf and of course, more mystery involving the children's origins is brought up. Hopefully there will be a fourth book. I really want to know more.


 The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. You can't really see it on the cover, but this book is subtitled Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears. This book teaches how to pray bold, specific prayers and to  literally and figuratively draw circles around our needs and dreams and not move from that circle until an answer is given. I know that sounds a little like circle-drawing voodoo, but it's not. Read the book to find out more. It's some powerful stuff.

The Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. There are four books in this series: Uglies, Pretties, Specials, and Extras. This is a dystopian series, set some three hundred years in the future. When people turn 16, they are given plastic surgery to change them from an ugly to a pretty, and the sole purpose of a pretty's existence is to have fun and party. What people don't know is that in addition to making them pretty, the operation also messes with the brain, taking away the ability for deep and independent thinking. Of course, someone has to buck the system and as a result, chaos ensues. It takes four books to get things resolved, which is about two too many. If I were handing out stars and feeling generous, this series might get 2.5 out of 5. It's really kind of dumb. I can think of lots of ways it could be improved.

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler. If you don't know, Daniel Handler also writes under the name Lemony Snicket. I loved the Series of Unfortunate Events, so I thought I would give his newest young adult book a try. I don't know what I was expecting, but not this. It is the story of a high school couple who fall in love. He is a jock and she is from the artsy crowd, which apparently dooms their relationship from the start. Therefore, it is the story of why they break up. The story is whiny and too full of angst, drama, and bad decisions for my taste. Skip it.


The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes. This is a Newbery Honor book from 1945. It is the story of a poor polish girl who claims to have 100 dresses at home, even though she always wears the same faded and worn dress every day to school. The other girls tease her mercilessly, until it is too late. (Don't worry, there is a happy ending). It's a sweet book with charming illustrations. Check it out.


Ok, of those 14 books, I only heartily recommend 3. I need to find something better to read. What have you read lately that's good?

Six by Lloyd Alexander

Over the past couple of months I read the six books in Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydian series.

The books are: The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, The High King, and The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydian.

The books were written in the 1960s and are loosely based on ancient Welsh legends. I chose to read them because The High King won the Newbery Award in 1969, and The Black Cauldron was named a Newbery Honor Book a few years before.

The books are best read as a set, although if the reader doesn't mind missing out on some background they can be read singly. This series is full of memorable characters who are, to name a few, kings, princesses, war lords, bards, enchanters, hags, fair folk, gardeners, pig-keepers, and a harry little creature named Gurgi. Each book centers around a battle of good vs. evil, and as the stories progress, the characters become stronger, braver, and more skilled because of their past experiences.

I usually don't read fantasy books and wasn't sure I would like these, but once I got used to the silly names and into the plot, I ended up finding them to be quite enjoyable and memorable.

After reading The Black Cauldron I watched Disney's version. The first two-thirds of the movie combine The Book of Three and The Black Cauldron and then I don't know where they got the ending. It's a fun movie in a creepy sort of way, but not at all for small children even though it's Disney and a cartoon.

I can't help myself.

So, last month I swore off award-winning books for the summer, but I just couldn't stay away. I didn't read a Pulitzer this month, but I did read a Newbery winner.

When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead won the Newbery award in 2010.

It tells the story of Miranda, a thirteen year-old growing up with a single mother in New York City in the late 1970s. One day, the hidden key to Miranda's apartment comes up missing, and then Miranda begins to find small notes in her belongings with cryptic messages written on them that seem to predict the future.

This novel explores many themes. Friendship, identity, racism, time-travel, and death, are just a few. Also, throughout the novel there are multiple reference to A Wrinkle In Time, a book Miranda loves. It's been a really long time since I read A Wrinkle in Time, and I don't know exactly what they are, but apparently in addition to the outright references to the book, the plots of both books also have some similarities.

For being a short book, When You Reach Me is surprisingly complex with many interwoven plot lines. It is the type of book a reader could benefit from reading multiple times, just to see how everything works together from the beginning.

I'm still not sure if I actually liked this one, but even so, it is definitely worth reading.

Dissappointed.

I just realized that I never wrote about my May Pulitzer and Newbery selections, so here they are.

I'm sad to report that I lost a lot of respect for the Pulitzer Prize after reading this year's winner: A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan.

It wasn't that the novel was poorly written. In fact, it was put together rather cleverly. The chapters can almost be considered short stories - each one is about a different character and takes place in a different time and place, but even so, everything and everyone is interconnected.

However, in my opinion, the characters and plot are far from memorable, not at all likeable, and I found myself not really caring about any of it as I read. I finished reading the book about a month ago, and I'm now having a hard time actually remembering what it is even about. My recommendation on this one is don't waste your time with it.


The Newbery winner I read is the complete opposite. It's Like This, Cat by Emily Neville is one of the most charming books I have read in a long time.

It takes place in New York City in the 1960s and describes how a 14 year old boy's life changes just because he takes in a stray cat. Very cute. I highly recommend this one.

Since I was so disappointed by May's Pulitzer selection, and because I don't care to read any of the Pulitzer winners that I have left to read on the list any time soon, I've decided to take a break from award winning books for the summer and just read for fun.

Any book suggestions are welcome.

After all, tomorrow is another day.

Recognize that famous line of literature? If you are thinking Gone With the Wind, you're right!

After many years of saying I was going to and in preparation for my upcoming trip to the South, I finally read Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind, which just happened to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1937. 

Since most people are somewhat familiar with the plot, I won't summarize it here. I do think that the story kind of fizzles out before the end, but I still really enjoyed reading it. I also watched the movie again since I hadn't seen it in years and liked it a lot, too, but this is even better.

Part 1.


And Part 2.


Are you laughing?

Even though a lot of my April reading time was filled up with Gone With the Wind, I still managed to read a few other books, including a Newbery winner called Dicey's Song, by Cynthia Voigt.

Dicey's Song is number 2 in a series of books about the Tillerman family. The first is called Homecoming, and it is pretty dreadful. I read it to prepare for Dicey's Song, but I wish I hadn't. The plot isn't so bad in itself - the four Tillerman children are abandoned by their mother in the parking lot of a shopping mall, miles from their home, so they take it upon themselves to cross the state and find some fabled relatives of theirs. Interesting, but it goes on and on - the kids try to find something to eat, try to find somewhere to sleep, complain about how tired they are, walk for what seems like miles, get in trouble...day after day. They finally get settled with a cousin or someone, but then they run away to find their grandmother and the whole trip thing starts again.

Dicey's Song is better, but I still found the characters to be annoying. The kids finally end up with their grandmother at the end of Homecoming, and Dicey's Song tells the story of how they settle into their new life, make friends, deal with tragedy...

There are five or six books in the series, but I'm pretty sure I won't read the rest any time soon. I've had my fill of the Tillermans.

One last note, I'm already halfway through 2011's Pulitzer winner, but so far I'm not impressed. I'll write more about it when  when I've finished.

Thousand Cranes Vase

Somewhere in a museum in Korea, there is a piece of pottery called "Thousand Cranes Vase." No one knows who the potter was, but it has been dated to the 1100s and is a beautiful example of celadon pottery with an inlay pattern or design. It amazes me that something this beautiful was made by hand so long ago. 

From what I understand, the vase is thrown on a wheel, then each circle and crane and other designs are carved out and a piece of clay in a different color is formed to put into the place that has been cut out. Here is a picture of the actual Thousand Cranes Vase.

Pretty neat. This is inlaid with black and white clay. The green color comes from the glaze after it is fired. Search for images of Korean celadon pottery and you can see lots of other examples, but I think this is one of the best.

This vase and the technique used to make it are some of the inspiration for the Newbery Award winner I read in March.

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park takes place in 12th Century Korea and tells the story of an orphaned boy named Tree-ear who lives a hard life under a bridge with an older, crippled man named Crane-man. Tree-ear's life  is mostly about survival - finding enough food and clothes, staying warm, but then, through a series of events, Tree-ear becomes an apprentice to one of the master potters in the village named Min.

Eventually, Tree-ear is sent on a long journey to the court of the King to try to win a pottery commission for Min. Of course, along the way he faces many trials and hardships, but eventually,...well, I won't tell how it ends, you'll have to read it for yourself.

I didn't think I would like this one, but it turned out to be not so bad. Check it out.

February reads

I usually read around ten books a month, but this February, I only read four. I'm not sure why I didn't get more read. Let's chalk it up to the fact that it was a short month.

I did, however, read my Newbery and Pulitzer selections.

In honor of President's Day, I chose a biography of Abraham Lincoln by Russell Freedman which won the Newbery Award in 1988 titled Lincoln: A Photobiography.

As the title suggests, this book tells the story of Abraham Lincoln's life from his humble beginnings to his tragic death. Except for a lot of pictures of Lincoln, and some interesting Civil War photos, there is really nothing remarkable in this book. The story is easy to read and includes a very simplified account of the Civil War.

Overall, it's not great but not terrible either. Take it or leave it.

For my Pulitzer read, I chose last year's winner. Tinkers, by Paul Harding is not at all what I expected. The story is about a dying man named George. While his life is ebbing away, he remembers moments from his past. Interspersed with his story is that of his father, Howard, a peddler and misunderstood epileptic.

I want to like this book, and while it is well written with some truly beautiful and poetic passages, I really can't recommend it. It is just too hard to get into and stick with, and at times, overly difficult to follow. Even though it is just under 200 pages, it seems much longer.

February's reading was pretty disappointing. March will be better. I made a trip to the library yesterday and have a large stack of books that I am anxious to work my way through.

Happy reading!

I Read It In A Book

I haven't written anything about any books lately, and I'm sure you all are just sitting on the edges of your seats waiting for me to tell about my reading plan for 2011, so here it is.

I've mentioned before my penchant for reading award winning books, so this year I decided to knock a few more off the lists and read a Pulitzer and Newbery winner each month.

This might get a little tricky because I am down to the really thick ones on the Pulitzer list, but I think I'm up for the challenge.

Speaking of thick novels, my Pulitzer winner for January was The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk.

I put off reading this one for a long time because the story never appealed to me.

It is about Captain Queeg and his crew on an dilapidated mine sweeper during WWII. The captain is rather neurotic, full of unreasonable demands, and constantly making questionable decisions. One day in the midst of a typhoon, one of the officers named Maryk decides to relieve Queeg of his command claiming he (Captain Queeg) is paranoid/insane and not fit to captain the ship any longer.

Of course a court-martial ensues which leads to a rather interesting ending.

Along with the action on the sea is the story of one of the officers on the ship named Willie Keith, a privileged Princeton grad from New York City, and his complicated love affair with a nightclub singer named May Wynn.

I definitely recommend this one. I didn't think I would like it, but I did. And even though it is around 550 pages, it moves along quickly.

The Newbery winner I read is by Rachel Field and is titled Hitty: Her First Hundred Years. This one I didn't like so much.

It is the story of a little wooden doll, carved out of a piece of mountain ash wood around 1829. At the beginning of the story she is sitting in an antique store 100 years later waiting to be sold. While waiting, she decides to write her memoirs. The book is what she writes, and goodness knows she had an eventful life.

It just seemed like this one went on and on. She would get lost and then found. Loved and then discarded. Over and over and over again.

I think the purpose of the book is to teach young people a bit of a history lesson, since Hitty travels to many places and "meets" many people over the course of 100 years. I would just rather not learn history from a doll's perspective.

Even though I didn't really like it, if you do decide to read this one, make sure you get the original as it was rewritten a few years ago to be made more politically correct.

So, there you have it. One good one and one bad for January. What will February hold?

Read, Read, Read

I finished reading two books in the past couple of days. One is really fun and the other is only so-so.


The first is the 1979 Newbery Award winner, The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin. I remember trying to read this book a long time ago, and having a hard time getting into it. So, I decided to give it another chance. I again had a hard time getting into this one, but I'm glad I stuck it out. The beginning is rather confusing as lots of characters are introduced all at once. The plot revolves around the characters trying to figure out who killed Sam Westing, so there are lots of clues and twists and secrets throughout. I think a reader could benefit from reading this book more than once, as lots of the clues and secrets are probably missed the first time. But overall, once I got into it, it was a fun book to read and definitely worthy of the Newbery award.


The second book is Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. I remember reading The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons and not being able to put them down until I finished, so I was really looking forward to this one. Unfortunately, for me this book wasn't nearly as exciting as its predecessors. It wasn't terrible, but at times it seemed tedious and over explanatory and if you've read The Da Vinci Code or Angels and Demons, it will all seem very familiar as Brown follows the same formulaic plot. Hopefully this will be the last of these books. Robert Langdon and his symbols need a rest.

So now I have to get back to my serious reading as the month is almost over, and I still have a lot left to read in my February classic.