tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16392916361857902502024-02-08T11:06:01.519-07:00Books I've Read and LovedPretty self-explanatory title, but I hope that you'll read some of the books I love, and then add your own suggestions.Melissa Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511343961025403142noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1639291636185790250.post-41225308632193936462009-05-01T15:52:00.002-06:002009-05-01T16:07:08.044-06:00A Hint of Things to ComeWell, the semester is over, my projects handed in, and all finals completed. That means it's time to enjoy the summer! And what better way to do so than to spend the summer reading?<br /><br />I've been trying to narrow down the available books-that-sound-interesting into one summer reading list. The goal is to make such a list, read like a madwoman, and blog about each of the books, and the experience itself of reading all those books. It's been difficult, though, to finalize my reading list--here's hoping for the end of the weekend. Then I'll post the list on my sidebar, and I'll link to my reviews and thoughts about each book, and whoever stumbles across this blog can leave their thoughts and comments. Deal?<br /><br />I do know that all 16 books from the School Library Journal's Battle of the Kids' Books will be on the list. The Battle has reached the <a href="http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1180000718.html">final round</a>, and I for one eagerly await the results. <span style="font-style: italic;">Octavian Nothing</span> will go head to head against <span style="font-style: italic;">Hunger Games</span>, and my money is on <span style="font-style: italic;">Hunger Games</span>. I make this prediction not based on any particular knowledge of either book. It's just based on the general feel for which direction the winds seem to be blowing.<br /><br />Anyway, as I mentioned before, I haven't read a SINGLE ONE of the 16 Battle books, but I've so loved the debates and discussion surrounding them, I've decided I need to catch up and join in. So here's to summer reading!Melissa Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511343961025403142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1639291636185790250.post-4191151926809398942009-04-15T01:19:00.002-06:002009-04-15T01:42:41.920-06:00Battle of the Books?!? Awesome!I wish I had known about this earlier because I would have tried to read all the books, but the School Library Journal has created a Battle of the Kids' Books, which pits 16 of the most popular YA books from 2008 against each other à la March Madness. Four matches in the first round have already taken place, with one major upset, (it figures the only book on the list I've actually read gets knocked out in the first round) but there are plenty more rounds to go. Check out SLJ's blog about the competition <a href="http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1180000718.html">here</a>.<br /><br />Up next is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Disreputable-History-Frankie-Landau-Banks-Lockhart/dp/B001Q3M5BM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239781140&sr=1-1"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks</span></a> vs. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/We-Are-Ship-League-Baseball/dp/0786808322/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239781272&sr=1-1"><span style="font-style: italic;">We Are the Ship</span></a>. It's an awesome competition regardless of the fact I haven't read any of the remaining books. I'm thoroughly enjoying the comments from the author-judges as to why they've picked the books they did, as well as the remarks from the competition commentator. Their comments are thoughtful and fun, and I'm looking forward to following the rest of the competition!Melissa Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511343961025403142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1639291636185790250.post-45761638470821333802009-04-05T23:39:00.003-06:002009-04-05T23:56:16.404-06:00Ta-Da!A couple posts ago, I wrote about a book I was looking for<span style="font-style: italic;">: <span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Dear Enemy</span></span>. Well friends, after searching (not that hard) for several months, I finally found it! A couple months ago, after our most recent flood, my mom and Jess went through some of the basement rooms and cleared stuff out. In that process, they put several boxes of books into a big plastic tub, which now serves as my pseudo nightstand for the time being. Saturday, I went looking for a cookbook in there and discovered my copy of <span style="font-style: italic;">Dear Enemy</span>--huzzah!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.amazon.com/Daddy-Long-Legs-Dear-Enemy-Penguin-Classics/dp/0143039067/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238997091&sr=8-1"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 240px;" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41YEWG3WWYL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">If only I was in the mood to read it now ...</span></span>Melissa Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511343961025403142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1639291636185790250.post-37309454889826987052009-03-18T01:19:00.003-06:002009-03-18T01:43:00.828-06:00Celebrate<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UWhQBTX7Weg/ScChLyBmSyI/AAAAAAAAAHg/yDydr4-_URo/s1600-h/the-very-hungry-caterpillar400x300.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UWhQBTX7Weg/ScChLyBmSyI/AAAAAAAAAHg/yDydr4-_URo/s200/the-very-hungry-caterpillar400x300.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314424784076294946" border="0" /></a>Here's two dates to add to your calendar:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-size:180%;">March 20th</span> </span>is the 40th anniversary of the publication of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Carle">Eric Carle</a>'s classic, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Very-Hungry-Caterpillar-board-book/dp/0399247459/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237361196&sr=1-1"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Very Hungry Caterpillar</span></a>. His later book, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Grouchy Ladybug</span> is my favorite Carle book, but this one's pretty good too. Pick up a copy and get ready to enjoy!<br /><br />According to <a href="http://readergirlz.blogspot.com/2009/03/operation-teen-book-drop-tbd-09-press.html">readergirlz</a>, <span style="font-size:180%;">April 16th</span> is Support Teen Literature Day. I'm a big believer in YA lit, so I'll help spread the word (because so many people read this blog lol!) The purpose of Support Teen Literature Day is to "raise awareness among the general public that young adult literature is a vibrant, growing genre with much to offer today’s teens." I absolutely agree! There are some YA books that I still go back and re-read because they're so awesome and still appeal to me now that I'm adult. So get out there and read some YA lit!<br /><br />To help you out, here's the 2008 Teens' Top Ten list. I can't vouch for all of them, but I know<br />that Laurie Halse Anderson, at least, can be one fabulous author.<br /><ol><li> <div><em>Eclipse</em> by Stephenie Meyer</div> </li><li> <div><em>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows </em>by J. K. Rowling</div> </li><li> <div><em>Diary of a Wimpy Kid</em> by Jeff Kinney</div> </li><li> <div><em>Vampire Academy </em>by Richelle Mead</div> </li><li> <div><em>Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports</em> by James Patterson</div> </li><li> <div><em>City of Bones</em> by Cassandra Clare</div> </li><li> <div><em>The Sweet Far Thing </em>by Libba Bray</div> </li><li> <div><em>Extras</em> by Scott Westerfeld</div> </li><li> <div><em>Before I Die </em>by Jenny Downham</div> </li><li> <div><em>Twisted</em> by Laurie Halse Anderson</div></li></ol><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Happy Reading!</span>Melissa Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511343961025403142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1639291636185790250.post-7080859261236586752009-03-16T00:31:00.004-06:002009-03-16T00:42:35.300-06:00Quick Book UpdateI don't want another year to go by without posting here, so I'm adding a quick updated about what I've been reading lately. I started <span style="font-style: italic;">Master & Commander</span> (the first book in the series) about a month ago. I'm a couple chapters in, but haven't read much further than that. I like the book for the most part, but struggle to get past the early 19th Century sailor's slang--slang that is recreated through a late 20th Century author. We'll see how it goes.<br /><br />I'm ashamed to admit, but the other night I couldn't sleep and had a craving to read a really crappy, I-don't-have-to-use-one-braincell-to-read-this kind of book, so I pulled out a Barbara Michaels book and read the whole thing in one sitting. She's entertaining, but really, I can shut my brain off when I read her stuff, which is sometimes exactly what I need.<br /><br />What else? Oh yes. I've been wanting to read <span style="font-style: italic;">Dear Enemy</span> lately, but can't find my copy of the book anywhere. I've searched high and low in my house, but no luck yet. If you've never read the book I highly recommend it. Also, I recommend the book that comes before it: <span style="font-style: italic;">Daddy-Long-Legs</span>. These are two, semi-connected YA books written by Jean Webster; both are enjoyable, but <span style="font-style: italic;">Dear Enemy</span> is my favorite. Now if only I could figure out where I put it last ...Melissa Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511343961025403142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1639291636185790250.post-39079778059940319392009-01-24T13:41:00.005-07:002009-01-24T14:08:39.775-07:00"The Folk Keeper" by Franny BillingsleyWow, I haven't posted on this blog in almost a year and a half! Mostly that's because I haven't been doing a whole lot of reading, or thinking about what I read. That's very, very sad. But lately that's started to change. I read the whole Twilight series over the Christmas/New Years holidays, in a weird obsessive compulsive act that's very hard for me to explain. I didn't like the books, but still found myself having to read them. Really, the only way you'll understand it is if you get inside my head, which (thank the Lord) isn't going to happen.<br /><br />Today I am filled with the desire to completely immerse and lose myself in reading, which really, really hasn't happened in a long time. The best way I can describe the feeling is that I'm homesick for a good book. So I re-read a book that I haven't looked at for years: The Folk Keeper.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWhQBTX7Weg/SXuAM7TRkQI/AAAAAAAAAGw/B4sq_JxU8uI/s1600-h/IMG.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 123px; height: 171px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWhQBTX7Weg/SXuAM7TRkQI/AAAAAAAAAGw/B4sq_JxU8uI/s200/IMG.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294966746469470466" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">From the Cover: She doesn't really know who she is or what she wants ... Corinna is a Folk Keeper. Her job is to keep the mysterious Folk who live beneath the ground at bay. But Corinna has a secret that even she doesn't fully comprehend, until she agrees to serve as Folk Keeper at Marblehaugh Park, a wealthy family's seaside manor. There her hidden powers burst into full force, and Corinna's life changes forever....</span></span><br /><br />Despite the overuse of ellipses on the back cover, this book is well worth the read. It's a weird little book that can be hard to get through, but I love anyway. Corinna has a direct voice that is a little difficult to immerse yourself in at first, but trust me, she gets better. Her descriptions of the sea are beautiful, and her developing self-assurance and developing relationships are touching. The Folk are sufficiently chilling, and the evil villain of the story has some humanity in him, but the climax loses no tension or excitement for it.<br /><br />The book is a very quick read (I read the whole thing in only a few hours) and is told as Corinna writes down her thoughts in her Folk Keeper's Record. She describes not only the Folk and all their "mischief," but she also describes herself: warts, embarrassments, and all. She writes: "But I must tell the truth here ... If I lied in this Folk Record, I wouldn't be able to trust it ..." A powerful statement about being honest with one's self, because Corinna is really writing to herself and for herself.<br /><br />All in all, a great little book, and a great way to get back into reading for the pure love of reading.<br /></div></div>Melissa Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511343961025403142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1639291636185790250.post-25077691170793113712007-10-27T17:55:00.000-06:002007-10-27T18:20:14.399-06:00"Squashed" by Joan Bauer<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">From the cover: Ellie Morgan's life would be almost perfect if she could just get her potentially prizewinning pumpkin, Max, to put on about two hundred more pounds, and if she could lose twenty herself. Then Max would be the shoo-in champion of the Rock River Pumpkin Weigh-In. Minus twenty pounds, Ellie would have the courage to approach Wes, the new boy in town. But unpredictable weather is threatening Max, pumpkin thieves are running rampant, and Sweet Corn Coquette contestants are eyeing Wes. Is Ellie tough enough to go for it all?</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">This was a book that I picked up at the library book sale a few years ago just because it sounded slightly interesting and was only 50 cents. I'm so glad I got it, because I LOVE this book. It's sweet, funny, and will make you want to start growing giant pumpkins! The conversations between Ellie and her grandmother about growing things are particularly poignant, as is the sometimes tense relationship Ellie has with her father.<br /><br />Ellie has a unique, and sometimes slightly eccentric, voice as she narrates her own story. Here's a great line from the book: "The Iowa sun crashed down like God was recharging the earth and flowed into my pumpkin who was stretching to reach his full agricultural potential." What a fabulous sentence! This is a tender book that you must read. I laugh and cry, then laugh and cry some more every time I read it.<br /></span></span>Melissa Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511343961025403142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1639291636185790250.post-32411092333064427352007-08-09T16:48:00.002-06:002009-03-16T00:28:22.570-06:00Children's BooksI haven't posted here in a long, long time, but the other day I was reading about an awareness campaign that First Book has been doing called, "What Book Got You Hooked?" (You can read the answers of a number of celebrities and authors here*.) The whole thing got me thinking about the books I read as a child, and how I became addicted to reading, so I thought I'd share some of those early books and why I love them.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Where the Sidewalk Ends</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">A Light in the Attic</span></span><br />When I was in elementary school these were two of the books that were always on hold in the library. I devoured them whenever I could get my hands on them, and my friends and I would laugh and laugh at the poems. These poems made poetry accessible to me, in fact they were my first real introduction to poetry. But they also filled me with a sense of wonder, and made the most mundane of things (like a peanut butter-and jelly-sandwich or the garbage) suddenly seem magical. I read the poems now and I love the sadness, the sweetness, the humor, and the limitless possibilities that fill the poems.<br /><br />Here's one of my favorites:<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hug o' War</span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"> I will not play at tug o' war.<br />I'd rather play at hug o' war,<br />Where everyone hugs<br />Instead of tugs,<br />Where everyone giggles<br />And rolls on the rug,<br />Where everyone kisses,<br />And everyone grins,<br />And everyone cuddles,<br />And everyone wins. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Nancy Drew Series by Carolyn Keene</span><br />I guess I would have to say that if there was any book or series of books that hooked me completely on reading, it would have to be Nancy Drew. I followed the adventures of Nancy Drew obsessively. I mean, we're talking hard-core obsession here. I think I must have read every Nancy Drew book in both my school and public libraries! I thought I had found heaven when I found my aunt's collection of original Nancy Drew books from when she was a kid! These were the books that made me (for the first time ever) stay up late reading with a flashlight under the covers! (Not a habit my parents appreciated.) I look back at them now, and I kind of wonder what I saw in them, but back then I thought Nancy was so cool with her light blue Mustang convertible, and that her dad (with his touch of gray at the temples) was so sophisticated.<br /><br />I hated Ned Nickerson, though. I mean, he was a nice enough boyfriend at first, but he just never got Nancy and her need to solve mysteries. He was often quite patronizing (I picked up on that before I even knew what the word meant!) and was always telling her to give up solving mysteries. No, I think Nancy should have dumped Ned (OK, well, she did once, but then they got back together by the end of the next book) and she should have ended up with Frank Hardy. I loved the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys cross-overs, and the hint of romance between Frank and Nancy. He was so much cooler than Ned Nickerson, and he got the thrill of solving mysteries.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Dark is Rising</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Series by Susan Cooper</span><br />If Nancy Drew got me started reading, then <span style="font-style: italic;">The Dark is Rising </span>series got me to think about what I was reading. I guess this is why I wonder now what I saw in Nancy--they were fun books, but there wasn't much depth. I will be forever grateful to my 4th grade teachers for introducing me to this series by reading aloud to us the first book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Over Sea, Under Stone</span>, and then I will be forever grateful to whatever librarian it was at my public library who purchased the whole series. These are books that I still read today, and still find new things to love about them. The series focuses on questions of good and evil, but not just black and white evil. Through the characters this series asks the questions, "How far should we be willing to go for a good cause?" and "Who gets to decide what price should be paid to defeat evil?"<br /><br />Plus, these books are just plain old fun! I love the adventures the kids go on, and the elements of magic and celtic folklore that abound throughout the series. I love too that Will Stanton, the main character, has such a big loving family, and meets lots of other wonderful people along the way--even if they don't have a direct impact on his quests. He's a powerful boy on a mission to save the world from all the powers of darkness, but in the end he is just a boy, and he needs these people in his life to connect him to the world he is trying to save. I love, love, <span style="font-style: italic;">love</span> these books!!<br /><br />There are so many other books that have influenced me and made me a fiction addict, but I'll save them for another time--that's what this blog is for, after all! I'm just glad that my parents, teachers, and librarians all supported me in my reading habits, and provided me with opportunities to discover whole new worlds--and to discover myself--through reading.<br /><br />*ETA This link no longer exists, which is really sad, because it was some good reading. Hopefully they do something like this again; I'll keep my eyes open for it.Melissa Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511343961025403142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1639291636185790250.post-63058161213199730392007-01-23T12:33:00.000-07:002007-01-23T16:41:46.809-07:00This Time of Darkness by H.M. Hoover<span style="font-size:85%;"> From the cover: "All Amy's eleven years have been spent in the City. Everyone knows that its gridwork of halls and corridors stretches endlessly. There is no point in going Outside, where the air is too polluted to breathe. Besides, there is nothing left Outside any more, nothing at all. Amy's learning center has taught her that. And even though she is bored by the monotony of the learning center, she knows better than to attract the watcher's attention by showing she can read.<br /> But Axel isn't so careful. He ignores his terminal at the learning center as he ignores everything else. Rocking and singing softly to himself, blocking out reality, Axel has been labeled a psycho. And Amy is not the only one to notice--the watcher sees everything and forgets nothing.<br /> When Axel confesses to Amy that he's from Outside, she believes him at once. Together they plot a daring escape. But to do so they must risk their lives, not just once, but again and again, as they flee through the tunnels of the City, across the rubble-strewn badlands of Outside, and into a hostile and uncertain future. "<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"> One afternoon, a co-worker and I were discussing young adult books we liked, and making recommendations to each other. Since we were about to go on Christmas break, we went down to the YA section (I work at a library by the way) and we checked out some of the books we had recommended to each other. This book was one that she recommended to me.<br /><br /> I've read a lot of Young Adult fiction--a lot--and while there's some great, great writing out there, I am always a little surprised when I find a book that is written for young adults, (at their reading level, etc) but that captures complex themes and emotions beyond what the average teenager is thinking about, making it an enjoyable book for anyone to read. This is just such a book.<br /><br /> While this book is a quick read, there are truly heart-pounding moments, and Hoover perfectly captures the hopelessness and despair of this City. It's a startling look at the way societies are structured, a pitch-perfect adventure, and a testament to the power of human friendship and companionship.<br /><br />MAD<br /></span></span></span>Melissa Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511343961025403142noreply@blogger.com0