Books I Read 2006 - Word doc
Blue = really great books
Little Kids
Arciniega Roberto está loco Roberto the frog thinks he’s the king of Denmark. He wears a raincoat when it’s sunny and he sings to the moon. Yes, Roberto está loco – but he’s also feliz.
Bruel, Nick Who Is Melvin Bubble? Author asks Melvin’s parents and friends, as well as his teddy bear, his dog, the monster in his closet, the Tooth Fairy, a talking zebra, and a purportedly magic rock for info on this kid. Good read-aloud for first grade.
Daly, Niki Papa Lucky’s Shadow Little girl joins grandpa tap-dancing for change in the city.
Daly, Niki Jamela’s Dress Jamela loves the fabric her mother bought to make a dress and wears it all over town, getting her picture taken and ruining the fabric… uh-oh.
DeFelice, Cynthia One Potato, Two Potato A poor old couple discover a magic pot in their garden that doubles everything—potatoes, hairpins, candles, even the old couple themselves, leaving them with the perfect friends!
DiCamillo, Kate Mercy Watson to the Rescue (EZ Reader) The Watsons dote on their pig, Mercy, who in a late-night excursion in search of snacks manages to have the firefighters dispatched to save the Watsons from falling through a hole in their bedroom floor.
Erlbruch, Wolf La gran pregunta Why are we here? To have birthday parties, says the brother. To bark, says the dog. To love life, says death. What do you say? (Pub. Kókinos.)
Frasier, Debra A Birthday Cake Is No Ordinary Cake Every circle around the Sun equals one. One what? One birthday cake! Point your bowl east to collect the morning sun and then enjoy the year-long search for other delicious ingredients, such as the shadows of geese flying south in the fall and the sound of snowflakes falling. (Butter and sugar come toward the end.) Delightful, poetic and practical: a good gift for any age.
Kompaneyets, Marc The Squishiness of Things Pretty illustrations, coy & derivative story about Hieronymus trying to find the origin of a hair.
Sea Surprise (Leo Landry – EZ Reader)Mermaid Kate and shark pal Dave help friend Electric Eel get his zap back.
Lasky, Kathryn Pirate Bob In simple sentences, describes a day in the life of a pirate named Bob, whose job is to cut the steering cables and cripple the ships he and his shipmates will loot. His best friend is Yellow Jack (who has scurvy) and Bob is kind of curious where YJ has buried his loot, but worries about asking and wrecking the friendship. Gives a feeling of being driven by greed. A verisimilitudinously greedy, piraty tale.
Look, Lenore Ruby Lu, Brave and True Great reader about Ruby, almost 8, Asian-American, living in Seattle, fond of her baby brother, rain, her neighborhood, and performing magic tricks, learns to drive by watching her GungGung (grandpa) and PohPoh (grandma) and drives herself to Chinese School one weekend. Book ends with the advent of her immigrant cousin, Flying Duck, auspiciously wearing lots of reflective tape.
Look, Lenore Ruby Lu, Empress of Everything Immigration is hard. Being Smile Buddy for your cousin Flying Duck at school is great but perhaps distracting from schoolwork. Both Ruby and Flying Duck go to summer school, which turns out to be fun, partly because FD, who is deaf, teaches everyone Chinese sign language. Also there are swim lessons and the complicated on-again, off-again friendship with Emma.
Lucas. David Nutmeg Delightful tale of a moping family who live in a pile of wreckage near the shore, eating cardboard for breakfast, until the day young Nutmeg conjures up a genie. Her humble wish (for better breakfast fare) turns the family’s lives wonderfully upside down!
Michelson, Richard Across the Alley Old-time Brooklyn. A white Jewish boy and a black boy are best friends at night, through their window across the alley, and teach each other to play violin and pitch a baseball.
Novesky, Amy Elephant Prince: the story of Ganesh
O’Connor, Jane Snow Globe Family I loved the whimsy of the idea. Only the baby notices the tiny family in the snow globe, who long (just like Baby) to enjoy a good snow storm like the Big Family’s big kids.
Pourchet, Marjorie La cabeza en la bolsa The pleasingly peculiar story of a woman so shy she keeps her head stuffed in her purse.
New York is English, Chattanooga is Creek (Raschka)
Ries, Lori Aggie and Ben: three stories Ben’s dad takes him to the store to pick out a pet. He picks a dog: Aggie. Ben likes to act like a dog (until he sees Aggie drink from the toilet) and hang out with Aggie. At night he helps her feel safe. Sweet, w/ good illus. A good early reader.
Seuus, Dr. Scrambled Eggs Super!
Sierra, Judy Thelonius Monster’s Sky-High Fly Pie New-Yorker-ish drawings complement the catchy start and stop of Sierra’s rhyming story of a guy who wanted to make a pie out of flies.
Staake, Bob The Red Lemon I was surprised to like this rhyming, computer-graphics-illustrated book about a farmer who grew an unusual red lemon.
Stone, Tanya Lee Unique Animals of the Pacific Coast Easy Facts book—mostly a recitation of statistics. I could do better.
The Socksnatchers (Balian) Peculiar – the little socksnatcher family lives under the house and their ethical code dictates they only “share” single socks, and they are only useful if they’re dirty. Human family blames sock disappearances on the suspicious and beleaguered cat.
Urbigkit, Cat Brave Dogs, Gentle Dogs: how they guard sheep Pretty photos.
Woodson, Jacqueline Show Way History of JW’s matrilineal family through slave times and free, all connected by quilting
J Books
Aston, Dianna An Egg is Quiet This simple poem about an egg hatching is illustrated with fantastic watercolors of the eggs of scores of different creatures (not all birds) with all kinds of cool info about their shapes, weights, textures, incubation periods, markings, etc.
Bidner, Jenni Is My Dog a Wolf? How your pet compares to its wild cousin
Clements, Andrew A Million Dots Takes the whole book to show a million dots, overlaid with pictures colorfully representing amounts of many other things, such as the weight of a sperm whale, how often a person blinks in a week, cartons of chocolate milk to fill a swimming pool.
Davies, Nicola Extreme Animals: the toughest creatures on earth A few intriguing tidbits (such as that the camel’s brain is kept at a reasonable temperature by the blood cooled in the camel’s big nose, and that some frogs can allow ice to grow in their bodies in between cells to hibernate at freezing temperatures), but mostly I felt she didn’t give enough information on any one item, even for younger readers. Also the humorous illustrations were sometimes misleading (for example, the text describes how mammals burn food for warmth, but the picture shows mammals gathered around a bonfire with the heading “mammals burning food”).
Fleming, Candace Our Eleanor: a scrapbook look at Eleanor Roosevelt’s remarkable life jB-R775f Excellent, absorbing, photo-and-ephemera-rich biography.
Goldstone, Bruce Great Estimations Totally cool book about training the eye to estimate numbers. It's one of those skills I don't remember specifically learning, just acquiring somehow; this book really shows how it's done with fun photo illustrations.
Hatkoff, Isabella Owen & Mzee: the true story of a remarkable friendship j599.635 H34o Baby hippo Owen lost his pod and mama in the tsunami; taken to a wildlife refuge, he immediately took to a giant, 135-year-old tortoise and the two big humped critters—one a mammal and one a reptile! – became inseparable.
Houston Fire into Ice: adventures in glass making j748.29 H843f Peculiar and confusing book showing cast and blown glass sculptures by one person, plus his idiosyncratic musings on each piece. Doesn’t say much about process of glassblowing.
Johnson, Dolores Onward: a photobiography of African-American polar explorer Matthew Henson A good read. Makes the point that Henson has been missed by history.
Loy Follow the Trail: a young person’s guide to the great outdoors j796.54 L923f Actually a beginner’s guide to camping for elementary age kids.
McCallum, Ann The Secret Life of Math: discover how (and why) numbers have survived from the cave dwellers to us! J510.9M122s
Ruurs My Librarian is a Camel (Margriet Ruurs) j027.4 R982m
Osborne, Mary Pope Pompeii Lost & Found j937.7 O81p
Stamaty, Mark Alan Alia’s Mission: Saving the Books of Iraq Graphic novel account of everyday heroism: Alia organizes neighbors and friends to carry 30,000 books from the library of Basra and store them in their homes—just before the library is burned.
Anderson, M.T. Whales On Stilts Sending up many genres at once, including wholesome Hardy-Boys style action books of bygone days (character Jasper Dash, Boy Technonaut) and the remarkable daily lives of people in Goosebumps type series (Katie Mulligan, who lives in the subdivision Horror Hollow). Sort of a Lemony Snicket coyness to the author. Much of it quite funny.
Barry & Pearson Peter and the Starcatchers The back story on how Peter Pan gained his friends and his powers and first encountered Captain Hook
Burch, Christian The Manny Files Narrated by astute and fey 8 year old Keats Dalinger. He tells of the 4 kids’ new nanny, who’s a man—one who’s irreverent, fun, caring, and (as older readers will eventually figure out) gay. A heart-warming, realistic family tale.
Codell Sahara Special Excellent. Sahara’s parents divorced and when the school caught her writing countless letters to her dad, pleading for him to come home, they stuck them in her file and recommended Special Ed. After this betrayal Sahara doesn’t write anything for school anymore, but then she’s held back a year and is put in the class of the iconoclastic, tough-loving Mrs. Pointy, who is just what Sahara (and several other kids) need/s.
Codell Vive La Paris Companion novel to Sahara Special. Paris takes piano lessons from ancient, eccentric but excellent Mrs. Cohen, and misunderstands Mrs. Cohen’s arm tattoo, thinking she was in a gang and then learning to her horror about WWII. Moving, funny.
Colfer Half-Moon Investigations “12-year-old private investigator Fletcher Moon, nicknamed "Half Moon" because of his shortness, must track down a conspiracy or be framed for a crime he did not committ.” Wry, a bit detached (b/c of being a nerd) from his peers, smart but dorky. A good voice and a good read.
DiCamillo The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane j DICAMILLO Excellent. A new velveteen rabbit, only this one’s made of jointed china parts. Through a series of misadventures spanning decades, Edward has several owners including a wealthy little girl, and fisherman and his wife, a hobo and his dog, a poor boy and his dying little sister, and finally the daughter of his original owner. He ceases being vain and self-involved, opens his heart to love, has it broken (along with his head, actually) several times, and magically returns to his first owner at last able to love her (& her daughter). Moving without being sappy.
Dowell Chicken Boy j DOWELL “Since the death of his mother, Tobin's family life and school life have been in disarray, but after he starts raising chickens with his seventh-grade classmate, Henry, everything starts to fall into place.”
Fine The Diary of a Killer Cat “Okay, okay. So hang me. I killed the bird.” An unrepentant cat (Tuffy) narrates this tale of dead birds and mice that freak out the family—and a mysterious rabbit.
Hardinge, Frances Fly By Night j HARDINGE Smart, whimsical, sometimes dark picaresque novel with an elaborate and convincing world of politics, religion and insurrection loosely based in an England of the early 18th century. “12-year-old orphan, Mosca Mye, and her homicidal goose, Saracen, travel to the city of Mandelion on the heels of smooth-talking con-man Eponymous Clent, driven by her love of language to find a better life.”
Herge Tintin Vol. 1 (Tintin in America; Cigars of the Pharoah; The Blue Lotus Read the first two.
Hiaasen Flush Good mystery. Narrator Noah’s dad sinks the local casino boat b/c he says it’s flushing it’s waste directly into the bay. As dad is in jail, Noah and sister Abbey try to solve the mystery and bust the guy. A bunch of hardscrabble characters, and a family for whom everything is not going smoothly, but they are nice folks.
Levine, Gail Carson The Fairy’s Return Fun, silly, warm fairy tale retellings set in the kingdom of Biddle (6 stories).
Lowry Gossamer
McKay, Hilary Caddy Ever After Excellent, as always! Told from all four kids’ points of view.
Pinkwater, Daniel Mush’s Jazz Adventure Silly tale of Mush the mushamute alien dog frightening robbers with saxophone music.
Pullman, Philip The Scarecrow and His Servant The daffy, quixotic Scarecrow and his sensible boy servant, Jack, set off on a variety of adventures and eventually outwit the crooked Buffaloni family to stake their claim to the Scarecrow’s home, Spring Valley.
Shulevitz, Uri The Travels of Benjamin of Tudela: through three continents in the twelfth century Fascinating and gorgeous. Benjamin wrote about his travels, and Shulevitz recreated some of them and set them in their medieval context to write this book.
Singh, Vandana Younguncle Comes to Town
Stanley, Diane Bella at Midnight A quite good Cinderella retelling, with some Joan of Arc thrown in. Bella’ widowed father can’t abide the sight of his infant daughter and sends her to be raised by peasants, where she happily befriends everyone, including the young prince squiring up at the rustic castle. When her father reclaims her, she “finds herself caught up in a terrible plot that will change her life and the kingdom forever.” Told from several points of view.
Stauffacher Harry Sue j STAUFFACH Excellent, if gritty. “Although tough-talking Harry Sue would like to start a life of crime in order to be "sent up" and find her incarcerated mother, she must first protect the children at her [awful], neglectful grandmother's home day care center” and figure out how to do right by her best friend, Homer, who basically lives in his tree house after being paralyzed in a diving accident. Friendship with Homer’s wacko home health aide, Anna, and with the substitute art teacher, a Sudanese “Lost Boy” she calls Baba, also helps.
White, E.B. The Trumpet of the Swan By turns funny, absorbing and painfully dated, with a casual attitude toward plot inconsistencies. Still a good read-aloud.
Wolfson, Jill What I Call Life Cal Lavender’s mother had an episode in a library and now she finds herself in a group foster Home – a temporary interruption in what she calls life. Mainly features the allegorical tale told by the Home’s old, stuttering, wise patrona, the Knitting Lady, about her own mother’s journey on an orphan train. Rather clunky.
From Rags to Riches: a history of girls’ clothing in America (Leslie Sills, j391)
Painters of the Caves (Patricia Lauber) Lovely photos and good exploration of the Ice Age peoples who painted pictures of bison, mammoths, etc. in caves.
YA Books
Acampora, Paul Defining Dulcie Nice ideas but a bit thin. Dulcie’s janitor father died in a freak accident involving cleaning products; now she’s working at the school, living with her grandpa, mad at her mom for moving to CA, and befriending a girl who’s mom abuses her.
Atwater-Rhodes, Amelia Demon In My View Written by a 15-year-old goth girl, and feels like it, but still pretty inventive vampire story.
Cohn, Rachel & David Levithan Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Totally great punk NY 18-year-old lust and love story, insecurities, joyful discoveries, snappy badass dialogue, loud music and all.
Douglas, Lola True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet Teen movie star Morgan Carter retreats to Fort Wayne, IN, to attend H.S. anonymously after months of rehab. Things get complicated (duh) but most characters are believably complex, Morgan (aka Claudia) doesn’t become angelic, and the story is totally fun.
Gardner, Sally I, Coriander In 17th century London, Coriander lives a charmed life as the daughter of a wealthy merchant and his beloved wife (of fairy blood). Their fortunes turn several times against the backdrop of Cromwell’s London. The voice is solid and lyrical, and the storytelling is very good in the family but drops the ball in the hazy fairyland and especially when she falls in love with the beleaguered fairy knight for absolutely no reason and in about a paragraph.
Going, K.L. Saint Iggy Remarkable voice. Iggy has a crappy life—drugged out parents (mom on meth and currently missing); fighting and failing school; dangerous (and totally inadequate) public housing; his only advocate a drop-out law student whiny stoner rich kid. Iggy’s trying to do good so he can get his life back on track, but the circumstances of poverty and drug culture conspire against him. Tragic. Highly discussable.
Green, John An Abundance of Katherines Just terrific. Witty, warm, thoughtful, with beautifully rendered characters. “Having been recently dumped [by his 19th] Katherine, recent high school graduate and former child prodigy Colin sets off on a road trip with his best friend [a smart, funny Muslim kid named Hassan] to try to find some new direction in life while also trying to create a mathematical formula to explain his relationships."
Headley, Justina Chen Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies) Okay but overwritten novel about a half-Chinese, half-white high school girl whose demanding single (Taiwanese) mother sends her to math camp. All about learning biracial girl pride.
Hooper, Mary The Remarkable Life and Times of Eliza Rose Great flavor of 17th-century London. Eliza has been kicked out of her house by her stepmother for being a “cuckoo in the nest”; she goes to London to try to find her father, goes hungry, steals a pasty, and ends up in the Clink, where the story starts. It’s not long before she’s taken in by a procurer of bawds, rescued by Nell (aspiring to be Charles II’s mistress), working in the theater, and befriending a highwayman. Convincing full sensory descriptions of the time and place, plus rich characters with mores quite different from those of today.
Howe, James The Misfits Excellent story of 4 smart, interesting, not “in” kids in middle school twho invent a new political party: The No-Name Party, to put the kibosh on name-calling. Bobby (narrator) happens to be fat, Joe is gay, Addie is too tall and outspoken and political, and Skeezie is sort of a 50’s greaser. All feel very real, as do supporting characters of teachers and principal and Bobby’s dad.
Howe, James Totally Joe Sweet middle school story of a gay boy and his good friends and nice family. Gimmick is he’s writing his “alphabiography” for class (each chapter about a different letter).
Jones, Diana Wynne The Pinhoe Egg Vintage DWJ. Totally fun.
Koertge, Ron Boy Girl Boy 3 friends grow apart during senior year, but they might run off to California together anyway, who knows?
Knox, Elizabeth Dreamhunter Very unusual flavor. “In a world where select people can enter "The Place" and find dreams of every kind to share with others for a fee, a fifteen-year-old girl is training to be a dreamhunter when her father disappears, leaving her to carry on his mysterious mission.” First of a “duet.”
Koja, Kathe Buddha Boy Justin spends time with Jinsen, the unusual and artistic new student whom the school bullies torment and call Buddha Boy, and ends up making choices that impact Jinsen, himself, and the entire school.
Koja, Kathe Talk Hoping to escape from himself for awhile, Kit auditions for a controversial school play and discovers his talent for acting, struggles with coming out, and both he and his costar face crises in their view of themselves and in their close relationships. Told from two points of view.
Langrish, Katherine Troll Fell When 12-year-old Peter’s father dies, he is snatched up by his diabolical, identical-twin uncles and brought to live in their dismal mill, where he tries to find a way to stop their plan to sell the him and a neighbor girl to the trolls. Very atmospheric—Norse villages in the cold lonely mountains. Good.
Langrish, Katherine Troll Mill 3 years later. In the first few pages Bjorn’s wild-eyed wife Kersten hands off her baby to Peer and flings herself—wearing her sealskin—into the sea. Bjorn is wild with grief, Peer’s angry that Bjorn would—did he really?—imprison a selkie woman, and meanwhile, ominous things are afoot at night with the mill. Eerie, fast-paced, tangibly atmospheric, with a loving family and friends at the heart of it all.
Larochelle, David Absolutely, Positively Not “Chronicles a teenage boy's humorous attempts to fit in at his Minnesota high school by becoming a macho, girl-loving, "Playboy" pinup-displaying heterosexual.” Totally sweet coming out (to self and family) story.
Leavitt, Martine Keturah and Lord Death “When Lord Death comes to claim sixteen-year-old Keturah while she is lost in the King's Forest, she charms him with her story and is granted a twenty-four hour reprieve in which to seek her one true love.” Stylized but with a surprising ending.
Les Becquets, Diane Love, Cajun Style One hot Louisiana summer Lucy, 17, follows the mysterious love lives of her mother (and, she hopes, her father), Tante Pearl, and two best friends, while falling for the nice new boy and having the moves put on her by the new drama teacher. Good.
Lockhart, E. Fly On the Wall: how one girl saw everything Gretchen Yee, a student at the ManhattanSchool for Art and Music, doesn’t get boys. Then she wishes she were a fly on the wall of the boys' locker room... Smart writing, idiosyncratic, complex characters. Good!
McGowan, Anthony Hellbent Witty in a scatological, adolescent British boy way. Conor is run over by an ice cream truck and he’s now in a corner of Hell specifically designed for his maximum torture. I only read the first 35 pages.
Medley, Linda Castle Waiting: Volume One: The Lucky Road ygn MEDLEY Strange, engrossing, intimate fairy story of some of those background fairytale characters. Jain, pregnant, flees her nasty husband and takes refuge in the isolated Castle Waiting, where she makes friends with the quirky denizens, who are excited to welcome a baby into their midst.
Moriarty, Jaclyn The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie
Oppel, Kenneth Skybreaker Excellent swashbuckling. Ghost ship in the sky. Pirates. Icy corpses. Giant electrifying air jellyfish. Derring-do.
Paulsen, Gary Hatchet
Paulsen, Gary Brian’s Winter
Paulsen, Gary The River
Perkins, Lynne Rae Criss Cross Excellent. 1960s. Small town. Various POV. Young teens figuring out themselves and wishing for love.
Portman, Frank King Dork The Catcher Cult, hilarious imaginary bands, the powers of mispronunciation, dead-on descriptions of the hell that is high school. Tom (main character, king dork himself) derides Catcher in the Rye while actually following in its narrative tradition. Clever.
Sheth, Kashmira Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet Jeeta, 16, lives with family in Mumbai, India. Mom values tradition and is busy marrying off her 2 oldest daughters via arranged marriage. Jeeta and her friend Sarina are more modern in their views, and J tries to sort out respect for family and being true to herself, while watching her sisters’ disparate fortunes in marriage.
Soto, Gary Accidental Love Boring – only read half.
Stroud, Jonathan Ptolemy’s Gate Bartimaeus #3. Good. Surprising ending.
Waite, Judy Forbidden Elinor is lucky, so lucky. That’s what she and other members of the cult True Cause repeat to themselves over and over as they live in sheds at the foot of their Master Howard’s mansion. Elinor is slated to become a Bride of Howard, but faint memories of another life tug at her, and then there’s that boy she saw in town…
Westerfeld, Scott Uglies SF tale in which future generations have decided people will treat one another fairly only if everyone looks the same, within genetically defined parameters of what we all think is “pretty” (young and healthy looking). Everyone has an operation at 16 to go from “ugly” (normal adolescent) to “pretty.” Spunky heroine is Tally who (like everyone) can’t wait to be a pretty, even after she meets Shay who knows of rumors of an “ugly” resistance out in the hills… (the Smoke, because they have to burn trees for fuel, which seems shocking). Lots of hoverboarding (a descendant of skateboarding).
Westerfeld, Scott Pretties 2nd in SF series. Tally agrees to have the surgery to turn pretty so as to be the guinea pig for the new cure (turns out turning “pretty” also means having your brain altered toward compliance). But now she’s a pretty and doesn’t remember much about her old life… More desperate adventure.
Westerfeld, Scott Specials 3rd in SF series. Tally’s been captured and turned into a “Special Circumstances” operative—basically a surgically enhanced psychotic killing machine. Boyfriend Zane now looks week and pitiful to her. She and Shay (also now a special) have an assignment: track down the Smokies (the wild-living resistance) and bring them in for bubblehead (pretty) surgery. But what if the Smokies now have their own city? Cities don’t mess with each other…do they? And surgically changed people can’t rewire their own brains… can they? Very good, and rather raw.
Westerfeld, Scott Peeps Very booktalkable vampire story positing that vampirism is caused by a parasite (those afflicted are “parasite positive” or “peeps”). Narrator Cal, 19, was infected but turned out to be the 1 in 100 who is a carrier, developing plenty of hyped senses and abilities but not afflicted with cannibalism, antipathy to things he previously loved (“anathema” - for example, to the sun) or insanity. On the other hand, he can’t kiss anyone ever again, because the parasite is easily transmitted by saliva – and the parasite, wanting to be spread, causes him to REALLY WANT to kiss someone… Short, even-numbered chapters discuss plenty of other disgusting (real) parasites and tie them in with the story. Particularly booktalkable is Ch. 22, “Snakes on a Stick,” p.276.
Yolen, Jane Pay the Piper: a rock’n’roll fairy tale Cardboard-ish retelling of Pied Piper as an exiled Faerie prince. (Authored with her son Adam Stemple)
Zusak, Marcus The Book Thief Amazing storytelling and writing style but I couldn’t finish it because I got too stressed out about all the terrible things that happen in the small German town as Liesel’s foster family hides a starving Jew in the basement. Wonderfully narrated by Death. I stopped on p. 336.
Adult Books
Alda, Alan Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: and other things I’ve learned Rather boring, sadly. I hoped for lots of juicy MASH bits but those clearly weren’t as interesting (or as recent) to him as his near brush with death by mechanical intestinal obstruction in Chile.
Almond, Steve Candyfreak: A Journey Through the Chocolate Underbelly of America Nostalgia meets frenzied fandom. Willy Wonka meets a frantic foodie with a “freak” for all things chocolate bar and a curiosity about where the small manufacturers of everyone’s favorite childhood bars have gone.
Bechdel, Alison Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
Bolles, Edmund 551.792 B691i The Ice Finders: how a poet, a professor, and a politician discovered the ice age
Brenner, Joel Glenn The Emperors of Chocolate: inside the secret world of Hershey and Mars
Brewster 362.8292 B848h Helping Her Get Free: a guide for families and friends of abused women
Codell, Esmé Educating Esmé: diary of a teacher’s first year Now I can see where Sahara Special’s teacher comes from… Kind of all over the place, but fun and interesting to read.
Wade, Nicholas (ed.) The Science Times Book of Archaeology Totally fun bathroom reading for many months. Prehistoric, early civilizations, classical, Biblical, New World, and underwater archaeology.
Weiss 362.8292 W429f Family and Friends’ Guide to Domestic Violence: how to listen, talk and take action when someone you care about is being abuse
Auel, Jean M. The Shelters of Stone Book five: very good.
The Valley of Horses Book 2 – good!
The Mammoth Hunters Book 3 – good!
Cadwalladr, Carole The Family Tree Rebecca languishes in her marriage to a nonromantic geneticist and remembers growing up in her English family in the 70s. Muses over the complex legacy of the women who came before her. Well-written; not very happy, but somewhat hopeful.
King, Dave The Ha-Ha
Lisick, Beth Everybody Into the Pool: true tales Memoirs from a Sister Spit performer. Sounds like half my SF friends: grew up safe in the Midwest and is now doing crazy art, wearing hideous thrift clothes and living in a cheap warehouse in the bad part of town. (First, let me explain -- Greetings from our special bubble -- Ladies' luncheon -- Didn't I almost have it all? -- Nuns in trouble -- My way or the bi-way -- Alternative cyber-column -- The one -- A bed and a breakfast -- Brokeley -- Circling the wagons -- The lowly hustle -- Skippin' over the ocean like a stone -- Little bundle of entropy). Hilarious (although occasionally she is so fond of her own descriptive powers that she overdoes the messed-up metaphors).
Martel, Yann Life of Pi Breathtaking. Given two ways to look at life: which is the better story? God or no god? Tiger or no tiger?
McCafferty, Megan Sloppy Firsts Told in the snarky, smart, angsty voice of H.S. sophomore Jessica. Her best friend Hope has moved away following the drug death of her brother; her remaining friends irritate the crap out of her; and the local notorious druggie Casanova keeps messing with her head. Funny, foul-mouthed, sharply observant of the mores of H.S. life—really.
McCafferty, Megan Second Helpings Senior year. Still snarky, still enjoyable. Irritating how long it takes her to realize the guy from before (Marcus) is great. Also he seems to do all the talking in their conversations. Still, Jessica comes more into her own.
Moore, Christopher A Dirty Job Charlie, a San Francisco thrift-store owner, Beta Male, new father and new widower, is handed the job of Death Merchant, someone who finds “soul vessels” (random objects people’s souls migrate to when they die) and shepherds them into the hands of the right new person needing a soul. Plenty of cheap and tawdry jokes, but occasionally pretty funny. Good goth-girl character, a teen who works in the shop and is incredibly surly and jealous of Charlie’s job.
Niffenegger, Audrey The Time Traveler’s Wife Amazing, poignant love story.
Niffenegger, Audrey The Three Incestuous Sisters Totally weird, Edward-Gorey-esque story in aquatints (kind of like engravings) of 3 sisters, one loved by the lighthouse keeper’s son, one jealous, one crazy magical. The lover dies, her baby has wings, reunion at the end.
Peters, Elizabeth Crocodile on the Sandbank
Perrotta, Tom Little Children Read on the rec of Patricia. Didn’t like it much. Bored young mom of a toddler strikes up an affair with a dad from the playground; meanwhile a forcibly retired cop obsessively stalks a child molester in the ‘hood. Doomed and suburban. Bleak.
Reichl, Ruth Comfort Me with Apples (continuing memoir - good)
Reichl, Ruth Garlic and Sapphires: the secret life of a critic in disguise When Ruth becomes the NYT food critic she creates disguises with complete personae to sneak into restaurants undetected.
Scheeres, Julia Jesus Land: a memoir Horrible memories of a white girl growing up with two black brothers outside Lafayette, Indiana. Racism, incest, beatings from their parents, rape -- couldn’t finish it. I didn’t even get as far as the scary Christian reform school in the Dominican RepublicJulia & brother David get sent to.
Sedaris, David Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim Childhood stories including lisping; living in Paris;
Sedaris, David Me Talk Pretty One Day Childhood stories including lisping; living in Paris; learning French; family stories. Acerbic and surprisingly-written.
Smith, Alexander McCall Tears of a Giraffe
Smith, Alexander McCall Morality for Beautiful Girls
Smith, Alexander McCall The Kalahari Typing School for Men
Smith, Alexander McCall The Full Cupboard of Life Somehow Mma Potokwani has determined that Mr J.L.B. Matekoni will do a fundraising parachute jump for the orphan farm. And will he ever marry Mma Ramotswe?
Smith, Alexander McCall In the Company of Cheerful Ladies Mma Potokwani takes dance lessons; Mma Ramotswe bumps a man on a bicycle, hears his sad story and hires him to work in the garage and agency; and bad-news Note Makoti is back in town.
Smith, Alexander McCall Blue Shoes and Happiness
Trudeau, G. B. various Doonesbury books: What is it, Tink, is Pan in Trouble?: Quality Time on Highway 1; Dude: the Big Book of Zonker; The Bundled Doonesbury; Heckuva Job, Bushie!; The War Years…
Vaughan Y: The Last Man. Vol. 1: Unmanned
Willingham FABLES: Legends in Exile Graphic novel: characters of fairy tale now exiled to NYC. Rose Red appears to have been murdered; “Bigby” Wolf is the hard-boiled detective; Snow White (Red’s sister) the frosty assistant for Mayor-for-life and politico King Cole.
Yang, Geen Luen American Born Chinese Three stories spiral around one another in this excellent graphic novel for teens and adults, all touching on what it means to be Asian-American. The interlocking tales include: the fable of the Monkey King; the story of Jin, the only Chinese-American student at his new high school; and the story of Chin-Kee, the ultimate Chinese stereotype and cousin of the horrified Danny.
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