Hola everyone!
I'm slowing coming back to LT after being away a while. I've always wanted to join one of these challenges, so what better time than the present!? I'm a Youth Librarian, so there will be a lot of children's/YA books, but I definitely like to get away from that once in a while. I think I'm going to start with On Writing from Stephen King because I LIVE for his column in EW (though I haven't read any fiction by him). I'm not really sure what else to say by way of introduction; cheers to a new year and a new challenge!

Welcome Grace. :)

I'm a fan of YA fiction too, so will look at your list with interest. Glad you found your way back to LT!

I read On Writing this past year and I really enjoyed it. I've only read one fiction novel by him but I'm hoping the read more. I think you'll really enjoy the non-fiction.

Good luck.

*shameless plug for the King's Dear Constant Reader group*

We are reading his books in order as group reads. Here's the link

http://www.librarything.com/groups/kings...

Forgive my manners, Welcome Grace, glad to see you back and it's great that you picked our challenge group. You will find a lot of wonderful people here. But beware your TBR pile will become HUGE.

Edited because I can't spell

Message edited by its author, Dec 23, 2008, 3:55pm.

Welcom to the group!

Thanks everyone for the kind messages!
A good week for me, considering 2009 started off with a vacation!

On Writing, A Memoir of the Craft from Stephen King - I love his natural, frank and funny writing, and that he is painfully aware of his mortality, most obviously in the example of his telling of his 1999 accident. Without judgment about his previous lifestyle, this guy knows how to live and more importantly, knows how to write about his.

Born Standing Up from Steve Martin - I've read his fiction before so I was excited about this, but truthfully, I found myself indifferent about his story of doing stand up comedy. Where he tries to be coy, I found it unnecessary and I didn't think his routine in writing translated that well, but I've never seen it, so I could be missing the essence of it all together.

Holes from Louis Sachar - This was for work (5th grade book club) and I really enjoyed it. I liked the adventure, camaraderie and growth that came from the story and relationships. Not much to say, I really didn't dislike anything about this book.

Message edited by its author, Jan 4, 2009, 10:11pm.

I just bought Holes the other day - thanks for the review! I will (hopefully) get to it shortly.

Holes is a very good book. When my kids gave it to me a few years ago, I thought OK, I'll read it to make them happy. You know it's a good book!

I read On Writing, A Memoir of the Craft a few years back and loved it. I'm not always a big fan of his fiction (I just have other books I'd rather read) but his nonfiction is great!

I read Antsy Does Time by Neal Shusterman a few months ago and then handed it to my 14 year old nephew who loved it. I also read Everlost which was good, but not quite as good as Antsy.

Happy Reading in 2009!

Hi Grace
I discovered the joy of YA books and now I read many of them.
Therefore, I look forward to your posts and perhaps discovering some new YA authors.

Welcome to the 75 book challenge.

hi Grace

How nice you enjoyed Holes too, I read it last year and loved it.
I read alot of YA, I collect awarded (Dutch) Childrens and YA.

I look forward to find some new titles here.
The only "problem" is that not every good book is translated into Dutch (and the other way around).

Anita

Looks like some good stuff is going on here -- I'll be back to check it out :)

Hey Grace! I just read On Writing last week and posted the review in my thread here in the 75 Book group. I also really enjoyed it, and gained a great deal of respect for King and his work.

Two more for the stack!

4. The Geography of Bliss from Eric Weiner - I LOVED this book. Anything that has to do with traveling, finding new treasures (whether tangible or not), and learning to think differently about life, I'm a sucker for and this book has all of that. Several times I caught myself stopping and rereading lines, saying to myself, "Remember this; remember this when it seems like the opposite is true." I sometimes got caught up with the vocabulary, but who doesn't love learning new words? Of course, books like this only cause me to think about draining my bank account and losing myself for weeks somewhere in the world, but hey, a girl can dream, right?

5. The Willoughbys from Lois Lowry - Another one for a 5th grade book club at work. This was really enjoyable! As with all the reviews that I've read about this book, it's a play on the orphan stories that have become classics so often in the past. It was quick, funny and endearing. No complaints here.

6. Shift from Jennifer Bradbury - I loved this book. There is definite inspiration from the author's life (from the bio) and, I would think, from Into the Wild, as it would seem the author is attempting to form one answer to the question, What if Chris McCandless brought a friend? Yes, they are biking across the US in this book vs. creating a new identity and moving to the Alaskan wilderness, but both boys are attempting to forge their own paths in life and on this earth. Told from the friend's point of view (the one who returns to their lives at home), this book is about trust, friendship, adventure and growing up. Plus, it totally speaks to the adventurer in me :). Highly recommended for YA readers.

#16: Thanks for the review. I read Into the Wild last year, so it will be interesting to compare the two.

Gracemccain - I'm in the middle of the audio book of The Geography of Bliss and LOVING it too. Educational, entertaining and often funny.

7. Each Little Bird That Sings from Deborah Wiles - A very sweet book about the loss of family members, in whatever form, and the tolerance and acceptance of others. The main character is determined, warm and loyal to those she loves. A great book to also suggest for themes of family, pets, rural settings and death.

7. Each Little Bird That Sings from Deborah Wiles - A very sweet book about the loss of family members, in whatever form, and the tolerance and acceptance of others. The main character is determined, warm and loyal to those she loves. A great book to also suggest for themes of family, pets, rural settings and death.

8. Someday This Pain Will be Useful to You by Peter Cameron - A book about a Manhattanite, James, who refuses to go to college and generally participate in general social behavior because of past events that include 9/11, a school field trip and his parents' genuine, if misguided, attempts at normalcy. He is too smart for people his age, often correcting them and therefore alienating them and preferring to be alone. His voice reminded me of Holden from Catcher in the Rye because of his distaste for people who conform and accept that which is out of their control. that being said, this was a fast read, at times sad, funny and very true.

7. Each Little Bird That Sings from Deborah Wiles - A very sweet book about the loss of family members, in whatever form, and the tolerance and acceptance of others. The main character is determined, warm and loyal to those she loves. A great book to also suggest for themes of family, pets, rural settings and death.

8. Someday This Pain Will be Useful to You by Peter Cameron - A book about a Manhattanite, James, who refuses to go to college and generally participate in general social behavior because of past events that include 9/11, a school field trip and his parents' genuine, if misguided, attempts at normalcy. He is too smart for people his age, often correcting them and therefore alienating them and preferring to be alone. His voice reminded me of Holden from Catcher in the Rye because of his distaste for people who conform and accept that which is out of their control. That being said, this was a fast read, at times sad, funny and very true.

9. The Truth About Forever from Sarah Dessen - What I liked most about this book is the genuine feeling of summer that Dessen evokes from all the sensory descriptions. I could feel the sticky skin, hear the crickets, smell the grass. Sure, it's predictable being a chick YA novel, but who doesn't need that every once in a while?

10. Two Parties, One Tux and a Short Film About The Grapes of Wrath from Steven Goldman - An enjoyable YA read, but I'm not sure it's very memorable.

11. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane from Kate DiCamillo - Fantastic. Her ability to describe the human emotions and project them onto an inanimate object is really moving. Loved it.

12. Hate That Cat from Sharon Creech - Where she is short on words, she makes up for double time in emotion and heart. This ___ (not sure I feel convinced calling it a book) is fantastic and captures the language and humor of a child and the hurt of a lost animal. Great, great stuff.

#22: The Truth About Forever looks very good. I will put it on the Continent.

Have you read any of DiCamillo's other books? The Tale of Despereaux is very good, too. I read both it and The Miraculous Journey last year.

I really enjoy Sharon Creech's books, too. Her Walk Two Moons made my list of memorable young adult reads last year, and I also enjoyed Love That Dog. Unfortunately, my local library does not have Hate That Cat, which I am sure I would enjoy as well.

oooooohwwweeeeee! I have not been here in a while! As I am not at home right now, I'll try and remember as best I can what I've been reading:

13. Hands of My Father by Myron Uhlberg - This book was amazing. Lately, I have been encountering a lot of situations that deal with disabilities and this just added to it. A memoir of a man that was raised by two deaf parents, Myron's story is beautiful and full of love. I have since taken up sign language, so if anyone has suggestions for good learning material, please give a shout.

14. Granny Torelli Makes Soup from Sharon Creech - My love for Sharon Creech only grows with each book. A short little ditty about a girl, her best friend, her italian grandmother and all the sensory goodies that come along with spending a Sunday afternoon in the kitchen with a good cook.

15. How I Live Now from Meg Rusoff - I wasn't sure what this was going to hold for me and my expectations, but I was not expecting what it was. A story about an American girl spending the summer in England with her cousins is beautifully written and imagined with Rusoff's words and equally so is the detached feeling that the main character initially feels when thrown into a World War in another country. The detachment, however, is quickly gone from the scene when the quest for home begins. I can't stress enough the beauty of the writing and the characters, yet the story leaves me unsettled. If anyone has read this and is more articulate than me, I would love to hear what you thought about the story as a whole; I still think about it often.

16. Letters from a Slave Girl by Mary Lyons - This was a pick from our 4-6th grade girls book club and I wasn't that excited about this epistolary novel; I was scarred in my undergrad after reading The Sorrows of Young Werther. However, this story is about Harriet (a real person) in the 1830s/1840s and her time spent both in and trying to get out of, slavery. Short enough to not lose my interest, interesting enough to talk about with a bunch of young girls who are similar in age and are learning about the time period in American history.

Now it's time to catch up and see what the people are reading!

#25: Grace, it looks like you have had some very good reads recently.

I discovered Sharon Creech last year thanks to Anita (FAMuelstee) and thoroughly enjoyed Love that Dog and Walk Two Moons. Looks like I need to add another of hers to Continent TBR.

17. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo - Not as memorable for me as Edward Tulane, but still well-written and enjoyable. I can't really say why I didn't completely love it, it just didn't leave as much of an impression on me as some of the others I've this year.

18 & 19. The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan and One False Note by Gordon Korman - These are the first two books of the (projected) 10-book series, "The 39 Clues", about a brother and sister on a hunt around the world to find said clues to become the most influential family in history. I read this book for a book club I mediate that's boys only (being the librarian, I'm the sole female) and I can see why they love it so much. These are the same boys who picked The Lightning Thief, Stormbreaker and The Mysterious Benedict Society (among others) and loved those as well. If these first two books are any indication, the series will continue to be entertaining, fast-paced and fun, if not so much character driven. I loved The Lightning Thief, and since Rick Riordan has mapped out the entire story arch (with different authors penning the individual books), I look forward to finishing the journey. What's interesting about this series is that it also ties in different media. Each book comes with collector cards that the reader can use to build their own set of clues and information on the Scholastic website, where kids can win cash prizes. It will interesting to see how this will affect the quality of writing and the quantity of reading, if at all.

>27 Trying to get my head around the idea of Rick Riordan as a kids' author... I've only read The Devil Went Down to Austin by him, and it isn't YA by any stretch of the imagination. Nice flexibility :)

#28: Susan, Rick Riordan actually has 2 juvenile series going right now in addition to his adult Tres Navarre series - the Percy Jackson series, and the 39 Clues series.

>27: I read the two 39 Clues books this year already and had a similar reaction (even before I read them, actually) - "Wow, what a great idea to get young boys reading!" I think having the different authors write them and tying the stories in with other media formats is an excellent idea... I'd be interested to know how many kids go and look for other books by the various 39 Clues authors afterward, since I think that's probably the idea behind having different people write it. And you're right - the focus is definitely on action, and I think it works. And it's not just for young boys, either... my husband read Riordan's Percy Jackson series and loved it, so he decided to read my 39 Clues books, after which he proceeded to log into the website and register all our cards... LOL!

In a similar vein, Patrick Carman has just started his own series of multi-media books, though I think they're all going to be written by him, and they're definitely geared toward an older audience, maybe 10-12 year olds (I haven't read it yet, but it's sitting on my shelf!). It integrates online videos with the chapters, and readers need to watch the videos as they come up in the text - different parts of the story are told in each format. The first one is called Skeleton Creek. Interesting!

WOW! I've kept up with the reading, but NOT with the posting. Ah, well. Here it goes:

20. Crash - Jerry Spinelli - I love this guy's writing. Quick, I'd say for grades 4-7, give or take.

21. Mr. Popper's Penguins - Richard Atwater - Funny, quick, a good suggestion for kids transitioning from chapter books because of the humor and absurdity.

22. Lawn Boy - Gary Paulsen - I read this in hopes of having a stand alone title to add to the "What do I read after Diary of a Wimpy Kid?" question. Fast, funny.

23. The Thief Lord - Cornelia Funke - Boy, do I like her style. Totally engaging, and reading it at 24 years old, I can still totally relate to the struggle of identity in relation to age... or maybe I was just reading into it? Either way, great story.

24. Inkheart - Cornelia Funke - Total coincidence that my kids' book group would choose more Funke after my personal choice, but nonetheless another great effort from her. I was just a little turned off by the push and pull of going back and forth between the settings, but the story and the characters more than helped me keep going. I am, however, totally fine with not finishing the series.

25. The Little Prince - At this time in the night, I'm not really going to try to spell the author's name. Finally got around to reading this little gem, but found that I would personally use it better for the quotations that I could pull out versus the story as a whole. I'm afraid I'm in the minority? But I'm not sure. Would love to hear other opinions. I've mentioned this before elsewhere, but I don't have a lot of reader friends, so I would love to hear what other people think/why you love it/why it's so beloved in general.

26. The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science that Could Save Your Life - Ben Sherwood - FIRST OFF, I was TOTALLY shocked that this is the same man who wrote The Man Who Ate the 747?! I'm not sure I could think of two books that are MORE different. I was totally shocked. That being said, this book was awesome. I was expecting it to be more in the vain of The Worst-Case Scenario Handbook, but found that it was much more emotional and therefore left a greater impression on me, especially when trying to instill the "secrets and science" that are advertised in the subtitle. Also includes the option of going online for a personality test of sorts. Cool multi-platform edge.

27. Skellig - David Almond - A good little book about family. Also nice to see some parents in children's books once in a while, considering the lack thereof that's more common than not. A touching look at fantasy.

28. The Misfits - James Howe - Maybe I'm missing something? I was not as emotionally attached to this book as some people are, looking at the blurbs and reviews. A good book for sure, not as emotional as I was expecting.

29. I Am the Messenger - Mark Zusak - Really great, fast moving book for me. The story was effortless and even though I seemed to be a little slow on the uptake concerning the ending, it definitely stays with you versus some other stories that just fade away.

30. The Westing Game - Ellen Raskin - What a great book! I can definitely see the comparisons and inspiration (whether or not intentional) for the 39 Clues series, but this book, I have to say, has much tighter dialogue and storytelling. Really sharp and quick, intelligent without flying over kids' heads.

31. The Sword Thief - Peter Larengis - The next chapter in the 39 Clues series. I mean, once you're hooked on this one, one after the other is more like just a continuation of the story. Definitely entertaining and a great suggestion for more reluctant readers (and I hate using that phrase).

32. Flush - Carl Hiaasen - The second Hiaasen children's book for me and already have Scat in line for near-future reading. A great, funny book with strong characters. Environmental without hitting you over the head with it. I could go through life being a huge fan of his just based on his children's stuff, but I hope not. Plan to read his adult stuff, for sure. Has anyone read both of his material?

33. Love the One You're With - Emily Giffin -I needed something adult with all those children's books! Thankfully this was light, fluffy and fast. Perfect for what I was needing personally. Would suggest it after all the other pastel-colored chick lit books. Not usually my style.

34. Uglies - Scott Westerfeld - I read this because it's popular at our library right now, and was glad I did. I wouldn't normally pick up this kind of book (sci-fi, fantasy, etc), but the story and the themes of identity and image are great to have as a suggestion for the target age group (YA).

35. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks - E. Lockhart - Really quick read for me, but a great, different kind of story. You get a lot of young love stories in YA books and it was great to read about a strong character for the purposes of being independent. A great resource for pranks, too!

36. If I Stay - Gayle Forman - With all the hype, I thought I would like this book more than I did. That's not to stay that it wasn't great; it was. But as a co-worker said (and I couldn't have said it better), some YA books, you don't really think about the target audience because it works for any age group (over a certain maturity, of course). This book was definitely written to be enjoyed MOST by teenagers. I still cried, I still felt it, definitely. A great story for sure.

PHEW!

Alright, alright... starring your thread! Looks like we read a lot of similar books, in YA particularly. I'll just mentioned that I also thought Inkheart was just okay and wasn't sure whether I'd bother with the rest of the series... until I saw the film, which I really, really liked. For whatever reason, even though they modified the ending a bit for the film (for the better, I thought... I thought it made a better story), I left the movie thinking "wow... I can't wait until I read the next book!"

So... who knows. :)

Great reading lately!