www Wednesdays – August 3, 2011

Today is WWW Wednesdays and I’m so glad to be able to share some wonderful reading I’ve been doing this past week.

My bookshelf

– What I’m currently reading
Tonight I’ll be starting “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood” by Rebecca Wells. I expect some great reading to happen over the next few days.

– What I recently finished reading
“Bossypants” by Tina Fey. Interesting biography, with Fey sharing her insights on the prevalent sexism in the world of comedy, her career worries, her struggles as a working mother, her difficulties with breastfeeding. A fun book for light summer reading. Expect some giggles and laughs at almost every page. My advice: borrow it but don’t buy it.

Today I finished “A Dog’s Purpose” by W. Bruce Cameron. I read this book in a couple of days. I just couldn’t put it down. Didn’t want to. This has to be the BEST book I’ve read so far this year (5 stars on Amazon with over 500 reviews on Amazon say it all). And I’m a cat person, never been a dog person. But as a pet lover, I so relate to the relationships the dog(s) in this story has with his multiple owners. And it makes me feel so much better for the times I’ve had to say goodbye to my pets, imagining what they could have been thinking at that last moment. I smiled and I cried as I went through the pages, then smiled and cried some more.  After being reincarnated for the first time, our storytelling dog wonders if there’s a reason for his comeback on earth. We follow him along to find out. I just can’t tell more about the story itself without spoiling it. I wanted to know this dog’s purpose and I’m so glad I found out (even though I never saw the ending coming). Read this book. You’ll be so glad you did.

– What I think I’ll read next
I’m not sure because the library is very slow at getting me the books I ordered, so I may have to pick one from my own bookshelf (I have a few candidates).

My kids’ bookshelf

– What they’re currently reading
I just got the “Complete Tales of Madeline” by Ludwig Bemelmans from the library. We read them last year and are doing so again this summer. My boys can’t seem to get enough of the predicaments Madeline happens to encounter.
I also borrowed a few books from the “Magic School Bus” series. My kids like reading them but I can’t stand how much information is crammed on every page, in a messy layout. What happened to spreading the data over a few more pages, or using larger sheets? I know printed books are expensive but an attractive layout still makes for enjoyable reading. Especially when I’m the one reading the books!

– What they recently finished reading
“Rapunzel” by Sarah Gibbs. After watching Disney’s Tangled, I thought it’d be a good idea to read something closer to the original Brothers Grimm’s story. This book has beautiful illustrations to go with the text and my oldest seemed to enjoy it the several times we read it.
“The Princess and the Pizza” by Mary Jane and Herm Auch. This is a funny twist on the common princess tales and quite an entertaining read. You may even learn how pizza was invented (just kidding!).

– What I think they’ll read next
I got one of the “Junie B. Jones” series books. I’ll let you know if we like it.

What about you? Any books you or your kids are reading you’d like to share?

If you enjoyed reading this post and would like to receive future postings, please enter your email address and click the Sign Up button at the top right of this page. Thank you for reading!

www Wednesdays – July 27, 2011

Today is WWW Wednesdays and it’s time to give you an update on what books the kids and I have been keeping on our bookshelf. Lots of fun reading going on!

My bookshelf

– What I’m currently reading
I’m almost halfway through Tina Fey’s “Bossypants and I’ve laughed at least once on each page. It’s refreshing to read the story of an unpretentious celebrity with a “normal” childhood. I can’t wait to read her take on motherhood. I think after reading her book, I’ll like Tina Fey even more!

– What I recently finished reading
“The Talented Mr Ripley” by Patricia Highsmith. Who said you can’t get away from murder? Mr Ripley is quite a talented con man indeed. It’s interesting to realize that, even by using the third-person narrative, Patricia Highsmith helps you understand what’s going on in Ripley’s mind at all times – the fears, the struggles, the paranoia, the egomania, the plain insanity. And yet, I almost found myself rooting for Ripley, even though everything he did was so, so wrong. I’ll definitely read the other Ripley books and I hope they’re just as good as this one.

– What I think I’ll read next
I’m not sure about my next read, so maybe you can help me pick. I have two books waiting for me on the bookshelf:
“Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood” by Rebecca Wells and

 “A Dog’s Purpose” by W. Bruce Cameron.
I’m sure they’re both excellent but which one should I read first?

My kids’ bookshelf

– What they’re currently reading
A whole bunch of John Lithgow books! Their favorite has to be “Marsupial Sue Presents the Runaway Pancake”, which comes with a CD of Lithgow reading his story in front of a live audience of young children. With the funny song by the runaway pancake, children’s laughter and John Lithgow’s hilarious narrative, my kids can’t have too much of it. It’s actually the first thing they ask for when they get up in the morning, and it keeps them company while they eat breakfast (read my previous post on eating and sitting down and you’ll understand why this book is a lifesaver).

A few other favorites from Lithgow are “Micawber” (the squirrel who appreciates art) and “Marsupial Sue” (the original).

– What they recently finished reading
“No laughing, no smiling, no giggling” by James Stevenson – a very funny, interacting book. I dare you to read it without laughing, smiling or giggling!
“Someday we’ll have very good manners” by Harriet Ziefert – great entertaining book showing the good manners we all have to learn as we grow up, comparing them to little kids’ lack of manners.

– What I think they’ll read next
I’ve reordered the Madeline books as we enjoyed reading them almost a year ago. We’ve watched some of the videos (they’re OK, not great) so it would be great to go back to the original stories and illustrations.

What about you? Any books you or your kids are reading you’d like to share?

If you enjoyed reading this post and would like to receive future postings, please enter your email address and click the Sign Up button at the top right of this page. Thank you for reading!

www Wednesdays – July 20, 2011

Alright, I think I’ve got everything ready for my son’s birthday family celebration tonight. The Spider-Man cake turned out OK, and you’ll get to see a photo soon. Today is WWW Wednesdays so I wanted to give an update on what my kids and I have been reading.

My bookshelf

– What I’m currently reading
I’m about halfway through The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith. Wow, what an interesting novel about a sociopath character. Even though Highsmith chose the third-person narrative, she really makes the reader realize what’s going on in Ripley’s mind. Fascinating, and very scary.

– What I recently finished reading
I finally finished The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. This novel offers such an interesting, different twist on the common love story. I kept reading wondering where this was going, and now that I’m done, I’m sad to say goodbye to the characters. Impressive feat for a first-time author. The only thing I didn’t like about the book is its length. I felt some parts didn’t add much to the story and could have been edited out to make for a shorter, more powerful book. Overall I recommend this novel to anyone looking to read a great story.

– What I think I’ll read next
Oh my gosh, I just got Tina Fey’s BOSSYPANTS from the library!!! I’ve heard from several people how hilarious (i.e. laugh out loud) this book is, so I can’t wait to dig into it!

My kids’ bookshelf

– What they’re currently reading
I told you last week we had started reading some Lisa Wheeler books. I think my favorite so far are:
Bubble Gum, Bubble Gum
Ugly Pie (which is actually delicious pie)
Old Cricket (because you don’t become an old cricket by being a dumb bug…)
Dino basketball (the woman can write in rhymes using words like stegosaurus and triceratops, she’s quite talented)

– What they recently finished reading
Actually my kids are still asking to read these books but I sooooooo want to take them back to the library because I can’t stand them. The “least” worst of the series is Pinkalicious by Victoria Kann, but the sequels Goldilicious and Purplicious are simply ATROCIOUS. The computer-generated illustrations are not that good, the text is average and could use a lot of editing. Apart from an interesting premise for Pinkalicious, the stories in the other books are booooooring. But my kids really like the books, so I’m trying to be nice by reading them a few more times.

– What I think they’ll read next
I requested several books by John Ligthgow (yes, the actor). He’s been writing children’s books for the past ten years or so and I’d like to see if they’re any good.

What about you? Any books you or your kids are reading you’d like to share?

If you enjoyed reading this post and would like to receive future postings, please enter your email address and click the Sign Up button at the top right of this page. Thank you for reading!