Our favorite adult literature and children’s books of 2011

You may have noticed I didn’t post a WWW Wednesdays update yesterday. I simply ran out of time. It was my mom’s last vacation day with us and I couldn’t find enough time in front of the computer to write up my weekly update.

Between shades of gray by Ruta Sepetys

I did want to share with you a wonderful book I just finished a few days ago called Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. What an amazing book to learn about this less often told part of history, i.e. Stalin’s own ethnic cleansing of large parts of Eastern Europe that killed 20 million people (he sure got bragging rights over Hitler in the genocide category). Sepetys based her book on her own family’s experiences as well as testimonies from many Lithuanian families. This gives her story a very real feeling when you understand this type of events really happened to millions of uprooted families sent to Siberian forced labor camps. This is a poignant, personal first novel I highly recommend.

Now, instead of doing my weekly WWW Wednesdays update, I thought I’d make a list of our favorite books we read in 2011 and I encourage you to read them too.

My best adult literature book picks of 2011

A dog's purpose by W. Bruce Cameron

A Dog’s Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron. By far the best book I’ve read this year. It made me laugh, it made me cry and made me enjoy a story about dogs when I’m a cat person. Great storytelling.

The Lying Game by Sara Shepard. Such a great premise and angle for this murder mystery book. I couldn’t put it down and went on to read book #2 in the series, Never Have I Ever. Read it, you won’t regret it.

Room by Emma Donoghue. The first third of this book (the captivity part) kept me on the edge. The rest of it sucked me right in and surprised me several times on the way. This is a wonderful book on a very painful subject.

My best children’s book picks of 2011

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson

The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child by Julia Donaldson. Rhyming stories of a tiny mouse outsmarting a terrifying larger than life gruffalo.

 The Mr Putter & Tabby book series by Cynthia Rylant. These are wonderful, funny, kind and sweet stories about Mr Putter, his cat Tabby, his neighbor Mrs Teaberry and her dog Zeke. Our very favorite are Mr Putter & Tabby Paint the Porch, Mr Putter & Tabby Pick the Pears (zing!) and Mr Putter & Tabby Feed the Fish (bat bat bat…).

There Are Cats in This Book and its sequel There Are No Cats in This Book by Viviane Schwarz. These are interactive, hilarious books to read over and over with the kids, even if you’re not a cat person. Kids love to memorize all the lines and read the story on their own, laughing out loud.

What are your favorite book picks for 2011?

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WWW Wednesdays – December 7, 2011

My bookshelf

– What I’m currently reading
The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson. I’m reading this book for my upcoming book club meeting in a couple of weeks. The reviews on Amazon are not very kind and so far this book is super easy to read but mostly fluffy and not well written in my opinion. Let’s see where this goes…

– What I recently finished reading
Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative by Sir Ken Robinson. This book was very interesting but I don’t think it went far enough to explain what really needs to be changed about our educational system to help kids get ready for the 21th century economy. I recently found out Robinson’s book called The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything is supposed to be excellent so I’ll be reading it very soon.

Never Have I Ever by Sara Shepard. After reading The Lying Game and being sucked into the story of Sutton’s mysterious disappearance and Emma’s awkward replacement for her long lost twin sister, I couldn’t wait to read the sequel. And I’m so glad I did! I read this book in a couple of days and had a hard time putting it down (my kids got in the way…). The mystery continues and unfortunately I just saw there’s not only a #3 but also a #4 book in the works. Argh, I want to know who killed Sutton, although I now have a picked suspect. I hope it’s not whom I think it is though, because I really like that character, but it would make for a very shocking ending. If you like fast paced mysteries and nailbiters, this book is for you, but read The Lying Game first.

– What I think I’ll read next
The Christmas Thief by Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark. I impulsively grabbed it off the shelf at the library since I’m a Mary Higgins Clark fan. It’s supposed to be funny and mysterious, so we’ll see. I love reading books about Christmas this time of year.

My kids’ bookshelf

– What they’re currently reading

– The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. We’re actually reading the French version right now, called Boreal Express. It’s one of our favorite books about Christmas and the magic of Santa Claus, with beautiful illustrations to go along the sweet story.

– Oliver and Amanda’s Christmas by Jean Van Leeuwen. A cute, short chapter book about Oliver and Amanda getting ready for Christmas. My favorite part? Oliver making a list of 22 toys for Santa, not because he needs them but because he wants them. Jean Van Leeuwen KNOWS kids.

– The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey. Two fourth-grade boys who write comic books and love to pull pranks manage to turn their school principal into their superhero Captain Underpants. This is a chapter book with very funny illustrations. My five-year old can’t stop looking at it and asking us to read it. I’d say it’s a hit. Should I add we’re fans of Dav Pilkey? The guy is brilliant.

 

– What they recently finished reading
– Penguin and the Cupcake by Ashley Spires. This is the funny story of a Penguin who decides to head North to satisfy his cravings for cupcakes with pink icing. On his way, he meets Polar Bear and Walrus who can’t help but interrupt the story as they think Penguin’s storytelling skills are a little far-stretched.

– How Chipmunk Got His Stripes by Joseph Bruchac and Raccoon’s Last Race : a Traditional Abenaki Story by the same author. Both books are inspired from Native American stories that explain how the chimpmunk and the racoon managed to look the way they do today. They both start as teasing, arrogant animals who can’t keep promises and learn the consequences of their poor behavior the hard way. These books sure make my kids think about a few things.

 

– What I think they’ll read next
I hope to get more books with a Christmas theme soon.

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

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WWW Wednesdays – November 30, 2011

I’m working on a “101 in 1001 challenge” update about the past two months and I hope to display my “accomplishments” by the end of this week. I would have loved to do an update for October alone, but just didn’t get the time to do much. Not that I accomplished a lot in November either… Oh well, life works that way sometimes. At least we’re getting to have some good reading, and since it’s part of my 101 in 1001 challenge, I’m getting a few things done! 

My bookshelf

– What I’m currently reading
Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative by Sir Ken Robinson. Robinson gives good background data on where our current education system comes from and what it lacks for the new world. I’m not sure where this is going but I’m enjoying the book so far.

– What I recently finished reading
The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I just read The Secret Life of Bees so this was a great book to follow up with and I loved it too. The writing was great, I couldn’t put the book down and wanted to know what would happen next. Each character (and there are a lot of them) was very well developed. I’m a little disappointed by the end, where I’d like to have seen a “happier” ending for Abileen because she deserves it so much. Otherwise this is a great story about that era and I highly recommend it.

– What I think I’ll read next
I recently read The Lying Game by Sara Shepard for my book club and I LOVED it! What a suspenseful murder story, but when I started the book, I had no idea it was the first of a series. This means I had no idea what really happened to one of the two main characters at the end of it. But now I’ve got book #2 called Never Have I Ever so I can’t wait to read it. Unfortunately there’s a book #3 and it’s not coming out until… Spring 2012!

My kids’ bookshelf

– What they’re currently reading

The Gas We Pass : The Story of Farts by Shinta Cho.  From the same series as the book Everyone Poops, this book explains how humans and animals produce, and eliminate, gas. Funny and instructional.

The Magic Porridge Pot by Paul Galdone. A witch gives a hungry little girl a magic porridge pot that produces porridge upon request, but makes a big mess when her mother tries to use it without knowing the magic words to stop it.

 

– What they recently finished reading

Rotten Ralph Feels Rotten by Jack Gantos. Rotten Ralph comes to appreciate his owner Sarah’s healthy cat food after he gets sick from eating out of trash cans. A good lesson for kids about junk food. Spoiler alert: the vet gives Rotten Ralph medication to make him vomit the bad food… My kids loved this story!

The Last Laugh by Jose Aruego. This hilarious wordless book tells the story of a clever duck outwitting a bullying snake. A good start-up book on bullying for little ones.

– What I think they’ll read next
I picked up a whole bunch of books at the library today, so I’m sure there are a few good ones in there.

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

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