Last Week’s Reads

163. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

 

At Ella’s birth, a fairy begifts her with the ability to always obey. It turns out to be more of a curse than a gift, however, when Ella’s friends learn of her compliance and use it to make Ella their servant.

 

164. Five Good Minutes by Jeffrey Brantley

 

This book is composed of one hundred practices designed to be accomplished in the morning, that take only five minutes each, and that help one to be calm and relaxed throughout the day.

 

165. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

 

Olive Kitteridge appears in every story in this book, though she is generally not the main character. What a brilliant book! I loved the close examination of people and their relationships within a small town. A book I’m encouraging everyone I meet to read.

 

166. Invitation to the Game by Monica Hughes

 

When I was in junior high and high school, my favorite subgenre was the group of books where the story takes place after the Apocalypse, after Earth has self-destructed and people are beginning to rebuild. This story would fall into that category. Lisse has just graduated from school and is hoping to be placed in one of the few jobs available in the world, but this does not happen. Instead, she is sent to live with a group of other unemployed young people in an old building in the dying inner city. Then the group receives an invitation to the Game and everything changes.

 

167. Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich

 

You can’t help laughing at Stephanie and her family and friends in this series. Grandma Mazur…Ranger…Morelli…Lulu…Tank…even Stephanie herself consistently find themselves in ridiculous situations. The humor is both silly and profane, so be warned.

 

168. Middle School is Worse than Meatloaf by Jennifer L. Holm

 

Holm writes Babymouse, so I was pretty much expecting this book to be exactly what it is: Wimpy Kid for girls. A friend since childhood deserts our main character for a more popular group…problems in the family, including stepparents and juvenile delinquent brothers…a mom who just doesn’t understand…teachers who are clueless…mean fellow middle schoolers….I would guess this would be very popular at my school among fourth and fifth graders, just because of the fun format and situations to which most could relate.

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 152. Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne

 

First time read. I’ve read all about this book, of course, but I’ve never read the book itself. Like many people. Characters that make you think, I know him…Doesn’t he go to church with me? Excellent. A must read for everyone.

 

 

 153. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer

 

This book blew me away. Talk about a heartbreaker. Two boys lie to their parents, telling them they are going to ride their bikes up to a park when they fully intend to do something they’ve been forbidden to do. One boy doesn’t come home. Newbery Honor.

 

 154. Like Jake and Me by Mavis Jukes

 

A Newbery Honor Book, but also a picture book. A boy and his stepfather grow closer when they realize they are more alike than they thought.

 

 155. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson

 

Loved, loved, loved this book. Miss Pettigrew is middle-aged, a spinster, and having trouble finding a new position as a nanny. She has never really been successful in her profession. She’s dowdy and has no friends and no suitors. Her life is about as grim as life can get. Then she is inadvertently sent by her employment agency to the wrong house where she meets a nightclub singer. Her whole life is about to change.

 

156. The Second Journey by Joan Anderson

 

Anderson, author of A Year by the Sea, has fallen back into old habits. She is running and gunning and she is not happy. Reflection about her stressful life sends on a short sabbatical where she reconnects with the deepest and most satisfying part of herself again.

 

157. Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir by Natalie Goldberg

 

Another book I picked up because the author is beloved. Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones was the first book I read about writing that inspired me. I’ve read all her books since then (including one very disappointing novel) but nothing’s clicked with me like Bones. This book was close; I felt a click here and there. Old Friend is fundamentally an expanded Bones. It has lots of fun exercises for those who are suffering from writer’s block. I’d like to keep it a little longer and try more of the exercises.

 

158. Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff

 

Hollis is a foster child. Her foster parents seem to always find the bad in her and she ends up running away. Now she’s been sent to stay with an elderly woman, Josie, who loves her and gives her room. But Josie is slowly growing forgetful. How long will Hollis be able to stay with her? Newbery Honor

 

159. The Jazz Man

 

Newbery Honor. Sad, sad, sad. Why do all Newbery Honor books have to be sad? An African American family lives in an apartment building. The mother works hard and doesn’t make much money. The dad is always getting and losing jobs. The boy is handicapped and doesn’t go to school. Next door is the jazz man who plays beautiful music, music that gives everyone renewed strength and hope.

 

160. In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

 

I read this before I read Omnivore’s Dilemma. The whole book can be summed up with the phrases circling the lettuce on the cover: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

 

161. Relentless Pursuit: A Year in the Trenches with Teach for America by Donna Foote

 

Does teaching have to be a twenty-hour-a-day job? Can it be a lifelong profession or does everyone burn out after a couple of years? Why is it so difficult? Why aren’t more children learning? How can we make it better?

 

This is the story of a group of Teach for America teachers working in one of the worst schools in America, a high school in urban LA. Some of the stories were so horrible I couldn’t imagine how I would last a month. Some of the teachers produced excellent results with the students, although moving from an average reading level of third to fifth grade when students are in high school is still leaving lots of room for growth.

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Latest reads

151. A Voyage Long and Strange by Tony Horwitz

 

I bought this on pure impulse after hearing Cokie Roberts speak and visiting the bookstore that sponsored her talk. It was the best impulse buy I’ve made. Why, oh why, can’t textbooks read like Tony Horwitz? Lots of information, yes, but info interspersed with cool stories. Everything you always wanted to know about American explorers. Some I wish I hadn’t learned (DeSoto wasn’t a nice guy, for example.)

 

 152. Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne

 

First time read. I’ve read all about this book, of course, but I’ve never read the book itself. Like many people. Characters that make you think, I know him…Doesn’t he go to church with me? Excellent. A must read for everyone.

 

153. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer

 

This book blew me away. Talk about a heartbreaker. Two boys lie to their parents, telling them they are going to ride their bikes up to a park when they fully intend to do something they’ve been forbidden to do. One boy doesn’t come home.

 

 154. Like Jake and Me by Mavis Jukes

 

A Newbery Honor Book, but also a picture book. A boy and his stepfather grow closer when they realize they are more alike than they thought.

 

155. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson

 

Loved, loved, loved this book. Miss Pettigrew is middle-aged, a spinster, and having trouble finding a new position as a nanny. She has never really been successful in her profession. She’s dowdy and has no friends and no suitors. Her life is about as grim as life can get. Then she is inadvertently sent by her employment agency to the wrong house where she meets a nightclub singer. Her whole life is about to change.

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