Thursday, December 14, 2017

Wonderstruck by by Brian Selznick


For the longest time, Selznick's book has been on the bottom of the pile of one of my shelves at home.  Finally picked it up and am enjoying it so much!  Like his other novel the Invention of Hugo Cabret, Wonderstruck does not disappoint!

Ben and Rose secretly wish for better lives. Ben longs for his unknown father. Rose scrapbooks a famous silent actress. When Ben finds clues and Rose reads enticing news, the children independently run to New York for what they are missing. Ben's story in words, Rose's in pictures, come together in deafness.

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green


Just in!  
I'm half way through and will finish over Thanksgiving.
I've read and enjoyed all of John Green's books and this one so far does not disappoint... Come check it out after break. 


Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis.

Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.

Monday, November 13, 2017

All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin



In 2083, chocolate and coffee are illegal, paper is hard to find, water is carefully rationed, and New York City is rife with crime and poverty. And yet, for Anya Balanchine, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the city's most notorious (and dead) crime boss, life is fairly routine. It consists of going to school, taking care of her siblings and her dying grandmother, trying to avoid falling in love with the new assistant D.A.'s son, and avoiding her loser ex-boyfriend. That is until her ex is accidentally poisoned by the chocolate her family manufactures and the police think she's to blame. Suddenly, Anya finds herself thrust unwillingly into the spotlight--at school, in the news, and most importantly, within her mafia family.

Wow!  Glad chocolate and coffee are not illegal...can you imagine??? I sure don't want to!  I think you'll enjoy this tale of Anya, a mafia boss's daughter, who has to navigate her birthright and her desires...

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore





Just finished listening to this.  Powerful how your life can be shaped by a series of small decisions...

Two kids with the same name lived in the same decaying city. One went on to be a Rhodes Scholar, decorated combat veteran, White House Fellow, and business leader. The other is serving a life sentence in prison. Here is the story of two boys and the journey of a generation.

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Vote for the Buckeye Teen Book Award

Below are the nominations for this year's 
Buckeye Teen Book Award 
(click on the graphic to enlarge)

Vote Here for your favorite!




Sunday, August 6, 2017

Check out My Summer Reads!


Summer is my time to catch up on reading. 
No surprise, it's my favorite way to spend a relaxing day...

Here're the books that I read this summer.  

Ask me- I'd love to tell you about them.



Wednesday, July 12, 2017



Every summer I go out on the lake in my rowing scull. I love gliding across the surface-something mesmerizing about the ripples coming off the oars. 

I'm enjoying learning about the camaraderie and  thrill of racing in regattas and listening to this true account...


Daniel James Brown’s robust book tells the story of the University of Washington’s 1936 eight-oar crew and their epic quest for an Olympic gold medal, a team that transformed the sport and grabbed the attention of millions of Americans. The sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the boys defeated elite rivals first from eastern and British universities and finally the German crew rowing for Adolf Hitler in the Olympic games in Berlin, 1936.

Sunday, May 14, 2017

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett


Patchett's rich gripping adventure was a joy to read.  
Her lush descriptions of the Amazon Rainforest made me want to reach for my mosquito repellent.   

As Dr. Marina Singh embarks upon an uncertain odyssey into the insect-infested Amazon, she will be forced to surrender herself to the lush but forbidding world that awaits within the jungle. Charged with finding her former mentor Dr. Annick Swenson, a researcher who has disappeared while working on a valuable new drug, she will have to confront her own memories of tragedy and sacrifice as she journeys into the unforgiving heart of darkness. Stirring and luminous, State of Wonder is a world unto itself, where unlikely beauty stands beside unimaginable loss beneath the rain forest's jeweled canopy

Monday, March 6, 2017

Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt




Another enjoyable book:

Midwesterner Gary D. Schmidt won Newbery Honor awards for Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boys and The Wednesday Wars, two coming-of-age novels about unlikely friends finding a bond. Okay For Now, his latest novel, explores another seemingly improbable alliance, this one between new outsider in town Doug Swieteck and Lil Spicer, the savvy spitfire daughter of his deli owner boss. With her challenging assistance, Doug discovers new sides of himself. Along the way, he also readjusts his relationship with his abusive father, his school peers, and his older brother, a newly returned war victim of Vietnam.

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Blood Red, Snow White by Marcus Sedgwick


This is on my side table, waiting to be cracked open. 

I'll never get through my "to read" list, but I have fun trying! 

Russia wakes from a long sleep and marches to St. Petersburg to claim her birthright.  Her awakening will mark the end for the Romanovs, and the dawn of a new era that changed the world. Arthur Ransome, a journalist and writer, was part of it all.  He left his family in England and fell in love with Russia and a Russian woman.  This is his story.