Where I've been

Lately, I've been unable to blog because I've been blogging elsewhere. I am now blogging for work at the blog What's on My Nightstand?. I will still occasionally blog here, but it will be sporadic.

I've also been working on a website for book lovers called How to Find and Share Books. I created it for a course I took on website design, but I intend to keep it current and eventually add more content.

I am still keeping up my book twitter GretchenBooks as well. Feel free to follow my Twitter. I tweet books I like or am interested in reading with links to either book excerpts or summaries.

Finally, I keep track of my books at Shelfari, if you want to check out what I've read, am reading, or plan to read. I also write reviews there occasionally.

Starting a Book Club

Do you love talking about books? Ever thought of starting a book club? Here is some information on how to get started, pick a book, find discussion questions, and find author information.

How to Get Started

There are a few decisions you need to make before starting your club. Where are you holding it? Who are you inviting? What type of books are you going to read. Here are a few websites that provide additional clues on how to get a book club started:

• Tips on Starting a Book Club Reading Group Choices has a short but sweet list of questions to ask yourself when starting a book club.
• ALA’s How to Start a Book Discussion Group This wiki entry by the American Library Association gives you questions to answer on what type of book club you want, tips on structuring your meeting, do’s and don’t on selecting books, how to hold a book discussion, and more.
• Starting a Book Club on Your Own Another short but sweet list by About.com that also gives suggestions on how to establish a book club and keep it alive.
• Oprah’s How to Start a Book Club Oprah’s website offers suggestions on forming a group, locations to meet, how to pick books, etc.

What to Read…

Once you have set up your book club, you will need to pick books to read. Here are some great places to find books to discuss:

• How to Select a Book This part of the ALA’s wiki offers advise on selecting a book. It also provides links to websites to find great books.
• Check out the bestsellers lists:
  • New York Times Best Sellers
  • USA Today’s 150 Best Sellers
  • Amazon’s Best Sellers
  • Amazon’s Best Books of 2010…So Far
  • Indie Bestsellers Bestsellers from Independent Bookstores.
• Check out the the book award lists:
  • Man Booker Prize
  • National Book Award
  • National Book Critics Circle Award
  • Newberry Medal
  • Nobel Prize in Literature
  • Pulitzer Prize
• Have your members make suggestions of books they’d like to discuss.
• Browse in the links below under Discussion Questions. The books on these websites are popular book club books.

Discussion Questions

Need a discussion guide for a book you picked? Here are some great resources for discussion questions:

• Reading Group Guides My favorite place to look for discussion guides. I’m not sure how many they have, but they have over 100 entries just for books beginning with the letter A.
• Book Browse This website has over 500 discussion guides for various books.
• Reading Group Choices This site provides a way to search for discussion questions by title, author, etc. Plus, it offers a search by genre option in case you aren’t sure what you want to discuss yet.
• Look for discussion questions on the website for the publisher of the book (HarperCollins, Putnam, etc.). Because of the popularity of book clubs, many publishers now provide reading guides for their books on their websites.
• Look in the back of the books you are selecting. You’d be amazed how many are now published with their own discussion questions.
• Create your own questions!
  • ALA’s Generic Book Discussion Questions ALA has some great suggestions for generic questions to ask about both fiction and non-fiction books.
  • Oprah’s How to Start a Book Club This part of Oprah’s website suggests how to create your own discussion questions.

Author Information

Finally, I have always found that giving a brief bio on the author and listing his or her accomplishments adds depth to a book discussion. Here are some resources for author information:

• Literature Resource Center by Gale This is a database to which our library subscribes. If this link does not work, go to the following page and pick the Literature Resource Center Gale link. Enter your MyOakton username and password to access the database from off campus.
• Google the author to find their web page. Often, authors provide their own biographies.
• Go to the publisher’s website. Most publishers have a brief biography of their authors.
• Go to the websites under discussion questions above. Often these sites provide a brief biography in addition to discussion questions.

Good luck and happy discussing!

Paranormal Graphic Novels

I've recently been in a graphic novel kick. I'm Currently reading The Absolute Sandman, v. 1 by Neil Gaiman, and I've recently finished the following:

Life Sucks

by Jessica Abel, Gabe Soria and Warren Pleece

This story tells the tale of Dave Miller, vampire and night time manager of the Night Stop convenience store. He’s stuck in this dead end job by his boss (and maker) and living off expired blood since he can’t stomach the idea of biting people. The only thing he looks forward to is seeing Rosa, a goth girl he has been admiring from afar for some time. Life gets much more complicated for Dave, though, when Rosa actually walks into his store and his life.

The art in this novel really conveys the emotions of the characters. The story is interesting and fun. It reminded me of the old adage that the grass is always greener on the other side.

The Unknown

Story by Mark Waid

Art by Minck Oosterveer

Catherine Allingham is know for her ability to solve the unsolvable mysteries, yet her intelligence cannot save her from the tumor in her brain. With six months to live, Cat continues to solve other people’s mysteries while trying to solve her own: what will happen to her after she dies?

I loved the art in this novel. As for the story, it read like a mix between Sherlock Holmes and the X-Files.

Dragon Keeper by Carole Wilkinson

Dragon Keeper
by Carole Wilkinson

I was recently perusing some of the titles in 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up, and came upon this book in the 12+ category.

This young adult novel is about a young slave girl in ancient China who works for the emperor's Dragon Keeper. The current Dragon Keeper spends so much of his time bemoaning how little respect his title now confers and drinking that he has little left to take care of the resident dragons. Instead, he has his slave girl feed them for him. She ends up befriending one of them, and they run away together when the dragon's life is threatened.

This is a wonderful story that I couldn't put down. The setting is fascinating, especially the culture. The dragon is a traditional Chinese dragon, which is unique to most books about dragons that I've read in the past. The slave girl Ping is naive, yet she has a good heart. I loved her pet rat Hua as well. I highly recommend Dragon Keeper to anyone looking for a good young adult fantasy novel to read.

Off the Coffee Table

I recently had the privilege to peruse some truly lovely books at work. These books are too stunning to leave on the coffee table. You need pick them up and ooh and ah over all the gorgeous images they contain.

First is The National Parks: America’s Best Idea by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns. This book has pictures of the lush landscape found in America’s national parks, the people who helped found and develop them, the art they’ve inspired, as well as the wildlife they contain.

The second book is Next Houses: Architecture for the Twenty-First Century by Ron Broadhurst. This absorbing architecture book highlights some truly amazing new marvels of architecture. I particularly liked the Casa Tolo building, which is built on an extreme incline, and the House in Highgate Cemetery, a beautiful glass and concrete structure that overlooks a intriguing, old, and gothic-styled cemetery.

The third book which I enjoyed looking through was Great Plains: America’s Lingering Wild by Michael Forsberg with Dan O’Brian , David Wishart, and Ted Kooser. This attractive book explores the history of the Great Plains, its wildlife, and the ecological impact of civilization.

So if you want to read an enjoyable book in which the illustrations are as interesting as its text, check out these books.

The Girl Who Chased the Moon

The Girl Who Chased the Moon: A Novel
by Sarah Addison Allen

I once read that Sarah Addison Allen describes her books as “Southern fried magical realism.” That’s actually a great description. This third book by Ms. Addison tells the story of Emily Benedict.

Emily’s mother recently died, and Emily both finds out that she has a grandfather and is sent to live with him in Mullaby, North Carolina. Grandpa Vance is a gentle giant of a man whose daughter abandoned her hometown, leaving resentment and scandal in her wake.

Emily must make a home for herself and overcome this small town’s prejudice against her because of her mother’s past. Her next door neighbor Julia Winterson, the owner of a local BBQ restaurant and famous baker, takes her under her wing. Julia, though, has her own tragic past with which she must come to terms.



Click here to access the except.

Best Fiction of 2009

Here is another list of books compile by the subscribers of the Fiction_L mailing list (a reader's advisory listserve). This time, we have a list of Best Fiction of 2009.


Here is the list of new fiction titles that received multiple votes. The number following the title is the number of times it was mentioned.

Stockett, Kathryn The Help 12

Goolrick, Robert A Reliable Wife 8

Bazell, Josh Beat the Reaper 7

Waters, Sarah The Little Stranger 6

Mantel, Hilary Wolf Hall 5

Tropper, Jonathan This is Where I Leave You 5

Castillo, Linda Sworn to Silence 4

Hart, John The Last Child 4

Genova, Lisa Still Alice 3

King, Stephen Under the Dome 3

Verghese, Abraham Cutting for Stone 3

Chaon, Dan Await Your Reply 2

Davidson, Andrew The Gargoyle 2

Fallada, Hans Every Man Dies Alone 2

Ford, Jamie The House on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet 2

Johnson, Craig The Dark Horse 2

Nunn, Malla A Beautiful Place to Die 2

Penny, Louise A Rule Against Murder 2

Quinn, Spencer Dog On It 2

Rock, Peter My Abandonment 2

Atwood, Margaret Year of the Flood 2



Books with one vote:

Brooks, Geraldine People of the Book

Agarwal, Shilpa Haunting Bombay

Airth, Rennie The Dead of Winter

Arsenault, Mark Loot the Moon

Ashely, Jennifer The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

Atkinson, Kate Case Histories

Bacigalupi, Paolo The Windup Girl

Baker, Kage Empress of Mars

Balogh, Mary Huxtable series

Barr, Nevada 13 1/2

Beecroft, Alex False colors

Berg, Elizabeth Home Safe

Berwin, Margot Hothouse Flower and the 9 Plants of Desire

Bolton, S.J. Awakening

Boudinot, Ryan Misconception

Box, C.J Below Zero

Bradley, Alan Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

Bruen, Ken Once Were Cops

Bujold, Lois McMaster The Sharing Knife

Butcher, Jim Turncoat

Byatt, A.S The Children's Book

Cain, Chelsea Evil at Heart

Campbell, Bonnie Jo American Salvage: Stories

Cantrell, Rebecca A trace of smoke

Cleave, Chris Little Bee

Connelly, Michael The Scarecrow

Connelly, Michael Nine Dragons

Currie Jr., Ron Everything Matters!

Dolan, Harry Bad Things Happen

Durham, David Anthony Acacia

Fiorato, Marina The Glassblower of Murano

Flynn, Gillian Dark Places

Fowler, Christopher Bryant and May on the Loose

Gardner, Lisa The Neighbor

Grafton, Sue U is for Undertow

Hall, Tarquin Case of the missing servant: a Vish Puri mystery

Harrod-Eagles, Cynthia Fell Purpose

Haywood, Smith Ladies of the Lake

Heller, Zoe The Believers

Henríquez, Cristina The World in Half

Higner, Charlotte Deadly Descent

Hoffman, Alice The Story Sisters

Hornby, Nick Juliet, Naked

Hornsby, Wendy In the Guise of Mercy

Huston, Charlie The mystic arts of erasing all signs of death

Jensen, Liz The Rapture

Jones, Jaida and Danielle Bennett Shadow Magic

Kallos, Stephanie Sing Them Home

Kane, Cornelius Unscratchables

Kasischke, Laura In A Perfect World

Knight, Deidre Butterfly Tattoo

Laken, Valerie Dream House

Lansdale, Joe R. Vanilla Ride

Larsen, Reif The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet

Larsson, Stieg The Girl Who Played with Fire

Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve Fledgling

Leigh, Julia Disquiet

Leon, Donna Wilful Behavior

Levine, James The Blue Notebook

Lipman, Elinor Family Man

Lovesey, Peter The Last Detective

Macy, Caitlin Spoiled: Stories

Marston, Edward The Wolves of Savernake

Martin, Clancy How to Sell

McBride, Stuart Blind Eyes

McCall Smith, Alexander Tea Time for the Traditionally Built

McInerney, Jay How It Ended: New And Collected Stories

Mills, KE (Karen Miller) Witches, Inc (sequel to Accidental Sorcerer)

Moerk, Christian Darling Jim

Moriarty, Laura While I'm Falling

Muller, Marcia Locked In

O'Neal, Barbara The Lost Recipe for Happiness

O'Connell, Carol Bone by Bone

Parkin, Gaile Baking Cakes in Kigali

Patterson, James Alex Cross's Trial

Pears, Iain Stone's Fall

Penny, Louise The Brutal Telling

Perry, Anne Execution Dock

Perry, Anne A Christmas Promise

Pratchett, Terry Unseen academicals

Putney, Mary Jo Loving a Lost Lord

Rahka, Naseem The Crying Tree

Roberts, Nora Vision in White (Book 1 of the Bride Quartet)

Roberts, Nora Bed of Roses (Book 2 of the Bride Quartet)

Robison, Mary One D.O.A., One on the Way

Robotham, Michael Shatter

Russell, Sheldon Yard Dog

Russo, Richard That Old Cape Magic

Scholes, Ken Lamentations

Shamsie, Kamila Burnt Shadows

Shapton, Leanne Important Artifacts and Personal Property...

Shortridge, Jennie When She Flew

Smith, Tom Rob Child 44

Stockbridge, Sara Grace Hammer

Trigiani, Adriana Very Valentine

Wall, Carolyn Sweeping Up Glass

Winspear, Jacquelyne Among the Mad

Book Twitter

I've found that between work and school I've been blogging less (obviously). But I have found another way to keep sharing my book interests that doesn't detract from study time. I'm now twittering about books.

If you want some quick book ideas, check out my twitter at http://twitter.com/GretchenBooks. I do promise to try to blog at least once a month until school is over.

Best Non-Fiction 2009

Here is a list of books compile by the subscribers of the Fiction_L mailing list (a reader's advisory listserve) of the Best Non-Fiction of 2009.

• Agassi, Andre - Open

• Albom, Mitch - Have a Little Faith

• Bourke, Anthony & Rendell, John - A Lion Called Christian

• Burton, Gabrielle - Searching for Tamsen Donner

• Chattman, Lauren - Cakekeeper Cakes

• Cooper, Gwen - Homer's Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned about Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat (2 votes)

• Cullen, David - Columbine (6 votes)

• Editors of Fine Cooking Magazine - Absolutely Chocolate

• Edsel, Robert M - Monuments Men (2 votes)

• Eggers, Dave - Zeitoun  (2 votes)

• Friedman, Andrew - Knives at Dawn: America's Quest for Culinary Glory at the Legendary Bocuse d'Or Competition
  

• Grann, David - Lost City of Z: A tale of deadly obsession in the Amazon 

• Gulley, Phillip - I Love You, Miss Huddleston: and Other Inappropriate Longings of My Indiana Childhood
  

• Hazleton, Lesley - After the Prophet: the epic story of the Shia-Sunni split in Islam 

• Hedges, Chris - Empire of Illusion: the End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle (2 votes)
  

• Karz, Zippora - Sugarless plum : a ballarina's triumph over diabetes
  

• Kennedy, Ted - True Compass

• Kidder, Tracy - Strength in what remains (2 votes)

• Krakauer, Jon - Where men win glory the odyssey of Pat Tillman

• Kurlansky, Mark - The Food of a Younger Land: A Portrait of American Food Before the National Highway System, Before Chain Restaurants, and Before Frozen Food, When the Nation's Food was Seasonal

• Lindstrom, Martin - Buyology

• Lobdell, William - Losing My Religion

• McClure, Tori - A Pearl in the Ocean

• McDougall, Christopher - Born to run : a hidden tribe, superathletes, and the greatest race the world has never seen  (3 votes)

• McGrath, Campbell - Shannon: A Poem of the Lewis and Clark Expedition 

• McPherson, James M. - Abraham Lincoln

• Mezrich, Ben - Accidental Billionaires: the founding of Facebook 

• Nelson, Craig - Rocket Men: The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon

• Okrent, Arika - In the Land of Invented Languages

• Patterson, James - Against Medical Advice

• Penzler, Otto (editor) - The Lineup: The World's Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives

• Plait, Philip - Death from the skies!: these are the ways the world will end 

• Reisen, Harriet - Louisa May Alcott: the woman beind Little Women 

• Sabbag, Rober - Down Around Midnight: A Memoir of Crash and Survival

• Satran, Pamela Redmond - How Not to Act Old: 185 Ways to Pass for Phat, Sick, Hot, Dope, Awesome, or at Least Not Totally Lame

• Sayrafiezadeh, Said - When Skateboards Will Be Free: A Memoir of a Political    Childhood

• Stockton, Shreve - The Daily Coyote: a Story of Love, Survival, and Trust in the Wilds of Wyoming

• Thornton, Sarah - Seven Days in the Art World

• Uhlberg, Myron - Hands of My Father

• Wendell, Sarah and Tan, Candy - Beyond Having Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels

Free online book by Alexander McCall Smith

The sequel to Alexander McCall Smith's online novel Corduroy Mansions will be available to read online for free starting next week. The book is entitled The Dog Who Came in from the Cold. Starting Monday, September 21, 2009 the first chapter will be available on the publisher's website here. Each succeeding week another chapter will become available to read.

If you wish to read a summary of the first book in the series, it is available here.

Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: A Novel
by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

This book is set post WWII in England, and reads like a collection of letters to and from Juliet Ashton. During the war Juliet wrote a popular and humorous column now newly compiled in a book. After her book tour, Juliet tries to come up with a serious subject for her next book. Her inspiration comes in the form of a letter from a stranger. Juliet receives a letter from Dawsey Adams requesting help in finding a book (Dawsey found her name and address in a used book he purchased). Dawsey's letter mentions the recently ended German occupation of Guernsey (the reason he can't find his own book) and a book club he belongs to which was formed as an excuse to German authorities to hide a roast pig dinner: the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

My book club recently read this book, and I have to say I truly fell in love with it. While reading it, I was often found laughing out loud and reading quotes to friends. The story revealed an uncommon look into German occupation of English soil. The correspondence style provided ample character development so that I could truly feel I "got" the characters and could tell them apart. I loved Juliet's perspective on readers and reading; it really spoke to the book lover in me. The historical aspects of the story were brought to life through the recollections of the characters. Over all, this is a definite must read that I recommend to most readers.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Outlander
by Diana Gabaldon

In college a friend of mine gave me great advise. Don't discount romance until you've read it. She then made sure I read a good romance so that I could get truly hooked on the genre. Outlander was the book she recommended I start with, and she made a good choice. I've been hooked ever since.

Outlander tells the tale of a woman named Claire on her second honeymoon in Scotland after World War II who ends up transported back in time 200 years in Scotland's past. The story tells of Claire's struggle to survive and make a place for herself in this violent and rugged time. Gabaldon writes a compelling story and did some fantastic historical research for this book. The plot contains action, suspense, drama, and, yes, romance throughout the book. I could not put Outlander down. This story captivated both me and all of the friends I've recommended it to since. My book club loved it.

This book is the first in a (so far) seven book series. The seventh book is coming out soon, and the publisher is giving away free copies of this first book to some lucky winners in a drawing. If you want to enter, go to Diana Gabaldon's website at http://www.dianagabaldon.com/, scroll down to the entry for 24 July, 2009, and click on the link marked entry form under the picture of the alternative cover they are printing for the new release. I've added the new book cover at the end of this blog so you have the visual (plus I love the apt description on it of what the book entails).
Click here to read an excerpt.

Fun Summer Reads

Here are two books I'm currently enjoying this summer:

Sharp Teeth
by Tony Barlow

This is an truly creative and addictive read. The book is a paranormal fiction about werewolves that is written in blank verse. That's right, the entire story is written in poetic form. The plot is interesting and the writing is amazing. Definitely unique. By the time I finished chapter 2 in the bookstore, I knew I had to buy it.

Click here to read the first few chapters.




The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted
by Elizabeth Berg

I'm eating up these short stories in small greedy bites. Each story is unique and fantastic so far. The stories range from breaking out of Weight Watchers and going on an eating binge, to speaking frankly with a group of girls about men, to finding meaning in life in your mature years. Each story I've read so far has made me laugh, think, and/or tear up. I'm looking forward to discussing this one with both my mom and my book club.

Click here to read an excerpt.

Read a good poem lately?

I've been a fan of poetry since I was a kid and bought Reflections On a Gift of Watermelon Pickle by Stephen Dunning from the scholastic pages at school. I can still recite the poems "Why Nobody Pets the Lion at the Zoo" by John Ciardi and "Too Blue" by Langston Hughes thanks to this book.

Last year I took a class on Native American Literature. Native Americans come from a rich oral tradition, and poetry seems to be a natural extension of that tradition. Two poems that I have added to my favorites list since taking this class were "What is a Poem?" by Simon Ortiz and "Owl Dancing with Fred Astaire" by Sherman Alexie.

Ortiz's poem is extremely clever. He seems to purposely avoid common poetic conventions to make the reader redefine for herself what she truly feels makes a poem poetry. Alexie's poem seamlessly combines two contrary concepts to show, among other things, that the desire to be asked to dance crosses all cultural boundaries.

So next time you're looking for something interesting to read, try picking up a book of poetry.

The Cat Who Could Read Backwards

The Cat Who Could Read Backwards
by Lillian Jackson Braun

James Qwilleran (nicknamed Qwill), an out of work investigative reporter, finally picks up a job covering the art beat at The Daily Fluxion. He writes the interest stories, while the art critic, George Bonifield Mountclemens III, does the art reviews. He quickly learns that most of the people in the local art world loathe Mr. Mountclemens, but Qwilleran ends up forming an odd friendship with the eccentric critic and his cat Kao K'o-Kung, a Siamese Qwill affectionately nicknames Koko. When one of the art sellers in town is murdered, Qwill covers the story and tries to figure out who did it- with the help of a certain intelligent cat's help.

This was a fun little book. The mystery stumped me and the cat delighted me. This is the first book in "The Cat Who..." series, and I found it an entertaining, light, and quick read. If you like cats and light mysteries, I definitely recommend this series.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: A Novel
by Susanna Clarke

This absorbing story is told as a history/biography of the two men responsible for bringing magic back to England. In this alternative Regency England, magic has not existed for hundreds of years, but is recognized as an integral aspect of its history. Men who study the history of magic call themselves theoretical magicians. Mr. Norrell becomes England's first practical magician in over 300 years. He doesn't just study magic, he does magic.

This book is extremely well thought out and cleverly written. The characters actions and personalities reflect the time period perfectly. Mr. Norrell is portrayed as a stuffy, socially inept scholar who wants to be recognized for his amazing skills while making sure all of his peers are shown to be inferior. Jonathan Strange is the younger, creative, unconventional, and married magician whose fascination with magic becomes an obsession. The author includes delightful footnotes to the text to add credibility to the history/biography style used to portray these characters. The multidimensional plot covers the danger of dealing with the unpredictable fairy race, the use of magic in the Napoleonic war, the growth of friendships through common interest, political connections, and societal position, the bitterness of betrayal, the effects of madness on families, friends, and subjects, and the lengths one takes to save others and one's self.

I listened to the unabridged audio version of this book (all 26 cd's). The reader had a believable (to me) British accent, and did a fabulous voice acting job. The characters became real to me, and I actually felt a loss when the book was over. These characters became important to me. I cannot give a book a better recommendation than that.

A Single Thread

A Single Thread by Marie Bostwick.

Evelyn Dixon has been fascinated with color since she was a young girl. That passion for color found expression in quilting. So, when her husband divorces her for a younger woman, Evelyn moves to New England and resurrects the dream she had let die to open a quilt shop. In order to drum up business, Evelyn hosts a charity quilting event for breast cancer awareness. The inspiring stories she hears from her customers motivates her to have herself examined the day before the event. What she thought would be a routine exam changes everything. Suddenly, living alone in a town far from anyone she knows while running a business by herself becomes overwhelming. That is until she meets three women at her charity event: Margot, a recently laid-off businesswoman, Abigail, a wealthy woman with many acquaintances but no friends, and Abigail's rebellious niece Liza who forces Abigail to come to the event with threats of embarrassing her.

This was a lovely, heartwarming story that I couldn't put down. I would recommend A Single Thread for all generations of women. Two characters are a little two good to be true, but the rest of the characters are extremely well developed. I loved following both Evelyn's struggles and triumphs in her new life and the evolving relationship between Liza and Abigail. There is rumor that there will be a sequel, and I am definitely looking forward to it.

Anna Karenina

My book club will be discussing Anna Karenina by Tolstoy next month.

Since this is a complex book written in a different century, I thought it would be helpful to provide study guides and other relevant information to the novel.

Until February, there will be links to helpful websites and articles on Anna Karenina on the right hand sidebar of this blog.

For anyone else interested in reading this classic, I have also provided links to free copies of the book online. Enjoy!

Children's Picture Books

I spent a delightful afternoon yesterday picking pictures books for my young nieces' Christmas gifts. I thought I'd share some of the fun books I had a hard time deciding between.

Miss Spider's Tea Party
by David Kirk

This book has both a great story about not judging people based on their appearance and beautiful illustrations. It also is a counting book.

I bought the board book with the abbreviated story (Miss Spider's Tea Party: The Counting Book) since my 2 year old niece likes to rip pages. The shorter story in the board book is better for really young (0-3) children's attention span, but I'd recommend the longer rhyming story in the picture book for the 4-7 age range.

Good Night Gorilla
by Peggy Rathmann

This cute picture book has the zookeeper saying goodnight to the animals in the zoo (which teaches children animal names). It also is a funny book, because the gorilla steals the zookeeper's keys and proceeds to let all the animals out of the cages. The animals follow the zookeeper home, and his wife has to take them back to their cages when she finds them in her bedroom.

The Pigeon Wants a Puppy !
by Mo Willems

This is a new book that I fell in love with. The pigeon begs, cajoles, and demands that he get a puppy. He really wants one. Towards the end of the book, a life size puppy shows up and his size scares the pigeon. The pigeon realizes he doesn't really want a puppy - he wants a walrus. :-)

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type
by Doreen Cronin, Illustrated by Betsy Lewin

This hilarious children's book tells the story of cows who use a typewriter to ask the farmer for electric blankets (the barn is cold at night). When the farmer says no, they go on strike. Then the chickens join the cows on strike, and the farmer no longer receives any milk and eggs. Eventually the farmer negotiates a deal with them using the ducks as mediators. The repetetive click, clack, moo of the typewriter keeps children engaged in the story line, and the illustrations are fabulous. Unfortunately, the board book isn't available until March 2009.

This Little Piggy: A Hand-Puppet Board Book
by Scholastic, Illustrated by Michelle Berg

This cute little board book is implanted in the palm of the glove whose fingers are piggy puppets. I couldn't resist getting this for my youngest niece (who is still a baby). The finger puppets are fantastic, and the illustrations are nice. They changed the rhyme so that instead of roast beef the third piggy had cookies, and the fourth piggy had fun instead of none. Otherwise, this is truly a cute baby book.

Audio Books

This time of the year is really busy for me. To save time, I have been listening to books instead of reading them. That's right - audio books. My public library has a great selection of audio books that I have been thoroughly enjoying.

There are many places to listen to audio books. Besides listening to books on my long commute, I also listen to audio books while cleaning my house. I plan to listen to an audio book while decorating this weekend. Have you ever considered listening to books while you cook? I love listening to audio books while baking cookies. I also listen to audio books while working on craft projects.

Besides books on CD and cassette, public libraries have been investing in both downloadable audio books for your computer and MP3 player and Playaway digital audio books - audio books that do not require an external device to play them.

So, this fall, try something different - audio books!

Here are a few titles I've loved listening to:


The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
(Abridged read by Joanne Whalley, Dennis Boutsikaris, Rosalyn Landor, Robin Atkin Downes, and Jim Ward)

This gripping modern interpretation of the Dracula legend tells the story of a scholar who mysteriously disappears while researching the history of Vlad Dracula. The story goes back and forth between the scholar's search for Dracula and his friends and family's search for him. The audio performance of this book by six talented voice actors truly brings this story to life.


Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns
(Abridged read by Richard Thomas)

If you haven't read Cold Sassy Tree, I highly recommend it. This book, set during the early 1900's in a small Georgian town, is told from the perspective of 14-year-old Will Tweedy. The story revolves around Will's grandpa who takes a new young wife weeks after his previous wife dies, the town's disconcerted reaction to this unexpected and controversial marriage, and Will's own life growing up in a town on the cusp of change. This story both touched me and made me laugh out loud. Having the man who played John Boy on the Waltons tell the tale for the audio version of this book is just icing on the cake.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
(Unabridged read by Neil Gaiman)

The description of this book can be found in my last post. The author is the reader in this audio book, and the characters come alive through his evocative telling of this imaginative tale. Even if you've read this book, I still recommend listening to this engrossing version.


Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
(Unabridged read by George Guidall)

This book tells the story of life for Japanese Americans before, during, and after World War II on a small island in Puget Sound. A Japanese American fisherman is accused of murder, and the story of his life is intertwined with the trial of his case. The audio performance is well done, and I appreciated not having to guess the pronunciation of certain Japanese words in the story. A truly touching tale.