Inside Jacket

The latest in a line of movies from literary greats — following “The Road,” “Where the Wild Things Are” and a re-imagined Sherlock Holmes — is released this week: Tennessee Williams’ “The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond.” The work has never earned the respect of others such as “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” or “A Streetcar Named Desire.” But it has many of the hallmarks of his greats, including sultry, rebellious women and class conflict. Some reviews:

– The Los Angeles Times: Never produced, then shelved these last 50 years (I suspect because it feels like an early draft), “Teardrop Diamond” comes to us with its characters not fully fleshed to their breaking or boiling point … [yet filmmaker Jodie Markell] succeeds in transporting us back to that other time; capturing the lyricism of the dialogue and the fetid South that Williams so brilliantly envisioned where nearly everything goes to rot.

– The New York Times: Bryce Dallas Howard ignites like a firecracker, playing an impulsive, emotionally unstable heiress recklessly defying the hidebound conventions of 1920s Memphis high society. … [Her] character, Fisher Willow, has the familiar hallmarks of a wounded Williams angel but lacks the tragic dimension of his greatest creation, Blanche DuBois.

– Associated Press: The best thing “Teardrop Diamond” does, with its familiar Williams archetypes and his trademark Southern Gothic, is make you feel like renting some of the playwright’s more substantial work, where desperation, alcohol and love mixed more dreamily and more heartbreakingly.

I searched forever for a great book club graphic but we actually have a guy in one of my book clubs (who brings a much needed perspective to our meetings!)  and all the graphics had women.  Sigh . . .

So, I’m in THREE book clubs and I wanted to share with you what books we read and a bit about our meetings from 2009.

My Neighborhood Book Club

Our neighborhood book club has been meeting religiously for about three years.  Our members are women who live in a three or four street radius from each other and we always have between 8-10 attend.  We met every single month and rotate hosts who get control of what book we will read for that month.  We had two awesome highlights this past year that I feel so bad I never blogged about.

Donna Woolfolk Cross, author of Pope Joan, joined our book club meeting on the telephone.  It was crazy because we happened to have about half a dozen roaming preschoolers and toddlers with us that day but it was really cool to talk to her about the book and the upcoming movie.  It was our first time we had done anything like that and it was awesome!!

AND THEN! As if we couldn’t be even more of an awesome book club, Katherine Center joined our book club on video via Skype when we discussed her book Everyone is Beautiful.  We hooked up the laptop to the large screen TV and she was there in the living room!  Katherine is simply an amazing person and SO personable in real life.  Seriously, invite Katherine to your book club and you won’t regret it!

The books we discussed during 2009:

• The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (did not finish)
• The Next Thing On My List by Jill Smolinksi
• Everyone is Beautiful by Katherine Center
• Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross
• Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil by Deborah Rodriguez
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
• Searching for Eternity by Elizabeth Musser (not yet reviewed)
• Born in Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry by John J. Robinson (only 2 members read this one)

So hard to pick a favorite.  The Help and Everyone is Beautiful top the lists as favorites for the year.  The Hunger Games was a hit and everybody read my advanced copy of Catching Fire before it came out.  Seriously, it was making the rounds big time.  We had to draw names for the order that people read it.   Looking back I don’t remember anything about Searching for Eternity and want to finish Frankenstein.

Skype Book Club

Not the most elegant name for a book club (I wonder if I missed the naming?) but it’s a book club that meets via Skype with a bunch of other bloggers.  It’s been awesome and I’m kind of scared I’m going to get kicked out because I haven’t read the last three books and couldn’t find our book for January. (Please don’t kick me out!)

Skype is a great way to meet as a book club especially if you have webcams.  I’d totally recommend getting a group together or even an extended family book club.  I can’t survive without my Skype anymore.

Books we discussed:

• The Magicians by Lev Grossman
• 31 Hours by Masha Hamilton
• Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie
• Nothing but Ghosts by Beth Kephart (not yet reviewed)
• Every Last Cuckoo by Kate Maloy (not yet reviewed)
• Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
• The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
• Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea (not yet reviewed)

My favorite was Nothing But Ghosts.   And I’m going to be a better member in 2010!

Children’s Literature Book Club

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book club.  Last year, I discovered that there was a book club of adults who read only children’s literature who met all over the Salt Lake valley.  I couldn’t resist and basically emailed and asked if they were taking new members.  I was so nervous my first meeting because I didn’t know anybody but I’ve been going now for over a year and am pleased to say that it’s one of the greatest things I ever did.  So moral of the story: it never hurts to ask!

Each month we read books based around on a different theme and books are picture books, middle grade and young adult.  We read a TON!  I secretly love how hardcore it is.

One of the highlights of the year was having local author Ann Cannon attend our meeting when we read her books.  It was awesome!

Books we discussed in 2009:

• Books to Movies
  • The Lightning Thief, Book One of Percy Jackson & The Olympians by Rick Riordan
  • Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl
  • Diary of a Wimpy Kid: A Novel in Cartoons by Jeff Kinney
  • The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
• Cybils Awards Finalists
  • Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek: A Tall Thin Tale by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by John Hendrix
  • Big Bad Bunny by Franny Billingsley, illustrated by G. Brian Karas
  • Chester’s Beck by Melanie Watt
  • How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham
  • Katie Loves the Kittens by John Himmelman
  • The Sea Serpent and Me by Dashka Slater, illustrated by Catia Chien
  • A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker, Illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton
  • Wabi Sabi by Mark Reibstein, illustrated by Ed Young
  • A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
  • Astronaut Handbook by Meghan McCarthy
  • Duel! Burr and Hamilton’s Deadly War of Words by Dennis Brindell Fradin, illustrated by Larry Day
  • Fabulous Fishes by Susan Stockdale
  • Frogs by Nic Bishop
  • Wanda Gag: The Girl Who Loved to Draw by Deborah Kogan Ray
  • Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa by Jeanette Winter
  • Chiggers by Hope Larson
  • Emiko Superstar by Mariko Tamaki, Illustrated by Steve Rolston
  • Into the Volcano by Don Wood
  • Jellaby by Kean Soo
  • Rapunzel’s Revenge by Shannon and Dean Hale, Illustrated by Nathan Hale
  • The Savage by David Almond, illustrated by Dave McKean
  • There’s a Wolf at the Door: Five Classic Tales Retold by Zoe B. Alley, Illustrated by R.W. Alley
• Newbery and Caldecott Awards
  • The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
  • The Underneath by Kathi Appelt
  • Savvy by Ingrid Law
  • The Surrender Tree: Poem’s of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle
  • After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson
  • The House in the Night illustrated by Beth Krommes, written by Susan Marie Swanson
    
  • A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, written and illustrated by Marla Frazee
  • How I Learned Geography, written and illustrated by Uri Shulevitz
  • A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, illustrated by Melissa Sweet, written by Jen Bryant
• Fairy Tales
  • The Sisters Grimm, The Fairy Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley
  • The Princess and the Hound by Mette Ivie Harrison
  • The Palace of Mirrors by Margaret Peterson Haddix
• Historical Fiction – World War II
  • Jimmy’s Stars by Mary Ann Rodman
  • On the Wings of Heroes by Richard Peck
  • Journey to Topaz by Yoshicko Uchida
  • Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki, Illustrated by Dom Lee
  • T4 by Ann Clare LeZotte
  • The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
• Ann Cannon Author Study
  • Charlotte’s Rose by Ann Cannon (to be reviewed)
  • A Loser’s Guide of Life and Love by Ann Cannon (to be reviewed)
  • Pirate Pete and Pirate Joe easy-to-read series
• Science Fiction
  • The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
  • Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
  • Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves
  • My Teacher is an Alien by Bruce Coville (to be reviewed)
• Popular Books
  • Gallop and/or Swing by Rufus Butler Seder
    
  • Love You Forever by Robert Munsch
    
  • The Pigeon Wants a Puppy by Mo Willems
  • Goodnight Goon, A Petrifying Parody by Michael Rex
  • Wings by Aprilynne Pike
  • Gym Candy by Carl Deuker (did not finish)
  • Chess Rumble by G. Neri, Illustrated by Jesse Joshua Watson
  • Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr
• Beehive Nominees
  • The Black Book of Colors by Menena Cottin and Rosana Faria
  • Someone Named Eva by Joan M. Wolf
  • Frankenstein Takes the Cake by Adam Rex
  • Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman
  • Brothers & Sisters: Sibling relationships in the Animal World by Steven Jenkins & Robin Page
• Mysteries
  • When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
  • The 39 Clues, Book One: Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan
  • Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman
• Free Verse Novels
  • Sold by Patricia McCormick
  • Because I Am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas
  • Where I Live by Eileen Spinelli
  • Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson
• Holiday
  • A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck

So there you have it!!  I’m a bit of a book club junkie!

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I will be on Blog Talk Radio show on Tuesday, January 19th at 9pm EST as a guest for Nicole’s That’s How I Blog Show. I’d be thrilled if you listened in! At the end of the show, we will also be discussing the book WAR CHILD by Emmanuel Jal which is a book that I think everybody should read.
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Copyright 2009 by Maw Books Blog. This feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator or by email, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take immediate action.

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

Despite the fact that I have at least 20 books that will be overlapped into 2010 reviews, it just doesn’t make sense to review a Christmas book in January, so I wanted to squeeze one last 2009 review in.  I read The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck for my book club.  I liked it, I didn’t like it.

Twelve year-old Eddie only wants a bike for Christmas.  He makes sure that his widowed mother knows it whenever she’s in earshot.  He’s been working hard all year and knows that he deserves this bike.  But his mother breaks his heart when instead of his shiny new read bike on Christmas morning, he receives an ugly, hand-knitted sweater.  He is devastated and hurts his mom deeply when he crumples the sweater and throws it in the corner.

That day when returning from a Christmas dinner at his grandparents house and not yet reconciling, his mother falls asleep at the wheel.  While he is unhurt, she dies.  Now living with his grandparents and mad at the world, he further distances himself from the grandfather that he always adored.  His journey through grief, healing, forgiveness, faith and redemption is just beginning and it will take a literal and figurative storm to bring him back from his wayward path.

What I liked:  the overall idea of the story.  I liked what Beck was trying to do.   I like Christmas stories.  I liked the message.  It was heartwarming.  I liked the characters.  I LOVED the grandfather.

What I didn’t like:  That is was SO obvious that you knew what he was trying to do.  It’s like he is trying WAY too hard to tug at your heart strings.  Just when he can’t plunge the knife into your heart any deeper, he twists it. I liked it until the storm came and then it was no longer a story but rather a hit-you-over-the-head with this message disguised as a story.  And I even LIKED the message!!  There was nothing wrong with the philosophy.   I knew that this would be a message book going into it.  But I just felt that less subtle would have been better. And the ending!  I did not like the ending at all.  *SPOILER ALERT*  The whole thing is a dream!  He wakes up and his mom is alive!!  He’s given a second chance at making the right choices and being happy with his sweater, instead of mad.  It was a real cope out ending.  Surely, there could have been a better way to end it.

So, I would recommend this one based solely on who you are (well . . . isn’t that the case with all books – but I know some of you would like it, others I wouldn’t recommend it at all) .  Some will love it, others might hate it.  With the exception of another book clubber, everybody really liked it.  So it might be worth trying to see where you fall.  And while I liked much of it, personally, I felt that it was a book that was trying too hard and it showed.

The Christmas Sweater book trailer:

Links of interest:  Glenn Beck website, more book blogger reviews.
Genre: Fiction, Holiday
Publisher: Threshold Editions. November 11, 2008
Hardcover, 284 pages. ISBN 141659485X
The Christmas Sweater is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Copyright 2009 by Maw Books Blog. This feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator or by email, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take immediate action.

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

I made some goals for myself at the beginning of the year and participated in some reading challenges, so it’s only fair to myself that I account for them.  Thus this post.  I do keep track of my reading challenges on my challenges blog but wanted to share with you what happened this past year and give some link love to the awesome hosts.  I don’t stress over challenges which I think is key but enjoy seeing lists!

Personal 2009 Reading Goals

I went back to the post I wrote about how I wanted to do in 2009.  This is what I said.  Interesting . . .

• Continue to read with my children. Especially, get them going on their ABC’s.  My oldest is three and has a difficult time with language.  Has zero interest in his ABC’s.  I would like to work harder with them this year on their reading skills and letter recognition. Check!  We had a great time checking books out from the library, going to storytime, snuggling on the couch and reading Cybils books together.  AND AND AND my little boy said his ABC’s perfectly just last month.  You should have seen us celebrating!  His letter recognition is great.

• 52 Books in 52 Weeks – I said, “In my attempt to read a wide variety of books, I’m setting the goal to read and review 52 books in each of the following categories:  Fiction, Young Adult, Middle Readers, Picture Books, and Non-Fiction.  I’m not going to stress if I don’t do well, but the fun is in the journey.”  Well, the fun was in the journey.  In 2009 I read: 21 non-fiction, 28 adult fiction, 38 young adult fiction, 51 middle grade fiction and 40 picture books.  Didn’t hit 52 in any of them!

• Book Clubs – Continue to participate in my neighborhood book club, the children’s literature book club, and moderate the Rich Women Sisterhood book club.  Well, the Rich Women Sisterhood book club didn’t get off the ground but I LOVED and didn’t miss a single meeting with my neighborhood book club or my children’s literature book club.  I even joined another book club with a few bloggers who meet monthly via Skype.

• Read more parenting, gardening, and photography books this year.  I’d like to revive some of my other interests that seemed to take the back burner this past year.  Didn’t review a single one!  Failed.

• Continue  interaction with authors via and interviews, guest posts, and blog tours. The blog tours got a bit stressful and I slowed down on interviews in the second half of the year but I LOVE interviews and guest posts.  Will continue for 2010.

I think it would have helped if I had actually reviewed the goals I made at least once during the year but considering that I didn’t, I’m okay with how I did.

Perpetual Life-Long Challenges

Read all the Newbery Medal and Honor books

Newbery books I read in 2009:

1. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
2. Savvy by Ingrid Law
3. Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Hudson Talbott
4. The Voice that Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights by Russell Freedman
5. Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
6. Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
7. Lily’s Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff
8. The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
9. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
10. Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
11. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
12. The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox
13. The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh
14. The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg
15. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Read all the Pulitzer Fiction Winners

Not a single book read this past year.  Well, this certainly will take a lifetime at this rate.

500 of the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

Sadly, I did not read a single book off this list in 2009 either.  I did start and didn’t finish both The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.  Not doing too well.

Community Challenges

A-Z Challenge

Hosted by Becky of Becky’s Book Reviews
Visit the A-Z Challenge Blog
When: All of 2009
How: Read 52 books, 26 titles for A-Z and 26 authors for A-Z.

I made this one even harder by trying to read only books I owned that were Newbery and other MG books.

Alpha by Title
Amelia’s War by Ann Rinaldi
The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryre Brink
Dovey Cove by Frances O’Roark Dowel
The Egypt Game by Zilpha Ketley Snyder
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L Konigsburg
The Good Master by Kate Seredy
Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan
In Grandpa’s House by Philip Sendak
Journey Outside by Mary Q. Steele
Keesha’s House by Helen Frost
Letters from a Slave Girl, The Story of Harriet Jacobs by Mary E. Lyons
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen
On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
*The Quaint and Curious Quest of Johnny Longfoot by Catherine Besterman or *Queer Person by Ralph Hubbard
Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer
Sarah Plain & Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
To Be a Slave by Julius Lester
*Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt
The View From Saturday by E.L. Kongisburg (read but not yet reviewed)
The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
X
Yolonda’s Genius by Carol Fenner
Zlata’s Diary by Zlata Filipoivic

Alpha by Author
The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli
The Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byors
My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh
anything by Eleanor Estes
The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox
Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
I
J
Cracker by Cynthia Kadohata
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
In My Enemy’s House by Carol Matas
Rascal by Sterling North
Mrs. Frisby & the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien
Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson
Q
Daughter of the Mountains by Louise Rankin
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
T
U
V
Stuart Little by E.B White
X
Pay the Piper by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple
Getting the Girl by Marcus Zusak

My thoughts: So I only read 10 out of 52 books but I still love this challenge so much that I’ll be duplicating it again for 2010.

Dewey’s Books

Chris at Stuff Dreams Are Made Of and Robin at A Fondness for Reading hosted a very special challenge in honor of Dewey from The Hidden Side of A Leaf in which participants read 5 books that Dewey reviewed.

My list of possibilities:

The View from Saturday by EL Konigsburg (to be reviewed)
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (to be reviewed)
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
March by Geraldine Brooks
Teacher Man by Frank McCourt
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Gossamer by Lois Lowry
An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Purple Hibiscus by Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie

My thoughts: I read 3 of the 5 books that I listed as possibilities and still need to review two.  I wish I had finished this one.

Diversity Rocks

Hosted by Ali at Worducopia, the Diversity Rocks Challenge is to ensure racial and ethnic diversity in the authors that we read. I committed to read 40 books with diverse authors.

1. Miracle’s Boys by Jacqueline Woodson (African American)
2. Emiko Superstar by Mariko Tamaki, Illustrated by Steve Rolston (Asian)
3. Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson (African American)
4. Jellaby by Kean Soo (Asian)
5. Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson (African American)
6. The Well by Mildred D. Taylor (African American)
7. Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things by Lenore Look (Chinese American)
8. Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki, Illustrated by Dom Lee (Japanese)
9. Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine, Illustrations by Kadir Nelson (illustrator: African American)
10. Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson, Illustrated by Hudson Talbott (African American)
11. Be Water, My Friend: The Early Years of Bruce Lee by Ken Mochizuki, Illustrated by Dom Lee (Japanese American)
12. Passage to Freedom, The Sugihara Story by Ken Mochizuki, Illustrated by Dom Lee (Japanese American)
13. Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford, Illustrated by Kadir Nelson (illustrator:  African American)
14. The Voice That Challenged A Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights by Russell Freedman (African American)
15. Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad by Waris Dirie and Cathleen Miller (African)
16. Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope by Nikki Grime, Illustrated by Bryan Collier (African American)
17. A Disobedient Girl by Ru Freeman (Sri Lankan)
18. Wife of the Gods, An Inspector Darko Dawson Mystery by Kwei Quartey (African American)
19. I Hadn’t Mean to Tell You This by Jacqueline Woodson (African American)
20. Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking and Other Natural Disasters by Lenore Look (Chinese-American)
21. Heroes by Ken Mochizuki, Illustrated by Dom Lee (Japanese-American)
22. Zlata’s Diary, A Child’s Life in Sarajevo by Zlata Filipovic (Bosnian)
23. 14 Cows for America by Carmen Agra Deedy in Collaboration with Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah, Illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez (Cuban)
24. Hush by Jacqueline Woodson (African American)
25. Chess Rumble by G. Neri, Illustrated by Jesse Joshua Watson (African-American)
26. Haunting Bombay by Shilpa Agarwal
27. Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman
28. My Name is Sangoel by Karen Lynn Williams and Khadra Mohammed, Illlustrated by Catherine Stock (African American)
29. Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan by Mary Williams, Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie (African American)
30. Yum! ¡MmMm! ¡Qué Rico! Americas’ Sproutings, Haiku by Pat Mora, Pictures by Rafael López (Illustrator  – Mexican)
31. Gracias Thanks by Pat Mora, Illustrated by John Parra (Illustrator – Hispanic)
32. War Child, A Child Soldier’s Story by Emmanuel Jal (Sudanese)
33. They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys From Sudan by Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng, Benjamin Ajak with Judy A. Bernstein (Sudanese)
34. I Am a Star, Child of the Holocaust by Inge Auerbacher (German)
35. Picking Cotton, Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption by Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton with Erin Torne (African-American)
36. Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea (Hispanic)

My thoughts: Although I fell short 4 books, I’m really happy with 36! I often don’t know racial backgrounds of authors but this challenge helped me make an effort to make note.

Jewish Literature Challenge

December 21, 2008 – April 27, 2009
Hosted by Callista.

Read at least 4 books by Jewish Authors or about Judaism (Fiction, Non-fiction, memoirs, Adult books, Teen books, Children’s books, books about the Holocaust, books about anti-semitism, books about Jewish Life, Jewish Culture, Jewish Customs. Books by Jewish Authors no matter what the subject.)

My thoughts: FAIL, FAIL, FAIL.  I did great with this challenge in 2008.  Not so much this time around.  A big fat zero.

New Author Challenge

Hosted by Jackie at Literary Escapism this challenge was to track new-to-me authors in 2009.  Since this is an author challenge, there is no restriction on choosing your novels. They can definitely be from other challenges. However, the authors must be new to you and, preferably from novels, but anthologies are also a great way to try someone new.

Excluding picture book authors, I challenged myself to read 75 new-to-me authors.

1. The Sisters Grimm, The Fairy Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley
2. Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
3. Frankie Pickle and the Closet of Doom by Eric Wight
4. The Blue Notebook by James A. Levine
5. Losing Kei by Suzanne Kamata
6. The Secret Keeper by Paul Harris
7. The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker
8. Down to a Sunless Sea by Mathias B. Freese
9. Feathered by Laura Kasischke
10. I Know It’s Over by C.K Kelly Martin
11. The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams
12. Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil by Deborah Rodriguez
13. The Mechanics of Falling and Other Stories by Catherine Brady
14. Matrimony by Joshua Henkin
15. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
16. Emiko Superstar by Mariko Tamaki, Illustrated by Steve Rolston
17. Chiggers by Hope Larson
18. Letters from a Slave Girl, The Story of Harriet Jacobs by Mary E. Lyons
19. The Way He Lived by Emily Wing Smith
20. Jellaby by Kean Soo
21. Longhorns and Outlaws by Linda Aksomitis
22. The Year the Swallows Came Early by Kathryn Fitzmaurice
23. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
24. The Well by Mildred D. Taylor
25. Freedom Walkers, The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Russel Freedman
26. An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken
27. Surviving Ben’s Suicide, A Woman’s Journey of Self Discovery by C. Comfort Shields
28. Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges
29. Ruby Among Us by Tina Ann Forkner
30. Mermaids in the Basement by Michael Lee West
31. The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan
32. The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
33. Lily’s Crossing by Patricia ReillyGiff
34. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
35. Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
36. The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh
37. Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things by Lenore Look
38. Shooting the Moon by Frances O’Roark Dowell
39. Savvy by Ingrid Law
40. Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman
41. Sister Wife by Shelley Hrdlitschka
42. Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas
43. A Disobedient Girl by Ru Freeman
44. Wife of the Gods, An Inspector Darko Dawson Mystery by Kwei Quartey
45. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
46. Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross
47. Because I Am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas
48. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
49. Dork Diaries: Tales from a NOT-SO-Fabulous Life by Rachel Renee Russell
50. First Comes Loves, Then Comes Malaria by Eve Brown-Waite
51. That Went Well, Adventures in Caring for My Sister by Terrell Harris Dougan
52. Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad by Waris Dirie and Cathleen Miller
53. Zlata’s Diary, A Child’s Life in Sarajevo by Zlata Filipovic
54. Chess Rumble by G. Neri, Illustrated by Jesse Joshua Watson
55. Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry
56. I Am a Star, Child of the Holocaust by Inge Auerbacher
57. Haunting Bombay by Shilpa Agarwal
58. Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman
59. Girl in the Arena by Lise Haine
60. Someone Named Eva by Joan M. Wolf
61. Anything but Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin
62. Standing Still by Kelly Simmons
63. The Next Thing On My List by Jill Smolinksi
64. Haunting Bombay by Shilpa Agarwal
65. Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
66. Thanksgiving at the Inn by Tim Whitney
67. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
68. War Child, A Child Soldier’s Story by Emmanuel Jal
69. They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys From Sudan by Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng, Benjamin Ajak with Judy A. Bernstein
70. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
71. Standing Still by Kelly Simmons
72. Secrets of a Christmas Box by Steven Hornby
73. Picking Cotton, Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption by Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton with Erin Torneo
74. The Widow’s Season by Laura Brodie
75. The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck
76. Torn by God by Zoe Murdock
77. Searching for Eternity by Elizabeth Musser
78. Every Last Cuckoo by Kate Maloy
79. Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea
80. Silver Shoes by Paul Miles Schneider
81. Boys, Girls and Other Hazardous Materials by Rosalind Wiseman
82. The Dark Divine by Bree Despain
83. Nothing but Ghosts by Beth Kephart
84. A Loser’s Guide to Life and Love by Ann Cannon
85. The Teashop Girls by Laura Schaefer
86. Slob by Ellen Potter
87. Binky, The Space Cat by Ashley Spires
88. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
89. The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg
90. Long Shot, Comeback Kids by Mike Lupica
91. My Teacher is an Alien by Bruce Coville
92. Dessert First by Hallie Durand
93. A Child’s Journey Out of Autism: One Family’s Story of Living in Hope and Finding a Cure by Leeann Whiffen
94. The Mistress’s Daughter by A.M. Homes
95. Tone Deaf in Bangkok and Other Places by Janet Brown, Photographs by Nana Chen

My thoughts: Well over 75 and so close to 100! I loved tracking how many authors I hadn’t read before.  I’m in again for 2010!

Non-Fiction Five

Hosted by Trish at Trish’s Reading Nook, the Non-Fiction Five Challenge rules were:

1. Read 5 non-fiction books during the months of May – September, 2009

2. Read at least one non-fiction book that is different from your other choices (i.e.: 4 memoirs and 1 self-help)

During the five month period I read:

1. That Went Well, Adventures in Caring for My Sister by Terrell Harris Dougan
2. Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad by Waris Dirie and Cathleen Miller
3. First Comes Loves, Then Comes Malaria by Eve Brown-Waite
4. Zlata’s Diary, A Child’s Life in Sarajevo by Zlata Filipovic
5. Travels with Tarra and Just for Elephants by Carol Buckley

My thoughts: I love non-fiction! During the entire year, I read 21 non-fiction books.

Read Your Own Books

Jenn hosted fhe 2009 Read Your Own Books Challenge. The concept is simple – read books that YOU OWN.

For this challenge, I did NOT count review copies of any sort.  All books were either purchased, off of my bookshelf or received as gifts.

1. Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen
2. Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges
3. Ruby Among Us by Tina Ann Forkner
4. Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl
5. The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
6. Lily’s Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff
7. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
8. Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
9. The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh
10. Letters from a Slave Girl, The Story of Harriet Jacobs by Mary E. Lyons
11. The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox
12. The Well by Mildred D. Taylor
13. Consider Love, It’s Moods and Many Ways by Sandra Boynton
14. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
15. Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross
16. The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker
17. Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
18. Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
19. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
20. Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson
21. Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson
22. Zlata’s Diary, A Child’s Life in Sarajevo by Zlata Filipovic
23. The Next Thing On My List by Jill Smolinksi
24. Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr
25. Miracle’s Boys by Jacqueline Woodson
26. Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry
27. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
28. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
29. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
30. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
31. Picking Cotton, Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption by Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton with Erin Torneo
32. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
33. The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg
34. Charlotte’s Rose by Ann Cannon

My thoughts: I read more books off of my own shelf than I thought.  I’m happy with that number but not enough adult fiction though.

Support Your Local Library

J. Kaye’s Book Blog hosted the 2009 Support Your Local Library Challenge where participants were encouraged to read from their libraries.

I chose to read 50 books from my local library in 2009.

1. Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking and Other Natural Disasters by Lenore Look
2. Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross (since purchased)
3. I Hadn’t Mean to Tell You This by Jacqueline Woodson
4. Because I Am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas
5. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
6. Feathered by Laura Kasischke
7. I Know It’s Over by C.K Kelly Martin
8. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
9. On the Wings of Heroes by Richard Peck
10. The Sisters Grimm, The Fairy Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley
11. Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad by Waris Dirie and Cathleen Miller
12. Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson
13. Always by Ann Stott, Illustrated by Matt Phelan (since received as gift)
14. There’s a Wolf at the Door: Five Classic Tales Retold by Zoe B. Alley, Illustrated by R.W. Alley
15. Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil by Deborah Rodriguez
16. Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Hudson Talbot
17. Mermaids in the Basement by Michael Lee West
18. Shooting the Moon by Frances O’Roark Dowell
19. Alvin Ho:  Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things by Lenore Look
20. Snow by Cynthia Rylant, Illustrated by Lauren Stringer
21. Sister Wife by Shelley Hrdlitschka
22. Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
23. Emiko Superstar by Mariko Tamaki, Illustrated by Steve Rolston
24. Chiggers by Hope Larson
25. Fade by Lisa McMann
26. The Way He Lived by Emily Wing Smith
27. The Lightning Thief, Book One of Percy Jackson & The Olympians by Rick Riordan
28. Jellaby by Kean Soo
29. Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson
30. Holbrook: A Lizards Tale by Bonny Becker
31. My Brother, The Robot by Bonny Becker
32. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
33. Mary Veronica’s Egg by Mary Nethery, Illustrated by Paul Yalowtiz
34. A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker, Illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton
35. An Ant’s Day Off by Bonny Becker, Illustrated by Nina Laden
36. The Christmas Crocodile by Bonny Becker, Illustrated by David Small
37. Ella the Elegant Elephant by Carmelia and Steven D’Amico
38. Ella Sets the Stage by Carmelia and Steven D’Amico
39. Ella Takes the Cake by Carmelia and Steven D’Amico
40. Ella Sets Sail by Carmelia and Steven D’Amico
41. Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki, Illustrated by Dom Lee
42. Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine, Illustrations by Kadir Nelson
43. Be Water, My Friend: The Early Years of Bruce Lee by Ken Mochizuki, Illustrated by Dom Lee
44. Passage to Freedom, The Sugihara Story by Ken Mochizuki, Illustrated by Dom Lee
45. Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford, Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
46. The Voice That Challenged A Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights by Russell Freedman
47. The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles, Illustrated by George Ford
48. Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope by Nikki Grime, Illustrated by Bryan Collier
49. Freedom Walkers, The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Russell Freedman
50. Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges
51. Frogs by Nic Bishop
52. Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
53. Everything is Fine by Ann Dee Ellis
54. Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman
55. Hush by Jacqueline Woodson
56. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
57. Someone Named Eva by Joan M. Wolf
58. Anything but Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin
59. Chess Rumble by G. Neri, Illustrated by Jesse Joshua Watson
60. Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking and Other Natural Disasters by Lenore Look
61. A Birthday for Bear by Bonny Becker, Illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton
62. Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld
63. The Book That Eats People by John Perry, Illustrated by Mark Fearing (received review copy afterwards)
64. A Penguin Story by Antoinette Portis
65. The Curious Garden by Peter Brown
66. All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, Illustrated by Marla Frazee (received review copy  afterwards)
67. Jeremy Draws a Monster by Peter McCarty
68. Goodnight Goon, A Petrifying Parody by Michael Rex
69. Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems
70. Where’s My Mummy by Carolyn Crimi, Illustrated by John Manders
71. A Very Hairy Scary Story by Rick Walton and Illustrated by David Clark
72. Dear Vampa by Ross Collins
73. War Child, A Child Soldier’s Story by Emmanuel Jal
74. They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys From Sudan by Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng, Benjamin Ajak with Judy A. Bernstein
75. The Black Book of Colors by Menena Cottin and Rosana Faria
76. The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck
77. Searching for Eternity by Elizabeth Musser
78. Every Last Cuckoo by Kate Maloy
79. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
80. Jumping Off Swings by Jo Knowles
81. A Loser’s Guide to Life and Love by Ann Cannon
82. Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
83. SLOB by Ellen Potter
84. Binky, The Space Cat by Ashley Spires
85. My Teacher is an Alien by Bruce Coville
86. A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck
87. Who Was Born this Special Day? by Eve Bunting, Illustrated by Leonid Gore
88. I’ve Seen Santa! by David Bedford, Illustrated by Tim Warnes

My thoughts: Thrilled to see that I used my public library so much! While storytime is in session, I go with the boys at least twice a week.  We checked out a million and one picture books and I wish I could have spotlighted them all.

Themed Reading

Wendy at Caribousmom hosted The Themed Reading Challenge which was a six month challenge from February to July designed to help readers clear books from their to-be-read stacks which center around a common theme or themes.

I chose to read 4-6 books by my local Utah authors.

1. The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale
2. The Maze Runner by James Dashner (to be reviewed)
3. The Dark Divine by  Bree Despain (to be reviewed)
4. A Loser’s Guide to Life and Love by Ann Cannon (to be reviewed)
5. Everything is Fine by Ann Dee Ellis
6. Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr
7. The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams
8. The Way He Lived by Emily Wing Smith
9. Charlotte’s Rose by Ann Cannon (to be reviewed)
10. The 13th Reality: The Hunt for Dark Infinity by James Dashner
11. A Very Hairy Scary Story by Rick Walton and illustrated by David Clark
12. A Child’s Journey Out of Autism: One Family’s Story of Living in Hope and Finding a Cure by Leeann Whiffen (to be reviewed)
13. That Went Well, Adventures in Caring for My Sister by Terrell Harris Dougan.

My thoughts:  While I did read six books during the six month period, I extended this challenge for the entireyear.  In fact, we have so many awesome local authors here that I’m joining Suey in making this a perpetual challenge.

War Through the Generations – World War II

Anna from Diary of an Eccentric and Serena from Savvy Verse and Wit have dedicated blog for challenges related to war and its impact and this year was World War II, one of my favorite topics to read about.

Participants needed to commit to at least  five books which can be fiction or non-fiction, and they can be about any aspect of WWII. WWII should be the primary or secondary theme, and it doesn’t matter whether the book takes place during the war or after the war.

1. Lily’s Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff
2. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary An Shaffer & Annie Barrows
3. Heroes by Ken Mochizuki
4. On the Wings of Heroes by Richard Peck
5. Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki
6. Passage to Freedom by Ken Mochizuki
7. Someone Named Eva from Joan M. Wolf
8. I Am a Star, Child of the Holocaust by Inge Auerbacher
9. Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman

My thoughts: Anna and Serena are two of the best challenge hosts out there and I really want to give them kudos for a job well done! I’m SO excited for the 2010 theme centered around the Vietnam war.

The End.

(And because I’m a glutton for punishment – I signed up for *gulp* 16 challenges in 2010.)

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We’re off for the rest of the week, but we hope everyone has a wonderful New Year’s Eve! We’ll be back on January 4, 2010.