I read 98 books in 2014. This does not include books I started but abandoned. (That would bump the total up to about 110.) The list also doesn't include picture books like Shaun Tan's Rules of Summer or Peter Brown's Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, both of which I really enjoyed ( Read more... )

One of the things vacation has always meant to me was time to luxuriate in reading, and this last week was no different.

I took with me three books and finished them all.

Nina LaCour's Everything Leads to You was utterly and completely wonderful. I loved the world she created (indie films in Hollywood, with ties to the past) and her characters ( Read more... )

In honor of Children's Book Week, the New York Public Library posted its list of 100 Great Children's Books. So did the U.K.'s Book Trust. The two lists have a few titles in common.

1. The Arrival by Shaun Tan.
2. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.
3. The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss.
4. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.
5. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. ( Read more... )

Writer Friends, I need your help ( Read more... )

Thanks to Mrs. McCuin's/Ms. Johnson's (no relation) first grade class for being terrific listeners and discussers of picture books. Today was my last time with them this year. We read Margot Zemach's The Little Red Hen and talked about the dropped story stitch and several of them shared what their enrichment group has done to pick up that stitch in ( Read more... )

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This past Sunday I was under the weather slightly, so I did what people like me do in these situations--I curled up with a good book. In my case, it was Terry Pratchett's Snuff, the latest entry in the Nightwatch group of Discworld novels, featuring Sam Vimes.


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I was going to write on my wip for an hour or so, but after reading the "Boys Don't Read" furor, I have to put those plans on hold.

Before I get to the points I want to make, let me first say, I agree utterly and completely with all those writers of YA who, like me, are female and who faced class after class of reading male authors who made up the ( Read more... )

Even though StT is out with my beta readers, gender and gender identity have been on my mind this week because of a shorter bit of critical summat I needed to write (the purpose of which will be revealed when the time comes). Here's my annotated reading list, rated by heels.


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Brighton Blogger has posted an LGBT Reading for 2011. All the details are here: http://bookafterbook.blogspot.com/2010/12/lgbt-reading-challenge-2011.html

Count me in!

I'm taking this challenge! I can get behind any challenge that lets me set my own goals and asks for reviews. I'm also all for a reading challenge that has as its goal "creating a more ( Read more... )