What We’ve Been Reading

I love deckle edge paper!  It feels like such a luxury to read.

It goes without saying that when I title a post “What We’ve Been Reading” my silent reading kids are reading a lot more than I am.  In fact, these days they devour books at an incredible rate that I can in no way keep up with, so a lot more reading goes on that what I could ever list, on their part and on my part.  Here are some special books that I’ve read out loud to kidlets or read for myself:

Children’s Fiction

• The Banana and I are really enjoying all of Cynthia Rylant’s Mr. Putter and Tabby books.  How often do you get to read early reading books about old people?  Mr. Putter and Mrs. Teaberry are so wonderful, friendly, and realistic that reading these books makes me want to find the nearest old person and give them a great big squeeze.  I love old people, and there aren’t nearly enough of them in my life right now.
• Over the past few weeks I have read every one of Beverly Cleary’s Ramona books out loud again!  I loved them so much as a kid and I fell in love with them again when I was in college, and I’ve read them out loud to my girls twice now.  They just NEVER get old for me.  Beverly Cleary is a genius.  Ramona is just so relatable.  She’s my favorite Beverly Cleary protagonist.
• We stumbled upon Nugget and Fang at our library, and all four of the kidlets loved this picture book.  It’s clever.
• Boot and Shoe made everyone laugh. It’s also sweet. I always seem to enjoy books by Marla Frazee.
• Our newest favorite interactive picture book is Open Very Carefully.  Mr. TOF loves this one!
• I love the voice in the letters from Duncan’s crayons in The Day the Crayons Quit.  Nearly everything Oliver Jeffers writes is original and witty and fun to read.  I like his style.  This book also made the kidlets giggle.
• I completely and utterly adore Robomop.  Sometimes I get tired of reading children’s picture books where all the protagonists are animals.  I’ve never come across a children’s picture book about a robomop, and this robomop has personality and voice.

Young Adult Fiction

• Some people might argue that Morgan Matson’s Second Chance Summer  and Roger and Amy’s Epic Detour are formulaic and maybe even a bit predictable because of that, but Morgan Matson is talented at developing deep characters, characters that the reader cares about.  While there might be some small things I can fault with both books, I was very invested in both of them, and both made me cry!  In Fact, Second Chance Summer had me bawling.  For a half an hour straight.  I called my husband who was traveling while I was reading, and he was laughing because I was so wrapped up in the book and could not get a grip on my emotions.  So, my point is that if writing can evoke that kind of reader response, there is something special about it.  Both of these books have grieving protagonists, and I think the author really understands grief.

Grown Up Fiction

• My grandma long ago introduced me to Louise Erdrich’s writing, way back when I was in middle school.  I was hooked on The Beet Queen, which is still one of my very favorites, along with The Master Butcher’s Singing Club.  I’ve read almost everything Erdrich has written because I think she’s a brilliant writer.  I like some of her books better than others, but all of them I find interesting and all of them have made me grow as a reader.  This month I read both Plague of Doves and The Round House, which won the National Book Award for fiction this year.  It was well received, I believe.  The Round House is a masterpiece.  Magnificent.  You should read it, if you haven’t already.