Challenge: 50 Books discussion

As a reading teacher I challenge my students to see how many pages they can read in order to motivate them. I participate too, but only count the books I read that are on their level. Now it's time to count them all!

1. Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck (ok, I have my MLIS too)
2. So Far From Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl (Dear America) by Berry Denenberg
3. My Face to the Wind: the Diary of Sarah Jane Price, a Prairie Teacher (Dear America) by Jim Murphy
4. The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin
5. Shoe Addicts Anonymous by Beth Harbison

6. The Secret Wish (Avalon Romance) by Annette Mahon
This was more of a happy story than a romance. The relationship/romance part wasn't developed as much as the events in the story, but it appeared at the end of the book all wrapped up neat and tidy.

Nice list! I'lll grab Here Lies the Librarian for my sister, the elementary school librarian!

7. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
Positively enchanting. The magic is weaved consistently throughout the story. The climax and the outcome of some relationships could have been a little more developed, but a wonderful story.

Sarah I have this book on my to read list and I am really looking forward to reading especially with your comments!

8. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

9. Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism by Georgia Byng
This was a cute story. It reminded me of Harry Potter, but not so dark and involved. I think girls would like to read about a female character who has the ability to do so many things.

10. The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron

11. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

Thanks Sarah, for the insight on this book. I work at a book store and find myself beinging asked about books in the childrens and teen department all the time (as an ex special education teacher and mother to two excellent readers, both teens now) I think my knowledge is better than average, but I had not read the Molly Moon books before although they look cute.

I do love all of Richard Peck's books. I miss his Soup books.

12. Bill Peet: An Autobiography by Bill Peet
13. Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts
14. Austenland by Shannon Hale
15. Bare Necessitites by Marie Donovan
16. My Guilty Pleasure by Jamie Denton

Sarah, I added Molly Moon to my to read pile. Wish is only growing by leaps and bounds each day it seems. Lord, only knows when I'll get to it, but the important thing is ITS IN THERE.

17. Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Sykes
The story follows moi and her fellow Park Avenue Princesses through their daily trials and tribulations. They look for potential husbands (PHs), fly on private jets (PJs), and make sure to be seen in all the right places. It’s an interesting look at how the other half lives. The story moved along and was a fairly quick read.

18. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding
Bridget is back and is as Bridget as ever. She’s still obsessing over her weight and Mark Darcy. The story is very humorous as you read Bridget’s take on life.

19. Girl With No Shadow by Joanne Harris
Sequel to Chocolat, published as The Lollipop Shoes outside of U.S.

Chocolat was full of colors and enchantment that we never really knew the source of. The Girl With No Shadow reveals these right away. This story starts with none of the enchantment and mystery of Chocolat. We are introduced to Zozie who is leaving her previous life. Each chapter comes from the point of view of Zozie, Vianne, or Anouk. This threw me at first until I realized we had switched characters. Roux returns but is not the same character he was in Chocolat. Vianne’s life before Chocolat and between that story and this one is explained where Chocolat never really addressed this. For some reason I always got the impression that Chocolat took place in the 1950s or so, but according to this story it took place in the present. Vianne and Anouk seem out of place in the present day, and it was hard to wrap my mind around.

It was a good story, but kind of flat for me. I prefer Chocolat.

20. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
Miri is required to go with other girls from her forgotten territory to learn how to be a princess. Their territory has been chosen for the prince to come and find his bride. Miri endures the training and the other girls to come to find she loves her place on the mountain, but how can she refuse a prince?

It was a cute story that read quickly. The characters were developed enough for readers of this age group. There was enough fantasy to make it attractive to readers who may not normally choose a story about princesses, but not so much that I was turned off.

21. Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
This story is about and Amish girl who is accused of killing her newborn baby. Ellie takes on the job of getting her acquitted and ends up learning a lot more. The characters are very developed, but not overwhelmingly so. The dialogue and legal and medical terms during the trial get a little tedious at times, but it was done well.

22. I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
By the same author as The Book Thief, this story is just as intriguing. Ed is sent messages, tasks to carry out. He thinks he is helping others, but he’s really helping himself.

23. Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
This story is disturbing, yet I couldn’t stop reading it. Burroughs is so frank and matter-of-fact with his storytelling that none of his experiences seem out of place. It was a fresh story and very interesting, but very gritty.

24. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
This story reminded me of a cross between A Brave New World and The Giver. It was hard for me to stay interested in the story as sometimes the details were a little too detailed. It’s considered a YA book, but it seemed a little younger.

I agree about Uglies being for the younger YA audience. Of course YA is targeted to a HUGE age bracket--11 to 17 or something like that. I can often figure out the target audience...or at least the audience that will be most interested...by taking the protagonist's age and subtracting 2 years. Tally is 15 when the book begins, so kids around 13 love the book. And it's perfect for that cusp-of-adolescence age...not so much for the high school audience. I also think the detaily details (which bored me) were perfect for the never-read-scifi-before seventh grade girls who devoured this book. They loved reading about the hoverboards and dehydrated meals. Go figure! :)

I'm reading Uglies now for the Goodreads YA group. I have to agree that it seems for a younger audience. 11-17 is a huge age bracket. The writing isn't that great and I can only think about feminist writing against the idea of perfect beauty. I'm not halfway done with it so I'll see what happens.

25. The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
A quick, light read. This story reminded me a lot of her book Garden Spells, but she didn’t go as deep into the characters or the magic. A good summer read.

26. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
This story reminded me of Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes. Walls’s childhood was less than desirable, but it goes to show how resilient and really ingenious children are. Sometimes they have to take on so much more than they were designed for because of parents they didn’t choose. This was a well-written, fairly quick read.

27. Remember Me? by Sophia Kinsella
Charming story. Quick read. The character Lexi unlike Becky Bloomwood in Kinsella’s Shopaholic series. She is strong, self-sufficient, and grounded. Dealing with amnesia after an accident, Lexi is left to jump right back into her life while figuring out who she was.

28. Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger
This story didn’t pull me in like The Devil Wears Prada or Everyone Worth Knowing. It was a quick, chicklit read.

Took a while off from groups, but here's my very slow start to 2010.

1. Paper Towns by John Green
2. The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen
3. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
4. Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts
5. Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell
6. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association


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7. The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary by Candace Fleming
Don't let the fact that it's called a scrapbook fool you. It's mostly text. Very interesting pictures and stories from Abraham and Mary Lincoln's lives from birth to death including stories about their children and the war.

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8. Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin
It was an ok story. It picked up as I got into it. Lots of information about Rwanda woven in. Some things just seemed to flow too well and work out too easily.

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9. Citizen Girl by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

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10. Gluten-Free Girl: How I Found the Food That Loves Me Back...And How You Can Too by Shauna James Ahern

While there are some tips to living gluten-free, this is not a how to book it is more of a memoir (as it says on the flap). I could totally connect and relate in the beginning and was giving it 5 stars until things became repetative. Still a very lovely read.

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