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A few of my favorite reads of 2012 The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer The City of Tranquil Light by Bo Caldwell Peace Like A River by Leif Enger The Fiddler’s Green by A.S. Peterson (sequel to The Fiddler’s …
Are you looking for something to read this Christmas? Here are my Advent Readings for this year. My six year old, Simon, is counting down the days until December 1st. He remembers fondly that even though there is currently no evidence of the coming season in our house, we usually start Christmas on December 1st …
Last week I read Seven: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker, and thinking about this book is taking up the better part of my brain. The book is the storytelling of her efforts to do a fast of sorts for seven months, from seven different things. One month she eats seven foods. One …
I borrowed Lauren Winner’s new book, Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis, at the beginning of the summer from a friend. And I still haven’t returned it. It’s one of those books that you can read in one sitting if you don’t stop yourself, so after I read about half of it, I sort of …
I picked up Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire by Rafe Esquith about his years of teaching in a rough Los Angeles neighborhood because I am always intrigued by stories about teachers who are able to have success in schools where the odds are against them. Some of my favorite movies have a similar storyline. …
Every year I give the kids a new book on the first day of summer. I picked The Great Wide Sea by M. H. Herlong out for Ben because in addition to the appealing cover and exciting storyline, the main character’s name is Ben. He read it the first day of summer, handed it to …
I bought The Fiddler’s Gun for my boys a while back because it’s an adventure story set during the American revolution. And because there are some pirates. So when I was packing for our trip, I grabbed it for them to read but then I ended up starting it. Completely taken in, I stayed up …
A couple of the books that have found their way into our home and hearts this spring are Chicken Boy by Frances O’Roark Dowell and Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu. I read Chicken Boy with my fourth grade reading club at my local neighborhood school. Tobin’s family loses their way after cancer takes their mom, and …
I’ve been reading the Chronicles of Narnia aloud again this spring to Ben and Simon at bedtime. Since this is Ben’s second listen through, he requested that we read them in the order in which the events occur (the new order) instead of the order in which they were written which is how I …
This week I’ve been reading a memoir about reading. I’m all inside of books within books within books. My mind is sort of a wonderful twist and tangle of titles and quotes and all the ways books relate to life and characters mirror friends. Nina Sankovitch decides she is going to read a book a …
A few weeks ago, I happened upon a collection of short stories by Julie Orringer called How to Breathe Underwater. The last story, entitled Stations of the Cross, drew my attention and so I read it first. I was enraptured. The story drew me in and has haunted me in the weeks since. I flipped …
NPR’s All Things Considered came to eStem Middle School to do one of their Backseat Book Clubs last month. Mary Polly and several other students got to meet local author Trenton Lee Stewart and ask him questions about his books. Mary Polly’s question was chosen for the program that aired this past Tuesday. (She …
Currently Reading: Books about World War II in China and Russia The Distant Land of my Father by Bo Caldwell The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean In the last several days I’ve experienced World War II from the cell of a Japanese war prison in China and from the cellar of the Hermitage museum …
A sweet friend who knows me well put City of Tranquil Light in my hands over a month ago and when I texted her early this morning saying I had finished it and loved it so, so much, she replied, I knew you would love it. I read a lot of books. I read stories …
I’m reading through this treasure of a book for Advent this year called Watch for the Light. Already I have been so blessed by the musings of Kathleen Norris, Bernard of Clairvaux and Karl Rahner. Today’s reading opened with this poem by St Thomas Aquinas. Light of lights! All gloom dispelling, Thou didst come to …
The Monster in The Hollows by Andrew Peterson We have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the third Wingfeather Saga book since reading the first two last year. I promise I could not love the sweet children in this story more. They are beginning to occupy spots in our hearts next to Edmund and …
I love a true story. I am a total sucker for a real life story that is told well. I am amazed by people who can make me remember that the most minute details of this life are beautiful. Even breathtaking. When I finished Waiting for Snow in Havana by Carlos Eire, I was sad …
I have been laughing for a week reading Kyran Pittman’s memoir of that which is everyday and near. I knew I was going to love Planting Dandelions when I read these words from the introduction, I believe in seeking. I believe ardently that you should drop everything and run toward your true self, as far …
I read Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen on the plane to California last week and I laughed out loud. I had to board the plane late because of strange tornado happenings at the Little Rock airport, so I didn’t get to sit by my Grandmother. But I made the best of a …
I have book club this weekend and this month’s book is Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore. This sweet story about a girl trying to escape from a small town is a fun, light read. Perfect for the beach. Or maybe a cruise. Mostly I think I enjoyed it because …