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Blog: GreenBeanTeenQueen (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Reading Challenge, yes we crab, Add a tag
Blog: GreenBeanTeenQueen (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: yes we crab, Reading Challenge, Add a tag
Blog: Write From Karen (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Book Corner, goodreads, reading challenge, Add a tag
Here’s a link to the books I’ve read this year thus far.
I’m certain I wouldn’t have read this many books so far this year without this challenge. I like to challenge myself – I like deadlines because they (sometimes) push me to actually GET SOMETHING DONE.
Can you believe the year is half over?!?
Filed under: Book Corner
Blog: Caroline by line (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: author, journals, reading challenge, Lucy Maud Montgomery, reading and writing, reading goals, what I am reading, LMM Journals Read Along, Add a tag
Find the books
Try your public library, or order through your local indie, Amazon, or Barnes and Noble. Now that they're available in paperback, they're more affordable and easier to track down.
Save the dates
Volume I:
introductory post - Friday, February 1
discussion - Monday, February 25
Volume II:
introductory post - Monday, April 1
discussion - Monday, April 29
Volume III:
Blog: Caroline by line (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: read, reading challenge, reading log, reading goals, reading preferences, reading update, perspectives on reading, what I am reading, life-long readers, Add a tag
Debut Author Challenge
Re-Reads
** Read Alouds
- The Story of Beautiful Girl - Rachel Simon
- Agatha Christie: An Autobiography - Agatha Christie (NF)
- Scarlet - A. C. Gaughen (YA)
- One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are - Ann Voskamp (NF)
- Swindle - Gordon Korman (MG)**
- Breadcrumbs - Anne Ursu (MG)
- Wonderstruck - Brian Selznick (MG)**
- The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie - Wendy McClure (NF)
- A Kingdom Strange: The Brief and Tragic History of the Lost Colony of Roanoke - James Horn (NF)
- Wonder - R. J. Palacio (MG)
- Circle of Secrets - Kimberley Griffiths Little (MG)
- A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar - Suzanne Joinson
- Chained - Lynne Kelly (MG)
- Starters - Lissa Price (YA)
- The Fault in Our Stars - John Green (YA)
- Toilet Paper Tigers - Gordon Korman (MG)**
- Zoobreak - Gordon Korman (MG)**
- Love in Mid-Air - Kim Wright Wiley
- The Bee-Loud Glade - Steve Himmer
- The One and Only Ivan - Katherine Applegate (MG)
- Wildflowers in Winter - Katie Ganshert
- Touch Blue - Cynthia Lord (MG)
- Under the Never Sky - Veronica Rossi (YA)
- A Voice for Kanzas - Debra MacArthur (MG)
- The Gathering Storm - Robin Bridges (YA)
- A Summer to Die - Lois Lowry (YA)
- Where the Broken Heart Still Beats - Carolyn Meyer (YA)
- The No-Brainer Wardrobe - Hayley Morgan (NF)
- All Over But the Shoutin' - Rick Bragg (NF)
- New Found Land - Alan Wolf (YA)
- If I Lie - Corrine Jackson (YA)
- Sister - Rosamund Lupton
- Emily's Dress and Other Missing Things (YA)
- Hound Dog True - Linda Urban (MG)
- Second Sight: An Editor's Talks on Writing, Revising, and Publishing Books for Children and Young Adults - Cheryl B. Klein (NF)
- Glory Be - Augusta Scattergood (MG)
- A Breath of Eyre - Eve Marie Mont (YA)
- The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Agatha Christie
- Sanctuary - Agatha Christie
- The Thank You Room - Serenity Bohon (NF)
- Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
- The Wild Wood - Julie Anne Nelson (YA)
- Selkirk's Island: The True and Strange Adventures of the Real Robinson Crusoe - Diana Souhami (NF)
- Crossed - Ally Condie (YA)
- The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains - Nicholas Carr (NF)
- The Ruins of Us - Keija Parssinen
- Where Things Come Back - John Corey Whaley (YA)
- Grave Mercy - Robin LaFevers (YA)
- Small Medium at Large - Joanne Levy (MG)
- The Mapmaker and the Ghost - Sarvenaz Tash (MG)**
- Chime - Franny Billingsley (YA)
- The Case of the Deadly Ha-Ha Game (MG)**
- Horton Halfpott: or, The Fiendish Mystery of Smugwick Manor; or, The Loosening of M'Lady Luggertuck's Corset - Tom Angleberger (MG)
- Cryer's Cross - Lisa McMann (YA)
- A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness (YA)
- Remarkable - Lizzie K. Foley (MG)
- Paper Covers Rock - Jenny Hubbard (YA)
- Code Name Verity - Elizabeth Wein (YA)
- Small Damages - Beth Kephart (YA)
- Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World - Temple Grandin, Sy Montgomery (MG/NF)
- Summer of the Gypsy Moths - Sara Pennypacker (MG)
- One for the Murphys - Lynda Mullaly Hunt (MG)
- The Power of Habit - Charles Duhigg (NF)
- Liar and Spy - Rebecca Stead (MG)
- Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking - Susan Cain (NF)
- The Head in Edward Nugent's Hand: Roanoke's Forgotten Indians - Michael Leroy Oberg (NF)
- Fracture - Megan Miranda (YA)
- Inside Out and Back Again - Thanhha Lai (MG)
- Writing the Breakout Novel - Donald Maas (NF)
- Ender in Exile - Orson Scott Card
- The Unnameables - Ellen Booraem (MG)
- Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
- How to Save a Life - Sara Zarr (YA)
- Auracle - Gina Rosati (YA)
- The Christian Life: A Doctrinal Introduction - Sinclair Ferguson (NF)
- All is Well - Kristin Embry Litchman (MG)
- The False Prince - Jennifer Nielsen (MG)
- One Thousand White Women - Jim Fergus
- The Absolute Value of Mike - Kathryn Erskine (MG)
- The Brides of Rollrock Island - Margo Lanagan (YA)
- The Girl of Fire and Thorns - Rae Carson (YA)
- The Great Unexpected - Sharon Creech (MG)
- faith: 2.4%
- research : 2.4%
- craft : 2.4%
- pleasure read: 12%
Blog: Caroline by line (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: contests, reading challenge, verse novel, historical verse novel, Add a tag
April is poetry month, and the focus around here will be on (gasp!) verse novels. I've got plans, friends, and I hope you might join me!
reading goals: I plan on reading three verse novels during April, two young-adult historicals and one middle-grade contemporary.
blog posts: I'll run posts reading and writing verse novels, share quotes from verse novelists, include comprehensive lists of books out there, and share my thoughts on the books above.
your part: Want to participate? Here are a few ways you can join in:
- Commit to reading three verse novels during April. Sign up below, linking to a blog post where you list your three titles.
- Consider writing a guest post about verse novels. The possibilities are endless: reviews on one of your three titles, what you do or don't like about verse novels, favorite stories in verse, quotes on poetry -- anything! Though my blog has a modest following (462 through Blogger and 485 through Feedburner), guest posts are a great way to draw attention to your own blog. Email me with ideas if you'd like to participate.
- Spread the word! If you're reading along, be sure to link below. Talk it up through all your social media venues. Let readers know verse novels are accessible by writing about titles you love.
Blog: The Shady Glade (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: reading challenge, reminder, Add a tag
Would you like to win a new hardcover copy of Tamora Pierce's newest short story collection, Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales? If so, you're in luck. There's still a month left to sign up to participate in the Tamora Tamora Pierce Reading Challenge. You only have to read one book to qualify as long as you write some sort of wrap up when you have finished your challenge.
For those of you who have signed up, how are you doing? Are you going to make your goal by the end of Decemeber?
I have three books left, Terrier, Bloodhound, and Tortall and Other Lands (on my Kindle). Now if I can just finish them with all the other reading I have to finish by January...
A new linky will be up soon for those of you who are finished and want to write your wrap up posts.
Tomorrow starts A Shady Glade Christmas, so don't forget to come back and check in for that.
Happy reading everyone!
Blog: The Shady Glade (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: prizes, reading challenge, tamora pierce, Add a tag
So I have some good news for some of you. A couple weeks ago some of my readers stumbled across my Tamora Pierce Reading Challenge, only to express disappointment that they had discovered it so late.
I figured why not spread the joy, so the challenge has been extended until the end of the year! Which is good for me too, since because of other commitments (*cough* Cybils *cough*) I didn’t meet my goal yet, but am on track to finish by the end of the year. The challenge will now finish on December 31, 2011.
I’ve also found a prize for us. At the end of the year, one participant in the challenge will be randomly selected to receive a brand new hardcover copy of Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales, Ms. Pierce’s new book that came out last February.
Blog: Book Dads (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: link up, Read Around the World Challenge, Read Around the World, Reading Challenge, may, book dads, Add a tag
Read Around the World Challenge
May Link-Up
The Details:- Make sure that before you link-up your reviews, you sign up for the challenge on the challenge post
Blog: Book Dads (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: resistance, graphic novel, Book Review, Reading Challenge, Graphic Novel Reviews, book dads, carla jablonski, YA - Fiction, Contributor: Chris Singer, leland purvis, Graphic Novel Reading Challenge, Add a tag
Resistance (Book 1) by Carla Jablonski (Illustrated by Leland Purvis)
Review by: Chris Singer
About the author:
Carla Jablonski is a novelist, performer, and playwright. She has written dozens of best-selling books for teenage and middle-grade readers.Her fiction has been translated into ten languages, and her plays have been performed in New York, Philadelphia, and Edinburgh, Scotland. Her most recent books Thicker than Water and Silent Echoes were selected for the New York Public Llibraries “Books for the Teen Age” list.
About the illustrator:
Leland Purvis is a self-taught comics artist and writer. His major works include the anthology VOX, a creator-owned series called PUBO, and a graphic-novel biography of physicist Niels Bohr, Suspended In Language, written by Jim Ottaviani. Recent works include graphic novels in the Turning Points series from Simon & Schuster. He lives in Brooklyn, NY with his wife, a cat, and a turtle.
About the book:
Fighting on a secret front of World War II, Paul and Marie’s bucolic French country town is almost untouched by the ravages of WWII, but the siblings still live in the shadow of war. Their father is a Prisoner of War, kept hostage by the Germans. When their friend Henri’s parents disappear and Henri goes into hiding because of his Jewish ancestry, Paul and Marie realize they must take a stand. But how can they convince the French Resistance that even children can help in their fight against injustice?
Resistance is the first voulme of a trilogy written by acclaimed teen author Carla Jablonski and illustrated by Leland Purvis.
My take on the book:
This is a really good introduction for middle school readers about life during the Nazi occupation of France. The beauty of the story is Jablonski’s choice to tell the story from the point-of-view of children. She does an excellent job of portraying the characters of Paul, Marie and Henri. Though often brave in their participation with the Resistance, you also see them squabble, bicker, complain and cry — just like your average kid. It’s the realistic portrayal of the children which I really appreciated. Although the children become part of the Resistance and are taking part in dangerous activities, you don’t see them acting like mini-adults. You see their weaknesses but also see the skills they bring to the Resistance (For example, Marie has an excellent memory and is very observant while Paul is a talented artist).
Jablonski also does an excellent job of portraying the underlying tensions of life under occupation, where you’re never exactly sure who you can trust and once-trusted friends may now be your enemy. This aspect of the book is particularly compelling and I think a really good introduction for students about the idea of what exactly living under occupation is and how different lif
Blog: PaperTigers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Reading the World Challenge 2011, Reading Challenge, Reading the World Challenge, Reading Challenge 2011, Add a tag
Well, here it is at last, this year’s PaperTigers Reading the World Challenge. I know some of you have been on tenterhooks but there’s one advantage to announcing it a little late. All your other challenges should be well assimilated by now, and adding one more shouldn’t be too much of a trial… Anyway, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it
The Challenge for the last two years has revolved around geographical boundaries, as is perhaps to be expected of a World focused challenge – however, following deep consultation with Little Brother (9), we have come up with an extra geographical consideration this year. We have also decided to make the time factor as flexible as possible, in the hope that some teachers/librarians might be tempted to engage children in the Challenge during school term time. So without further ado, we present the PaperTigers Reading the World Challenge 2011:
1. Choose six books from/about/by or illustrated by someone from different countries anywhere in the world, 3 of which must be in different continents.
2. Choose one book from/about your city/district – as local and as relevant to your geographical setting as you can find.
3. You should choose at least one book of each of the following: fiction, poetry and non-fiction.
4. Have the books read aloud to you or read them yourself; share them as part of a book-group or in class. Combine your choices with other reading challenges.
5. There is no time limit for this year’s Challenge, apart from completing it by the end of the year.
Do join us, and keep us posted as to how you’re doing – we love reading all your posts. You can find lots of ideas in the PaperTigers Reviews and Reading Lists sections, as well as in many of our Personal Views – or do let us know your own suggestions.
Happy Reading!
And P.S. If anyone would like the code for adding the button to their blog, please email me – marjorie(at)papertigers(dot)org.
Blog: Book Dads (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Reading Challenge, book dads, dads reading, Multicultural Lit, Read Around the World Challenge, Read Around the World, News, book reviews, Add a tag
One of the things I love so much about children’s books is how they help children (and adults!) learn how to experience the world through the perspectives of others. With that in mind, one of my goals for Book Dads this year was to review more multicultural and ethnically diverse books. To help achieve this (and because I couldn’t find a current challenge elsewhere), I’ve decided to create the Read Around the World Challenge.
THE BASICS:
HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
* Decide which challenge level you’ll be taking on (see below).
* Make sure you grab the button above (right click to save it to your computer)
* Write a post to let all your readers know you’re taking part in the challenge and at what level. Make sure to link back to this page with the button and/or text link.
* If you have a blog, please use the Mr. Linky form below to enter into the challenge by entering the direct url/link to your challenge post url and either your name, blog name, or both in the form. Please only use the comment section to participate if you do not have a blog.
* Submit your reviews as you complete them on the designated monthly post (Generally will be on the first Sunday of each month).
CHALLENGE LEVELS:
The Passport Reading Challenge — Read to or with your child a picture book, chapter book and/or YA lit book by an author from another country (Exclude your own of course).
- Set a goal according to these levels:
* Intercontinental Level — Read 10 or more books by authors from countries on 2 or more different continents
* Savvy Traveler Level — Read 20 or more books by authors from countries on 3 or more different continents
* Marco Polo Level — Read 35 or more books by authors from countries on 4 or more different continents
* National Geographic Level — Read 50 or more books by authors count
Blog: Caroline by line (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: ARC, reading challenge, novel-in-verse, MAY B., Add a tag
Just a reminder that those of you who signed up for my verse novel challenge have one month to finish your novels.
What's the verse novel challenge? I'm glad you asked! Honestly, I started this challenge to become more well versed (sorry, couldn't help it!) in novels written as unrhymed poetry. My goal was to read a minimum of five novels-in-verse by the end of 2010. I've read seven novels so far, and plan on reading two more.
A number of you signed up to read along with me. One luck participant will win a future copy of my verse novel ARC, MAY B., once its printed (and things are more clear with the future of my book).*
If you're interested in participating, there's still time to join! Just sign up here.
And if you'd like to learn more about verse novels in general or are looking for some recommendations, stop by Valerie Geary's Something to Write About. She'll be focusing on verse novels all month.
*By the contest's end, I will know what's going on. If for some reason MAY B. isn't to be released sometime soon, I will happily send the winner a verse novel of her choice.
Blog: Caroline by line (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Debut Author Challenge, Elevensies, class of 2k11, debut, reading challenge, Story Siren, Add a tag
I'm participating in the Story Siren's Debut Author Challenge for next year. Participants must read twelve middle-grade or young adult books by debut novelists by the end of December. This will be especially fun as almost all of the debuts are written by fellow Elevensies and members of The Class of 2k11.
While I'm not listing the titles I plan to read ahead of time, I aim to tackle many more than the required twelve. Some novels I plan on purchasing, some I've downloaded to read through Simon and Schuster's e-galley* program, some I know will be so big they'll be easy to find at the library (even with our dismal local book purchase numbers), and some I'll borrow through the Class of 2k11 ARC* exchange.
I'd love to be able to read everything coming out next year, but with close to 100 debuts, I know I won't make it. I will, though, share what I'm reading here. Please consider joining in!
*Galleys and ARCs (advanced reader copies) are uncorrected proofs sent out to reviewers.
Blog: GreenBeanTeenQueen (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Reading Challenge, Add a tag
So I participated in the 2010 Debut Author Challenge (I set a goal of 15 books and right now I'm at 24!) I love reading Debut books so of course I'm going to participate again next year! The challenge is hosted by The Story Siren and you can find more info on her site. Be sure to join in-the prize packs each month are very cool and you get to read lots of awesome YA!
Blog: Caroline by line (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: ARC giveaway, novel-in-verse, interview, contests, Lisa Schroeder, reading challenge, Add a tag
How's it going, verse novel challenge participants? I have quite a treat for you today.
I'm thrilled to share with you an interview with Lisa Schroeder. Stick around and enter to win a signed copy of her book, FAR FROM YOU.
Can you tell us about FAR FROM YOU?
It’s a book about 16 year-old Alice, who is struggling to come to terms with her step mother and new half-sister, as her dad has been able to move on after her mother’s death while Alice is still missing her terribly.
What inspired you to write this story?
With each of my stories there is usually a seed or two that sparks the book. And until I start writing, I’m not sure if it will work as a book or not.
I had been thinking about the wonderful verse novel OUT OF THE DUST, by Karen Hesse, and how she did such a great job conveying the heat and the dust through her verse, and I thought, I bet a snowstorm would be a great thing to write about in verse as well. Especially since lots of dialogue doesn’t work well in a verse novel, and someone being trapped in a storm would allow for lots of inner reflection.
I had also wanted to write a story about a girl who was a singer/songwriter, and a book with Alice in Wonderland elements had appealed to me as well. So I combined those three things and a book was made!
How does verse serve this story best?
For me, verse is all about atmosphere. I don’t know why other authors choose to write in verse, but I choose to do it because it helps me to create an atmosphere I can’t get with regular prose. After my agent read my first novel, I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME, she wrote in her e-mail back, asking to set up a time to talk, that “the verse created such a unique atmosphere for the story.”
It also allows me to get to the emotional truths of the story, and to accentuate them.
You have successfully published three novels-in-verse. What is it about this technique that attracts you? Challenges you? Feels like the right fit for your writing?
My strength is not beautiful, flowery prose. At times, I wish it were. I read Laini Taylor’s work, and the way she puts words and sentences together, and I’m in awe.
I seem to do well trying to convey scenes, thoughts, emotions, etc. in a sparse, poetic way. I have always loved music, and in some ways, writing a novel-in-verse feels like writing a giant song to me. The rhythm and the flow and trying to say a lot in a few words – it’s challenging, absolutely, but my brain works well that way.
I fought it, at first, when I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME, my first verse novel, wanted to come out in verse. I thought, what am I doing? I don’t know how to write like this. But I decided to give it a try, and the novel poured out of me and I had a draft written in about six weeks. That little book, which my agent and I had a hard time placing because no one seemed quite sure what to do with it, is now in its 9th printing and over two years after it released, I st
Blog: Caroline by line (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: children's literature, reading challenge, mid-grade historical fiction, novel-in-verse, Add a tag
For the five books I'm reading for my verse novel challenge, I'll not post reviews. Instead, I'll leave you with a feel for the work itself.
ALEUTIAN SPARROW by Karen Hesse (Margaret K. McElderry, 2003)
From the dust jacket:
In June of 1942, seven months after attacking Pearl Harbor, the Japanese navy invaded Alaska's Aleutian Islands. For nine thousand years the Aleut people had lived and thrived on these treeless, windswept lands. Within days of the first attack, the entire native population living west of Unimak Island was gathered up and evacuated to relocation centers in the dense forests of Alaska's Southeast.
With resilience, compassion and humor the Aleuts responded to the sorrows of upheaval and dislocation. This is Vera's story, but it is woven from the same faric as the stories of displaced people thoughtout history. It chronicles the struggle to survive and to keep community and heritage intact despite harsh conditions in an alien environment.
In a luminous novel of unrhymed verse, Newbery winner karen Hesse brings to light this little-known episode from America's past.
A peek inside:
THINKING AHEAD
Most of us dreamed of going Outside, hungry for a taste of
life beyond the Aleutians.
Few of us truly meant it, few of us ever really intended to
leave the fog and the wind, the sun and the rain, the
hunting and trapping and fishing, the easy welcome
of neighbors.
We never thought who we were was so dependent on where
we were.
But when we settle back into the quiet villages along the
Aleutian beaches, who will we be after this?
SEA CHANGE
After three years of promises we are back
Where the sun emerges from the galloping clouds,
Where one moment the rain ices our hair and the next a
rainbow arches over the volcano.
Where early grass ripples in the wind and violets lead an
advance of wildflowers across the treeless hills.
It all comes back so quickly, the particular quality of the air
where
Blog: Caroline by line (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: novel-in-verse, YA, interview, reading challenge, Add a tag
I first heard of Pat Brisson's newest book, THE BEST AND HARDEST THING, a YA novel-in-verse, from The Compulsive Reader. As I'm actively looking for books to read for my Verse Novel Challenge (and know some of you are, too), I thought I'd find out more.
Can you tell us about THE BEST AND HARDEST THING?
The Best and Hardest Thing is a novel- in-verse about Molly, 15-year-old sophomore who gives herself a makeover, after being described as “saintly” by a classmate, and sets out to attract the attention of senior Grady Dillon, a new guy in school. She winds up pregnant with very difficult decisions to make.
What inspired you to write this story?
I’m in a writers group with novelists and wanted to try my hand at one, too. As to the subject matter - some years back I was in a mentoring program at our local high school and was matched with a girl who’d had a baby when she was 14. That got me thinking about the situation and made me wonder what it would be like to go through an experience like that.
Why did you decide to write this story as a novel-in-verse?
As a picture book writer I was used to “writing short”, and couldn’t imagine how novelists hold so many characters, scenes, themes, etc in their heads for the duration of writing a book. I decided that a novel-in-verse was the way to go since it seemed like a lot of “writing short”.
You have written numerous picture books and early readers. What has it been like to step into the world of young adult literature?
It’s been exciting and challenging. I’m still trying to figure out how to reach out to that audience in ways other than the book, so I appreciate the chance to do this interview.
And I'm glad I've had the opportunity, as well! What books have shaped you as a reader and writer, from childhood to the present?
Oh, my! I didn’t have many books as a child but I loved the Eloise books (and named the little sister in Bertie’s Picture Day and Hot Fudge Hero in her honor). I wasn’t much of a reader in elementary school or high school. I was an English major in college, but mostly read what was required, which was quite a bit but not of my own choosing.
It wasn’t until I had children of my own and began to read picture bo
Blog: Caroline by line (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: novel-in-verse, children's literature, reading challenge, Add a tag
For the five books I'm reading for my verse novel challenge, I'll not post reviews. Instead, I'll leave you with a feel for the work itself.
LUDIE'S LIFE, Cynthia Rylant (Harcourt, 2006)
From the dust jacket:
Cynthia Rylant returns to her home state of West Viriginia with this evocative collection of poems. In a powerful narrative that flows like a novel, we follow Ludie from childhood to falling in love and getting married, through the birth of her own children, and on into old age.
This is the story of one woman's experiences in a hardscrabble coal-mining town, a story that brims with the universal themes of life, love, and family -- and all the joy, laughter, heartache, and loss that accompany them.
A peek inside:
Life was precarious.
But Ludie was happy.
Still pretty, in her loose cotton dresses,
soft long hair,
she knew who she was.
And she had this sense
that this was beautiful,
this place and time.
She loved wash day because she could be outside,
a reason to be outside,
the smell of maple leaves and honeysuckle in the air,
a blue sky,
the freshness of soap,
and the satisfaction of crisp hot shirts on the line.
She was not trapped here.
She was not lost.
And did she ever wish to be someone else,
a woman in furs in New York City,
or, closer to home,
the mine owner's wife?
She knew who she was.
The cooking,
the babies, the washing,
waiting up for Rupe until two in the morning.
No, she never wanted anything but this.
She woke up every day
and never wondered
what she'd find to do with herself,
never wondered
why she'd been born in the first place,
did not lie in bed
and fret about the life she should have been living
instead of this one.
She would grow older
and her children and grandchildren
would try on this job and that one,
this wife and that one,
a different town,
a different country,
never really sure about who they were
and what they were meant for.
But until she was ninety,
sitting on a porch and no one stopping by,
Ludie would never doubt that
she was worthy of life,
God's child,
and necessary.
Blog: Caroline by line (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: historical fiction, reading challenge, mid-grade novels, MAY B., ARC give away, Add a tag
So far five of you have signed up for my Verse Novel Challenge.
- Read five novels-in-verse by December 31
- Create a post about the contest (and link to my original post)
- Report back in December on your books (nothing fancy...just share your titles and any thoughts you might like to add)
- One participant will win an ARC of MAY B., my debut historical novel-in-verse
And the links:
Stehpanie Cheryl
Valerie Geary
Rebecca Herman (no link yet)
Sherrie Peterson (no link yet)
Gabi
Please join in!
Blog: Caroline by line (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: reading challenge, novel-in-verse, MAY B., ARC give away, Add a tag
It's a bit embarrassing, really. I claim to love verse novels, but I've only read a few. I've sold a verse novel and plan to write more, but I've spent little time studying other authors who write in verse.
So I'm starting a Verse Novel Challenge: I'll read at least five verse novels by the end of 2010 and post about them here. Want to join me? If so, write a post about the challenge and link back to this post. If you make it to five, I'll enter you in a drawing for a signed ARC of MAY B., which I should have to give away in early 2011. Leave a comment so I know who's participating.
If you're not sure where to start, check out this wonderful list compiled by Susan Taylor Brown.
Happy Reading!
**CARVER: A LIFE IN POEMS will be my first book of the challenge.
Blog: The Shady Glade (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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I've been meaning to post this for awhile now, but I've been busy with work. I've also been spending my free time trying to finish a project I'm working on rather than reading/blogging/writing reviews, but there you go. Plus, I've been waiting on new about a job... but more about that at another time.
This post is my sign up for the Clear Away the Clutter Challenge, hosted by Kate from The Neverending Shelf. Which is how my TBR stack feels right now (neverending I mean).
Anyway, you can check out all the details at the sign-up post, but the idea is that from March 1st to May 31st you read a stack of books you've designated to be "cleaned-out".
I am going for the Organizer level, which is to clean out and read at least 15 books. So here's my list for the challenge:
serafina67 *urgently requires life* by Susie Day
Pish Posh by Ellen Potter
They Never Came Back by Caroline B. Cooney
Emily the Strange: The Lost Days
The Great Race by Gary Blackwood
Three Good Deeds by Vivian Vande Velde
Click!: The Girl's Guide to Knowing What You Want and Making It Happen
The Debs by Susan McBride
Love, Lies and Texas Dips by Susan McBride
Dayan's Birthday
Both Side of Time by Caroline B. Cooney
Blackthorn Winter by Kathryn Reiss
The Humming of Numbers by Jodi Sensel
Letters From Rapunzel by Sara Lewis Holmes
Avalon Web of Magic: Cricles in the Stream
The Robe of Skulls by Vivian French
(Eh, too lazy to put up Amazon links right now. Will do it sometime later I think.)
So if you want to join me, head over to the challenge post to sign up. Now, I'm off to get reading!
Blog: Caroline by line (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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It's over, and I've read one book that qualifies. Still, it was helpful having this challenge push me toward reading through the books I already own.
Remember, though, that the Unofficial Challenge continues until November 30, 2010. I've made a list of the many books I own and haven't yet read. Once I've ploughed through book club titles, library finds, and things I've borrowed from friends, I'll be back to my own bookcases.
How about you other Clear-Off readers?
Blog: Sarah Miller: Reading, Writing, Musing... (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Disney, Reading challenge, Books-to-movies, Disney Literature Challenge (DLC), Add a tag
Living Dead Girl
by Elizabeth Scott
Blog: The Shady Glade (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: reading challenge, Add a tag
One of the things someone mentioned they would like to see during my blogoversary was a weekly post on what I'm reading. So for now through December I'm going to try and update my Fall Into Reading list every Saturday. This not only will tell you all what I'm reading, but it will also help my update my FIR list more often. Which has always been a struggle for me in past reading challenges.
But I digress. Here's what my list currently looks like.
Currently Reading:
Eyes Like Stars: Theatre Illuminata, Act I by Lisa Mantchev Cleopatra's Daughter: A Novel by Michelle Moran
The Recipe for Gertrude: Volume 1 by Nari Kusakawa
The Robe of Skulls: The First Tale from the Five Kingdoms by Vivian French and Ross Collins Ghost Huntress Book 1: The Awakening by Marley Gibson
Still To Be Read:
The Splendor Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore
Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go by Dale E. Basye
Finished this week:
The True Adventures of Charley Darwin by Carolyn Meyer
Babymouse #11: Dragonslayer by Jennifer L. Holm and Matt Holm
A Practical Guide to Vampires by Lisa Trutkoff Trumbauer
The Banshee by Eve Bunting and Emily Arnold McCully
Halloween Night by Marjorie Dennis Murray and Brandon Dorman
Queen of Halloween by Mary Engelbreit
Cat Nights by Jane Manning
Ghost Files: The Haunting Truth by The Ghost Society
Magic Trixie by Jill Thompson
Added this week:
Oh My Goddess! Volume 32 by Kosuke Fujishima (finished)
Oh My Goddess! Volume 33 by Kosuke Fujishima (finished)
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters (currently reading)
Thumbelina: The POP Wonderland Series by Michiyo Hayano and POP (finished)
I'm adding one more category here and that's Cybils nominees. I haven't read any yet, so I don't have any to add here, but I will be reading a lot in the next few weeks. I still don't know which ones I'll be able to get ahold of, so rather than adding the whole list and subtracking as I read, I'm going to add them to these updates as I complete each one. You can also check out my progress with my sticky post at the top of the page. There's a ticker up there to show you how many of the 62 nominees in my category I've finished.
You can see how this week differs from my original list too.
Here's to a full week of reading!
Fall Into Reading 2009 September 22, 2009 - December 20 2009
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Loved her book as a child. Can't wait for this!
Glad to hear it!