Friday, May 6, 2011

Weekend Reading

We're heading into the weekend, and I know I'm going to be too busy to post, what with our yard sale tomorrow morning, a charity fundraiser I'm working tomorrow afternoon which will lead to being too wiped out on Sunday to do more than grunt a little.
Here's a look at what we'll be reading this weekend. (All except Karina's book are from the library.)

For me:


From Goodreads:
"Once upon a time, three children and a little river dragon were the best of friends—until a promise was broken. Now they are almost grown up and barely speaking to one another.
Of the four, it is Princess Aurelie who feels the loss the most. How can she prevent a war when she can’t even make her friends get along? Heartsick at losing her dearest companions, Aurelie finds comfort in the beauty of fairyland. But a princess can’t hide from her duties forever. Her country needs her, and so do her friends, whether they know it or not."
Heather Tomlinson is a new author for me, and I'm about 3 chapters in. It's an interesting read so far. A bit choppy; but I'm optimistic.

By Barbara Hambly

From Goodreads:
"The new ‘James Asher’ vampire novel from the best-selling author - It’s 1911. War is coming, and according to one of the vampires of St. Petersburg, the Kaiser is trying to recruit vampires. James Asher, Oxford don and formerly on His Majesty’s Secret Service, is forced to team up again with his vampire partner Don Simon Ysidro for a journey to the subarctic Russian capital. Are they on the trail of a rogue vampire with a plan to achieve the power to walk in daylight? Asher wonders. Or is Ysidro’s real agenda to seek the woman he once loved?"

Isn't the cover just awful? It just screams campy horror book. But I promise it's not like that. If you haven't read the previous two books of this series, you really should. The series starts with Those Who Hunt the Night, continues with Traveling With the Dead and this book is the third. I am not into vampire books as a rule (I'm certainly not into the horror genre), but I love the Victorian era mystery in these books, and her characters are so well done. I guess you could read them out of order, but I wouldn't recommend it. In order to understand all the characters' relationship nuances, you really need to read them from the beginning. And they are good YA crossover books, especially the first one. 'Though technically listed as adult fiction, I'd far rather my teen read these than some other vampire themed books I can think of.

For Olivia:

Selected by Pamela Pollack; Illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky

From Goodreads:

"With illustrations by Caldecott award winner Paul O. Zelinsky, the anthology will have readers rolling in the aisles over 34 laugh-out stories by Judy Blume, Richard Peck, Beverly Cleary, E. Nesbit, Natalie Babbitt, Mark Twain, Roald Dahl, and many more!"

This book contains snippets of humourous stories from other books by the authors listed in the synopsis. Olivia has already begun this book, and has gigglingly shared many of the stories it contains. It has also made her want to read the books from which the stories come, which is the whole point of creating anthologies like this.

For Karina:

By Gertrude Chandler Warner; Illustrated by L. Kate Deal

From Goodreads:

"Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny, four orphaned brothers and sisters, suddenly appear in a small town.  No one knows who these young wanderers are or where they have come from.  Frightened to live with a grandfather they have never met, the children make a home for themselves in an abandoned red boxcar they discover in the woods.  Henry, the oldest, goes to town to earn money and buy food and supplies.

Ambitious and resourceful, the plucky children make a happy life themselves--until Violet gets too sick for her brothers and sister to care for her.

This story will delight any child who has fantasized about being on his or her own and overcoming every obstacle."

Karina just started this and is already eagerly sharing the story with me. "Mom, guess what's happening now!?!" I like how the writing is geared for young readers: intriguing story but not too hard a vocabulary.


6 comments:

  1. Did I ever tell you that The Boxcar Children was one of my most favorite books ever? Yep. Have a fun reading/working weekend!

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  2. I don't remember much about The Boxcar Children. I vaguely remember hearing it read aloud when I was very young, but I certainly don't remember reading any of the series after that.

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  3. I have never read a vampire book, but that one sounds like a good one to start with. How have I missed that Jane Yolen title? It sounds great!

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  4. Isabela just LOVED The Boxcar Children. She was in a book club last year and they pretty much focused on The Boxcar Children. It was ALL we ever heard about, and such a thrill to have her love reading so much!

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  5. Amy - Isn't it fun that Jane Yolen has turned her talent toward picture books as well? I've enjoyed every one that I've read.

    Kathy - So the book club just made their way through the series?
    I love seeing the thrill they get over a book they're loving.

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  6. Yes, they did. They started with a Boxcar book and liked it so much that they did another, and then it just carried on! Isabela is going to be like you and many of my reader friends who can read several books at a time. I am a one-at-a-time kind of girl, but Isabela was reading Boxcar Children for her book club and at home she was reading Little House books and she also made her way through dozens of Magic Treehouse books at the same time.

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