What I Read This Summer

So while I was on my blogging hiatus this summer, believe it or not, I actually read some books!  Real books!  Adult books!  Books that didn't have pictures!  It was a beautiful thing!

Here's a brief summary of what I read:

"She Makes It Look Easy" by Marybeth Whalen
Oh my goodness - I just LOVED this book!  I read it in a weekend.  Ariel and Justine become neighbors when Ariel moves into Justine's best friends home after she moves.  Justine always seems to have to all together - the baking, the crafting, the matching outfits for her girls, the perfect husband.  Ariel is real - disorganized at times, trying to run a home photography business, frustrated with her husband who always seems to be travelling for work.  Ariel wants to BE Justine -- until things don't seem to add up.  This book came to me at just the right time.  If you ever thought that you could do better as a mom and that you always wanted to be "THAT mom", then you need to read this book.  It is the epitome of "the grass is NOT always greener."

"The Pile of Stuff at the Bottom of the Stairs by Christina Hopkinson
I really wanted to like this book.  I really wanted to FINISH this book.  But I didn't.  I couldn't.  It started to grate on my nerves.  Mary - the main character - is a working mom.  She starts to keep a log of things that her husband does to annoy her.  The summary on the inside of the dust jacket made it seem like this book was going to be quirky and funny, but after about the 4th chapter of her ranting on every single thing her husband did wrong, it started to become old.  And it continued for page after page after page.  Until I just couldn't stand it any more and gave up.  I put the book in the Goodwill pile and moved on to.......

"The Help" by Kathryn Stockett 
If you haven't read the book yet or heard about the movie, then might I suggest that you click on the title and read about it at Amazon -- go ahead...I'll wait.  This was by FAR, the best book I've read since "A Thousand Splendid Suns" and "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood".  I could NOT put it down and took it with me everywhere.  Whenever I had a spare minute, I had the book open.   Taking place in the 60s during the tumultuous times in the South, Stockett weaves a tale of three strong women - Skeeter, Abilene, and Minny - as they bond over writing a book about what it was like for black maids to work in white households.  I can't pinpoint exactly what it was that made me love this book so much - but I laughed, I cried, and I certainly would read it again.  I even went to see the movie on opening night - and I was not disappointed.  As with any movie adapted from a book, there was some creative license - a few things changed here and there, but overall, I believe the integrity of the book was maintained.  HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommended!

"Now You See Her" by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
I really enjoy James Patterson's books, particularly his Alex Cross series.  But lately it seems like he's taken the road of Danielle Steel and Mary Higgins Clark and putting out what seems like a book every other month.  I just finished reading "Now You See Her" about two days ago.  It was the quick summer read that I needed so close on the heels of finishing "The Help".  The plot is simple - girl changes identity and starts new life.  The twists along the way are somewhat shallow and predictable, but overall it was an enjoyable book to read. 

So what have you been reading this summer?

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5 Days of Crafting: Day #4 - Reading Chart and Journal

As you know, I am a HUGE reader.  I will read anything I can get my hands on.  My Marine - yeah....he's a reader too but he's more into the sports and war books - which is ok because at least our daughters still see him reading.  (Although he does have a bad habit of flipping through the book and reading random chapters.  Drives me up a freakin' wall!!)

I like to think I'm raising readers.  Nani is already reading at a first grade level and Nudgie can frequently be seen buried by surrounded by books in our little reading corner.

So, for spring, I decided to make a reading chart for the girls.  We did one last summer, so I just recycled the poster board and used the back.  I had some bulletin board edging leftover from another project and just reused that.  I also had some blank flowers that we'll be using to write down the names of the books that we read.

In addition to the reading chart, I created a little reading journal for Nani.  I found something very similar here, but in order to download it, you had to subscribe to their website and I just didn't want to pay $23.00 for a subscription.  So I made my own.  The reading journal has places for her to write the the name of the book, the author and illustrator, some words from the book, her favorite part and a section for her to draw a picture from the book.  Almost like a mini book report!  (I did it in Word on legal sized paper and printed it on both sides.)

My plan is to have her pick one book a week that she'll write about.  My hope is that it will help improve her vocabulary, writing skills, and comprehension.

If you like the idea and would like to use it, feel free to download page 1 here and page 2 here!  I won't charge a subscription fee....but I do ask that you please just link back to my post!

I plan on starting tomorrow since Nani's on Spring Break this week.  Stay tuned for our first week of reading!

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What My Girls Are Reading - 3/27

 Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him - Maya Angelou



Over at Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns, they do a weekly post of what they are reading.  (She also has some fantastic ideas and resources for the kiddies as well.  You really should go and check it out!)

We love to read here. There are books everywhere in our house and the library loves us because we are in sometimes twice a week and just about always reach our limit with checked out books.  So I thought I'd share some of the fun books we've read over the past week!

In One, Two , Three O'Leary, the 10 O'Leary children are tucked into a large bed by their parents. As soon as they leave the room, however, the children begin to bounce on the bed to a series of rhythmic rhymes ("Ibble obble,/Blue bottle,/Ibble obble OUT!")  Each poem ends with one of the children landing on the floor. Eventually, every young O'Leary is "OUT," and then the parent come in to join the action. In the end, the little ones return to bed. Reading this book reminded me of those hand games I used to play as a kid.  Nani didn't like this book so much and quickly became bored with it.

In Sally Goes to the Vet, A cute little black Labrador, named Sally, plays chasing games with her friend, Bingo, the cat. When she is injured, her human rushes her to the vet. When she gets home she cuddles with Bingo to tell her about the veterinary escapade. Huneck manages to infuse some humor into this potentially traumatic episode. He also portrays the doctor visit in such a way that kids should feel reassured by it.  We checked this book out shortly after Mitzi had her accident.  It gave Nani a good idea of what a vet does and how Mitzi was being well taken care of.  She really enjoyed this book.

In Take Care, Good Knight, a friendly old wizard asks three loveable little dragons to watch his cats while he is gone.  Later, we find the three dragons unable to read his illustrated instructions.  They decide to guess at the words, and use clues from the pictures he has drawn, but they wildly mistake his meanings which result in some hilarious misunderstandings until the Good Knight comes to help them out.

I LOVED this book!  The story was cute, the little dragons were so adorable that I just wanted to squeeze them, and the pictures were colorful as well.  Both Nani and Nudgie loved this book so much that we went to Paperback Swap to order our copy!

In A Cold Winter's Good Knight, the three adorable baby dragons are back with another adventure!  This time they are shiivering in their cave until they are rescued by the Good Knight and taken back to the castle where a fancy ball is being held.  The Good Knight reminds them to behave and use their manners, but unfortunately, these little dragons don't know what manners are and cause a series of incidents that disrupt the party. The Good Knight steps in to teach the little dragons the meaning of manners and the party continues with three well-behaved dragons.

I just love this series - period!  The message of this book is clear -- manners are important!

In The Copy Crocs, crocodile lives in a pool of water with many other crocodiles.  He likes his home, but grows tired of being pushed, prodded, and crowded by the other crocs, so he sets out to find his own private space. Each time he discovers a tranquil place, his friends find him and copy his discovery. Finally, Crocodile returns to his original pool and finds that he misses the friends. He is happy when they return and subsequently each time he slips away on his own, he is pleased when they eventually join him.

Very cute and colorful book that we read over and over!

 

 

So what have you read this week?

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