I'm not dead, are you??

I've just been reading. Presenting my 2012 reading list:

Jennifer's 2012 book montage

Jennifer's favorite books »

Confession is good for the soul

Blah, blah, blah, tell me if you've heard this before- my library basket is overflowing and so is my nightstand. So many books, so little time!! Anyway, I rearranged some bookshelves the other day with the idea of clearing out a shelf to put all the books I've bought but haven't read yet. As I started loading the shelf, I quickly realized it was going to take more than one bookshelf to hold all of the BIBBHRY.

Let's put it this way- I stopped counting at 30 books.

*is ashamed*
*not really*

So that's my confession for the day. I buy too many books. (Although, in my defense, these books have been bought over the course of several years. On second thought, I don't think that's a very good defense.)

Now it's your turn: CONFESS YOUR DEEPEST DARKEST SECRET!!! It'll be fun!!!!

Books, Reading, The New Year, Whatever

Tracy M over at Dandelion Mama makes a good argument for not making any New Year resolutions. I think I'm on board with this idea. As Anne Shirley said, "Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it." Much better to aim for doing the best you can on any given day than to vow that *this* will be the year you ___________ (fill in the blank), I think.

I didn't mean to post my last post without any additional commentary. Oh well. Once again, I read a lot this year (118 New To Me Books, to be exact). That doesn't take into account re-reads or all the books I read at preschool. Looking over the list, there is a good mix of genres- lots of YA and Children's Fiction, a good amount of non-fiction, some romance, and even a few blogs-turned-books that made me laugh a lot.

Sadly, the "TO BE READ" pile is no smaller now than it was this time last year. I've toyed with the idea of saving up and getting a Kindle (to save on space), but I think I'd spend a fortune buying my old favorites in eBook form (so I could have them with me at ALL TIMES). Not to mention I think the girls would constantly be stealing it from me. Finally, I know that the temptation to get click happy over at Amazon would be too great. I already have a hard enough time resisting buying whatever I want, whenever I want because of my free two-day shipping with Amazon Prime! Oh, to have more self-control.

School starts back tomorrow. The girls are doing Beauty and the Beast this year, which makes me *VERY* excited. Practice starts in earnest on Thursday. James is building sets once again. Bella has several roles, and Madeline (as a Middle Schooler) is working crew. My job is to keep make sure everyone is where they need to be, when they need to be there, fed and rested. ( I will need to remember to do this for myself, too! :P)

Goodbye, February. I'm not sad to see you go.

Life caught up with me last Friday. Everything had been going along swimmingly then BAM! All of the sudden it seemed like it was the longest day of the longest week of the longest month EVER. Ugh. I hate feeling that way.

The girls had dress rehersal for OZ yesterday. It lasted from 12:00 until 9:30. o_O They warned us it would be a long day, and they weren't kidding! This is the last week of rehersals (all going until at least 7:30 or later), with performances starting on Friday. The experience has been amazing, but I think we're almost ready for it to be over with. Two more weeks. We can make it. (I hope.)

In other news, I'm getting ready to read a book that I'm hoping is as awesomely terrible as the title. Are you ready for this?



Oh yeah. You read that right- PREGNESIA. I can't wait!

Nostalgia, Part Two

Another reason for all of the nostalgia over the past few weeks is because of my love of reading.

I've always read to the girls, even from the time they were babies. I knew that I'd never be able to make them into prima ballerinas or Olympic athletes, but I could read to them and hopefully encourage and foster a love of reading in themselves. I'm going to go ahead and pat myself on the back and say MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. (I also hope to show them an example of humility and modesty. I'll get back with you on that.)

I'd always been the one to recommend books to the girls- stuff I liked at their age, the latest selection in the Scholastic Book catalog, a book I picked up from the library, etc. Sometimes they took my suggestion, but not always. However, in the past six months they have been the ones handing me books saying, "You have GOT to read this!!". I won't lie- it makes me prouder than a peacock.

About a year ago, I came across the blog of Betsy Bird via Goodreads. She was often leaving reviews on the same children, middle-grade and young adult books that I was reading. Turns out she's a funny, intelligent librarian who lives in NYC and writes a blog for the School Library Journal online. She was (at the time) doing a reading suggested poll of the Top 100 Children's Picture Books of all time. Good stuff my friends, especially if you

1) work with children and have to read them books or
2) just love children's picture books irrespective of children.

I happen to fit into both categories, so Betsy had me hooked from there on out as a daily reader of her blog. In early January, annouced that she was going to do another poll- this time it would be the Top 100 Children's Novels. Now, as someone who combs through the children's book section at the library as much as I do the adult, this set my heart a pitter patter. Betsy invited her readers to submit their Top Ten choices, with the books listed in order of preference. So not only did we have to "cut our darlings" by ONLY LISTING TEN BOOKS, we also had rate our love!!

For the entire month of January, I agonized. Only ten?? That means I can't list ALL of the Harry Potter books, ALL of the Anne books, ALL of the Little House books, etc, etc. Pretty quickly I decided that I would ONLY pick one books from each series. (But how do I choose? Anne of the Island is my favorite, but without Anne of Green Gables there would be no Anne! And Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is brilliant, but I deeply, passionately love Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! ARGH!! THE AGONY!)

All of this had me thinking and trying to remember every chapter book I had ever read. (Impossible) I had to think back on which books I not only loved, but also cherished and (dare I say it?) changed my life. I looked through my bookshelves, read through my old journals (as well as new ones) and finally came up with a list I emailed to Betsy.

This is what I ended up emailing to Betsy (minus the pictures):

After much Sturm und Drang....

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling



Totally wrong that we had to divide up the series, as it really is more than the sum of it's parts! However, for me, this is THE Harry Potter book. It's the culmination of everything. Every plotline, every character, every action was leading to this book. It's only after reading this book that you can fully realize just *how much work* Rowling put into these books, and it paid off one hundred fold for me as a reader. There are still passages I can't make it through without losing it completely.

2. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery



Another one where choosing just one from the series doesn't seem right! This is my "Choose one book to have with you on a desert island" book, even above a Harry Potter book. The Anne series is the first series I fell passionately in love with, and it starts with this book. After becoming aquainted with Anne I immediatly began to divide the world into 'kindreds' and 'non-kindreds' and started looking for my Gilbert Blythe. (Forget Mr. Darcy! Give me Gilbert anyday.)

3. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White



I read this book for the first time during the summer between 3rd and 4th grades. It was then that I decided it was more interesting to lay in bed and read rather than watch cartoons. I was hooked from the very start, and I could barely put the book down long enough to eat or sleep. I distinctively remember waking up early to read the last chapters, all while crying buckets of tears and eating trying to eat Rice Krispies that were getting soggy by the minute.

4. The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall



I put off reading this book for a long time, and I was so mad at myself when I finally did read it. This book made me feel like that 9 year old girl again. It's just so charming and lovely and delightful. You can't help but try to decide if you are a "Rosalind" or a "Skye" or a "Jane" or a "Batty".

5. The Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder



My favorite Little House book. Laura and Almanzo were the first couple I ever "shipped". The story is universal, and just as relevant today as it was one hundred+ years ago.

6. Anastasia Krupnik by Lois Lowry



I loved Anastasia because she was a normal girl with normal problems (glasses, acne, cool-but-embarrassing parents, annoying little brothers, etc). She was also smart and funny, and I envied her hiking boots with red laces (and later her tower bedroom).

7. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg



I still can't think of a cooler place to run away to than the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

8. Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary



Also discovered during that magical summer

9. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George



This book described a life so different than my own. It was the first book I read that talked about about menstration in a matter-of-fact way. It talked so many "adult" topics in a way that made *me* feel like I was growing up. I read this around the same time I was reading the Babysitter's Club and Sweet Valley High books, and it made those books seem so trite and vapid. It was definitely a coming-of-age book for me.

10. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott



I still think Jo should have married Laurie.

None of my books have made the list...yet. I'm still hopeful- we're only through the first 50! But it's been so much fun to see books I love that I had to cut(Love That Dog) and books I had forgotten I loved (Pippi Longstocking) as well as a list as long as my arm of books that I want to read for the first time.

I'd love to hear your TOP TEN LIST!

The Best of 2009

I know my "Best Of" series was popular last year, but I just didn't have as much time to get it together like I wanted to for 2009. Still, I can't just leave y'all hanging, so here's a "Best of Everything" list instead.

THE BEST MOVIE



While The Incredibles remains my favorite Disney/Pixar movie, Up almost nudged it out of the top spot on the strength of the first nine minutes of the movie. The montage of Carl and Ellie Fredrickson's life together had me laughing and crying and then laughing and crying even harder. The rest of the film is just as good, and if this movie doesn't win a Best Animation Oscar, then I will seriously be upset.

HONORBALE MENTION: Star Trek. Hello, Captain Kirk! ROWR. The story was tight, the action was exciting and J.J. Abrams has made it okay to be a public fan of Star Trek again.

THE BEST RECIPE

Once again The Pioneer Woman comes through with her Chicken Tikka Masala. Within a few days of this recipe going up on her website, I was diving into the world of Indian Cooking. Oh my! This recipe is SO GOOD, and it's like nothing our normal American palates have ever tasted. The recipe isn't hard or overly complicated, but there are a lot of steps involved. But I promise you it's totally worth it in the end! And the best part? This recipe can feed an Army and still have lots of leftovers, and it tastes even better the second day! Try it. You won't be sorry.

HONORABLE MENTION:PW's Steak Bites. It's a recipe which makes you say, "Why didn't *I* think of that??".

THE BEST WEBSITE

It's no lie when I say that my famiy spent thirty minutes looking at this website during my grandmother's 75th birthday party. Hysterical laughter ensued.

HONORABLE MENTION: Segullah

I've been inspired and uplifted by this blog so many times this year that I finally ordered a subscription to the magazine.

THE BEST SONG

"Breathe" by U2


The opening song of U2's 360* Tour was "Breathe" from their album No Line of the Horizon. It was the first song I ever heard U2 play live, so it most definitely has to be the best song of 2009.

HONORABLE MENTION:

"Starlight" by Muse


Love this song! Seeing Muse perform it live is even better.

THE BEST CHILDREN'S BOOK

A Couple of Boys Have The Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee


In all honesty, I laughed so hard at this book I just *might* have wet my pants a little. It has everything I love in a children's book- great illustrations, humor, good characters and most important of all, LAYERS. Kids will love it for one reason, and adults will love it for a whole 'nother reason. Most of all, I want Eamon and James to come and visit my house (even though I know I will be exhausted by the time they leave) and I want Bill and Pam to be *my* grandparents!!

HONORABLE MENTION

Hate That Cate by Sharon Creech


A sequel to my favorite children's book of 2005 Love That Dog. Creech continues with the same unusual (but 100% effective!!) storytelling style that was so charming and heart-wrenching in Love That Dog. It takes maybe 30 minutes to read this book aloud, which I think is the best way to read it for the first time.

THE BEST BOOK

Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris


Honestly, this book right here is why I only read 98 new books this year. I re-read DaG at *least* ten times. What can I say? I'm a sucker for tall, blong former Viking Vampires! I'm eagerly awaiting the next book in the series Dead in the Family which will be released in May.

HONORABLE MENTION

Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom


Nordstrom was an editor for Harpers from the 1930's-1970's. She is considered a pioneer in the area of children's books. She edited many of the children's books we have come to regard as 'classics'. She worked with the likes of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Garth Williams, E.B. White, Maurice Sendak, Margaret Wise Brown, Shel Silverstein, Clement Hurd- the list goes on and on.

This book is full of letters she wrote to various people within the publishing industry (authors, illustrators, librarians, other publishers, etc). She was brilliant and enormously funny. I loved seeing just how committed she was to her authors and illustrators. I know a collection of letters (especially hundreds of letters) sounds like it will be enormously dry and boring, but I'm telling you IT'S NOT. I borrowed this book from the local library, but I'm *seriously* considering purchasing a copy for my own personal use.

In my opinion, this book is an education for anyone who 1) wants to be involved in any way with the creation and distribution of quality children's books or 2) anyone who simply loves children's books

SO THAT'S IT!! My picks for 2009! On to 2010!

A Year of Reading - In Review

With Goodreads making it so easy to keep track of my reading, I didn't keep a month-by-month word document like I have in the past. For five years, my only New Year's Resolution was to read 50 New-To-Me books over the course of the year.

If you check out my 2009 Goodreads Bookshelf you'll see that I read 98 new books! I'm satisfied that I exceeded my goal, but I think I probably could have done better. I really thought I would at least get to 100. Of course, this doesn't count all of the books I re-read or the hundreds of books I read at preschool over the course of the school year!

Jennifer's 50-in-2009 book montage

Jennifer's favorite books »

But in the spirit of the new decade, I've decided to up my goal to 100 New-To-Me books over the course of 2010. I think I can do it, even though it will be a bit of a challenge. But *this* is the type of challenge that one can look forward to, yes? ;)

Next up: A BEST OF post!