FAVORITE BOOK(S) OF THE YEAR?
Wild by Cheryl Stayed- it was so empowering to read about a woman who had hit the lowest point in her life and decided that a radical change of scenery and lifestyle was what she needed to climb back up - by hiking the Pacific Coast Trail alone, Cheryl found herself and healed her soul.
WHAT ARE YOU READING RIGHT NOW?Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon, the sequel to Outlander. I can't wait to read about more of Claire's crazy time traveling adventures and her steamy romance with Jamie.
WHAT BOOK DID YOU JUST FINISH?
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. It was so unique - written for adults but narrated primarily from the viewpoint of a seven-year-old child whose idyllic life in Sussex is interrupted when the opal miner who boards in his house is found dead in a car at the end of the lane. Also at the end of the lane are the Hempstead women, Lettie and her mother and grandmother, and a pond Lettie swears is her ocean. Not quite witches, but definitely not ordinary women, Lettie takes the little boy under her wing and promises to keep him safe from the mysterious, otherworldly dangers that begin to surround him and his family. Reading like a dream infused with a dark fairytale, The Ocean at the End of the Lane has more in common with The Graveyard Book than American Gods, and the imagery Gaiman creates will stay with me for a while.
WHAT ARE YOU READING NEXT?
Yes, Please! by Amy Poehler - my sister-in-law and I have been so excited for this one. I've read that it's a bit more blunt than Tina Fey and Mindy Kaling's books were.
FAVORITE BOOK(S) AS A KID?
I grew into an English teacher, so obviously as a child I was a bookworm. The very first books I can remember loving were the Henry and Mudge books by Cynthia Rylant. I loved Paul Goble's magical picture book The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses. In third grade, we read The Family Under the Bridge, which seemed to have it all - Paris! Gypsies! Christmas! Like any good 90's girl, I also loved The Baby-Sitter's Club and The Secret Garden pretty much equally. I was obsessed with Island of the Blue Dolphins in fifth grade and cried when I finished the Chronicles of Narnia series because I wasn't ready for that adventure to be over. In middle school, I discovered The Egypt Game, Anne of Green Gables, the Redwall series and Frances Temple's The Ramsay Scallop.
WHAT BOOK WOULD YOU TAKE ON A DESERTED ISLAND?
Honestly, probably Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, for the reminders that words are our most inexhaustible source of magic and that all will be well.
Henry and Mudge was one of my favorite childhood book series! My mom adored the stories and so we read them all the time. I've been thinking they're the ones I need to get for my future classroom library!
ReplyDeleteAnd I've heard lots of people talk about Wild. It really does sound like a fascinating read and one to read before the movie comes out, too. :)
Thanks for linking up!!
I'm so excited that someone else has heard of Henry and Mudge... they were such sweet books and made me want to have adventures.
DeleteWild really inspired me to be more brave in my everyday life.
I've grew up reading so many of your childhood favorites as well! Obviously the bigger ones like BSC, Anne, and Island of the Blue Dolphins, but also remember loving The Egypt Game as well... although I couldn't really even tell you what it's about now. And funny enough, when I was going through my picture books deciding which ones I wanted to keep for the baby, The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses made it. It's pretty much falling apart and I had to tape a few pages together, but its officially on our baby's bookshelf.
ReplyDeleteWe read The Egypt Game for class in sixth grade and I got really obsessed with Egyptian mythology, just like the way my Percy Jackson loving kids are all about the Greek myths now. I don't really remember what The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses was about but I remember loving it... did she become a horse at the end?
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