Bookshelf Buddy

Fall Books for Teens

Nicole — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 01:39:00 +0000

Here are some books that we have recently seen being read by some teens:

Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook by Ben Mezrich

Sabotaged by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Tangerine by Edward Bloor

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Summer Reading 2010

Nicole — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:37:16 +0000

These are some of the books the kids and I read this summer:

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Next by Michael Crichton

Chew On This! by Charles Wilson and Eric Schlosser

The Good Fight: How World War II Was Won by Stephen Ambrose

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Favorites From the School Year

Nicole — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:41:03 +0000

These books were my kids’ favorites this year:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Escape and Wimpy Kid

Nicole — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:43:06 +0000

And now for something completely different…

This month, my book club is reading Escape by Carolyn Jessop. Interesting story about the Fundamentalist Church of the Latter Day Saints.

My son quickly (i.e., within an hour) read the latest Wimpy Kid book about a boy named Greg Heffley:

Then he moved onto the latest 39 Clues book, this one written by Patrick Carman. So far, my son is often distracted by what he describes as lousy writing. He believes Carman’s prose pales in comparison to Rick Riordan’s, author of the first book in the series (as well as one of his favorite books, The Lightning Thief). The sixth book, called In Too Deep, written by Jude Watson, is due to be released on November 11, 2009.

My daughter is still working her way through the Douglas Adams tome (see below), but she read the Wimpy Kid book (above), too. It’s one of those must-read-because-all-the-kids-will-talk-about-it books.

This Book and Sent

Nicole — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 01:23:39 +0000

Remember one of last month’s books called Is God a Mathematician? Not a big hit in my house. My daughter crawled her way through through the first chapter, in part because the other book, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams captured her attention and wouldn’t let go. She still spends most of her reading time with the Adams tome.

This month, my son plowed through this book first:

and quickly moved on to this title:

It’s the latest release in the series, so he was eager to dive right in and, as expected, he’s flying through it. I expect him to finish it tonight.

Meanwhile, my daughter continues to delight in her leather-bound, gilt edged edition of The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams:

My book club is reading Loving Frank by Nancy Horan.

Hitchhikers and Mathematicians

Nicole — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:01:51 +0000

The kids have started these books:

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

and

Is God a Mathematician?

I’m reading How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk.

Mockingbird and The Firm

Nicole — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:00:04 +0000

The kids are currently reading these books:

To Kill a Mockingbird

and

The Firm

And my book club is working its way through Tom Friedman’s Hot, Flat, and Crowded.

How about you and your family?

The Clique, The Last Olympian and Other Books

Nicole — Sat, 30 May 2009 20:38:39 +0000

Do you downgrade your reading during the summer? Turn to “easy reads?”

My daughter and some of her friends have been reading the series entitled, The Clique by Lisi Harrison. What’s it about? Social situations, name brand goods, status, and, well, cliques.

I’m considering telling her to stop reading the series. From my perspective, its focus is a bit too superficial and materialistic.

What do you think? Let me know.

As for me and my book clubs, here’s what we’re digging into these days:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

And, as for the boys, it’s all fantasy and thrillers:

The Seems: The Glitch in Sleep by John Hulme

and, of course,

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan (the kids (boys and girls) have been eagerly awaiting this last book in the series).

IQ and Every Soul a Star

Nicole — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 19:00:53 +0000

Almost two years ago, we told you how much we loved Wendy Mass’s book, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life. This year, we’re thrilled to say her next book, Every Soul a Star looks like it will be another gem worthy of rave reviews. Our daughter is about halfway through this book and loves it already. It led her to begin researching the concept of lucid dreaming and to look forward to going to bed at night. You’ll have to read it to really understand…

Here it is:

Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass

At her school’s recent book fair, she also picked up this title, I,Q by Roland Smith:

Our daughter loves technology and adventure, so this book seemed like a good choice. Truth be told, however, she dove into Every Soul a Star first and won’t start I,Q until she finishes it. Check back later for an update…

The Reader, Outliers and the Next 39 Clues

Nicole — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:25:47 +0000

As mentioned in the last post, our book club selection this month was “The Reader.” Last night, many of the women from the book club went to see the movie in which Kate Winslet plays Hannah (a role for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress). I haven’t finished the book yet, but of those women who have finished the book, most liked both the book and the movie. Only one hated the book but loved the movie.

I have to admit that I’ve been spending more time with our selection for next month – Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

As for the kids…

The 39 Clues books are fairly easy to read, so they’re whipping through them in a day or two. The third book was recently released and it’s flying off the shelves. Here it is:

The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis