Fall Into Reading 2007 - Wrap up

I didn’t quite get to finish everything on my list. I’m only halfway through my last book. The schedule of the season just caught up with me. Here’s what I thought of what I was able to finish.

An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England (Brock Clarke) - This book was just quirky. I ended up feeling bad for the main character…he was just so simple. While it wasn’t the best book on my list, it wasn’t that bad. I’m not sure I would see out another book by this author, though.

Up High in the Trees (Kiara Brinkman) - This was a very quick read. It’s written from the perspective of an 8 year old and it was beautiful. Some pages were only a line or two long, just quick thoughts. The story follows the boy and his family after the mother dies in a car accident. It’s just a very well written look into the grieving process from every angle. I would definitely recommend this book .

When Crickets Cry (Charles Martin) - I think this might tie with Nineteen Minutes for my favorite book on this list. I was hooked on the book from the very beginning and would fall asleep while I was reading it because I just didn’t want to put it down. It’s heartbreaking and uplifting all at the same time…it definitely tugs on your heart strings.

The Other Mother (Gwendolen Gross) - I’m only about halfway through but I’m liking what I’m reading. One of the major pluses? The main character’s name is Thea. I love that name!

Nineteen Minutes (Jodi Picoult) - I will definitely be readinf Jodi Picoult again very soon. As a matter of fact I already went to the library and got another of her books to take with me when we head out of town for the several days. She’s a great writer and I gasped out loud when I got to the twist at the end. This was a great, great book.

The Blessing of a Skinned Knee (Wendy Mogel) - I didn’t really like this book at all. I felt like I was being preached too about Judaism vs. Christianity and I didn’t like the tone. I agreed with the concept of “learn from your mistakes” and such…but I didn’t like the approach.

A Life’s Work : On Becoming a Mother (Rachel Cusk) - Another one I wasn’t so keen on. I actually only ended up skimming the book because the language was too flowery for me. I enjoy a good dose of Parenting Cynicism, but this was just downright negative. One of the reviews mentioned “laugh out loud”, which I never did.

The Read-Aloud Handbook (Jim Trelease) - I think the next book list might involve a little more research. This is a great book if you need to be convinced why it’s important to read to your kids…which I already know the benefits of. I thought this would be a little more “how to” then “why”. The book list at the back did give me a lot of great book ideas for Jake, though, so it wasn’t a complete loss.

Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White) - We got about a third of the way through this and Jake said he didn’t want to read it anymore because “there were too many words”. I think I may have jumped the gun a little bit on getting him to read chapter books. We started the Arthur series instead and I think I might start him on Harry and Mudge soon…although he still loves his Dora books.

See how other readers fared at Callapidder Days.