2010 Challenge: Finish That Series

I'm going to like this challenge: Finish That Series. From the web site:

This is an opportunity for you to finish all of those series that have been sitting on your book shelf looking at you. I don't know about you but I have quite a few. With this challenge you count series completed, not books read. I have a series with 20 books in it, although I'm not sure I'll include this one, it doesn't matter how many books are in the series or if you've read most of them and only have one or two left to read. The object of this challenge is to finish the series.

I'll be participating at the Curious level, in which I will finish 2 series I've been wanting to read. One is the Ivy and Bean series by Annie Barrows. I'll consider this one done if I read all the books so far published by the end of the year. This is short and light and I'm already mostways through it. The other is Inkspell/heart/death by Cornelia Funke. I've been waiting to read it until I had a reason, since it's thick and daunting and it's always checked out. Well, now I have a reason!

Perhaps next year I'll do more, but I'm more interested in new books than old, so this is already a deviation from my usual focus.

Bloggiesta, here I come!

Me being a newbie blogger and all, I didn't know about the Bloggiesta until just today, but it sounds like a perfect opportunity for me to catch up on my Mock Caldecott reading/reviewing. Maybe I'll even figure out some of these doodads on Blogger.

What are YOUR favorite chapter books?

Okay, I don't call them chapter books, but my kids sure do. I bet you can name your top ten.

The Top 100 Children’s Fictional Chapter Books Poll!

Vote for your top ten middle grade books of all time (not just this year or last year) by January 31, 2010. This will NOT include YA books or early readers. You should list these books in your order of preference. That means, your #1 chapter book would be the one you feel is the most important or the best, so Betsy will give it 10 points. Your #2 choice will receive only 9 points. Etc, etc.

I'm not at all sure if my favorite book of all time, Watership Down, counts as a middle grade novel. As it is, I'll list it as:

0. Watership Down - Richard Adams -- I read this four times before I was twelve. The adventure series to end all adventure series. I spent much of my fourth and fifth grade years pretending to be a rabbit.

1. Little White Horse - Elizabeth Goudge -- I discovered this one as an adult and was blown away by Goudge's flowery description and absolutely lovable characters. I recently re-read it to see if it would hold up (after 10 years as a librarian) and it sure did.

2. The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper -- It's hard not to take this series as a whole, but if I had to only read one of them again, it would be this one. I found this one when I was fifteen in a tiny rural library in northern Michigan and recognized it from Julia Ecklar's filk song of the same name. I fell into immediate love and consumed all five in one week. Since then I've read them many times and find new things to love every time.

3. A Little Princess - Francis Hodgson Burnett -- My favorite by far of her books, and the classic I re-read most frequently (even more than Little Women). Sara's attic just came to life in my mind each time I opened the book.

4. The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster -- I think this book inspired my love of puns and wordplay, not to mention math and word games. It brought to earth large concepts like Boredom and Truth.

5. Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill - Maud Hart Lovelace -- Discovered as a child, rediscovered as a teen and still loved as an adult, all the Betsy-Tacy books are worth reading, but this was my favorite. My sister and I played a lot of Betsy-Tacy when we were growing up.

6. Danny the Champion of the World - Roald Dahl -- Even though all of Roald Dahl's books have a special spot on my bookshelves, this is my favorite. It evoked the clearest, simplest feeling of love by a child for a parent that any book has ever done.

7. The Diamond in the Window - Jane Langton -- What a great mix of mystical adventures, houses with hidden places and sibling rivalry (and a nod to some famous American literary figures). I had no idea it was part of a series until I became a librarian!

8. A Wind in the Door - Madeline L'Engle -- I liked this one even more than the first book. I think it was the powerfully imagined character of Proginoskes.

9. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling -- My favorite of the seven. Harry had to make an appearance on my list.

10. The Four-Story Mistake - Elizabeth Enright -- This is another book I can't believe I didn't read until I was an adult. I saw it on so many favorites lists, I had to pick them up. Again, it stands alone as a series, so I had a hard time choosing which one was the best, but I have a warm spot in my heart for houses with secret places inside.

I could add so many more...

Holes

Trumpet of the Swan

Frindle

etc, etc.

What are YOUR choices?

Review of 2009 and looking ahead

2009:

It was my first year blogging. I read blogs more regularly as the year went on. I just started to dip my toe into the water of writing my own reviews. I received my first review copy (which I have not yet reviewed, shame on me). My to-read shelf expanded to astronomical proportions (over 250 books at one point, ugh!). I read way more books than I reviewed. I found out about some of those day-of-the-week themed events, like Nonfiction Monday. I semi-participated in one 24 hour blogathon and I am definitely doing that again. Ivy and I did some collaborative reviews, which was so fun. I can't wait to get her writing her own as she improves her ability to type and write. My most exciting aspect of 2009 was participating in the Cybils graphic novel review panel.

2010:

I don't yet have a good sense of my goals here, but I'm having fun and that is fine. I'm trying not to make it about writing regularly or punishing myself for not keeping up with my to-read pile. But, I do want to do more blogging to go along with my reading. I am signing up for some challenges to give a bit of structure to my year. I'm going to do more themed reviews. You'll definitely see more of Ivy; maybe my littler kid will get in on the action as well.

Thanks for reading!

2010 Challenges: GLBT Challenge

Here's challenge #2 for 2010, and it's only January 1!

GLBT Reading: GLBT Challenge 2010

My goal is to read picture books and middle grade books, which will be shorter but will keep me aimed at my target audience. I can easily get off track when I see a beautiful stack of teen/ya novels on my to-read shelf...

Here are the books I have read so far.  I'm trying to hunt down some more picture books before moving on to middle grade, and I have a few I haven't yet read.  

1. And Tango Makes Three - Peter Parnell & Justin Richardson
2. In Our Mothers' House - Patricia Polacco
3. King & King - Linda De Haan and Stern Nijland
4. Everywhere Babies - Susan Meyers
5. Mini Mia and her Darling Uncle - Pija Lindenbaum
6. Oliver Button is a Sissy - Tomie de Paola
7. William's Doll - Charlotte Zolotow

Cybils finalists are in!

Of all the Best Of lists, this one is my favorite. You'll see me in the Graphic Novels section. We had so much fun reading this eclectic mix of books, all of which were good and many of which we never would have heard of if we hadn't been on this panel. A fantastic experience all round.

http://dadtalk.typepad.com/cybils/2010/01/2009-finalists-the-best-of-the-best.html

Thanks to all my fellow panelists!

Allen Mock Caldecott 2010 runoff

I don't know if you have any concept of my to-read shelf, but it was overflowing... and that was before I brought home three new bags of books to review for my 2nd grade annual Mock Caldecott. Egads!

I have a big double stack of 2009 picture books that have appeared on others' shortlists or have won other Mock C's this year. Since I don't seem to have the time or the wherewithal to sit down and review all these titles, here's a list of the books I'm looking at tonight. I'll post the culled list in a few days. If you have suggestions of anything to (eek) add, or subtract, please do post a comment.

In no particular order:

Only A Witch Can Fly - Alison McGhee

Tillie Lays an Egg - Terry Golson

The Composer is Dead - Lemony Snicket

The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau - Dan Yaccarino

The Lion and the Mouse - Jerry Pinckney

Hook - Ed Young

Robot Zot - Jon Scieszka

Boats Speeding! Sailing! Cruising! - Patricia Hubbell

Dinothesaurus - Douglas Florian

The Cuckoo’s Haiku - Michael J. Rosen

Mama Says - Rob D. Walker

I Need My Monster - Amanda Noll

One Beetle Too Many - Kathryn Lasky

Surprise Soup - Mary Ann Rodman

Dinosaur Woods - George McClements

14 Cows for America - Carmen Agra Deedy

Chicken Little - Rebecca Emberley

A Foot in the Mouth - ed by Paul B. Janeczko

Tortuga in Trouble - Ann Whitford Paul

Home on the Range - Deborah Hopkinson

Do Re Mi - Susan L Roth

Sleepsong - George Ella Lyon

The Song of Francis - Tomie de Paola

Willoughby and the Lion - Greg Foley

The Anne Frank Case - Susan Goldman Rubin

Just in Case - Yuyi Morales

All of Baby Nose to Toes - Victoria Adler

If Kisses Were Colors - Janet Lawler

Yuki and the One Thousand Carriers - Gloria Whelan

Redwoods - Jason Chin

Eleanor Quiet No More - Doreen Rappaport

Machines Go to Work - William Low

Moonshot - Brian Floca

A Chair for Always - Vera B. Williams

Honk, Honk, Goose! - April Pulley Sayre

Sweethearts of Rhythm - Marilyn Nelson

Mommy, Where Are You? - Leonid Gore

I’m Your Bus - Marilyn Singer

Billy Milly Short and Silly - Eve B. Feldman

Button Up! - Alice Schertle

Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem - Mac Barnett

Our Abe Lincoln - adapted by Jim Aylesworth

Living Sunlight - Molly Bang & Penny Chisholm

Written in Bone - Sally M. Walker

Marching For Freedom - Elizabeth Partridge

Thunder-Boomer! - Shutta Crum

The Sleepy Little Alphabet - Judy Sierra

What Can You Do With an Old Red Shoe? - Anna Alter

My Mom is Trying to Ruin My Life - Kate Feiffer

Open the Door to Liberty! - Anne Rockwell

Blueberry Girl - Neil Gaiman

Mystery Vine - Cathryn Falwell

Down Down Down - Steve Jenkins

Tell Me About Your Dragon - Jackie Morris

First Dog - J. Patrick Lewis

All the World - Liz Garton Scanlon

John Brown - John Hendrix

The Terrible Plop - Ursula Dubosarsky

Spot the Plot - J. Patrick Lewis

When Stella Was Very, Very Small - Marie Louise Gay

Waiting for Winter - Sebastian Meschenmoser

We Troubled the Waters - Ntozake Shange

Now that I've gone through them, I have a few sorted piles, but I have a bunch of reading to do before I decide for sure what goes where.