"Miss Suki is Kooky!" by Dan Gutman (Book 17 in My Weird School Series)

In Miss Suki is Kooky! by Dan Gutman, the students read The Fearless Falcon by Suki Kabuki and then the author visits their school with a falcon!  I liked this book because it gives some interesting information about falcons and is humorous.  (Karen's review, 4 stars)

To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

My Reading Companion

Manny Boy likes to come on my lap to read along with me.  I just started Keep Quiet by Lisa Scottoline yesterday and am already into it and looking forward to reading more today.  This was Gerard's favorite for May.  My favorite read in May was Now You See Her by James Patterson.

Do you have any cats who enjoy reading with you?

Happy Reading!  Purrr!

"The Road Out--A Teacher's Odyssey in Poor America"

The Road Out--A Teacher's Odyssey in Poor America by Deborah Hicks is a true story about a young teacher who teaches seven young girls in a poor neighborhood. The parts of the book I enjoyed were:

(1) When the teacher was trying to get through to the girls, and having a hard time;

(2) How each girl had her own personality and outlook on life; and

(3) The last few chapters that let you know how the girls are doling.
Not a must read, but is a good read. I think any teacher would really enjoy, but even if you aren't a teacher, you may like it. I did!
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"Dumping These Four"

Gerard orders books from the library all the time and waits for them to come in.  Often, he'll get a truckload all at once which is what happened last time.  When this happens, he doesn't stick with a book if he's not into it.  This morning he brought me these four and said, "I'm dumping these" and plopped them down for me to include in our "Dud" list (Click our Duds tab above for more we gave up on and why).  

Please keep in mind, just because the books didn't appeal to us, doesn't mean it's a bad book.  Everyone has different tastes so you may like some of these.  If you did, please leave your thoughts in a comment here.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"The End of Your Life Book Club" by Will Schwalbe

I finally get on here since the cats weren't cooperating.  Woof!

The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe gets 5+ stars from me—a great non-fiction book! Will’s mom has cancer. As she goes through her treatments and daily life, they talk about books they have read. If you enjoy reading, you will be able to relate to this book and get a ton of good book recommendations that you may want to read as well. I enjoyed it very much! Thanks for sharing, Will!!
(Gerard's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

Do I Give Away Too Much?

Reading in our backyard with our dog, Abby.

Writing book reviews is a bit tricky for me to know how much of the story to share without spoiling it for someone.  Recently, I got two replies to a couple reviews on Amazon that I shouldn't include spoilers in my reviews.  Honestly, I didn't think I did; however, the fact that these readers thought so made me question it.  On this blog, my husband and I both review the books we read and have very different styles.

Gerard tends to focus more on what he thought of the book and are generally very short reviews.  On the other hand, I give a short synopsis of what happens in the book without giving away the ending.  Sometimes I'll share a part I especially liked if it's a book I really enjoyed.  When I finish a book that makes me go "Wow!" and that I want to discuss it with someone, it's difficult for me not to share some details. 

So, I'm asking our blog readers, what do you think?  Do I give away too much.  Does Gerard give you enough?  In general, I am asking for constructive criticism here so we can improve our reviews.

Happy Reading!

"Between The Lines" by Jodi Picoult/Samantha Van Leer

Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer is a fun fantasy read. Did you ever read a book and think to yourself "I wish that character was a real person I could talk to"? Sure you have. Well, in this book a young teen girl reads a children's fairy tale book and falls hard for the young prince. Together they hatch a plan to meet! Yes, I said together. How is that possible? You will have to read the book to find out. I got into this right away and especially liked the conversations between the girl and the prince. I enjoyed this one very much!
 (Gerard's review, rating: 5+ stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.

"The Lonely Book" Kate Bernheimer

The Lonely Book by Kate Bernheimer is a cute story for young children. It is about a little girl who goes to the library and becomes attached to one of the books. The book feels lonely when it gets older and fewer and fewer people bother to read it. We both thought it was cute, but Karen wasn't as impressed with it as Gerard. It may encourage kids to read though.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

How Fast Do Your Read?

At Living, Learning and Loving Life I found this cool test to tell me how fast I read. I knew I was a slow reader, but didn't think I was this slow: 192 wpm (23% slower than the national avg., about a 5th gr. level!) Gerard beat me with 195 wpm which surprised me--I thought he'd beat by more than that.

Click on the image below to go take the quiz and see if you beat us--I bet you will.  Share your results in the comments here.

Source: Staples eReader Department

Happy Reading! We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during March to the American Cancer Society.

"The Cow Loves Cookies" by Karma Wilson is a Fun Read!

"The Cow Loves Cookies" by Karma Wilson is a fun book to read about what animals eat on a farm. The illustrations are very good too! We both enjoyed this children's book and highly recommend it for preschoolers. This is a really quick read!

For a laugh, take a few minutes and watch this video of Karen reading it to our cats, Spunky Doodle and Manny. (When Manny first came into our home, he was kept in a separate room for a few days and Karen would go in and read aloud so he could get used to her voice. He still likes it when she reads to him!)




You can help our charity of the month just by leaving a comment on any of our blogs! We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month. The charity for this month is at the top of our blog.

Happy Birthday To My Mom The Bookworm

  My mom loved to read and read all her life.  As a kid, she always loved to read.  She would read up in her room way passed her bedtime.  One of her goals was to read all the fiction books in the library.  She started with the authors whose names began with A.  Her birthday was October 29 and I always think of her more that day than usual.  I still miss her very much and wish she were still here, but know she is enjoying heaven and one day I will join her. 

 

Growing up she always encouraged me to get into reading.  She would read to me and got me a magazine subscription to JACK AND JILL.  I brought them home from dad’s after he died and was going to try selling them on Ebay, but they weren’t in very good shape so I ended up tossing them out.  I still remember reading the witch story that was continued each month.  She also enrolled me in a book club and I still have some of those books.  Two I gave to my nephews as gifts.  One was about trucks and the other about a fish that kept growing because it ate too much.  She also bought quite a few other books for me and my dad built me my own bookcase that was in my bedroom.  Today, it is in my den. 

 

Once I got into school though, I actually had trouble reading because my eyes were bad and I couldn’t see the blackboard.  My first grade teacher held special sessions after school for those who were having trouble reading and that’s when she realized I needed glasses and told my parents.  What a difference it made when I could see.  That teacher, Ms. Franz, was on the ball. 

 

My love for reading never really jelled in spite of lots of trips to the library to encourage it.  I remember getting the shortest books I could find for book reports and reading about some baseball players and Peppi Longstocking.  I would much rather be active and do other things though.  Reading never made my list of priorities.  My mom loved reading novels about other countries and romance.  She liked Danielle Steele and subscribed to The Reader’s Digest book club that sent condensed versions. 

 

When my mom got to be housebound, I would go to the library for her and pick out books.  She was very appreciative of this but sometimes I picked books she didn’t care for.  Most of the time, I did pretty good.  I wish now that I read regularly, she were still here so we could discuss books.  I blew it but know she would be happy now that I am finally reading for pleasure.  It just took me a long time to catch the bug.  (I still don’t care for Danielle Steele books.)

 

What passion do you want to pass along to your children or what did your mom want you to love doing?  Please check out our Spooktacular Stephen King book Giveaway--closes at 12:30 Oct. 31.

Related Posts About Mom:  
A Letter To Mom Because I Can't Write Poems
Me and My Piano
Boo On Halloween

We Give Books--Read For The Record!

You can read kids books online and help organizations donate a book to a child in need at www.wegivebooks.org.   You get to choose the charity you read for.  On October 7, "Read For The Group" is trying to set a record for the most people reading the same book on the same day.  The book designated is The Snowy Day by Ezra Keats.  The book can be read for free at www.wegivebooks.org.  For every copy rad, the Jumpstart organization and We Give Books will donate a book to a child in need!

I just found out about this great site in PEOPLE magazine today.  Please help me spread the word!

Where Do You Like To Read?

According to our little poll we had on here last week, bed was the number one answer which surprised me.  We never read in bed.  I do not even like reading lying down because to me it is just uncomfortable to lay on my stomach to read like Gerard does or to hold the book up in the air while lying on my back.  My arms get tired after awhile.  Perhaps people reading while sitting up in bed, but to me that is not comfortable either.  Gerard usually reads in a chair which was the second highest answer in our poll.

 

My favorite place to read is in the library garden on a chair in downtown Cleveland on a nice warm day.  The downside of this is that I have to wear a hat because lots of birds like sitting in those trees and once, a bird's doo doo plopped right on the library book I was reading, Adventures With Ari.  I usually spend my half my lunch hour reading there but most of my reading is done on the bus going to and from work.  This is why I like using public transportation, because I can just sit back and relax with a book. 

 

Related Post:  Interview With Kathryn Miles, author of Adventures With Ari

Our Best Reads For May, 2009:  Sophie's Heart and Adventures With Ari

Thanks to all who participated in our poll last week.  It's right at the top of our blog for your convenience.  We had 21 voters last week.  So where do you like to read? 

Book Blogger Hop September 3-6, 2010

I missed participating last week so we'll answer both last week's and this week's questions sponsored by Crazy For books.

Do you judge a book by its cover?

Yes, I do if I am browsing in the library for something to read.  I definitely am attracted to read the summary on the cover jackets when the cover of the book appeals to me.  Gerard though pays no attention to the cover.  He goes strictly by titles and usually ones he is specifically looking for that he has heard something about.

Do you use a rating system for your reviews and if so, what is it and why?

 I only rate books when I do customer reviews on Amazon.  Gerard, however, has a sporadic rating system which changes from time to time.  Sometimes, he rates books 1-100, sometimes he becomes more traditional and used the 1-5 system but will often add plus signs when he really, really loved it.  He has also gone to a system 1-1000 for those very rare books.  For this blog, however, I have limited his highest rating to 100 stars.  Those are his outstanding books.

Be sure to visit others in this blog hop, it usually gets over 300 participants!

Do You Listen To Music While You Read?

This is part of the Book Blogger Hop at Crazy-For-Books.com.

The Question this week is:

Do you listen to music while you read? 
If so, what are your favorite reading tunes?

Sometimes we do.  If Gerard has music on and I want to read, it really doesn't both me but I don't put it on purposely while I read.  More often that reading while listening to music, I'll read while watching TV.  I can get a lot of reading done on commercials or during ballgames.  My mom always used to read while watching baseball games on TV.  What about you?

Journey to Reading For Pleasure (Blog Hop)

<em><a href="http://www.ourstack.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh290/kzemek/ourstack_EC.jpg" ></a></em>

To get your children reading, make sure they can see.   I say this because when I was in first grade learning to read, I had a very difficult time.  My teacher kept a group of us who were not getting it after school for some additional help and she discovered my problem was that I just could not see the board.  Once she moved me to the front of the room and I got eyeglasses, I picked it up much quicker.


Naturally any mother who loves to read also tries to encourage her children to read too.  My mother was an avid reader and I remember her reading four or five thick books in just a week.  She took us to the library as kids in an effort to get us interested in books too, but it didn't really work.  I would rather go outside and play than sit around and read.  I did the required reading for school, some of which I just skimmed through and that was it. 


In school, whenever I had to do a book report, I would just choose the book by width.  Seriously, if it was a fat book, it would not be one I picked.  Consequently, I missed out on some really good books.  I first learned that a bigger novel is generally better than those little skinny books when I read Jane Eyre for a book report on my mother's recommendation.


In high school I was put into an advanced English class which I really did not want to be in.  To me, it seemed a waste of my time to have to do more homework including 12 book reports when I could get an easy "A" in the regular English class with less homework and only three book reports.  Now, for someone who does not like to read, guess which class I chose.  I got out of that advanced English class as fast as I could! 


Even in college, I read very little of the textbooks.  Mostly, I just took good notes in class, then typed them up and studied from that.  I maintained good enough grades that way to keep my scholarship for all four years.  I only actually read the books for courses I was interested in.  


It wasn't until I was married that I started to enjoy reading for pleasure.  My husband was a reader ever since elementary school.  It's funny though, he didn't go to college.  I think if he had gone, he would have learned more than I did.  He used to buy books but once we were married, I took him to the library and showed him how he could actually go online and order popular books that he wanted to read and they would send him an email when they came in.  When he read a book he thought I would too, suggested I read it.  I don't recall what the first book I read was that he recommended.


Mostly I still read when I'm bored, like while I ride the bus to and from work, or while waiting at a doctor's office, or during a lunch hour.  I seldom read at home unless I have a book that really is gripping and I can't wait to see what happens next or if I'm in a hurry to finish a book. 


We invite you to post about your journey to becoming an avid reader with a link back here and link up.  Copy the badge if you like. 


Related post:  Mary the Kay the Blog shares tricks she uses to teach her kids to read.

Check out Mrs4444 Saturday Samplings for more good posts.