14 - eventide

here's another author i could read and read and read. i think i only have one more of his books to dig into, though, so hopefully he writes some more . . .

i'm at a loss in how to describe why i love haruf's books so much. his writing is completely different than anything else i read. i think part of my attraction to his stories is the connection i feel to where they are set. holt, colorado is so similar to the kansas town that my family is from. (there's even a duckwall's!) so it's easy for me to picture everything in my head. i'm not going to lie eventide is a pretty heavy book. haruf packs a lot of drama into books that don't look like they have much to them. but in the midst of all of that drama, you really get to see genuine compassion haruf has for his characters'.


that's weak, yall. i'm sorry. maybe i'll come back and write more on this one at another time because i really really really really loved this book.

13 - the new yorkers: a novel

it took me forever to read this book. who knows what the fines are that i have wracked up at my local library . . . i'm not so good at remembering to renew things. anyway. this was a different kind of book than what i was expecting. i like novels that are told from several perspectives, so i liked it on that level. dogs play a huge role in the story and you know what pets as main characters can lead to, right? yeah. so let's just say there were some tears and quite a few cuddles with my own pup.

12 - i heard that song before

it's been a good long while since i read a book by mary higgins clark. one summer back in college, i think that is all i read. i grabbed this book the other day while i was waiting on my flight back from kc. i love the kc airport's easy-to-get-around airport, but i must admit the literary selection is quite lacking. so i ended up with i heard that song before. overall, it was a pretty good little mystery. i get really irritated with books that are mostly broken up into 3-page chapters, like this one did. so, it did seem to go on forever. but . . . i'm done now, so i can finally finish up some other books that are waiting for me.

p.s. i tried to read alice sebold's latest book, the almost moon. rarely do i start a book and put it down because i am bothered by it . . . usually i keep reading. i couldn't do that with the almost moon. i made it through chapter one on saturday and then closed. i doubt i will go back to it. i'm sure it's a fabulous story - the lovely bones is a story i still remember - but the first chapter disturbed me so much that i just can't finish the rest.

11 - just listen

it took me too long to discover sarah dessen's books. in fact, i purposefully ignored them because i thought they would be too cheesy and girly. where i got this idea, i have no idea. it took my cousin, joy, telling me that i absolutely HAD to read just listen when it first came out. those of you who know joy, know that she is always right. her leading me in SD's direction was just another example of the always being right thing.

so now, i pretty much worship sarah dessen. not in like a creepy way. just in like a i think we would be fast friends if we ever met way. (she spells her name with an 'H' and loves friday night lights and the office and sephora. AND AND AND she LOVES college basketball! um. hello? me too! and noooooo, i don't know these things because of the whole creepy thing. she blogs pretty consistently.)

back to my point. just listen was my first and probably still my favorite of her books. the music discussions all the way through this book make me think of so many moments from my own life. it came out in paperback this last week, so of course i had to get it to read, which pretty much made for a perfect day at the park on saturday afternoon with my pup and 80 degree weather and the start of browner legs and a touch of pink on my cheeks still today. now, i'm really in a dessen mood, so i'll probably end up rereading her other books over the next month. but, that'll have to wait because i put my 'collection' out in my classroom today and all but ONE of the books disappeared for DEAR time and ALL of the girls who picked them up wanted to keep reading them on their own.

just one more reason sarah dessen rocks.

10 - lost & found

originally, all i was going to say about this book was "eh." but, i really got into it the last 100 pages or so. annnnnnnnnnd, i must say for a chick lit book, it has one of the best endings i've read in a while. if you read it, be prepared for a lot of british wordiness at the beginning. overall, pretty good story, though. i might read some of jane sigaloff's books this summer. seems like they might make good poolside/tanning fare.

9 - teen idol

so. meg cabot. i was really really really into her books a few years ago. but my reading lists got overwhelmed with so many other books, i just had to take a break from her. teen idol was the first of her books that i'd read in a while. the pink, purple, and silver cover art probably gives away that it is whole-heartedly a F-U-N book. right now, though, people i'm in the midst of teaching about the Holocaust to one set of students, then i will turn around and teach it to my other set (all in all, probably about 3 months on such a heavy subject). PLUS, the albatross that is the joy of ELA 8th grade teachers in tejas is right around the corner. yup. taks. so seriously, with just those two things combined, i need a little a little fluff - although i really could go on and on about the strong girl characters that cabot ALWAYS creates and the positive messages her books send toward teenage girls, which means her books are never truly and really FLUFF. instead, i'll tell you that if you like to read writers' blogs, you should check hers out.

8 - bloom

so, i am an official resident of where i live now . . . i finally got my drivers license, am registered to vote, AND have a library card. it only took 19 months . . .

bloom has the distinction of being the first book i used my card for. exciting. i know. anyway. it was a very fast read and is, of course, a YA book. hey, i spent most of january reading outside of my comfort zone. give a girl a break. i'd never read any of elizabeth scott's books before. she is very much like sarah dessen and deb caletti. i liked bloom. it did kind of drag a little for me, but it was a sweet story. she has a couple of other books out, so i'll be looking into them i am sure. there is no doubt in my mind that mis estudiantes would like bloom, which, you know, is really the most important part of it. i'm starting book talks in march and will make sure to include it.

okay. so. i need some suggestions on books to read. i have garden spells on hold (look at me actually using the library services!) because i've only heard great things about it. any others? i kind of feel like a biography, so if you know of some good and interesting ones, let me know!
have any of you read any of the books written by obama, mccain, h. clinton? worth reading? just curious!