Fourth Quarter Reading 2009

1. Girlfriend Material by Melissa Kantor
   More depth than I would have expected. I find myself thinking about this book somewhat regularly.
2. Front and Center by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
   It’s hard for me to believe that this was from the same author who wrote Princess Ben.
3. Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
   So funny. I immediately bought copies for both my libraries.
4. Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute by Jarrett J Krosoczka
   A quick, delightful read. These are excellent entry books into the world of Graphic Novels.
5. Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson
   So well done. My mom read my copy and loved it, and I gave the adult version to both of Bart’s dads for Christmas.
6. Touch by Francine Prose
   Can hardly remember this book at all. Never a great sign.
7. No Talking by Andrew Clements
   Only my second Andrew Clements, but FAR better than Frindle in my opinion.
8. Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
   It’s a bit hard for me to read these kinds of books, but this one was quite well-done and I loved the parallels to To Kill A Mockingbird.
   
9. Atonement by Ian McEwan
   I don’t really know what to say about this one. I knew what the ending was before it got there. Also, the swearing really lessened my enjoyment of this book.
10. The Girl with the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts
    I’d rather read Matilda, frankly. I think this book hasn’t aged all that well.
11. How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O’Connor
    I could not believe how much the kids at my schools loved this book.
12. My Haunted House by Angie Sage
    Most certainly the shortest book I read this year.
13. Stitches: A Memoir by David Small
    I get depressed just thinking about this book.
14. Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix
    A great book, but I have zero interest in reading the sequel.
15. Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip M. Hoose
    Really a fine book.
16. Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates
    I had never even heard of this Newbery winner. Pretty good.
17. Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen
    So delightful. Can’t wait to read this one to my kids.
18. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz
    I have avoided this book since all the negative responses to its winning the Newbery. But then I loved it.
19. Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson
    I felt like an old person when I read this book, since I was so on the side of the farmers, rather than the animals.
20. How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
    Started out strong, but then dragged on until I nearly lost my will to live.
21. Call it Courage by Armstrong Perry
    Call it Boring.
22. Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman
    I loved this book. Time to pick up his book about Eleanor Roosevelt.
23. Medina Hill by Trilby Kent
    Wish it could have been a smidge better. I donated my copy to my library, but no kids have read it yet. I want to know what they think of it.
24. Jumped by Rita Garcia-Williams
    I am so not the ideal audience for these kinds of books. Gritty is not my style.
25. These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner
    My very favorite book of the year.
26. The First Part Last by Angela Johnson
    Such a typical Printz kind of book.
27. Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman
    Fun to listen to on CD.
28. A Drowned Maiden’s Hair: A Melodrama by Laura Amy Schlitz
    I didn’t realize until just now that this is the same author as “Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!” I am very observant.
29. So You Want to be President? by Judith St. George
    Delightful and funny.
30. Babymouse: Skater Girl by Jennifer L. Holm
    Liked the Lunch Lady books better.
31. Sleeping Naked is Green: How an Eco-Cynic Unplugged Her Fridge, Sold Her Car, and Found Love in 366 Days by Vanessa Farquharson
    Interesting, but I’m not giving up my toilet paper any time soon.
32. The Matchlock Gun by Walter D. Edmonds
    Bless this Newbery title for being short.
33. Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry: How to Write a Poem by Jack Prelutsky
    I loved this book. Jack Prelutsky is brilliant and clever.
34. The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had by Kristin Levine
    So good. So so good.
35. Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor
    I keep wondering: do teens really like this book or is it a book that adults THINK teens should like?
36. The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin
    I keep trying to write about this book. It was so intense but brilliantly done.
37. Splendor by Anna Gobersen
    This series petered off a bit for me.
38. Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heligman
    So interesting, but far more YA than I was expecting. For some reason, I thought it’d be middle grade level. Not so.
39. The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan
    I liked it while reading it, but have kind of forgotten about it since.
40. East by Edith Pattou
    I was never so surprised as when a girl at church recognized this book and said it was one of her favorites. How had I never even heard of it?
41. Soulless by Gail Carriger
    What an odd combination of Victorian England and vampires.
42. Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? by Louise Rennison
    I laughed myself silly reading this one. Oh, Georgia, how I love you.
43. Shug by Jenny Han
    Good, but it’s no “The Summer I Turned Pretty.”
44. The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale
    Delightful! I loved this book, as you well know.
45. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson
    A very fast, gripping read, but I had to skip a few too many pages for me to feel comfortable recommending.
46. Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster
    Sweet, but so obviously old. Also, so obvious what the ending was.
47. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
    Fascinating, but I still bought strawberries this week.
48. Sunshine by Robin McKinley
    I don’t know what it was, but this book did nothing for me. I checked it out three times and renewed it twice more before I finished it.
49. Kit’s Wilderness by David Almond
    Printz committee, I just do not understand you at all.
50. Silent to the Bone by E. L. Konigsburg
    What an odd book. E. L. Konigsburg, you kind of perplex me.
51. The Year of Secret Assignments by Jacyln Moriarty
    Frankly, pretty forgettable.
52. Lovestruck Summer by Melissa C. Walker
    Austin, how I miss you.
53. The Everafter by Amy Huntley
    Quite delightful. A fast, weekend read.
54. Absolutely Normal Chaos by Sharon Creech
    Skip this, go straight to Walk Two Moons.
55. M.C. Higgins the Great by Virginia Hamilton
    I realized I do not like books set over a period of just a day or two. Also, nothing happens in this book. Be warned.
56. Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonell
    So terrific. I loved this book.
57. Calamity Jack by Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, and Nathan Hale
    Good, but not as good as Rapunzel’s Revenge.
58. The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean
    Another Printz pick that had me completely stymied. Where do they FIND these things?
59. Sisters in Sanity by Gayle Forman
    If I Stay was far superior. I wonder why she switched publishers.  

And that’s 2009.

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