Barbara O’Connor is one of my favorite contemporary middle-grade authors. Her stories focus on relatable, likable characters who work together to achieve a goal, and there is often an animal involved. What’s not to love about that? In Halfway to Harmony, grief-stricken Walter Tipple, his new neighbor, Posey, and her rescue dog, Porkchop, discover a…
All posts tagged #booklist
What I’m Reading: Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
My first novel of the New Year (it’s only the 21st, so still “new”) is Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I am a fan of Reid – Malibu Rising and Daisy Jones and the Six are my top favorites, plus Evelyn Hugo and Carrie Soto are right behind those. I liked Atmosphere, but admittedly not…
A Classic [not] to Consider: Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Posted on Author Jill M SmithPosted in A Classic to Consider, Care Givers, On My Bookshelf, What I'm ReadingLeave a Reply
I wish I could say otherwise, but after spending months trying to get through Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, I can only say, unless you are determined to read it, choose something else. Each year I incorporate a few classics among my reading selections. I approach each as a work of art, rather than as a…
What I’m Reading: Perfect by Rachel Joyce
Rachel Joyce is a British writer of contemporary fiction. Her characters have such depth of feeling they seem real, as if they are in the room with you. The details she employs to show their moods and thoughts add to the story in a subtle yet impactful way. In Perfect, young Byron watches his beautiful…
What I’m Reading: Long Island by Colm Toibin
I’ve just finished reading Long Island by Colm Toibin, which is the sequel to Brooklyn. We meet Eilis Lacey in Brooklyn, when she is a young woman who leaves her home in Ireland for a chance at a new life in America, specifically in New York. She finds work, friends, love, and a new world…
Independent Reading: The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes
The Year of Billy Miller is the first in a series about the Miller family, written by children’s picture-book author Kevin Henkes. Readers will follow Billy as he navigates second grade, with conflicts at school and at home that he must work through. Written for a young middle-grade audience, Billy’s day-to-day problems require him to…
Summer Reading: Painting the Game by Patricia MacLachlan
For the last weekend of the summer, I have a final suggestion for summer reading. Painting the Game by Patricia MacLachlan is a great choice if you’re running out of time and need to get one more book read. It’s a quick, action-packed, friendly book about a girl who wants to learn to throw a…
Summer Reading: The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glasser
Another summer reading suggestion for you this mid-August Friday: The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glasser. While set during the five days leading up to Christmas, this fun, family story will work nicely for a summer reading assignment. Five siblings, two parents, and a grouchy landlord make for one stressful week. The kids…
Summer Reading: Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt
Looking for another book to finish up summer reading? Consider a classic (published in 1981, so not too old) summertime story of four siblings walking across several states to their grandmother’s house, in hopes that she will let them stay. Cynthia Voigt’s Homecoming is a novel of resilience, self-reliance, loyalty, and belonging. Where is home?…
What I’m Reading: Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall
Although published in 2014, I just finished reading Susan Crandall’s Whistling Past the Graveyard, and I loved it. It is one of the best books I’ve read in a while, comparable to Demon Copperhead and To Kill A Mockingbird, with a little of The Help thrown in as well. Starla is the nine-year-old protagonist and…