MotherReader hearts my blog!

The gracious and charming MotherReader tagged me in the bloggy lovefest "I Heart Your Blog." Thanks, Pam!

Now I must return the favor. The rules, as I understand them, are this:

1) Add the logo of the award to your blog
Check.

2) Add the link of the person who awarded it to you to your blog
Check.

3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs

Let's see: let's be nepotistic, sort of, and link to authors and illustrators I either work with or aspire to work with.

Fiona Bayrock, my favorite Canuck (is that a slur? I hope it's not a slur)

Frank W. Dormer, who is gleefully insane

Sarah Miller, whose appetite for reading is truly impressive

Anastasia Suen, she of the boundless energy

Laurie Halse Anderson, whom I revere and whom I once alarmed at NCTE

Matthew Holm, possibly my new secret crush (sorry, honey

And as a big wet kiss on the bum, the Charlesbridge blog, Unabridged.

4) Add links to those blogs to your blog
Check.

5) Leave a nice warm message for each of your nominees!
Check . . . check.

Thanks for the pick-me-up!

Lamentations of the Father: Review Haiku

Not responsible
for coffee or other drinks
spewed in amusement.

Lamentations of the Father: Essays by Ian Frazier. FSG, 2008, 194 pages.

Judy Moody Goes to College: Review Haiku

Never thought I'd say
"ridonkulous" to my four-
year-old. Sick-awesome.

Judy Moody Goes to College by Megan McDonald, illustrated by Peter Reynolds. Candlewick, 2008, 129 pages.

The Year of the Rat: Review Haiku

Charming and sweet (if
hard to read objectively).
Grace nails emotions.

The Year of the Rat by Grace Lin. Little Brown, 2007, 182 pages.

Cybilly goodness

Ooh, cool! I'll be on the judging panel for the Cybils' nonfiction picture book category this year. After two years doing middle-grade/YA nonfiction, it'll be nice to look at shorter books for a change. And I get to be led by my favorite bubble expert, Fiona Bayrock!

(Of course, I harbor a secret wish that I'll have to recuse myself, since the finalists will surely all be Charlesbridge books . . . )

Vacation roundup, Disney edition

Took the Munchkin to the Happiest Place on Earth this weekend. (Left the Boy at home with grandparents, thank God.) Despite my general Disney meh-ness, had a great time -- those Mouse people really do think of everything.

Came back to at least two flaming crises, six overdue projects, two loads of laundry, and a partridge in a pear tree.

By the numbers
Us Weekly issues read: 2 (Shut up. I only buy it at the airport. Really.)
Chapters of A Tale of Two Cities read: 6 (sorry, Leila)
Pages of various coloring and/or activity books colored and/or . . . activated: eleventy billion
Anticipated book-reading to be done in the next, oh, six weeks or so: nil

Mother on Fire: Review Haiku

Gosh, I wanted to
like this more than I did. Just
take a Xanax, eh?

Mother on Fire: A True Motherf#%$* Story About Parenting by Sandra Tsing Loh. Random, 2008, 320 pages.

Lawn Boy: Review Haiku

Local boy makes good:
gets mower, hires migrants, learns
capitalism.

Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen. Wendy Lamb/Random, 2007, 88 pages.

Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls #2: The New Girl: Review Haiku

Allie, meet bully.
Bully, meet Allie. Now go
learn big life lessons.

Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls #2: The New Girl by Meg Cabot. Scholastic, 2008, 240 pages.

The Cabinet of Wonders: Review Haiku

Impressive debut:
Just enough magic to thrill,
but not overwhelm.

The Cabinet of Wonders by Marie Rutkowski. FSG, 2008, 272 pages.

The Possibilities of Sainthood: Review Haiku

Wanted to love it,
but concept and character
never gelled for me.

The Possibilities of Sainthood by Donna Freitas. FSG, 2008, 280 pages.

Suite Scarlett: Review Haiku

High sibling drama
from a mousy blond who
finally finds her voice.

Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson. Point/Scholastic, 2008, 353 pages.

NEPHEW!

I have a nephew! He has no name, and he is very small, but still! NEPHEW!

Tell Me Where It Hurts: Review Haiku

Made me sad (I miss
my dogs!) but also glad (I'm
not wackjob parent!).

Tell Me Where It Hurts: A Day of Humor, Healing, and Hope in My Job as an Animal Surgeon by Nick Trout. Broadway, 2008, 286 pages.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Review Haiku

Twain's classic captures
the best and worst of the
American spirit.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. 1884, Charles Webster & Co., 366 pages.

#41 on The LIST, even though it wasn't there before, because it should've been, and hey, it's my LIST. Listened to on a Playaway device.

Julia Gillian and the Art of Knowing: Review Haiku

Not exactly plot-
heavy, but a welcome new
voice in middle-grade.

Julia Gillian (and the Art of Knowing) by Alison McGhee. Scholastic, 2008, 280 pages.

So. Tired.

Spent the weekend at home in the good old Midwest, co-chairing my high school reunion (go, Rocks!) and hosting a children's-book-themed baby shower for my sister, at which she received the full Triumvirate of Mediocrity, some in multiple copies.

Am busy editing and coding reunion website and writing essays and designing a newsletter, so have not been reading. Started Little Women; started Minders of Make-Believe; still slogging through Huck Finn (which isn't on The LIST but should've been).

Will have a couple make-up posts soon, but otherwise, I'm on a break. Happy end of summer.

House Lights: Review Haiku

Twenty-something thesp
seeks father figure in taut
family drama.

House Lights by Leah Hager Cohen. Norton, 2007, 303 pages.

Here endeth the vacation reading. Spottier posting schedule surely to follow.

Suddenly Supernatural: Review Haiku

Though brand names detract,
a charming little romp through
middle-school occult.

Suddenly Supernatural #1: School Spirit by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel. Little Brown, 2008, 316 pages.

New Obsession

http://notalwaysright.com/

Hat tip to bookshelvesofdoom for the link.

P.S. Hey, I hit 400 posts and I wasn't even paying attention! Yay, me!

Home: Review Haiku

Mary/Maria/
Eliza makes even crap
childhood sound cheery.

Home: A Memoir of My Early Years by Julie Andrews. Hyperion, 2008, 339 pages.

The Underneath: Review Haiku

Appelt's grand novel
tackles love, bitterness, and
death. A tour-de-force.

The Underneath by Kathi Appelt. Atheneum, 2008, 313 pages.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames: Review Haiku

Sedaris returns
in turns petty and poignant.
Smile-out-loud funny.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris. Little, Brown, 2008, 323 pages.

The Green Glass Sea: Review Haiku

Dewey and Suze and
consequences writ large make
for one gripping read.

The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages. Viking, 2006, 321 pages.

Little House on the Prairie: Review Haiku

Caroline Ingalls
makes me feel like a wholly
inadequate mom.

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Harper, 1932, 238 pages.

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Harper, 1935, 335 pages.

#40 on The LIST.

Summer Blowout: Review Haiku

Cook's latest romp is
easy, breezy, beautiful --
perfect summer fare.

Summer Blowout by Claire Cook. Hyperion, 2008, 242 pages.

The Chocolate War: Review Haiku

Do I dare disturb
the universe? Dark classic
offers little hope.

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier. Knopf, 1974, 263 pages.
#39 on The LIST.

Wish You Were Here: Review Haiku

Road trip from hell shows
Ariel there's more to life
than lousy boyfriends.

Wish You Were Here by Catherine Clark. Harper, 2008, 212 pages.

Vacation Roundup

15 books, 4345 pages, give or take a couple. Not bad for ten days' work.

Back to the grind . . .

The Downhill Lie: Review Haiku

For a non-golfer,
kind of like watching a bad
vacation slideshow.

The Downhill Lie: A Hacker's Return to a Ruinous Sport by Carl Hiassen. Knopf, 2008, 207 pages.

Stop in the Name of Pants: Review Haiku

Oh, Georgia, Georgia,
you're so bloody boring now
and yet I can't stop.

Stop in the Name of Pants (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series) by Louise Rennison. Harper, 2008,

The Adoration of Jenna Fox: Review Haiku

Teen goes Anakin
in troubling look at modern
medical ethics.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson. Holt, 2008, 272 pages.

My Dad's a Birdman: Review Haiku

Gorgeous nonsense by
English geniuses with a
knack for flighty fun.

My Dad's a Birdman by David Almond, illustrated by Polly Dunbar. Candlewick, 2008, 115 pages.

Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Moving Day: Review Haiku

Meet Allie Finkle:
what Meg Cabot sounded like
at nine, more or less.

Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls #1: Moving Day by Meg Cabot. Scholastic, 2008, 228 pages.

Vacation, all I ever wanted

Currently on vacation, reading a lot and trying to stay mostly disconnected. Will post fairly regularly, but I'm pacing myself.

I Shall Not Want: Review Haiku

Clare and Russ at last
get hot under the collar.
Packs a holy punch.

I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer-Fleming. St. Martin's, 2008, 336 pages.

Lock and Key: Review Haiku

What is family?
The ones who leave, or the ones
you won't leave behind?

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen. Viking, 2008, 422 pages.

No Talking: Review Haiku

Typical Clements:
Thoughtful kids, complex teachers,
lessons learned at end.

No Talking by Andrew Clements. S&S, 2007, 146 pages.

Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes: Review Haiku

Crutcher's classic shows
lots of ways to be ugly --
and brave and kind, too.

Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher. Greenwillow, 1993, 216 pages. #38 on The LIST.

Big Read, Big Books quiz

I have the feeling I've taken this or a very similar quiz before, but as [expletive] United Airlines ruined my plans to go home for my uncle's funeral yesterday (and consequently make a little progress on the reading front along the way), I have nothing new to post. So a tip of the bloggy hat to Sarah Miller, from whom I shamelessly swiped this list.

According to The Big Read, the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books on this list. The instructions: Look at the list and:

• Bold those you have read.
• Italicize those you intend to read.
• Underline the books you LOVE.

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (Great American Novel #1)
6. The Bible (I actually did read the whole damn thing in college.)
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. 1984 - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy (Most depressing book EVER.)
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare (Okay, I have not read Cymbeline or Troilus and Cressida, but pretty much everything else.)
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger (taught it; and let me tell ya how much my 12th graders loved it when I read the "f*** you" part at the end)
19. The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot

21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald (Great American Novel #2)
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens (gaaaaak)
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (I gave you two weeks of my life with Anna Frakking Karenina, and that's all you get)
25. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck (tried; failed)
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy (train couldn't come fast enough)
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis (counting this since I read #36 below)
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis (would you like some allegory with your tea, missus?)
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne

41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (tried; failed)
44. A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery
47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood (read once; on The LIST to read again)
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan (got through 50 pages and wanted to throw it across the room)

51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52. Dune - Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens (on The LIST)
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov (read once; on The LIST to read again)
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac (get a job, loser)
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy (I take that back: THIS is the most depressing book ever.)
68. Bridget Jones' Diary - Helen Fielding
69. Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville

71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession - A.S. Byatt

81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert (HATE)
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte's Web - E.B. White (Great American Novel #3)
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams (silflay hraka, my 10th grade English teacher)
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare (not part of #14?)
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

I got 53, with 9 intentions. Not bad.

Little Brother: Review Haiku

Government gone wild!
Terrifying take on tech,
terror, and freedom.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. Tor, 2008, 382 pages.

The Mouse and His Child: Review Haiku

A clockwork fam'ly
braves villains, defeats, and time
to find their true home.

The Mouse and His Child by Russell Hoban, illustrated by David Small. Levine/Scholastic, 2001, 244 pages. Originally published 1967.

#37 on The LIST.

Swindle: Review Haiku

The Man with the Plan
makes vigilante justice
a group effort. Score!

Swindle by Gordon Korman. Scholastic, 2008, 252 pages.

P.S. Yankees suck.

Pitch Perfect: Review Haiku

Doopsie drama rocks!
But Rapkin wears his contempt
on his snarky sleeve.

Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate A Cappella Glory by Mickey Rapkin. Gotham, 2008, 275 pages.

P.S. Seriously, did no one read this book? "Competetion"? "Songrwriters"? "Cecilia" spelled two different ways IN THE SAME PARAGRAPH?

How to Build a House: Review Haiku

House as metaphor:
When your foundation crumbles,
it's time to rebuild.

How to Build a House by Dana Reinhardt. Lamb/Random, 2008, 227 pages.

I Was Told There'd Be Cake: Review Haiku

Sedaris with boobs:
Crosley riffs on ponies, locks,
evil butterflies.

I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley. Riverhead, 2008, 230 pages.

The Titan's Curse: Review Haiku

Fight evil monsters,
ride cross-country, save the world:
All in a day's work.

The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #3) by Rick Riordan. Hyperion, 2007, 320 pages.

The Book of Vice: Review Haiku

Sagal lets readers
indulge in naughty pasttimes
vicariously.

The Book of Vice: Very Naughty Things (and How to Do Them) by Peter Sagal. Harper, 2007, 254 pages.

Predictably Irrational: Review Haiku

Ec 10 meets Psych 101.
Think you know why you
do things? Think again.

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely. Harper, 2008, 280 pages.

Still alive

I spent most of my reading time this week doing work reading, so I don't have too much to blog about. I did finish two books over the weekend, so I'll post haiku (haikus? I can't believe I don't know the plural of this) on them soon.

Spent the weekend doing Stereotypical Fun Suburban Boston Family Things and, truly, having a damn fine time. Took the kids to Tanglewood to see A Prairie Home Companion (though they would surely assert that we took them there to run around and around and around the lawn and play in the rain); then took them downtown to ride the swan boats and see the duckling statues. Then, swimming! Then, ice cream! I am the Greatest Mommy Ever.

More soon . . .

Once again, she's been spying in my house

http://www.sundrymourning.com/2008/06/20/life-as-usual/

Annie on My Mind: Review Haiku

Groudbreaking when it
first came out; fortunately,
it feels dated now.

Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden. FSG, 1982, 233 pages.

#36 on The LIST.

The Odyssey: Review Haiku

If I hear "the child
of morning, rosy-fingered
dawn" one more time, I'll . . .

The Odyssey by Homer (maybe). 8th century BC (ish). Listened to on a Playaway device.

#35 on The LIST.

Fearless Fourteen: Review Haiku

How do you know when
sumer is ycumen in?
Stephanie shows up.

Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich. St. Martin's, 2008, 310 pages.

P.S. "Excrutiating"? "Garbonzo"?

Peeled: Review Haiku

Bauer's primer on
journalism starts clunkily,
but gets better.

Peeled by Joan Bauer. Putnam, 2008, 248 pages.

Forever Rose: Review Haiku

The true measure of
family is its handling
of life's messiness.

Forever Rose by Hilary McKay. McElderry/S&S, 2008, 291 pages.

P.S. Finally got my haiku shirt. I heart it (though the text lies oddly in my armpits).

Bonk: Review Haiku

Roach takes prurient
interest in the science of
sex. Twelve-year-olds cheer.

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach. Norton, 2008, 319 pages.

Favorite Authors Meme

I've been tagged by The Bookworm for the Favorite Authors Meme.

Here are the rules:
Link to the person that tagged you, post the rules somewhere in your blog, answer the questions, and tag four people in your post. Don't forget to let the tagees know they were tagged, so leave a comment on their blog! And remember to let your tagger know that your entry is posted.

1. Who's your favorite all-time author, and why?
I suppose I should be a good English major and say Shakespeare. He sort of defines "all-time," no?
2. Who was your first favorite author, and why?
A tie between Judy Blume and Ellen Raskin, since they wrote my two favorite childhood books, Superfudge and The Westing Game, respectively.
3. Who's the most recent edition to your list of favorite authors, and why?
Emily Jenkins. She is my best example of kick-ass picture book voice in my writers'-conference workshops.
4. If someone asked you who your favorite authors were right now, what would pop out of your mouth?
E. L. Konigsburg. Mo Willems. Harper Lee. Lois Lowry. Joan Bauer. David Sedaris. Mimi Smartypants. Susan Beth Pfeffer. Andrew Sullivan. Janet Evanovich. And countless others I can't think of right now, I'm sure.

I tag:
Librarian Mom
Mindy at propernoun.net
Adrienne
Liz B at ACAFATC

Pride and Prejudice: Review Haiku

Two blowhards meet cute
in Austen's classic rom-com.
Paging Colin Firth . . .

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Vintage, originally published 1813, 368 pages. #34 on The LIST. Listened to on a Playaway.

48-Hour Lack of Challenge

So it is becoming painfully clear that I will not be able to participate in this weekend's 48-Hour Book Challenge. I was all set to do it, and then suddenly I realized I have two birthday parties, a three-hour alumni sing, a Youth Sunday rehearsal, and . . . oh, right, two children under 5 and a husband who said (politely) HELL TO THE NO when I mentioned it to him.

But! I am going to try instead to use the month of June as a Read A Whole Heckuva Lot Month. So far it is . . . uh, not going so well (Pride and Prejudice, why are you so long?), but I'll get there, I'm sure. I have the new Joan Bauer and the new Hilary McKay and Bonk and a handful of books from The LIST, and I'm determined to get through them all. Plus I have The Odyssey waiting on Playaway whenever Elizabeth Bennett stops TALKING DEAR GOD THE ENDLESS TALKING and marries Darcy, for frak's sake.

See you soon and often.