My 6 year-old daughter has recently been introduced to SkippyJon Jones
, so she received SkippyJon Jones in 
the Doghouse
. This little Siamese cat has a huge imagination and is convinced he is a chihuahua. These books make for some fun reading for any age, my girls especially like the pet names that Mama Junebug Jones calls her little ones.
My 10 year-old daughter and my 11 year-old son are at pretty different reading levels. She has difficulty really focusing when reading silently, and I probably should have considered that a little 
more when choosing her book. I picked The Name of This Book is Secret
, (which I haven't yet read,) and it seems that the size of the book, at 384 pages--something I neglected to notice when shopping online, shame on me--is slightly intimidating to her. In addition, she is having a hard time getting into the writing style. I may have to read it aloud to her, or simply pre-read it so I can help her process it by answering any questions. It looked like the humor and mystery would be right up her alley...I have yet to see.
My 11 year-old son, on the other hand, just finished reading The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. Wait, let me repeat, I don't think you realize how impressed I am with this guy: My 11 year old just read The Lord of the Rings!! How cool is that? And you know what he said when I asked him what he was going to read
next? He got a little teary and said he just wanted to read it all over again, that it felt like he'd lost a friend. Is that the sign of a good book, or what? Makes me ashamed of myself: when I was assigned to read the Fellowship of the Ring in high school I only made it through about 40 pages before I was bored to tears. 
Guess what he's started reading now? Robinson Crusoe
. He says that it was a little boring to begin with, but still he pushes on. He was talking to me today about the similarities it has to Swiss Family Robinson, so we got to do some research on that end (turns out, SFR was inspired by Crusoe...was actually the author's way of telling his children the stories in Robinson Crusoe while adding some spiritual/moral guidance.) My little guy amazes me. 
Anyhow, while he is a great reader, with a great attention span, vocabulary, and comprehension skills, it is somewhat difficult to get him interested and convince him to read a specific book in the first place. For him I chose Millions
. He'd read Cosmic, also by Frank Cottrell Boyce, earlier this year and loved it. That was enough to convince him he'd enjoy this book. And he did, in one night. He insists I need to read both books. I probably should.
My 14 year-old son is a good reader, but his eyes are bigger than his stomach. He loves to have a book collection, but actually buckling down and reading them all kind of fades into the more important matters of playing guitar and chatting on Facebook. So instead of getting him a big fat book for his collection, I thought I'd introduce him (and thereby myself as well) to the world of graphic novels (outside of manga, which he occasionally enjoys). After scouring book blog recommendations and Amazon suggestions, I settled on two titles: Gray Horses
and Smile
.
Gray Horses is really about the art. The story is a quiet one, about a French Exchange student in America. The illustrations are all two-color, which gives it a more serious, artsy feel, and the story is almost more imagined than told. I loved how the girl's thoughts (which were in French, because, well, she was French) were translated into English. It was simple, a slim 112 pages, but inspiring.
Smile, on the other hand, has full color illustrations, is longer (at 224 pages,) but still pretty quick to read. The illustrations are more cartoon like (almost like Fox Trot comics) but very expressive and well done. There is much more detail in the story-line, and provided a great contrast to Gray Horses. While Gray Horses was 
interesting, and an interesting study in art and graphic novels, Smile was more widely sought and appreciated by my family. The only one who didn't pick it up and read it straight through was my 6 year-old...and, well, that's understandable. Everyone enjoyed it, even my husband (shocker! he must have really been on vacation if he found the time to sit down and read!). This book actually convinced my 10 year-old daughter that she didn't want braces after all, even if she does think they look neat.My foray into graphic novels was enjoyable. I liked seeing the two very different examples of what's out there. While I don't see how one could exist on graphic novels alone, I can understand the allure. They provide a quick, engaging escape, and are by no means necessarily less thought out than other fiction. Have you read any graphic novels lately?
captivating things around...but I also loved to dress up and be pretty, and find the most 
beautiful books the children's section of the library had to offer. This is how 
entered my life. My library had this delightful miniature copy that set my heart a-flutter. I read that a few times...wish I had that copy in my hands even now!
books like there was no tomorrow when my mom finally became exasperating and told me to read a classic for a change. She'd had a friend who had read 
in high 
school, I should do that too. So I did, just so that I could prove to my mom that I could. (She hadn't read it and was pretty horrified to learn that this classic involved a woman throwing herself in front of a train in the name of love--I think that was the kind of drama she was trying to get me away from!)
, 
, 
. It took me a few years to make it to the types of books I now read (I got married young, had my kiddos young, and didn't have enough reserve brain cells to keep up a healthy diet of literary fiction until I joined my book club.) I'd say that 
Title: 
, Jonathan Safran Foer. I've been wanting and WANTING to read this book, but I think I might save it for next month and make my entire book club read it. What do you think about that?
. Mm, I started this in 2009. 'Bout time I finished it. 
Especially considering that I've really enjoyed most of the stories. I need to crack the whip!
, A.S. Byatt. I need to pull up my pants and just jump in. I'm nervous that I won't like it as much as everyone seems to, so I keep procrastinating. What can I do to force myself to read it?
, David McCullough. I love the topic, I love the author, I even have two different versions of this title. What on earth am I waiting for?
, Bill Bryson. It's been TWO YEARS since I've read anything of Bill Bryson's. How sad is that? Pretty sad, considering I find him quite entertaining. Every time I read one of his books I actually consider writing him a letter. And then I chicken out.
, Boris Pasternak. This is on my Classics Challenge, so really no excuse to not read it. I used to love the movie in high school, still haven't read the book.
, Charles Portis. Saw the new movie, fell in love, must read book now, praying it will be as great
as the movie, the end.
, Joseph O'Connor. Loved Star of the Sea, and this one about the Revolution looks like a good place to go next.
