false 32 768 465 true 5646638 read 1 true 1487405 currently-reading 302 true 1487404 to-read 191 false 1488312 childrens-picture-books 124 false 1488391 childrens-chapter-books 74 false 5073772 print-motivation 67 false 1496843 adult-books 55 false 5073770 narrative-skills 41 false 1488689 young-adult-books 35 false 5073769 print-awareness 33 false 5073776 phonological-awareness 30 false 5073773 vocabulary 21 false 1488818 graphic-novels 21 false 1489163 own 18 false 1488741 brain-candy 18 false 1494898 newbery 15 false 1487821 favorite-books 9 false 2868167 didn-t-finish 5 false 4564024 book-club 2 false 5377116 non-fiction 2 false 5073774 letter-knowledge http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/67745214 Fire (Hardcover) by Kristin Cashore
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79654639 to: The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity (Brixton Brothers) by Mac Barnett
bookshelves: childrens-chapter-books
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/62783388 to: Stitches: A Memoir (Hardcover) by David Small
bookshelves: adult-books
David Small is a master at portraying human emotions in his illustrations - whether it be a boy's glee in getting a free dinosaur with his dozen donuts or his own childhood loneliness and confusion. Wow. Read this book. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/52230047 to: When You Reach Me (Hardcover) by Rebecca Stead
bookshelves: childrens-chapter-books
This is just the kind of book I would have LOVED as a kid. And, as an adult, I loved it. I was a bit confused by the letters, but it came together for me in the end, and until it did, they weren't integral to the rest of the plot for me to be bothered. Wonderful premise and fully realized, natural characters. This is a great book. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/61096001 to: The Hunger Games (Hunger Games, #1) by Suzanne Collins
bookshelves: young-adult-books
The ONLY reason this didn't get five stars is because these kinds of dystopian, future society novels aren't generally my thing, which made it a little difficult to get into. But I did LOVE this book, and the last part was when it really became un-put-downable for me.

Looking forward to the sequel -- thank goodness I've already got it on hold! ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/45568590 to: Wintergirls (Hardcover) by Laurie Halse Anderson
bookshelves: young-adult-books
Amazing book. Really lets us into the mind of a girl with anorexia, and all the skewed thinking that goes along with mental illness. When you have anorexia, you can't "just eat" as everyone wants you to do -- your brain won't let you. You believe all of the negative self-talk that swirls around in your head. If you've never dealt with a mental illness, it's hard to understand how a person can truly believe the bizarre things their brain is telling them. The crossed-out passages are particularly effective, as if Lia is crossing out what a "normal" person would think in favor of what her illness wants her to think. That's why this book is so powerful -- we feel Lia's pain, hear the voices she hears, and struggle with her. Heartbreaking but finally hopeful, I had to put it down for a while as the story so moved me. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76240122 to: The Reformed Vampire Support Group (Hardcover) by Catherine Jinks
How's this for a beach read? So far, entertaining. Gonna read the rest of it while sitting by the pool/ocean/sipping a margarita!

Update: Turned out to be kind of meh. Not bad, just far too much talking about what they were going to do (and why they couldn't go to the police) than actual plot. But an interesting take on vampires -- it's not the "sparkling" life of Edward Cullen; these vampires are sick all the time, weak, and generally unhappy with their lot in life. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/22524281 to: Suddenly Supernatural: School Spirit (Suddenly Supernatural) by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
bookshelves: childrens-chapter-books
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/71984638 to: The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World (Paperback) by A.J. Jacobs
bookshelves: adult-books, book-club
Listening to this one in the car. Have laughed out loud a few times -- that's a good start! ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/62671141 to: The Locked Garden (Hardcover) by Gloria Whelan
bookshelves: childrens-chapter-books
I enjoyed this, but when I got to the end I thought I was missing some pages. I must be too used to endings that tie everything up neatly with a bow. This was an interesting look at mental illness (and perceptions about those WITH mental illnesses) during the late 1800s, and how one asylum "inmate" becomes part of Verna and Carlie's family. ]]>