Picture Books

Since this blog's address has mom in the title, I thought I'd mention one of my favorite picture books, Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt.  This book is cute and really funny.  My six year old son discovered this series last year and we have checked all the books in the series at least twice.  They are really cute and funny.  They are also fun to read.  Some picture books are just a drag to read, but Scaredy Squirrel is always fun.  I definitely recommend it.

P.S. I love it (Midwestern son)

Guilty Pleasure

Here is where I am going to prove that I am in no way a book snob.  (If anyone hadn't figured this out yet.)  I am going to admit that I love Romance books, Supernatural Romance especially.  There is something about vampire romance that I love.  (Yes I love Twilight.  Read it twice, and read all the other books in the series in one long obsessive session, and have seen all the movies so far.)  

So, I was so happy when I found out about the Riley Jenson Guardian Series.  It's full of Werewolves, Vampires, and hot romance.  This is definitely an adult series--lots of  fairly graphic sex scenes.  Riley is a strong woman who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to go after it.  It has lots of supernatural elements and a page turning story.  Best of all, the dark elements don't overshadow the good making it a non-depressing read!

I definitely recommend the first book in the series, Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur. 

Like Mother Like Daughter

As a mother of two children, my children are a constant source of joy to me.  There was one moment recently when I have not been prouder of my daughter.  No it was not when she swam her best time at a swim meet, or when she qualified to compete in a band competition, it was when her reading level went so high most adult books are below her reading level.

Let me explain.  My daughter struggled in school from Kindergarten on.  She had to work hard to keep from being left behind, but she kept reading.  Over time she developed a love of reading and just read and read for fun.  That is what did it.  She now is a confirmed reader and I am SO proud of her.

Women's Books

Am I just not picking the right books, is it just me, or all almost all women's fiction really, really depressing? Why so many books about divorce, breakups, and people dying? Where are the heroines who have living children and goals and dreams? Where are the heroines who continue to have lives after they graduate from college and don't just fade into nothing? Where are the heroines who can inspire us? I'M SICK OF IT! Does anyone have any suggestions, because I'm at a loss.

Happy New Year!

Let's all resolve to make time for reading. I am resolving to read more classic fiction and nonfiction this year. It is easy to pick up a fun book, but I get so much out of books that require thinking and some effort to read.

Parents out there--Please make reading a top priority in your home. Reading is the foundation for success in all school subjects. Read aloud to your children, no child is too old to read to. Jim Trelease, a reading advocate, recommends reading interesting newspaper articles, etc. to teenage children while they are doing the dishes. Check out his website at www.trelease-on-reading.com Younger children who can read still enjoy being read to. Children can listen and understand books that they can not read themselves. Buy your kids books, enforce daily reading time most school's recommend, and model good reading behavior.

Merry Christmas to all my many followers! (okay, it's just the one! Thanks, friend)

I have been busy with back to school activities, then I have started working part-time (because as my husband so kindly pointed out, I don't get paid to read), and then there

is Christmas! I love celebrating Christ's birth, I don't like all the expectations women especially, feel. Cookies, gifts, shopping (which I hate, unless it's for books), cards, all the false cheer, etc.

Since my last post, I have read 80 books! My favorites are:

The Overachievers, the Secret Lives of Driven Kids, by Alexandra Robbins (All that stress on our children today, comes at a price)

Steig Larsson's trilogy, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and the Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's nest (A very, interesting, readable thriller)

My Teenage Were-Wolf, A Mother, A Daughter, a Journey Through the Thicket of Adolescence, by Lauren Kessler (The Teenage years are the most important for establishing the mother-daughter relationship you will have with your adult daughter)

Made by Hand, Searching for Meaning in a Throwaway World by Mark Frauenfelder (A man after my own heart)

The Taste of Good Fruit by MaRita Teague (Christian Fiction has always inspired me! A reminder of Who we should lean on in times of trouble)

The Maximum Ride Series by James Patterson (Angel Experiment, School's Out Forever, Saving the World & Other Extreme Sports, The Final Warning, Max, & Fang) (YA, fun, positive, empowering, fantasy)

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (A classic everyone should read)

The Magicians, by Lev Grossman (Narnia, meets Harry Potter all grown-up)

The Seven Realms, The Exiled Queen by Cinda Williams Chima (YA Fantasy doesn't get any better)

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender (An interesting take on mental illness and people struggling to fit in to the world)

The Blind Side by Michael Lewis (The movie was good, the book is GREAT. Football, poverty, class relations and life)

Blood Oath (The President's Vampire) by Christopher Farnsworth (A vampire Assassin bound to the President. I want more books!)

Well, that's all for now. Keep reading. Your commets are welcome.

Happy New Year! and Happy Reading!