To Kill A Mockingbird

In case you missed it, I'm reading all of the books I should have read in high school but didn't for two reasons:

1) I grew up in a small farming community and my school never required me to read anything.
2) I majored in boys.

For the full list of the books, please read this post.

I'm really glad I started with To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee because it is required reading in the 8th grade at the school my kids will attend in a few years.  I feel smarter already!!

In 6 years, I will be prepared to answer questions from my children about the book and to explain certain things about what the world looked like a long time ago; especially in the south.  I've never lived in that part of the country so like them, everything I know is from books or television.

Now that I've read the book, I'm also interested in watching the movie that was released December 25th, 1962 starring Gregory Peck.  Wow, they sure didn't waste any time making it into a movie.   The film won three academy awards:

• Best Actor ~  Gregory Peck
• Best Adapted Screenplay ~ Horton Foote
• Best Art Direction ~ Henry Bunstead, Alexander Golitzen and Oliver Emert

If you are a fan of historical fiction, I think you will enjoy this book.  I had several people tell me it is one of their favorites of all time and I can see why.  I feel a bit like I miss the characters and would like a chance to meet Boo Radley myself!

Have you read To Kill a Mockingbird? What do you like about it?

By the way, the next book I'm reading is A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare.

Books I Should Have Read in High School

I was sitting in the school parking lot with my friend Margaret when we started talking about books.  She mentioned a few that she read in high school and I had not.  That got me thinking that there are a lot of books that I have heard about that were not required reading at MY high school.

Near as I can tell, the problem is that I went to school in Greeley, Colorado.  Greeley was a smallish cow town out on the prairie and I think it's possible that they thought we all wouldn't amount to anything so why educate us.  We were all going to just be farmers, clerks at Walmart or truck drivers.

My life long ambition was to get married.  That's night.  I majored in boys!

I'm decided that this can't go on any longer so I'm going to read all of the books that I should have read in high school if I had lived somewhere....like Denver.

Here is the list:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Lee Harper

A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

1984 by George Orwell

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Whuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

I'll be starting To Kill a Mockingbird Next week!  If you'd like to join me click here.

The Light Between Oceans

This book has been on my Must Read List for a while now.  I was so excited when my Mom gave it to me that I promptly forgot about it and didn't read it for 3 months. In my defense, I was embroiled in much PTA shenanigans.

As soon as Christmas break began, I picked up the book and had a really hard time putting it down, except that my in laws showed up without warning four days before Christmas and I had to wait on them hand and foot when I was near exhaustion from serving Hot Chocolate to 624 elementary school children.

Finally....they left and I had a whole day to read while my family assembled 8036 LEGOS.

So...I don't know why but lately, I keep reading books that are set in other countries that I'll never ever visit.  I think I love this!

Oh.  The book!  I should tell you what the name of the book is!


The Light Between Oceans!

I don't want to give too much of the book away but you should know that it will pull at your heart strings if you're a mother.  If you've ever had a miscarriage, you'll weep.  If you've ever been curious about lighthouses and living without electricity, you'll love this book.

If you'd like to read this book.  Leave me a comment telling me what your reading goal for 2014 is (mine is 45 books) and I'll pull a winner on WEDNESDAY January 8th.

US residents only, please.

Favorite Children's Book of 2013

My kids read a lot of books.

Every Thursday, they each bring home two books and we also visit the public library frequently.  I love finding books that have just come out and requesting them at the library.  It's always a surprise to them when we walk up to the 'holds' area and there is a book waiting for them.

My favorite book of 2013 is The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt.  I love it so much that I bought a copy for my kids' school and we're donating it to the library when we go back to school in the new year!

Have you ever donated a book to your kids' library?  Did you know that they LOVE it?

October Book Club Selection

The winner of a copy of Mrs. Poe is Brittin!   Congratulations!

I don't know about you but I really enjoyed the last book?  The Aviator's Wife was such a good read and I feel like I learned so much.  It's no secret that I love historical fiction so I was excited to find this next book.

Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen

1845: New York City is a sprawling warren of gaslit streets and crowded avenues, bustling with new immigrants and old money, optimism and opportunity, poverty and crime. Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” is all the rage—the success of which a struggling poet like Frances Osgood can only dream. As a mother trying to support two young children after her husband’s cruel betrayal, Frances jumps at the chance to meet the illustrious Mr. Poe at a small literary gathering, if only to help her fledgling career. Although not a great fan of Poe’s writing, she is nonetheless overwhelmed by his magnetic presence— and the surprising revelation that he admires her work. 

What follows is a flirtation, then a seduction, then an illicit affair . . . and with each clandestine encounter, Frances finds herself falling slowly and inexorably under the spell of her mysterious, complicated lover. But when Edgar’s frail wife Virginia insists on befriending Frances as well, the relationship becomes as dark and twisted as one of Poe’s tales. And like those gothic heroines whose fates are forever sealed, Frances begins to fear that deceiving Mrs. Poe may be as impossible as cheating death itself. . . .

Enter to win a copy of Mrs. Poe by Sunday at Midnight!  A Winner will be chosen on Monday morning.  Open to US residents only.


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Fall Reading List

The leaves are turning and my fundraising drive at school is about to come to a close for a few months.  That means more time for the things that I want to do and I want to read!

Here are the books I'm hoping to read in the next 11 weeks.  What is on your winter reading list?

Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain

The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements

The Light Between Oceans: A Novel

Sisterland: A Novel

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book II: The Hidden Gallery

Bonding with Grandma

When I was growing up, every weekend you'd find me in the living room....sitting on the green couch with a book in one hand and a Pepsi in the other.  I'd read all weekend!

You'd often find my Mom doing the same thing.  We were both vivacious readers and we'd often share books.  Danielle Steel was our favorite back then.

My daughter has caught the reading bug and I was thrilled to see Meghan and her Grandma engrossed in books together.

We're got another reader in the family!