It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

These are memes started by Teach Mentor Texts and Book Journey, and I'm excited to participate, along with many other bloggers, in reviewing books I read the previous week. I'll be reviewing picture books through adult books.

 

These are the books I read this week - only two since it was the last week of school (teachers know what kind of week that is), and The Secret Keeper was LONG:

 

 

That Is NOT a Good Idea! by Mo Willems

 

2013-book, animals, bookaday2013, character-motivation, fable, foreshadowing, humor, irony, mock-caldecott-2014, picture-book, repetition, surprise-ending, theme     Mo Willems always has humor and surprises up his sleeve.  Someone's inner goslings are giving warnings that the events unfolding in the story are dangerous!!  Your inner goslings should also warn YOU...don't make assumptions!  Willems never disappoints.     The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton (Be sure to go to her website - it's very cool!)   adult-fiction, book-club, bookaday2013, character-motivation, mystery       "Laurel had been thinking a lot lately about secrets, about how difficult they were to keep, and the habit they had of lurking quietly beneath the surface before sneaking all of a sudden through a crack in their keeper's resolve." This masterfully crafted novel is told in parts, focusing on several different characters. When it begins, we are introduced to a bucolic and beloved farmhouse and 16-year-old Laurel, who is hiding from her siblings during a game of hide-and-seek and dreaming of Billy...more"Laurel had been thinking a lot lately about secrets, about how difficult they were to keep, and the habit they had of lurking quietly beneath the surface before sneaking all of a sudden through a crack in their keeper's resolve." This masterfully crafted novel is told in parts, focusing on several different characters. When it begins, we are introduced to a bucolic and beloved English farmhouse and 16-year-old Laurel, who is hiding from her siblings during a game of hide-and-seek and dreaming of Billy Baxter. As she is called in to sample some birthday cake, she lingers and daydreams about her move to London to study theater, and she watches her mother fetch the traditional cake-cutting knife from the kitchen while a man (traveling salesman maybe?) approaches. Her mother, carrying baby Gerald, comes back out of the house to see who the dog was growling at, and Laurel watches, still hidden, as her mother sees the man, appears shocked, and moves with haste while wresting the baby away.  Laurel hears the man greet her mother by name and then sees the cake knife flash, and a shocking act ensues, changing everything. We are swept forward, then, to 2011, when Laurel, now a successful actress, has returned to her ailing mother, now old and dying. We know that there were secrets kept about that fateful day in 1961, and Laurel is determined to find out about them. The story switches between 2011 and WWII, sweeping us along with it, wondering how all the pieces of the puzzle will fall into place. Morton expertly ends chapters with suspense and intrigue. I didn't see the ending coming! I can't wait to talk about it at book club!  Friends have told me how much they like Kate Morton books, and now I know why!  They are ALL on my TBR list now!   READING EVENTS THIS WEEK:   I had a lot of fun participating in Armchair BEA, a blogging and books event for those who couldn't make it to the actual Book Expo America.  I was introduced to lots of interesting bloggers and lots of books I will need to read!    I also began participating in The Fifth Annual #Bookaday Challenge, sponsored by Donalyn Miller.  Participating in this challenge means I will need to read at least 76 books this summer.  I'm off to a good start - I've read five, and it's only the third day of summer.  Picture books count, thank goodness! CURRENTLY READING: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: ON DECK:   Come back Wednesday to see the nonfiction books I've read this week!    What books are YOU reading this week?  I'd love to hear from you!