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.

 

 

PICTURE BOOKS

 

 

President Taft is Stuck in the Bath by  Mac Barnett, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen

2014-book, humor, picture-book, presidents,  social-studies-connections   Have you seen this yet?!  I've posted it before, but in case you missed it...     Poor President Taft. What an unfortunate legacy that may or may not even be true. I think kids will think the story, and especially the illustrations, funny, but may also be disturbed at the idea of all those people in Taft's personal space!! I do think the ideas of the various cabinet members of how to get Taft out of the bathtub were clever (the secretary of agriculture wanted to try freshly churned butter and the secretary of war wanted to blast him out with dynamite). It was also clever of t Poor President Taft. What an unfortunate legacy that may or may not even be true. I think kids will think the story, and especially the illustrations, funny, but may also be disturbed at the idea of all those people in Taft's personal space!! I do think the ideas of the various cabinet members of how to get Taft out of the bathtub were clever (the secretary of agriculture wanted to try freshly churned butter and the secretary of war wanted to blast him out with dynamite). It was also clever of the illustrator to find ways to cover Taft's birthday suit once he flew from the bath!     The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee   2014-book, friendship, humor, journey, mock-caldecott-2015, picture-book, wordless My husband saw this book lying around and thought it looked creepy (some people have an aversion to clowns), but it is anything but. The friendship between the farmer and the clown when the clown accidentally falls off a circus train, is endearing and touching. Told without words, the story is revealed through facial expressions, muted colors with pops of red and yellow, and the playful antics and caring acts that develop a friendship. Cute twist at the end. This book would pair up well with Molly Idle's Flora stories.   INTERMEDIATE/YOUNG ADULT       Messenger by Lois Lowry   audio-book, dogs, dystopian-novel, family, fears, friendship, intermediate-kids-book, journey, reluctant-hero, series, trees     This is my first time through the rest of The Giver series.  I finished listening to the audio (loved the narrator) of Messenger on my way into school one morning, and I had to fight back tears. What a beautiful ending to a story. The forest scene was gripping. I loved how Kira from Gathering Blue and Jonah from The Giver wove their way into this third installment of the Giver series. I can't wait to see how it all ends in Son. I would add this book to my Nerdy Book Club post on books featuring trees and forests!    ADULT                          Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty                                       2014-book, adult-fiction, book-club                                                                                           This novel was like binge-watching episodes of "Desperate Housewives," and I loved that show! With an hilarious, and at times, tragic cast of characters, snippets of interviews with parents from Pirriwee Public School following a murder, a countdown to a drunken school trivia night, moms gossiping about teachers, students, and other moms, false bullying accusations, domestic violence, and a great twist, you've got the makings of an incredibly entertaining and compelling story! Our book club real This novel was like binge-watching episodes of "Desperate Housewives," and I loved that show! With an hilarious, and at times, tragic cast of characters, snippets of interviews with parents from Pirriwee Public School following a murder, a countdown to a drunken school trivia night, moms gossiping about teachers, students, and other moms, false bullying accusations, domestic violence, and a great twist, you've got the makings of an incredibly entertaining and compelling story! Our book club really enjoyed it. I've heard great things about Moriarty's other novels, The Husband's Secret and What Alice Forgot.   CURRENTLY READING     CURRENTLLY LISTENING TO     My family loves to read, so I usually feature what they are all reading, but the college girls are busy with classes and college activities, and my husband is swamped with work, so my parents are the only ones reading besides me this week!   MOM     DAD     What are YOU reading this week?