TTT: Books With Sensory Reading Memories Attached to Them

Top Ten Tuesday: Books with sensory reading memories attached to them

1.What Happened by Hillary Clinton

I was (am) so sad and mad about the election results, the Russian interference, the fact that some people didn't want Hillary to win because she is female. I remember reading the book several months after the election and allowing myself to really feel the loss. In a lot of ways it was cathartic for me.

2. Uprooted: The Japanese American Experience in World War II by Albert Marrin

I know this is a strange title to attach happy and fascinated feelings to the reading experience. But I read this book on a bullet train in China on vacation. Part of the book deals with the history of relationships between China and Japan. Stuff I didn't know. It made the whole reading experience so good for me.

3. The One-In-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood

This is such a poignant story. I laughed and cried. I listened to this book while driving and nearly had to pull over at the end of the book. I was so swept up in the emotions of it.

4. The Singer by Calvin Miller

This book was given to me by a high school friend. I never read it but moved it around with me over the years intending to read it someday. When my friend died unexpectedly I found the book and read it in memory of her. I felt deeply sad.

5. Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

This book which is all about justice and mercy in the court system in our country. My husband and I listened to it together. We were both so moved and provoked by what we learned. I can still picture where we were on the road when Stevenson was talking about the injustice in the mental health system in our country.

6. West With the Night by Beryl Markham

Markham lived in Africa in the 1930s. Her writing is so lovely and evocative of the culture and the landscape. It reminded me of the time we lived in Africa.

7. Teaching with Fire: Poems that Sustains the Courage to Teach by Sam Intrator

I read this poetry volume cover to cover. It spoke to my heart like no other book had ever spoken about strength and courage needed to teach. I snuck it into a 

chamber orchestra concert and read it when I should have been listening.

8. The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett

This is the 5th book in the Tiffany Aching series and the last book published by Pratchett before his death. As I read it, I became overwhelmed by sadness for the world's loss of this great author.

9. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Oddly, I had a very visceral reaction to this Sci-Fi book and I obsessed about what I would do if aliens attacked our planet for weeks after reading it. Don't believe me? Ask anyone in my family. I involved them in the planning.

10. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

I have never laughed so much while listening to a book. My husband and I enjoyed this one together and that experience has stayed with me long after we finished it.

Sunny Sunday Salon, July 22

Sisters and hubbies aboard the ferry heading toward Seattle. If you look really carefully you can see the Space Needle behind us on the left. It is windy in the front of the boat, you can tell by our hair.

“Instructions for living a life. 

Pay attention. 

Be astonished. 

Tell about it.”

Mary Oliver

Weather: Sunny but not uncomfortably warm, YET.

A really horrible photo taken by me of the beginning of the Yellow Submarine movie.

Yellow Submarine: This week is the 50th anniversary of the first showing of the Beatles' psychedelic cartoon, Yellow Submarine. I've never seen it before. (Remember I am experiencing a late-in-life case of Beatlemania.) So Don took me on a date to see the film at our local Indy movie theater. I loved it! The artwork is so creative and, well, artsy. The music was remastered a few years ago and sounds fantastic. I loved everything about the experience.

Seattle skyline taken aboard the State ferry right before docking.

Family visit: My sister and her husband came up for a quick visit and to hike Mt. Rainier. We had a few days of fog around the mountain but the old lady did show off her grandeur a few times during their stay. We also took the ferry from Bremerton, on the Kitsap peninsula to Seattle. Ferries is part of the highway system in Washington, so the cost isn't awful. The trip takes about an hour and the view of the iconic Seattle skyline is well worth the time and cost.

Book Clubs: both my clubs have met since my last Sunday Salon post. We had very good discussions over both books.

• Truth Like the Sun by Jim Lynch. Lynch is from Olympia, Washington. I enjoy reading his books for the local flavor. This book is about the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle and one man in particular who made it possible. Then fast forward almost fifty years and the same man is running for mayor of Seattle. Old grunges and old "news" starts to surface about his past life. The book is based on many actual events but the main characters are not real. Oddly, few gals finished the book and only one gal actually liked it. That didn't keep us from having a robusht discussion, however.
• The Leavers by Lisa Ko. Paulie is an illegal immigrant from China, her son, Daniel, was born in the the USA. One day Paulie doesn't come home from work and no one knows what happened to her. Daniel is eventually adopted by an American family but he can't get over the feeling that everyone he loves will leave him. This book gave us plenty of fodder to discuss as the topic is so clearly in the headlines these days. I highly recommend this book for book clubs.

Chris Stapleton concert: My husband is a big country music fan. Consequently I have come around, since my high school days of hating country music, and find it fun, too.Saturday night we went to a Chris Stapleton concert at the White River Amphitheater. Overlooking all the drunk people and the people who thought they needed to talk about work throughout the concert, getting louder as the music increased in volume, it was fabulously fun. Before singing the song Tennessee Whiskey, he introduced the band by singing tidbits of the information about his band mates. I loved it. (Justin Timberlake wasn't there.)

Hanging out in diapers, doing the bear crawl.

Darling boy: Ian and his mom have been here a lot this summer since they are taking swim lessons at the nearby YMCA and I try to meet them there is help with the showering. He loves the water, but doesn't really do anything the teacher asks of the students like blowing bubbles, holding breath, or jumping into the pool. Oh well, he is young.

Books read since last Sunday Salon:

• Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert. Building on the concept of quantum entanglements, Gilbert writes an important book about the interconnections of relationships and the tragedy of illegal immigration, sacrificing one for another. This was a slow starter for me but I came to really think this book had something special, worth wading through it to get to the finale. Print.
• Rumi's Little Book of Life. Poems by Rumi. Print.
• The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang. A graphic novel telling the story of a prince who liked to cross dress and his friend and dressmaker. I adored this book. Print.
• Art and Wonder. Edited by Kate Farrell. Visionary poems and art work from the Metropolitan Art Museum in New York. Most of the poems were new to me. I liked the way poetry and art were paired. Print.
• Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honey. I first thought this book was just an unfunny version of the Rosie Project because Eleanor clearly seemed to be somewhere on the autism spectrum, but it became so much more: mental health, parental abuse, the value of friendship, healing. I loved this book and want to read it with one of my book clubs. Audio.
• Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman. The second book in the Scythe series. It advances the story of the first book and sets new fact out before us. But the book suffers from middle-book-in-trilogy syndrome. Print.
• Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card by Sara Saedi. A memoir about another person in the country illegally. This time from Iran. I couldn't make myself read the whole book but I read over 100 pages. The writing was fine but my interest lagged. Print.

Currently reading:

• The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden. A lot of folks have recommended this book based on Russian folklore. Audio. 22%
• Paris for One and Other Short Stories by JoJo Moyes. Last week's Top Ten Tuesday topic was about Short Stories, a form I enjoy very much. Wanting to read something for the Paris in July Challenge, I picked up this book and I'm enjoying it very much. 56%. Print.

Updates:

• My dad's health has stabilized and my parents are making plans to take a short three-day vacation to Central Oregon next month. My sisters and I are working on plans for his 90th birthday.
• Daughter #2, Carly, is settling into life in San Francisco. She started work as a Genetic Counselor on July 9th, though most of what she has done so far is either training or shadowing. She is also studying to take her profession certification exam in August. We have transferred title to the Subaru to her so now she can licence it in California and start paying her own insurance costs. The pain of growing up!

Fight with the wisteria, or the campaign to save the dogwood tree: Last weekend Don and I spent the WHOLE day Saturday fighting with the wisteria, which had totally overgrown its space, in an effort to get it out of the dogwood tree. We ended up cutting down the whole thing, had to fight to get its death grip on the tree loosened, and just about killed ourselves in the process. Never again. We will cut/prune/destroy any shoots we see coming from the stump! I promise.

"A balm of kindness and empathy." Won't You Be My Neighbor? Go see it at a theater near your home. We need more Mr. Rogers in our lives today, with everyone from the President on down filled with uncivil, unkind words and actions. This movie reminds us of the need to listen to our better natures.

Review: The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

Summary: Alice and her mother have been running away from bad luck her whole life. She has moved more times than she has stayed put. And the whole time that she and her mother have been on the run, she has never, not once, met or visited her grandmother who lives on an estate called The Hazel Wood and is famous for writing a deeply-dark volume of fairy tales, Tales from the Hinterland. Alice hasn't even read her grandmother's book, because her mother has forbade it. But also because she can't find a copy. They all seem to have vanished into thin air. When the mother-daughter team learn that the grandmother has died, they dare to think that their bad luck has finally come to an end. They move to New York City. Alice's mom remarries and they move into a high rise apartment. One day when Alice returns from school she discovers that her mother and her step family have been kidnapped. In order to find her mother before it is too late, Alice turns for help from a classmate, Ellery Finch, who is a fan of her grandmother's book. The only clue they have is the table of contents page ripped out of book and a note scrawled in her mother's handwriting: Stay out of the Hazel Wood. So that is exactly where the pair head.

Review: By the end of 2017 people who like to be in-the-know were already talking about The Hazel Wood and it wasn't even published yet. The book seemed to be on eveyone's list of books they were looking forward to in 2018. I am always shocked when people seem to know more about an unpublished book than I do about books which have been around for years, but that it beside the point. Because of all the pre-excitement, I added The Hazel Wood to my reading list, too. Heck, I didn't want to miss out of the best book of 2018, if indeed it was the best book. When it was my turn for the library copy, I made a quick jaunt to pick it up before leaving on a short trip/family reunion. Before I settled down to read I went to Goodreads to add it to my account and couldn't help noticing that it only had 3.65 stars. That is pretty low for "the best book of the year." I dug a little deeper, (I know. I shouldn't have) and discovered that a whole bunch of readers hated the book. H.A.T.E.D. it. I was shocked. Should I abandon it now or read on in hopes I was among those who liked it. I opted for the latter choice and that was a good decision. I actually liked the book a lot.

There are a lot of similarities between The Hazel Wood and Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland. Many are no-brainers. Alice/Alice; Wonderland/Hinterland; they both travel through a door or hole to gain access to the world; once there, everything is distorted---time, space, odd characters. Though Alice in Wonderland has its dark moment, Hazel Wood is almost completely dark, creepy dark. It is as if the author wanted to rework the old fairy tale and make it as sinister as she could.

Perhaps this is the rub. Maybe all those folks who were excited about the book really just wanted a fairy tale. You know the kind that start with Once Upon a Time and end with They Lived Happily Every After. Though most fairy tales have dark portions and scary aspects, they also include positive aspects: Snow White is happy living with the dwarfs; Cinderella has fun at the ball; the ugly duckling is actually a swan! Caitlin Paxson, writing a review for NPR points out that

"There is never a moment where we are allowed to look around the Hinterland and enjoy it. We don't get to wonder at its magics, or see any of its stories that have happy endings. And to me, that is the true power at the heart of fairy tales and beloved childhood fantasy books alike: They show us how to win against the dark" NPR.

I was all caught up in the action, adventure, chases, and near-misses as I read the book. I cheered for Alice to find and free her mother. I was enamored with the story in front of me, but if I step back and look at it through the lens provided by Ms. Paxson, I have to stop and agree. Many researchers over the years have talked about the value to reading fairy tale to children...so they learn that good triumphs over evil. Perhaps they provide children with the solace to believe in a better future. And The Hazel Wood? Does this story fulfill that requirement of fairy tales? I'll leave that for you to answer for yourself, which means you'll have to read the book to decide. Perhaps what you will decide that the book didn't end up the way you wanted but it ends the way Alice needed it to.

btw- My daughter, who read the book right after I finished it, LOVED it and she is much more "into" fairy tales than I am.

Summer Reading Challenges

This summer I hope to read for three summer challenges. Since summer has really just begun for me, I won't even mention that it is July and a little late to be joining up.

1. Big Book Summer Challenge
As in past summers I am joining the Big Book Summer Challenge which gives me an excuse to read at least one big book, over 400 pages, during our warmest months. All I have to do is read at least one long book, write an entry post (this one) and an exit post in September with my updates. I am going to attempt to read three or four big books, which won't be that hard since I've already read one. Ha! Join in the fun. Click the link above for more details and to sign up.

My list of possible selections: 

1. Going Bovine @480 pages...OK, I know. I have already read this one, but I reread it this summer, so I am counting it,
2. All the Light We Cannot See @ 531 pages...this will also be a reread, if I get to it. We are doing it for book club in August.
3. Suite Francaise @431 pages...not a cheery, lighthearted subject for summer reading, though. The author was killed in the holocaust. 
4. Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman @544....a prequel to Seraphina, a book I loved.

2. Paris in July Challenge

Sign up at Thyme for Tea. So many of my blogging friends read for this challenge and I am so jealous of the titles I see on their lists. The rules include other activities than just reading:

There will be no rules or targets in terms of how much you need to do or complete in order to be a part of this experience – just blog about anything French and you can join in! Some ideas might include;

• reading a French themed book – fiction or non-fiction, 

• watching a French movie, 

• listening to French music, 

• cooking French food, 

• experiencing French, art, architecture and travel

Here are few books I may try to knock off in the next two weeks

• All the Light We Cannot See...half of the story is set in Paris, , so it counts. I know you see this book on the Big Book Challenge, but double-dipping is good in my book.
• The Piano Shop on the Left Bank....I just saw this book at the library on the SALE shelf. I will race back tomorrow and see if it is still there.
• The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris...I love books by this author, David McCullough. If he reads the audiobook, better yet. I'll see if it is available on audiobooks from the library.
• 13 Paintings Children Should Know by Wentzel....It is a children's book but is right up my alley. I found it on the list of books about Paris so I am assuming it will talk about pieces of art which are in Paris now.
• Suite Francaise....this has long been on my TBR list. Why not finally read it now?
• "50 Years of Beatles: The Beatles Take Paris"...an essay by Kenneth Womach
• Paris for One: collection of short stories by JoJo Moyes...just found out about this one.

In addition I'd like to watch a movie in French with subtitles, try my hand at making a french dish I've not tried before, and listen to more French music.

3. Austen in August

Not sure if anyone will be hosting this Jane Austen Challenge this summer or not. If so, I am in. The goal is to read anything by Jane Austen or about Jane Austen. Since I have finished all six of her novels I usually read something about her, or a Jane Austen retelling. Here are some options I might consider:

• Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid...part of the Austen Project. It is a retelling of Austen's work by the same name.
• Prejudice and Pride by Lynn Messina...a twist on the original with the men the ones without money and the women to the rescue. Sounds fun.
• Unequal Affection by Lara Ormiston....Lizzy accepts Darcy's first proposal, not out of love, but out of obligation. He then grows to become the man we love by the end of the original but because of unequal affection.

4. August Comment Challenge

This is an easy fun way to make new blogging friends. Simply sign up. Wait for partner assignment. All month visit that blog and make comments. Easy. Here are the details to start:

Sign up: Lonna @ FLYLēF and Alicia @ A Kernel of Nonsense. Make an intro post. (That is this!) Wait for assignment. Make a post at the end of the month of how it went.

Review: Picture Us In the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert

When a YA book gets starred reviews from five professional publications it is time to take note. That is exactly what happened with the new YA novel, Picture Us In the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert. Reviewers have been crazy about the book for good reason. Here is what they are saying about it:

It’s easy to pigeonhole books: this one’s an immigrant story, this will appeal to readers who have lost someone to suicide, here’s a doomed love story, and so on. Gilbert includes all these elements and more in this novel, masterfully negotiating plot twists and revelations while keeping the focus on her characters. -Publisher's Weekly

Family, art, love, duty, and longing collide in this painfully beautiful paean to the universal human need for connection. -Kirkus Reviews 

With grace and respect, Gilbert manages to address the existential quandaries of both second-generation American teens and their immigrant parents who must make profoundly life-changing choices to give their children the best life possible. The result is both exhilarating and tortuous—Gilbert methodically lays bare her characters’ secrets as if she was slowly pulling a cloth off a fine painting. -Booklist 

The author demonstrates exquisite facility with tech-savvy teen-speak in every scenario and balances the authentic dialogue with elegant prose. -School Library Journal 

All together, it's a heady concoction: a compelling story of all kinds of love and all kinds of heartbreak overlaid with the unveiling of all kinds of secrets.  -BCCB

When Danny Cheng's father, a first generation immigrant from China, loses his job working as a lab assistant at a nearby college, everything in Danny's life starts to unravel. Though he is clearly one of the least wealthy students at the high school in Cupertino, California, Danny's life had been looking up. He had just learned that he had won a full scholarship to attend the arts school of his choice once he graduates. Then his dad loses his job and suddenly everything he thinks he knows about his parents, he realizes he doesn't know. In fact, it is really obvious that there are some very big secrets they are keeping from him. Also he is sad about events that have tainted his life since the previous year, which Danny feels are likely his fault. He is also worried about the relationship between his best friends.

The book opens with an early memory for Danny. He and his mother accompany his father to his lab on a weekend day. The father demonstrated the experiment he was working on concerning quantum entanglements.  "In quantum physics, entangled particles remain connected so that actions performed on one affect the other, even when separated by great distances. The phenomenon so riled Albert Einstein he called it 'spooky action at a distance.'" Danny's father was doing experiments on humans and found that they could also be considered in quantum entanglements. Even when he and his mother were separated by a whole classroom, if one looked a picture of their loved, their heart rate and blood pressure would change in response to the photo. But here is the weird part, their loved one down the hall, who didn't see a photo, would have the exact change in body processes at the same time. This concept of quantum entanglements became the metaphor for the whole rest of the book. Danny couldn't untangle himself from his parents and what they were feeling. We was all tangled up with what was happening with his friends. Even a long dead sister was another entanglement. 

“Because if you're tangled up in someone else, if your futures are tied that way, if that's real and if you know when it happens - then it means you know who you belong to, and you know whose fates are tied to yours, whether you like it or planned it or not, whether they still exist in the same world with you or they don't, and I think that's where everything begins and ends. I think that's everything.” 

I always like it when authors find a way to connect with me, the reader. Years ago I saw a musical/drama event about quantum entanglements but they were calling "withings". In it we saw the entanglements between people and how they helped in healing and connections. It is as if we cannot untangle ourselves from our loved ones. We are "with" them wherever we are. The threads that hold Danny are both tight and loose at the same time yet, he senses, also fragile. He wants his parents to tell him about their secret, but he doesn't really want to know because it will upset the equilibrium. As first generation immigrants, he worries that they may be sent back to China. He also worries how his actions affect his friends yet he can't seem to stop himself from doing things which may sabotage their relationship.

“Other people don't exist just to be your happy ending, you know?” 

I had a hard time gaining traction on this book. I know it had more to do with me than with the book because I was so busy in my personal life and this is not a book which allows itself to unfold slowly, at only a few pages per night. I needed to devote a good chunk of time to reading to gain purchase, and when I finally did just that, the story unfolded before me and I saw the brilliance that the professional reviewers found. The story is also very timely. Just because the immigrants were from Central America doesn't mean that their situation wasn't anymore perilous. Though the book only implied it, we certainly need to look at the laws we set about immigration, and what to do when the rules are broken. Is it always the right response to take a hard line?

There is a lot in this book and a lot to like.

TTT: Favorite Short Stories

Top Ten Tuesday: 

Titles of some short stories I have read and enjoyed.

1. "Cannibalism in the Cars" by Mark Twain. It can serve as a satire for our political system and politicians who seemingly eat each other up. Written in 1868. My mother read it aloud to us, her assembled children, one time during a power outage. We sat in the dark, transfixed by her voice, and the silly story. It has remained an all-time favorite of mine since that time. Want to listen it? Click the link.

2. "Reader, She Married Me" by Sally Vickers, found in a collection of stories edited by Tracey Chevalier, called Reader, I Married Him. Fans will recognize the title of the book as the last line of Jane Eyre. Sally Vickers writes the Jane Eyre story from Mr. Rochester's point of view. It was a sort of clearing the record for him. He wanted the record to show that he no longer loved Jane Eyre and didn't want to marry her but did it because he'd been such a lout in the beginning. Tee-hee. I love stories which stand the classic on its head.

3. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," by Flannery O'Connor, found in a collection of short stories by the same name. The opening line of this story sets the stage for bad things to come: "The grandmother didn't want to go to Florida." O'Connor is famous for her writing style, Southern Gothic. The stories are so creepy, but she prepares the readers a long the way so by the conclusion we are ready for what happens. If you haven't read any O'Connor, I encourage you to change that as soon as you can. 

4. "Good Country People" by Flannery O'Connor. This story, found in the same collection, is as hilarious as the above one is horrifying.

5. "Breaking and Entering" by Sherman Alexie, found in War Dances, a collection of essays, short stories, and poems. B&E forces us to face the many angles of racism. A young African American teenager breaks into a home to steal whatever he can. The homeowner, a Native American, is working from home and surprises the burglar armed with a baseball bat for protection. The would-be thief lunges at the homeowner, who swings the bat and connects with the young man's head, killing him. Suddenly the victim becomes perpetrator...an assumedly white man taking another black teen's life. When the man attempts to correct the record about his own race, he appears calloused and self-centered. Everything goes wrong.

6. "A Christmas Story" by Jean Shepherd. We all love this "story" because of the movie we watch every year at Christmas time by the same name, but actually the story/novella is made up of several stories found in different collections by Shepherd: In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash and Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories and Other Disasters. This mash-up of stories to make a new thing we know as "The Christmas Story" is very, very funny. (I bet the originals are too!)

7. "The Department of Nothing" by Colin Firth, found in a collection of short stories edited by Nick Hornby called Speaking With the Angel. The project was designed to make money for a school where Hornby's autistic son, Danny, attended. Firth, yes, the actor who played Mr. Darcy, has been "writing and putting stuff in a drawer" for years but The Department of Nothing is his first published piece.

8. "Nipple Jesus" by Nick Hornby, is a hilarious story also included in the Speaking With the Angel collection. Even though I wouldn't call it a favorite story, I had to mention it because of the title. As you can imagine the story is quite memorable.

9. "No Room at the Inn" by Leo Buscalia, from Seven Stories of Christmas Love. This sweet Christmas story just melts my heart. The author spends Christmas in Bali where the natives are aghast when they learn that there was no room for Jesus and Mary in the inn the night that Jesus is born. There is no way someone from Bali wouldn't just scoot over and make room for everyone. This story is worth a yearly reread.

10. "Jane Austen Over the Styx" by Victoria Owens. This short story is in a collection called Dancing With Mr. Darcy:Stories Inspired by Jane Austen and Chawton House. I loved this whole collection. This story just makes me smile because in it Jane Austen is having to plead her case for the way she wrote her characters to the judges: Mrs. Norris, Catherine duBourgh, Mrs. Ferrars, Mrs. Bennet, and others. It is very clever. I read this collection while on a European trip which, I think, increased my pleasure in it.

11. "Moses Found Among the Rushes" by James Herriot found in his book called James Herriot's Cat Stories. I could actually put all of James Herriot's books and stories on this list. They are all based on his experiences living as a country veterinarian in Britain in the early part of the twentieth century. They are all such simple, loving stories. This collection includes only stories about cats. But the original books included all types of animals. In this story, a cat found alone and near death in the reeds (rushes) is named Moses, a Biblical reference, based on the similarities to where they were both found as babies.

12. "The Best Christmas Pageant" by Barbara Robinson. Before this story adapted into a fairly well known book, it was published as a short story in McCall's magazine (circa 1967.) My mother got a copy of the magazine and read it aloud every Christmas to the family until the book was published. Then she read the whole book aloud. I sometimes still repeat phrases to my family that are not in the book but were in the original short story. Very funny and charming.

13. "Brokeback Mountain" by Annie Proulx, from Close Range:Wyoming Stories. This is such a heart-breaking story about two men who are not allowed by societal mores to be together even though they love each other. 

14. "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. I probably read this is high school, it has deeply touched me because of its feminist message of what happens when a woman is dominated by a man.

15. "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe. Okay, I am still creeped-out about this one. In fact, all of Poe's stories scare me.

16. "The Minority Report" by Philip K. Dick. I saw the movie, starring Tom Cruise, first then went back and read the short story. They are different enough it is worth taking a look at the original. It is found in The Complete Stories by Philip K. Dicks.

I hadn't realized, until I compiled this list, just how much I do enjoy reading short stories. I often travel with short stories collections because I can consume one story a day and not get bogged down in a long, detailed book. 

Do you have any favorite short stories or story collecitons I should consider reading?

Wonderful Series for Advanced Middle Grade Readers, Especially Boys

A few weeks ago a friend with a son who is an advanced middle grader reader asked for my book recommendations. I spent the majority of my professional life teaching and then in the library at the high school level but decided I was up for the challenge. Here are my recommendations for middle grade series:

1. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. I suppose this goes without saying but I was always surprised when high school students told me they hadn't read the series. The movies are good, but the books are better. Seven book series. Average lexile level, 950.

2. Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. These books are really written for middle grade students but high school students, both boys and girls love them, too.  Riordan has six series. His books will ignite a curiosity about Greek and Roman mythology so you might want to find a guide that talks about Greek Gods and their relationships to one another. Once your child is done with this series he will have a lot of other series to move to directly. For a list of all his series click link: Goodreads. Five book series. Average lexile 710.

3. Gregor the Overlander (The Underland series) by Susan Collins. You've heard of The Hunger Games series (which are excellent) but before Collins wrote that blockbuster series she already had another winning series published. Gregor enters another world by crawling through a vent behind his washing machine. Very creative. Five book series. Average lexile- 700.

4. The Queen's Thief by Megan Whelan Turner. I've only read the last book in this five book series, Thick as Thieves,  which can stand on its own but it was excellent and so well-written. In fact, the first book in the series, The Thief, won a Newbery Honor. The series is about an incorrigible and charismatic thief, Eugenides, who finds himself in the service of the queen. Lexile 880.

5. Pendragon by D.J. MacHale. This series was wildly popular my first few years as librarian. The protagonist, Bobby Pendragon, is fourteen when the series starts and he is out to save the world. Ten book series. Average lexile 660.

6. Redwall series by Brain Jacques. Younger advanced readers often are not mature enough to handle high school themes that match their reading levels and may still like themes directed at younger readers where the heroes are animals. This LONG series, 22 books, will appeal to those readers. The legend begins with a mouse who is a monk who attempts to recover the special sword. My nephews, now grown, loved the series, but I am not sure if they will read all 22 books! Lexile 800.

7. Eragon (The Inheritance Cycle). Several boys at my high school would read through this series once a year. Once a year! Most of them started reading it in junior high. The series begins with a boy, Eragon, finding a dragon egg. In a world where dragons are no longer allowed this was a very dangerous and risky thing. Once the land was ruled by dragons and their riders and the two have a very special relationship. This series is all about their attempt to regain the former glory. This fantasy series is not for the casual reader. Each book in this four-book series is long, over 500 pages and the lexile average is 1000.

8. Fairyland by Catherynne M. Valente. This series wasn't particularly popular in my library but I think it is charming and so-o-o creative. Twelve year old September is living an ordinary life in Omaha until one day she is met by the Green Wind and told she is needed to save Fairyland. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in the series, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (and don't you just love the title?) Five books in the series. Lexile 920.

9. The Giver Quartet series by Lois Lowry. Most school children are required to read the Dystopian novel, The Giver, but few know that there are three other books in the series. The series involves four protagonists set in the same futuristic world as in the Giver. (Lexile 760.)

10. Ender's Saga by Orson Scott Card. The first book, Ender's Game, in this series is so good. It is perfect boy-book. It is so exciting. A young boy, Ender, is identified as a good candidate to save the world through a video game type scenerio. The book can easily be read as a stand-alone but many kids want to read on in the series which includes four-seven book, depending on how you count. (Lexile 800.)

11. The Ranger's Appentice by John Flanagan. This was by far the most popular series in my high school library with boys. After finishing one book they would wait impatiently for the next book in the series, which was undoubtedly checked out by another fan. I am not sure about the appropriateness of this series for younger readers, though the note on Amazon.com says it is for readers, age 10 and up. Will is selected as an apprentice to the Rangers who have earned the fear of the people but who actually are the protectors of society. Twelve books in the series. Lexile 800.

12. The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula LeGuin. I just finished the first book in this series by a celebrated fantasy author. This series was her first series for children, after a career of writing for adults and it shows. The plot is intricate and the characters are fully flushed out. The writing is spot-on. The series starts by introducing the readers to Ged, the greatest wizard of all time, but here we know him as Sparrowhawk. Six books in series. 850 lexile.

13. His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman. Some wonderful books are nearly wrecked by the movies that are made from them. This may the case with The Golden Compass, the first book in the trilogy. Avoid the movie, starring Nicole Kidman, and jump into the books instead. Set in Oxford, Lyra is a precocious child and roams the campus with her daemon, or her special soul animal, when she learns that her mother is doing dangerous experiments. My family consumed this whole series on audiobooks and loved the format. Try listening to it while on a car trip or as a read aloud! Lexile 950.

14. The Tiffany Aching Series by Terry Pratchett.  Pratchett wrote an elaborate, multi-book series called Discworld. It had many offshoots and several mini-series within the grand series. The Tiffany Aching series is one of the mini-series and the only one written for young adults. It is delightful, funny, and full of Pratchett wisdom. I listened to the series on audiobook so was double delighted by the British accented reader. The last book of the series, The Shepherd's Crown, was the last book published by Pratchett before he died of Alzheimer's Disease. I cried at the end, knowing that a beloved author and series had come to an end. Even if you don't think this series is what your child would like, you should consider reading some Pratchett for yourself. His books are in a league of their own. Five book series. Average lexile around 800.

If nonfiction is your child's thing, give these series a try:
A. Spy of History by Workman publishing. So far I have found three titles: Anna Strong and the Revolutionary War Culper Spy Ring; Victor Dowd and the World War II Ghost Army; Mary Bowser and the Civil War Spy Ring.

B. Assassination series (my name for these books) by James Swanson, published by Scholastic Press:
"The President Has Been Shot!": The Assassination of President Kennedy; Chasing Lincoln's Killer; Chasing King's Killer: The Hunt for Martin Luther King, Junior's Killer. The author appears to write about famous assassinations for adults and then publishes a version of the same book for younger readers. I have read two of the three and found them fascinating and illuminating. Lexile 1000.

Readers of all ages want to read what other people are reading, what is currently popular. The books I've listed, with the exception of the nonfiction titles, all have been around for a while. They aren't the latest and greatest titles, they are the tried-and-true books which have stood the test of time. But because these books aren't currently on the "most popular" list, you may have to ask a librarian to assist you and your child in locating copies of all the books in the series. They may even have to request copies for you from other libraries. Do your homework on where to find the books and be patient.

Since I haven't worked with middle grade students for such a long time, I'd be delighted to hear from other librarians and readers who can recommend other book series that would be of interest to advanced middle grade readers, especially boys! Please leave your comments below. Thank you.