Running to the End of Summer!

What are you reading lately?  With summer winding down officially over (it's hard to say the words...) I sadly have to say goodbye to some of the free time I spent this summer reading books.    I found some new authors and finally decided what to use my kindle for, so it's been a good summer for books.

Here's the lowdown...

I finally picked up The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  I had heard so many good things about it.  And I have to say, it was all true!  It really is a great book - you know, the kind of book you look forward to returning to at the end of the day!  Just one complaint, and I guess this is highlighting my "American-centrisim" (yes, I just invented that word!!), but keeping up with the Swedish names of towns and neighborhoods and Swedish landmarks - they all sound the same to me!  Sorry, I had to be honest!  When the author wasn't naming where the characters were heading to, the adventure was really great!  So, be a better person than I am, and read this and embrace all things Swedish!!

I downloaded the second book, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and the third book, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest on my Kindle.  I've pledged to myself that if a book is going to take me less than a couple days to "devour" I'm going to read it on my Kindle.  If I find a book that I really want to savor, such as Eat, Pray, Love, I'll purchase the book so I can relish the pages in my hands...ahh...I'm sensing a visit to a bookstore coming up!

I haven't finish the 3rd book, but I'm really enjoying it!  I'd recommend all three as quick, enjoyable reads!

 

I'm not teaching in a classroom right now - it's my 3rd year out of the classroom - I really do miss being with kids, but what I miss most is my end of summer ritual...a trip to the bookstore to see what's new in children's books!  Of course, on the bright side, I have saved a lot of money not buying the usual bags of books that I did in the past.  But, I still wander over to the kid's section when I'm spending time perusing bookstores.  Here are a couple of my favorite that I found...Dog Loves Books and Mr. Carey's Garden.  

Dog Loves Books is about a dog who uh, loves books - ok, there's more to it than that!  He loves books so much that he opens up a bookstore!  He stocks it with his favorite books, but nobody comes to shop in his store.  (They're all downloading books on their cursed Kindles, or buying books at huge discounts at Costco - no, that's not really how it goes...)  So dog spends his days losing himself in his books.  Finally, he gets a customer, a little girl.  Dog shares his favorite books with her and soon they are transported to the wonderful lands that books will take you.  Soon, everyone hears about Dog's bookstore and he has plenty of customers.  (Of course, within a year, Barnes & Noble puts this poor independent bookstore owner out of business - but that's the sequel.)  Just a beautiful book to share with your little ones!

 

My other favorite is Mr. Carey's Garden.  Love, love, love this book.  

Mr. Carey lives at the end of the street and has 3 or 4 neighbors.  They all tend their gardens in the summer, and like most gardeners, they are sometimes overrun with snails.  All the neighbors have their own methods to deal with the snails, and they share their ideas with Mr. Carey.  The neighbors use salt, hot water, putting them in the freezer - all crazy ideas to Mr. Carey, who never does anything to get rid on the snails in his garden.  He just listens to his neighbors and says, "Well, I see things in a different light."  They all look at him like he's a communist - ok, that's not the word the author uses.  Anyway, on a hot summer night when no one can sleep, all the neighbors end up in their front yards and they see Mr. Carey admiring his garden.  They go to see what he's looking at, (remember, he's a communist), and they see the moonlight shining through the holes that the snails have made in Mr. Carey's plants.  Of course, the light shining through creates a delicate lacey shadow and glow in the night.  And Mr. Carey explains to them again, "I see it in a different light."  Really - a lovely, sweet book!

I'd love to hear what you're reading!  Thanks for stopping by!