I always want to know what people are reading or what they consider to be the best! I have to admit that I don't get nearly enough time to read as I would like and often I end up reading "trash novels" that really aren't that well written, but they are a simple escape for me!
But, I'd like to know... what are some of your favorites?
Picture books? I love Elephant and Piggie books (Mo Willems), Piggie Pie (Marge Palatini)--- anyone sense a theme? and Mystery of the Harris Burdick by Van Alsburg
Graphic novels? I hate them and can't pick a favorite though I do find art Speigelman's work provoking.
Chapter books? I usually do not like the chapter books I read. I will always love the Boxcar Children, The Incredible Journey and the Outsiders, but I really am not a fan of most chapter books and teen books today. I did enjoy the Twilight series briefly, but it was actually closer to the "Trash" novels I read than anything.
Nonfiction books? I enjoy biographies and books with beautiful pictures, but none specifically enough to add it to a list. Well, I take that back, Listening for the Crack of Dawn by Jim Davis is probably the best book ever. EVER!!!
Novels for adults: My favorite trash novel authors are Jude Deveraux and Johanna Lindsey. Its a guilty pleasure I guess, oh well. I thought the Kite Runner was very good. I haven't really read many. I enjoyed Wicked by Gregory McGuire, though none of his other books were a hit with me.
I am just curious what others like...
"never apologize for your reading tastes"
ReplyDeleteI read mysteries, both well written ones (Julia Spenser-Fleming) and escape ones (Monica Ferris, Katherine Hall Page). Two I've read this summer I'd recommend are Still Life by Louise Penny and Spider Web by Earlene Fowler. This summer, I'm playing the summer reading game at the Manitowoc Public Library, and you have to read 5 books from four different genres, which is a challenge. I've got a romance as my current car audio book, my non-fiction reading for this class, and Billy Collins' latest poetry book as well as a YA fantasy checked out to try and make the quota. It's a good idea to get people out of their reading ruts. . .
YA books I've really liked: Hold Still by Nina LaCour; Paper Towns by John Green; The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart; The Murder of Bindie MacKenzie by Jaclyn Moriarty; The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie; Sleeping Freshman Never Lie by David Lubar; The Realm of Possibility by David Levithan
Picture books: I like the classics, especially Where the Wild Things Are; my 1st graders went crazy for a series about dinosaurs playing sports: Dino-Hockey is one of the titles. I like the Mo Willams books, too. The Knight and the Dragon by Tomie DePaola is another favorite of mine, as is Leo Lionni's Frederick.
I liked Last Shot by John Feinstein as a good middle school book, but I'm a basketball fan and a mystery reader.
I don't read a lot of contemporary adult fiction, but I liked Art of Mending and The Last Time I Saw You, both by Elizabeth Berg. I like historical fiction, and these were both good: People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks and Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell.
You might like Elin Hildenbrand. I'm currently listening to A Summer Affair and I like it so far. She's been highly recommended to me by a friend who also likes romance.
Even if we were told not to say so in our library school applications, I love to read. If I could afford it, I would do nothing but travel and read. Reading on the beach -- my idea of heaven.
I do feel as if I should be reading more Middle School fiction to get ready for the fall. I love book talking and hand selling and reader's advisory in general -- it is one of my favorite parts of my job.
The Graphic Novels that I like are the biogrphy or non-fiction ones. I noticed that students gravitate toward them and are learning at the same time.
ReplyDeleteIn some of my interviews, I have been asked to list what I have read in the last month. It's a "Teacher Perceiver" question so I know they are trying to discover something about my psyche, but since I'll read anything (including cereal boxes) they won't learn much. I think I read more "guy" books than anything else. Probably my favorite picture book is "I Stink". I think it's funny and the kids really like it. Plus it shows how garbage is collected. The Alex Rider series is one of my favorites for chapter books, although the series has gone too long. "Things Not Seen" and its sequel are good ones, too. I tell the kids that if they aren't mature enough to listen to it without giggling, I'll put it away. (The main character is invisible and needs to go nude to be unseen. In February. In Chicago.) So far I've taken it down to 5th graders with no problems. For YA I like the Max series, but it needs to end soon too. I liked "The Hunger Games" enough to read the next two in that series. I like medical mysteries.
ReplyDeleteHere are some of the books that I have book talked with my 5th graders that my kids and I have really enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteMust Reads:
Benjamin Dove by Fridrik Erlings
How I found the strong; a novel of the Civil War by Margaret McMullan
100 Cupboards by N.D Wilson
Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull
How to steal a dog by Barbara O’Connor
The boy who dared; a novel based on the true story of Hitler Youth by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (a definite must read!)
The Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld
Atherton by Patrick Carman
Emmy and the incredible shrinking rat by Lynne Jonell (not an exciting cover but a great book!)
The Book of time by Guillaume Prevost
The Mostly true adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick
Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
Schooled by Gordon Korman
Tunnels by Roderick Gordon
Bystander by James Preller
Joey Pigza swallowed the key by Jack Gantos
The Watsons go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
All their names were Courage; a Novel of the Civil War by Sharon Phillips Denslow
A long way from Chicago by Richard Peck
Crispin; the cross of lead by Avi
Chasing the Falconers series, On the run by Gordon Korman
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Savvy by Ingrid Law
Frenchtown Summer by Robert Cormier
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse