Diary of a Wimpy Kidby Jeff Kinney - Okay, so not something we'd hold in high esteem if we were judging LITERARY value, but, hey, the kids are reading it so I did, too.

I could not help but think of any one of a number of past students as well as my nephew Sam when I was reading this book. If one was to split open the head of a pre-pubescent boy, I bet something much like the contents of this book were what would come sloshing right out. Innocent and devious at the same time, the main character, Greg, lets the reader see the ins and outs of daily life as a not unpopular yet not cool middle school boy. The layout of the book is unique as well. Not quite graphic novel, the book looks like the reader is actually opening up an actual journal, complete with lots of handrawn pictures and comics throughout the text.

I can certainly see why this book has become a #1 New York Times Bestseller and why it sold like hotcakes at my recent book fair. I'd recommend this book to any middle school boy...or girl...or high school students looking for a light and fun read to fill the time.

Sweet Caroline by Rachel Hauck - Another light and inspirational book chosen especially by my Inspirational Fiction girls. The book, although eerily like many of the others they've chosen this year, ended quite unexpectedly for me.

The main character, Caroline, always seems to feel responsible for others, often sacrificing her own goals and happiness in order to help others or do what she perceives to be the "right" thing. This is what leads her to the Frogmore Cafe, whose owner's recent demise causes her to become the owner of the dilapidated cafe that has become a local icon. Turning down the opportunity to pursue her own dreams in Barcelona, Caroline stays to save the cafe and its loyal staff from disaster, while at the same time facing the return of her first love, country boy turned Nashville star Mitch. As Caroline and Mitch are reunited, she faces her insecurities about her past, love, and her faith in God. In the end, as the reader would suspect, Caroline again does the "right" thing, but the reader is pleasantly surprised with just what that "right" thing is.

I really enjoyed this book as it didn't really fit the cookie cutter form of many in this genre. The choices Caroline makes throughout the book are admirable and often self-sacrificing. However, the point the author makes with the ending is that there comes a time for everything....and everything happens according to God's time, not ours. How very, very true.

Bird By Bird by Ann Lamott - I've read this book, or at least parts of it, a long time ago. I even had my own copy. However, when I was given a new copy to read for an upcoming class, I figured I'd better re-read it. A practical guide to the craft of writing, Lamott, herself an acclaimed author, gives useful, witty, and often downright hilarious advice on everything from creating characters to getting published. She minces no words and doesn't try to sugarcoat anything. Writing is hard. It is lonely. It is an obsession. Often, it just sucks. However, everyone has a story and everyone has the ability to tell that story. Will everyone be published? No. Should everyone be published. HECK NO. But, that is not the point of writing. The point of writing is to tell the story that only you can tell. And that is worth more than anything being published could every hope to do for you.

The Penny by Joyce Meyer - I was very interested in reading this inspirational fiction title after hearing Sue talk about it. My book club girls decided to switch books with Shoals' girls to save some moola so I had the pleasure of actually, for once, reading a book I wanted to read for work!

The book is truly a gem. Not only does it have a compelling plot, but it is also well-written and offers the reader periodic nuggets of quotable wisdom...my favorite! The main character, Jenny, is a young girl in a tough spot. Living in the more economically depressed part of St. Louis in the 50's, her family situation leaves much to be desired. She has an abusive father and a mother who refuses to confront the abuse within her own family. When Jenny stops one day to pick up a penny...a simple penny, her life changes forever when she sees how much life can change in the blink of an eye. The simple act of stopping to pick up this penny brings Jenny a friend from the "wrong" side of the tracks and the opportunity to see what the "right" side of the tracks looks like when she is hired by an eccentric socialite to work in her jewlery store. Throughout the book Jenny learns that "People who are hurt are the people who hurt others," and that her life is indeed worth fighting for...and saving...one penny at a time.

I would recommend this book to anyone (my mom has already read it, even!). The message that God sees no one as inconsequential and is always acting in your life no matter what your circumstances is a valuable lesson for everyone.

Plainsong by Kent Haruf - Not the type of book I would pick up if I were choosing for myself, but since I was reading it for a book club, I was a lot more open-minded, and, honestly, I am glad I was.

Set in rural Colorado, the setting was foriegn to me. Farm life influences all of the characters, and the author does a great job of describing, in too much detail at points, the day-to-day things farm life brings. Written in successive chapters from different characters' points-of-view, we see how the surroundings affect everyone, from Victoria Roubideux, a pregnant 17 year-old girl turned out by her mother, to Ike and Bobby, two young boys also abandonded by their mom. Through the quirky yet sincere love of two old bachelor brothers, the McPheron brothers, Victoria finds a true home for the first time in her life, and Ike and Bobby find a stronghold in the face of uncertainty.

Written without quotation marks for dialogue, it was hard to get a grasp on the action of the story at the start. However, the language and descripton Haruf uses puts the reader at ease and makes a real connection between the reader and each and every character. It is very apparent, in retrospect, why this book was nominated for a National Book Award. Well worth your time...with an open mind!

Although I have not read it yet, I cannot wait to read Change of Heartby Jodi Picoult. By far the most popular author with my students, Picoult rocks the writing world right now. So, you can imagine my excitement when, for my birthday, I receive a package with a personally autographed copy of this new book from my best bud Jessa who lives in NYC! Now, if I can just find the time to read it!

Below is a picture of J at the book signing:

No Need for Speed by John "The Penguin" Bingham - Geesh...has it been a long time since I've read a running book or what? With all of my book club books this semester, I've had no time for reading for my personal enjoyment let alone for my addiction to running. This book, although filled with lots of tips for first time runners, was great for renewing my spirit and reminding me just what running SHOULD be about. Since I've started this marathon thing, I've lost a lot of my perspective on running...constantly training and losing the sheer enjoyment I used to have when I laced up my shoes and headed out to run. Bingham reminded me that my goals should be realistic, that frustration leads to improvement, and that failure is often an illusion that results from unreal expectations. With the Indy Half-Marathon sneaking up on me and the Chicago Marathon looming in the fall, these bits of information in this book will go with me on the road...literally!

Sisters, Ink by Rebeca Seitz - Sometimes, you pick up a book and feel as if the author did his or her research by spying on your life. It is just like reading a chapter from your life with each turn of the page. This book was just that experience for me. Chosen by my Inspirational Fiction book club, I wasn't sure I'd get into it as scrapbooking is one of the major themes that runs throughout the book. Anyone who has met me knows I am in no way crafty, and each "scrapbooking" experience I've had has been nearly disasterous.

However, as I read and the plot unfolded, I began to feel the eerie feeling of connecting with a book so completely that it was frightening. The main character, the same age as me, returns to her hometown to find her high school beau has also returned from the military and started a business. As their new relationship unfolds, they find out that although they are nothing like the teenagers they once had been, they still are the loves of one anothers' lives. Pair that story line with an untraditional family (parents with four adopted daughters from tough backgrounds....and different ethnicities), and you're awfully close to what my life looks like at this moment.

I'd recommend this book to those who enjoy Karen Kingsbury or any type of inspirational fiction in general. The author does not brow beat you with the faith and religion aspect of the book, but weaves in the importance of faith and family well along the way.

Chance Murphy and the Battle of Morganville by Josh McClary - Although cussing like a sailor and an opening scene in church do not necessarily seem to go together, McClary makes it work and, in the process, provides the reader with some gut-busting laughter to get his novel off to a rip-roaring start.

Chance Murphy has some issues...okay, lots of them...but it's his idiosyncracies and, mostly his down-right crazy hate for all things German (err...Hunn) that make him lovable to me. Growing up in small-town Indiana made this book real for me, and Chance's obession with Bob Knight and Indiana basketball made this book a hands-down winner for me.

Honestly, reading this book made me feel like the author took any one of many of the boys I've taught over the years, cracked his head open, and laid out all his thoughts, uncensored and as real as they get. From Chance's description of his father's girlfriend ("trash") to his detest for his best-friend's girlfriend, it just feels real and unscripted.

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier - Although I'd seen the movie quite a while ago I needed to read this book as my English Academic team is reading it for our upcoming competition. And, much to my surprise, the movie doesn't even hold a candle to the book. I enjoyed the movie so I knew I'd enjoy the book. However, the writing and the language in this book is so outstanding that, with each turn of a page, I feared getting to the end. Frazier paints picture after picture of nature, each clearer and more precise than the one before. He addresses so many issues, from Civil War to friendship...lost love to respect for nature.

If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend doing so. The literary value alone is well worth the experience!

The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard - This book is one that once you start reading, you just won't be able to put down! It took me a mere two days to fly through it, unprecedented for the usually slow reader. A very well-written and suspensful mystery, Pickard creates compelling and believable characters that her reader can't help but come to love. Her small-town setting, where everyone knows everyone, lends itself to the intimacy and closeness of all the characters. Each action of each character results in profound consequences for the others.

Set in Kansas, this is the story of many people. Rex, Abby, Mitch, and "The Virgin". Upon the discovery of the naked girl, dead, in a snowstorm one dark night, the town of Small Plains is changed forever. No one knows who she is, but the town embraces that and gives her a proper burial. Eventually she comes to be revered as a miracle worker who heals those who petition her. Many years later, old wounds are opened, questions begin to be asked, and the identity of the girl is revealed at a high price to many....especially those you would never have suspected.

Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer - This book affected me more than any book I have read in as long as I can remember. With highlighter in hand, I found myself marking passage after passage, from quotes by Thoreau to incredibly poingant lines of text from the author. Although I've lived a relatively unadventurous life, I've WANTED to live out many adventures and still have hopes of doing so. This book made me really think about what it takes to actually throw caution to the wind, to disdain the opinion of friends and loved ones, and strike out on a "great" adventure of one's own.

This book is an eloquent and engrossing narrative about the perils Chris McCandless, a stubborn and idealistic young man who takes nature head on and loses. Not just a book about McCandless, the author documents other fool-hardy men who have done the same and attempts to draw both parallels and differences between them. Truly a gripping account of misplaced genius and idealistic misfortune that will put your life, the good and the bad, into perspective.

Code Orange by Caroline Cooney - The first book that my Young Hoosier Book Club chose was a fun, witty, and adventurous one. Set in post-9/11 New York City, I enjoyed reading about places I've been...Columbus Circle, the Upper West Side, Riverside Drive, the Hudson River. I was envisioning the setting without having to make up anything as I went along!

Mitty, the main character, is an unambitious high school student who goes to a yuppy private school. He's very priviledged and wants for nothing. When he's assigned a research project on infectious diseaes, his life is turned upsidedown when he actually chooses to do it. He chooses to research vitriola minor, or smallpox, and at once his life is thrown into a spiral when he risks infection and, ultimately, worse danger than he had ever imagined.

This was my first Caroline Cooney book, and I can see why she is so popular with young adults. Her book left me wanting to read more!

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick - This year's Caldecott Award winner, this is, hands down, one of the most enjoyable books I have read in my life. Not just a book, more than just a story, Selznick uses words and pictures to tell a fantasic story set in turn-of-the-century Paris. The black and white pages with sketches that not only illustrate the story but ADVANCE it, are artfully drawn and are interspersed at just the right time.

The story is of a boy, Hugo, who is an orphaned clock keeper inside a Paris train station. His quest to find not a way to fix an automoton that his father had once attempted to fix leads him to a filmmaker, his god-daughter, and, eventually, a home.

READ IT. Sure, it looks like a kid's book and it is. However, no adult should miss out on the experience this book creates.

Frustration beyond all frustration is what greeted me as I picked up my much anticipated copy of The Ultimate Life, the sequel to Jim Stovall's wonderfully inspiring book The Ultimate Gift. Both the book and the movie that followed were some of my favorites during 2007. I spent several months looking forward to finding out how Jason Stevens planned to manage his great uncle Red's fortune. However, upon settling down and cracking open my copy of The Ulimate Life it took only two pages....yes, just TWO PAGES, for me to slam the book closed in disgust.

Here's the rub: In The Ultimate Gift Stovall set the entire story for us. Red is Jason's great uncle. I understand fully that movies often change content, say by changing the relationships between certain characters. Okay. Fine. I am smart enough to know that. On the other hand, it is totally unacceptable, ever, for an AUTHOR to change the relationship between his OWN CHARACTERS in a sequel! In The Ultimate Life, Jason somehow becomes Red's GRANDSON, not NEPHEW, just like in the movie! I was aghast. Stricken. Speechless, even. One of my book club students came in shortly after I had discovered this fact and, together, we lamented the state of affairs in writing today. Okay, a little dramatic, but true.

Final recommendation: Readers Beware! Read it if you want, but be prepared to lose some of my respect in the doing :)

Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron- Technically a YA book, this offering by Peter Cameron would be of interest to any adult reader. Sarcastic and sardonic, the protagonist struggles with nearly every aspect of his apporaching adulthood, from the expectations that he go to college to his sexuality. A loner, James Sveck, the Manhattan-bred 18-year old soon-to-be college freshman, can't seem to connect with anyone, least of all his therapist.

Throughout the book there is great commentary and insight into modern-day urban life, something many of my students will struggle to identify with, but with which I was enthralled. Cameron will make a large portion of his audience, especially those who look for relief in books, feel excitingly understood. Maybe his book will help many of them find an itch to write.

Restless by Rich Wallace - One of this year's Eliot Rosewater books, it's a wonderfully written YA ghost story. Not scary ghost story, mind you, but believable ghost story. It reminds me quite a bit of Acceleration which was on last year's Rosie list. The author has the language and euphemisms of today's teenagers nailed down. One of the main characters, Herbie, is a tough nosed athlete trying to play football and run cross-country at the same time. This book would appeal to those fringe readers who sometimes find it hard to find a book that they'd enjoy reading...think guys...think guys who don't like to read.

One Mississippi by Mark Childress - Another Rival Reader selection that makes my recommendation list! I laughed out loud most of the way through this book, but was also rendered speechless by a few of the events along the way. I didn't grow up in the 70s, but could identify with many of the cultural references and descriptions along the way. Since the story starts out in Indiana, it hooked me from the start. When the setting shifted to Mississippi, it had me with the hilarity of it all, from the moving incident to the Frillingers and Prom Night.

The relationship between the two main characters is very compelling, and the author gives away just enough along the way to clue the reader in to the fact that whatever happens in the end is going to be big. He certainly does NOT dissappoint, either. You might be able to see the end coming, but how it unfolds will leave you with more questions than answers!

A Three Dog Life: A Memoir by Abigail Thomas - Thank God...back to good writing, and in a memoir at that! I'd admit, the name of this book is what hooked me (a friend of mine has three dogs, thus the connection). Sometimes I choose books like that. Sometimes I am greatly dissappointed, sometimes I am pleasantly surprised. This book provided the later of the two.

This is the memoir of Abigail Thomas, more specifically her memories centered around the traumatic brain injury of her husband, Rich Rogin. One night, Rich took their newly acquired dog out for a walk on the Upper Westside of Manhattan and was hit by a car when the dog darted into traffic. The dog came home, but Rich didn't. Abaigail writes skillfully about the pain, confusion, and acceptance she experiences throughout the years following the accident when Rich lost his memory and became a totally different man. Unable to care for him at home, she writes about her visits with him in the hospital where he lives and their weekly visits when she takes him home. Although traumatically injured, many of his words seemed prophetic, as if he were seeing the world from a different plane.

Thomas is an artful writer who is able to write lucidly about a completely heartwrenching part of her life.

Shoot the Moon by Billie Letts - A Rival Readers Book Club selection, I was a bit dissappointed with this book. Written in the same style of her first book, Where the Heart Is, there are several very unique characters who she does a wonderful job of making the reader love and hate. With names like O Boy Daniels, Nicky Jack Harjo, Teeve, and Rowena Whitekiller, the reader can't help but get wrapped up in their individual stories.

Set in Oklahoma, we get a good idea of what this town and its residents are like from the beginning. Letts tells us a TON of important information about the characters in the first chapter...which was a bit overwhelming. From there the story unwinds. There's a murder and a lost child who is presumed dead but returns 25 years later looking for his real mother. When Nicky Jack Harjo, now Mark Albright, returns and finds that his mother was killed and he was stolen and then adopted, he sets his sights on uncovering the truth surrounding that day. Along the way he falls in love, barely misses being shot, and sets a small Oklahoma town topsy turvy before finally getting the answers everyone had been needing for so long.

The plot was suspenseful with enough mystery to hook the reader, but Letts' writing style was very plain and simple. Although I'm a sucker for a good story, I prefer good writing...and there she failed terribly.