Books I've Read

Fourteen authors tell their interpretations of the pictures from Van Allsburgs' book. The M.T. Anderson story grabbed me the most.

A very cute romance told from opposing points of view. I enjoyed it very much.

Sammy meets an odd old lady while delivering flowers to a funeral. Ends up finding a hidden stash of gold coins! The hiding place of which I actually figured out beforehand. Yay me! Good story!

Sammy and Marissa take the bus to Hollywood to confront Sammy's mom, er, "Aunt Dominique". Someone who looks just like Sammy's mother is murdered, and Sammy saves the day by discovering just who done it.

Good story with a little mystery. Sammy lives with her grandma in a seniors only building.

Sammy is tasked with finding a stolen dog, or risk being revealed to be living at her grandmother's apartment by a mean old lady. Also, an old woman dies. Good story, a bit weepy in parts.

Another great mystery solved by Sammy, and lessons learned. I kinda suspicioned "who-done-it", which is very unusual for me, but it was still fun. On to the next one!

Sammy and her friends have a run-in on Halloween with a man in a skeleton costume at the mysterious Bush House. Pretty good story!

The shocking revelation in the last third of the book totally blew me away! The two boys are just having fun, when this awful thing happens. I was really enjoying myself with the boy's shenanigans when the story real serious. A very good book.

High school runner Jessica loses part of her leg in a bus accident. Good read, although running makes my joints hurt.

L. Frank Baum wrote this under a pseudonym. Nice adventure of a girl who flies an aircraft in he very early days of flight. I read the Project Gutenberg e-book edition.

Jon to goes the planet Heaven to visit a theme park and capture the evil nano manipulating genius who is experimenting on children. Another woman bites the dust, and we learn some interesting stuff about Lobo, the most sarcastic spacecraft in the universe.`

Jon Moore provides security for Jack and a boy from the planet Pinkelponker. A proscribed planet that Jon also hails from, secretly.

Classic science fiction from the 1940s. Not a "Weapon Shops Of Isher", but not bad.

Author relates his life from poor hillbilly to Yale lawyer. Pretty good.

Twelve stories by the author, with a couple of bios by his wife, Norma, and some editorial commentary. My favorite story was Coup De Grāce.

The jacket quote says "A funny and charming story". It is a good story, but it is neither funny nor charming. Goofy romance at end. The last line implies a future book that might BE funny and charming.

Wendy finds magical glasses that allow her to see all sorts of strange things. A pretty excellent story, moves right along. Poignant subplot of grandmother who has Altzheimers. One weep.

Six versions of the Rumpelstiltskin story. My favorite was Straw Into Gold. I teared up a few times.

During the Great Depression twelve-year-old Abilene is sent to live in her vagabond father's hometown of Manifest where over the course of the summer she uncovers the events of years ago that changed so many lives.

I got near the end and thought, this is moving but I haven't weeped once. Then, the next chapter. Bawling so I could hardly read! I see why this is the Newbery medal book for this year.