What I'm Reading Next

I admit it. I have a problem.  I struggle with trying to decide what book to read next.  I'm the kind of person who will walk into the library and check out piles of books.  Stacks and stacks of interesting topics, stories and titles.  And of course I know full well that I'll only be able to read a small fraction before they will all be due back to the shelves.  But sometimes I get guidance.  I follow too many book blogs to name and I'm always reading professional journals and scanning through the different reviews.  And there's book awards.  I'm crazy excited about books that are on lists so of course award lists make me positively giddy. I'm also somewhat guilty that I am seriously motivated to read books if I'm somehow captivated by the cover art.  That's right.  I judge a book by its cover.  But last week I was delighted to get pages and pages of recommendations from Michael Cart, book reviewer for Booklist.  Here are the titles that I am taking home with me today:

          

Now I can't wait to get home and start reading!  What books are on your list?

If you want some recommendations from other teens give YALSA's new list a go.

Grab a Kleenex and Bring on the Waterworks.

What do you remember most about a good book?  The characters?  The plot?  Or just a lingering feeling?  One of the things that leaves a lasting impression on me and guarantees I will remember a book fondly is if it moved me to tears.  That's right.  The mascara dripping down your face, Kleenex grabbing story that makes your heart feel like it might just break.  If you're looking for a good, hard sob, then you should try one of these touching stories.  They each moved me to tears (level of tears indicated by number of : -( emoticons).

The is a well-crafted story told from the perspective of a stray dog who has known moments of joy but mostly sorrow.  Will he ever find a real home?

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Joey will is deaf and lonely.  Part of her problem comes from not being able to communicate effectively since she doesn't know sign language.  Her decision to embrace signing comes from an unexpected place.  A chimpanzee that lives next door.  But growing close to Sukari will change her life forever.

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Chillers, Thrillers and Killers.

I have a love/hate relationship with being scared.  I always have.  I think it started when I watched Halloween with my brother, two friends and a babysitter.  Terrifying!  I was so scared I couldn't sleep for a weeks.  It wasn't long after my introduction to Michael Myers that I started reading books that keep me awake at night.  The thing that attracted me to the genre initially were the covers (of course).  The first books to leave an impression on me were books that my Dad was reading and I would see them lying around the house (often in the bathroom if I'm being completely honest).

The two covers that stand out the most vividly in my memory were Coma by Robin Cook and Night Shift by Stephen King.  I remember staring at the cover jacket with wide-eyed fascination too frightened to even consider reading them.

The first true horror book I read was Carrie by Stephen King.   I was on vacation in Maine and I think I was in 7th or 8th grade.  I remember being curling up on my bunk bed thinking, "This is it.  I'm going to read Stephen King."  The anticipation was so sweet.  In retrospect I have to admit that I was slightly disappointed because the story wasn't that scary--just really, really weird.

A Small Book that Left a Big Impression

small as an elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson

sometimes
moms
are
lost not
loving

and
still

a child will
not

entertain
leaving.
eduring
pain and
heartache for
a
new
tomorrow.