reading list

we stuck with the

something you want
something you need
something handmade
and something to read

for the holidays. the something handmade was tangrams.

as for the something to read, we all received many good books. the girls and I are all compulsive readers - with many books on the go at the same time. for me it is usually a mix of fiction and non-fiction. for e it can be the same - plus a good dose of manga. and for k, a handful that she is reading on her own, along with a couple for reading together.

a peek at what we read over the break, and what we are reading now from our holiday booty.



I am on a non-fiction/biography kick.

Mordecai: The Life and Times

A Bigger Message: Conversations with David Hockney by Martin Gayford

The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure

Eva Zeisel: On Design
(I've wanted this book for a long time and was happy to get it for Christmas. then surprised to hear of her death a few days later at 105.)

The Arms of the Infinite: Elizabeth Smart and George Barker by Christopher Barker

requisite bedtime fiction...
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides



E received a kindle from Santa. Touch. Not Fire. I wanted her to have the "e-ink" rather than the IPS. I really feel she already spends enough time in front of a screen (I read this years ago) - and given the rate at which she plows through a book we decided this was a good way to go. and kindle books are available through the Los Angeles Public Library. she still received (and wants) paper books as well. especially manga - as she tells me you don't read back to front on the kindle.

Rose and the Lost Princess by Holly Webb

Wildwood by Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis (I need a Kindle so I can borrow this!)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonell



K loves anything that makes her laugh.

The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me by Roald Dahl

Toys Come Home: Being the Early Experiences of an Intelligent Stingray, a Brave Buffalo, and a Brand-New Someone Called Plastic by Emily Jenkins
(we love this whole series. so fun to read aloud.)

Ivy and Bean: No News is Good News by Annie Barrows
(she is hooked on these books.)

The Adventures of Tintin: The Shooting Star by Herge
(I really wanted the girls to experience these books before seeing the movie. they were a mainstay of my childhood. we haven't seen the film yet. have you? any good? they loved this one. and K is still going around quoting the final line: "Worse than that!... We are out of whiskey!")



while the girls and I read by the fire - D is usually working on something. he used to chuckle at my family who are known to get together then all sit around reading.  but he is used to it now.  he is a bedtime reader.

Nemesis by Philip Roth

so what good books have you curled up with lately?