This is the first book on my list of books to remember when Cybils 2009 open up. This was an absolutely spectacular find at our library. On a whim I grabbed this while passing by the “new books” shelf because my eye had caught the authors name: Cynthia Rylant. She is one of my favorite children’s authors and we have read many of her books here in our house! My personal favorite is her Lighthouse Family series.

I loved this All In A Day from the first page! The story is delightful and the illustrations are perfect. We’ve been paying more attention to the illustrations in books lately. So it was a particularly sweet treat to get to the end of All In A Day and read the small tidbit about the illustrator Nikki McClure! When we realized that most of the pictures were a single piece of cut paper artwork, we traveled back through the book and looked more closely at each illustration. Where we tried seeing not only the wonderful picture but also the connections and the way each part lead to another.

If you have the chance check it out! It is worth the read and the re-read

Every year for the past few I’ve intended to track what I read. I actually have yet to successfully do this! But I am motivated this year and I’ve finally decided how I’m going to track what book I’ve read as I read them. I’ll be using my Librarything account. Now truthfully this irritates me just a little because up until this point I have only put books I actually have on my shelves into Librarything.  But!  I really, really want to track my books. And I just don’t want to have another site to remember to visit. So I’m tagging my reads for the year then I’ll print a list and delete my phantom books from my shelves.

Why is this important to me?

I read a lot and I mean A LOT of series books. A few years back I read a great book with a fun storyline that I really enjoyed then I promptly forgot the author and the title. Just a year or so back I read a darker but equally good fantasy novel set in a world I liked and wanted to visit again…same problem: no author, no title = no chance. I found myself this last week with the exact same scenario: I have the first book in a trilogy on my bedside table. I’m hoping by tracking my books I’ll not lose out on returning to the series! I’m a nerd. I know.

Click the Crystal Ball if you want to see the impressive 3 (insert sarcasm here) books I’ve read already this year. The crystal ball has nothing to do with my books I just don’t have a book graphic I like at the moment.

Do you track your books?

What is on your list to read?

Orange or Purple? heh

My original list was: The Canon, Hot, Flat and Crowded, The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments, Inventing Niagara, The Book of Numbers, Demon Kiss, Comfort Food, The Court of Air, Fire Study

What I actually read: The Canon, Ten Most Beautiful Experiments, Demon Kiss, Fire Study.

I recommend the Canon and Ten Most Beautiful Experiments for anyone who enjoys science books or wants to give one a chance. Ten Most Beautiful Experiments was very fun to read! I was surprised how much I enjoyed reading through the various experiments. How much was wrong. How much was right and how very close they sometimes were to the “big” discovery.

Fire Study was the third book in this series. I was very familiar with the storyline and characters. I was not disappointed and enjoyed this book from start to finish. I am looking forward to the authors continuation with a new book/new character set in the same world. I’m a sucker for the promotion of a minor character into a main character when the series is as good as this one.

Demon Kiss was an okay read. I actually sent this book onto another paranormal reader. It wasn’t quite my cup of tea. It read more like a novella rather the a full novel. It was enjoyable enough that I’ll watch for a second book in the same storyline as it may make Demon Kiss feel more satisfying.

What I had but didn’t get a chance to read: Court of Air
I happened to get the Court of Air from the library on the wrong week and it was requested (unable to renew) before I got to it. This was a daunting book just in looks! It had to be four inches thick.

What I’m still waiting to get from the library: everything else!

The rest of the list will be moving to my personal Winter 2009 list. I do hope to have a chance to read them all. I have the unfortunate habit of getting distracted by other books that aren’t on my list like my current Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.

What is on your reading list for 2009??