Books, books, books!

 This is for me.  Not you, and definitely not you.  For ME.

My Uncle (whom I never met) used to fill out an index card for every book he read.  Those cards are in a little metal file box that my mom keeps in the library of their house.

I go through phases with my reading.  Lately, THANKFULLY, I've been reading a LOT.  And I want to keep better track of the ones I've ready.

Here's the list that I can remember...

Grown-up Books

• Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett (January 2020)
• The Rabbit Girls by Anna Ellory (February 2020)
• Code Girls by Liza Mundy (April 2020)
• All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (June 2020)
• Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce (June 2020)
• Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhorn (July 2020)
• The Bakers Secret by Stephen P. Kiernan (July 2020)
• Mistress of the Ritz by Melanie Benjamin (July 2020)
• Resistance Women by Jennifer Chiaverini (August 2020)
• Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (August 2020)
• Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (August 2020)
• The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer (September 2020)
• The Last Year of the War by Susan Meissner (September 2020)
• The Alice Network by Kate Quinn (October 2019)
• Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline (July 2019)
• The Huntress by Kate Quinn
• When We Believed in Mermaids by Barbara O'Neal
• Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan
• The Beekeeper's Promise by Fiona Valpy
• Bending Toward the Sun by Leslie Gilbert Lurie (June 2019)
• Born Survivors by Wendy Holden
• Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford (May 2019)
• The Dressmaker's Gift by Fiona Valpy (September 2019)
• Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay (June 2019)
• The Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
• The Nightengale by Kristin Hannah
• The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
• Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
• The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
• Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (June 2019)
• The Huntress by Kate Quinn
• Sisters One, Two, Three by Nancy Star
• The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe

Young Adult Books

• Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli (March 2020)
• The Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling (April/May 2020)
• On the Come Up by Angie Thomas (May 2020)
• The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins (May 2020)
• I Survived: D-Day by Lauren Tarshis (June 2020)
• Resistance by Jennifer A. Nielsen (June 2020)
• The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (August 2020)
• Projekt 1065 by Alan Gratz (September 2020)
• Refugee by Alan Gratz (September 2020)
• The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth
• The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
• El Deafo by Cece Bell (May 2019)
• One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus
• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
• Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour (June 2019)
• A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen

A Childhood Favorite

Generally, I won't be posting about picture books.  At least I don't plan to post about picture books, but you know what they say about making plans...

Anyway, Gyo Fujikawa is one of my favorite childhood illustrators.  I say illustrator, because though Ms. Fujikawa also wrote children's books, it is her illustrations that captivated me.  She was one of the earliest illustrators that used multi-cultural children in her illustrations.  Born in 1908, she illustrated many, many books, and had artwork in magazines as well.  She passed away in November of 1998, at 90 years old.

My childhood copy along side a new copy.

There are two of her books that stand out in my memory - Millie's Secret, a board book that tells the story of Millie and her dog, who has a secret!  This was a favorite, for sure.  My most favorite, however, was Oh What a Busy Day!  I still have my childhood copy, actually, though it is quite tattered!  The illustrations, poems, rhymes, nursery tales, and especially the illustrations... Several years back, Barnes and Noble did a reprint of this book for their bargain section - their bargain section!  I bought 20 copies or so (seriously, they were like $3 a book) and it became my favorite gift.  I'm down to only a few copies left, so I'm a little stingier with it these days, as I have to save a copy for my future children...

One of my favorite illustrations from Oh What a Busy Day!

Meet Millie, though this illustration is also from Oh What a Busy Day!

Coming Soon!

This is my summer project... to share with the world the books that I read... launching soon!

My love of books started very early!