window to my soul

Books I read in 2014

(Ratings out of 5 stars)

1. The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World by E.L. Konigsburg- ***
2. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie- *****
3. Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, the Couple Who Taught America How to Love by Thomas Maier- ***
4. Speechless by Hannah Harrington- ***
5. The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley- ***
6. The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson- ****
7. The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd- ***
8. Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan- ****
9. Picture Me Gone by Meg Rosoff- ****
10. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell- ***
11. Orange is the New Black by Piper Kaufman- ****
12. Darius & Twig by Walter Dean Myers- ****
13. Night Film by Marisha Pessl- ****
14. The Round House by Louise Erdich- ***
15. The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty- ***
16. Swamplandia! by Karen Russell- ***
17. Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version by Philip Pullman- ****
18. The Best American Short Stories 2013 edited by Elizabeth Strout- ***
19. Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour- ****
20. Landline by Rainbow Rowell- ****
21. After Her by Joyce Maynard- ***
22. Withering Tights by Louise Rennison- ***
23. My Name is Not Easy by Debby Dahl Edwardson- ***
24. Where Did You Sleep Last Night?: A Personal History by Danzy Senna- ****
25. Fed Up! by Wendy Oliver-Pyatt- ***
26. The Nightmare by Lars Kepler- ***
27. Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat- ***
28. Free Within Ourselves: The Development of African-American Children's Literature by Rudine Sims Bishop- ****
29. Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd- ****
30. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett- ****
31. To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han- ****
32. Ask the Passengers by A.S. King- ***
33. Fire with Fire by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian- ****
34. Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan- ***
35. My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories edited by Stephanie Perkins- ***
36. Wild Things! Acts of Mischief in Children's Literature by Betsy Bird, Julie Danielson, and Peter Sieruta- ****

As you can see, my favorite book of the year was definitely Americanah. I'd say The Impossible Knife of Being comes in second, and is certainly my favorite YA book of the year that I've read.

Oscar Best Picture nominations:

American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Philomena
12 Years a Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street

The ones that are in bold are the ones I've seen. For once, I actually want to watch all of the nominees. I thought Captain Phillips looked stupid and it's still not at the top of my list, but it's gotten such good reviews, I'm curious to see it now.

Books I read in 2013

(Ratings out of 5 stars)

1. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly- ****
2. Every Day by David Levithan- *****
3. Just One Day by Gayle Forman- **
4. A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliot- ***
5. The Best American Short Stories 2012 edited by Tom Perrotta- ***
6. Burn for Burn by Jenny Han- ***
7. Banished: Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church- ****
8. Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson- ****
9. Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood- ***
10. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume- ****
11. All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin- ***
12. The Broken Bridge by Philip Pullman- ***
13. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt- ****
14. Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made by Stephan Pastis- ****
15. Paris, My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light by Amy Thomas- ***
16. The Silent Land by Graham Joyce- ****
17. Jana Bibi's Excellent Fortunes by Betsy Woodman- ***
18. The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen- ***
19. Mixed Heritage in Young Adult Literature by Nancy Thalia Reynolds- ***
20. One Sister's Song by Karen DeGroot Carter- ****
21. The Last Word (The Spellmans, #6) by Lisa Lutz- ****
22. Rainshadow Road by Lisa Kleypas- **
23. Close by Eyes by Sophie McKenzie- ***
24. The Skin Between Us by Kym Ragusa- ***
25. The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow- ****
26. Irises by Francisco X. Stork- ***
27. Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northop- ****
28. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green- ****
29. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn- ****
30. Cornucopia: New and Selected Poems by Molly Peacock- ***
31. Rick Steeves' European Christmas by Rick Steeves- ****
32. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell- ****

In progress since September (AKA, I can't quite get through it even though I plan to...): The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling

My top 10 Christmas movies:

1. Miracle on 34th Street (original)
2. Elf
3. A Muppet Christmas Carol
4. It's a Wonderful Life
5. White Christmas
6. A Christmas Story
7. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
8. Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
9. A Charlie Brown Christmas
10. The Polar Express

New York Public Library just released their list of 100 Great Children's Books.
How many have you read?

( the listCollapse )

( I got Remus Lupin on The Remarkably Thorough Harry Potter Character TestCollapse )

Movie lists
(Bold the ones you've seen)

( Oscars- Best Picture WinnersCollapse )

( NYT 1000 Best MoviesCollapse )

Michael L. Printz Prize - Winners and Honors from 2000-2013

Bold the ones you've read.

2013

Winner: In Darkness by Nick Lake

Honor Books: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz; Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein; Dodger by Terry Pratchett; The White Bicycle by Beverley Brenna

2012

Winner: Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

Honor Books: Why We Broke Up, written by Daniel Handler, art by Maira Kalman; The Returning, written by Christine Hinwood; Jasper Jones, written by Craig Silvey; The Scorpio Races, written by Maggie Stiefvater

2011

Winner: Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Honor Books: Stolen by Lucy Christopher, Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King, Revolver written by Marcus Sedgwick, Nothing written by Janne Teller

2010
Winner:
Going Bovine by Libba Bray

Honor Books:
Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman
The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
Punkzilla by Adam Rapp
Tales of the Madman Underground: An Historical Romance, 1973 by John Barnes

2009
Winner:
Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Honor Books:
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 2: The Kingdom on the Waves by M. T. Anderson
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
Nation by Terry Pratchett
Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan

2008
Winner:
The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean

Honor Books:
Dreamquake: Book Two of the Dreamhunter Duet by Elizabeth Knox
One Whole and Perfect Day by Judith Clarke
Repossessed by A.M. Jenkins
Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath by Stephanie Hemphill

2007
Winner:
American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang

Honor Books:
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation; v. 1: The Pox Party, by M.T. Anderson
An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green
Surrender, by Sonya Hartnett
The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

2006
Winner:
Looking for Alaska, by John Green

Honor Books:
Black Juice , by Margo Lanagan
I Am the Messenger , by Markus Zusak
John Lennon: All I Want Is the Truth, a Photographic Biography, by Elizabeth Partridge
A Wreath for Emmett Till, by Marilyn Nelson

2005
Winner:
how i live now, by Meg Rosoff

Honor Books:
Airborn, by Kenneth Oppel
Chanda’s Secrets, by Allan Stratton
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, by Gary D. Schmidt


2004:
Winner:
The First Part Last, by Angela Johnson

Honor Books:
A Northern Light, by Jennifer Donnelly
Keesha’s House, by Helen Frost
Fat Kid Rules the World, by K.L. Going
The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler


2003

Winner:
Postcards from No Man’s Land, by Aidan Chambers

Honor Books:
The House of the Scorpion, by Nancy Farmer
My Heartbeat, by Garret Freymann-Weyr
Hole in My Life, by Jack Gantos


2002
Winner:
A Step From Heaven, by An Na

Honor Books:

The Ropemaker, by Peter Dickinson
Heart to Heart: New Poems Inspired by Twentieth-Century American Art, by Jan Greenberg Abrams
Freewill, by Chris Lynch
True Believer, by Virginia Euwer Wolff


2001
Winner:
Kit’s Wilderness, by David Almond

Honor Books:
Many Stones, by Carolyn Coman
The Body of Christopher Creed, by Carol Plum-Ucci
Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson, by Louise Rennison
Stuck in Neutral, by Terry Trueman


2000
Winner:
Monster, by Walter Dean Myers

Honor Books:
Skellig, by David Almond
Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
Hard Love, by Ellen Wittlinger

Newbery Medal and Honor Books, 1922-2013

Bold the ones you've read.

( the listCollapse )

Caldecott Medal Winners, 1938-2013

Bold the ones you read as a child, underline the ones you read as an adult.

2013: This Is Not My Hat, written and illustrated by Jon Klassen (Candlewick Press)
2012: A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka (Schwartz & Wade Books, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, a division of Random House, Inc.)
2011: A Sick Day for Amos McGee illustrated by Erin E. Stead, written by Philip C. Stead (Neal Porter Books/Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group)
2010: The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney (Little, Brown and Company)
2009: The House in the Night illustrated by Beth Krommes, written by Susan Marie Swanson (Houghton Mifflin Company)
2008: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic)
2007: Flotsam by David Wiesner (Clarion)
2006: The Hello, Goodbye Window Illustrated by Chris Raschka, written by Norton Juster (Michael di Capua/Hyperion)
2005: Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow Books/HarperCollinsPublishers)
2004: The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein (Roaring Brook Press/Millbrook Press)
2003: My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann (Roaring Brook Press/Millbrook Press)
2002: The Three Pigs by David Wiesner (Clarion/Houghton Mifflin)
2001: So You Want to Be President? Illustrated by David Small; text by Judith St. George (Philomel Books)
2000: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback (Viking)
1999: Snowflake Bentley, Illustrated by Mary Azarian ; text by Jacqueline Briggs Martin (Houghton)
1998: Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinsky (Dutton)
1997: Golem by David Wisniewski (Clarion)
1996: Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann (Putnam)
1995: Smoky Night , illustrated by David Diaz; text: Eve Bunting (Harcourt)
1994: Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say; text: edited by Walter Lorraine (Houghton)
1993: Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully (Putnam)
1992: Tuesday by David Wiesner (Clarion Books)
1991: Black and White by David Macaulay (Houghton)
1990: Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young (Philomel)
1989: Song and Dance Man , illustrated by Stephen Gammell; text: Karen Ackerman (Knopf)
1988: Owl Moon , illustrated by John Schoenherr; text: Jane Yolen (Philomel)
1987: Hey, Al , illustrated by Richard Egielski; text: Arthur Yorinks (Farrar)
1986: The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg (Houghton)
1985: Saint George and the Dragon , illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman; text: retold by Margaret Hodges (Little, Brown)
1984: The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Bleriot by Alice & Martin Provensen (Viking)
1983: Shadow , translated and illustrated by Marcia Brown; original text in French: Blaise Cendrars (Scribner)
1982: Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg (Houghton)
1981: Fables by Arnold Lobel (Harper)
1980: Ox-Cart Man , illustrated by Barbara Cooney; text: Donald Hall (Viking)
1979: The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble (Bradbury)
1978: Noah's Ark by Peter Spier (Doubleday)
1977: Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions , illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon; text: Margaret Musgrove (Dial)
1976: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears , illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon; text: retold by Verna Aardema (Dial)
1975: Arrow to the Sun by Gerald McDermott (Viking)
1974: Duffy and the Devil , illustrated by Margot Zemach; retold by Harve Zemach (Farrar)
1973: The Funny Little Woman , illustrated by Blair Lent; text: retold by Arlene Mosel (Dutton)
1972: One Fine Day , retold and illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian (Macmillan)
1971: A Story A Story , retold and illustrated by Gail E. Haley (Atheneum)
1970: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig (Windmill Books)
1969: The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship , illustrated by Uri Shulevitz; text: retold by Arthur Ransome (Farrar)
1968: Drummer Hoff , illustrated by Ed Emberley; text: adapted by Barbara Emberley (Prentice-Hall)
1967: Sam, Bangs & Moonshine by Evaline Ness (Holt)
1966: Always Room for One More , illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian; text: Sorche Nic Leodhas, pseud. [Leclair Alger] (Holt)
1965: May I Bring a Friend? illustrated by Beni Montresor; text: Beatrice Schenk de Regniers (Atheneum)
1964: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (Harper)
1963: The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (Viking)
1962: Once a Mouse , retold and illustrated by Marcia Brown (Scribner)
1961: Baboushka and the Three Kings , illustrated by Nicolas Sidjakov; text: Ruth Robbins (Parnassus)
1960: Nine Days to Christmas , illustrated by Marie Hall Ets; text: Marie Hall Ets and Aurora Labastida (Viking)
1959: Chanticleer and the Fox , illustrated by Barbara Cooney; text: adapted from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales by Barbara Cooney (Crowell)
1958: Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey (Viking)
1957: A Tree Is Nice , illustrated by Marc Simont; text: Janice Udry (Harper)
1956: Frog Went A-Courtin' , illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky; text: retold by John Langstaff) (Harcourt)
1955: Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper , illustrated by Marcia Brown; text: translated from Charles Perrault by Marcia Brown (Scribner)
1954: Madeline's Rescue by Ludwig Bemelmans (Viking)
1953: The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward (Houghton)
1952: Finders Keepers , illustrated by Nicolas, pseud. (Nicholas Mordvinoff); text: Will, pseud. [William Lipkind] (Harcourt)
1951: The Egg Tree by Katherine Milhous (Scribner)
1950: Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi (Scribner)
1949: The Big Snow by Berta & Elmer Hader (Macmillan)
1948: White Snow, Bright Snow , illustrated by Roger Duvoisin; text: Alvin Tresselt (Lothrop)
1947: The Little Island , illustrated by Leonard Weisgard; text: Golden MacDonald, pseud. [Margaret Wise Brown] (Doubleday)
1946: The Rooster Crows by Maud & Miska Petersham (Macmillan)
1945: Prayer for a Child , illustrated by Elizabeth Orton Jones; text: Rachel Field (Macmillan)
1944: Many Moons , illustrated by Louis Slobodkin; text: James Thurber (Harcourt)
1943: The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton (Houghton)
1942: Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey (Viking)
1941: They Were Strong and Good , by Robert Lawson (Viking)
1940: Abraham Lincoln by Ingri & Edgar Parin d'Aulaire (Doubleday)
1939: Mei Li by Thomas Handforth (Doubleday)
1938: Animals of the Bible, A Picture Book , illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop; text: selected by Helen Dean Fish (Lippincott)