| to My Favorite Books |
| I always enjoy hearing about new books to read, and maybe you do too. Here are some I really liked: |
| Kids |
| Mystery |
| Young Adult (teen stuff) |
| I'm not generally into mysteries, but I can't get enough of Tony Hillerman. Besides cunning plots, his books have interesting settings and characters - Navajo police officers living on the reservation in Arizona. So, you get a lesson on the fascinating Navajo culture while you read. Robert Redford found the stories interesting enough to make movies of a couple of them. Visit Hillerman's webpage at www.tonyhillermanbooks.com |
| In order, the books are: The Blessing Way Dance Hall of the Dead Listening Woman People of Darkness The Dark Wind The Ghostway Skinwalkers A Thief of Time Talking God Coyote Waits Sacred Clowns Fallen Man First Eagle Hunting Badger Wailing Wind Sinister Pig |
| To borrow a phrase from Georgia Nicolson, I am laughing like a loon on loon tablets! I think I may have discovered the funniest books ever written in the English language. Written by Louise Rennison in the form of a diary of 14-year-old British girl, Georgia, there is hardly a page that doesn�t have me in stitches. The other patients in the dentist's office must have thought I was insane, I was laughing so hard, when I read a book there. Elle has nothing on Georgia when it comes to being clueless, and Georgia has the funniest nicknames for things - like, Scotland is Och Aye-land. And she likes to make words more interesting by mangling them. For example, she likes to think she has wisdomosity, but sometimes she is in a state of confusosity. Then there is the difference between American English and British English: Georgia wears knickers (underwear), gets lurkers (pimples) and likes to snog (kiss). The titles of the books, alone, are enough to make you laugh out loud. The first is Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging, followed by On the Bright Side, I�m Now the Girlfried of a Sex God, then Knocked Out By My Nunga-Nungas, Dancing in My Nuddy-Pants and Away Laughing on a Fast Camel.
I started reading the first book when my then-13-year-old daughter brought it home from school, because the title made it seem like something I wouldn�t want her to read, and I was going to take it away from her if it was too bad. But the suspicious language turned out to be more hilarious than suggestive. It�s really pretty clean, for the most part. |
| Tacky the Penguin is a different sort of bird. His oddness can be annoying, but it saves the day. Great pictures, too. By Helen Lester. |
| Lester also wrote Hooway for Wodney Wat, a sweet tale about another misfit. |
| I Am the King by Nathalie Dieterle, is the story of little Louis, who tries to rule his world. Very funny. |
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| Historical |
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| Bernard Cornwell is filling up the bookshelves in our local library. His Richard Sharpe series keeps getting longer and longer, and he has a good number of other books published as well. Before you know it, he'll have as many books to his name as Stephen King or Isaac Asimov. Richard Sharpe has gotten so popular, that 14 of the books in the series have been made into movies with hunky Sean Bean (he played Boromir in The Lord of the Rings). You don't have to read them in chronological order - heck, Cornwell didn't even write them in order - but it helps. Cornwell has a great website, too. There's even a Sharpe fan club! The books are wonderfully realistic but a bit gritty when it comes to the warfare stuff. That's why I like them, though. They're so detailed and real, you feel like you're there. And you can't help but love Sharpe's cunning and bravery, although he is a bit of a player with the ladies. Still realistic for a man in his position, though. The books in chronological order are: Sharpe's Tiger: Richard Sharpe and the Siege of Seringapatam, 1799 Sharpe's Triumph: Richard Sharpe and the Battle of Assaye, September 1803 Sharpe's Fortress: Richard Sharpe and the Siege of Gawilghur, December 1803 Sharpe's Trafalgar: Richard Sharpe and the Battle of Trafalgar, October 1805 Sharpe's Prey: the Siege of Copenhagen 1807 Sharpe's Rifles: Richard Sharpe and the French Invasion of Galicia, January 1809 Sharpe's Havoc: Richard Sharpe and the campaign in northern Portugal, Spring 1809 Sharpe's Eagle: Richard Sharpe and the Talavera Campaign, July 1809 Sharpe's Gold: Richard Sharpe and the Destruction of Almeida, August 1810 Sharpe's Escape: Richard Sharpe and the Battle of Busaco, September 1810 Sharpe's Fury: Richard Sharpe and the Battle of Barrosa, Winter 1811 Sharpe's Battle: Richard Sharpe and the Battle of Fuentes de O�oro, May 1811 Sharpe's Company: Richard Sharpe and the Siege of Badajoz, January to April 1812 Sharpe's Sword: Richard Sharpe and the Salamanca Campaign, June and July 1812 Sharpe's Skirmish: Richard Sharpe and the defence of Tormes, August 1812 (short story) Sharpe's Enemy: Richard Sharpe and the Defence of Portugal, Christmas 1812 Sharpe's Honour: Richard Sharpe and the Vitoria Campaign, February to June 1813 Sharpe's Regiment: Richard Sharpe and the Invasion of France, June to November, 1813 Sharpe's Siege: Richard Sharpe and the Winter Campaign, 1814 Sharpe's Revenge: Richard Sharpe and the Peace of 1814 Sharpe's Waterloo: Richard Sharpe and the Waterloo Campaign, 15 June to 18 June 1815 Sharpe's Devil: Richard Sharpe and the Emperor, 1820-21 Sharpe's Christmas: Two short stories, 'Sharpe's Christmas' (December 1813, Franco-Spanish border) and 'Sharpe's Ransom' (December 1815, Normandy) |