Summer Solstice Report

 Summer has officially started, with a pool party and a thunderstorm and a GIANT MOON. My eighth grader has graduated from middle school, the sixth graders are now seventh graders, and the fourth grader is proud to rule the school as a fifth grader.

Last week I had another great weekend -- my BIL graduated with his masters degree, the weather was wonderful, and we had our annual Foam Sword party with lots of hacking and slashing and no injuries.

I'll go sign in at Book Journey's round-up of what people have read, are reading, and will read. I'm also heading for  Teach Mentor Texts. This is a catch-up post -- last week I forgot to post, so I'm incorporating those books into this week.

This week I read:

• Grave Sight, Charlaine Harris. SF. I zipped through the entire Harper Connolly series.
• Grave Surprise, Charlaine Harris. SF
• An Ice Cold Grave, Charlaine Harris. SF
• Elfhome, Wen Spencer. SF. I think I've only read the ARC, so I reread a library copy.
• A Rising Thunder, David Weber. The Honor Harrington saga is very very top heavy now.
• The Zoo Job, Keith R.A. DeCandido. SF (sort of). A fun Leverage romp, with rhinos.
• Lord Peter Views the Body, Dorothy Sayers. Audio. Short mysteries are good car fodder.
• Smells Like Dog, Suzanne Selfors. Kidlit. A reading-my-library pick that the library wants back.
• Blue Jasmine, Kashmira Sheth. Kidlit. Another reading-my-library choice called back early.

I also read the seven finalists for the Cybils Nonfiction picture books. And then I started rereading them with the early reader, who has embraced the science stuff with glee. He particularly liked the theory of evolution (and the blue-footed boobies) in Island and the wonderful snake pictures in Snakes; I'll see if he also likes the history books by Potter and Kalman.

• Mrs. Harkness and the Panda, Alicia Potter
• Looking at Lincoln, Maira Kalman
• Eggs 1 2 3: Who Will the Babies Be?, Janet Halfman
• Dolphin Baby!, Nicola Davies
• Island: A Story of the Galapagos, Jason Chin
• Nic Bishop Snakes, Nic Bishop
• Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade, Melissa Sweet

Last week I read:

• Three Bedrooms, One Corpse, Charlaine Harris (reread, audio). I do enjoy a good Aurora Teagarden story.
• Grave Secret, Charlaine Harris. (reread) The audio book seems to have kicked a general Harris reread.
• Shadows In Flight, Orson Scott Card. SF. What finally happened to Bean from Ender's Game.
• Some of the Best From Tor.com 2011. NOOK. Short stories that first appeared on that website.
• Sammy Keyes and the Showdown in Sin City, Wendelin Van Draanen. kidlit. I really like the Sammy stories, although this one did a mature thing in humanizing some of the villains, which I kinda regret since they were great at being awful.
• Ordinary Magic, Caitlen Rubino-Bradway. kidlit. A RML pick that I had seen mentioned on several blogs. A fun tale that I've passed along to my oldest son.

What am I currently reading? Well, now that I'm trying to finish a book a day, I grab something I think I'll finish, and then I go back to my standard pile of library book, personal book, book club book, and NOOK. And then I have the other books that I'm pushing through so I always have something I can finish.

• Shakespeare's Landlord, Charlaine Harris (audio). Still on my Harris kick, now I'm listening to the first Lily Bard story when the kids aren't in the car.
• The Wake of the Lorelei Lee, L.A. Meyer (audio). I got it back! It'll be the main story while the kids are in the car.
• Ascension, Michael Carroll. I've forgotten a lot of the first book, so I'm just easing into this one.
• Four Corners, Kira Salak. A young woman journeys to New Guinea -- it looks fascinating.
• Touch of the Demon, Diane Rowland. I like this series, but it's getting a bit top-heavy.
• The Lost Frontier: Guardian, Jack Campbell. Latest in his tale of a boy scout commanding an interstellar fleet, reluctantly teaching his descendants about decency and honor.

What will I read next? I have no idea!

2013 Challenges:

1. Cybils: 39/74.  Finished the NF picture books. Ordered some poetry from the library.
2. Where Am I Reading?: 29/51. Picked up Iowa from Blue Jasmine and Arkansas from a Harper Connolly book. Also Georgia from the Aurora Teagarden book. Thank you, Ms Harris. Sammy Keyes went to Nevada.
3. Crazy Quilt Colors: 5/9. Need patterns, yellow, green, and brown. Any good brown books?
4. Reading My Library: Two finished hastily when the library called them 
5. Best of the Best 2012: 41/25. Finished How to Save a Life but my audio book had to go back to the library.
6. Summer Reading Goal: So far so good.