The List: What I'm reading

So I binged again. It's a problem but I like it and my kids benefit. Here's what I bought:

 The Five Kingdoms: Sky Raiders by Brandon Mull (look at the mouth watering cover. can you taste the adventure?): LOVEd

The Shadow Throne by Jennifer Nielsen (for Lore, I heart this series): LOVED

Spirit Animals: Hunted by Maggie Stiefvater (for Bryn): This series is marketing genius. It has a website where you can do quests with your spirit animal. Bryn LOVED it.

The Twistrose Key by Tone Almhjell (again, the cover): Reading this weekend
I've read them all except The Twistrose Key. Mainly because Lauren got to it first. She's almost 12 and felt like it was too young for her. Bryn's excited to read it after me.

Wings of Fire: The Lost Heir by Tui T. Sutherland (for Bryn): It's okay. Bryn LOVED it. She loves dragons. I'm buying books 3 and 4 for her birthday.

YA:

Panic by Lauren Oliver...I didn't love it. Am I the only one?

What are you reading this weekend?

The List: Fabulous books for Girls who LOVE to read

I have four daughters. These books are a must before they are 12 but definitely not for my boy. This is the order I would introduce them to my girls. Truth be told, Lore is 11 and she's only read half these books. I'm going to need to go to the bookstore....I feel a binge coming on.

Fabulous books for Girls who LOVE to read (Don't torture your boys with these books.) 

1. Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary
2. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
3. Falling In by Frances O'Roark Dowell
4. Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
5. The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
6. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
7. The Secret Garden by Frances Burnett
8. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
9. Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
10. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
11. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elisabeth Speare
12. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
13. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
14. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
15. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
16. Island of the Blue Dolphins
17. Julie of the Wolves by Jean C. George
18. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
19. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
20. Are you There God? It's me, Margaret by Judy Blume

What's your favorite on this list? What other books are great for girls who love to read?

The List: I binged again.

My daughter Lauren officially turned 11. Middle school this year, ack! We of course went book shopping to celebrate. They will all have my sickness by the time they leave for college. It wasn't really a binge because all my girls got a book, I got a few for me, and Lore picked two, right? She's been jones-ing for Inkspell and Inkdeath and the rest of the Ranger's Apprentice (I only have through 7) but when we got to the store, there were too many other choices.

Our book binge on Middle Grade:
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau (Lauren's Pick)

The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer (Lauren's Pick)

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke (me)

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Warner (for Ava)

The School for Good and Evil by Domain Chainani (Everyone wanted this book)

Pandora Gets Frightened  by Carolyn Hennesy (Ava's Pick)

Wings of Fire: The Dragonet Prophecy by Tui T. Sutherland (Bryn's Pick)
Brave (Morgan's Pick Picture book)

My YA musts:

The Elite by Kiera Cass

The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen

Of all the books, The School for Good and Evil everyone was fighting over who would read it first. And who can blame them, the cover is gorgeous. It makes me drool. Seriously, I'm swallowing spit. Shows the importance of a great cover. It just came out in May. I was drawn to it but read the flap before tucking it under my arm. Bryn and Ava both grabbed it purely on cover and we all laughed that we had picked up 3 copies.

What are your drooling for right now?

I binged on middle grade

And I just realized I forgot to do MMGM yesterday. These weeks are flying. Anyway, I had to go to the bookstore for something small and came home with a stack.

What I bought:

• The Swiss Family Robinson by Wyss (Classic)
• My Weirder School #1: Miss Child Has Gone Wild! by Gutman (the destination book)
• The Invisible Tower by Johnson-Shelton
• The Cabinet of Earths by Nesbet
• The Genius Files: Mission Unstoppable by Gutman
• Snow in Summer by Yolen
• Tuesdays at the Castle by George
• Winterling by Prineas (I heart the cover)
• The Last Musketeer by Gibbs
• Hallowed by Hand (my YA splurge)

Ten books: that's not too bad, right?

Which would you want to read first?

I'm kinda leaning toward The Last Musketeer. I'm a sucker for Dumas-inspired stories.

I binged again...on books

So this week, I had to go to Barnes & Noble...mostly for the smell and I needed to get a book for my daughter. Seven books later, I walked out of the store.

And I have to say I'm a bit disappointed with my local B&N because they eliminated their new release section for middle grade. I loved that section and I feel disconnected now that it's gone.

My purchases:

(Middle Grade)

• It's Raining Cupcakes
• The Familiars
• The Book of Elsewhere: The Shadows (I love this title)

(Young Adult)

• Enclave
• Wildfire
• The Maze Runner (I know I'm late to this party.)

(Picture)

• Scaredy-cat Splat!

I'm half way through The Familiars and loving it. Seriously, the cat is funny. So of course I was delighted to find out about this: A Giveaway for Book 2 of The Familiars.

What have you picked up lately that you're loving?

How do you tame your TBR pile?

I have a sickness, book bulimia, and the only cure is more cowbell or more books. I love the smell, the feel, and just getting lost in a story. Luckily my husband has his own sickness: music. So we have a general understanding when we can't control our book/music buying. To control my sickness, I have one rule: I can't buy more books until my TBR pile is down to three but then I binge--buying 6 to 8 books at a time. Then I purge through them so I can binge again.

MMGM has been bad for my sickness, every Monday I crave more books (so you need to stop picking good ones). And last weekend, I broke my rule and binged.

My TBR pile currently towers at 17 books and only because I knocked two off the list this weekend. Divergent by Roth and Beastly by Finn. Seriously, go read Joanne's review of Divergent (there is no way you'll be able to resist her review) and then go buy the book, read it tonight, and then we need to chat. Tomorrow. If you have time.

What's on my pile:

Middle Grade

1. The Ogre of Oglefort by Ibbotson (currently reading)
2. The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall by Hahn
3. The Graveyard Book by Gaiman
4. Wimpy Kid #4 by Kinney (my daughter is reading this one)
5. The Black Book of Buried Secrets (39 Clues) by Riordan
6. Princess for Hire by Leavitt
7. The Emerald Atlas by Stephens

Young Adult

1. Wither by Destefano
2. Real Live Boyfriends by Lockhart
3. Invincible Summer by Moskowitz

Fiction

1. The Devil in the White City by Larson
2. Heresy by Parris
3. Little Bee by Cleave
4. The Glass Castle by Walls
5. Cutting for Stone by Verghese
6. Devil's Brood by Penman (I uber loved Here be Dragons)
7. Game of Thrones by... (yeah, my husband has this book right now, and I'm too lazy to look it up. Sorry.)

How do you tame your TBR pile and what's at the top of your pile?

I need help people.