The Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort

Wednesday morning storytime. I used the Big Book version. Fun!

The Chick and the Duckling by Mirra Ginsburg

Wednesday morning storytime. An old favorite.

Think Tank 2 by Matt Hawkins

I liked the first one enough to actually buy the second…not so crazy about this one, short on plot. We’ll see how the series shapes up.

Billy the Kid’s Old Timey Oddities and the Orm of Loch Ness by Eric Powell

A really odd series by the author of the Goon comics.

Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, 1839-1842 by William Dalrymple

This was so good that when I ran out of time to read it, I reordered it (it was from another library) to finish it. The author found a whole lot of previously unknown (to English speakers) accounts from the Afghan POV, and they are included in translation.

Excellent.

Things to Do in a Retirement Home Trailer Park by Nye Wright

Nye’s autobiographical book covers the months he spent living with his father, who was in hospice care, and his relationships with family, friends and his girlfriend, not to mention his father. Wright draws himself as a big blue bull, and his father as a blue rhinoceros, and some other people are animals, some are not.

Really, really good, not only from the standpoint of my having dealt with the aging parents thing, but also good writing and illustration.

Suri’s Burn Book by Allie Hagan

I’m a big fan of the blog surisburnbook.com but it didn’t translate so well to print, probably because the blog is terse and the book isn’t.

March: Book One by John Lewis

A book by and about a participant/leader in the civil rights movement of the 60s. Very good.

Saints by Gene Yang

This is one of a pair of really amazing graphic novels by Yang, a shining star of teen graphic novel-ness. The two are about the Boxer Rebellion, and each is about a teen on one side or the other, whose lives are intertwined. Really amazing.

Boxers by Gene Yang

This is one of a pair of really amazing graphic novels by Yang, a shining star of teen graphic novel-ness. The two are about the Boxer Rebellion, and each is about a teen on one side or the other, whose lives are intertwined. Really amazing.

Lady Snowblood by Kazuo Koike

This is the manga that was supposedly the inspiration for the Kill Bill movies; it’s by the author of Lone Wolf and Cub.

Not a big fan of samurai manga, although the historical setting and notes were interesting.

I Spy With My LIttle Eye by Edward Gibbs

A wonderful guess-the-animal book, big hit in Saturday Family Storytime.

Duckie’s Rainbow by Frances Barrow

Yes, it’s really shaped like this…Duckie wanders through the multi-colored countryside and ends up with a rainbow at the end. A big hit in Saturday Family Storytime.

Go Away, Big Green Monster by Ed Emberly

Saturday Family storytime. Huge hit.

Five Little Chicks by Nancy Tafuri

Typical Tafuri, for the very youngest. Pics were awesome, but the text was kind of forced.

Saturday Family storytime.

Little Rabbit’s Color Book by Alan Baker

Two and three year old storytime.

Kind of a ripoff of Mouse Paint, with a slightly different way of doing the color blending.

Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat, Are You Going to School? by Bill Martin

Two and three year old storytime. Cute.

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

Reread this yesterday. Like Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind, this was a word-of-mouth bestseller, and is an awesome roller-coaster of a book, with wonderful characters, language and world-building.

 

Wonder by R. J. Palacio

Huge bestseller for older elementary school age kids. Pretty good, better than I expected.

Sycamore Row by John Grisham

I like Grisham’s writing, although I never buy or reread any of  his books…still, like that chocolate bar, they are enjoyable if ephemeral.

This was good, a direct sequel to his best and first book, A Time to Kill.

Good plot, good characters, although the denoument was so completely telegraphed in advance that it was a bit of a ‘Yeah, so what?’ moment. still enjoyable, though.