I've read ...

1. The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
2. Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt
3. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
4. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
5. Where's Spot? by Eric Hill
6. Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day
7. The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
8. Curious George by Margret Rey
9. The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
10. Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
11. The Berenstain Bears by Stan and Jan Berenstain
12. Clifford the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell
13. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (I didn't actually read this until after I saw the movie.)
14. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.
15. Corduroy by Don Freeman
16. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
17. The Snowman by Raymond Briggs
18. Love You Forever by Robert Munsch (my mom always cried when she read this to us. Now as an adult, I cry, too.)
19. The Emperor's New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen
20. The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen
21. The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen
22. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams ("Once You Are Real, You Cannot Become Unreal Again.")
23. Stone Soup by Marcia Brown
24. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
25. Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
26. Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman (My husband's favorite book from childhood. Aww.)
27. Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
28. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
29. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
30. Miss Nelson is Missing! by Harry Allard
31. The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble
32. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by aura Joffe Numeroff
33. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
34. Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss
35. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
36. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
37. Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
38. Black Beauty by Anne Sewell
39. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (a disappointment)
40. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Lyman Frank Baum
41. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
42. The Secret Garden by F. Hodgson Burnett
43. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (read in my grandma's basement)
44. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
45. The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White (AND the rest of the book)
46. The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
47. Stuart Little by E.B. White
48. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
49. Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
50. The Hundred and One Dalmations (read this as an adult when I was recovering from surgery)
51. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
52. Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
53. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O'Brien
54. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
55. Superfudge by Judy Blume
56. The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynn Reid Banks
57. The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
58. The Giver by Lois Lowry
59. Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone by J.K. Rowling
60. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
61. Hitler's Daughter by Jackie French (didn't impress me)
62. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
63. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
64. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
65. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (also kind of a let-down)
66. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
67. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (um, children's book?)
68. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
69. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (twice!)
70. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
71. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
72. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
73. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
74. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
75. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
76. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
77. The Cay by Theodor Tayor
78. Sounder by William H. Armstrong
79. Julie of the Wolves by J. Craighead George
80. The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
81. Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey
82. Hatchet by Gary Paulson
83. The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
84. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
85. Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden (not as good as John Marsden's other books)
86. Holes by Louis Sachar
87. The Messenger by Markus Zusak
88. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
89. How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
90. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
91. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

Books I Own But Haven't Read

1. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
2. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend
3. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
4. King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green
5. A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter
6. Heidi's Wandering and Learning Years by Johanna Spyri
7. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (that I haven't read this yet is a stain upon my good name)
8. Watership Down by Richard Adams

I'm gonna buy a copy of this book when I have kids so I can read him or her all of them and s/he can be smug from a young age about how well-read s/he is. ;)

A Monster Calls is going to be a Movie! and better yet, Patrick Ness is writing the screenplay, I'm so  freaking excited!!! <3

Juan Antonio Bayona to direct.

More info here

Maralee Wofford, author of The Mortician's Wife says:

I just finished reading The Legend of Koolura and couldn't wait to write this review. There were so many things I liked about this book. First of all, Koolura and her school friends - a multi-cultural bunch if ever there was one. I loved the way they were so comfortable talking about their cultural differences. The reader could tell that, rather than belittling one another, they considered their differences in a positive way.

Although the theme of the plot might be a bit hard for an adult to accept, I'm certain the YA reader will find it totally understandable. Michael Thal takes "cool" to a realm all of its own.I especially liked the way Mr. Thal built the suspense element. It seemed that the farther I got into the book, the faster I was reading. It was a real page turner, and I recommend it to every youngster who likes to read suspense.

Doll Bones | Holly Black

Margaret K. Mcelderry, 2013

Zach, Poppy and Alice have been friends for ever. They love playing with their action figure toys, imagining a magical world of adventure and heroism. But disaster strikes when, without warning, Zach’s father throws out all his toys, declaring he’s too old for them. Zach is furious, confused and embarrassed, deciding that the only way to cope is to stop playing . . . and stop being friends with Poppy and Alice.

But one night the girls pay Zach a visit, and tell him about a series of mysterious occurrences. Poppy swears that she is now being haunted by a china doll – who claims that it is made from the ground-up bones of a murdered girl. They must return the doll to where the girl lived, and bury it. Otherwise the three children will be cursed for eternity...

Okay, I literally just brought this home from the library, but that middle-grader in me who still remembers being sucked in by the literary creepy awesomeness that was the Spiderwick Chronicles couldn't help but take a peek.

So I took one.

And another.

I think I read the first two chapters before I finally set it down in favor of homework, but so far I like what I'm seeing. Three friends from troubled backgrounds - ordinary kids, with their flaws and confusion about growing up - and their imaginary adventure game that means everything. What kid doesn't remember the epics of their action figures or pretending they were a mermaid in the pool?

This may be shelved as a middle-grade, but if you're already a Holly Black fan, this definitely has crossover potential. I'll keep you posted.