sandrakwilliams.net

The Renaissance Learning report from the Washington Post gives the results below. I am sadly out of touch with today’s youth and have read very few of these popular. Nancy Drew, Judy Bolton, Hardy Boys, Black Stallion, My Friend Flicka — those musty old books I read.

YES — I read it.
NO — I haven’t read it.
MAYBE — I don’t remember.

First grade

1. Green Eggs and Ham, Dr. Seuss YES
2. The Foot Book, Dr. Seuss NO
3. Are You My Mother? P.D. Eastman MAYBE
4. Hop on Pop, Dr. Seuss YES
5. Biscuit, Alyssa Capucilli NO

Second grade

1. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Laura Numeroff YES
2. Green Eggs and Ham YES
3. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle NO
4. If You Give a Moose a Muffin, Numeroff NO
5. If You Give a Pig a Pancake, Numeroff NO

Third grade

1. Charlotte’s Web, E.B. White YES
2. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Judi Barrett NO
3. Officer Buckle and Gloria, Peggy Rathmann NO
4. The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, Jon Scieszka NO
5. Dogzilla, Dav Pilkey NO, but it sounds like a fun book.

Fourth grade

1. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Judy Blume NO, not even one of her books, although I’ve heard great things about them.
2. Sarah, Plain and Tall, Patricia MacLachlan NO
3. Because of Winn-Dixie, Kate DiCamillo NO
4. Charlotte’s Web
5. Stone Fox, John Gardiner NO

Fifth grade

1. Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson NO
2. Hatchet, Gary Paulsen NO
3. Holes, Louis Sachar NO
4. The Sign of the Beaver, Elizabeth Speare NO
5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, J.K. Rowling YES

Sixth grade

1. Hatchet
2. Bridge to Terabithia
3. Holes
4. Number the Stars, Lois Lowry NO
5. The Bad Beginning, Lemony Snicket NO

Seventh grade

1. The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton YES
2. Holes
3. The Giver, Lowry NO
4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Rowling MAYBE

Eighth grade

1. The Outsiders
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
3. The Giver
4. Holes
5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Rowling NO

Ninth-12th grade

1. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee YES
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
3. Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck NO
4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
5. *A Child Called ‘It,’ * Dave Pelzer NO

Fiction and memoirs only, in alpha order by author last name.

1. Allison, Dorothy: Cavedweller
2. Ballantyne, Tony: Recursion
3. Bishop, Toby: Airs Beneath the Moon
4. Boyle: A Friend of the Earth
5. Brennan: Doppelganger
6. Bronte: Villette
7. Brown, Simon: Empire’s Daughter
8. Cook, Dawn: The Decoy Princess
9. Crispin, A.C.: Storms of Destiny
10. Croggon: The Naming
11. Croggon: The Riddle
12. Cross, Janine: Touched by Venom
13. Delaney: Nova
14. Duchamp: Alanya to Alanya
15. Edgerton, Teresa: The Queen’s Necklace Continue reading “Books read in 2007”

Only 25 books so far this year. I’ve been checking a lot of books out of the library and returning them unread — too busy to read, and then too tired to read anything that requires concentration.

Looking at my tags by year, I can see that a lot of the books I read in earlier years are missing. I think I’ll try to add them as I remember them. Getting the years right will be almost impossible. Heh heh. “You couldn’t have read that book in 2002! It came out in 2005!”

Fiction only, alpha by author.

1. Alexander, Alma: Changer of Days
2. Baird, Alison: The Stone of the Stars
3. Bear, Elizabeth: Hammered
4. Bear, Elizabeth: Scardown
5. Bear, Elizabeth: Worldwired
6. Bell, Hilari: Fall of a Kingdom
7. Bell, Hilari: Rise of a Hero
8. Betancourt, John Gregory: The Dragon Sorcerer
9. Bishop, K. J.: The Etched City
10. Black, Holly: Tithe Continue reading “Books read in 2006”

I started cataloging the books I’ve read at LibraryThing. Entering the book title is easy; ranking them is hard.

Seems like every time I go back to add books, I end up changing the number of stars of about the half the books. “Well, after reading this book that one isn’t so bad.”

And looking at the rankings, it looks like I don’t like any books at all. I am stingy with praise, not just for books. I expect everything to reach for perfection. So many of these books reach for just good enough, it seems.

I have to remind myself the authors are writing the best they can, and that a lot of people read for comfort; they don’t necessarily want a book that makes them think. I’m the same way — I put down Clouds End to read Elantris, even though Clouds End is a much, much, much better book.