Category Archives: Reading

Practically Perfect

Posted on 02/20/2024 by chick

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin, A+ The plot: Young Minli runs away from home to find the Old Man of the Moon so that she can ask him how to change her family’s fortune for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Reading | 1 Comment

It’s All in the Decorations

Posted on 02/19/2024 by chick

Back when the kids were really young, I was hoping to be able to turn my office into a sort of magical place for them. I ran out of steam (and money) and gave up on the dream. I had … Continue reading →

Posted in Crazy Me, Livia Says, Reading | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Reading Report: Late January 2024

Posted on 01/27/2024 by chick

I just finished my fourth book for January 2024. It was The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I gave it a B grade. I may raise or lower that grade later, depending on how the book sits with … Continue reading →

Posted in Reading | 1 Comment

A Great Series

Posted on 01/23/2024 by chick

Two of the books of Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain were on the Top 100 Children’s Books. If I’d had any say in the list, I’d have included the entire series as a single item (ditto the Harry Potter and … Continue reading →

Posted in Reading | 2 Comments

Don’t Read It for the Mystery

Posted on 01/22/2024 by chick

The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb, B- In The Violin Conspiracy, high schooler Ray McMillian wants to play the violin, but his mother wants him to get his GED and quit school early so that he can get a job. … Continue reading →

Posted in Reading | Leave a comment

The Wind in the Willows

Posted on 01/21/2024 by chick

Continuing my quest to read all of the Top 100 Children’s Books, I read The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. In short, the story is about three anthropomorphic animals (Mole, Ratty, and Badger) who become friends and help … Continue reading →

Posted in Reading | Leave a comment

Reading in 2023

Posted on 01/13/2024 by chick

I ultimately finished 47 books in 2023, a number which was better than what I’ve come to expect and fairly close to what I’d hoped for. The list of books seemed very American until I started looking into the particulars. … Continue reading →

Posted in Reading, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Reading Report: From Earlier This Year…

Posted on 07/20/2023 by chick

1. The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell. Story: Among the millions living in New York City are those known as the Mageus, people born with powerful magical abilities, but they are trapped in the city by a magical barrier known … Continue reading →

Posted in Reading | Leave a comment

Midnight Poetry

Posted on 07/19/2023 by chick

I’m only just a few pages into Billy Collins’s Aimless Love: New and Selected Poems, but I’m already a huge fan. I loved one of the poems so much that I felt compelled to go downstairs in my PJs to … Continue reading →

Posted in Reading | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Reading Report: How Short Is Too Short?

Posted on 07/17/2023 by chick

Musical Tables by Billy Collins, no grade I don’t grade collections of poetry, but I do occasionally comment on them. This one appealed to me because the poems were so short, most of them just a few lines long. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Reading | Tagged | 1 Comment