lit*chick

Indie Bound

one of my favorite resources - booksense.com - the site for independent bookstores has a new look and a new name:

Indie Bound

check out the indie next list (formerly the booksense monthly pick, otherwise known as lit chick's favorite book list). :)

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PS - Love Walked In questions are up on Friday. We'll be using the blog page format instead of the message board. AND send all your peeps to the giveaway.

4th of July booklist & bonus soundtrack

for the wee patriots:

The Star Spangled Banner illus by Peter Spier    Fireworks, Picnics, and Flags by James Cross Giblin

Fireworks and Freedom: Fourth of July Activity Book              F is for Flag by Wendy Cheyette Lewison

 

The 4th of July Story by Alice Dalgliesh                 

                 

You're a Grand Old Flag illus by Warren Kimble       This Land is Your Land

We the Kids by David Catrow                        America the Beautiful by Robert Sabuda

and for you over acheivers:

1776 by David McCullough                                Common Sense by Thomas Paine

Founding Brothers by Joseph J. Ellis               and shouldn't every house have one of these? for $2 i think so :)

Have a safe, wonderful, strawberry shortcake filled 4th.

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Countdown to the Olympics List

After watching hours upon hours of Olympic trials and preparing for more, I thought I would share my excitement in the form of what else...a list:

 (& a soundtrack)

Some of these titles are out of print, but I bet you can find them in your local library.

Let the Games Begin.

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Summer Reading

to Jill that I'm only reading children's lit and short stories this summer. That may not be too far from the truth, although at this point I'll be happy to read anything. Meanwhile, I'm still trolling for the latest and greatest, accumulating lists and stacks and notes. Here are some coming attractions:

Iodine by Haven Kimmel - She is one of my favorite authors, gifted in portraying the bittersweetness of life. This drops on August 5th.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski - you can read the first chapter here.

Books: A Memoir by Larry McMurtry - author of Lonesome Dove chronicles his lifetime love of books and collecting. July 8th

Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer (#4 Twilight series) - yes, I  got sucked in. And now, I gotta see how it ends.

The Beach House by Jane Green - looks like a beach read.

 Dressing the Home: The Private Spaces of Top Fashion Designers by Marie Bariller  - eye candy & nosiness combine.

Let's Dance,Little Pookie by Sandra Boynton - we aren't quite out of board books yet and we love some Boynton here.

Sorry, but this looks too clever to pass up. You can get a sneakie here. In stores today, June 18th.

Are you looking forward to something in print?

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yo mamas

(photo from martha stewart flowers at 1-800-flowers - ranunculus bouquet)

mother's day picks:

anything by Nora Ephron   (I Feel Bad About My Neck)

One True Thing by Anna Quindlen (also a movie)

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott         

The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio  by Terry Ryan (also a movie)

Writer Mama: How to Raise A Writing Career Alongside Your Kids by Christina Katz 

I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids by Trisha Ashworth and Amy Nobile

The Mother Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick

The Mother Daugther Book Club: How Ten Busy Mothers and Daughters Came Together to Talk, Laugh and Learn through their Love of Reading by Shireen Dodson

A Year by the Sea by Joan Anderson

A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams (love this one)

Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman  

Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino and Steve Kellogg 

   Mommy? by Maurice Sendak

The Mommy Book by Todd Parr 

   Mommies! by Kate Spahn

for doggie mamas.. Mama Pajama Tells a Story by Patience C. Renzulli

Grass Journal by Lotta Jansdotter - blank pages for you to fill

movies:

Juno, Stepmom, She's Having a Baby, Serial Mom, Mr. Mom, Baby Boom, Steel Magnolias, I Remember Mama, Beaches, The Joy Luck Club, Losing Isaiah, Parenthood, and anything by Nora Ephron

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so you think you can write...

or are at least curious (like me) about how it's done:

Stephen King - On Writing. This one is my favorite, part memoir and so readable.

Anne Lamott - Bird by Bird. I just plain love her.

Francine Prose - Reading Like a Writer. A different approach, but it is true that you can't be writer without being a reader.

Annie Dillard  - The Writing Life. She has the ability to make normal words into something more - a glorious and lovely gift.

Strunk & White - Elements of Style Original or illustrated, either way you really MUST read. I must admit I'm tempted to choose this as a bookclub selection.

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scope it out, weez

(bonus points to whoever can tell me what movie the title post comes from - and hubs, you may not play)

new arrivals:

The Creative Family by Amanda Soule - soulemama

Home: A Memoir of My Early Years by Julie Andrews - curious to see life before Mary Poppins and Sound of Music

Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos - sequel to Love Walked In, one of my favorites

AND

coming soon to a bookstore near you:

Things I Learned About My Dad (in Therapy): Essays edited by Heather B. Armstrong - for all you dooce.com readers :)

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris - it is one of my goals to read some Sedaris before this comes out.

Charley Harper ABCs - i love alphabet books and the illustrations in here are going to be fabulous, i just know it.

i love to play with my food, esp. cupcakes (which I don't eat - not a frosting fan.)

These are just a few of the new titles set to print in the next month (or two). Both Amazon and B&N have a new promotion - an extra 5% off on pre-orders.

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for all the fashionista readers...

i am not claiming to be fashionable, but i know a good bag and a sweet pair of shoes when i see them, here are some new offerings in the category of eye candy & pipe dreams:

Bringing Home the Birkin: My Life in Hot Pursuit of the World's Most Coveted Handbag by Michael Tonello

If Louis V. is the Rolls Royce of bags, Birkin is the Ferrari. The backstory: sushi lunches with girlfriends while bonding over a Birkin - What color we would get, the trip to Paris to Hermes to pick one out, the "presentation" that causes fainting and swooning, we even joked about starting the Birkin fund; making contributions every time we met and how long would that take? (Answer: decades) So this book reveals the author's journey to becoming the Ebay Birkin connection for the masses. And my curiousity will get the best of me. This is my version of Car & Driver. By the way, I'm torn between the hot pink, kelly green, or red. I'm leaning towards hot pink though.

Chanel by Daniele Bott - definitely wins for stunning cover. And I'm sure the inside is just as magnificent. This is the definition of eye candy.

100 Years of Fashion Illustration by Cally Blackman - visually inspiring. especially for a lapsed scrapbooker like me.

for the smaller savvy set(that would be you Miss Faith "I want the pink Juicy bag" Chang):This Little Piggy Went to Prada by Amy Allen - I don't have daughters, but I have this book. A hilarious take on traditional nursery rhymes.

Different Like Coco by Elizabeth Matthews

Petit Connoisseur: Fashion by Karen Sahlmansohn

,a type="amzn"Urban Babies Wear Black by Michelle Sinclair Colman

and for play:

   

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lit chick's Easter booklist

Even though I have known that Easter is early this year, it is still sneaking up on me. Here is the list in all it's pastel glory:

The Easter Parade: A Novel by Richard Yates is on my to-read list.

We are fans of Brian Wildsmith - his illustrations are lovely,especially in his religious titles. Others include: Exodus, Moses, and Joseph

Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter

The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes

The Egg Tree by Katherine Milhous

  Love Gail Gibbons books - but BE WARNED - if you are an easter bunny family, this book describes the "legend" of said bunny so you may want to preview...on amazon people are up in arms that it spoils the bunny story. Personally, I find her inclusivity of the resurrection and the bunny to be pretty cool.

The Easter Rabbit's Parade by Lois Lenski

The Tale of Three Trees by Angela Elwell Hunt - a lovely folk tale about three trees that grow up to be the manger, boat, and cross for Jesus

and our favorite:

Owen's Marshmellow Chick

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here's what you're reading:

finished:

• Did I Expect Angels? by Kathryn Maughan
• Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
• Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts
• Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Piccoult
• Antiques Maul by Barbara Allan
• Going Loco by Lynn Truss
• Empress by Shan Sa
• Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen
• Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
• The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold
• Harry Potter #7
• Consumption by Kevin Patterson
• The Sound of Butterflies by Rachael King

reading now:

• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by
• Loose Girl by Kerry Cohen
• A Thousand Splendid Suns  by Khaled Hosseini
• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
• Persian Girls: A Memoir by Nahid Rachlin
• The Worst Thing I've Done by Ursula Hegi
• The Gathering by Anne Enright
• The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
• The Translator by Daoud Hari
• The Shaping of the Christian Family by Elisabeth Elliot
• The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle
• Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

next up:

• East of Eden by John Steinbeck
• Keeper and Kid by Edward Hardy
• Leftovers by Laura Wiess
• The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
• The Birth House by Ami McKay

What a fantastic array of books - a most impressive list :). I love that you all have a reading plan, even if it's short term - as in "this is my next book". Nice work.

My list has already changed...I finished Her Last Death and Madonnas of Leningrad, and am preparing to start The God of Animals and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

If you haven't already shared your past, present, and immediate future reads - go here. I'll add you to this list and take another roll call soon.

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