Two Months Later.....

Book #20: The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller I read this book early Fall, but I don't think I wrote it down on my blog yet. It was recommended to me at a reading conference, and I absolutely LOVE it. It reaffirmed what I do in my classroom and gave me some wonderful strategies as well. I have it on my kindle, but also have a hard copy as well because I loved it so much. (Fantastic strategies for 3rd-6th grade teachers.) 5 out of 5 stars.

Book #21, #22, and #23: The Wolves of Mercy Falls Trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater (Shiver, Linger, and Forever). I read these books because they were free for me to read on my kindle. I finished a book and a half in a day. It's definitely a teeny-bopper book about werewolves. I got through half of the first one and didn't love it, but I had access to the other ones, and I was on vacation and needed some light reading. I wouldn't recommend it, unless you had time to kill and were really bored. =) 1 1/2 out of 5 stars.

#24: Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts. I read this a few months ago, and enjoyed it. The plot kept me interested and it was hard to put down. 4 out of 5 stars.

I'm sure there were others, but I can't recall them..... Drat, only at 24 and it's been 5 months....I have to pick it up!

Oh Drat! It's Been a Month!

Oh drat! It's been a month since I last updated this blog and I KNOW I've read books between now and then. Let's see....

Book #15 and #16: Rick Riordan's Heroes of Olympus The Lost Hero and The Son of Neptune. I loved Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, so I figured I wouldn't be disappointed with this one. These are fantastic books. They were hard to put down and I finished both in a few days. I love how he's incorporating Percy Jackson into this new series, but it's also introducing a whole new load of characters. And a VERY interesting view of Gaea, aka Mother Earth. =) 5 out of 5 for each.

Book #17, #18, #19: Nora Roberts The Sign of Seven Trilogy. These were a great easy read to take my eyes off of the TV screen, but didn't involve a lot of thinking. =) Very interesting super natural component, loved the characters. 5 out of 5 for each.

Hm.. I'm SURE I read other books, but I can't think of them. I HAS been a bit busy since work started and the house hunt picked up.....

#14: Table Manners

Book #14: Table Manners by Mia King. This book may LOOK like a romance book based on the cover, but it's not. =) This was written by the same author who wrote book #2, and I think my friend Carol sent it to me (is that right)? I finished this book in 3 days over Labor Day Weekend. It's about a woman who lives in Seattle who is trying to start up a baking company. It's an interesting read, very easy to get through (again, I SWEAR I read harder book, I just don't finish them as quickly as I do easy books!), and enjoyable. 4 out of 5 stars (Dawn, do you want me to send this book your way?)

Book #13: Summer Rental

Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews. I saw this book on a table in the airport and I thought it sounded interesting. I borrowed it from the Seattle Public Library and finished it in about a week. It was a nice, fun, light hearted read. I'd recommend it if you're looking for a easy read. 4 out of 5 stars.

Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell

Book #12: Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson.
This isn't a typical book that I would pick up from the bookstore or library. It's a book that was recommended by a friend that I met up with while in Hawaii. I checked it out from the public library, and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. This is the story about the sole survivor from Operation Redwing in Afghanistan and the lost heroes of SEAL Team 10. It's an amazing read, informative and emotional. 5 out or 5 stars.

Badass by Ben Thompson

Book #11: Badass by Ben Thompson.
Yes, you read right. BADASS. =) I read about this book in last month's Seattle Magazine (the author is a Seattle-lite), and thought it sounded interesting. Badass: A Relentless Onslaught of the Toughest Warlords, Vikings, Samurai, Pirates, Gunfighters, and Military Commanders to Ever Live. Sounds cool, huh? =) It's a riot. I can't read too much in one sitting, and I don't really recall what I read after a few hours, but when I read it, I'm thoroughly entertained. This is a book where 80% of it is true (the main points) with 20% hysterical add-ins. Here's an example.
Xenophon: "here they faced unrelenting attacks from the natives, who rolled gigantic Raiders of the Lost Ark-style boulders down on them and chucked arrows, spears, water balloons, and horrific insults down from the mountaintops." See? Isn't that great? Doesn't that make you want to read this book? I highly recommend checking it out from your public library. 4 out of 5 stars.

The CAFE Book (Educational)

Book #10: The CAFE Book by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser. I reread this book for a distance learning class I took this summer (I had read it the summer before, because it's the new literacy program we adopted). I am pleased to say that I am FINISHED with this class! This was good refresher of a great way to structure your students reading strategies. C = Comprehension, A = Accuracy, F = Fluency and E = Expanded Vocabulary. If you work at a school that give you the flexibility to teach literacy how you want to teach it, and you don't have to do your adopted curriculum with 100% fidelity, I highly recommend reading this! It was a very easy read, great examples and hints, and very practical. 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Book 8 and 9: The Last Book in the Universe and Springwater Wedding

Book #8: The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick. This book was recommended by a 6th grade teacher, and I thought it sounded like a possible read aloud to my kids. (Normally I wouldn't count a classroom book as a book for my blog, but this one was a good 200+ pages, and took me a week to get through). It's an interesting concept. It takes place after the Big Shake in the far future. There aren't any books but the way to hear stories is to use mind-probes. A boy known as Spaz is on a quest to go from land to land to help his dying sister. It was written with the idea of a sequel, which I dislike. 2 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Book 9: Springwater Wedding. I saw this book and it sounded interesting. I was disappointed. It's not nearly as well written as Julia Quinn books. The plot was semi-flat, there was a lot of potential that wasn't taken. 3 out of 5 stars.

Nanny Returns by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

Book #7: Nanny Returns by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. I saw this in the Detroit Airport and put it on my list of books to check out at the local library. I enjoyed their first book The Nanny Diaries and figured I'd enjoy this one as well. It picks of with Nan 7 years later (after The Nanny Diaries) now married, who runs into Grayer X (the family she used to nanny for in the first book). It's a quick read and took me about 4-5 hours to finish (I SWEAR I read books that are longer reads....they just take longer to finish. I'm reading two right now that I have to stop reading after every chapter). If you read it, I recommend reading Nanny Diaries first because I think I missed a lot. =) 3 out of 5 stars.

The Bright Side of Disaster by Katherine Center

Book #6 The Bright Side of Disaster by Katherine Center. I have no idea where I got this book. It was either given to me by a friend, or I purchased it from a local used bookstore. It's a story about a woman who's pregnant and a day before she gives birth, her fiance leaves her. It's a very fast read (I swear I read books that aren't fast reads!), and easy to get through. I liked the book, but not enough to want to reread it, so if any of my fellow readers are interested in reading it, let me know! (See, and I purposefully didn't tell you how the story ends so I didn't ruin it for anyone). =) Cec's ranking of 4 out of 5 stars.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Book #5: If I Stay by Gayle Forman. This is another book that I found on Amazon.com for my Kindle. It got quite a good rating, and was fairly cheap, so I bought it. =) It was a very fast read, but not necessarily an easy read. It's about a 17 year old girl named Mia who was in a car accident with her family and is the only survivor. But it turns out she's really having an out of body experience, and her body is being kept alive by machines. The bulk of the story is about her struggle with the tragedy and grieving and her having to make the ultimate decision of whether or not to stay, or to go. Again, it was a quick read (it took me maybe 3 hours?) but pretty heavy. Seeing as I like happy endings (and it's hard to have a happy ending when everyone in her family dies in the first two chapters), this wasn't quite up my alley. But it was a good read, none the less. 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Seattle Girl by Lucy Kevins

Book #4: While looking for books to upload on my Kindle, I saw this book. It sounded like a fun, light read, and it was less than $2, so I bought it. It was super easy to read. Great read for a vacation. Pretty predictable, but I like those when I'm in the mood for easy reading. Definitely not a keeper (I've already deleted it from my Kindle), not sure if I'd recommend it. It was worth the $2 though. =) 2 1/2 out of 5 stars.

*ps: I didn't read this book all in one day (even if I finished the cake book yesterday). I have a tendency to read a number of books at once. I think right now I'm reading 4 other books.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

Book #3: *Warning my entries will include detailed information about the book, which means how it ends!!!


I heard great reviews about this book and figured, "Hey, a book with cake in the title? That's totally for me!" So I picked it up from the local library, and ended up bringing it to Ohio. I really liked the premise of it. A girl discovers on her 9th birthday that she can feel the emotions of the person who made her food. The book progressed nicely, until about half way though, the author throws in a really weird curveball. The brother can turn into furniture. Yes, you read that correctly. TURNS HIMSELF INTO FURNITURE. It turns out (5 pages till the end of the book) their family has mysterious powers.

Overall the book had a LOT of potential. Now that I've finished the book, I give it 2 out of 5 stars. It was okay. I don't know if I'd recommend it to anyone.

Sweet Life by Mia King

Book #2: This book was recommended in the latest All About You magazine, so I picked it up from our local library. To be honest, at first I didn't like the book. It's written by a lady who lives in Hawaii and is about a family that moves to Hawaii from New York. The marriage is falling apart and it's about this woman's life in Hawaii with her daughter and what happens in their marriage. I wouldn't call it a page turner, but I finished it. =) 2 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Attempted Book #3 and #4. L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad. I loved her in Laguna Beach and The Hills (on MTV), but she is a horrible author. I got through chapter 3 before I had to stop. Thank goodness I didn't buy the book! 0 out of 5 stars. I saw this book in Anthropologie and it sounded interesting. It's an anthology of unsent letters sent from women to women about things they didn't have the chance or heart to share with a friend. I made it through to chapter 5 before I got bored. All of the letters are different and one brought me to tears, but it's not what I'm looking for at this time. 2 out of 5 stars.

Welcome to Cec's Book Review Blog

Welcome to Cec's Book Review Blog! Here you'll find reviews of various books that I've read (or attempted to get through) with my honest thoughts (which can be very "Cecily") and rankings (out of 5 stars). Enjoy!

I have to start my book review blog with this book. It's written by Julia Quinn (which is really her pen name) who happens to be a parent of a former student of mine (and possibly a future student of mine). She's a wonderful lady and you would never know that she's the author of over 20 romance novels. This is her latest one that I picked up a few weeks ago. I finished it in 2 days. While it wasn't her best one, it was pretty good. It's not your typical trashy romance novel, but has a pretty clever plot with some hysterical moments throw in. You really get to know the characters, and although you know they end up falling in love, your heart melts a bit when it happens. Even better, the main character has a friend with my first name! I'm in a romance novel! =) 5 out of 5 stars.