Fartygirl - I haven't seen a New Yorker since I moved to this town 6 years ago! Ha! I'll look for the article though... I can definitely see the love of the dramatic in both of the Wilder women!
We aren't on a "farm" (if I said I was people in town would laugh at me!) We have one acre with 40 apple and pear trees. We have blackberries and raspberries. We used to have three large gardens but can only keep one safe from the deer. We used to have rabbits, guineas, and goats for meat and milk until this spring when it was time to move on. We focused on chickens this year - meat and eggs and amusement. I'm not vegan, but eat meat VERY sparingly (the ibs)... I hate store chicken and eggs.
And I'm glad I'm not alone about the sex scenes! I feel like a peeping Thomasina! People get frustrated with me becasue I'm "missing so many great stories" - and at times I get frustrated with the authors/publishers who just throw things in there for... for what? Money... shock value... a better movie screenplay later... personal lust? So many great plots I do miss, but c'est la vie.
The Road :-) I tried to read it but it mad me so sad, I stopped. Sometimes I hate being morose. Then we watched the movie the other night. I was so freaked out by the cannibalism that I fell asleep. (I've trained myself to sleep through my husband's scary movies!) Well, some of the spookiness of it stayed with me. Last night my husband was out playing softball, all the kids were in bed asleep, and I was curled up in a my chair reading Drowning Ruth with the cat. At one point, the cat woke up and remained alert and studying some noises I couldn't hear. For a brief moment I was nervous about cannibals bursting through my door... The first book I ever cried at was Where the Red Fern Grows.
I like Karen Cushman. I think she's brash and bold and covers topics that are intriguing. I enjoyed The Midwife's Apprentice. I haven't read her latest stuff though. I still find it a bit grown-up for some kids - I think grown-up topics written for kids are usually clean enough for me, though.
Tren - What kind of youth books do you like? I am impatient with so many of them because they don't have the depth I am looking for now. I want MORE of the story - more detail, more information, more description, more character development. I wish they would expand some into novels for grown-ups (I typed "adult novels" but that sounded risque!) almost like they take adult novels and scale them back for kids.
Have a great day folks! It's a "ditch day" here, so I'll be irrigating the acre!
I judge books by their covers, too.
ReplyDeleteAs far as youth books go, I generally steer away from any mystical-type fairy/elves/magic books, and they are SO prevalent these days that it's annoying to me.
I have read quite a few Newbery award and Newbery honor books, as well as other books by Newbery authors. I've found that while some of the more current ones have been pretty good, most of my favorites were written in the 20s, 30s, 40s and maybe 50s. A few of my favorite Newbery books that come to mind are _Island of the Blue Dolphins_, _Rifles for Watie_, _Johnny Tremain_, and _Hitty: the First Hundred Years_.