#8 Godless by Pete Hautman *****

Godless will be the 4th shared read of the year for Layla and I. She is so hard to keep up with! This was my choice. I discovered while looking through the National Book Award site.

03/24/06 I finished this awhile back ago and just forgot to post on it. I really enjoyed this story. Great sense of humor and made a heck of a lot of sense to me! This is going down as one of my favorites of the year!

Long Way Round

I'm so glad I got to tag along via DVD on this trip with Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman. They left me wanting more!! I have had the book Long Way Round sitting on my shelf for quite some time and can't wait to get to it now that I've seen the series that I think premiered on Bravo. Makes me want to take on trip with friends and/or family myself. However, I doubt I'd take on such a huge endeavor as they did.

From Amazon:
This documentary series follows actors Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman on a motorcycle trip around the world. The two friends will travel through such places as Siberia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Alaska, before finally ending the journey in New York. The filming will be done by on board cameras and one ride along cameraman.

Ideas for Shared Reading with Layla

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

True Believer by Virginia Euwer Wolff

Godless by Pete Hautman READ

Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan

When Zachary Beaver Came to Town by Kimberly Willis Holt

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Send Me Down A Miracle by Han Nolan

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

Dicey's Song By Cynthia Voigt

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt

Midnighters #1: The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld

City of Ember by Jeanne Duprau

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

The First Part Last by Angela Johnson

Chanda's Secrets by Allan Stratton

Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn

Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo

#7 Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt ****

Layla chose Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt as our March shared read. However, she has already started so I want to keep up with her. I really like discussing the books with her as we go!

02/27/06 I loved this story and the characters. Look forward to reading Dicey's Song in the future.

#6 A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle ***

It was my turn to pick a book for my shared reading with Layla, my daughter. So I chose A Wrinkle In Time which I think was the most suggested book when I asked around for ideas about choosing a book both my daughter and I would enjoy.

02/15/06 I just loved the characters in this book! I'm not a huge fan of fantasy but this was a fun read. Layla felt it ended rather abruptly and I agree but doesn't bother me as much I guess.

#5 The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman ***

The Five Love Languages came highly recommend. I have gotten a copy for myself and my husband. So far I'm getting a lot from the book and hope my husband does as well. I'm giving him credit for at least giving it a try. I really do appreciate it. I hope he can read it from beginning to end! Also, check out other books by Gary Chapman. This book and others not only apply to marriage, family, and all relationships.

02/08/06 I think I did learn someething valuable from this book and will be better able to give more in all my relationships. I'm debating on getting The Five Love Languages of Children but don't really want something that pretty much goes over the same things as this book did. Maybe I'll check if the library has it.