Comments for April 2011 in Review

April in Review: 04/30/11

I read nearly the same amount in April as I did in March. The vast majority of these books were read for a graduate school project. I doubt I will review most of what I read in April in upcoming months. As most of these books were school reads, the library ended up being my primary source again.

Not all of the picture books read, though, were for school. My daughter can read now and she loves to read to me. I love to listen to her. So some of the books on my list are ones that she read to me. Her current favorite author is Mo Willems.

I continue to be obsessed with Fullmetal Alchemist. I managed to read six volumes and I have two more volumes at home. I'm also working through xxxHolic and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles, both by CLAMP, Black Butler and Soul Eater. Manga makes the perfect read over breakfast and coffee before I get started on my homework.

This month was the Scholastic Book Fair at my son's school. Combine that with a new books that I just couldn't resist reading, my ROOB score rose to -2.15, the second worst since October 2010.

Books reviewed this month

Rating out of 5 stars (as posted on GoodReads)

Five Stars:

1. The Egyptian Jukebox by Nick Bantock
2. The Illusions of Tranquility by Brendan DuBois
3. In Mike We Trust by P.E. Ryan
4. The Most Wonderful Egg in the World by Helme Heine
5. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
6. Owls by Gail Gibbons
7. Owl Lake by Keizaburo Tejima
8. Smile by Raina Telgemeier
9. Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White
10. Three Leaves of Aloe by Rand B. Lee
11. Where is that Cat? by Carol Greene

Four Stars:

1. Ann Can Fly by Fred Phleger
2. The Birthday Ball by Lois Lowry
3. Flanimals Pop-up by Ricky Gervais
4. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
5. Love that Dog by Sharon Creech
6. My Cat, the Silliest Cat in the World by Gilles Bachelet
7. Paula Bunyan by Phyllis Root
8. Proust and the Squid by Maryanne Wolf
9. Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi
10. Sky Burial by Xinran
11. Tirissa and the Necklace of Nulidor by Willow
12. Treehorn's Treasure by Florence Parry Heide
13. What Do You Love? by Jonathan London

Three Stars:

1. The Blues Go Birding Across America by Carol L. Malnor and Sandy F. Fuller
2. On a Scary Scary Night by Walter Wick
3. The Function of Ornament by Michael Kubo

Two Stars:

1. The Iron Man by Ted Hughes
2. Wheel of the Moon by Sandra Forrester

One Star:

1. The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein by Peter Ackroyd

Books and stories read this month (reviews coming)

Personal Collection

1. "Blind Spot" by Rick Wilber and Nick DiChario (FSF Sept/Oct 2010)
2. "The Door in the Earth" by Alexandra Duncan (FSF Sept/Oct 2010)
3. From Cover to Cover by Kathleen T. Horning
4. "F&SF Mailbag" by David Gerrold (FSF Sept/Oct 2010)
5. How to Survive a Killer Seance by Penny Warner
6. Introduction to Cataloging and Classification by Arlene G. Taylor
7. Ouran High School Host Club, Volume 2 by Bisco Hatori
8. Pirate Fairies of the 8th Sea by George Webber
9. Reference and Information Services in the 21st Century by Kay Ann Cassell
10. Silverlicious by Elizabeth and Victoria Kann
11. Soul Eater, Vol. 1 by Atsushi Ohkubo
12. "Steadfast Castle" by Michael Swanwick (FSF Sept/Oct 2010)
13. XXXholic Volume 1 by CLAMP

Library book

1. The Brother Gardeners by Andrea Wulf
2. Calvin Coconut: Trouble Magnet by Graham Salisbury
3. Can I Play Too? by Mo Willems
4. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
5. Clementine by Sara Pennypacker
6. Clementine's Letter by Sara Pennypacker
7. Conrad's Fate by Diana Wynne Jones
8. Every Soul A Star by Wendy Mass
9. Fortune Cookies by Albert Bitterman
10. Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 09 by Hiromu Arakawa
11. Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 10 by Hiromu Arakawa
12. Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 11 by Hiromu Arakawa
13. Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 12 by Hiromu Arakawa
14. Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 13 by Hiromu Arakawa
15. Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 14 by Hiromu Arakawa
16. Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand
17. Go, Dog. Go! by P.D. Eastman
18. Gracias / Thanks by Pat Mora
19. Highway Robbery by Kate Thompson
20. Homemade Love by Bell Hooks
21. How to Grow Up and Rule the World by Scott Seegert
22. Job Site by Nathan Clement
23. Kitten's Autumn by Eugenie Fernandes
24. Madeline at the White House by John Bemelmans Marciano
25. Maneki Neko: The Tale of the Beckoning Cat by Susan Lendroth
26. Mortal Love: A Novel by Elizabeth Hand
27. My Brother Charlie by Holly Robinson Peete
28. Olivia Trains Her Cat (Ready-to-Read. Level 1) by Sarah Albee
29. The Owl and the Pussycat by Anne Mortimer
30. The Pepins and Their Problems by Polly Horvath
31. Pocketful of Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes by Salley Mavor
32. Poppleton Forever by Cynthia Rylant
33. Punished! by David Lubar
34. Seeds of Change by Jen Cullerton Johnson
35. Shadow by Suzy Lee
36. The Stainless Steel Rat Returns by Harry Harrison
37. Teeth, Tails, & Tentacles: An Animal Counting Book by Christopher Wormell
38. Ten copycats in a boat, and other riddles by Alvin Schwartz
39. That Bad, Bad Cat! by Claire Masurel
40. There Is a Bird on Your Head! by Mo Willems
41. Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE, Volume 1 by CLAMP
42. Watch Me Throw the Ball by Mo Willems
43. Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears: A West African Tale by Verna Aardema
44. XXXholic Volume 2 by CLAMP
45. XXXholic Volume 3 by CLAMP
46. XXXholic Volume 4 by CLAMP

Review copy

1. The Best American Comics 2010 by Neil Gaiman (ebook)
2. Hot X by Danica McKellar
3. The Sevenfold Spell by Tia Nevitt (ebook)

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Comments (6)

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Comment #1: Sunday, May, 1, 2011 at 10:26:28

Erika

I love the anime xxxHolic (one of my top favourites). I haven't picked up the manga yet though. And wow...you read a lot of books. Even more than one a day.

Comment #2: Wednesday, May 4, 2011 at 23:08:02

Pussreboots

You should read xxxHolic if you can. There's more to the story that isn't covered in the anime.

Most of the books I read were short. Plus the text books I've been working on for weeks. I just happened to finish them now because we've come to the end of the semester.

Comment #3: Sunday, May, 1, 2011 at 10:27:33

Nikki-ann

Wow, that's a lot of book ina month!

I remember reading The Iron Man by Ted Hughes in school (many years ago!).

Comment #4: Wednesday, May 4, 2011 at 23:15:02

Pussreboots

I only heard of the book after the movie.

Comment #5: Sunday, May, 1, 2011 at 11:01:39

Freda

You had a great month!
Happy May Reading!