Summer Reading Extravaganza - Day 3 & 4:Magazines & Activities

I didn't have time to blog yesterday so I am combining yesterday and today's questions for the Summer Reading Extravaganza.

Day 3's question was:We all love books, but how about magazines? Magazines are perfect for the shorter flight or poolside (so your book doesn’t get wet), don’t you think? What are your favorite magazines or what magazines would you recommend for book lovers? Or is there a magazine we should stay away from? Our thoughts are below, but we can’t wait to read yours! I actually do not get any magazine subscriptions anymore. I found that I didn't take the time to read them. I used to love Readers Digest and that's what I'll pick up first at the doctor's office or if I see it at my family's house. My daughter gets Sports Illustrated Kids and enjoys reading it. The kids also get Time for Kids at school and read them whether they have to or not. Makes for some interesting dinner conversations!

Today's question is: Today’s topic is summer reading activities. What we love so much about reading is that it expands our world! If you have any fun traditions or activities that you share with your kids or students that have to do with reading, today is the day to share them.If you don’t have kids, maybe you have a bookclub that does has some fun traditions or you enjoy organizing your books in the summer. Be creative and share with us! In the summer, we join the reading club at the library. It gets the kids excited about reading and some incentives. I work to have them read 30 minutes a day, but usually that only ends up happening about 3-4 times per week. They love it best when the three of us crawl into my bed, with me in the middle, and read. We do this either in the afternoon or right before bed. They get the most reading done then (unless they fall asleep - it's also a good nap inducer!).

What magazines and activities do you do? For more ideas, be sure to check out The Friendly Book Nook for magazines and activities. Also check out the other blogs that are linked to those posts.

Summer Reading Extravaganza - Day 2: Kids books

Today's Summer Reading Extravaganza question is about good summer reads for the kids. My daughter, age 11, is currently reading and loving The Calder Game by Blue Balliett. She had read Chasing Vermeer with the same characters in school and was very excited to see this new book in the book store. She says it's about a boy named Calder who, along with a statue of a famous Calder in England, goes missing. And his friends and family who search for him. It's quite the mystery and she's having fun trying to figure it out!

An author my kids and I all love is Kate DiCamillo. We started with the book Because of Winn-Dixie that my daughter read in second grade (before the movie came out). My mother-in-law and I read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane out loud to the kids. All four of us loved following that rabbit on his adventures. We have The Tiger Rising on the to be read list!

Another book we've loved (and of course the movie after reading the book) is Holes by Louis Sachar.

For more recommendations for books for the kids, check out the other posts at The Friendly Book Nook. I look forward to seeing what else to share with the kids!

Summer Reading Extravaganza - Day 1: Fun Summer Reads

Today's question: What’s your favorite beach read or what’s in your beach bag?

As we all know, my book memory leaves alot to be desired. So I went back through my library to see what would trigger as a great beach (or for me in the midwest - vacation) read.


The Alphabet Sisters by Monica McInerney is a great book! It's about three sisters - their grown up lives with flashbacks to their childhood. They grew up in their parents motel, all the while being a singing sensation in their own right. Will make you laugh and cry! I noted this as a top read for me for 2006. Really, any of Monica McInerney's books will make a great beach read!

For the mystery lovers, one of my favorite series is J.D. Robb's (aka Nora Roberts) "In Death" series. I just eat them up when they come out. Detective Eve Dallas and her husband, Roarke, solve many crimes all the while dealing with their own internal issues from childhood. The first one in the series is Naked in Death. But you could read any of them and enjoy it.

A great Christian, 'group of real women', series starts with the Yada Yada Prayer Group by Neta Jackson. A group of twelve, very different both spiritually and culturally, women go to a women's conference in Chicago (some willingly, some not so willingly), are put into a prayer group for the conference and then crisis strikes. This first book shows how they come together as women to help someone they just met. Another one that made me laugh and cry both. I do recommend starting this series in the beginning and reading in order.

One more from my library - Monkeewrench by P.J. Tracy is a good mystery with intrigue and 'people drama' thrown in. Murders are being committed just like in a video game designed by the Monkeewrench company. We meet the team behind the game, the detectives assigned to the case, and some interesting characters.

In my pile of 'to be read' right now are two that I can't wait to get reading.

By Elizabeth Noble, The Reading Group has this teaser on Amazon: ...U.K. bestseller is a frothy page-turner that dissects the relationships, desires and discoveries of five English women, all members of a book club. Over the course of a year, the women read 12 novels (including Atonement, Rebecca and The Alchemist) and, through their playful but intimate discussions (few of which revolve around the books), they bond closely while coping with such matters as a philandering husband, a mother with dementia, a pregnant but unmarried daughter, an infertility crisis, a wedding and a funeral. It's a testament to Noble's characterizations and plotting that the novel is not overwhelming, despite its numerous (perhaps too many) points of view, complicated backstories and interweaving contemporary crises. Light but never flip, this is funny, contemplative and touching reading, and the group's familiar book choices allow readers to feel as if they're part of the gang, too, as they race to the end, eager to find out what happens, why it does and what it all means.

Janet Evanovich is one of my favorite authors! Fearless Fourteen is the latest in the Stephanie Plum series. Stephanie makes me laugh out loud. Every time! She is a bounty hunter that has no idea what she's doing. She hangs with some fun folks, including her very sly grandmother. These books are sort of mysteries as there usually is someone trying to kill Stephanie for something she stumbled into. But they are such a light read with a great cast of characters that even if mysteries aren't your thing, I think you'll love them. The first book in the series is One for the Money.

Thanks to The Friendly Book Nook for sponsoring this fun! Make sure you go to their post on great beach reads and comment on their books and the others linked there. Remember to keep track of the comments you make - the more comments, the more chancs you have to win the great prizes!

Summer Reading Extravaganza - The Friendly Book Nook

I am excited! Next week, The Friendly Book Nook is hosting a Summer Reading Extravaganza! Each day we will have a topic about summer reading that we encourage you to post about on your blog! It should be a great chance to get a lot of ideas for books to read over the summer as well as ways to encourage your children to spend some of their time reading.There are also prizes! Through regular participation you will have the chance to win one of the following:

1) Inspirational Fiction Lot: Includes Skizzer by A.J. Kiesling, A Mending at the Edge by Jane Kirkpatrick, In the Dead of Winter by Nancy Mehl, To Trust a Friend by Lynn Bullock, and a special cross bookmark made by Rabuna Fi.

2) A brand new signed copy of Stealing Athena by Karen Essex.

3) A ten dollar Amazon gift card!

If you would like to donate some prizes to add to these, please contact Amy at thefriendlybooknook AT gmail DOT com.

Here’s how to be eligible to win one of these prizes:

For bloggers:
1) Post a message on your blog inviting your readers to join in the Summer Reading Extravaganza. (required)
2) Participate in the Summer Reading Extravaganza. For each day you participate, you will receive an entry!
3) For a bonus entry, write a wrap-up post at the end of the week linking to your favorite posts from the week.
4) Add the button to your sidebar for another bonus entry!

For non-bloggers:
1) Participate by leaving comments on participants blogs. For each comment you will receive an entry.
2) Send an email at the end of the week to thefriendlybooknook AT gmail DOT com with links to the posts you commented on.

This will be fun! Make sure you check out everyone's responses this week!