Going to the LIBRARY!!

We've started going to the library. When I was little, I was an avid fan of the library, going on a very regular basis to both the public and school libraries. I would rip through as many books as I could and even revel in just hanging out there and reading.

Now, I see Layla doing the same thing. She LOVES the library (although she's still getting the hang of being quiet there, sometimes we have to cut our visit short). Nowadays I get online, pick out some stuff, then it gets delivered to our branch library which is almost next door. We go over there, wander around a bit, then pick up the stack of books I requested and head home. She spends the whole week fascinated with her books, then just as she gets sick of them... we go back. I've taken this as an opportunity to get some books for myself as well, and have been devouring them at a dizzying speed. Here are some of the things we've fallen in love with.

Books I have recently loved:

Where did you go, Bernadette? Written by a Seattleite who used to live in LA, it's about... a Seattleite who used to live in LA, who gets a little crazy and then disappears. It's absolutely hysterical, especially if you have lived in Seattle or LA. The author, Maria Semple, is my new favorite. She used to write for TV shows like "Mad About You" and "Arrested Development." I like her so much I've 'liked' her on FB.

The Books of Pellinor. This epic adventure - laid out in four books, the first of which is called "The Naming" - was sort of published and forgotten about a decade ago. My mom found them at a garage sale and our whole family has devoured them. It is like Lord of the Rings except with a female hero and a more modern language. The author pretends like it is a historical manuscript, recently found and translated, but deep on her website I found admittance that this is not true (she made a pretty big effort so it seemed like it could be true!).



Other books I've read recently: Hunger Games (as good as they say), the Host by Stephanie Meyer (of Twilight, I thought it was pretty good), 50 Shades of Grey (as raunchy as they say), and several books on how to manage ornery toddlers.

Books Layla has loved:

Anything by Laura Numeroff ("If you give a mouse a cookie"), Lucy Cousins (the "Maisy" books), Eric Carle, SHARK VS. TRAIN by Chris Barton (a random find and excellent book) and all Disney princess books.