Lazy Saturday

So it's almost noon on Saturday and the only things I have accomplished today are a few report cards, a load of dishes and a shower (I know and it's only noon and a Saturday). I'm fighting a cold so for the rest of the day I will be sitting on the couch under a blanket and reading. I have about 100 pages to go in Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. I have to know what happens!


This summer I read and loved like most of the world Gone Girl. I loved the dark writing and the last page was AMAZING! The thing I liked best was that when I was done I realized Gillian had written other books, I love when that happens. There is nothing better than when you find a book you love and then you find more like it (even better Gillian is a Chicago girl). I think it would be great if all authors HAD to write two books because there are so many times when one just isn't enough. Case and point Kathryn Stockett the author of The Help. When is she going to realize how much I love her and her book? Notice I said book not books.




Another book I will be reading is Just A Dog by Michael Gerard Bauer. I want to see if this would be a good book to read to my class. The whole reason I even bought this book is because of the brilliant marketing by Scholastic. They sent me a calendar at the start of the school year that featured cats and dogs reading, what is not to love about that? This month features a cat reading Just A Dog. It is so cute that I had to get the book. At first I thought it might be just another Marley but then I though GREAT it might be another Marley. I love all books about dogs! I love to read them in adult form and kid form. My only fear is that my students are picking up my same habits...judging a book by its animal.

I'm off to read and order Costello's, another perk of living in Chicago. You should try the Monterey Chicken, it will change your life!

Who is BookGirl?

Who is BookGirl? I am a wife, teacher and reader. I love to read at home and at work. I love to read all types of books and authors. I also love to talk about books with my husband, friends, my mom, my book club (who are also my friends) and my students.

I live in Chicago with my husband Tim and my dog Maddie, both of whom are the loves of my life. I am most happy when I am sitting on the couch, cozy with my Maddie, reading while Tim is making me dinner (I wish) playing video games. Tim is 34 not 13 but he loves video games and I love him so...I guess Tim is lucky he has a wife who loves him and loves to read.

Enough about me, let's get to the books that have made me me! I once heard someone say the books that make you a reader are your book print, so here is my book print:The first book that makes up my book print is Baby Dear (Little Golden Book) by Esther and Eloise Wilkin. I loved this book when I was little and I can still see the pictures in my mind. I don't remember exactly what it was about but I do remember loving it and sitting on the couch while my mom read it to me.

The next book I remember loving and the book that started me playing teacher was Ramona Quimby Age 8 by Beverly Cleary. My mom bought me the book after my third grade teacher Mrs. Hogan read it to us. I would sit in my room and read it out loud to me "class." When I started my classroom library it was one of the first books that I bought and it is a book that I still love reading to my class. I love sharing the story with them about why it is such a special book to me. I also still laugh out loud when I read chapter 3, The Hard Boiled Egg Fad.

High school brings me to the next book that made me who I am, The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. This book came to me one spring break and I quickly inhaled it. This was the first book "adult" book that I read. It was the step from kid books. I huge step in a person's life and only now that I think about it do I even realize what an impact it had on my life. Years later this became the only movie I went to on my own. This is one of the few book to movie that I love!





In college I read Summer Sisters by Judy Blume. This is one of those books that I want to read over and over. It was also the first book that I really started to talk about and recommend to other people.





Also in college while I was studying to be a teacher I had a professor read us
Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco. This is when I realized what amazing messages children's books could give and I knew how much I was going to love sharing them with my students. 

The last book in my personal book print is The Wednesday Sisters: A Novel by: Meg Waite Clayton. This was the first book my book club read. I love my book club, it has brought amazing people into my life and three years later I still look forward to our monthly meetings all month!

This blog is going to be about the books I love to read for fun and the books I use to teach my first graders. I hope you enjoy and find some books to add to your own book print!