And so today, I give you the list of great fiction books we read this year and for which we are thankful.
My List
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Heft by Liz Moore
The Expat by Chris Pavone
The Bungalow by Sarah Jio
The Husband's List
Walking Away (Though that may be because his wife wrote it.)
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (He does listen to books while commuting to and from his office which is far, far away.)
Hockey Boy's List (Avid Reader - 4th Grader)
The Enchantress (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel) by Michael Scott
The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull
The Pendragon Series by DJ McHale
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
Heroes of Olympus Series by Rick Riordan
The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan
Middle Man's List (Emerging Reader - 3rd Grader)
Harry Potter by JK Rowling (He has made it through the first three books in the series.)
The Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan
Encyclopedia Brown by Donald J. Sobol
The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling
Little One's List (New Reader - 1st Grader)
Anything Berenstain Bears - He still loves to have us read these to him. I did find some of the Leveled readers that he can read.
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss - This was first "read" book he read aloud.
We Are In A Book by Mo Willems (He loves all the Mo Willem books)
If You Give a Dog a Donut by Laura Numeroff (And all the Give a Blank a Blank books)
What are some of your favorite fiction reads for which you are thankful?
Thanks for this list!! So far I had not let my daughter, (5th gr, but been reading at a MUCH higher level for years, and LOVES to read), read Harry Potter, (they don't interest me so I haven't read them either), but I had just always thought we were better off to stay away from "that kind of thing"...well, just the other day she finally asked me if she could read them, so I've been debating about whether to let her... I'm curious about your thoughts on this...I'm guessing YOU have read them??
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I have only read the first two Harry Potters. I actually do not enjoy fantasy books but my eldest LOVES fantasy. My husband and I decided a few years ago that we would let the kids read anything that was relatively age appropriate and not worry about "that kind of thing." We have taken some flak for that from more conservative members of our family but the truth is my boys know that Harry Potter is fiction. I read everything when I was a kid and it never led me astray. I have had some really great conversations with my boys because of the books they read. Also, little known fact but Harry Potter is actually full of Christian themes (similar to Narnia) and the author is a church goer. http://www.christianpost.com/news/harry-potter-author-reveals-books-christian-allegory-her-struggling-faith-29749/
DeleteI do often check Commonsense Media for age appropriateness, though I don't always follow their guidelines. And I have a developed a relationship with the school librarian and the children's librarian at the public library and often ask them for their thoughts on books I have not read.
Delete(an unsolicited weighing in...) I love fantasy books and I've read all the Harry Potter's and think they are pretty great. However, it is definitely a good vs. evil story. There is real good, and real evil. Each book seems to be matched to the age appropriateness of Harry. In the first book he's 11 and the content is pretty light. In the last book he's 18 and the content is quite heavy. I think it's an amazing series and love the fight for good.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sarah. I have found that my boys often miss some of the heavy content because it goes right over their heads. As he has gotten older I have noticed Hockey Boy making more connections.
DeleteThanks for your thoughts here...I, myself, do not really enjoy fantasy either, but my daughter seems to and we have found some really good series.
ReplyDeleteHave you heard of King of the Trees by William D. Burt...then she's also really enjoyed the Dragons in our Midst series by Bryan Davis...anyway, those are some she's enjoyed...I remember, (the first time she read them), she sort of compared the King of the Trees to Chronicles of Narnia.
So I'm currently trying to read the first Harry Potter to see how I feel about it...thought about trying to read it WITH her, but she has more time to read than me and would want to go way faster! ;o)
We still might try that though, we'll see.
Again, thanks for your "two-cents" worth, I appreciate it! Jenn
Thanks for the suggestions. I will check them out.
DeleteI love that you are reading Harry Potter and checking it out for your daughter. I used to read with my kids but they also read too quickly for me and I had to finally let them go. We each know our kids best and know what they can handle and what is not a good fit for them. Even my three boys respond to things differently so I have to be aware of that when choosing movies and books.