Book group rocks

This past Sunday was book group night.  Have I mentioned how much I love my book group?  If I haven’t, then let me tell you.  I love this group a lot!  Not only because we discuss books, but also because it is made up of some wonderful friends and colleagues. 

Due to our busy schedules, we don’t meet every month, though we do try.  What we read varies, but is always a book – or few – written for youth.  Usually we are reading the same title, but the past two meetings we changed it up a bit. In January, we each choose two books from the 2014 Morris and YALSA Non-fiction finalists.  This past meeting we each choose two books from the 2014 Sibert/YALSA Non-fiction and Newbery/Printz winners and honors (one each non-fiction and fiction title).  Even though we hadn’t all read the same books, we still had a lively discussion about the titles we did read. Since I enjoyed this new format, we are doing it again in April.  One of our members really wants to further discuss Morris finalist Charm and Strange by Stephanie Kuehn so we are going to read that and another book (or few) from the Newbery/Printz and Sibert/YALSA nonfiction 2014 lists.

Book group is about more than just what we’ve read.  Since we work at different library systems, it is a chance for us to gather and discuss issues and successes in our libraries.  We also talk about what is going on in our lives, just as you would expect when friends gather.  We joke around about how much time we spend on discussing books, but really, book group is about more than just talking about the books.  I wouldn’t want it any other way!

Here’s the list of books we’ve been concentrating on the past few months.  The ones with an asterisk are the ones I have read so far.

Printz: Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick (Winner)*

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell (Honor)*

Kingdom of Little Wounds by Susann Cokal (Honor)

Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner (Honor)

Navigating Early by Claire Vanderpool (Honor)*

Newbery:

Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo (Winner)

Doll Bones by Holly Black (Honor)*

The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes (Honor)

One Came Home by Amy Timberlake (Honor)

Paperboy by Vince Vawter (Honor)

YALSA Non-Fiction:

The Nazi Hunters: How a Team of Spies and Survivors Captured the World’s Most Notorious Nazi by Neal Bascomb (Winner)

Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles, America’s First Black Paratroopers by Tanya Lee Stone (Finalist)*

Go: A Kidd’s Guide to Graphic Design by Chip Kidd (Finalist)

Imprisoned: The Betrayal of Japanese Americans during World War II by Martin W. Sandler (Finalist)*

The President Has Been Shot! The Assassination of John F. Kennedy by James L. Swanson (Finalist)

Sibert:

Parrots over Puerto Rico by Susan L. Roth (Winner)*

A Splash of Red by Jen Bryant (Honor)*

Look Up! Bird-watching in Your Own Backyard by Annette LeBlanc Cate (Honor)* Locomotive by Brian Floca (Honor)*

The Mad Potter: George E. Ohr, eccentric genius by Jan Greenberg & Sandra Jordan (Honor)*

2014 Morris: Dr. Bird’s Advice for Sad Poets Evan Roskos (Winner)*

Charm & Strange Stephanie Kuehn (Finalist)*

Sex & Violence Carrie Mesrobian (Finalist)

Belle Epoque Elizabeth Ross (Finalist)

In the Shadow of Blackbirds Cat Winters (Finalist)