There is a quote from a book written by Barry Lopez called “Crow and Weasel” that says, “Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive.”
I love that quote. I have it hanging in our family work room.
And I believe it…stories are like magic. They can teach lessons, change moods, preserve histories, and help us see things from a different perspective.
My husband says if given the choice to buy food or books I’d choose books every time. (And he is right! Books last longer…plus I’d have my book to read to keep my mind off of my hunger pains!)
I love to read and luckily for me so do my children. I keep a stocked bookcase in each of their bedrooms. Along with the bookshelves in the work room, family room, and front room. In fact, there isn’t a room in the house that doesn’t have a book in it. And that is the way that I like it.
So with Christmas coming I thought it would be fun to put together a list of some of my favorite books to give (and a few that are on my list to receive).
Now…before I get started I need to make a disclaimer….I really am a crazy book fiend…for reals. I have all of our books sorted by genre and on shelves in alphabetical order by the authors last name. (Except for the ones in the kids rooms….those they organize themselves because they are there for them to use when and how they’d like.) And I’ve read almost of all them…and I have big feelings about all of them…and I can’t help it. So when I started to write a list my book brain went a little berserko….sooooooooo many books I love for so many different reasons….and I wanted to list them ALL. So even though this list is long I did restrain myself (I promise) and didn’t list even a tenth of what I wanted to.
But the books I did choose are some I really do enjoy and have happily given them to others for gifts.
Now…with that all being said. Let’s get started!
YOUNG ADULT FICTION
*Just because they are young adult fiction doesn’t mean you can’t read them to. In fact, you might enjoy them more than your young adult will.
Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little
(This is a super short read about a girl who does not want to read.)
(A fun read for any age.)
(I just finished reading this the night before last….such a great story told by many different points of view.)
(I know, I know…it’s a book about an elephant and a gorilla..but it is wicked endearing…and it will make you cry.)
(Loved this story as a child…love it even more as an adult. One of my favorite books of all time.)
(Always a favorite read aloud in my 7th grade classes.)
(I need a whole post about the awesomeness of this book and all the fun things you can do while reading it with your kids. Love this book!)
(Just introduced this book to my 11 year old who thoroughly enjoyed it….even though he just knew he’d hate it 🙂 )
(No book list of mine would be complete without this book. Love everything about it.)
(Even though this is a young adult fiction I think adults would appreciate it best.)
(Not at all what I expected…and one that once you read it it’s hard to forget.)
(Ok…so it says the word “scrotum” on the first page….but I swear it isn’t a dirty book. It’s actually darling. I promise.)
When Zachary Beaver Came to Town
(My favorite books are about people who make mistakes, aren’t quite right, but are trying their best…and this book is full of these types of characters.)
YOUNG ADULT FICTION (ON MY WANT TO RECEIVE LIST)
I have never read the following four books….but I’ve read the reviews and all four of them look promising!
NOT YOUNG ADULT FICTION
So I didn’t want to call this the “adult section” and give you all the wrong idea…but these next books are a mix of adult fiction and non fiction books that I think are just plain, old fantastic.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
(You shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover but if all you did was look through the images in the book you would still be holding an interesting story.)
(Liked it so much I gave it to my dad.)
(My brother liked it so much he gave it to me. I liked it so much I read it out loud to my husband on a road trip one summer. It is an interesting read…but be warned if you are sensitive to swearing.)
(So much goodness..but keep a box of tissues handy.)
The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio
(I swear, you will just love the heck out of Terry Ryan’s mother.)
(I read the entire book in one night…I had to know how it ended.)
NOT YOUNG ADULT FICTION (THAT ARE ON MY WANT TO RECEIVE LIST)
So, I only have two books on this list…because I had to stop there….I have like 10 zillion…but these are my top two right now.
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
PICTURE BOOKS:
I love picture books…especially good ones! Those are the ones that we love to read over and over again while snuggled up on the couch!
(Few written words but creates the opportunity for many spoken words by tiny narrators.)
(The illustrations kill me…and my kids. Plus it rhymes. )
(At first I thought I would love this book best but nope, my 7 year old could read it every single day…and sometimes does.)
(Quite possibly my favorite princess story of all time.)
(Clever.)
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
(Besides the fact that I LOVE this insane book…it is our favorite of all the “pigeon” books.)
PICTURE BOOKS (THAT ARE ON MY WANT TO RECEIVE LIST)
(My brother got this for Ruth Christmas! Yippee!)
(And…I ordered this for Ruth for Christmas!)
So there you have it…a list of books that are fun to both give and receive.
And now that I have finished putting this list together I kind of want to do a little book review post maybe monthly…with different topics and themes….yeah….that would be super fun.
But now I’m going to hit publish and go to bed…it’s almost 1 in the morning and I wanted to read a little bit in this new book I just got yesterday….
-liZ
PS: The links to the books all go Amazon and are affiliate links.
I’m so glad that Two Old Women is on this list. I adooooooore that book and know so few people that have read it!
So much goodness on this list! The book with no pictures makes us all laugh EVERY time!
Thanks for reminding me to share the books we love. It’s a bit of ourselves.