Tuesday, June 1, 2010

The Challenge is Over!

We've reached the end of our Biggest Reader book challenge. How did everyone do?


For the staff here in the Youth Services Department some of us finished and some came very close to finishing. But we all agreed the we loved doing the challenge, whether or not we finished. It gave us all a chance to read new titles and genres that we never would have picked up before. For one staff member, she gained a new love for children's poetry. Another challenger said that she enjoyed doing the challenge because it gave her good titles to suggest to kids that come up asking for new books to read.



For me, the Biggest Reader was a lot of fun. There were days when I found it difficult to keep on reading- mainly because I enjoy picture books and adult fiction more. I wanted to quit a few times, just because my brain couldn't handle all the different selections. But then I would pick up something new, like for example one of my favorite picks was a DK Biography on Amelia Earhart. After reading it, the challenge had become fun again. I knew on the surface about Amelia, but I learned so much about her through this book and therefore I gained a new love for biographies. For me personally, I have decided to set a goal for reading chapter books every year. I recently read an article by "The Book Whisperer" that challenged all readers to read a book a day over the summer. It didn't have to be a chapter book, it could be a picture book or any book you wanted. But she challenged everyone to try and read a book a day for the summer. So I think I may try to do that as well.

So the challenge is over and the lesson we have learned is that as a reader sometimes you have to step out of your reading comfort zone, to discover new and exciting books. Happy Reading to Everyone!

Saturday, April 3, 2010

In Honor of National Poetry Month!


Check out this poetry book review from our Biggest Reader Debbie!


Spot the Plot: A Riddle Book of Book Riddles
By: J. Patrick Lewis
What a fun book to read!!! The authro cleaverly describes books in riddles- leaving it up to the reader to guess the titles. Great and cute illustrations clue in the reader along the way!

5 STARS!!!!

Saturday, March 6, 2010


Hello everyone! We want to know how your biggest reading challenge is going? For us here at the Library we are going strong. For me personally, I find that I am coming to the end. I have about five more books on the list to read. I saved my favorite for last- historical fiction. I have a few others that I have to do from our list still and it has been a really great challenge. We are all finding that we are reading books from genres that we didn't even know we would love! For Debbie, she has discovered that she enjoys poetry more than she realized before this challenge began.

Here are a couple reviews from her list:

I am Writing a Poem About... by: Myra Cohn Livingston

Amateur poets will enjoy reading the poems in this book because the basis of the poems is one word, three words or six words for inspiration! Fun poems!


Louisa May Alcott by: Elizabeth Silverthorne

A childhood of poverty and loving encouragement was the impetus behind this author's rise to fame. Her novel, Little Women, was based on her own life experiences with her sisters.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Biggest Reader: Debbie

Here are some great books that Debbie has been reading for her challenge!

England's Jane: The Story of Jane Austen By: Juliane Locke
Jane Austen loved to write, even as a young girl. Her first book was published when she was 35 years old, anonymously. Her family encouraged Jane in her wit and writing.
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane By: Kate DiCamillo
Edward is a toy china rabbit owned by a girl named Abilene. When Edward is accidentally lost at sea, he embarks on an adventure that teaches him the true meaning of love- to love and be loved.

Mr. Popper's Penguins By: Florance and Richard Atwater
Mr. Popper is a little quirky so it's no surprise to anyone when he adopts penguins for pets. However these penguins become very important to the Popper family.

Rolling in the Aisles: 9 Collections of Laugh-Out-Loud Poems Edited By: Bruce Lanksy
Even in you're not a fan of poetry, you'll have fun reading these poems about family, friends, food and pets. You might even laugh out loud a time or two!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid By: Jeff Kinney
Greg Heffley is a middle school kid who attempts to be cool despite the hilarious events that happen as he moves through the school year.
Just Ella By: Margaret Peterson Haddix
What would happen if Cinderella refused the Prince's marriage proposal? Read this book and find out- Cinderella isn't who you thought she was!

Found, Book 1 of The Missing Series By: Margaret Peterson Haddix
Jonah and friend, Chip, discover that the lives they've been living aren't exactly what they believe them to be. The boys were adopted but the process was very mysterious. Travel back in time with them to discover the truth.



Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Anne of Green Gables

Happy New Year to all of you readers out there! The Biggest Reader challenge continues here at the Lima Public Library. My latest selections have been from the classics. The Anne of Green Gables series is one that every girl should read! I have seen the movies but had not read the books and so when I saw that a new cover was released in this series it made me want to pick them up and read them. So I began with the first one, Anne of Green Gables, then moved on to Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, and the latest one I finished was Anne of Windy Poplars. I am excited to start the next book in the series which is Anne's House of Dreams. Reading this series makes me want to go and visit Prince Edward Island. There are so many more stories within the books that are not featured in the movie. So if you are someone that has only seen the movies, I highly encourage you to read the books as well.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Biggest Reader Update: Stephanie

Check out what Stephanie's been reading for the challenge...

The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong
This is the second book in the series, Darkest Powers. It leaves off where Chloe has been caught again by Dr. Davidoff and is to planning to escape. Chloe is called a necromancer, she can summon the dead and Dr. Davidoff and his staff are trying to imprison her and two others who have supernatural powers and deprogram them. Two of Chloe’s friends have escaped and the doctor is in the process of finding them as well, eventually Chloe escapes with Tori and they meet up with Derek and Simon the other two that had escaped previously, and hide from Dr. Davidoff. Chloe comes to find out more about her past and the four of them are on the run
trying to find a trusted family friend who can help them. They find him and continue on their journey to find themselves and their past. This book is great, there are so many close calls to them getting caught. You get caught up in the adventure of them being one step ahead of the bad guys. It ends with you wanting to know what happens next so you know there will be another one. I like how they are getting to know how to use their supernatural powers and I have a feeling they will need to use them in the future. This book had
adventure, suspense, fantasy, and mystery. It’s a very good series and I am looking forward to the next one.

Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy by Jenny Nimmo
Charlie Bone is on another adventure, but this time it involves a blue boa, an invisible boy, a sorcerer, and so much more. Charlie has to figure out how to stop the blue boa from squeezing anyone else and making them invisible, as well as trying to get the sorcerer back into his painting before he causes any more havoc, and figure out how to make the invisible boy, visible again. With the help of his friends, they do all of these things and use their endowments for good. There is always something going on at Bloor’s Academy and Charlie is on the case. These books just keep getting better and better. I like how you get involved with getting to know the characters and I just can’t put this series down, I have to know what happens next. If you enjoyed Harry Potter, you would definitely enjoy the Charlie Bone: Children of the Red King series.

Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors by Jenny Nimmo
Charlie Bone has started another semester at Bloor’s Academy and this time there is a phantom horse who turns out to the Red King’s wife, Bernice who watches out for Charlie and his friends. There is also the adoption of Billy Raven who is adopted by the De Grey’s who turn out to be some bad people who make Billy take an oath and if he doesn’t keep it he gets punished. Charlie and his friends end up saving him with the help of the Flames, three cats who have very special powers and save him from the oaths. Olivia comes to find out that she too is endowed with the gift of making illusions and everyone is keeping her endowment a secret so the Bloors can’t get wind of it. Charlie and Billy end up finding the Castle of Mirrors because Charlie thinks his father is being held there and comes to find out it is not his father, but someone else, and save him. Charlie is highly disappointed that is not his father, but is not giving up hope on finding his father who he believes is still alive. This was another great Charlie Bone book and with each one you learn more about each character. I like how Charlie and his friends use their endowments for good rather than evil. It is amazing to me how he, his mom, his good grandma, and his uncle can stand to live with his mean Grandma Bone who is endowed also, but uses her powers for evil along with her sisters. I like how Charlie keeps the hope in believing that his father is still alive and is determined to find him. It’s also neat to see how each of the families of those that are endowed for good support and believe in their endowments. Each book is just as good as the last one before it and I hope you enjoy them as much as I am.

Lucy Maud Montgomery: A Writer’s Life by Elizabeth MacLeod
This is a biography about Lucy Maud Montgomery who wrote the Anne of Green Gables series. She preferred to go by Maud instead of Lucy. Her mother died when she was two and grew up with her grandparents for most of her life. She loved to write and was
determined to become a writer which was hard in those days during the 1800’s. She lived on Prince Edward Island. Maud ended up going to college and became a teacher, she also worked at a newspaper office called the Daily Echo and edited the stories that went into the newspaper, and also wrote short stories to earn money. In May of 1905 she began to write Anne of Green Gables and in October of 1905 she was ready for it to be published, but all five publishers rejected it so she put it in a hatbox and forgot about it. Then months later she found it again and tried again by sending it to an American publisher by the name of L. C. Page & Company and they accepted it. On June 20, 1908 her book was finally here. Then after that she had more published. Maud didn’t marry until after her grandmother died and she married a minister and had two children. Maud died on April 24, 1942, but we know her through her books, that she was a gifted writer, and fulfilled her life long dream of becoming a writer. This book was very informational and had a lot of great pictures. I definitely learned a lot more about Lucy Maud Montgomery than I knew before.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

The Biggest Reader Challenge continues on and I think its safe to say that for a couple of us, there has been a lull- or a decline in excitement. For me when I started the challenge I was very excited and was reading a lot of different books and then November hit and my mind started wondering to other things at the Library. Plans went underway for our Youth Service Christmas Open House, which is tomorrow from 9:00 a.m. to noon for the whole family. We will have story time at 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. as well as crafts and activities for all ages. Then we also started working on our "Giving Tree"- you can give the gift of reading this year at the Library. We have ornaments you can pick from our trees and donate a book to the Library, and we will also put a special book plate in the book with your families name on it. Or you can donate a book in memory of someone this holiday season. You can read more about it on our website www.limalibrary.com or you can become a fan of the Lima Public Library on Facebook and learn about it there too.

So things have slowed down for me with the reading challenge, but they will slowly be picking back up later next week as I read some Christmas stories from our Holiday section. Every year I read, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. It's a classic and a wonderful story that everyone should read. (So if you haven't read it- make sure you do!) Every time I read it I laugh and cry through it. And no- the movie is not that good- so don't bother watching it.

Happy Reading!