Good Books

Here are some of my most recent reads (which I recommend) — mostly contemporary fiction with just a couple of non-fiction selections.

• Freedom
• Water for Elephants
• The City of Your Final Destination
• The Tender Bar
• Bel Canto
• The Secret Life of Bees
• The Alchemist
• 365 Manners Kids Should Know
• Fast Food Nation

Other books I’ve enjoyed:

• Crossing to Safety
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Walden
• Care of the Soul
• Dune

Books I’m Thinking About Reading Based on Reviews I’ve Read or Recommendations from Friends:

• Cleopatra
• Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths
• The Faith Club
• Love in the Time of Cholera
• Composing a Life

Here are some books I suggest for your tweens (and some for their younger siblings):

The first book is DD’s favorite book. It’s an adventure story about a boy whose father leaves him a locked wooden box with the words, “The Meaning of Life” engraved on top and four locks on each side. He and a friend work together to search for the missing keys to reveal the contents and, perhaps, the meaning of life. Well worth your child’s time!!

• Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life
• The City of Ember
• The Giver
• Number the Stars
• My Side of the Mountain
• Artemis Fowl (series)
• Silverfin
• Chasing Vermeer
• The Phantom Tollbooth
• The Tale of Desperaux
• Frindle
• The BFG
• Wayside School (series)
• The Magic Tree House (series)