June Accomplishments

These are a few of my favorite 'first' lines read in June 2010.

What Homer Pudding didn't know on that breezy Sunday morning, as he carried a pail of fresh goat milk across the yard, was that his life was about to change.

Gramps, who was born in 1990, once told me that when he was my age the only way to wind up in prison in the USSA (back when it had only one S) was to steal something, kill somebody, or use illegal drugs.

A storm is rolling in, and that always makes me a little sad and wistful so I got it in my head to set to paper all these things that have got us this far on our way through this heathen land.

"War," says Mayor Prentiss, his eyes glinting. "At last."

Miss Alexia Tarabotti was not enjoying her evening. Private balls were never more than middling amusements for spinsters, and Miss Tarabotti was not the kind of spinster who could garner even that much pleasure from the event. To put the pudding in the puff: she had retreated to the library, her favorite sanctuary in any house, only to happen upon an unexpected vampire.

Sometimes your life just needs a little jolt. That's what Francesca told me once, and she was right. I mean, she was wrong about practically everything, but she was right about that. Because the more I think about it, the more I look back at all the chaos that happened last fall, it's almost like she rescued me.

June's Top Eight:

The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba. Margarita Engle.
Smells Like Dog. Suzanne Selfors.
Mockingbird. Kathryn Erskine.
The Water Seeker. Kimberly Willis Holt.
Sylvester: Or the Wicked Uncle. Georgette Heyer.
Black Sheep. Georgette Heyer.
Monsters of Men. Patrick Ness.
The Last River Child. Lori Ann Bloomfield.

Number of Board Books: 3

Kisses for Daddy. Frances Watts. Illustrated by David Legge. 2010. April 2010. Simon & Schuster. 26 pages.
Daddy Calls Me Doodlebug. J.D. Lester. Illustrated by Hiroe Nakata. 2010. Random House. 26 pages.
All God's Creatures. Karen Hill. Illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher. 2010. Simon & Schuster. 16 pages.

Number of Picture Books: 14

Just What Mama Needs. Sharlee Mullins Glenn. Illustrated by Amiko Hirao. 2008. Harcourt. 32 pages.
Dear Teacher. Amy Husband. 2010. July 2010. Sourcebooks. 24 pages.
My Best Friend is as Sharp as a Pencil. Hanoch Piven. 2010. May 2010. Random House. 40 pages.
Barry The Fish With Fingers by Sue Hendra. 2010. June 2010. Random House. 40 pages.
How To Clean Your Room in 10 Easy Steps. Jennifer LaRoue Huget and Edward Koren. 2010. May 2010. Random House. 40 pages.
Toy Story 3: A Limited Collector's Edition Read-Aloud Storybook. Adapted by Christine Peymani. 2010. Random House. 72 pages.
Brand-New Baby Blues by Kathi Appelt. Illustrated by Kelly Murphy. 2009. December 2009. HarperCollins. 32 pages.
Daddy is a Cozy Hug. Rhonda Gowler Greene. Illustrated by Maggie Smith. 2010. May 2010. Walker & Company. 32 pages.
I Love My Dad. Anna Walker. 2010. April 2010. Simon & Schuster. 32 pages.
Daddy Loves His Little Girl. John Carter Cash. Illustrated by Marc Burckhardt. 2010. May 2010. Simon & Schuster. 32 pages.
My Father Knows The Names of Things. Jane Yolen. Illustrated by Stephane Jorisch. 2010. April 2010. Simon & Schuster. 32 pages.
The Fathers Are Coming Home. Margaret Wise Brown. Illustrated by Stephen Savage. 2010. Simon & Schuster. 32 pages.
Daddy's Little Scout. Janet Bingham. Illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw. 2010. Scholastic. 32 pages.
Dogs Don't Do Ballet. Anna Kemp. Illustrated by Sara Ogilvie. 2010. June 2010. Simon & Schuster. 32 pages.

Number of Children's Books: 12

Benny and Penny in the Toy Breaker. Geoffrey Hayes. 2010. May 2010. Toon Books. 32 pages.
Zig and Wikki in Something Ate My Homework. Trade Loeffler and Nadja Spiegelman. 2010. April 2010. Toon Books. 40 pages.
The Sign of the Beaver. Elizabeth George Speare. 1983. Random House. 135 pages.
Trapped (The Prometheus Project #1) by Douglas E. Richards. 2010. (May 2010). Paragon Science Fiction. 192 pages.
Captured (Prometheus Project #2) Douglas Richards. Paragon Science Fiction. 256 pages.
The Phoenix and the Carpet. E. Nesbit. 1904. 224 pages.
One False Note. Gordon Korman. 2008. Scholastic. 160 pages.
The Sword Thief (The 39 Clues #3). Peter Lerangis. 2009. March 2009. Scholastic. 160 pages.
House of Dolls. Francesca Lia Block. Illustrated by Barbara McClintock. 2010. June 2010. HarperCollins. 61 pages.
Toy Story 3: The Junior Novelization by Jasmine Jones. 2010. Random House. 128 pages.
Beyond the Grave: The 39 Clues #4. Jude Watson. 2009. Scholastic. 192 pages.
Alvin Ho: Allergic to Birthday Parties, Science Projects, and Other Man-Made Catastrophes. Lenore Look. 2010. September 2010. Random House. 192 pages.

Number of Middle Grade: 9

The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba. Margarita Engle. 2010. Henry Holt. 160 pages.
Keeper. Kathi Appelt. 2010. Simon & Schuster. 399 pages.
Smells Like Dog. Suzanne Selfors. 2010. May 2010. Little, Brown Young Readers. 360 pages.
The Babysitters Club: The Summer Before. Ann M. Martin. 2010. Scholastic. 224 pages.
Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter. R.J. Anderson. 2009. April 2009. HarperCollins. 336 pages.
Wayfarer by R.J. Anderson. 2010. June 2010. HarperCollins. 304 pages.
The Water Seeker. Kimberly Willis Holt. 2010. May 2010. Henry Holt. 320 pages.
Mockingbird. Kathryn Erskine. 2010. April 2010. Penguin. 224 pages.
This Is Me From Now On by Barbara Dee. 2010. Simon & Schuster. (April 2010) 272 pages.

Number of YA: 7

Sisters Red. Jackson Pearce. 2010. June 2010. Little, Brown. 328 pages.
Birthmarked. Caragh M. O'Brien. 2010. March 2010. Roaring Brook Press. 368 pages.
Touch. Francine Prose. 2009. HarperCollins. 272 pages.
The Poison Diaries. Maryrose Wood. 2010. HarperCollins. 288 pages.
The Clearing. Heather Davis. 2010. April 2010. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 212 pages.
Monsters of Men. Patrick Ness. 2010. September 2010. Candlewick Press. 608 pages.
Z for Zachariah. Robert C. O'Brien. 1974. 250 pages.

Number of Adult: 10

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory. 2009. Simon & Schuster. 432 pages.
The Last River Child. Lori Ann Bloomfield. 2010. Second Story Press. 280 pages.
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Anne Bronte. 1848. 496 pages.
Sylvester: Or the Wicked Uncle. Georgette Heyer. 1957/2009. Harlequin. 368 pages.
Soulless by Gail Carriger. 2009. Orbit. 384 pages.
Black Sheep. Georgette Heyer. 1966/2008. Sourcebooks. 280 pages.
These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine. By Nancy E. Turner. 1998. HarperCollins. 416 pages.
Armadale. Wilkie Collins. 1866. (My edition. Oxford World's Classics.) 880 pages.
Anna Karenina. Leo Tolstoy. Translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. 2004, this translation. Penguin. 864 pages.
Pamela. Samuel Richardson. 1740/1801. (Penguin) 540 pages.

Number of Christian: 9

The Sword. Bryan M. Litfin. 2010. April 2010. Crossway. 412 pages.
A Hopeful Heart. Kim Vogel Sawyer. 2010. June 2010. Bethany House. 352 pages.
Purity: A Godly Woman's Adornment. Lydia Brownback. 2010. May 2010. Crossway Publishers. 136 pages.
A Tailor-Made Bride by Karen Witemeyer. 2010. June 2010. Bethany House. 352 pages.
Love Finds You in Golden, New Mexico by Lena Nelson Dooley. 2010. May 2010. Summerside Press. 320 pages.
Unburdened: The Secret to Letting God Carry The Things That Weigh You Down. Chris Tiegreen. Tyndale. 240 pages.
Maid to Match. Deeanne Gist. 2010. June 2010. Bethany House. 368 pages.
What is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert. Foreword by D.A. Carson. Crossway. 127 pages.
Simon's Crossing. Charles William Asher. Dennis Patrick Slattery. 2010. January 2010. iUniverse. 172 pages.

Number of Nonfiction: 1

Orangutans Are Ticklish: Fun Facts From an Animal Photographer. Steve Grubman and Jill Davis. 2010. June 2010. Random House. 40 pages.

Number of Graphic Novels: 4

Mercury. Hope Larson. 2010. April 2010. Simon & Schuster. 234 pages.
The Sons of Liberty (#1). Alexander Lagos and Joseph Lagos. 2010. Random House. 176 pages.
Babymouse Burns Rubber #12. Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm. 2010. January 2010. Random House. 96 pages.
Babymouse Cupcake Tycoon (#13) Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm. 2010. September 2010. Random House. 96 pages.

Number of Poetry: 0

Number of Short Story Collections/Anthologies: 0

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews