June Reflections

In June I read 53 books!!! And this may just be my most balanced month so far--look, I read picture books, YA books, adult books, graphic novels, nonfiction, and poetry! That doesn't happen very often!

My favorite picture book about books: Miss Dorothy and Her Bookmobile. Gloria M. Houston. OR The Lonely Book. Kate Bernheimer.
My favorite concept book: Into the Outdoors by Susan Gal.
My favorite classic fantasy: The Light Princess. George MacDonald. 1864. 110 pages.
My favorite children's book: My Extra Best Friend. Julie Bowe. 2012. Penguin. 224 pages.

My favorite MG: Kepler's Dream. Juliet Bell. 2012. Penguin.  256 pages.

My favorite YA: Insurgent. Veronica Roth. 2012. HarperCollins. 525 pages.
My favorite science fiction: Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury.
My favorite classic: Dombey and Son. Charles Dickens.
My favorite mystery: The Seven Dials Mystery. Agatha Christie.
My favorite nonfiction: Becoming Queen Victoria: The Tragic Death of Princess Charlotte and the Unexpected Rise of Britain's Greatest Monarch. Kate Williams.
My favorite picture book biography:  Here Come the Girl Scouts!: The Amazing All-True Story of Juliette "Daisy" Gordon Low and Her Great Adventure. By Shana Corey.
My favorite historical romance: Short-Straw Bride. Karen Witemeyer.
My favorite play: Much Ado About Nothing. William Shakespeare.
My favorite short story: "The Fire Balloons" or "The Wilderness" from Martian Chronicles. Ray Bradbury.
My favorite poetry book: Out of This World: Poems and Facts About Space. Amy Sklansky.

Board Books, Picture Books, Early Readers:

1. Green. Laura Vaccaro Seeger. 2012. Roaring Brook Press. 40 pages.
2. Jonathan and Martha. Petr Horacek. 2012. Phaidon Press. 32 pages.
3. A Hen For Izzy Pippik. Aubrey Davis. Illustrated by Marie Lafrance. 2012. Kids Can Press. 32 pages.
4. Good Night, Laila Tov. Lauren Snyder. Illustrated by Jui Ishida. 2012. Random House. 32 pages.
5. Miss Dorothy and Her Bookmobile. Gloria M. Houston. Illustrated by Susan Condie Lamb. 2011. HarperCollins. 32 pages.
6. Into the Outdoors by Susan Gal. 2011. Random House. 40 pages.
7. The Lonely Book. Kate Bernheimer. Illustrated by Chris Sheban. 2012. Random House. 40 pages.
8. The Smiley Book of Colors. Ruth Kaiser. 2012. Random House. 32 pages. 
9. A Book of Cheerful Cats and Other Animated Animals. J.G. Francis. 1879/1903* Century Co. New York. 45 pages**
10. LEGO FRIENDS: Welcome to Heartlake City. Helen Murray. 2012. DK Readers, 48 pages.  
11. LEGO Friends: Friends Forever. Helen Murray. 2012. DK Readers. 48 pages. 

Middle Grade and Young Adult Novels:

1. The Princess and the Goblin. George MacDonald. 1872. 259 pages. 
2. The Light Princess. George MacDonald. 1864. 110 pages. 
3. My Extra Best Friend. Julie Bowe. 2012. Penguin. 224 pages. 
4. The Great Cake Mystery. Alexander McCall Smith. Random House. 96 pages.    
5. No Safety in Numbers. Dayna Lorentz. 2012. Random House. Penguin. 288 pages.   
6. Insurgent. Veronica Roth. 2012. HarperCollins. 525 pages. 
7. Unbreak My Heart. Melissa Walker. 2012. Bloomsbury. 240 pages. 
8. Irises. Francisco X. Stork. 2012. Scholastic. 304 pages.
9. Tempest. Julie Cross. 2012. St. Martin's Press. 352 pages.  
10. Kepler's Dream. Juliet Bell. 2012. Penguin.  256 pages.

Adult Books:

1. Cousin Henry. Anthony Trollope. 1879. 336 pages. 
2. Diary of a Pilgrimage. Jerome K. Jerome. 1891. 192 pages.
3. Dombey and Son. Charles Dickens. 1846-1848. 880 pages.
4. Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury. 1953/2003. Random House. 190 pages.
5. Lin McLean. Owen Wister. 1898/1998. Forge. 230 pages.
6. The Lost Wife. Alyson Richman. 2011. Penguin. 352 pages.
7. The Man in the Brown Suit. Agatha Christie. 1924/2012. HarperCollins. 320 pages.
8. The Mystery of the Blue Train. Agatha Christie. 1928/2011. HarperCollins. 320 pages.
9. Martian Chronicles. Ray Bradbury. HarperCollins. 1997 edition. 288 pages.
10. Mrs. McGinty's Dead. Agatha Christie. 1952/2011. HarperCollins. 272 pages.
11. Much Ado About Nothing. William Shakespeare. 1599.
12. Othello. William Shakespeare. 1603.
13. One, Two Buckle My Shoe. Agatha Christie. 1940/2011. HarperCollins. 240 pages.
14. The Secret Adversary. Agatha Christie. 1922/2012. HarperCollins. 352 pages.
15. The Seven Dials Mystery. Agatha Christie. 1929/2012. HarperCollins. 304 pages.
16. Smuggled. Christina Shea. 2011. Grove/Atlantic. 256 pages.

Graphic Novels: 

1. Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Authorized Adaptation. Ron Wimberly. Introduction by Ray Bradbury. 2011. FSG. 144 pages.  
2. Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, The Authorized Adaptation. Dennis Calero. Introduced by Ray Bradbury. 2011. FSG. 160 pages.

Nonfiction Books:

1. Magnificent Obsession: Victoria, Albert, and the Death that Changed the British Monarchy. Helen Rappaport. 2012. St. Martin's Press. 352 pages.
2. Becoming Queen Victoria: The Tragic Death of Princess Charlotte and the Unexpected Rise of Britain's Greatest Monarch. Kate Williams. 2010. Random House. 464 pages.  
3. Murder in the First-Class Carriage. The First Victorian Railway Killing. Kate Colquhoun. 2011. Overlook Press. 352 pages.  
4. Here Come the Girl Scouts!: The Amazing All-True Story of Juliette "Daisy" Gordon Low and Her Great Adventure. By Shana Corey. Illustrated by Hadley Hooper. 2012. Scholastic. 40 pages.
5. Those Rebels, John and Tom. By Barbara Kerley. Illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham. 2012. Scholastic. 48 pages.
6. Just Behave, Pablo Picasso! By Jonah Winter. Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes. Scholastic. 48 pages.
7. Bon Appetit! The Delicious Life of Julia Child. Jessie Hartland. 2012. Random House. 48 pages.   

Poetry:

1. Out of This World: Poems and Facts About Space. Amy Sklansky. Illustrations by Stacey Schuett. 2012. Random House. 40 pages.
2. Bug Off! Creepy, Crawly Poems. Jane Yolen. Photographs by Jason Stemple. 2012. Boyds Mill Press. 32 pages.

Christian Fiction and Nonfiction:

1. Jesus Is Victor: A Fresh Perspective on the Book of Revelation. A.W. Tozer. Compiled and Edited by Gerald B. Smith. 1989/2007. WingSpread Publishers. 143 pages. 
2. Short-Straw Bride. Karen Witemeyer. 2012. Bethany House. 368 pages. 
3. Mary Magdalene. Diana Wallis Taylor. 2012. Revell. 304 pages. 
4. The Tozer Pulpit*. Volume 1. A.W. Tozer. 140 pages.
5. The Gift. (Chiveis Trilogy #2) Bryan Litfin. 2011. Crossway. 416 pages.

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews