To make sure I cover my challenges and other bookish things I've got going on, I've started compiling lists of what books I need to read each month. I'm hoping posting those lists on Smiling Shelves will hold me to them (although you never know what will happen if the mood to read something different strikes). Here's what's on the docket for February:​

• Tisha by Robert Specht (Why? Because it was mentioned in the Reading Together book club, which is focusing on the Arctic right now, and I happened to have a copy of the book. It's about time I brushed the dust off this one and read it.)
• The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander (Why? Because I'm rereading the Chronicles of Prydain this year, and this is the next one in the series.)
• Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (Why? Because it's on my Classics Club list. And because it was mentioned a lot in All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, which was our book club book for January.)
• Cress by Marissa Meyer (Why? Because I'm allowing myself to read the next book in the Lunar Chronicles every other month. December was Scarlet, so February is finally time for Cress!)
• Lost in Rooville by Ray Blackston (Why? Because last year, I challenged myself to read every book off of one of my bookshelves. I succeeded, and then got rid of a few books I didn't like or knew I wouldn't read again. I recently filled those spots with new books purchased. I'm determined to keep that shelf completely read, so I need to start reading the fill-in books, like this one!)
• The Island of Dr. Libris by Chris Grabenstein (Why? Because I loved his Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, and I've been impatiently awaiting the chance to read his next book.)
• All the Stars in the Heavens by Adriana Trigiani (Why? Because I bought this at Barnes & Noble last week, and I really, really want to read all of the books I buy this year. Better start now while the list is small!)

Not pictured (because I don't own copies of them):

• Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George (Why? Because it's the next book for the Reading Together book club. I honestly can't believe I don't own a copy of this one, since it has my name in the title!)
• Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Why? Because it's the next read up for the Little House Read-along.)
• One Mountain Away by Emilie Richards (Why?​ Because it's my book club book for February.)

I read The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill for the Reading Together book club. The book club is designed to be family-oriented, so sharing the books with your children is encouraged. Well, my child (while he does get a bedtime story every night) won't be able to show me his reactions until April (unless a few good kicks count). So I have no kid thoughts about The Year of Miss Agnes to share, but I'll share a few of my own!

I'm a teacher, so this story really resonated with me. Miss Agnes is exactly the sort of teacher I dream of being - she constantly has creative activities which make the learning come alive (and stick) and she does everything she can to help her students and their families. As a result of this, her students are inspired to go beyond what they dreamed was possible. I need to read a book like this every once in awhile to remind myself why I spend hours working on lesson plans and grading papers. The Year of Miss Agnes​ was just the sort of book I need to encourage me to head back into the classroom tomorrow morning refreshed and ready to teach!

I somehow missed out on reading the Little House books when I was a kid. I tried them and they just didn't interest me. I've always felt that I was missing something by never having read these books, so I'm glad the Little House Read-along has encouraged me to try them all!

I really enjoyed Little House in the Big Woods. The story was sweet and innocent, and I loved being welcomed into the Ingalls family. I'm also exceedingly glad that I live in a day and age where I have modern conveniences. I'm not sure I could survive doing all the work that Ma has to do to feed and clothe her family. We are truly blessed in the 21st century! Still, there are some parts of days gone by that we are lacking today - such as respect for elders and the willingness to work hard. Things like that should never go out of style. Fortunately, we can return to the little house and the Ingalls family to remind us how we should live our lives surrounded by the love of our family.

My New Year's resolution for 2016 was to write down quotes I loved from books I read. I duly bought myself a notebook in which to do so, and I've already filled up the first two pages with quotes! All of the quotes I've written down so far are from All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. That book was full of shiver language (defined by me as writing that sends a shiver down your spine). Since I have this record of this beautiful writing, I wanted to share some of my favorite quotes from this book with you.

"Feeling as though some cupboard in the sky has just opened."
"Werner's heart pauses; the voice seems to echo in the architecture of his head."
"Her fingers walk the tightropes of sentences."
"Connecting his fingers to the engine of his mind."
"Lets his fingers trace the journeys of electrons."
"Wedges of wet sunlight" (a description of canned peaches)
"The weather in this place: you can feel it between your fingers."
"To feel the sentences hoist her up and carry her somewhere else."
"Both ride spirals of memory."
"Watching shadows disentangle themselves from night."
"A voice on the radio offering a loom on which to spin his dreams."
"Patches of sunlight are touching down everywhere."
"The harmonies like steadily thickening pearls on a strand."
"The evening air is a benediction."
"What mazes there are in this world. The branches of trees, the filigree of roots, the matrix of crystals, the streets her father re-created in his models. Mazes in the nodules on murex shells and in the textures of sycamore bark and inside the hollow bones of eagles. None more complicated than the human brain, Etienne would say, what may be the most complex object in existence; one wet kilogram within which spin universes."
"He listens to the notes and the silences between them."
"Chords float past in transparent riffles."
"Dreams of light thickening and settling across a field like snow."
"Memories cartwheel out of her head and tumble across the floor."
"To find the snails crawling along the rocks, these tiny wet beings straining calcium from the water and spinning it into polished dreams on their backs."
"It feels as if this woman has dropped a molten kernel of memory into her hands."

If you haven't yet read All the Light We Cannot See, I highly recommend it. The plot and characters are both memorable, but what really stood out to me was the atmosphere created by beautiful shiver language such as this!

Happy Monday, everyone! I had a quiet Sunday, which was necessary to recover from my Saturday. I went down to Detroit to the Auto Show, which is several hours of pushing your way through crowds to see very shiny new cars. It's a lot of fun, but also rather crazy. And then we visited John K. King Used Books for the very first time. Oh, my goodness, what an amazing store! Four floors of used books. Incredibly, I walked out with only one book, but that was mostly because I was so overwhelmed that I just didn't know where to start. I will definitely be returning, and I highly recommend it as a stop for anyone heading through Detroit!

Top Ten Tuesday - Recently Added to My TBR
2016 Newbery Award Winners!
​Brainiac by Ken Jennings - Review

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (A beautifully haunting book. Check back tomorrow for some of my favorite lines from this book.)
The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander (I enjoyed this one just as much as I did when I was a kid!)
Maud: The Life of L.M. Montgomery by Harry Bruce (This was a good short biography of one of my favorite authors.)

Akin to Anne: Tales of Other Orphans by L.M. Montgomery (Did I mention before that she's one of my favorite authors?)
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (Another successful week! 315 out of 1,361 pages read!)

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall (Spur of the moment snatch at the library. I read the first book in the series a couple of years ago, and I'm looking forward to continuing the story!)

Confession: I am a Jeopardy nerd. I love watching Jeopardy and confidently shouting out the answers before anyone can buzz in. I know for a fact, however, that I will never have the courage to actually try out for the show, let alone go on TV to show all my knowledge that I'm certain will fly right out of my head.

Ken Jennings, on the other hand, not only had the courage to try out for Jeopardy, he succeeded on being on the show for a record-breaking 75 episodes in 2004. Brainiac is the story of his time on Jeopardy. The view of Jeopardy behind-the-scenes is fascinating, as well as everything Jennings did to prepare himself for obscure categories and questions. It was also amusing to read about the elaborate stories he had to concoct to hide his weekly trips to Los Angeles (since no one is supposed to know what happens until the episodes air several months later). What really sold me on this book, though, was Jennings' humility. It would be so easy to brag and boast about your knowledge or skill, but Jennings never once falls into that trap. He is always humble about his abilities and grateful for the experiences he had.

In addition to the story of his time on Jeopardy, Brainiac explores the world of trivia in all of its many forms - from Trivial Pursuit to trivia pub nights. Random, mostly useless, facts hold a surprisingly central part in our culture. Maybe it's just my geekiness, but I loved learning about the history of trivia through Jennings' wry style.

I have read Jennings' two other books (Maphead and Because I Said So!) and thoroughly enjoyed them both. Brainiac is just as educational - and just as extraordinarily enjoyable!

Find it on: Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  Better World Books

The Newbery and Caldecott winners were announced this week!

Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena (It also was a Caldecott Honor book. It's illustrated by Christian Robinson.)

The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson
​Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan

Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick; illustrated by Sophie Blackall

(As if you need yet another reason to read these books that look awesome, it's not too late to sign up for my Newbery Reading Challenge!)

My TBR list is large. I've tried to be more purposeful recently about the books I put on it - not just anything that looks interesting, but ones I know I will read sometime. Now if only I could get a hold of copies of all of these (and have a lot more free time), it would be a lot easier to read them all!

The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap by Wendy Welch (I saw this one in a bookstore over the weekend, and I couldn't resist adding it to my TBR list - although I surprisingly resisted the equally large temptation to actually buy a copy.)
City Atlas by Martin Haake (I saw this one on Reading with Jade. I love maps and I love travelling, so this was a must for my TBR list!)
Meet Me in Atlantis by Mark Adams (I saw this one at Barnes & Noble. I loved Adams' Turn Right at Machu Picchu, so I automatically had to add this one to my list.)
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (This series just seems to keep popping up everywhere and it always catches my eye, so I decided to finally give it a try. I'm hold number 15 out of 16 at the library, through, so this one may take awhile.)
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy (Lois at You, Me, and a Cup of Tea is always raving about this one. Looks like it'll be right up my alley.)

The Great Beanie Baby Bubble by Zac Bissonnette (I first saw this book on Sophisticated Dorkiness. I was momentarily obsessed with Beanie Babies in middle school, and I love that there's a book about that phenomenon!)
​The Bookshop Book by Jen Campbell (This just looked like a fun book.)
​The Penguin Lessons by Tom Michell (I discovered this book from Emily at Books, the Universe, and Everything. Who doesn't want to read a book about penguins?)
Mail Obsession: A Journey Round Britain by Postcode by Mark Mason (Mason's Walk the Lines was one of my top books of 2015. I can't wait to read this one!)
Buenos Aires: The Biography of a City by James Gardner (Travel narratives is one of my favorite genres. Jessica at Quirky Bookworm rated this one highly, and since I know very little about Buenos Aires, I thought reading would be a good way to find out!)

Gotta love this Michigan weather. A week of snow, then warmth and rain on Friday, has turned my driveway into a sheet of ice. I literally went down it sideways on Sunday morning. It's a good thing the roads were clear, because I got to meet a friend for lunch on Saturday that I hadn't seen in awhile! Now we've got a frigid wind blowing and negative wind chills. Good day to stay inside and read!

Reading Challenge Sign-Ups
Book Club Reads from 2015
​Bloggiesta Winter 2016

Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery (I have read this series so many times, and they are always amazing!)
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (This is my first time through this series for the Little House Read-along. What a sweet book!)

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (This is our book club book for January. The writing is just beautiful!)
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (I met my goal for the second week! 210 out of 1,361 pages complete!)

The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander (I decided I was going to do a reread of the Chronicles of Prydain this year. I loved this series as a kid, but haven't read them for awhile.)

It's time for another Bloggiesta! I'm really not going to have much time at all this weekend, between church commitments and lunch with a friend. But my blog is in desperate need of some TLC, and Bloggiesta gives me a shove to get something done.

Here's my overly ambitious to-do list:​

I'll be updating this list throughout the weekend. Check back to see if I've been able to accomplish anything! Anything that's blue has been completed! Yay!

Two years ago, I made a New Year's resolution to start a book club. I had always wanted to belong to one, but there weren't really any available in my area. So I rounded up a few friends and started one! We read some awesome books in 2014. And 2015 was just as good. In case you're curious, here is the list of what we read this past year.

January - Pick any biography you want & share about that person with the group
February - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
March - In the Woods by Tana French
May - The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
June - The Hundred Foot Journey by Richard Morais
July - Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth
August - Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
September - House of Living Stones by Katie Schuermann
October - America the Beautiful by Ben Carson
​November - The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

Our favorite books were the ones we could connect with the best. House of Living Stones by Katie Schuermann takes place in a small town (most of us live in one) about people who work in a Lutheran church (which most of us do). We also enjoyed Call the Midwife, as it brought back stories we had heard our parents and grandparents tell.

We had a healthy discussion about Go Set a Watchman in August, and enjoyed a little political debate when we read America the Beautiful by Ben Carson. Personally, my least favorite was In the Woods by Tana French because a graphic-ish murder mystery is so completely not my thing. Yet I can still say that I was glad that I read it. And shouldn't that be what book clubs are all about? Discussing and learning and growing as a reader and as a person.

Our first read for 2016 is All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. I'm so excited for this one, and for another great year of book club reads!