Coffee House Books

I have noticed that each year as I start reading books they often seem to fall into a theme.  Sometimes I plan it this way and sometimes it just happens.  One year I had the "Year of the Potok".  I read almost all of Chaim Potok's books.  Another it was all about Elizabeth Goudge.  This year (2011) wasn't so much about a specific author, but a specific genre...... juvenile and young adult fiction.  This has a lot to do with necessity.  I really try to read the books my kids read both for school and out of school.  Sometimes I read them before they read them, sometimes I read them while they are reading them and of course there are times that I read them after they have finished.  On this list are quite a few that we have read out loud together and quite honestly those are my favorites, there is something so magical about entering into a story together.  I marked these books with an RA.

The books I read this year are listed into categories to help you recognize books you might want to read.  I hope you'll even pursue the juvenile fiction.  There are a lot of great books that are great reading for both young and old.

My Coffee House Book Menu for 2011

Hot Chocolate made with real chocolate melted into coconut milk....true awesomeness and perfect for my kids

• The Underneath by Kathi Appelt  (RA)
• Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic byJennifer Trafton (RA)
• Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Jester (RA)
• The Heart of the Samurai by Margi Preus (RA)
• The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth Gearge Speare
• Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson
• The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
• Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne (RA)
• The House at Pooh Corner (RA)
• Beowulf: A New Telling by Robert Nye
• Eagle of the 9th by Rosemary Sutcliff
• The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdall
• The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdall
• The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene Du Bois
• The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
• 100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson (RA)
• I Saw Three Ships by Elizabeth Goudge (RA)
• Tabitha's Travels by Arnold Ytreeide (RA - this was our advent book this year)

Chai...super great down to earth non-fiction

• Still Life by Mary Jenson
• Flyboys by James Bradley
• Mitten Strings for God by Katrina Kenison
• So Long Insecurity by Beth Moore
• Bruchko by Bruce Olson
• Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
• The Heart of the Story by Randy Frazee
• Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl by N.D. Wilson
• Somewhere More Holy by Tony Woodlief
• Have a Little Faith by Mitch Album
• Pilgrimmage of the Soul by Phileena Heurtz

Cappuccino... a classic

• Apology by Plato
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• Eight Cousins by Louisa Mae Alcott
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Fair Trade Whole Bean Coffee - an every day experience, one not to be discounted by its everyday-ness, these are books I might read again or they are books that changed my everyday

• The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen
• Leadership Education by Oliver DeMille
• Teaching the Restless by Chris Mercogliano
• Zen to Done by Leo Babauta
• Radical by David Platt
• Prodigal God by Timothy Keller
• Cosmic Christmas by Max Lucado
• Behold the Lamb of God by Russ Ramsey
• The Gift of the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
• Facedown by Matt Redman

Caramel Macchiato... books read for enjoyment of it all and they ended up being worth it

• Day after Night by Anita Diamant
• Fiddler's Gun by A.S. Peterson
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins 
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
• Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
• Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris (just so you know I have never laughed so hard)

Folgers.... not necessarily my favorite but better than the gas station variety

• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro - this book made me think, I love that in a book
• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen - I enjoyed the story but not the world's best book
• Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos - a great concept, but not well written

Gas Station Coffee that has been on the burner all day.... I'd drink it in a bind, but I'd rather avoid it

• The Girl Who Played With Fire by Steig Larsson - I was really drawn into the plot of this book, BUT they are super graphic and I didn't like that, so I found myself doing some skimming 
• A Secret Kept by Tatiana de Rosnay - I was expecting something amazing after Sarah's Key and this one totally fell short
• The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest by Steig Larsson