Book Recommendations Newsletter - May 2009
Dear Fellow Readers,
GiftLit offers that perfect gift for Mother's Day - something unique, lasting and personalized just for her! Check out our popular Fiction for Women collection or browse our other collections For Women. You can customize any collection to make it just right for Mom and write a special personalized message for the beautiful set of bookplates that come with each gift.
Happy Reading!
May Book Recommendations
To buy individual books, click the "Buy from Amazon" button next to any recommendation.
Children's Book Recommendations
All in a Day by Cynthia Rylant - This lovely and timeless picture book from Newbery Medal winner Cynthia Rylant illuminates all the possibilities a day offers. Part of our Great New Picture Books Age 2-5 collection.
The Curious Garden by Peter Brown - Celebrate spring with this enchanting story about a small boy who nurtures a struggling garden and spreads a little green in a drab brown city. Part of our Great New Picture Books Age 5-8 collection.
Bettina Valentino and the Picasso Club by Niki Daly - With profuse illustrations and tidbits about artists such as Picasso, Daly delivers a humorous page-turner whose characters bounce off the page as they fight for their funky new art teacher whose support for freedom of expression is shaking up fifth grade. Part of our Favorites for Girls Age 8-10 collection.
The Desperado Who Stole Baseball by John H. Ritter - With rip-roaring action, gold mines and even a young Billy the Kid, this fast-paced chapter book is about Dillontown, an Old West town where life is about something even more valuable than gold: baseball. Part of our Favorite Fiction for Boys Age 10-12 collection.
Ten Things I Hate about Me by Randa Abdel-Fattah - Jamilah leads a double life. At home she plays the dutiful daughter in a strict Muslim family, but at school, with her dyed-blonde hair and blue contact lenses, she calls herself Jamie and keeps her Muslim heritage a secret. But when she bares her soul - both sides of it - she discovers the liberation of being truly honest about who she is. Part of our Favorites for Girls Age 12-14 collection.
Teen Book Recommendations
If I Stay by Gayle Forman - This intensely moving novel, reminiscent of Seybold's The Lovely Bones, is told in 17-year-old Mia's first-person voice as she is whisked away to a hospital, where, her body in a coma, she reflects on the past and tries to decide whether to fight to live. Part of our Fiction for Teen Girls collection.
The Fetch by Laura Whitcomb - Calder is a Fetch, a death escort, but when he is the first of his kind to step from Heaven back to Earth into the chaos of the Russian Revolution, he tears a wound in the ghost realm where the spirits begin a revolution of their own. Part of our Fantasy for Teens collection.
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley - It's the summer of 1950 in the sleepy English village of Bishop's Lacey when 11-year-old Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, discovers a murdered stranger in the cucumber patch outside her bedroom window. Much to the chagrin of the local authorities, she decides to leave aside her flasks and Bunsen burners to solve the crime herself. Part of our Adult Books for Teens collection.
Adult Book Recommendations
Not Becoming My Mother: And Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way by Ruth Reichl - Just in time for Mother's Day, this slim volume celebrates the tremendous sacrifices that mothers' make for their children. In this openhearted investigation of her mother's life, Reichl comes to understand the lessons of rebellion, independence, and self-acceptance that her mother though unable to guide herself succeeded in teaching her daughter. Part of our Favorites for Women collection.
The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page - A great gift for any cooking aficionado, this valuable reference with thousands of ingredient entries, organized alphabetically and cross-referenced, provides a treasure trove of spectacular flavor combinations. Part of our Cooking & Entertaining collection.
The Song Is You by Arthur Phillips - This love story in the digital age is beautifully written with style and heart and blurs the line between the longing for intimacy and the longing for oblivion. Part of our Great New Hardcover Fiction collection.
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned: Stories by Wells Tower - Tower's arresting debut collection of stories, that combine tension and wit with electric prose, decisively establishes him as a talented new voice. Part of our Favorites for Men collection.
Columbine by Dave Cullen - Drawing on hundreds of interviews, police files, and the boys' tapes and diaries, award-winning journalist Dave Cullen provides a remarkable account of one of the most shocking massacres in American history. Part of our Great New Hardcover Nonfiction collection.
Family Book Recommendations
A Finder's Magic by Philippa Pearce - An enchanting tale that is part detective story and part fairy tale, this fun adventure about a boy, his dog and a mysterious stranger is a great family read-aloud. Part of our Read Aloud Ages 4-8 collection.
Complete Origami: Easy Techniques, 25 Great Projects by David Mitchell - This richly illustrated and practical guide to the ancient art of paper-folding provides an introduction for novices as well as more challenging projects for experts and can be enjoyed by the whole family. Part of our Family Activities Age 8-14 collection.
