For Monday -- Reading a Picturebook

Last night I read one of my new favorite picturebooks to Alex and our friend, J: Queen Munch and Queen Nibble. It went fantastically well, seeing as we're all in our mid-twenties, huddled around in our friends apartment. Their reactions were wonderful, and I also enjoyed the storytelling. It takes multiple readings and the accumulation of time to get the voices down just so. At a few points in the stories, the voices started to take shape: a little husky and boisterous for Queen Munch, hushed and a bit uptight for Queen Nibble, proud for the Important Reader, casual and laidback for Goodnurse Scrubadub. More readings are needed, but they are on their way.

Books to Read on this Holiday

• A Death in the Family, James Agee
• Coraline, Neil Gaiman (Next--Finished 7 Sept)
  
• In Praise of Falling, Cheryl Dumesnil (Started! And now available fresh off the press!)
  
• Balzac and the Little Chinese Mistress, Dai Sijie and Ina Rilke (Finished)
  
• Oranges Aren't the Only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson

Update:

• Cradle to Cradle,William McDonough
  
• Holes, Louis Sachar (Again)
  
• The Cellist of Sarajevo, Steven Galloway
• Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt