nightstand notes/ wanna view some reviews?

Whatcha reading?  Any good books on the schedule for the next  month or so?  What rocked your reading world in the last few weeks?  Those of us who love to read are asking these questions over at 5 Minutes for Books' What's On Your Nightstand? monthly carnival today!

I like to take this opportunity each month to share a couple books that I hope to get to in the upcoming weeks, and also to highlight the reviews I've had posted at 5M4B since last month's Nightstand event.  Thanks for coming along for the ride!

* Struts & Frets by Jon Skovron-- I just finished this YA novel, written by a cool dude from my town, and I really adored it.  Although I wasn't a music addict as a teenager, (at least not in any sort of cool way, seeing as I worshiped NKOTB...), I still found this story of a teenager who lives for his music to be quite realistic and appealing.  Hoping to write up my review this afternoon, so hopefully it will post on 5M4B soon.

* Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon: A Guide to the Best Time to Buy This, Do That and Go There by Mark di Vincenzo-- A neat compilation book of sorts chock full of tips on the best/cheapest/most effective times of day/week/month/year to do all sorts of things. 

* Weight Watchers: Eat! Move! Play! A Parent's Guide to Raising Healthy, Happy Kids-- This will be less of a 'read straight through' kind of book and more of a "look through for activity and recipe ideas.  I have thoughts of rejoining Weight Watchers myself (I had success many years ago...), so this book appealed to me in relation to the whole family's lifestyle.  We shall see.

* Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error by Kathryn Schulz-- The title alone made me think I needed to read this one.  Even though I usually trudge through nonfiction, something tells me that this one will go more quickly.  Hopefully I'm right.  :)

* You're Not the Boss of Me: Brat-Proofing Your Four- to Twelve-Year-Old Child by Betsy Brown Braun -- Yup, another one with a title that screamed YOU MUST READ THIS! as soon as I saw it.  Just in time for the summer days spent with all three kids.

*Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen-- Maybe you've heard of this one before?  I've never read it before (I know, I know), but it's on tap for my quarterly Classics Challenge.  I hope I can do it...

* Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare-- Another one that might sound familiar.  June is Shakespeare month in my online book club, and I'm really, really happy that a comedy has been chosen!

* The Center of the Universe by Nancy Bachrach-- When the offer for a review copy of this memoir came through, it compared this author's writing to David Sedaris' and that sealed the deal for me.  Looking forward to it.

Alrighty, it's a little longer list than usual for me, so we'll see how it goes.  Fingers crossed!

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And now for the reviews portion of the post:

* Picture Book Round-Up, 2nd Edition -- Some fantastic new children's books that are gracing the kids' bookshelves this year.

* So Much For That-- A novel with a heavy theme, that was deeply affecting.

* Good to a Fault -- Another novel, also with a similarly heavy theme, but with a very different narrative voice.

* Books on Screen Stage: Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical -- Oh, such joy and fun.  Knuffle Bunny and Mo Willems- enough said.

* Noonie's Masterpiece -- A cute and fun middle grade novel featuring a very unique use of illustrations and doodles.  Even JAM liked this one!

* Potty Animals -- If you've got a preschool aged child, le me say that you should definitely check this book out!

* The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors -- This is a hard to describe novel for me, but I really enjoyed it and tried to talk about it without giving away too much in my review.

* The Summer Camp Survival Guide: Cool Games, Camp Classics, and How to Capture the Flag -- Such a fun book for your summer camp attending child.  And, it's a giveaway!!


Have a wonderful month of reading,