nightstand notes/ wanna view some reviews?

The last Tuesday of the month, WHAT WHAT?  Yuppers, that's today, so 5 Minutes for Books is once again asking, What's On Your Nightstand?  We're full of questions and always eager to hear about what books are entertaining folks.

Personally, I haven't had much movement on my shelf since last month because of that whole real life kicking my butt thing.  I'm trying to set the mental reset button and get back on track, so just ignore any repeats here and pretend it's all new.


* The Memory Bank by Carolyn Coman and Rob Shepperson -- JAM and I are still reading this in bits and pieces, but with activities and baseball games and late nights, we haven't been reading enough to finish this one yet.  It's quite interesting and odd, in a cool way, though, so I hope that we can get back to it soon!



* Scream-Free Parenting by Hal Edward Runkel -- After a morning like this one, I do believe I'll be picking this one back up off the shelf TODAY.  Serious intervention is needed, because I do believe my children don't even hear my voice unless it is raised.  UGH.



* Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self by Danielle Evans -- I'm LOVING this book of short stories told with hugely distinctive character voices.  I'm again super impressed by talented short story authors' abilities to convey so much narrative in so few words.  Evans is definitely a young writer to watch!



* The Word Made Flesh: Literary Tattoos from Bookworms Worldwide by Eva Talmadge and Justin Taylor -- The title says it all on this one, and I think it'll be super cool.  I don't have any tattoos of my own (yet?!), but I'm intrigued to find out what literary passages have been meaningful enough to people to get them inked onto their skin.  I'm thinking Shakespeare will make a few appearances, but who else?  

* How to Read the Air by by Dinaw Mengestu -- A true "literary" novel (read: intellectually stimulating!) that will hopefully help to pull me out of my "serious" reading slump.  I didn't read Mengestu's debut novel, but he's gotten some significant acclaim for his fresh style, and I'm always open to reading new authors!




Now that you've gotten a look at my TBR list, at least the one for the next few weeks' worth of reading, what have you got?  Link up with us and share the goodies that are currently on your own nightstand at 5 Minutes for Books!


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If you're so inclined, you can check out my reviews from the past few weeks:

* Vanishing and Other Stories -- an incredible collection of somewhat dark short stories revolving around loss.

* What I Thought I Knew -- a memoir about an extraordinary pregnancy experience.

* Betti on the High Wire -- a beautiful middle grade novel about an orphaned child from a war-torn country.

* The Kids are All Right -- a memoir written by four siblings about their troubling childhoods.

* The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Gross Junior Edition -- oh my, this book is sure to gross out older kids, just in the way that they like it best!


* Children's Classics Award Winners: October -- this month I shared some winners of the Coretta Scott King award- two amazing books!


* The Butt Book -- yup, a picture book all about butts, fun stuff.


* The Slippery Year -- a memoir that I could completely relate to about motherhood and marriage.


* Help Your Kids With Math -- a great resource to have on hand for homework afternoons!



All for the love of books,