| First posted 6/24/2020. |
 | Goodreads:Top 150+ Books |
This list was created by aggregating three different lists (links posted at bottom of page) from Goodreads.com and then averaging the rankings of the books on the three lists. Ties were broken by books’ overall ratings in Dave’s Book Database. If more than one book from a series appeared on the list, the entire series was ranked based on the highest book of the series. Here’s the results:
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I've knocked off yet another book in my continuing endeavor to read the Newbery award-winning books. This time around it is Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book (2010). As with the previous Newbery books I've read, I focused on what I can learn in my own writing from this book.
The opening of the book leaves a toddler abandoned thanks to a grisly murder scene. He wanders out of his out, losing his diaper along the way, and ends up at the local graveyard. While the scenario is preposterous, it sets up one of the more interesting settings I've read in the Newbery winners so far. The boy (nicknamed "Bod" for "Nobody") ends up raised by a collection of interesting ghosts and undead creatures. While he appreciates his home, he longs for a life among the living - and he wants to find out what happened to his family.
However, we are left wondering through most of the book why Bod's family was murdered and when the answer comes, it is abrupt and unsatisfying. As for Bod's dream of a life outside the confines of tombstones and crypts, this is also undermined by the author. Gaiman clearly relishes describing the world of the dead and ends up making the world from which Bod wishes to retreat more interesting than the one to which Bod dreams of going.
Thus the lesson I learn about writing is to make setting and location an important part of the book, but not one which overwhelms the story. My latest project, tentatively titled Abigail's Atlantis, will delve into the ocean and the famous lost underworld city. It will become crucial to make sure that while I try to capture the wonder and awe of such a fabled location, I don't do it at the expense of creating a moving and involving story.
| First posted 6/25/2020. |
 
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The Hunger GamesSuzanne Collins
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First Publication: September 14, 2008 Category: young adult novel Sales: 23 million |
Accolades (click on badges to see full lists): 
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About the Book: “Every generation projects its fear: runaway science, communism, overpopulation, nuclear wars and, now, reality TV.” PW “This book will definitely resonate with the generation raised on reality shows like Survivor and American Gladiator.” SLJ In the tradition of books like Fahrenheit 451, The Giver, and Brave New World, Suzanne Collins creates a “postapocalyptic world” PW in which “the United States of America has collapsed…to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts.” SLJ Two youth from each district are selected by lottery each year to participate in the Hunger Games “as gladiators in a televised fight to the death.” PW Katniss Everdeen, 16, volunteers when her younger sister is plucked for the games. As she and Peeta, her male counterpart, are from the poorest district, they “will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.” SLJ “Although Katniss may be skilled with a bow and arrow and adept at analyzing her opponents’ next moves, she has much to learn about personal sentiments, especially her own.” BL “This is a superb tale of physical adventure, political suspense, and romance.” BL Collins’s characters are completely realistic and sympathetic as they form alliances and friendships in the face of overwhelming odds; the plot is tense, dramatic, and engrossing.” SLJ Resources and Related Links:
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| First posted 6/27/2020. |
 | Telegraph:The Perfect Library |
This British magazine assembled its ultimate reading list of 110 books presented, unranked, in the following categories: classics, poetry, literary fiction, romantic fiction, children’s books, sci-fi, crime, history, lives, books that changed the world, and books that changed your world.
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| First posted 7/4/2020; last updated 7/5/2020. |
 
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The Wind in the WillowsKenneth Grahame
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First Publication: April 1, 1908 Category: children’s literature Sales: 25 million |
Accolades (click on badges to see full lists):
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About the Book: “One of the most cherished works of children’s literature ever written.” AZ After Kenneth Grahame “retired…as secretary of the Bank of England, he moved back to Berkshire, where he had lived as a child, and spent his time by the River Thames doing much as the animal characters in his book do – …‘simply messing about in boats’ – and expanding the bedtime stories he had earlier told his son Alastair into a manuscript for the book.” WK “The Wind in the Willows chronicles the adventures of four friends” BN “in a pastoral version of Edwardian England.” WK “The story begins at the arrival of spring where we find the good-natured Mole tired of doing his spring cleaning. Mole decides to abandon his cleaning in order to enjoy the fresh air of spring. He journeys to the river where he meets Rat, whom he quickly befriends. Together the two row down the river eventually meeting up with Toad at Toad Hall. There they discover Toad’s current obsession with his horse-drawn caravan, one which he quickly abandons for a motorcar when his caravan is run off the road by one. A fourth friend enters the story in the form of Badger and when it is discovered that Toad’s obsession is becoming self-destructive, Mole, Rat, and Badger intervene to help protect Toad from himself.” AZ The novel is notable for its mixture of mysticism, adventure, morality and camaraderie.” WK It was adapted by A.A. Milne for the state in 1929 and as a musical almost a century later. The first of several film adaptions came in 1946. WK Resources and Related Links:
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