Buried in books

We're nose deep in books these days...

Here's a quick list of what we're reading (and loving!) on the Literacy Farm:

Pax can be found with a book in his hand more often than not. (See photographic evidence, above.) Latest favorites include:
The Pigeon Needs a Bath!  (Mo Willems)
Clever Jack Takes the Cake (Candace Fleming)
Zen Shorts (John J Muth)
These Minecraft books (because he is a Minecraft savant.)
...and, endearingly, he still loves Owl Babies (Martin Waddell).  (Who wouldn't love it?  The last line of the book is "I love my Mommy," says Bill.)

Leo reads on his own a good deal, but still loves (and prefers) read-alouds with his dad.  Recently, they've read
Charlotte's Web (E.B. White)
Holes (Louis Sacher)
...and are currently devouring The Lightening Thief (Percy Jackson Book 1, R. Riordan)

(but if you're looking for the best-ever read-aloud for younger kids, the hands-down winner is Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (Grace Lin)

Aidan reads almost as much as I do.  He's currently reading
Son of Neptune (Riordan),
but other recent favorites have included
The Mysterious Benedict Society Series (Stewart)
Out of My Mind (Sharon Draper)
and next on his nightstand is
Charles and Emma (Deborah Heiligman)

I try to avoid reading more than one book at a time, yet I've found myself in the middle of three (!!) excellent books.  I'm reading...
Let the Great World Spin (Colum McCann)
Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card)
The (Un)Common Good (Jim Wallis)

My most favorite recent read, though, is The Invention of Wings (Sue Monk Kidd)

Jeff has even found a few minutes of spare time between graduate class work to enjoy some pleasure reading.  Aidan has been asking him to read his #1 favorite book, and Jeff was happy to oblige.  Wonder by R.J. Palacio is nothing short of a true literary wonder.  It is unequivocally the most important book a young person might ever read in his or her growing-up years.

And finally, a book that the whole family is enjoying is Dinner: The Playbook by Jenny Rosenstrach, the same author as Dinner: A Love Story (both cookbook and blog).  Aidan, Leo, Pax, and I spent an afternoon earmarking recipes we'd each like to make (Aidan wants to make hoisin turkey burgers; Leo's going to make chicken chili and compare it to his favorite turkey chili, Pax decided on a new recipe for sloppy joes; and I want to taste her shrimp and grits recipe) while Jeff simply drools over the photos and asks us

"How long until dinner?"

"Not until I finish this book," one of us is likely to reply.