“Scatter and Return, the Eyes of the Princess” by Willow Fagan

ByJohn Brown

I wasn’t meaning to read this story. I drifted over from Codex (an online writers group I belong to) and thought I’d check the opening, nothing more. But the voice and the story were so compelling that the next thing I knew I was halfway through and had to finish.

There are a few things in this story I don’t know if I like. But I’m not going to mention them here and prejudice you because the narration was fabulous. The story situations compelling. The dry understatement, the mixture of the mundane and fantastic, the oddness of the tale—all lovely and delicious. But that’s not all. There was something else with the cadence of the writing that drew me. And the solution the golem finds in the end, oh my gosh, it was wonderful.

It’s free, dang it, so follow this link and enjoy.

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  • Good Stuff! A Different Kind of Prom

    ByJohn Brown

    The first time I attended a high school prom in Rich County, I thought the Rich County people were from another planet.

    I was married. My wife Nellie had grown up in Rich County, and said that we had to go to her little brother’s prom.

    “Your brother’s prom?” I asked. Like, what?

    “Yes, my brother’s prom.”

    Weird, I thought. Because in the big city, older brothers and sisters who have graduated simply do not go to high school proms.

    But I’m always up for strange new experiences, and so we went.

    And I can report that it was indeed strange. In the big city, grandma and grandpa do not attend the prom, nor do mom and dad or little brothers and sisters. And they most assuredly do not sit in the stands and watch the junior class perform a dance.

    But that’s what they did in Rich County. And so I sat next to grandma and grandpa who were nigh unto eighty years old and watched an announcer present the junior class. There was a makeshift stage. And the announcer would announce the names of a young woman and a young man. On the stage, the young woman would take the arm of a young man, and then he would escort her out to the center of the floor to the applause of everyone in the gym. The couple would then perform a little action—he might twirl her, or she him, or she might jump in his arms, or he in hers, or she might lift her dress enough to show she was wearing cowboy boots that matched his, or dozens of other little creative things, and then they’d walk to the side to make room for the next couple.

    In Rich County, there are only forty or so kids in a class, so it didn’t take long. When the juniors were all announced, the whole junior class, in their tuxes and dresses, spread out and took their places on the floor. A song began to play, and then they performed a dance that had been choreographed specifically for the occasion.

    When it finished, the mother or father of each junior went out onto the floor and danced a slow dance with their son or daughter.

    They then presented the seniors in the same way, after which the parents of the seniors went out and danced with their sons and daughters.

    Only when that dance ended did the lights dim and the “normal” dancing begin. Nellie and I danced a few songs, and then she said it was time for us to get some refreshments and go.

    And that’s what we did, leaving the teens to their evening.

    I had never before seen anything like it. I laughed and wondered. Those funny hicks, I thought.

    I took a job in San Francisco for a few years, then another in Columbus, Ohio. And then, years after that hick prom, Nellie and I moved from the big city to Rich County. That was almost thirteen years ago.

    This last Friday I watched as my third daughter was announced and walked down from the makeshift stage. She was escorted by a young man, looking handsome in his tux. I watched him twirl her and another girl (he got to escort two). And when all the seniors had been presented, I got to dance with my girl at the prom.

    I cannot tell you how sweet that was to look in her eyes, to see my little girl grown up into this beautiful, strong woman. I thought about how she was soon going to leave us, and tears threatened to spring into this papa’s eyes, but she smiled and said, “Don’t you dare.”

    What’s a man to do? I obeyed. And instead of blubbering, we danced.

    When we finished, I gave her a hug and a kiss on the forehead and returned to the stands.

    I’ve danced six times with my girls at these Rich County proms—once when each was a junior and once when they were seniors. And I love this tradition.

    I love that a huge part of the community comes out to the dance. I love that we honor and applaud these great kids. I love watching the juniors in their gorgeous dresses and handsome tuxes perform these beautiful, formal dances that remind me of something you might find in Victorian England, something that seems to have stepped right out of Pride and Prejudice.

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    Juniors performing dance
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    Parents dancing with kids

    What an excellent evening.

    How lucky I am that places like Rich County exist, and that I get to live in one of them.

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  • Merry Halloween!

    ByJohn Brown

    Poetry is a species of literature that struggles to flourish in written and spoken environments.  We forward the occasional insightful, funny, or sentimental poem in our emails. Once in a while speakers will quote a few verses. But we don’t share that form of poetry like we do the poetry in songs. Music is the environment in which poetry thrives.  People say you can’t make money writing poetry—tell that to lyricists and song writers.  I have three poems (songs) that I think you’ll enjoy.

    First is “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / We Three Kings” by Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan. This is one of the Brown family’s most favorite Christmas songs. It’s such a favorite that we can’t help but listen and sing along all year round. The Bare Naked Ladies put a mix of these two classics to a punchy beat with an acoustic guitar, but then they change the mood part way in by bringing in McLachlan’s haunting, beautiful voice. It is an upbeat, wonderful arrangement.

    The next song is another remake of a classic: “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” by Casting Crows.  While the song is updated with modern instruments (drums, piano, guitar), this isn’t a raucous arrangement. It starts with a simple lovely melody and a solo male voice. It moves into a swell with a sweet child chorus that repeats the most important refrain in the song: “peace on earth, good will to men.” There are no bells in the song, but it makes me wish I was back in Europe so that when the bells in the towns there did peal, I would think of the message of this song.

    Now, I know some of you are thinking, “Christmas. In October? Are you kidding me?” So to appease these strict seasonalists, I present “Calling All The Monsters” by China Anne McClain. The perfect groove Halloween song–upbeat and catchy. And you simply must watch the music video that goes with it. It’s good fun that hearkens back to the Michael Jackson “Thriller” music video but is much more playful.  

    All of these songs can be purchased on Amazon for less than a buck each. If you want to preview them, you can on YouTube. Links below. Merry Halloween!

    So what are some of your favorites?

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  • Good Stuff! How to Make Meetings Work

    ByJohn Brown

    Do you regularly sit through meetings that seem to accomplish nothing?

    Meetings where people drone on and on and on.

    Meetings where people discuss and no decision is ever made.

    Meetings that always slide off topic.

    Meetings that should never have been held in the first place.

    In many cases, the reason these meetings stink is because those organizing them are not aware there’s any other way to hold a meeting. But there is. I was fortunate enough to have been exposed to it just out of college while working for a business consulting firm in San Francisco. (And why they didn’t teach this in my business degree I will never know!)

    After learning the simple and powerful principles, I was eventually paid to plan and facilitate meetings for clients. In some of these meetings they were making incredibly important decisions. I remember a client flying me and a colleague from San Francisco to Delaware for two days of meetings.

    You might be groaning at the thought. But they paid thousands of dollars to have us come and facilitate. And when we were done, the energy in the room was palpable. A number of those that were involved were astounded and said they’d never been involved in such productive sessions. They’d accomplished more in the hours we were there than in months of other meetings. They were happy and grateful we’d come.

    Think of that—happy and grateful for a meeting that went on for hours!

    When meetings are done right, the collaboration and synergy can be amazing. Now, you may think that some secret handshake is required to learn how to do this. Or that it’s only for those with some special knack. Or that it’s only for high-powered jobs. If you do, you’d be wrong.

    And that’s because you can learn the principles all for a few bucks. They’re laid out in perfect clarity in How to Make Meetings Work by Michael Doyle and David Straus. This is the book that was the source of our training sessions all those years ago. And I reread it every few years to brush up. The principles work in everything from a family council to a board meeting to class settings. I know because I’ve used the ideas in all of them. And when I fail to take just a few minutes to prepare, that’s when the meeting becomes, well, just another (yawn) meeting.

    If you hold meetings of any kind and want to improve them, give this book a try. I think you’ll be happy you did.

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  • The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

    ByJohn Brown

    Have you ever gotten into the car to go to destination A and a few turns later realized you’re going to destination B and have to turn around?

    If so, you’ve experienced the power of habit.

    Have you ever told yourself you will NOT eat the cookies sitting out on the counter and two minutes later pick one up and eat it?  Or perhaps it was the cigarette.  Or the drink.

    Habit.

    Did you know that the genius behind the methods of Tony Dungy–the only coach in the NFL history to reach the play-offs ten years in a row and the one who turned a troubled Colts team around and three years later took them to win the Super Bowl in 2007–was to teach his players to be faster than everyone else.  But they wouldn’t be faster because they would focus on increasing their physical speed. They would be faster because they would learn habits that would make their moves instinct.  When his strategy worked, Dungy’s players could move with a speed that was impossible to overcome.

    According to some research, more than 40% of the actions we perform each day are not actual decisions, but habits.  And habits that we didn’t always consciously choose to start.  We have sleeping habits, shopping habits, exercise habits, eating habits.  Habits at work, at home, at school.  Habits of the mind.

    Companies have a huge interest in changing our shopping habits.  Coaches have an interest in changing the habits we use when we play. Teachers have an interest in the habits of their classroom. Families and communities have habitual ways of interacting. We all have personal habits we’d like to adopt and others we’d like to give away.  But unless you know what you’re doing, habits can be extremely intransigent and slippery things.

    The good news is that a lot of research has been done in the last few decades, and we now know how habits work. When we arm ourselves with this knowledge, we’ll have a much better chance of changing. Luckily for us, we don’t have to track all that information down.  In The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life and Business, Charles Duhigg draws on hundreds of academic studies, interviews with more than three hundred scientists and executives, and research conducted at dozens of companies in his book and distills all this knowledge to its essence.

    The title might sound boring, but Duhigg follows the style of Malcom Gladwell (Outliers, Blink, The Tipping Point), and the Heath brothers (Made to Stick), and has written a book that I couldn’t put down.  For example, I couldn’t stop reading about coach Tony Dungy, or Target as it predicts who is pregnant and how far along they are, or the scientists who couldn’t figure out why Alcoholics Anonymous works, or how bad organizational habits led to thirty-one people being burned alive in London’s King’s Cross subway stop.  I couldn’t stop reading about why Rosa Parks, not the first African American to refuse to give up her bus seat, could pivot the civil rights movement.  I couldn’t stop reading the stories of individuals losing bad habits, others picking up good ones, and others who lost their minds but not their habits. Duhigg uses these and many other examples and studies to illustrate the key principles underlying how habits work.  In the appendix, he gives us a guide for examining and forming our own habits.

    I personally know the power of changing habits of the mind (which I’ve already written about). And teeth. A few years ago, I flossed once a week. It was such a pain. Now it’s a habit that I almost crave each night. I look back at how I made those changes and see it all laid out in Duhigg’s book. Can I actually change my habit of going to bed late? Stay tuned.

    If you’re interested in forming the habits of a class, team, company, or family; if you want to change some of your own habits; if you’re interested in knowing why we do what we do and enjoy the style of Malcom Gladwell and Dan and Chip Heath, then I think you’ll love this book. Let me suggest you watch the video below.  Then go to http://charlesduhigg.com/the-power-of-habit/ and click on the “Additional Resources” to watch and read more. Then just get the dang book.

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  • Top 200 YA Novels of 2010

    ByJohn Brown

    USA Today just published their list of the top 100 bestsellers of 2010. Publishers Weekly  and other places will soon follow. But sales don’t always capture the full picture. Some books may be purchased once and read once. Others are passed around until they’re ragged. Furthermore, many books sell well over a number of years but don’t get the volume in any week or year to put them on the list. That’s why I like to also look at circulation numbers. And I just happen to have the YA circulation numbers for the Logan, Utah library (thank you Super Librarian Melanie), which serves the 115,000 folks of Cache County, 50,000 of which are in Logan itself. Not a bad population size to get an idea of what’s being read.

    Of course, I know each area in the country will have a slightly (or hugely) different list, which makes sense because tastes differ from region to region (for example, I’m betting Chris Heimerdinger isn’t really big in, say, Alabama), but also because collections differ as well. For example, I was surprised Dan Wells didn’t show up with I Am Not A Serial Killer, but the Logan library doesn’t even have that book. So this method does have limitations. It would be nice to get a national breakdown. But until someone is able to cobble that together, this gives a good picture of what’s being read in this part of the world. Regardless of where you live, this should constitute a list of books that ought to be great reads for teens and adults.

    In 2010, 3,574 YA titles were checked out a total of 33,156 times (by adults and youth–whoever has a card). Books in the collection but not checked out didn’t make the list, of course. Here are the top 200 books. The Total column shows how many times the book was checked out. % shows what percent of the total circulation that represents. Rank is rank. I was very happy to see quite a few Utah authors (or former Utahans) on this list. Congrats to the following (# titles in top 200):

    • Shannon Hale (6)
    • Jessica Day George (6)
    • Stephenie Meyer (5)
    • Brandon Sanderson (3)
    • Mette Ivie Harrison (3)
    • Aprilynne Pike (2)
    • Lisa Mangum (2)
    • Chris Heimerdinger (2)
    • Jack Weyland (1)
    • James Dashner (1)

    BTW, here are the companion lists: Top 200 YA Authors of 2010 (showing total volume, not by book, but by author) and Top 200 YA Authors of 2010, Part 2 (showing the authors with the most readers per book)

    The List

    EDIT: 1/13/2011 11:42 AM. I just found out the first set of data I posted included more than checkouts: things like renewals, searches, bills, etc. So the numbers were wacked. This changed both the rankings and the numbers of books included by some of the authors. What you see now are the correct numbers for checkouts.

    EDIT: 1/14/2011 3:31 PM. Okay, one more edit. Silly us–we left off books shelved in the “New Book” category. These numbers are checked, double-checked, and rock solid.

    Title Total % Rank
    The hunger games / Suzanne Collins 374 1.13% 1
    Catching fire / Suzanne Collins 273 0.82% 2
    Mockingjay / Suzanne Collins 241 0.73% 3
    The lightning thief / Rick Riordan 197 0.59% 4
    The last Olympian / Rick Riordan 194 0.59% 5
    The short second life of Bree Tanner : an Eclipse novella / Stephenie Meyer 181 0.55% 6
    Harry Potter and the deathly hallows / J. K. Rowling  160 0.48% 7
    Forest born / Shannon Hale 155 0.47% 8
    The red pyramid / Rick Riordan 143 0.43% 9
    The sea of monsters / Rick Riordan 139 0.42% 10
    Princess of glass / by Jessica Day George 113 0.34% 11
    The Titan’s curse / Rick Riordan 110 0.33% 12
    City of bones / Cassandra Clare 109 0.33% 13
    The book thief / by Markus Zusak 108 0.33% 14
    Brisingr / Christopher Paolini 101 0.30% 15
    The battle of the Labyrinth / Rick Riordan 99 0.30% 16
    Book of a thousand days / by Shannon Hale 96 0.29% 17
    New moon / Stephenie Meyer 94 0.28% 18
    Harry Potter and the half-blood prince / by J. K. Rowling 87 0.26% 19
    Breaking dawn / Stephenie Meyer 87 0.26% 20
    Tempted : a house of night novel / P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast 86 0.26% 21
    Eclipse / by Stephenie Meyer 86 0.26% 22
    Twilight / by Stephenie Meyer 81 0.24% 23
    Night world / L. J. Smith 81 0.24% 24
    River secrets / by Shannon Hale 79 0.24% 25
    City of ashes / Cassandra Clare 79 0.24% 26
    City of Glass / Cassandra Clare 78 0.24% 27
    Princess Academy / Shannon Hale 76 0.23% 28
    Uglies / Scott Westerfeld 69 0.21% 29
    Chosen : a house of night novel / P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast 69 0.21% 30
    Princess of the Midnight Ball / by Jessica Day George 68 0.21% 31
    The hourglass door : a novel / by Lisa Mangum 65 0.20% 32
    Pretties / Scott Westerfeld 63 0.19% 33
    Shiver / Maggie Stiefvater 62 0.19% 34
    The lost hero / Rick Riordan 62 0.19% 35
    Witch & wizard / James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet 61 0.18% 36
    The dark Divine / Bree Despain 61 0.18% 37
    Untamed : a house of night novel / P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast 59 0.18% 38
    The golden spiral / Lisa Mangum 59 0.18% 39
    Enna burning / Shannon Hale 59 0.18% 40
    Fire / Kristin Cashore 58 0.17% 41
    Erak’s ransom / John Flanagan 58 0.17% 42
    Wings / Aprilynne Pike 57 0.17% 43
    Spirit bound / Richelle Mead 57 0.17% 44
    The siege of Macindaw / John Flanagan 57 0.17% 45
    Blood promise : a Vampire Academy novel / Richelle Mead 57 0.17% 46
    Syren / Angie Sage 56 0.17% 47
    Betrayed : a house of night novel / P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast 56 0.17% 48
    Specials / Scott Westerfield 54 0.16% 49
    The golden compass / by Philip Pullman  54 0.16% 50
    The awakening / Kelley Armstrong 54 0.16% 51
    Marked : a house of night novel/ P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast 53 0.16% 52
    Magyk / Angie Sage  53 0.16% 53
    Fang : a Maximum Ride novel / James Patterson 53 0.16% 54
    The burning bridge / John Flanagan 53 0.16% 55
    The ruins of Gorlan / John Flanagan 52 0.16% 56
    The goose girl / Shannon Hale 52 0.16% 57
    The alchemyst : the secrets of the immortal Nicholas Flamel / Michael Scott 52 0.16% 58
    The maze runner / James Dashner 51 0.15% 59
    Inkdeath / Cornelia Funke  51 0.15% 60
    Hush, hush / Becca Fitzpatrick 50 0.15% 61
    The Looking Glass Wars / by Frank Beddor 49 0.15% 62
    Burned : a house of night novel / P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast 49 0.15% 63
    What I saw and how I lied / Judy Blundell 48 0.14% 64
    Eragon / Christopher Paolini 48 0.14% 65
    The merchant of death / by D.J. MacHale 47 0.14% 66
    Graceling / Kristin Cashore 47 0.14% 67
    The necromancer / Michael Scott 46 0.14% 68
    Beauty sleep / Cameron Dokey 46 0.14% 69
    Artemis Fowl / Eoin Colfer 46 0.14% 70
    A great and terrible beauty / Libba Bray 45 0.14% 71
    The demigod files / Rick Riordan  45 0.14% 72
    The Van Alen legacy : a Blue Bloods novel / Melissa de la Cruz 44 0.13% 73
    Spells / Aprilynne Pike 44 0.13% 74
    The sorcerer of the north / John Flanagan 44 0.13% 75
    The battle for Skandia / John Flanagan 44 0.13% 76
    Artemis Fowl. The Atlantis complex / Eoin Colfer  44 0.13% 77
    Theodore Boone : kid lawyer / John Grisham  43 0.13% 78
    Evermore / Alyson Noèel 43 0.13% 79
    Clockwork angel / Cassandra Clare 43 0.13% 80
    Physik / Angie Sage  42 0.13% 81
    Eldest / by Christopher Paolini 42 0.13% 82
    Captivate / Carrie Jones 42 0.13% 83
    Twice upon a Marigold / Jean Ferris 41 0.12% 84
    The Shadow Project / by Herbie Brennan 41 0.12% 85
    The reckoning / Kelley Armstrong 41 0.12% 86
    The kings of Clonmel / John Flanagan 41 0.12% 87
    Gone / by Lisa McMann 41 0.12% 88
    Fallen / Lauren Kate 41 0.12% 89
    Don’t judge a girl by her cover / Ally Carter 41 0.12% 90
    Tennis shoes among the Nephites / Chris Heimerdinger 40 0.12% 91
    The princess and the hound / Mette Ivie Harrison 40 0.12% 92
    Heist society / Ally Carter 40 0.12% 93
    Golden / Cameron Dokey 40 0.12% 94
    Dragon spear / by Jessica Day George 40 0.12% 95
    Dragon flight / Jessica Day George 40 0.12% 96
    Queste / Angie Sage  39 0.12% 97
    Need / Carrie Jones 39 0.12% 98
    Messenger / Lois Lowry 39 0.12% 99
    Bloodhound / Tamora Pierce 39 0.12% 100
    Wild orchid : a retelling of “The ballad of Mulan” / by Cameron Dokey 38 0.11% 101
    The chronicles of Vladimir Tod : eleventh grade burns / Heather Brewer 38 0.11% 102
    Terrier / Tamora Pierce 38 0.11% 103
    Revenge of the witch / Joseph Delaney 38 0.11% 104
    Inkheart / Cornelia Funk 38 0.11% 105
    Howl’s moving castle / Diana Wynne Jones 38 0.11% 106
    The diamond secret / by Suzanne Weyn 38 0.11% 107
    Darklight : a novel / Lesley Livingston 38 0.11% 108
    Pretty little liars / Sara Shepard 37 0.11% 109
    Just Ella / Margaret Peterson Haddix 37 0.11% 110
    The icebound land  / John Flanagan 37 0.11% 111
    Harry Potter and the goblet of fire / by J.K. Rowling 37 0.11% 112
    Dreamhunter / Elizabeth Knox 37 0.11% 113
    Destiny’s path / Frewin Jones 37 0.11% 114
    Crocodile tears / Anthony Horowitz 37 0.11% 115
    The body finder / by Kimberly Derting 37 0.11% 116
    Violet eyes : a retelling of “The princess and the pea” / Debbie Viguie 36 0.11% 117
    They never came back / Caroline B. Cooney 36 0.11% 118
    The summoning / Kelley Armstrong 36 0.11% 119
    The soldiers of Halla / D.J. MacHale 36 0.11% 120
    Shadowland / Alyson Noèel 36 0.11% 121
    The princess and the snowbird / Mette Ivie Harrison 36 0.11% 122
    The magician / Michael Scott 36 0.11% 123
    The luxe / Anna Godbersen 36 0.11% 124
    Gathering blue / Lois Lowry 36 0.11% 125
    Blue moon : the Immortals / Alyson Noèel 36 0.11% 126
    Sun and moon, ice and snow / Jessica Day George 35 0.11% 127
    The princess and the bear / Mette Ivie Harrison 35 0.11% 128
    Once upon a Marigold / Jean Ferris 35 0.11% 129
    The lost city of Faar / D.J. MacHale 35 0.11% 130
    Lord Sunday / Garth Nix 35 0.11% 131
    Linger / Maggie Stiefvater 35 0.11% 132
    The Forest of Hands and Teeth / Carrie Ryan 35 0.11% 133
    Extras / Scott Westerfeld 35 0.11% 134
    Betraying season / Marissa Doyle 35 0.11% 135
    Thirteen reasons why : a novel / by Jay Asher 34 0.10% 136
    Squire / by Tamora Pierce 34 0.10% 137
    Midnight pearls : a retelling of  “The little mermaid” / Debbie Viguie 34 0.10% 138
    Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix / by J.K. Rowling 34 0.10% 139
    Ever / Gail Carson Levine 34 0.10% 140
    The dead-tossed waves / Carrie Ryan 34 0.10% 141
    Clash of the demons / by Joseph Delaney 34 0.10% 142
    Cameron Meets Madison./ Jack Weyland 34 0.10% 143
    Belle : a retelling of “Beauty and the beast” / by Cameron Dokey 34 0.10% 144
    Before midnight : a retelling of “Cinderella” / by Cameron Dokey 34 0.10% 145
    Beastly / Alex Flinn 34 0.10% 146
    Artemis Fowl : the Arctic incident / Eoin Colfer 34 0.10% 147
    The Amaranth enchantment / Julie Berry 34 0.10% 148
    Alcatraz versus the Knights of Crystallia / by Brandon Sanderson 34 0.10% 149
    Alanna the first adventure / by Tamora Pierce 34 0.10% 150
    Splendor : a Luxe novel / Anna Godbersen 33 0.10% 151
    Shadow kiss : a Vampire Academy novel/ by Richelle Mead 33 0.10% 152
    Seeing Redd / by Frank Beddor 33 0.10% 153
    Claim to fame / Margaret Peterson Haddix 33 0.10% 154
    Beautiful creatures / by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl 33 0.10% 155
    White cat / Holly Black 32 0.10% 156
    The sweet far thing / Libba Bray 32 0.10% 157
    Radiant shadows / Melissa Marr 32 0.10% 158
    Incarceron / by Catherine Fisher 32 0.10% 159
    Gadiantons and the silver sword / by Chris Heimerdinger 32 0.10% 160
    Dragon slippers / Jessica Day George 32 0.10% 161
    A coven of witches / by Joseph Delaney  32 0.10% 162
    Being Nikki : an airhead novel / Meg Cabot 32 0.10% 163
    Artemis Fowl. The time paradox / Eoin Colfer 32 0.10% 164
    The woman who rides like a man / by Tamora Pierce 31 0.09% 165
    Winter’s child / Cameron Dokey 31 0.09% 166
    The sorceress / Michael Scott 31 0.09% 167
    Rules of attraction / Simone Elkeles 31 0.09% 168
    Radiant darkness / Emily Whitman 31 0.09% 169
    Once a witch / by Carolyn MacCullough 31 0.09% 170
    A kiss in time / Alex Flinn 31 0.09% 171
    Heroes of the valley / Jonathan Stroud 31 0.09% 172
    First test / Tamora Pierce 31 0.09% 173
    The crimson thread : a retelling of “Rumpelstiltskin” / by Suzanne Weyn 31 0.09% 174
    Blue bloods / Melissa de la Cruz 31 0.09% 175
    Before i fall / Lauren Oliver 31 0.09% 176
    Alcatraz versus the Scrivener’s Bones / by Brandon Sanderson 31 0.09% 177
    The warrior heir / Cinda Williams Chima 30 0.09% 178
    Vampire rising / Jason Henderson 30 0.09% 179
    Rebel angels / Libba Bray 30 0.09% 180
    Princess Ben / Catherine Murdock 30 0.09% 181
    The never war / D.J. MacHale 30 0.09% 182
    Max : a Maximum Ride novel / James Patterson 30 0.09% 183
    In the hand of the goddess / by Tamora Pierce 30 0.09% 184
    Flyte / Angie Sage 30 0.09% 185
    Faerie wars / by Herbie Brennan 30 0.09% 186
    Dreamquake : book two of the Dreamhunter duet / Elizabeth Knox 30 0.09% 187
    Cross my heart and hope to spy / Ally Carter 30 0.09% 188
    Cirque du freak : a living nightmare / by Darren Shan 30 0.09% 189
    Birthmarked / Caragh M. O’Brien 30 0.09% 190
    Artemis Fowl : the eternity code / Eoin Colfer 30 0.09% 191
    Alcatraz  versus the evil Librarians / by Brandon Sanderson 30 0.09% 192
    Wicked lovely / Melissa Marr 29 0.09% 193
    Water song : a retelling of “The frog prince” / by Suzanne Weyn 29 0.09% 194
    Wake / Lisa McMann 29 0.09% 195
    Violet wings / Victoria Hanley 29 0.09% 196
    Strange angels / Lili St. Crow 29 0.09% 197
    Princess for hire / Lindsey Leavitt 29 0.09% 198
    Maximum Ride : the final warning  / James Patterson 29 0.09% 199
    Maximum Ride : school’s out– forever / by James Patterson 29 0.09% 200
    Lament : the faerie queen’s deception / Maggie Stiefvater 29 0.09% 201
    Lady knight / Tamora Pierce 29 0.09% 202
    House of many ways / Diana Wynne Jones 29 0.09% 203
    Going bovine / Libba Bray 29 0.09% 204
    The enchanted quest / Frewin Jones 29 0.09% 205
    The dragon heir  / Cinda Williams Chima 29 0.09% 206
    Black water / D.J. MacHale 29 0.09% 207
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  • Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

    ByJohn Brown

    I had business in Vegas and decided it was time to take the family to Zion’s National Park. We could drive down from the northern tip of Utah (Laketown) to the southern tip (St. George) together. Then I’d take a rental to Vegas, do my business, and hook up again with the fam to hike the canyons for two-days. (Hiking Kolob, folks, was incredible, but that’s another post.)

    So I ask Nellie what she’s got to read to me as we drive down. She pulls out Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney and says all the kids in her classes said she had to read it. 

    I think, hey, it’s got pictures. Any book with pictures gets one shot at the very least.

    I’m happy to say I can’t tell you how many times she had to wait so I could stop laughing. We almost wrecked only once. And if I’m going to wreck I’d rather do it while laughing than asleep. Kenny has written and illustrated a wonderful, fun book. And now we have a new word in the family vocabulary–“Fregley.”

    What is that? You’ll have to read to find out.

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