On Sunday my son and I are going to Florida for two weeks to have quality family time with assorted relatives (and a trip to Sea World!). I'm mostly looking forward to some heat and the beach. The water will be way too cold for me (I like it to be 80 degrees....) but there will be plenty of shell collecting and feather hunting and other fun stuff. I am dreading the flight (I hate flying) but the trip should be cool. Here are the books I'm bringing along:

Nella Last's Peace: "This fascinating and unique diary from 1945 to 1948 delves into the private life of housewife, mother, and skillful narrator Nella Last. Nella, fifty-five when the war ends, writes of what ordinary people felt during those years of privation, hope, and the rebuilding of Britain, providing a moving and inspiring account of the years that shaped the society we live in today."

This one will likely be in a standalone review sometime this summer.

Nothing But Ghosts by Beth Kephart: "...featuring a rising high school senior, a missing mother, a mysterious recluse, an obtuse painting, and a fabulous librarian."

Maybe my July column or possible August. I'm going to have to read it to see where it fits. It involves a mystery which makes me wish it had been available for my April column (it's due out in late June) but no matter - I'm sure it will work with a summer theme.

The Entomological Tales of Augustus T. Percival: Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone by Dene Low: "Everything is falling nicely into place, until, suddenly—it isn’t. For Petronella discovers that her guardian, Uncle Augustus T. Percival, has developed a most unVictorian compulsion: He must eat bugs. Worse still, because he is her guardian, Uncle Augustus is to attend her soiree and his current state will most definitely be an embarrassment."

This one might work for my May column (SFF) or not. It's another one I just have to read to see. I can't resist the description though and I hope it is as delightfully odd as advertised. (It's set in 1903 which makes for another fun twist.)

So Punk Rock (And Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother) By Micol Ostow, Illus by David Ostow: "Loaded with sarcasm and delicious pop culture condescension (not to mention David Ostow's too-cool-for-school cartooning work), So Punk Rock is the E Behind the Music story of an epic Jewish band that never was. If it got any more kosher, it'd be totally traif."

How many YA books have I read on Jewish teens that are not related to the Holocaust or Israel? Hmm...I'm thinking of Julia's Kitchen (which was sad but sweet) and....that's it. Yea Micol Ostow! This will be a summer review as well.

Ghost Town by Richard Jennings: "Spencer Honesty and his mom are the last people left in Paisley, except for Chief Leopard Frog, Spence’s imaginary friend. One lonely day, Chief Leopard Frog’s carved rabbit talisman tells Spence to take his photo, so Spence digs up his late father’s camera and starts shooting photographs all around his ghost town. When the photos come back developed, he does not expect to see his old neighbor Maureen Balderson in her bedroom. Or Ma Puttering clearing weeds in her yard. They aren’t in Paisley anymore. Yet there they are."

First, I love photos of abandoned buildings. (Did you see these?) So I'm interested to read about a teen who does this. The addition of ghosts doesn't seem to be making this a horror title by any means, but something very different. And again - summer review.

The Ebb Tide by James Blaylock: "A flaming meteor over the Yorkshire Dales, a long-lost map drawn by the lunatic Bill “Cuttle” Kraken, and the discovery of a secret subterranean shipyard beneath the River Thames lead Professor Langdon St. Ives and his intrepid friend Jack Owlesby into the treacherous environs of Morecambe Bay, with its dangerous tides and vast quicksand pits. They descend beneath the sands of the Bay itself, into a dark, unknown ocean littered with human bones and the remnants of human dreams. In this tale of murder, infamy, and Victorian intrigue, the tides of destiny shift relentlessly and rapidly as the stakes grow ever higher and the pursuit more deadly.... "

Langdon St. Ives is very cool (a steampunk Sherlock) and I think this will work well for that May SFF column. As usual, the JK Potter cover is also totally awesome.

The Spell of the Tiger and Journey of the Pink Dolphins by Sy Montgomery: Two reissues of early Montgomery titles that I'm planning to review as my "Cool Reads" for May. I'm a big fan of her work for kids in the Scientists in the Field series and the Boston Globe described her as "Part Indiana Jones and part Emily Dickinson". How can anyone resist that? I'm always looking for good nature books that might appeal to older teens and these look awesome. I'm also planning to interview Montgomery for the SBBT.

The Affinity Bridge by George Mann: "Welcome to the bizarre and dangerous world of Victorian London, a city teetering on the edge of revolution. Its people are ushering in a new era of technology, dazzled each day by unfamiliar inventions. Airships soar in the skies over the city, while ground trains rumble through the streets and clockwork automatons are programmed to carry out menial tasks in the offices of lawyers, policemen, and journalists.

But beneath this shiny veneer of progress lurks a sinister side."

Okay, that is just a flat out awesome description and I love airships - can't get enough of them. No idea when it will be reviewed but sometime in July or August.

Mare's War by Tanita Davis: "Told in alternating chapters, half of which follow Mare through her experiences as a WAC member and half of which follow Mare and her granddaughters on the road in the present day, this novel introduces a larger-than-life character who will stay with readers long after they finish reading."

This one sounds like an excellent combination of coming-of-age (on multiple levels) and learning about your family. It will fit perfectly in my June column and I'm very much looking forward to reading it. (A realistic portrayal of an African American family - yea!)

Of a Feather: A Brief History of American Birding by Scott Weidensaul: I am slowly building a group of reviews on bird books that will run this summer (hopefully) in Bookslut or Eclectica. This one is a great book to pick up and read a chapter at a time - lots of mini biographies of interesting folks like Audubon and Roger Tory Peterson and Harriet Hemenway (who fought the use of bird feathers in hats). I don't know why I'm so fascinated by ornithology but I think this is a book that I wish I could have written and thus love reading.

The Ice Finders: How a Poet, a Professor, and a Politician Discovered the Ice Age by Edmund Bolles: "Louis Agassiz (1807-1873) was a Swiss professor who conceived of the Ice Age and then spent decades trying to persuade other scientists he had not gone mad. Charles Lyell (1797-1875) was the century's most influential geologist and a master politician among his fellow scientist. His scientific principles said an Ice Age was impossible, even after his eyes showed him it was real. Elisha Kent Kane (1820-1857), an adventurer trapped for two winters at the top of Greenland, wrote a poetic description of a harsh and frozen landscape. His words portrayed the previously unimaginable great ice and set the stage for the story's unexpected outcome.

The discovery of the Ice Age is one of science's greatest and least-known stories. The Ice Finders shows that, for all their boasting about reason scientist are driven by their passions and obsessions — human traits that actually advance the evolution of scientific discovery."

Please - do I have to explain why I'm reading this book?! It's so up my alley and Elisha Kent Kane!! Love reading about him, can't get enough. Besides it's going to be hot; a little bit of ice history will be welcome I'm sure.

So that's it. Two weeks which includes two very long flights (beside a kid with a dvd player watching brand new movies on the way down and back if all goes as planned) and lots of "no thanks - you guys can play with the Wii and I'll just sit out here and read". I'm also buying a new pair of running shoes from my step-nephew who is a sneaker guru (I kid you not). I plan to test the ankle and run again - this should be an awesome two weeks.

(P.S. No worries on posting - I'll still be around!)
[Post pic of Cocoa Beach, just north of home.]