Reading Together Appliqued Quilt Block and What's on Your Nightstand?

I'm participating in the monthly feature, What's on Your Nightstand?  Participants post what they've been reading the past month as well as what they're planning to read in the future.
 
Baby Board Book:
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. with illustrations by Eric Carle.  A classic book perfect for a baby with its bouncy rhythm, quick read, and colorful illustrations.  Such fun to get to read it to my three month old grandson!

My husband reading to our grandson

Picture Books:
Hoop Genius: How a Desperate Teacher and a Rowdy Gym Class Invented Basketball by John Coy, illustrated by Joe Morse 
     The true story of how James Naismith invented basketball in 1891 at a school in Springfield, Massachusetts.  Interesting illustrations and not very much print.  The end pages feature the first draft of the basketball rules which are interesting to compare to today's rules.

Ox, House, Stick: The History of Our Alphabet by Don Robb, illustrated by Anne Smith
     An interesting history of each letter of our alphabet.  Has quite a lot of writing for a picture book.  I reread it after reading Paperboy below because it made reference to the origin of some of the letters of our alphabet.

Toasting Marshmallows: Camping Poems by Kristine O'Connell George, illustrated by Kate Kiesler
     Wonderful summer poems, some of which are shape poems.  Each illustration is perfect for its poem.

When the Moon Is Full: a Lunar Year by Penny Pollock, illustrated by Mary Azarian
     This book features a poem for each month, portraying the traditional Native American name for each moon.  Azarian does an amazing job on the illustrations for this book, which are hand-colored woodcut prints.  There's a more detailed question-and-answer section in the back.   
    
Middle Grade Novel:
Paperboy by Vince Vawter
Historical fiction set in Memphis, Tennessee during the month of July, 1959
     I subscribe to the Nerdy Book Club blog, read this review, and knew I had to read this book.  I wasn't disappointed.  The main character is an 11-year-old boy who is highly intelligent and an outstanding baseball pitcher but who also stutters.  The author writes in his Author's Notes at the end, "Paperboy is my story, certainly more memoir than fiction."  He does an amazing job of letting you really feel the struggles and frustrations of stuttering.  If you enjoyed the movie The King's Speech, I think you will love this book. 

Book Club Books:
The Purpose of a Dog by W. Bruce Cameron- the August selection for the Raspberry Mountain Readers
 
     I listened to this book, read by George K. Wilson.  It's the "story of one endearing dog's search for his purpose over the course of several lives."  Definitely worth reading/listening to, even though I don't really consider myself a dog person.  (I most definitely am a grandpuppy person, though!)

Our grandpuppy as a very small puppy

Not so small anymore!

Between Heaven and Texas by Marie Bostwick - the August selection for the Quilters' Book Club
Set in Too Much, Texas between 1970-1984
     In our book club, we had read A Single Thread, the first in Marie's Cobbled Court Quilt series.  This book is a prequel to that series and centers around Mary Dell Templeton, a strong, lovable main character.  Highly recommended even for non-quilters.  Here are several blog posts related to this book.

So what's on YOUR nightstand?  Do you ever have the opportunity to read aloud to someone?  Inquiring minds want to know!  By commenting, you are entering your name in a giveaway of a fabulous prize pack containing Wedding Ring, Endless Chain, Lover’s Knot (first three books of the Shenandoah Album Series) and Mountain Away, all by Emilie Richards - courtesy of Harlequin!    

You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post here.