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Lynn: We believe in unbiased reporting here at Bookends and in presenting ALL sides and opinions.  It’s not easy to pursue this noble goal in book reviewing and sometimes the cost is high.  In my case that cost has been domestic harmony.  Yes, faithful readers, the focus group and I have been engaged in a [...]

Lynn: “I have used these things to say what is to me the wideness and wonder of the world.” – Georgia O’Keeffe.  Rubin has chosen this most appropo of quotations for the title of her latest biography, Wideness and Wonder:  The Life and Art of Georgia O’Keeffee (Chronicle 2011).  It is an absorbing book and [...]

Cindy: I usually hate celebrity picture books and I’m not usually wishy-washy on book opinions, but One Love (Chronicle Books 2011) has me dithering and looking for other opinions. Can we talk? Full disclosure: I am a Bob Marley fan. I have a tiki bar in my back yard with a 4-foot carved statue of Marley [...]

Lynn and Cindy: What is it with the elephants this year?  Has anyone noticed how many books about or featuring elephants there are? So far we’ve seen: Small as an Elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson Cousins of Clouds:  Elephant Poems by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer Elephant Talk:  The Surprising Science of Elephant Communication by Ann Downer [...]

Lynn: Ah – sibling relationships!  Ask even the shyest child if their brother/sister ever does anything annoying and stand back.  George and narrator Nancy Carpenter have mined this rich field with their charming Emma Dilemma:  Big Sister Poems (Clarion 2011).  I’m an older sister myself and this book is right on target!  (Notice I said [...]

Cindy and Lynn: It’s time for another Top 10 list (i.e. we’ve been busy playing and haven’t read the same titles to do a regular post).  Earlier this summer we posted our Top 10 Book Covers so the next logical progression is to feature our Top 10 Book Titles. This is in no way an exhaustive list…just books [...]

Cindy: Alex Flinn’s Beastly and A Kiss in Time are very popular in my middle school libraries and her latest romance featuring lesser known fairy tales, Cloaked (HarperTeen 2011) is sure to be as well. Let’s start with The Elves and the Shoemaker: Johnny is a shoe-repair expert working in a small shop in a [...]

Lynn: I am fascinated by stories of an artist’s journey and how better to tell that story than through illustration!  Renown illustrator Allen Say tells his story from his early years in Japan to his immigration to the United States with text, pen and ink drawings, watercolor paintings and family photographs.  Drawing from Memory (Scholastic [...]

Cindy: It’s that time of year…two weeks left until I return to school. Where did the summer go? I did get to go to ALA in New Orleans and catch up with library world friends, and had the good fortune to entertain author Lisa McMann, Holly Black and K.T. Horning at my tiki bar. But as [...]

Lynn: I love fantasy but it’s a crowded genre and sadly far too many of them blend into an indistinguishable blur for me.  So it’s a true delight to meet a book as fresh and inventive as Akata Witch (Penguin/Viking 2011).  Sunny was born in New York to Nigerian parents and the family returned to [...]