The Great American Read

This week I stumbled on an ad for a new show: The Great American Read on PBS. It airs this week on Tuesday, and I’m so excited! They’ve picked 100 favorite books, and assembled a bunch of mini-documentaries about the books, why we love books, and how authors write books. Then we get to vote to choose America’s favorite book! YAY!

Based on the preview, the list looks like it has a lot of variety, from classics to very new, YA, kids, adult, science fiction, fantasy, a little bit of everything. I’m really looking forward to whatever the show has to tell us about these books, listening to favorite authors talk about their favorites, and (of course) casting my own vote!

Here. Watch the preview.

Throwback Thursday: Ella Enchanted

Ella Enchanted celebrated its 20 year anniversary this year. Twenty years!!! God, that makes me feel old. But chances are, even if you aren’t in your twenties, you have probably read Ella Enchanted. It is absolutely destined to be a classic.

I first read Ella in the fifth grade, I think. It was a Bluebonnet nominee, and we were encouraged to read as many Bluebonnet books as possible. For those of you who aren’t from the great state of Texas, the Texas Bluebonnet Award book is kind of like any other kids’ book award, except that kids get to vote on the winners, which I think is pretty dang cool.

Anyway, the year 2000 was a pretty good year for Bluebonnet books, and I enjoyed every single book that I read. But when it came time to vote, I didn’t even hesitate.

Ella Enchanted remains one of my favorite books to this day. It’s the book I read in the hospital when my son was born. It’s the book I recommend to a student when they need to borrow a book off my shelf for the afternoon. I tried to get my husband to read it, which was, sadly, not a success. And I can’t wait to share it with my own kids when they’re old enough.