December Reads Part 2

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos (Juvenile Fiction)

I laughed the entire way through Jack and Miss Volker's adventures as they wrote one obituary after another. With morbid humor, outrageous characters, a wild but strangely believable story, and at least seven books worth of similes and metaphors, I highly recommend this. The moment I knew I was going to love this book happened only twenty-four pages in.  Jack thinks Miss Volker is melting down her hands like gold, only she's really just doing a wax treatment for her arthritis. His reaction is priceless and I believe this moment lays the foundation for their unique and hilarious friendship. I began the Norvelt series (there are two books!) by reading the book but switched to audio at some point. The audiobook is read by the author and definitely adds to the charm of the story, so if you can, choose the audiobook! You will find yourself saying "cheeze-us-crust" whenever you have a freak-out moment, and at the same time you say it, you'll hear Jack Gantos saying it too.

I Love You More Than... by Taye Diggs and Shane Evans (Picture Book)

Though the language is a bit choppy, it's sincere and conversational. The illustrations are brilliant, which is no surprise because they're by Shane Evans. It's the type of art that made me flip to the copyright page to see how the heck he created it. It turns out the illustrations include a little bit of everything and, according to the copyright page, they're also made with love. Though I think all the illustrations are fabulous, the sneaker pages send my heart into orbit and are my favorites. This is definitely a contender for a love/Valentine's Day storytime.

Food52 Baking by the Editors of Food52 (Adult Nonfiction)

This includes one of the most moist yellow cake recipes I've ever had. My family didn't think the chocolate icing was that great, but it didn't matter because the cake was excellent. The overnight orange rolls are also pretty darn amazing as long as you have time to make the dough the night before and can wait an hour and a half while they rise once more after being made in the morning.