Judy's Picks

Based on my years as an English teacher, I particularly like to recommend books for middle readers and young adults. My staff picks include books my grandkids enjoy as well as a couple of my favorites. I work almost every Saturday morning; come see me for specific recomendations. Here are some of my favorites for younger readers.

New Baby:  On the Day You Were Born, along with some favorite board books: Pat the Bunny, Goodnight Moon, Good Dog Carl, The Very Hungry Caterpillar

For young children who love animals: Sweat Pea & Friends: The Sheepover. A beautifully illustrated and touching story.

For good options for early readers, check out our table full of inexpensive paperbacks at Levels 1,2,3 reading levels!!! Early Chapter Books Series: Magic Treehouse , Hank the Cowdog, Junie B. Jones, Encyclopedia Brown, Flat Stanley, and Matt Christopher’s sports books

For older children: The Lonely Planet Travel Book. Big assist with homework and an informative coffee table book for the family.

For Thinking Adults and Teens with senses of humor: An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments by Ali Almossawi. Especially helpful with evaluating this campaign season's rhetoric.

Oldies but Goodies (And not all that old...): Mink River by Brian Doyle, The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer

More recent:

Portlandness. An extremely informative view of unique maps of Portland compiled by two PSU professors.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. The best book I've read in a long, long time.

The Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig. His last book before his death last year. A granfather and grandson on an adventure, on a Greyhound bus. Very entertaining.