Birthday book shopping, plus a few for me, please

I was able to get some shopping done for my two nieces and five nephews over the last month or so. And today, a morning trip to Powell's yielded two perfect additions to what is already packed away in my gift box in the closet for later distribution. For Maverick, who is turning five this July, It's Hard to be Five by Jamie Lee Curtis. For Naomi, who is turning thirteen in October - Henry shares her birthday, 10 years apart, Savvy by Ingrid Law. (It's a book about a girl who upon turning thirteen expects to receive a supernatural power.) And also, because I am very easily seduced by books, I bought this dinosaur book for Henry to celebrate his 838th day on the planet. He very much really especially loves dinosaurs at the moment. You should hear Darr and I attempting to say their crazy names. It's rather pathetic. (But, seriously? How do you say "Euoplocephalus"? U-oh-plo-ceph-ah-lus?)

Not to be left out, and to hopefully facilitate further reading on my part (16 to goal!), I picked up a few for myself - the agreed upon four Darr and I discussed in the car - including José Saramago's Seeing (already started, it's captivating - also it was on sale for $6.98!), William Faulkner's The Unvanquished ($5.98), Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God ($6.98), and Alice Hoffman's The Probable Future ($5.95). Of course, there are already a bevy of books in the condo that I have yet to consume. Those on the current must-try-and-finally-get-around-to-reading-these list include Bel Canto, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Galileo's Daughter, Death with Interruptions, The Storyteller's Daughter, Fingersmith, Coastliners, Mrs. Kimble, Salt, The Cave, Unraveling, The Know-It-All, and Independence Day - to name a few.