I’ve always been a fan of public libraries, but this summer -- save when we were on vacation -- I took the girls every single week, and it was awesome, both for them and for me! During the summer I queried on Facebook, asking for books that were “stay up late by flashlight reading” awesome. Here are 55 resulting picks! I’ve smartened up since my 80 and 100 booklist posts, and below list the titlesalphabetically by author so it’s easy to zip through the stacks. And of course Amazon links are provided below if you’d prefer to load up your cart!

Today, Lindsey shares a trio of reference books that kids and adults alike will love:

As my kids get older, I'm finding it harder and harder to buy birthday presents for their friends. Tween girls? That's hard. 4th grade boys? Also hard. But thankfully, these three books are a total slam dunk. My son (10) refers to and looks at all three on a regular basis. I've given them -- individually or together, depending on the birthday giftee -- more times than I can possibly count. I've personally read all three, and they are terrific.

Every now and then I get into a horrible book rut. I’ll start several books and none of them grab me. I’ve now learned that all I need to do to get out of said book rut is pick up a title by Katherine Center. I was delighted to receive an advanced reading copy of Happiness for Beginners, and like Center’s other titles, I was immediately sucked in, admittedly to the point of shooing away my kids and reading by flashlight as I devoured the closing chapters.