It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now… who knows, you might discover that next “must read” book!
Our Kid Lit to YA version is hosted by
Teach Mentor Texts and
Unleashing Readers.
GREAT IDEA! Check out all of the What Are You Reading? participants for title ideas.
Papa Is a Poet: A Story About Robert Frost by
Natalie S. Bober
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
From an adult perspective five stars. What a lovely little biography. Beautiful illustrations and a real sense of the Poet as a Papa.
From a kid's perspective ... I'm not as sure. Will have to figure out a way to share this with some and see.
Lucy Maud Montgomery by
Alexandra Wallner
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
My one "girly" love ... Anne books. I hated puffy sleeves as much as she
wanted them. A book to be enjoyed by someone who already had some interest in the author ... not necessarily the "hook" to get them to start!
The Three Ninja Pigs by
Corey Rosen Schwartz
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
Well. That was hilarious. Maybe even a four point five. A must read (and share!).
The Shadow Throne by
Jennifer A. Nielsen
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
A nail-biting conclusion to the trilogy.
One day I will learn and I will re-read the first books when reading the end of a series. Cause it can get confusing ... if it's been a while. There were a couple times when I felt like the transitions between settings or "moments" were not as smooth as in previous books. Of course I also read this one late at night when I should have been asleep so maybe fatigue was the issue.
The main characters were all there. Some nice twists thrown in ... stick with it to the end!
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by
Trenton Lee Stewart
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
Took a little while to get going but this was great fun as an audiobook. The performer narrates well. And, of course, the author wrote a rollicking good story.
The Rome Prophecy: A Thriller by
Sam Christer
My rating:
2 of 5 stars
Finished it but wish I hadn't. Definitely sticking with my favorite "thriller" authors from here on out.
And coming up?
I almost always change my mind and read something different from what I say here, anyway. I'll get ahead on an audiobook, that's for sure, as I'll be driving back and forth between Austin on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Good ... 75 minutes each way, if not longer, depending on the traffic. Right now I have
The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen because it looked funny on the shelf ... but I just saw that it's a book two. I wonder if that will matter?
I also have the new
Ransom Riggs/Miss Peregrine. And a friend recommended
The Clockwork Scarab (Stoker and Holmes? I'M IN). Just not sure how far I'll get. Plus the ones I already had in the currently (but apparently not very fast) reading stack.
So. Monday. The Newbery.
Do I give it another shot? WHAT AM I MISSING? I just really didn't care for as far as I got into it. Kiddos are voting for the state award last week and this week. We never have too many participants. Lots of readers but not "from a list." From my informal polling I'm afraid I had much too much influence on them ... at our school
Ivan will be the winner, with
Wonder a close second and that is not the case from any of the other campuses that have informally shared. I loved Ivan so much (personal connection and all) I talked about him more, I guess. Flora is on our state list next year, too. So far I've not loved several of the books on that list.
Am I grumpy?
How do you ... feign enthusiasm for books that just didn't resonate with you? I TOTALLY get that some books are for some readers and other books are for other readers. Some books are for grown-ups and some books are for kids. Booktalking is something I need to work on ... at least for the books I'm not crazy about. Cause those books MIGHT be the ones the kids need.
Are you going to be at TCEA?