Slice of Life - What's saving your reading life?

Inspired by Akilah--who was inspired by Elisabeth-- I will share some of the things that get me and keep me reading.

Reading Challenges: One of the big inspirations for what I pick up next is challenges on Storygraph (I"m crystalreading over there - let's be friends). I made the move from Goodreads to Storygraph near the beginning of the year and that's one of the things I love most. I am participating in the Onboarding Challenge that helps get you familiar with the format of the app. I also found the Decolonize Your Bookshelf Challenge hosted by the owner of an Indigenous bookstore called Paperbacks & Frybread. Currently I am also in a Ramadan Readathon and I am about to start reading for the Trans Rights Readathon. Yesterday I started gathering my books (the stack in the image at the top of the page) and today I have started reading. 

Book Clubs: There is an amazingly awesome book club here in town that has mostly people who were teachers or librarians or still are. We meet at the home of a woman who doesn't really eat sweets, but loves to bake so she makes lovely desserts for us every month and there is always enough that we can take some home to our loved ones too. We read YA or Adult fiction and nonfiction. Another one here in town is hosted by the indie bookstore and a local organization that works to fight intolerance and prevent hate. These two groups help diversify my reading and I love chatting about books with them. 

Libby: Here in California libraries in almost all cities allow state residents to get a library card. Some people collect them like Pokemon cards or baseball cards. I strategically collect those that have robust digital collections and add them to my Libby app. It makes it easy to get those books that the library may not have on hand yet or those that have a long waiting list.

Libro.fm: As an educator or librarian (or media reviewer or influencer), there are free audiobook ALC downloads available every month. It's awesome and I usually have one going so if I am caught without a book to read, I at least have something to listen to. I also use them on long drives. 

My students: I'm a teacher librarian in two elementary schools and sometimes my students recommend books or I read books so I can recommend them to my students.

Colby Sharp: Colby is so excited about books. Every time I watch one of his videos, I add books to my TBR. His enthusiasm is incredible and he is great at book talks. He's a fifth grade teacher and I often neglect reading middle grade so he helps me keep up. 

It's Monday! What are you reading?: This group of bloggers also makes me add books to my TBR. They share so many excellent titles every week. 

What keeps you reading? 

 

Slice of Life - Bookish Times

Today was the official first day of Spring Break and as promised, I was busy doing bookish things. 

My first bookish happening was eating toast and drinking a cup or two of tea while reading and finishing A Second Look by Hannah Matus which is a Muslim a Pride and Prejudice retelling. 

The second bookish activity was an actual phone call (don't have those so very often anymore) with a  library co-worker from my previous job back in Wisconsin who works in another library there now. Of course books and library things were part of the conversation.

The third bookish event was a book exchange organized by our local indie bookstore. They offered ARCs and then we could bring up to three books to trade and then we get to go home with ARCs or gently used books. I got a used hardcover book and the ARCs of Legendary Frybread Drive-In and Get Real, Chloe Torres. Yay!

The fourth bookish thing I participated in was an author event for Women's History Month with Nikki Shannon Smith. One of our students interviewed her earlier this month. You can see that video here. 

Would you believe there was a fifth bookish interaction? It's true. I met virtually with a group of folks to chat about Kidlit.

Now I am finishing up my post and will begin reading. Shocker right? Are books a big part of your life? I can't imagine my life without stories and books. 

 

Slice of Life - Spring Break!

It's finally Spring Break for me. I helped close up two book fairs today and am ready to relax. I'll be going to a line-dancing event tonight and have plans for recharging for the week. I'll visit a few libraries, read some books, and catch up on blogging here and over at the young adult blog I contribute to Rich in Color. I hope to be rested and ready to go when we start back on the 31st. Happy weekend everybody and happy Spring Break to all participating. :)

Slice of Life - Taking a Walk Seeing Myself

Tonight I took a walk. I've been thinking about taking a walk after dinner for a lot of days. For a lot of months actually. Five minutes into the walk an owl was calling, "Whoo, whoo, whoo." I stopped to chat with the owl for a bit, but it just kept repeating "Who?" I said it was me and walked on. 

About five minutes later I ran into a colleague who was also out for a stroll. When I said I was walking because I had been too sedentary today she was shocked and expressed that I was a very active person. 

It's funny how other people have an image of us that may not match our own image of ourselves. The people who know me where we currently live, don't know the me I was just a few short years ago. I guess our longer term knowledge of self affects our opinions of ourselves. We have all the other years as comparison and newer friends just accept us as who we are right this minute. 

In some ways it's nice to be in a new place with new people because my reflection looks a little different in the mirror of new friends. 

Slice of Life - Inspired by Frog and Toad

It's book fair week so I have been wearing t-shirts with books on them every day. On Monday, it was And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou, on Tuesday it was an Eric Carle shirt that said Love and had the Hungry Caterpillar crawling on the words. Today I am wearing my Frog and Toad shirt. It had an image of Frog and Toad at a table with a bowl of chocolate chip cookies. The text says, "We must stop eating!" cried Toad as he ate another. That one really works for me. Frog and Toad are so incredibly relatable.

Today on Bluesky, the Frog and Toad Bot account has a great image that unsurprisingly also works for me. I do love a list of things to do. Mostly I love having things on the list so I can cross them off. I have even added something to a list after I have done it just to cross it off. In that spirit of list making, here's a list of things I will do tonight before sleep.

1. Leave comments on other peoples' slices

2. Finish reading Girl Decoded by Rana El Kaliouby 

3. Update the book on StoryGraph

4. Get my breakfast and lunch ready for tomorrow

5. Put on my pajamas

6. Get ready for bed - brush teeth, wash face, etc....

7. Set my alarm

8. Get in bed

9. Fall asleep

Slice of Life - I could be line dancing

I could be line dancing. It's line dancing night, but it is also book fair week and we have only three more school days until spring break. I'm hanging on by a thread.

I could be line dancing, but I feel a little bit like a zombie. Yes, I'm aware that if I was dancing, I would probably become energized, but I just could not get myself out of the house for that.

I could be line dancing, but instead, I will ride my bicycle six blocks to the library and pick up the book on the holdshelf. I will be pleased with myself for moving a bit, but not too much. Then, I will ride home and read until it's time to crawl into bed. 

I will be line dancing next week during break, but for now, it's just going to be me and my book with some soft background music and a cup of tea. 

Slice of Life and It's Monday! What are you reading?

Reading is a huge part of my life every week. I just returned from a book club. We read a nonfiction book called Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men since it's Women's History Month. It was nice to meet with other folks in the community to chat about it. I still feel a little new here after almost two and a half years so it's nice to have ways to meet people beyond my jobs. 

I'm also reading several other books at the moment and it's book fair week at both of my elementary schools so I will be seeing, selling, and sharing books every day. Then it will be spring break and I will have some time to read even more books. I love books. If you don't believe me or want to know more about my reading, check out the books I've been reading lately through my It's Monday post below. 

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly blog hop hosted by Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers which focuses on sharing what we’re reading. 

This Kid Lit version of IMWAYR focuses primarily on books marketed for kids and teens, but books for readers of all ages are shared. We love this community and how it offers opportunities to share and recommend books with each other. The original IMWAYR, with an adult literature focus, was started by Sheila at Book Journeys and is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. 

The Kid Lit IMWAYR was co-created by Kellee & Jen at Teach Mentor Texts. 

I post about my reading here, at the YA blog Rich in Color and as crystalreading at Storygraph. 

The Past Few Weeks: 

Picture Books: Because it is Ramadan, I try to pick up books by Muslim authors when possible. I had somehow missed Ibtihaj Muhammad & S.K. Ali's The Kindest Red which is a follow up to The Proudest Blue. The art for both was by Hatem Aly and it was delightful. 

I also read the hilarious and very clever Mel Fell by Corey R. Tabor along with Cougar Crossing by Meeg Pincus and illustrated by Alexander Vidal. They are both nominees for the California Young Reader Medal. 

Middle Grade: I really enjoyed Ribbon Skirt by Cameron Mukwa which is a graphic novel with a main character who is Two Spirit and is getting ready to wear a ribbon skirt. 

Another book by Muslim authors is Grounded. It's a group effort by S.K. Ali, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, Aisha Saeed, and Huda Al-Marashi. It is a novel that takes place in less than 24 hours in an airport where the planes have been grounded. All of the main characters meet each other following a Muslim convention they have all attended. Each of their individual stories connect and reconnect in interesting ways. 

Young Adult: Four Eids and a Funeral by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Adiba Jaigirdaris is a rom-com told in two perspectives. The main characters are ex-best friends who are forced to work together dealing with a lot including a fire at the local Islamic Center. 

I also read and reviewed Divining the Leaves over at Rich in Color.

Adult: I read two heavy hitting nonfiction books including the one mentioned above Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Pérez and Weathering: The Extraordinary Stress of Ordinary Life in an Unjust Society by Arline T. Geronimus. Both really look at many of the things in place in society that are negatively impacting people especially those with certain identities in disproportionate ways. 

A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza was a novel that follows a Muslim family and how they try to love each other and how that goes awry at times. 

Currently Reading: Girl Decoded by Rana el Kaliouby is a memoir of an Egyptian born woman who has done some pretty cool things in the tech world. I'm also reading a young adult fantasy Fledgling by S.K. Ali as part of a Ramadan Readathon so we're reading about a quarter of the book each week of Ramadan. Safe Harbor by Padma Venkatraman is a middle grade book I am reading for a Bookelicious online book club event this week.

I wish you happy reading!