Monday, October 13, 2014

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. Jen Vincent over at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye from Unleashing Readers decided to put a children's and YA spin on it and they invite anyone with an interest to join in. You can participate by creating your post then visit one of their sites to add your site. Finally, visit at least three participant blogs and comment to spread the love.

If you want to know more about what I am reading, visit me at my Goodreads shelfImages via Goodreads unless otherwise noted. 

Last Week: 
Picture Books



When I went to visit the CCBC, I was able to read a pile of picture books which really increased my volume for the week. The ones that made me laugh the most were Shh! We Have a Plan, Sam and Dave Dig a Hole and The Monkey and the Bananas. These three books also had me creating a shelf on Goodreads - irony.

The ones that put tears in my eyes were Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla, The Lion and the Bird, Firebird and Viva Frida.

Young Adult


Someone grabbed Child of Dandelions for me. It was quite interesting because it takes place in Uganda during the presidency of Idi Amin when he was ordering all Indians to leave the country. It is told from a young girl's perspective. She and her family were born in Uganda, but her grandfather had come from India when Britain was still in power. The other young adult book I read was on a much lighter note. I laughed quite a bit and had a great time listening to To All the Boys I've Loved Before. 


I really enjoyed listening to We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball. I learned a lot, but it was also told in such a way that it felt like a conversation. Pablo Remembers is an older title that I reviewed here. It's a nice way to learn about Day of the Dead celebrations. Looks Like Daylight: Voices of Indigenous Kids started out a little slowly, but once I was hearing voices of the youth, I was hooked. This is a fantastic collection of personal narratives that gives readers a way to see the many ways of life that different Native young people experience. Storm Chasers is part of a non-fiction series, but I grabbed it because I know some students who would love to find out more about that job. It has simple text and great photographs.

Adult 


This was on Playaway, so I only read it while doing laundry and things like that so it lost some of its continuity. David Sedaris made me laugh and I thank him for that.

The Coming Week:

I am currently reading Between Sisters and a digital ARC of How it Went Down (from NetGalley). I have also just started a Playaway of Anchee Min's book Pearl of China. I have a set of CDs of City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. I am probably starting Foreign Gods Inc this week also. The rest of my reading will likely be rather random. Have a great week of reading!

16 comments:

  1. Boy! You have read a ton and are giving me some new books to read for my reviewing. Thanks, ~ linda @ Being Woven

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    1. I was truly lucky to be able to visit the CCBC. That's where I read many of the picture books. They are a great resource here in Wisconsin.

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  2. Wow! What a list Some of these PB titles are recent favourites or on my TBR list. I loved Shh! We have a Plan and Ivan of course. Can't wait to read Sam and Dave . . . and Firebird. As always, I am impressed with all of your reading!

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    1. I will want to re-read Sam and Dave. It is a rather open ended book that leaves a lot for the reader to wonder. I grabbed Shh! the minute I saw it since you had spoken highly of it. So glad I did.

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  3. How do you read this many books? Seriously. I need to learn your secret. Even if I stayed in bed all week and just read, I couldn't finish that many! I have had Jenny Han's book on my list for quite some time, so I need to get to it! ;) Thanks for sharing all of these goodies with us!

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    1. I think my family would say I have an addiction. ;) I read in every available moment and always have something with me to read in case there is an extra moment I didn't know I would have.

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  4. Thanks for the new book ideas this week Crystal. I appreciate your posting your Goodreads starts with them.

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    1. I got out of the habit of including the stars. Glad to know it's helpful.

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  5. I'm hoping to get this many books read now that cross country season is over! I always tell people that it's my NINJA SKILLS that make me read so fast! Have you nominated for Cybils? Nominations close on Wednesday, and I'd love to see more nominations. Any shout out or lists of things you'd like to see nominated that you're comfortable with would be great, too!

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    1. Ninja skills! I like that answer. I have nominated some books for Cybils. In some areas I didn't though because somebody already beat me to my favorites. I will go back through and see if there are any more I could nominate or ask someone else to nominate in areas where I had more than one favorite. ;)

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  6. So much goodness in one post! So many books I loved and want to read!

    Happy reading this week! :)

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    1. Btw, Firebird is taunting me! I NEED it, but I have banned myself from requesting library books until I catch up with my pile of 30 PBs... Sigh.

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    2. Firebird is a moving book especially because the author wrote it for the young girls like her that don't see many black ballerinas represented in lit. When she was young she didn't have books like this and wants to make sure other girls have books that encourage their dreams.

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  7. I know some of these, Crystal, & need to get them to read, but the ones I don't know are quite a few too, like When Turtle Grew Feathers-sounds great. Going to that festival must have been wonderful!

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    1. Not quite a festival (a committee meeting really), but I think I behaved as if it was a fest. I squealed a little when they announced that there was a shelf of ARCs that we could take things from and when I saw all the shiny new books that were laid out for us to view. There were treats too. Food and books together - I think we CAN call it a festival.

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  8. Hi there Crystal, wow, you've read so many books. I was particularly intrigued by the picturebook biographies you shared here, especially Firebird and Viva Frida. I hope that we get copies in our library soonest. :)

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