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 shelf. Images via Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

Past Two Weeks:
I am reporting on two full weeks so I will just hit the highlights.

The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz 

This will be published soon and was an ARC I received from the publisher. The Hired Girl is a fabulous young adult book that I will be recommending like crazy to anyone who enjoys historical fiction. My full review is here.

Billy's Booger: A Memoir (sorta) by William Joyce

Billy's Booger had me laughing out loud in the airport bookstore. It is a picture book memoir (sorta) about Billy writing a book back in fourth grade. Whether or not it is strictly fiction or non-fiction is rather beside the point. It will still work well with our fourth grade unit on memoirs. It is hilarious.

Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl's Courage Changed Music
Written by Margarita Engle & Illustrated by Rafael López

The illustrations in this one are gorgeous. The colors are vibrant and energetic. This is a wonderful book that shares a true story of a young girl who loved drums and challenged gender rules to play them.

Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed

Written in the Stars is an amazing book and will share more when I review it on Rich in Color next week.

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Infidel was by far the most controversial book I read in the past weeks. Ayaan Hirsi Ali shares her personal history and the shaping of her beliefs over her lifetime. She was raised in a Muslim family and shares how her beliefs changed over time. The memoir expresses her deep concerns with the rigidity of Islam and the damage women have experienced as a result of some of the teachings. I don't necessarily agree with all that she says, but definitely appreciate her right to say these things and appreciate her courage in the face of threats and opposition. 

Reading Challenge Updates:
Diversity on the Shelf/Diverse Books - 137/100
Goodreads - 320/520
#MustRead2015 - 35/53
Diversity Reading Challenge - 12/12

The Coming Week:
I'm reading the graphic novel March Book 2. I have a few books from my #MustReadin2015 shelf on order from the library so will likely get to them too.  Ms. Marvel is also at the library for me. This will be my last full week before going back to work so I'm hoping to do a lot of reading. I hope you have a great week!