#MustReadin2015

Carrie Gelson hosted this fun challenge. At the beginning of the year we made lists of the books we were determined to read in 2015. This was an attempt to chip away at our enormous To Be Read piles. You may see the 53 books I targeted if you click here. 

I was able to read almost all of them. One of them I ended up skimming. Invent to Learn was a professional book and while it was interesting, it was not riveting. Three of them were difficult to acquire. It's December 30 as I am typing this and they still haven't come via Inter-library Loan. I will probably bump them to my 2016 list because I still want to read them. 

These are the three that have been difficult to get:

The other 49 books were read and mostly enjoyed. Here are the ones that I rated five stars:

I really adored Circus Mirandus and Purple Hibiscus. Because I am doing a Mock Pura Belpré activity with some of my students, The Storyteller's Candle was another that I loved. It was nice to learn more about Pura Belpré and how she made a difference in her community. I've always been drawn to memoirs and biographies. Alma Flor Ada's Under the Royal Palms is a wonderful collection of her childhood memories and I appreciated getting to know her family. 

 

 

Many more fell into the four star category and these are also stories that will stay with me. I am glad that I finally sought out these books. Many of them were on the Pura Belpré list. I wanted to have read all of the books on the list before starting our Mock Pura Belpré activity. I thought it would help me figure out what sort of books would be most likely to win this year. Also, it is the 20th anniversary of the award so it seemed to be the perfect time to read them all.

Here are the other books from my list:

 

I've already started to compile my list for 2016 and am excited to add titles to it. I wish you an excellent year of reading.

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge

Alyson Beecher over at Kid Lit Frenzy hosts a Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge and has a roundup every Wednesday. I love the encouragement to explore more non-fiction. I am thankful that she has this challenge because I know I have read more nonfiction texts as a result.

The last time I posted for this challenge was way back in November. I slowed down on reading nonfiction picture books, but mostly, I slowed down on blogging. :(

I'm still glad to have been part of this challenge. It makes me seek out more non-fiction and I love seeing the titles that others post. Here are some of my favorite nonfiction picture books that were published in 2015.

In Mary's Garden

Text - Tina Kugler, Illustrations - Carson Kugler

Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear

Text - Lindsay Mattick, Illustrations - Sophie Blackall

Swan: The Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova

Text - Laurel Snyder, Illustrations - Julie Morstad

28 Days: Moments in Black History That Changed the World

Text - Charles R. Smith Jr., Illustrations - Shane Evans

I'm Trying to Love Spiders

Text & Illustration - Bethany Barton

Miss Dorothy and Her Bookmobile

Text - Gloria Houston, Illustrations - Susan Condie Lamb

Trombone Shorty

Text - Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews

Illustrations - Bryan Collier

The Blue Whale

Text & Illustration by Jenni Desmond

The House that Jane Built

Text - Tanya Lee Stone, Illustrations - Kathryn Brown

Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah

Text - Laurie Ann Thompson, Illustration Sean Qualls

Growing Up Pedro

Text & Illustrations - Matt Tavares

Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras

Text & Illustrations - Duncan Tonatiuh

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.

Last Week on the Blogs:

Celebrating Unscheduled Time

My One Word - SMILE

Last Week with Books: 

It is winter break so I've been able to read a lot more books (and longer ones) than normal. Since there are so many, I am not going to give a review for all of them. Airborn by Kenneth Oppell was definitely my favorite of the bunch. I really loved this amazing adventure. Princeless by Jeremy Whitley & M. Goodwin (illustrator) was a lot of fun and so was Millicent Min Girl Genius by Lisa Yee. Another lighthearted book was Reposessed. I appreciated this one because humor is not terribly common in the Printz Award and Honor books. Postcards from No Man's Land was interesting, but maybe more so because I visited Amsterdam this summer for the first time and much of the book happens in the Netherlands.

If I have counted correctly, there are 77 Printz Award and Honor books. I realized that I was getting rather close to finishing them so I checked out quite a few in preparation for winter break. I have enjoyed many of them, but have also found some of them to be bizarre or seriously dark. I now have six more to finish. It would be great to finish them over break, but if not, it would be good to at least finish them before the new ones are announced.

The Coming Week: 

I just started Kingdom of Little Wounds. I may get to the other five Printz books too as long as the library holds show up in the next few days. I am also aiming to read a few ARCs - Stacey Lee's book Outrun the Moon, and Meg Medina's Burn Baby Burn. I wish you happy reading!

Reading Challenge Updates:
Diversity on the Shelf/Diverse Books - 232/100
Goodreads - 615/520
#MustRead2015 - 49/53
Diversity Reading Challenge - 12/12
Pura Belpré Challenge -86/86 (53 were read prior to this year)
Printz Challenge 71/77 (51 were read prior to this year)
Around the World with Books Map

My One Word - Smile

In 2015, "Breathe" was my One Word for the year. At school we were going through a major building renovation and I knew there would be many stressful moments so I wanted to focus on my breathing. I started doing yoga again and a friend gave me the bracelet you see in the photo above. Recently I was wearing it at school and a student asked me what it was. I gave her a pretty honest answer. I told her my bracelet was there reminding me to take a nice deep breath before speaking so I wouldn't say something I would regret later. I think my word did help me this yea, but on some occasions, I was still not my best self. 

I will need to keep my breathing in mind this year too, but as I think about a new word for 2016, a slightly light-hearted word keeps bouncing around in my head - Smile. I've been listening to the soundtrack to Hamilton. In the song "Arron Burr, Sir" a line is "...talk less, smile more." I don't necessarily believe the idea he is proposing - that one should listen, smile and not allow people to know what your opinions are. I do think though, that smiling more would be a good thing for me and the people around me.

(the line is at near the 1:00 min mark)

Here are a few great songs about smiles:

I found a great TedTalk by Ron Gutman called "The Hidden Power of Smiling" and he convinced me that this would be a great word to adopt for the year. 

I would like to practice smiling more despite how I am feeling. I want to share a smile with others. I also want to think about those things that make me smile and work to do them more often.

"Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love." Mother Teresa

Celebrate

Ruth Ayres has a link-up on weekends where people link to posts that are celebrations about their week. I love this reminder to celebrate every week.

I am celebrating unscheduled time. Having time that is open and available for whatever I choose to do makes my heart happy. I may choose to be with my family, read, write, walk the dog, knit, make scones, surf the Internet, or do anything that doesn't cost money (since I have already spent quite enough this month). The freedom to just be rather than run from one thing to another is a marvelous gift and I am loving this breathing space.

I wish you a wonderful ending to the year.

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.

Last Week on the Blogs:

Celebrating Good Health and Tidying

 Hiatus and Book Giveaway

Reading Last Week:

 

Picture Books 

Boats for Papa by Jessixa Bagley stands out from the rest. The cover didn't really draw me in (maybe because I'm not an animals as people fan), but the story and the art inside won my heart.  By Mouse & Frog by Deborah Freedman was cute, but it was a little longer than I needed it to be somehow. The Tea Party in the Woods by Akiko Miyakoshi was dreamy. I loved stepping into this world. There were echoes of Mr. Tumnus bouncing in my head while I read. Let's Get a Pup! Said Kate and How the Sun Got to Coco's House by Bob Graham were nice warm family books. I'm still really happy that Graham presents a family with parents who have tattoos and multiple piercings.

I've also been re-reading lots of picture books for our Mock Caldecott and Mock Pura Belpré. I've read Drum Dream Girl to almost every class now and played the drums too. I think this is the first time I've ever played bongos. It's been a lot of fun.

Middle Grade
Hurt Go Happy by Ginny Rorby was a much more complicated book that I had anticipated. I listened to it on audio. Joey is deaf and her mother doesn't want her to learn sign language and that was extremely frustrating as Joey is trying to become independent. There was a whole other component of animal rights though that had more frustrating situations. I liked the book well enough, but found some of it very difficult to hear and some of it a little unbelievable.

I am Malala was also one I listened to on audio. I had started a version of this book for older readers and was actually bored. This version was nicer because it didn't include as much dry history at the beginning. Malala is a fascinating person and I appreciated hearing her story.

Young Adult
All American Boys was my favorite YA of the week. Jason Reynolds is an awesome writer and I was looking forward to this one. He and Brendan Kiely did a fantastic job here. The book deals with an instance of police brutality involving a black teenage boy and how it affects those involved and beyond.

Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger is one I read in my attempt to read all of the Printz awards. I enjoyed it in the beginning and because it was a pretty quick read for a Printz, but I liked it less as it progressed. The relationship mess felt too contrived. I have only 18 more award/honor books to go though. Yay!

Growing Up Filipino: Stories for Young Adults edited by Cecilia Manguerra Brainardis a nice collection of stories. Most of them felt like they were written for adults though - possibly college age, but not teens so much. The cover art and even the introduction really seemed like a book written to be a college text. As with many short story collections, there were several that were amazing, but it was quite a mix. There was a glossary so even readers unfamiliar with Tagalog could look things up if necessary, but I found that most words were understandable through context anyway. I appreciated this look into Filipino culture.

Adult
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo was not necessarily the best written book I've read, but it was extremely helpful. The first section is mostly an argument of how effective the process is and why you may want to do it. I found much of this repetitive, but the actual instructions and motivation she provided later got things done in my house. I spent time tidying on Friday and popped out of bed on Saturday eager to get at it again.


I picked up In the Name of Sorrow and Hope by Noa Ben Artzi-Pelossof because recently I read A Bottle in the Gaza Sea by Valérie Zenatti and it seemed that this book may shed more light on Palestinian/Israeli issues. This memoir focuses mainly on the life and assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, the author's grandfather. Now even more than before, I would like to see more from the Palestinian perspective.

The Coming Week: 
We have two days of school this week and then it's winter break so I am anticipating lots of time for reading. I have several ARCs that I have been holding onto for vacation: Hour of Bees by Lindsay Eager, Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee, and Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina are in my stack. Other than that, I am also hoping some ILLs come in because I have three more books to read for #MustReadin2015: Canary by Rachele Alpine, Control by Lydia Kang, and Boarding School Blues by Clifford E. Trafzer. I wish you all a great week of reading.

Celebrate!

Ruth Ayres has a link-up on weekends where people link to posts that are celebrations about their week. I love this reminder to celebrate every week.

I am celebrating good health. Two doctor visits and numerous medications later, I am finally feeling better. Yay! Three weeks really isn't that long in the great big scheme of things, but it seemed way too long to be coughing and feeling yucky.

I'm also celebrating tidying. I read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo and was inspired to begin a tidying project. So far I have dealt with my clothing, books and a few miscellaneous items I bumped into along the way (like two sets of dishes we never use). This involved filling the garbage bin to the top and donating many boxes and bags of clothing and books. We also finally said goodbye to the ping-pong table that had been folded up in the garage. My husband posted a picture of it on Facebook to a local buy/sell/donate page and it was gone in less than thirty minutes to a young family who were thrilled to take it off of our hands.

During winter break I'm going to dive into our piles of paperwork. The filing cabinet and desk are staring at me right now trying to intimidate me, but I will tackle them soon. This little whirlwind of tidying truly changed things up in our home. My husband even got involved and went through his books too. Now we're plotting and planning to rearrange our home office since there is more space and improved organization. It's rather exciting. I will get to have a table in there for writing and crafting. I look forward to seeing the changes. What we've done already makes me feel better. I keep opening and closing my drawers because they look so amazing. My heart is happier even if my back is complaining a bit.

I hope you have lots of things to celebrate in the coming week!

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.

Last Week on the Blogs:

At Rich in Color

Nine of my favorite Young Adult books from 2015

Last Week in Books: 

I have an out of town guest and I read many books, so I will just post one favorite YA read this week and one favorite book from children's lit. Again, see my Goodreads shelf for a complete list.

An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes #1) by Sabaa Tahiris a fantastic fantasy that I tore through on audio.

In Mary's Garden by Tina and  Carson Kugler was fascinating. I loved learning about Mary and her unique sculptures and her way of seeing. It's also great that she lived in Wisconsin. 

Next Week:

These are the books I'm currently reading and I just downloaded the audio of Hurt Go Happy. I'm not sure what else I will get to. I hope you have a great week of reading.

 

Celebrate!

Ruth Ayres has a link-up on weekends where people link to posts that are celebrations about their week. I love this reminder to celebrate every week.

 

Today I'm celebrating family and visiting. My mother-in-law was able to come for a visit. While she was here we took a day trip to see my son who is away at college. The weather was perfectly foggy and wintery without being too cold. We were able to go on a lovely walk along a lake and spend time talking together. The day was peaceful and a delightful end to the week.

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.

Last Week on the Blogs:

Celebrating Anyway

Anxiously Awaiting

at Rich in Color

(2016 Books I want to read)

Reading Last Week: 

 

I read a lot this week, but there were definitely some standouts for me. The two that had me laughing were Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins and I Really Like Slop by Mo Willems. 

In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse by Joseph Marshall/ illustrated by James Mark Yellowhawk was a quick, but excellent book about the life of Crazy Horse through a modern day grandfather-grandson road trip. Hiawatha and the Peacemaker by Robbie Robertson was another great look into Native history. 

Gone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams Garcia was a satisfying conclusion to the Gaither Sisters series.

A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnely was a great historical fiction/mystery. 

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki (adult fiction) was relatively mind-blowing. There are layers and layers to this book. I really adored the first part of the book. The later part I didn't enjoy as much, but overall, it was still an amazing experience. It's very unique.

The Coming Week: I'm listening to An Ember in the Ashes and may continue that into next week since it's lengthy. I'm also in the middle of a collection of Filipino short stories. Other than that, I will try to read a few more Printz books. Happy reading!