Sunday, July 30, 2017

It's Monday! What are you reading?


It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's 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...you just might discover your next “must-read” book!

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

If you want to know more about what I've been reading, visit my Goodreads shelf.

Last Week on Blogs:
I've been busy. Really busy. Astoundingly busy. Family, ALA, NerdcampMI, travel, and more have been filling my days - more about that here. So, blogging hasn't really been happening with any consistency for the past month. Here are a few posts I managed to publish:


by Kelly DiPucchio illustrated by Stephanie Graegin

 by Melissa Stewart illustrated by Steve Jenkins
by Juan J. Guerra

Review: Miles Morales by Jason Reynolds


This Week in Books:

  
These are three books that were on display at the Earth Partnership Institute I attended last week. Gathering Moss is a great look at moss. For real. I didn't know there was so much to learn from moss. It's some pretty dense science along with memoir type reflections. Plant a Pocket of Prairie is a look at what is in a Minnesota prairie which would work well for any planting we might do of indigenous plants here in WI. On Meadowview Street is another lovely picture book encouraging children to be involved in ecological restoration.
I finished listening to The Reader on my way to and from my training. I enjoyed it as an audiobook, but I'm not sure if I would have liked it as well otherwise. I found it had some slow parts where I may have given up were I not trapped in a car. It was generally a fun fantasy focused on a secret magic book that people are willing to die for and kill for.
 

Be the Change is a great reminder of how we can affect those around us in a positive or negative way. Bronze and Sunflower (middle grade chapter book) is a beautiful story of family love. Wolves cracked me up. It's one with a surprise ending. Maybe not for your young and tenderhearted readers. Shark Lady is another awesome book by Jess Keating. It's great to learn about the woman who learned so much about sharks, but it's also fun to learn interesting facts about sharks. Strong is the New Pretty is a nice photo essay featuring strong girls doing what they do best. One Shadow on the Wall (MG chapter book) is a fantastic story of resilience and family love.

We Gon' Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation was an interesting look at how our country seems to be becoming more and more segregated over time. There was a lot to think about here. Chang does have hope for change so it is a tough read, but still leaves you believing things won't always be this way. This was one of my #MustReadin2017 books.

The Coming Week:
I started reading the middle grade novel Stef Soto, Taco Queen and am loving it. I have another book checked out from my #MustReadin2017 shelf so will try to get to that. Otherwise, I have a huge summer pile from the library and I'm not sure which ones will come next. Have a great week filled with wonderful books!

Reading Challenge Updates:
Goodreads Challenge 2017 - 356/550
Diversity on the Shelf 2017 - 162/225 (goal = 50% of my books by and/or about POC)
#OwnVoices Challenge - 97/125
#MustReadin2017 - 20/24

5 comments:

  1. It's interesting how different reading formats can really change how we experience a book - I've found books really engaging in audio that didn't work for me at all in print, and vice versa.

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  2. I've purchased "Strong Is The New Pretty" for the grand girls, for when they're a bit older, and have an arc of Bronze and Sunflower, need to read it! Thanks for sharing so much, Crystal, have noted others too. You really are busy!

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  3. We Gon' Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation is on my 2017 list, too - but I haven't been able to get to it yet. Glad to see books on this topic out there to make us think...and change!

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  4. I'm so sad we didn't get to see each other at ALA but it was a whirlwind for both of us.
    I loved your Miles Morales review. I have it to read--cannot wait! And I just got Manny and Trent & I look forward to reading it. And we definitely loved Aardvark!

    Happy reading this week :)

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  5. So many books on your list are on my TBR - Miles, One Shadow, and The Reader! Summer reading is winding down, not sure when I'll get all of these books in!

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