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 the Blog:

Celebrating Korean Dramas

Last Week in Books:

This week I encountered a lot of death in my reading. All four YA/Adult novels dealt with death and a few of the picture books did too. I really enjoyed They Both Die at the End as I expected. Adam Silvera has written some very intriguing and unique novels that always surprise me and make me cry. Long Way Down was amazing - also as expected. Jason Reynolds has a wonderful way with words. I'm excited to be going to see him speak later this week! It's a novel in verse about a young man's reaction to the shooting death of his brother. The Day Tajon Got Shot was written in a workshop by ten young women. It is about a police officer shooting a black teen boy and is told from many perspectives. Station Eleven was a dystopian novel and it was pretty fascinating thinking about how a deadly pandemic could change our world in a short amount of time.

Stay and Big Cat, Little Cat were about the death of pets and both were sweet, but allow for discussion about how we see our animals age.

Of the other picture books, I most enjoyed One Proud Penny, Take Your Time, and All the Way to Havana. 

Karma Khullar's Mustache was a wonderful middle grade dealing with friendship, family, and body image.

The Coming Week: Today I started reading How Dare the Sun Rise. I also need to re-read The Hate U Give, Ghost and Aristotle and Dante for the adult Battle of the Books team I am on next month. I will start working on those. I still have quite a few others checked out, but I'm not sure what I'll grab next.

Reading Challenge Updates:

Goodreads Challenge 2017 - 590/550

Diversity on the Shelf 2017 - 212/225 (goal = 50% of my books by and/or about POC)

LGBTQIA Challenge - 18/30

#OwnVoices Challenge - 122/125

#MustReadin2017 - 21/24

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge - 93/100

Celebrating Korean Dramas

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.

This week I'm celebrating Korean dramas.

Earlier this year I read the fabulous and funny book, I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maureen Goo. The main character decides to get a boyfriend, but she uses kdramas to plan it all out. She researches relationships by watching hours and hours of kdramas to come up with a strategy. I have several friends who watch Korean dramas and was finally curious enough to give them a try. There's a list of shows at the end of the book to pick from. My first choice was You're Beautiful. It was ridiculous, hilarious and super fun even though it actually made me cry a couple of times. I hadn't laughed so much in a long, long time. My youngest child had watched a few dramas back in middle school and recommended another one called Heartstrings, because it has two of the actors from my first kdrama and it involves music. I enjoyed it too, but not quite as much as the first. I will probably never forget You're Beautiful because it was the first one I experienced. 

On Twitter I thanked Maurene Goo for inspiring me to watch a few dramas and she shared some that she has enjoyed. The next drama I watched was Strong Woman Do Bong Soon because it was one she liked. The first two had been romantic comedies, but Strong Woman ventured into mystery/thriller along with romance. It was also fabulously hilarious aside from some not so funny jokes about being gay. I loved Do Bong Soon. She was a fun superhero and wanted to be a video game designer. It was cool that she was unimpressed by her very wealthy boss who fell hard for her.

Next, I started to listen to the soundtracks to these shows. I had one of the songs playing at school and a couple of students recognized it as Korean music. We chatted about K-dramas and they recommended Boys Over Flowers so that's what I watched next. It was incredibly frustrating at times because I didn't like the pairing at least not for a very long time. There were other reasons it was annoying, but I was determined to stick it out and it was still quite funny. That's my favorite part about these shows. They make me laugh over and over again even though they make me cry too. 

Most recently, my husband asked to join me in this venture. I picked Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (Goblin), because Maureen Goo had also mentioned that one and it looked a little more grown up than the previous ones. It's my favorite so far. 

I rarely watch television, but these shows are allowing for some laughter in my life and with our current political climate, that is very welcome. 

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 the Blog:

Celebrate!

Review: You Bring the Distant Near
by Mitali Perkins

Last Week in Books:

Passionate Readers is fabulous and all teachers should read it. It really gets at what we need to be focusing on with our students if we really want to produce readers. Pernille Ripp also asks questions that can help us reflect on what we are doing in our classrooms and why.

All's Faire in Middle School was a fun middle grade graphic novel by the author of Roller Girl. I loved having a book set in a Renaissance Faire. 

The stand out picture book of the week was Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos. I enjoyed learning more about Frida Kahlo from this fun perspective.

Jasmine Toguchi, Mochi Queen was a fun early chapter book that revolved around food and family. Now I want to try making mochi.

I am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter was compelling. Families are so complicated and with grief added into the picture, Julia has a hard time with her parental relationships.

I enjoyed Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy. I have only read Lumberjanes so the other characters were new to me, but it was still fun. They are always filled with plenty of action and interesting interactions.

The Coming Week: I'm still listening to They Both Die at the End, but will probably finish up this week. I have quite a stack waiting for me, but I'm not sure which one to grab next.

Reading Challenge Updates:

Goodreads Challenge 2017 - 576/550

Diversity on the Shelf 2017 - 207/225 (goal = 50% of my books by and/or about POC)

LGBTQIA Challenge - 17/30

#OwnVoices Challenge - 116/125

#MustReadin2017 - 21/24

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge - 91/100

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.

The view from my computer. Yay! It's autumn.

 Celebrating Connections

 

We had our final day of Lego League. It was nice that the students had the chance to share their learning and creations with each other and their families. This week we also had conferences at school. It was a great time for chatting with families and students. Because we hosted a book fair, there were many students and families coming through the library. It makes for long days, but the conversations are worth the time.

I also got to chat (texting) with two of our former exchange students this week. It's great to see what they are doing now. They make me smile. I'm thankful for apps that make it possible to talk to people around the world so easily. Now if we could make a way to zip between here and there in moments, that would be beyond awesome.

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 the Blog:

Celebrate!

Review: Broken Circle

Rich in Color Group Discussion

Last Week in Books:

Creepy Pair of Underwear is a hilarious sequel to Creepy Carrots. My students and I just had to laugh. The illustrations are fantastic. The World is Not a Rectangle is a great picture book biography of architect Zaha Hadid. I love her designs and it's great to have a book sharing her work. 

The Handmaid's Tale is well written and was highly unsettling. It would be disturbing anytime, but in the current climate, it's exceedingly troubling.

The Coming Week: I'm currently listening to They Both Die at the End and it's keeping me enthralled as expected. I'm also reading Pernille Ripp's Passionate Readers. It's inspiring and instructive. 

Reading Challenge Updates:

Goodreads Challenge 2017 - 566/550

Diversity on the Shelf 2017 - 202/225 (goal = 50% of my books by and/or about POC)

LGBTQIA Challenge - 17/30

#OwnVoices Challenge - 112/125

#MustReadin2017 - 21/24

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge - 91/100

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.

This weekend was full of nature and connections. Hmong New Year is a great community event I usually try to attend. It was a little cold and wet this year (50s and intermittent rain), but I saw many students, ate wonderful food, bought some items to add to our Hmong culture kit in the library and had some great conversations with parents of my students and other community members. I also got to talk to an artist and watch him make prints. The first day, I drove, but the second day, I rode my bicycle the six miles each way on a path through wetlands. It was gorgeous. 

I also participated in a night run with some teachers and girls from our school running club. The run benefits the Boys & Girls Club and honors the husband of one of our teachers who loved the club and was a runner. It's a great run because it goes through a park and wetlands with torches along the water. It's beautiful even in the rain. Yes, it was in the upper 40s or maybe 50 while we rain in the rain. That made it even more of an interesting experience for the girls. Most of them had never run that far before so now they have a great story about their first run. Also, they know they can do most anything if they can run and withstand the cold and rain too.

I'm glad we were still able to have fun in spite of the iffy weather.

Review: Broken Circle

Title: Broken Circle
Authors: J.L. Powers & M.A. Powers
Publisher: Akashic Books
Genre: Paranormal
Pages: 318
Availability: On shelves now
Review copy: Supplied by Publisher

Summary: Adam wants nothing more than to be a “normal” teen, but his reality is quickly leaking normal. Afraid to sleep because of the monster that stalks his dreams, Adam’s breakdown at school in front of his crush Sarah lands him in the hospital.

As he struggles to cope with his day-to-day life, Adam can only vaguely comprehend some sort of future. His mother died when he was only four and his eccentric father—who might be an assassin, a voodoo god, the reincarnation of the Buddha, or something even stranger—is never available when Adam really needs him. Even his paranoid grandfather, who insists that people are “out to kill the entire family,” is no help.

Adam’s life takes an even weirder turn when a fat man with a gold tooth and a medallion confronts his father regarding Adam’s supposed “True Destiny.” Adam is soon headed toward a collision with life, death, and the entities charged with shepherding souls of the newly dead, all competing to control lucrative territories where some nightmares are real and psychopomps of ancient legends walk the streets of North America.

Review: Early in the book, Adam wonders, "Where do you find courage when Fear is calling the shots?" Fear and anxiety was something I could relate to even if I couldn't relate to the psychopomps and demonic monsters. I don't read a lot of paranormal or creepy books so this was a bit out of my comfort zone. The fact that it was still basically about a teen trying to figure out who he is while he tries to conquer his fears kept me reading. It's not a comedy, but there are also many bits of humor so it didn't get bogged down with the death business. And this book definitely deals with death.

A quirky thing about this book is the inclusion of a backstory through brief chapters tucked in between the main action. This history is delivered through conversations and they are amusing. They often sound like a paperback romance and not necessarily a fabulous one. At first I was mildly annoyed by these chapters, but by the end I didn't mind and even laughed a bit once I accepted them for the comic relief they were.

The creepy parts were pretty great even for someone like me. It was intense enough to make me want to read as fast as I could, but never got bad enough to induce nightmares. The monsters are intimidating and impressive, but the whole world is divorced from reality so it was just the right amount of scary for me.

This is part of a series and I hope that some of the secondary characters get a little more development. They were fairly simply described and were mostly identifiable by cultural cues. I was wanting more depth. With subsequent books perhaps that will happen.

Recommendation: If paranormal is your thing, you might want to give this one a try.

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 the Blog:

Celebrate

Last Week in Books:

 

Warcross and Refugee were both books I could not put down. I lost sleep because of both. I stayed up way too late for them. Excellent storytelling.

After the Fall is quite a unique perspective on Humpty Dumpty. To get the backstory, check out the podcast with Matthew Winner and Dan Santat. This story comes from a very personal place.

I am up past my bedtime so I will just say you shouldn't miss I am Peace, When's My Birthday and if you enjoyed Leonardo the Terrible Monster, do grab Sam the Most Scaredy-cat Kid in the Whole World.

The Coming Week: I'm in the middle of The Handmaid's Tale for book club. I also started listening to They Both Die at the End. I also started reading Passionate Readers by Pernille Ripp. It should be a great week of reading.

Reading Challenge Updates:

Goodreads Challenge 2017 - 561/550

Diversity on the Shelf 2017 - 202/225 (goal = 50% of my books by and/or about POC)

LGBTQIA Challenge - 17/30

#OwnVoices Challenge - 112/125

#MustReadin2017 - 21/24

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge - 89/100

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.

This week I'm celebrating my dog once again. On Monday, Schatzie seemed a little lethargic, but I figured he was just feeling a little off. On Tuesday though, he still wasn't his usual self. By evening, I  was getting concerned because he wasn't moving around much. I carried him to his food and water. He was very happy to have a drink, but was completely uninterested in food. He seemed a little warm and I figured we needed to see the vet. We slept together on the couch that night and he went to the vet in the morning. They ran lots of tests and found that while they weren't sure why, he was carrying a high fever. He has had antibiotics and pain relievers and is pretty much back to normal. We had a wonderful long walk today in the sun with fall leaves scattering around us in the breeze. I'm very glad his tests didn't show anything serious and his illness seems to be just a blip in his life. It reminded us that we don't know how long we have our pets though. I'm celebrating that we have Schatzie with us today.

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 the Blog:

Banned Books Week

Celebrate

Last Week in Books:

You Bring the Distant Near is a fabulous story of family, love, and identity. I loved the getting to know the characters and it was cool to read a story spanning multiple generations.

The picture books were mostly great. I really enjoyed Red Again. Manjhi Moves a Mountain is quite a book. It shares the story of Dashrath Manjhi who spent twenty years clearing a path through a mountain to connect his community to a larger place with essential services to improve their lives. His story is pretty amazing.

The Coming Week: I'm in the middle of Warcross by Marie Lu and am loving it. I will likely finish it in less than 24 hrs. After that, I'm not sure what I will grab. Have a great week.

Reading Challenge Updates:

Goodreads Challenge 2017 - 549/550

Diversity on the Shelf 2017 - 200/225 (goal = 50% of my books by and/or about POC)

LGBTQIA Challenge - 17/30

#OwnVoices Challenge - 112/125

#MustReadin2017 - 21/24

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge - 89/100