Reading Through Life: November 2020

Monday, November 30, 2020

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 go to my Goodreads account, you can see what I have read recently & click on the books to learn more.

Last Week in Books:

For relaxation over break, I read quite a few romances. The Worst Best Man was my favorite of the bunch with The Happy Ever After Playlist a close second. I almost didn't keep reading 99 Percent Mine. It was okay, but had issues.

I read two YA books. The Suprising Power of a Good Dumpling dealt with mental health issues and was more serious than I expected. I enjoyed it as a family story with a bit of romance. It was one of K-pop Confidential was a good look into the world of K-pop much like in Shine by Jessica Jung. The storylines are different and are both worth reading, but this just also points out some of the high pressure of the training for K-pop personalities.

I also finished the adult nonfiction collection Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine and the Foundations of a Movement by Angela Davis. This is a collection of speeches that she has delivered over the years. It is truly interesting to see the many connections between these movements and causes that are truly all working toward full freedom.

The Coming Week:

I'm listening to The Fountains of Silence and just started reading The Thirty Names of Night. I have a few other audio books on deck, but am not sure what else I will get to this week. I wish you excellent reading!

Reading Challenge Updates:

Goodreads Challenge 2019 - 553/500

Diversity on the Shelf 2020 - 323/250
Chapter Books 2020 - 211/200

#MustReadin2020 - 28/36
#YARC2020 - 69/55
Muslimshelfspace - 26/30

Sunday, November 22, 2020

It's Monday! What are you reading?

Last Week in Books:

This weekend I noticed that I have now read 56 romances this year. That's double the amount I read last year and I still have a month to go. This is definitely a sign of stress since those are my escapist reads. I read another two adult romances this weekend. Loathe at First Sight had humorous moments in spite of the serious amounts of misogyny and hatred shown to the main character as she begins her career in the gaming industry. It was a rather tame romance compared to Get a Life Chloe Brown. Chloe also experiences quite a bit of humor, but has a much more steamy relationship. I enjoyed both, but Chloe was my favorite of the two for the story yes, but also because I haven't read many romances that feature a main character with a disability. I can't promise that it is done perfectly since I don't live that experience, but it was good to see.

Two of the YA graphic novels were phenomenal. Displacement is a look at the Japanese internment experience of the main character's grandmother. She is whisked back in time and she sees what her family had to go through. It also deals with how trauma can affect future generations. The Magic Fish is also an immigrant story with another unique story framework. Tiến and his mother share folktales that mirror events and emotions from their own lives. Tattercoats is one of my favorite fairytales and it is featured here as you see on the cover with the patch on his jacket. Several other tales are woven throughout and the illustrations are magnificent. Snotgirl was gorgeous, but the storyline wasn't exactly my cup of tea. It was a feast for my eyes though.

Lupe Wong Won't Dance is a great middle grade novel. Lupe vehemently opposes participating in the square dance unit in her PE classes. She needs an A though to earn a reward her uncle has promised. It's painful watching the lengths she will go to trying to get rid of the unit. There is humor and a great friendship story here along with a little baseball.

The two picture books were nice. What Sound is Morning? is poetic and Waiting Together is sweet, but I'm not sure I will remember then two weeks from now if I'm being honest. That may be more of a commentary about my lack of concentration than the quality of the books though. Who knows?

The Coming Week:

I've made some progress with the Angela Davis book I'm reading. The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling and K-Pop Confidential are up next. I will likely get a few new books to support an indie bookstore this week. I wish you a lovely week of reading.

Reading Challenge Updates:

Goodreads Challenge 2019 - 546/500

Diversity on the Shelf 2020 - 317/250
Chapter Books 2020 - 204/200

#MustReadin2020 - 27/36
#YARC2020 - 67/55
Muslimshelfspace - 26/30

Monday, November 16, 2020

It's Monday! What are you reading?

Last Week in Books:

Facts vs. Opinions vs. Robots is a light-hearted way to have a discussion around facts & opinions. I will be buying this one because it's pretty fun.

Ready to Fly: How Sylvia Townsend Became the Bookmobile Ballerina is a quick picture book biography of a young Black girl who wanted to dance so badly, that she began to teach herself how using books from the bookmobile.

The House at the End of the Road is a lovely story of some young people and their relationship with an elderly gentleman down the road.

Zero Local is a wordless book and shows some people spreading kindness in their community.

Where is the Sun? is a cute Eric Carle book, but once again the science isn't quite right and that annoys me a bit. It speaks of the sun moving in the sky. I guess I don't need a book to teach science, but the sentences that imply that the sun is doing all of the moving didn't have to be in the book. It wasn't necessary for the story, so why have incorrect things in there? The Hungry Caterpillar had a cocoon (moths) instead of a chrysalis (butterflies) and it seems minor, but un-teaching things is almost harder than teaching them. Sorry about the rant.

The Lonely Heart of Maybelle Lane was a nice middle grade about friendship and family. What makes it stick in my memory is that there is a road trip. I tend to like road trip books.

Raybearer is the beginning book in a fantasy series. It was unique and fun and was a distraction from general life stress.

Suggested Reading is a book about some students in a private high school that are trying to get around the censorship of certain books. One of the characters even starts a subversive hidden library of banned books.

Born to Fly was a winner for me for a few reasons. I always had a fascination with flight as a child. We had flown commercially multiple times when I was in elementary school and then I got to have a ride in a private plane several times too. I remember writing my first major biography report on Amelia Earhardt. I have also loved every single book Sheinkin has written. His narrative nonfiction is excellent.

Recipe for Persuasion is an adult romance that was loosely based on Austen's Persuasion. It was a nice read, but I enjoyed the first in the series more. It had been based on Pride and Prejudice.

A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow was a delightful YA romance. I love books involving food and tea was a bonus. With 2020 being what it is, I have been on the hunt for books that make me smile and this one sure did.

I finally finished How to Be Remy Cameron. It was digital and I was reading it on my phone, but I am not a fan of that format so I read it in bite sized pieces over two weeks. It was a humorous YA with some romance and a young man trying to figure himself out.

The Coming Week: I'm still reading Freedom is a Constant Struggle. I'm not sure what else I will be picking up. Fortunately, there is nothing that I have to read for any particular task this week so I am free to choose something fun and I'll likely look for romances. Happy reading!

Reading Challenge Updates:

Goodreads Challenge 2019 - 538/500

Diversity on the Shelf 2020 - 311/250
Chapter Books 2020 - 200/200

#MustReadin2020 - 27/36
#YARC2020 - 64/55
Muslimshelfspace - 26/30

Monday, November 9, 2020

It's Monday! What are you reading?

Last Week on the Blog:

Review of The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person

Last Week in Books:

Too many to count, but I really enjoyed the YA books Born to Fly and Raybearer and The Mental Load which is a graphic novel for adults.

During the stress of the election, I found that picture books were just the thing for those times when my brain felt too scattered for heavier or lengthier texts so I read quite a few of those. I read the longer books over this weekend when I felt my stress level drop significantly.

The Coming Week: I'm still reading Freedom is a Constant Struggle and How to Be Remy Cameron. I have a committee meeting next week and am trying to read as many kidlit novels as possible between now and then so those should keep me busy. Happy reading!

Reading Challenge Updates:

Goodreads Challenge 2019 - 530/500

Diversity on the Shelf 2020 - 308/250
Chapter Books 2020 - 196/200

#MustReadin2020 - 27/36
#YARC2020 - 63/55
Muslimshelfspace - 26/30

Monday, November 2, 2020

It's Monday! What are you reading?

Last Week in Books:

Picture Books

Shubh Diwali is a beautiful book about a family and how they celebrate Diwali.

Bunbun & Bonbon: Fancy Friends is a super fun and silly brief graphic novel about a bunny and a piece of candy and the beginning of their friendship.

Early chapter books & Middle Grade

Lost in the Tunnel of Time is an early chapter book series. I didn't realize that at the time so I will need to go back and read the first one in the series. It was a fun adventure that involved the history of the underground railroad in the children's community.

Twins is a fantastic graphic novel about twins who are beginning to spread their wings (willingly and unwillingly) and seem to be growing apart. It's great realistic fiction and I know many readers will love it.

Three Keys was just as enthralling as the first book Kelly Yang wrote about a family with a motel. This book dealt even more with immigration and activism.

Young Adult

Flamer is an excellent and powerful graphic novel about a young man at camp who is learning about himself and moving towards acceptance.

Shine is a rom-com about a rising k-pop star and is written by the former lead of a k-pop group called Girls Generation.

The Coming Week:

This past week was quite an interesting one. We went back to face-to-face learning on Monday. On Wed. afternoon, we were informed that we would be back to completely virtual learning on the following Monday. That experiment lasted one week. Our community numbers are rising and we also had students and/or student family members test positive during this week of in person learning. It was nice to see students in person, but it sure didn't last long.

Because we had our "first" day of school and our "last" day of school all in one week and had to adjust to the new schedule it was quite stressful. This week, academic stress should be less, but election stress is amping up.

I will likely be looking for books that will make me smile. I just started How to Be Remy Cameron and am reading Freedom is a Constant Struggle. I wish you all a great week!

Reading Challenge Updates:

Goodreads Challenge 2019 - 506/500

Diversity on the Shelf 2020 - 299/250
Chapter Books 2020 - 191/200

#MustReadin2020 - 27/36
#YARC2020 - 63/55
Muslimshelfspace - 26/30