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 see more of my reading, visit my Goodreads shelves here. The lists of the books in the images below may be found at Goodreads. 

The Past Two Weeks in Books:  

I've been reading some of the award books and this week that meant grabbing Kapaemahu and Love, Violet. They both won a Stonewall and were lovely. In the first, we see Indigenous people who are healers with dual male and female spirit. There is a movie that you can watch that tells this story here. Love, Violet is a sweet Valentine's Day book. Another award book was Seen and Unseen: What Dorothea Lange, Toyo Miyatake, and Ansel Adams's Photographs Reveal About the Japanese American Incarceration which got the Sibert Award. It includes photos and commentary about the pictures. It was interesting to see how the perspective of the photographers and their purposes shaped the images and determined what would be captured and what would be omitted. Related to this was the picture book Love in the Library about two people who fell in love while living in a Japanese incarceration camp. The author talks a little bit about her grandparents that the story is based on in this video. 

A new book I listened to via Libro.fm is Finally Seen by Kelly Yang. Her books are always so completely relatable. I'm excited to get this one in the hands of students. It also has a brief storyline related to censorship and I really wish so many US students didn't have to relate to that so much right now. 

I am partial to romance books and since it was Valentine's Day (month) I checked out a few adult romances to zip through. They were all pleasant and entertaining and made me smile for the most part. I read The Singles Table, Good Morning Love, and one very quick one Wrapped Up in You. 

Somebody's Daughter was one I took on my quick trip to TX to see my mother for her birthday last weekend. I was glad I had it since I got delayed at the airport. It's the story of a young Korean American adoptee who travels to Korea to look for her birth mother. It's intense and shows both the perspective of the adoptee and the birth mother. There's a lot to think about especially about international and interracial adoptions and how they can affect the young people.

The Coming Week: I'm listening to the YA romcom Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute again in preparation for our Rich in Color group discussion coming up in March. I started reading Tokyo Dreaming which is a sequel to Tokyo Ever After. I have also started reading the ARC of a new young adult novel by Maurene Goo. Have a great reading week. 

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 see more of my reading, visit my Goodreads shelves here. The lists of the books in the images below may be found at Goodreads. 

The Past Three Weeks in Books:  

I've been reading a lot of picture books for our Mock Award units. For our Coretta Scott King unit, the students chose Bessie the Motorcycle Queen by Charlot Kristensen illustrated by Charles R. Smith Jr.  We were all enthralled with her story of cycling across the nation. Another one I enjoyed was Music is a Rainbow by Bryan Collier. It's full of emotion and the healing power of music. 

For our Sibert Award, the students chose Blips on a Screen: How Ralph Baer Invented TV Video Gaming and Launched a Worldwide Obsession by Kate Hannigan illustrated by Zachariah OHora. His story is fascinating and also, video games are just a wildly popular topic. 

For our Pura Belpré, the students chose My Town, Mi pueblo by Nicholas Solis illustrated by Luisa Uribe. We also really enjoyed How to Hear the Universe: Gaby González and the Search for Einstein's Ripples in Space-Time by Patricia Valdez illustrated by Sara Palacios. We really had fun learning about sounds in space. I didn't have time to read it with the students, but I also really loved Tía Fortuna's New Home: A Jewish Cuban Journey by Ruth Behar illustrated by Devon Holzwarth. 

A student had asked me for a book about early kings in Korea so I had ordered a book called Letters from Korean History 1: From Prehistory to Unified Silla and Balhae. It was quite interesting and I think I'll have to get the next one in the series too. What was really cool was that the author included basic history of early humans and not just those in Korea so it helps the reader relate the history in this very specific place in relation to the history of the rest of the world. It would be useful with any class that is learning about early humans.

I also read a few random books like The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill. This is a lovely, lovely middle grade book that asks a lot of questions about love, community, and where to put trust. I also picked up the picture book Brown is Beautiful by Supriya Kelkar illustrated by Noor Sofi. It's beautiful both in the writing and the illustrations. Knight Owl is another book that's a delight for the eyes. It is also just a sweet little bit of fantasy. I got the audio version of Talia Hibbert's young adult book Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute. It's a delightful rom-com and since I already adored Hibbert's adult romances, I was not surprised. 

One adult book landed in my lap - The Love Con by Seressia Glass. It's a fun rom-com that involves fake dating and best friends. That's one of my favorite storylines and this one was a winner for me. 

The Coming Week: 

I am listening to Jennifer Chan is Not Alone. Other than that, I am not sure what I'll be picking up next. Have a great reading week.