It's Monday! What are You Reading?

Jen & Kellee over at Teach Mentor Texts host a meme every Monday that invites people to share the children's and young adult books they have been reading over the past week and what they plan on reading the following week.

You may find more complete information about what I am reading at Goodreads or by clicking on the Goodreads widget along the side of my blog.

Past Week:

Newbery Challenge

All three of these were re-reads and each also had a bit of mystery. What was funny was that I enjoyed them just as much or even more this time even knowing the ending ahead of time. With all of them, I felt like I was able to notice more details since I already knew the basic plot line. When You Reach Me has so many layers and twists that I still had to pay close attention. Moon Over Manifest felt even richer this time. I enjoyed the deep sense of place. Dead End in Norvelt also captured the setting very well. I felt like I knew the characters. I also laughed out loud on more than one occasion. Overall, this was a good week and it was exciting to be finishing up the Newbery Challenge. Now I am just waiting for the morning announcement at the ALA Youth Media Awards so I can read one final Newbery and completely finish this challenge - at least until next January. Yay!!

Picture Books

Lovabye Dragon was an adorable book about the unlikely friendship between a little girl and a dragon. I am so Handsome made me laugh. He is just as full of himself as the title makes him appear. This is also one of those books with a surprise ending. It is apparently a follow up to the book I am so Strong. I will have to read that one too. The Insomniacs was a book I could relate to as I am a night owl, but somehow the ending wasn't satisfactory so it was just okay.

Nerdy Shortlist 2012

After reading these two, I still have 23 Nerdy shortlist books to finish, but finishing the Newberys has been my priority. Now that I am done (or almost done) with those, I can focus on working my way through this awesome list. There Goes Ted Williams was a nice picture book biography. I especially liked the part at the end of the book that told about the more negative aspects of his personality so that he isn't portrayed entirely as a hero with no faults.

Dropping into the fantasy world of Shadow and Bone cost me some hours of sleep. I sat on the floor outside my bedroom door unwilling to go in to sleep. I was both bummed and pleased to realize at the end that it was the beginning of a series so there wasn't a nice tidy ending, but at least I know there will be more in the future.

Adult Fiction!!

Unbelievable, but I did actually read a book written for an adult audience. Strange, but true. Our former exchange student from Germany recommended it to me. Our library only had an audio version, so this is what I listened to each time I did my exercises. Measuring the World is about two very distinct personalities. One is a mathematician and the other is an explorer. It was not meant to be a comedy, but there were many funny bits in there.  One of the characters is a genius who is frustrated by the slow minds of the people around him. One time he said that "His students were the stupidest people he had ever met." It was a bit bizarre, but certainly entertaining.

For the Coming Week:

I will be reading the newest Newbery and then any of the major award books that I have not yet read. If that isn't many, then I will be working on the 2012 Nerdy Shortlist books because I want to know all of those books that the Nerdybookclub nominated last year before I move on to the 2013 books. I am so excited for the announcements! Have a great week.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Jen & Kellee over at Teach Mentor Texts host a meme every Monday that invites people to share the children's and young adult books they have been reading over the past week and what they plan on reading the following week.

You may find more complete information about what I am reading at Goodreads.com or by clicking on the Goodreads widget along the side of my blog.

Past Week:

Newbery Challenge

This was another great week of Newbery reading. I especially loved the re-reads. It is funny, but I enjoyed them more than the two that were new to me, Kira-Kira and Criss Cross. It may be that because they were familiar, I rated them more highly. I'm not sure about that, but regardless, all were pretty great. 

I remembered the opening to The Graveyard Book very vividly. That is an excellent chapter to hook a reader. If I read that chapter aloud, there are always many students that want the book immediately. The wonderful thing is that though things slow down for awhile, there is still much to appreciate throughout the book. Both this book and Kira-Kira managed to get tears out of me this week. Kira-Kira was not what I expected, but was a beautiful story of love between two sisters. 

Criss Cross was slow, quiet, quirky and a bit timeless. I found it somewhat disjointed, but liked it nonetheless.

Lucky wins my heart every time I meet her again. She is fun, strong, and creative. Her scientific endeavors are impressive and the snake scene is hilarious. Love that girl. Another strong and lovable character is that adorable Despereaux. Just hearing the title or seeing the cover of the book makes me smile.

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! was a bunch of fun too. Medieval times have always been fascinating to me. Using a wide variety of voices and perspectives truly gives an incredible glimpse into the daily life of that time. 

What is exciting for me is that within one week, I will complete the Newbery Challenge. I have only a few more left to read and plan to finish on the day that ALA announces the Youth Media Awards. It should be a fantastic day with the awards announcements and finishing up such a long challenge. I will have to think of something fun to do to celebrate. :)

Picture Books

These were a random mix of books that I grabbed. I love the poetry of Langston Hughes, and Bryan Collier's illustrations of I, Too, Am America were a new way to look at this poem. I had completely different images in my mind before. I appreciated the explanation at the end and it helped me enjoy the book even more on re-reading it. 

The Lonely Pine was interesting to a degree, but not a stand out. It reminded me that I still want to see the Northern Lights someday.

I hadn't known much of Booker T. Washington's story, so Fifty Cents and a Dream was informative and very interesting. I would like to read a more complete biography to learn more about him now. The other biography that I read was Noah Webster and His Words. The definitions scattered throughout the book added a nice touch of humor. It is fun that I read these two books in the same week because Webster's speller was mentioned in Fifty Cents as one of the books Booker T. Washington used as he learned to read.

The Coming Week:

The most important thing for me this week is finishing the Newbery books. I will read When You Reach Me, Moon Over Manifest, Dead End in Norvelt and the yet unnamed winner that will soon be announced. Wahoo! Have a great week of reading.