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Monday, July 14, 2014

It's Monday! What are you reading?


It's Monday! What are you reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. Jen Vincent over at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye from Unleashing Readers decided to put a children's and YA spin on it and they invite anyone with an interest to join in. You can participate by creating your post then visit one of their sites to add your site. Finally, visit at least three participant blogs   comment to spread the love.

If you want to know more about what I am reading, visit me at my Goodreads shelfImages via Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

You may have noticed silence after my post last Monday. That was because I was off to #nErDcampMI and then to Canada for vacation. I ran out of time to prepare more posts ahead of time. I am back home as of about midnight last night. I didn't get a lot of reading accomplished this week because I was out having too much fun. :)

The Past Week:

Amazingly, these are the only two books I completed (or remember finishing) this week. I listened to The Riverman through WI, IL, IN, OH, and MI. It is very difficult to classify. In my mind, depending on the truth in the end, it could be mystery, realistic fiction (if someone has mental issues), magical realism, fantasy or even sic-fi. I believe it is fantasy, but no matter how it is classified, The Riverman is quite unique. I didn't realize that it isn't a stand alone while I was listening, but it doesn't have a tidy ending at all so I felt a bit gob-smacked. In talking to others and hearing it highly recommended and book talked at #nErDcampMI, I found out that there will be more and that helped to counter some of my negative thoughts about the book. It is still not a favorite, but I do understand why others (review by Elizabeth Bird) love it so much.

A Taste of Colored Water is a look at the civil rights era and is not what you might expect given the cover art and title. It is about two children who are looking for the "colored" water fountain and find something other than what they expect. It would be a great entry to discussion about that time period and would be great paired with Ruth and the Green Book. The book is also found in this civil rights unit. The author, Matt Faulkner, was at #nErDcampMI to share this book and his graphic novel Gaijin: An American Prisoner of War, which I want to read too. It's about the Japanese Internment.

The Coming Week:


I am still working on the professional book I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla. I started the novel in verse Etched in Clay while we were in Toronto and am enjoying it. China Dolls was my companion on my drive back from Ohio, but I am only a little over half way through. It is an adult historical fiction book about three Asian-American friends. Two of the friends are of Chinese descent and one of the women is actually Japanese, but she passes as Chinese. It takes place as WWII is beginning and anti-Japanese sentiment is running high. The storyline is quite interesting though in the beginning I had to keep jumping back on the CDs because my attention would wander. Later in the story that didn't happen.

I am not sure what else I will be reading though I know I will be reviewing a picture book The Poet Upstairs. This will be another very busy and exciting week since my daughter returns from Japan today along with her exchange sister that she has been living with for the past month. We will likely be running around doing touristy types of things and sharing pictures and stories from our trips. It should be a fantastic week, but I don't know how much reading time I will have. What will you be reading?


14 comments:

  1. I heard two audiobooks on my way to and from nErDcampMI this week too. I usually don't do enough driving to make audiobooks a realistic choice for me. Come see my week here. Happy reading!

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    1. I read audiobooks, but usually it takes a week or two to get through them since I have a short commute. It was nice to actually finish a book in two or three days. :)

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  2. Thanks for these! Will have to look in to "A Taste of Colored Water" for when our fourth graders get to their Civil Rights unit.

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    1. I am going to get it for our library. It's a nice entry into the topic.

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  3. A Taste of Colored Water sounds like a "must have" for our unit on the Civil Rights era - and, lucky you to have make it to NerdCampMi!

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  4. Hope you had a wonderful trip, Crystal. I've read A Taste of Colored Water, good to have for that history, and for discussion. And I have The Riverman from the library, hope to get to it soon, but I'm leaving on vacation at the end of the week, & it'll be a few weeks. Also hope you have a wonderful time with your daughter and your new guest. How great!

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    1. Thanks! Our house is a full one again and we are loving it that way.

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  5. I laughed when I read that there are only a few that you finished "or remembered reading." Often, I sit at my computer and think, "What DID I read this week?" You know that it can't be that great of a book if you forget it! Thanks for sharing these books. Have a wonderful time this week!

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  6. Hi there Crystal, glad to hear that you had so much fun with NerdCamp. I've been following the updates through FB and it does sound like a lovely event with so many like-minded individuals. Anything that would entice kids to read is always a wonderful thing. I featured A Taste of Colored Water a few months back for our reading theme Voices of the Silenced, and I am so glad you mentioned Faulkner's graphic novel as it sounds perfect for our current reading theme on Tales of war and poetry, refuge & peace. I just checked our library database, we have it! Will definitely find it this weekend.

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    1. Glad you are getting to Gaijin. I will look forward to hearing your thoughts on it.

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  7. I am sure you are thrilled that your daughter is returning home!
    I just got Gaijin from the library this week. It looks really interesting. I did not get a chance to see Matt Faulkner at nerd camp, I don't know how with that many people there :) I'll have to try and find his other book too!

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  8. The Riverman was shared with me at NCTE2013, and I haven't gotten to it yet; however, everything that I read about it makes me want to read it more.
    Have fun with your daughter and your visitor!! How fun!!

    Happy reading this week! :)

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