Monday, January 19, 2015

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 and comment to spread the love.

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

 
The Past Week: 
Reviews on the Blog
I reviewed quite a few books this week. Click on the links to read about them.

Feeding the Young Athlete
Alice Waters and the Trip to Delicious
Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table
I reviewed these here for the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge 



Books Read



It's odd, but three of these books had fabulous illustrations, but the text was just okay. Our School Garden, Hansel & Gretel, and Beauty and the Beast really had great illustrations, but the two retellings weren't anything out of the ordinary and the poems in the garden book were not very poetic.  I still want to like the books though because of the illustrations. 

Speaking of illustrations, I loved those in Julia's House for Lost Creatures. It also happened to have a fun storyline. Hatke is just creating some fantastic children's lit. 

Little Melba and Her Big Trombone is a wonderful picture book biography. I'm so happy to learn about Melba and again, I loved the illustrations. It was a very good week for me with illustrations. 

Ruby's Wish takes a look at gender roles. It also shows the determination of one young lady who happens to have been the author's grandmother.  This was on my shelf at school and I'm so glad I picked it up.

Another one I'm glad I found on the shelf this week was Skin Again. This is a book by bell hooks  about how our skin color is just one part of who we are. From the Goodreads summary, "Race matters, but only so much-what's most important is who we are on the inside." This is a book that can open up discussion about race and who we are.

The Coming Week: 

I will be bopping along through The Elements of Style for quite some time. It's not really one to sit and read from cover to cover, but I am enjoying it. I started The Dragon, the Thief, and the Princess yesterday and am about half-way through. I have started the e-novella Rose Eagle and will review it over at Rich in Color next week. I'm listening to House of Many Ways. I still have a few more ARCs to read, but the pile is smaller than it was last week. I made good headway this past week. :)

Beyond reading for reviews, I may start S. by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst. I have wanted to read it ever since I heard an interview with one of the authors on NPR. I used a gift card to purchase it today  and am eager to get started on it, but I am also a little hesitant to start it too. It's a different kind of book. Anyway, it should be a fun week of reading. What will you be reading?

Reading Challenge Updates:

12 comments:

  1. Going to look for Feeding the Young Athlete RIGHT NOW. Always a topic that I need books on, since my runners don't always believe ME that they can't get a good two mile time if they've had pop tarts for lunch!

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    1. Exactly! I would have loved coaches to have delivered this information to my children.

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  2. I have Hansel and Gretel on hold for me at the library. I'll pick it up this week, I'm intrigued by it!

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  3. Hooray for your Dreaming in Indian review! I agree that the themes are truly universal. I saw the videos on youtube when I was perusing earlier this week, but I am afraid to watch them before I finish the book! Thank you for sharing! I will be returning to your review after I finish!

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  4. I'll look for Skin Again, Crystal, sounds like one I want to be familiar with. Did you know that there is a Strunk & White that's illustrated by Maira Kalman? It's awesome, so when you finish this one, see if you can find the illustrated one. Thanks for all these titles-I liked Ruby's Wish.

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    1. I didn't know that. I can't quite imagine it with illustrations, but I'll trust you. ;)

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  5. I just saw Dreaming in Indian at the library but knew I wouldn't get to it with all of my other reading and work so didn't pick it up. Ruby's Wish is such a great title. I also loved Hatke's illustrations in Julia's House. Lots of fantastic titles here.

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    1. Yes, it was a good week. I wish you great reading. :)

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  6. Wow, you have been reading a lot. I was so impressed by your review of Dreaming in Indian that I just added it to my shopping cart. Skin Again looks fabulous. Unfortunately it seems to be out of print.

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    1. Yes, Skin Again, and all of the picture books by bell hooks are out of print. I was so glad that we have it in the library since it might be difficult to get otherwise.

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  7. I own a copy of S - bought it last year, but haven't had a chance to read it yet - looking forward to your take on the book. :) Sad to hear about Hansel and Gretel by Neil Gaiman - I had high hopes for it. The cover of Dreaming in Indian looks stunning.

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