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.
Last Week:
I celebrated books this week.
I had a great week of reading. Prophecy by Ellen Oh was a fantastic YA adventure set in ancient Korea.
Tomboy is a very interesting graphic novel YA memoir that shares how Liz always was a tomboy growing up. This created some issues for her along the way, but she figured out who she was and lives true to herself.
What We Left Behind is a contemporary YA novel. I have an ARC from the publisher and will be reviewing it later.
Taking Hold was the fourth memoir in a series. I've enjoyed all of these looks into the past. Francisco Jiménez writes in a conversational style about his life as an immigrant. The books are marketed as YA, but I suspect they are more attractive to adults as they are rather slow, quiet books with a slightly old-fashioned feel.
Mister Monday was great on audio and has been around for a long time. It's a middle grade series that one of my children enjoyed, but I just never got started on it. It was a fun fantasy and I will likely read more of this series.
For me Cuba has always been a little mysterious since it was closed off for so long. I found My Havana to be a very interesting short memoir/novel. I appreciated seeing both Dino's view of his home country Cuba, but also his views of Spain and the U.S
Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel is a middle grade contemporary book. It wasn't what I was expecting though. I thought I would be reading a typical school/family story with humor given the slightly snarky title. However, the family is in the midst of a major life event. Mom has breast cancer and the book is a rather serious look into how her eldest daughter Chia adjusts to life with this new challenge. This is a great book for readers who enjoy seeing characters face tough situations.
I do not read enough mysteries. Who's Ju was a fun one. The author sent a copy for review. So you know, Ju is pronounced like "who" since it is part of the Spanish name Justina. Ju is a great character and it's interesting to see her try to solve not one but two different mysteries. One is for someone else, but one is the mystery that her family seems to be trying to keep from her. As she begins a class project about their family genes, she begins to see that everything she believed about her family may be incorrect. I'll be reviewing this soon.
Gingerbread for Liberty gets compliments for its illustrations. It's a neat idea too that someone could help a war effort through feeding others. I love gingerbread so was happy to see that a focus. They even include a recipe.
Out of Darkness was a book I won on a blog giveaway. I will be reviewing it later. It's YA historical fiction about a mixed race romance in the south. Obviously that was dangerous at the time. There is also physical danger due to a major explosion at a school that really happened in East Texas many years ago.
The Coming Week:
I've started listening to I'll Give You the Sun and will likely finish it up this week. I have Circa Now sitting on my shelf and have a bunch of books on hold. My reading plans will depend on which ones come in this week. I hope you have a great time reading!
Reading Challenge Updates:
Diversity on the Shelf/Diverse Books - 199/100
Goodreads - 495/520
#MustRead2015 - 46/53
Diversity Reading Challenge - 12/12
Pura Belpré Challenge -86/86 (some were read prior to this year)
Around the World with Books Map
Tomboy is a very interesting graphic novel YA memoir that shares how Liz always was a tomboy growing up. This created some issues for her along the way, but she figured out who she was and lives true to herself.
What We Left Behind is a contemporary YA novel. I have an ARC from the publisher and will be reviewing it later.
Taking Hold was the fourth memoir in a series. I've enjoyed all of these looks into the past. Francisco Jiménez writes in a conversational style about his life as an immigrant. The books are marketed as YA, but I suspect they are more attractive to adults as they are rather slow, quiet books with a slightly old-fashioned feel.
Mister Monday was great on audio and has been around for a long time. It's a middle grade series that one of my children enjoyed, but I just never got started on it. It was a fun fantasy and I will likely read more of this series.
For me Cuba has always been a little mysterious since it was closed off for so long. I found My Havana to be a very interesting short memoir/novel. I appreciated seeing both Dino's view of his home country Cuba, but also his views of Spain and the U.S
Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel is a middle grade contemporary book. It wasn't what I was expecting though. I thought I would be reading a typical school/family story with humor given the slightly snarky title. However, the family is in the midst of a major life event. Mom has breast cancer and the book is a rather serious look into how her eldest daughter Chia adjusts to life with this new challenge. This is a great book for readers who enjoy seeing characters face tough situations.
I do not read enough mysteries. Who's Ju was a fun one. The author sent a copy for review. So you know, Ju is pronounced like "who" since it is part of the Spanish name Justina. Ju is a great character and it's interesting to see her try to solve not one but two different mysteries. One is for someone else, but one is the mystery that her family seems to be trying to keep from her. As she begins a class project about their family genes, she begins to see that everything she believed about her family may be incorrect. I'll be reviewing this soon.
Gingerbread for Liberty gets compliments for its illustrations. It's a neat idea too that someone could help a war effort through feeding others. I love gingerbread so was happy to see that a focus. They even include a recipe.
Out of Darkness was a book I won on a blog giveaway. I will be reviewing it later. It's YA historical fiction about a mixed race romance in the south. Obviously that was dangerous at the time. There is also physical danger due to a major explosion at a school that really happened in East Texas many years ago.
The Coming Week:
I've started listening to I'll Give You the Sun and will likely finish it up this week. I have Circa Now sitting on my shelf and have a bunch of books on hold. My reading plans will depend on which ones come in this week. I hope you have a great time reading!
Reading Challenge Updates:
Diversity on the Shelf/Diverse Books - 199/100
Goodreads - 495/520
#MustRead2015 - 46/53
Diversity Reading Challenge - 12/12
Pura Belpré Challenge -86/86 (some were read prior to this year)
Around the World with Books Map
Mister Monday has become popular in my library again, and Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel is one that tends to do well with my seventh grade girls who want sad books.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed Tomboy a lot, have been reading some memoirs about Cuba, so will look for My Havana, too, Crystal. Thanks for the new books shared, too.
ReplyDeleteGreat list! It's funny, Cuba has long been a top winter holiday destination for Canadians, several of my colleagues have been to Havana, and of course the beach resorts are always popular (though of course that's not an authentic view of Cuban culture).
ReplyDeleteI also remember being a "tween" (before that was a thing) and really being drawn to sad/emotional books, I guess some things never change!
I've listened to a few of the Mister Monday series. They are a good read! I've got a copy of Tomboy around that I am hoping to read to see if it is appropriate for my age group.
ReplyDeleteLots of new ones on this list for me! I enjoyed Gingerbread for Liberty. I like seeing other people featured from an event in history.
ReplyDelete