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 go to my Goodreads account, you can see what I have read recently & click on the books to learn more.

Last week in books:

You would think that being home would mean I would finish more books, not less, but this is how it goes now. I am able to read, but I never stick with any one book for very long. My attention is very easily led away. I would say that is likely a reaction to the uncertainty and the many changes happening in our lives right now. I enjoyed The Jumbie God's Revenge which was the third in a series. It's a lot of adventure and it keeps you on your toes. Anya and the Dragon was a relatively fun fantasy. It's set in Russia and the main character is Jewish. Obviously a dragon is found, but what does one do with a dragon? How do we live in a way that respects life - all life? Big questions. The Chupacabras of the Rio Grande is another fantastically fun book in The Unicorn Rescue Society series. This one is not only asking about how do we respect the life of fantastical creatures, but also the life of those at our border who would wish to cross borders freely.

The Coming Week:

And here is the evidence of my fractured concentration. I am reading quite a few books, but none are close to being finished. In addition to those above, I am also re-listening to Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi while I read the much longer original version. I read a few chapters in the long one and then listen to the adapted version of the chapters again. I also got a digital copy of The Witch of Blackbird Pond right after I read the chapter that deals with the historical happenings in that book. I know when I was young, I had no idea what was going on in the political moments of the book. I've re-read it many times and eventually figured out what was going on, but I wanted to read it again with this specific context. The book Just Feel has some really helpful suggestions for mindfulness that I have enjoyed immensely. I know a few specific students who would really do well with this book. So this week, I will continue working on the seven different books I'm reading. The CCBC Friends group sent out an email this week and they concluded it with the poem in the book Life by Cynthia Rylant illustrated by Brendan Wenzel. I appreciate the reminder that the animals in the world know that life starts small and it is always changing. "And it is worth waking up in the morning to see what might happen." In these strange times it's nice to be reminded of the wonder in the world. Happy reading to you!

Reading Challenge Updates: 

Goodreads Challenge 2019 - 194/500

Diversity on the Shelf 2020 - 93/250
Chapter Books 2020 - 53/200

#MustReadin2020 - 15/36
#YARC2020 - 20/55