It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
For readers of all ages
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly blog hop we host which focuses on sharing what we’re reading. This Kid Lit version of IMWAYR focuses primarily on books marketed for kids and teens, but books for readers of all ages are shared. We love this community and how it offers opportunities to share and recommend books with each other.
The original IMWAYR, with an adult literature focus, was started by Sheila at Book Journeys and is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. The Kid Lit IMWAYR was co-created by Kellee & Jen at Teach Mentor Texts.
We encourage you to write your own post sharing what you’re reading, link up below, leave a comment, and support other IMWAYR bloggers by visiting and commenting on at least three of the other linked blogs.
Happy reading!
Author Guest Post: “The Girl Who Gets the Girl” by Zakiya N. Jamal, Author of If We Were a Movie
**Click on any picture/link to view the post**
Kellee
Middle Grade
- Adrift by Tanya Guerrero: This book was so good in so many ways and disappointing in others. I read this for my teacher book club, so I look forward to hearing what others say about it. I wish there had been more of an exposition, so I really knew the characters before tragedy hit. I found the imagery, survival aspects, and suspense surrounding Coral’s time alone on a deserted island wonderful–the part where she is fishing and killing fish for the first time made me gaggy, so you know it was written well! But I wish that there was more of Coral’s story; I didn’t find Isa’s story as intriguing. However, I know one teacher felt the opposite of me and liked Isa’s story better than Coral’s, so I think it really depends. In the end, I enjoyed the book enough and am glad I read it.
Young Adult
- Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore: I reread this book with my friend Jewel (we’re talking about it tomorrow!), and the review I wrote the first time I read this book in 2012 actually still holds truth: There was so much hype about this 3rd book in the Graceling trilogy and I can see why people feel that it lived up to the hype and why others didn’t. This book was different than the other 2. This one was much more a mystery than an action/adventure like the first two. This book is not a journey and is not about a woman that is scorned for one reason or another. This book is about a queen and it primarily takes place in her kingdom. But that does not mean that this book is any less exciting. Bitterblue is filled with twists and turns and unexpected conflicts. I did love how characters that were more skeletal in Graceling are really beefed out in Bitterblue- especially Helda and Giddon. Even if you are not impressed with this story, you will definitely be blown away once again by Kashore’s writing and world building. She is a master.
You can always learn more about any of the books I’ve been reading by checking out my read bookshelf on Goodreads.
Ricki
This is my week off; I will see you next week!
Kellee
- Listening: Seven Dirty Secrets by Natalie D. Richards
- Reading: The Isle of Ever by Jen Calonita
Tuesday: Student Voices: What Kellee’s Middle Schoolers are Reading, Loving, and Promoting
Sunday: Author Guest Post: “The Power of Story: Inspired by the Classroom” by Trevor B. Spisto, Author of The Tiger and the Crane
Link up below and go check out what everyone else is reading. Please support other bloggers by viewing and commenting on at least 3 other blogs. If you tweet about your Monday post, tag the tweet with #IMWAYR!
and
Sigh. I no longer have Bitterblue or any of the Graceling series. YA paranormal books were HUGE 15 years ago in my library, but since the Pandemic, no one has checked them out. Some more YA romances, but my students are trending towards younger and younger books. Have a great week!
I always think it’s interesting when a book hits you one way and then you speak to others about the same book and find that they have the exact opposite opinion. Just goes to show how subjective and personal the reading experience is!