It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 1/15/18

Share

IMWAYR 2015 logo

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme started by Sheila at Book Journeys and now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. It is 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 the next “must-read” book!

Kellee and Jen, 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 support the blogging community by visiting at least three of the other book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

Bold_line

Last Week’s Posts

**Click on any picture/link to view the post**

 

Tuesday: Kellee’s Favorite Reads of 2017: Picture Books and Early Readers

Wednesday: Kellee’s Favorite Reads of 2017: Middle Grade and Young Adult

Thursday: Review and Giveaway!: Don’t Forget Dexter by Lindsay Ward
**Giveaway open until Wednesday!**

Friday: Ricki’s Top Ten (*ahem* Thirteen) Favorite Reads of 2017

Bold_line

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee

I’m back!!! Can’t wait to see what you all have been reading 🙂 Here’s my updates for the weeks I’ve been gone:

Week of 12/18

This was still a slow week, but Trent and I loved reading Star Wars OBI-123, and Ellie from Ellie Engineer is now one of my favorite mighty girls in an early reader!

Week of 12/25

This is the week that my rut started to end! Yay! It just takes a couple of good books and some time.

Rhyme Schemer and They Both Die at the End were so good! K.A. Holt and Adam Silvera have both not disappointed me yet. These are both must reads if you haven’t read them yet! For real.

Week of 1/1

This is the week that my reading was rocking! It was so wonderful! I always don’t mind going back to school, but I also really wish that I had had one more week of awesome reading before going back to the regular.

You’re going to notice a trend for a couple of weeks: Laurel Snyder. My book club is Skyping with her on Friday, 1/19! Although I loved both of her books, I do want to shout out to Swan because it was just SO beautiful.

American Street by Ibi Zoboi was recommended to me by Ricki, and I am so glad. It was available at my library through Kindle, and I started it right away. And it is perfection.

Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman is just as perfect as the first in the series. It is 500 pages, but I read it in one day because I couldn’t stop! And now I have to wait forever for the third in the trilogy. Seriously, if you haven’t started this series… make. it. happen.

Lastly, I read Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas, and she once again blew me away with her ability to craft a mystery. Her stories always blow me away.

Week of 1/8

Chugging along with the Whatever After series, and I think this one was my favorite yet!

Two Laurel Snyder books this week: The Forever Garden, a sweet story reminding us that it isn’t always about the end goal but about the journey itself. I also really liked Any Which Wall which was a fantastical adventure with a wide age range of main characters (5-12) which makes it a great read for a variety of kids.

Trent’s go-to read this week were Six Brave Explorers, a pop-up book that belonged to my sister, and Baby Monkey, Private Eye by Brian Selznick and David Serlin which is pretty much the perfect book for Trent’s age. Check out the Scholastic page on it for a HILARIOUS book trailer also. https://www.scholastic.com/kids/book/baby-monkey-private-eye-by-brian-selznick/

I also had the honor of reading the manuscript for the sequel to The Dark Intercept by Julia Keller, Dark Mind Rising. I can’t say too much, but I will say that the craziness continues!

 Ricki

So happy to have you back, Kellee! Missed you last week! 🙂

For my younger son’s holiday wish list, we asked for noise books. He loves pushing the buttons. Between all of our family members (some very special aunts, uncles, and grandparents), he made out like a bandit. My husband and I have read each book a few hundred times since the holidays. Our favorites are:

We pretty much like any book that roars because it causes our son to let out his own huge roar.

On a more personal note, I am catching up on some of the YA books that I missed last year. I am determined to finish my #mustreadin2018 list this year. 🙂

Bold_line

This Week’s Expeditions
Kellee

I already started the next Whatever After book, and I also hope to finish Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder before the Skype visit.

Ricki

I am reading four books right now, and I enjoy switching between them, depending on my mood. Blankets by Craig Thompson (an adult GN) and We Are Okay by Nina LaCour are currently the two books that I am reading the most each night.

Bold_line

Upcoming Week’s Posts

Tuesday: Twenty 2018 Books We Look Forward to Reading

Wednesday: Love by Matt de la Peña

Thursday: Guest Review: That Inevitable Victorian Thing by E.K. Johnston

Friday: What Do You Do With a Chance? by Kobi Yamada

Sunday: Author Guest Post by Shana Hollowell, Author of Little Mouse’s Sweet Treat

Bold_line

 So, what are you reading?

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!

 Signature andRickiSig

Kellee’s Favorite Reads of 2017: Middle Grade and Young Adult

Share

I read so many wonderful books this year, that I decided that I needed two posts to highlight them!
Today’s post will focus on middle grade and young adult novels that I read this year and loved.
Each title will have a publication date listed as these are all favorites I READ in 2017 though they may have been published before or are coming out in 2018.

Favorite Fifteen Middle Grade Novels

 

 

Posted by John David Anderson (2017)
Wishtree by Katherine Applegate (2017)
A Boy Called Bat by Elana K. Arnold (2017)

 

Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling (2017)
The Wild Robot by Peter Brown (2016)
Stealing Our Way Home by Cecelia Galante (2017)

  

Scar Island by Dan Gemeinhart (2017)
Refugee by Alan Gratz (2017)
House Arrest by K.A. Holt (2015)

  

Knock Out by K.A. Holt (2018)
Alex Rider: Never Say Die
by Anthony Horowitz (2017)
Ethan Marcus Stands Up by Michele Weber Hurwitz (2017)

  

FRAMED! by James Ponti (2016)
Patina by Jason Reynolds (2017)
Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood (2012)

Favorite Fifteen Young Adult Novels

 

 

Ashes by Laurie Halse Anderson (2016)
Turtles All the Way Down by John Green (2017)
The Legend Trilogy by Marie Lu (2011-2013)

  

Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina (2016)
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (2017)
The Border by Steve Schafer (2017)

  

Scythe by Neal Shusterman (2016)
The Unwind Dystology by Neal Shusterman (2007-2014)
They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera (2017)

  

Dear Martin by Nic Stone (2017)
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (2017)
Little Monsters by Kara Thomas (2017)

  

The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten (2013)
Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley (2016)
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner (2016)

Favorite of the Year

 

March: Book One, Book Two, and Book Three by John Lewis & Andrew Aydin, illustrated by Nate Powell
(2013-2016)

What were your favorite middle grade and young adult novels that you read in 2017?

Kellee’s Favorite Reads of 2017: Picture Books and Early Readers

Share

I read so many wonderful books this year, that I decided that I needed two posts to highlight them!
Today’s post will focus on picture books and early readers that I read this year and loved.
Each title will have a publication date listed as these are all favorites I READ in 2017 though they may have been published before or are coming out in 2018.

Favorite Fifteen Fiction Picture Books

 

  

The Wolf, The Duck, & The Mouse by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen (2017)
It Takes a Village by Hillary Rodham Clinton, illustrated by Marla Frazee (2017)
Love by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Loren Long (2018)

  

Sing, Don’t Cry by Angela Dominguez (2017)
Flashlight Night by Matt Forrest Esenwine, illustrated by Fred Koehler (2017)
It’s Not Jack and the Beanstalk by Josh Funk, illustrated by Edwardian Taylor (2017)

 

Bruce’s Big Move by Ryan T. Higgins (2017)
The Bear and the Piano by David Litchfield (2015)

 

Draw the Line by Kathryn Otoshi (2017)
Claymates by Dev Petty, illustrated by Lauren Eldridge (2017)

 

Now by Antoinette Portis (2017)
Nothing Rhymes with Orange by Adam Rex (2017)
After the Fall by Dan Santat (2017)

 

Not Quite Narwhal by Jessie Sima (2017)
Red & Lulu by Matt Tavares (2017)

Favorite Five Nonfiction Picture Books

 

  

Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist by Jess Keating, illustrated by Marta Álvarez Miguéns (2017)
The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist by Cynthia Levinson, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley Newton (2017)
Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Year by Stacy McAnulty, illustrated by David Litchfield (2017)

 

Are We Pears Yet? by Miranda Paul, Illustrated by Carin Berger (2017)
Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code by Laurie Wallmark, illustrated by Katy Wu (2017)

Favorite Five Early Readers

 

  

Super Narwhal and Jelly Jolt by Ben Clanton (2017)
Barkus by Patricia Maclachlan, illustrated by Marc Boutavant (2017)
Ellie Engineer by Jackson Pearce (2018)

 

Dogman: A Tale of Two Kitties by Dav Pilkey (2017)
Charlie and Mouse and Grumpy by Laurel Snyder, illustrated by Emily Hughes (2017)

What were your favorite picture books and early readers that you read in 2017?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 1/8/18

Share

IMWAYR 2015 logo

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme started by Sheila at Book Journeys and now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. It is 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 the next “must-read” book!

Kellee and Jen, 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 support the blogging community by visiting at least three of the other book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

Bold_line

Last Week’s Posts

**Click on any picture/link to view the post**

Tuesday: Ricki and Kellee’s #MustReadin2018 Lists

Bold_line

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee

Happy New Year! I know I said I’d be back this week, but I forgot that Jim’s marathon weekend coincided with my Winter Break this year, so I am taking off one more week. (And the 8th is my first day back after break, so I have a feeling I am going to be exhausted!!) I will see you all next week 🙂

 Ricki

Happy New Year! This year, I am determined to read more books. Last year was a bit crazy with my move to Colorado, and I read fewer books than I’ve read in the last decade. I am ready to get back in the grove.

We had a wonderful visit with family and friends back in Connecticut and Massachusetts. I’ll admit that I didn’t read a lot of YAL, but I did read a massive number of new picture books. We were able to hit up the library. 🙂 Below, I detail the books we really enjoyed.

The Wolf, The Duck, and The Mouse is another winning title by Mac Barnett. I am continually blown away by his work. He and Jon Klassen are a magical pairing. Blue vs. Yellow by Tom Sullivan is a great book to teach colors. It makes for a very fun read-aloud. Love, Triangle by Marcie Colleen is a very adorable story, and it teaches a great lesson. It’s very common for a new friend to come between two best friends, and I think this story will feel relevant to many children. I loved the almost wordless La La La by Kate DiCamillo. The illustrations were marvelous. Red & Lulu by Matt Tavares. Oh my goodness. I love, love, love reading this book aloud. Every time my son and I read it, we desperately turn the pages as we hope that Red will find Lulu. My son still insists that they need to put the Rockefeller tree back after it goes up, and he argues with the book every time we finish. Flashlight Night by Matt Forrest Esenwine is a very fun book. A friend called me to tell me that it was her son’s new favorite book, so I was excited to read it. It’s quite clever.

Bold_line

This Week’s Expeditions
Kellee

I am finally out of my slump! I cannot wait to share with you next week everything I’ve read!

Ricki

I am really enjoying We Are Okay by Nina LaCour. It’s very sad, so I am reading it in small segments.

Bold_line

Upcoming Week’s Posts

 

Tuesday: Kellee’s Favorite Reads of 2017: Picture Books and Early Readers

Wednesday: Kellee’s Favorite Reads of 2017: Middle Grade and Young Adult

Thursday: Review and Giveaway!: Don’t Forget Dexter by Lindsay Ward

Friday: Ricki’s Top Ten (*ahem* Thirteen) Favorite Reads of 2017

Bold_line

 So, what are you reading?

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!

 Signature andRickiSig

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 1/1/18

Share

IMWAYR 2015 logo

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme started by Sheila at Book Journeys and now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. It is 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 the next “must-read” book!

Kellee and Jen, 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 support the blogging community by visiting at least three of the other book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

Bold_line

Last Week’s Posts

**Click on any picture/link to view the post**

Thursday: #MustReadin2017 Final Update

Bold_line

Have a safe and wonderful New Year’s Day! Enjoy whatever more time you have off (we will!), and we’ll see you next Monday 🙂

Bold_line

Upcoming Week’s Posts

Tuesday: Ricki’s and Kellee’s #MustReadin2018 Lists

Bold_line

 So, what are you reading?

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!

 Signature andRickiSig

Ricki and Kellee’s #MustReadIn2017 Final Update!

Share

mustreadin2017image

#MustReadIn2017 is hosted by Carrie Gelson at There Is A Book For That:

“For anyone out there with a To Be Read list that seems like it will never end, this challenge is for you! This is all about making your own personal list of books (5? 10? 20? 30? more?) that you commit to reading in 2016. Books can be published in any year, be from any genre, and be from any category (adult, YA, MG, Graphics, NF, etc.).  As your TBR list grows, you promise you will get to the books on this list.”

Our (hopeful) #mustreadin2017 Lists:

rickis-must-read-in-2017-collage

mustreadin2017

Ricki

I completed 5 out of 20. This is disappointing to me because I usually do much better to this. Moving to Colorado really put a damper on my reading. I still can’t find most of these books in the boxes that I packed back in July, and I don’t feel compelled to buy new copies. I did read a lot this year, but I didn’t focus strongly enough on this list. I won’t do as poorly next year. Bah!

The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock
Finished 10/23/17

I absolutely adore this book. It’s written so beautifully. I can’t wait to read Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock’s next book. Her writing is so different. She is wildly talented. It also doesn’t hurt that she is a fantastic person.

Kellee

I completed 16 out of 20!

I always have a slow start to my #mustread lists, but I pick it up as the year goes on, and this year was the best yet! 80% read!

Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina
Finished 11/8/17

Burn Baby Burn was such a good read! It is so much more than I thought it was going to be. It was a look at the effects of divorce, the challenges of having a mentally ill sibling, the struggles during the summer of Son of Sam and the NYC blackout, and mostly about growing up and figuring out what you want to be.

Everyone We’ve Been by Sarah Everett
Finished 9/15/17

I picked this because it reminded me a bit of More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera, but it ended up being more different than the same. The only similarity was the manipulation of memory.

History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera
Finished 10/9/17

Whoa. What a roller coaster. The book switches between the past where Griffin and Theo were in love and the present where Theo has passed away and his current boyfriend, Jackson, comes to town for the funeral. Heartbreaking yet hopeful. You’ll only understand if you read.

Little Monsters by Kara Thomas
Finished 10/6/17

Little Monsters was a mystery that I just couldn’t solve which is my favorite type! The ending was shocking and overall the story was so crazy and messed up!

Scythe by Neal Shusterman
Finished 9/5/17

This may be one of my favorite books of all time. I cannot wait to read Thunderhead. If you haven’t read this, just trust me: READ IT!

Short by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Finished 9/30/17

I loved this look at how one thing cannot define a person. And although I loved Julia’s story, it was the secondary characters who made this story for me.

Stella by Starlight by Sharon Draper 
Finished 10/18/17

Draper is brilliant at everything she does. Stella lives in the segregated South but all had been primarily peaceful until one night the KKK shows itself in the darkness. Stella by Starlight is the story of Stella’s coming of age but also of her community’s fight in a place full of prejudice.

How did you do with your #mustreadin2017 list?

Signatureand 

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 12/25/17

Share

IMWAYR 2015 logo

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme started by Sheila at Book Journeys and now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. It is 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 the next “must-read” book!

Kellee and Jen, 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 support the blogging community by visiting at least three of the other book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

Bold_line

Last Week’s Posts

**Click on any picture/link to view the post**

top ten tuesday   

Tuesday: Ten Books We Hope Santa Brings to our Boys

Wednesday: Review and Author Interview!: If Picasso Painted a Snowman by Amy & Greg Newbold

Thursday: Windows by Julia Denos

Friday: Children of Exile and Children of Refuge by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Bold_line

Merry Christmas to all that celebrate!

Enjoy your time off with your families and friends and books 🙂

Merry Everything and a Happy Always to all! 

Bold_line

Upcoming Week’s Posts

Thursday: #MustReadin2017 Final Update

Bold_line

 So, what are you reading?

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!

 Signature andRickiSig