Book List

#MustReadIn2018 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.”

You will find our hopeful 2018 must read lists below. Some are books that we keep telling ourselves that we will read (but never got around to reading), some are new books that we are really excited about, and some are books that we simply need to read because we promised someone that we would read them. We focused on MG and YA literature for our lists, but do not worry–we’ll still be reading picture books, too!

Now without further adieu:

Kellee’s #mustreadin2018

Okay, so I am being super ambitious this year. First, I have a few authors that I am going to try to read multiple books from because I either love their work, haven’t read anything by them, or am Skyping with them with my book club, so I just listed the author. Then, I made a list of books I really want to read either because my students love them or I just have wanted to read it for a while. Finally, I added a few copies of books that my students asked me to add to the list. All of this equaled a crazy list that I may not get through, but I love it!

1. Laurie Halse Anderson
Vet Volunteers #1: Fight for Life 6/14/2018
Vet Volunteers #2: Homeless 6/19/18
Vet Volunteers #3: Trickster 6/19/18
Twisted 6/20/18
Vet Volunteers #4: Manatee Blues 7/7/18
Vet Volunteers #5: Say Goodbye 7/19/18
Vet Volunteers #6: Storm Rescue 7/27/18
Vet Volunteers #7: Teacher’s Pet 7/27/18
Vet Volunteers #8: Trapped 8/5/18

2. Joseph Bruchac
Chester Nez and the Unbreakable Code: A Navajo Code Talker’s Story 7/21/18
“Choke” from Guys Read: Sports Pages 7/21/18

3. Eric Gansworth
“Don’t Pass Me By” from Fresh Ink 2/26/2018

4. Dan Gemeinhart
Some Kind of Courage 4/21/2018 
Good Dog 4/28/2018

5. Alan Gratz
Prisoner B-3087 2/8/2018

6. Mitali Perkins
Open Mic edited by Mitali Perkins including her story “Three-Pointer” 3/17/2018
Tiger Boy 5/15/2018
Rickshaw Girl 5/13/2018

7. Gae Polisner
The Memory of Things 1/22/2018

8. Rick Riordan
Reread The Lost Hero 7/13/18
Son of Neptune 7/29/18
Mark of Athena 8/16/18
House of Hades 9/1/18

9. Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
“Confessions of a Black Geek” from Open Mic 3/17/2018
Two Naomis 3/27/2018

10. Eliot Schrefer
The Deadly Sister  2/11/2018
Mez’s Magic 2/25/2018
Orphaned 7/6/18

11. Laurel Snyder
Swan 1/6/2018
The Longest Night 1/6/2018
Forever Garden 1/11/2018
Baxter, the Pig Who Wanted to be Kosher 1/13/2018
Any Which Wall 1/13/2018
Seven Stories Up 1/14/2018
Bigger Than a Breadbox (reread) 1/15/2018
Good night, laila tov 1/16/2018
Orphan Island 1/17/2018

12. Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed 7/19/18

13. Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan 7/15/18

14. Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy 8/12/18

15. The False Prince trilogy by Jennifer A. Nielsen
The False Prince 3/4/2018
The Runaway King 3/13/2018
The Shadow Throne 4/3/2018

16. First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Pérez

17. Gallagher Girl series by Ally Carter

18. Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore

19. The Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer
Started, but then my library loan expired. Will continue listening as soon as it is available.

20. Me and Marvin Gardens by Amy Sarig King

21. The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson

22. Prisoner of Ice and Snow by Ruth Lauren

23. Rebels by Accident by Patricia Dunn
1/27/2018

24. A Series of Unfortunate Events series by Lemony Snicket
The Bad Beginning 2/14/2018

25. Serpent’s Secret by Sayantani Dasgupta
Decided to wait until more of the series is out.

26. Solo by Kwame Alexander
8/18/2018

27. The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore

28. Stung series by Bethany Wiggins
Stung 4/1/2018
Cured 4/4/2018

29. The Testing trilogy by Joelle Charbonneau

30. Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman
1/5/2018

31. The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex

32. What Girls are Made of by Elana K. Arnold
7/25/18

33. Young Elites trilogy by Marie Lu
Young Elites 9/27/18

Completed: 22 out of 33

Ricki’s #mustreadin2018

1. The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater

2. The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

3. Blankets by Craig Thompson

4. Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough December 2018

5. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi August 2018

6. Dear Martin by Nic Stone

7. Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes December 2018

8. Hurricane Child by Kheryn Callender

9. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez

10. A Land of Permanent Goodbyes by Atia Abawi

11. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

12. Piecing Me Together by Reneé Watson July 2018

13. Sometimes We Tell the Truth by Kim Zarins

14. They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

15. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

16. We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

Completed: 4 out of 16

Have you read any of these titles? What’s on your #mustreadin2018 list?

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#mustreadin2018 Spring Update

#mustreadin2018 Fall Update

#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:

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?

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#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:

Ricki

Whew. I have not been doing a good job. Similar to Kellee, below, I have had some major obligations. I wrote a 280-page dissertation! I am hoping to fly through some of these books right after I graduate next month. 🙂

March by John Lewis

This book. If you haven’t gotten to it yet, read it. It’s simply incredible

Kellee’s Review from July 12, 2017

Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley

Yes, yes, yes. I learned so much about agoraphobia, but I also learned so much about friendship and what it means to be human.

Reviewed on June 29, 2017

The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle

This book is phenomenal. I feel fortunate to have read it. After Quinn’s sister passes away, he holes himself up in his house. This book is raw, and it feels real. Tim Federle also manages to add a lot of humor in the text.

Kellee

Since our Spring Update five months ago, I have been able to put a significant dent in my #mustreadin2017 list! I still don’t know if I am going to finish them all, but I am proud of where I am: I’ve read 9 out of 20!

Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer

Belzhar is so brilliantly crafted and is a fascinating look at the teenage mind, love, guilt, depression/mental illness, friendship, and literature, and I am so glad that I read it (FINALLY, as Jessica Moore would say).

Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley

Oh man. The feels that this book gave me! Sol will always have a special place in my heart! And the audiobook was really quite well done.

The Hunted by Matt de la Peña

I am so mad at myself for waiting so long to read The Hunted! I loved The Living, and I loved The Hunted. It is interesting though because they are two very different dystopian/post-apocalyptic stories because they deal with two different conflicts, but you really need to read both to understand the full devastation you are just introduced to in The Living.

March by Jon Lewis and Andrew Aydin

Reviewed on July 12, 2017

This series meant to much to me! Please read my review because I lay it all out. AND I GOT TO MEET JON LEWIS!!!

Posted by John David Anderson

Reviewed April 21, 2017

Posted is a must-have for middle school libraries and classrooms. It is funny yet leaves you with a really important message.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapien Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda is just a perfect high school story. It has the right bits of snark and romance and drama.

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicole Yoon

The Sun is Also a Star is a love story. But it is also a story of how people affect those around them. And it is a story about parents’ impacts on their kids’ lives. It is a entanglement of feelings that leaves you satisfied at the end.

Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Gaudin

WHOA! This is such a messed up series! But so good. As soon as I finished the first one, I had to read the second one. It is terrifying to think about a world where Hitler still rules but it is even more terrifying to think how our world actually fits some of they dystopian tones of a fiction story with that plot line.

What have you read from your #mustreadin2017 list so far?

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