IMWAYR

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!

Wednesday: Q&A with Nadine Presley, Author of A Ramadan Night

Sunday: Author Guest Post: “What Post-Apocalyptic Fiction Can Teach Us about Humanity, Resilience, and Critical Thinking” by Magda Mizzi, Author of Tyranny of Tomorrow and Dawn in Ruins

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

Kellee

It’s my week off! But you can learn more about any of the books I’ve been reading by checking out my read bookshelf on Goodreads.

Ricki

I’ve been reading a lot of adult books recently. I think it’s allowing me a bit of escapism. I’ll return to YA soon. 🙂

Picture Book

Goldfinches by Mary Oliver has received a lot of starred reviews. I loved it and immediately pre-ordered a copy for some relatives.

Young Adult

I read What We Did to Survive by Megan Lally with Kellee and two of our other ALAN friends. We had a lot of fun reading this one. It is a page-turner about four teens trying to survive on a boat in the middle of a storm.

Adult

I saw Foster by Claire Keegan on a few lists, so I decided to check it out. I was blown away by the author’s ability to draw me so intensely into the story with such a short text (it is 101 pages). The emotions I felt at the end of the novel were powerful.

Several of my students listed There’s Always This Year by Hanif Abdurraqib as their favorite book, so I decided to read it. This nonfiction text is incredibly well-written. It is about basketball and life.

Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson was a local brewery’s book club text, so I read it (even though I knew I couldn’t attend the book club meeting—ha ha!). This one is well-deserving of all of the praise it has received. The storytelling is stunning.

No Matter What by Cara Bastone is the story of a husband and wife who are struggling in their relationship because of a traumatic accident. It’s a bit of a romance, but it is more about trauma’s effects. I absolutely loved that the narrator was learning to be a figure artist. I asked my art teacher if we could do figure drawing after I read this book. 🙂

Adult Romance

And I consumed adult romances, which are the biggest escape for me, lately, in this world! Highlights about each are below.

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren: Enemies to lovers. The brother of the groom and identical sister of the bride go on their sibling’s honeymoon when the bride and groom get sick.

The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros. Part historical fiction, part fiction, both stories romance. The narrator is recently divorced and taking care of her great-grandmother’s estate. Her great grandmother is a popular romance writer who never finished her romance story of her own life. Noah, a best-selling tragedy/romance writer is hired to write the ending. Enemies to lovers.

Tessa Bailey’s It Happened One Summer and Hook, Line, and Sinker are stories of fishermen who work in very dangerous work conditions. In book one, a rich influencer is sent to the fishing town because her stepfather thinks she doesn’t understand the value of hard work. Her sister goes with her. Book two is about her sister. I really adored the setting of these two books.

Ana Huang’s Twisted Love and Twisted Games are both spicier romances (books 1 and 2 out of 4). I really enjoyed reading them, but the possessiveness of the men was a little bit off-putting for me.

The Book Tour by Emily Ohanjanians is an enemies to lovers romance. I liked that the main character is Armenian. Too many romances are about all-white characters! It’s about an author who is on tour with her grumpy book publicist.

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

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!

Thursday: Sofia’s YA Book Nook: Books I Read for My 9th Grade Honors English Class

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

Kellee

This weekend got away from me–it was opening baseball weekend as well as Trent’s birthday weekend, so I didn’t get around to writing an IMWAYR, but you can 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; see you next week!

Wednesday: Q&A with Nadine Presley, Author of A Ramadan Night

Sunday: Author Guest Post: “What Post-Apocalyptic Fiction Can Teach Us about Humanity, Resilience, and Critical Thinking” by Magda Mizzi, Author of Tyranny of Tomorrow and Dawn in Ruins

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

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!

Wednesday: Educators’ Guide for Dream by Barbara O’Connor

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

Kellee

It’s my week off, but you can always learn more about any of the books I’ve been reading by checking out my read bookshelf on Goodreads!

Ricki

I just spent four hours culminating resources for book censorship for the graduate course that I am teaching. Needless to say, I ran out of time to share the books I read this week, but I’ll share them next time! 🙂

Ricki

I am currently reading Sashimi by Dan Santat!

Thursday: Sofia’s YA Book Nook: Books I Read for My 9th Grade Honors English Class

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

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!

Thursday: Sofia’s YA Book Nook: The Heart of Everything by Marc Levy

Sunday: Author Guest Post: “Teaching Activities Related to James Baldwin’s Extraordinary Life” by Michelle Meadows, Author of Jimmy’s Rhythm & Blues

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

Kellee

Books I’ve read since 1/12/26

Picture Books

As you can probably guess, as the administrative assistant for the 2026 Caldecott Committee, I read A LOT of 2025 picture books. To keep with the confidentiality of the process, I am only going to share 5 that I read–the 5 that WON THE CALDECOTT! Here is our award winner followed by the four honors. As you can guess, I highly recommend all of these picture books. I think our chair and my friend Jewel Davis said it best about all of these books:

“Fireworks is distinguished by the way it captures the rhythm of a summer day,” Caldecott committee chair Jewel Davis said.  “It is a rare book that trusts the quiet, lived-in moments of childhood to be just as spectacular as the main event.”

“Across the medal and honor books, a quiet throughline of belonging emerged,” said Davis. “The illustrations in each title approach this idea differently, through mood, setting, texture, and visual structure, but together they reflect a year of picture books that are both joyful and meaningful. These titles affirm children’s emotional lives and their connections to the world around them in ways that feel grounded, expansive, and deeply respectful of young readers.”

• Medal Winner: Fireworks by Matthew Burgess, Illustrated by Catia Chien
• Honors:
  • Every Monday Mabel by Jashar Awan
  • Our Lake by Angie Kang
  • Stalactitie & Stalagmite by Drew Beckmeyer
  • Sundust by Zeke Peña

Middle Grade

• Dog Man: Big Jim Believes by Dav Pilkey: Another funny and heartwarming edition of Dog Man. I love how Dav Pilkey never runs out of ideas and each book surprises me!

Young Adult

• Fatal Thrones: The Wives of Henry VIII Tell All by various: This book is told in chronological order through the point of view of each of Henry VIII’s wives with mini-chapters between each queen’s showing Henry’s point of view. I loved how the authors took their research and twisted it to tell the reader the history through the voices of women who did not get the chance to tell their story. And man, sometimes real history is more filled with drama and story than anything an author could make up.
• Queen’s Match by Katharine McGee: Another historical fiction novel that takes a time in history that was pretty wild and turned it into a can’t-put-down historical fiction book. This is the sequel to Queen’s Game and continues the story of the 3 women, all connected to Prince Eddy, and how their lives fall into place. I loved researching as I read to see what was true and what wasn’t. Filled with romance and drama!
• The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives by Dashka Slater: Dashka Slater’s other nonfiction book, Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Who Lives It Changed, showed me what a brilliant reporter and storyteller she is. I love that she tells a well rounded story, shows the humanity of all involved but also shows the consequences of mistakes, and writes it in a way that is interesting to read.
• Queen Bee by Amalie Howard: Revenge and romance set ihn 1800s England!!! Once I got passed one believable aspect in the book, I really enjoyed it and didn’t want to put it down as I was totally invested in both the romance and the revenge plot!
• Blue Lock Vol 1 by Muneyuki Kaneshiro, Illustrated by Yosuke Nomura: So many of my students ask me about this manga, so I wanted to give it a try, and I CAN SEE WHY–dystopia + soccer + manga = a fanastic read.

Adult

• The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel: This was one of those audiobooks where I didn’t want to get out of my car because I wanted to keep listening to it. And I wanted to talk to everyone about it. It is an interesting look into human psychology around crime.
• Miracle Children: Race, Education, and a True Story of False Promises by Katie Benner & Eric L. Green: This story is heartbreaking to read as an educator. Anyone who takes advantage of people who are trying to give their children the best they can are the worst. (Hence why I cannot support charter or private schools in most situations.) A well done book but definitely made me angry for all of these families.
• The Pearl by John Steinbeck: Trente wanted to read The Pearl, so we listened to it together, and it is as tough a story. That ending was exactly what I remembered (from when I read it in 4th grade), and it is just as devastating. Definitely not a happy book but Steinbeck does know how to write.

And 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; see you next week!

Kellee

• Rereading: Thieves’ Gambit by Kayvion Lewis
• Reading: Sashimi by Dan Santat
• Listening: The Enigma Girls: How Ten Teenagers Broke Ciphers, Kept Secrets, and Helped Win WWII

Wednesday: Educators’ Guide for Dream by Barbara O’Connor

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

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!

Wednesday: The Aftermyth by Tracy Wolff

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

Kellee

This is my week off! You can always learn more about any of the books I’ve been reading by checking out my read bookshelf on Goodreads.

Ricki

Middle Grade

My 9-year-old son and I listened to Buffalo Dreamer by Violet Duncan. We really liked it. It tells the story of a girl who is visiting her family, and her grandfather is an Indian boarding schools survivor. While she is there, she keeps dreaming of a girl who is running from an Indian boarding school. There aren’t many books available at the middle grade level about Indian boarding schools, so I am really glad this book exists. It was well-written and engaging.

Young Adult

On Starlit Shores by Bex Glendining is a graphic novel about a girl who is packing up her grandmother’s house after her death. There is a bit of magical realism/fantasy in this book, which I really enjoyed as a reader.

Adult

I love Lucy Score’s romance novels and enjoyed Maggie Moves On. She does a great job building characters.

Overruled by Lana Ferguson is an adorable romance about divorce attorneys. This one had some depth to it, which I always enjoy in a romance!

Love is a War Song by Danica Nava is an Indigenous love story about a popular singer who makes some racist mistakes. She decides to visit her reservation to wait out the media fallout. It’s a wonderful romance that I highly recommend.

I was blown away by Virginia Evans’ The Correspondent. I listened to this one on audio and loved it. It is well worth the hype–very well-written and thought-provoking.

I am rereading Mexikid by Pedro Martín for my class this week! I love this book!

Thursday: Sofia’s YA Book Nook: The Heart of Everything by Marc Levy

Sunday: Author Guest Post: “Teaching Activities Related to James Baldwin’s Extraordinary Life” by Michelle Meadows, Author of Jimmy’s Rhythm & Blues

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

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!

Tuesday: The Case of the Scarlet Snakebite by Christyne Morrell

Thursday: Sofia’s YA Book Nook: Nothing More to Tell by Karen McManus

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

Kellee

I am in Chicago for the ALA Youth Media Awards since I am the administrative assistant for the 2026 Caldecott Award. Tune in today at 10 a.m. CT to see all the award winners and honors!

Even without me posting, 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; see you next week!

Wednesday: The Aftermyth by Tracy Wolff

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

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!

Wednesday: Kellee’s 2025 Reading Recap & Stats and 2025 5 ⭐ Reads

Sunday: Author’s Guest Post: “Teaching Dual Perspectives Through Adventure Stories”
by Sarah Branson, Author of For the Love of Glitter & A Pirates’ Pact

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

Kellee

I am off this week! You can always learn more about any of the books I’ve been reading by checking out my read bookshelf on Goodreads.

Ricki

All right, y’all. I have a lot of books to share since the break! Full disclosure: Every time I am sad from the news, I read a romance, so there’s a lot of romance lately. I have some pretty awesome books to share!

Middle Grade

I’d never read Front Desk by Kelly Yang, so I grabbed a copy! I love the life lessons in this book. It teaches about immigration, and there are a lot of connections between the economy and activism. I highly recommend it if you haven’t read it!

Young Adult

First, three wonderful Lynn Painter YA romances, Better than the Movies, Nothing Like the Movies, and Fake Skating. I recommend all three. I read all of them in a row because I enjoyed her writing so much.

I had read about Deb J. J. Lee’s graphic memoir in many places, and I decided to find it in my stacks. This is another book I recommend highly. I can see why it gets so much praise. I also appreciated the ways it incorporated understandings of the eye fold.

Sacha Lamb’s The Forbidden Book won a regional award, so I downloaded it. I really appreciate this Jewish fantasy. I also appreciate that publishers are printing books that extend beyond Holocaust novels for Jewish characters. I am not sure why this one has such a low rating on GoodReads because I thought it was very well done.

Hayley Chewins’ I Am the Swarm has many starred reviews, so I snagged a copy. I liked reading this one in print over listening to it–in case you are thinking about giving it a try. There is powerful symbolism of bugs in this book.

Candace Fleming’s Death in the Jungle is a nonfiction account of Jonestown—the cult, murders, and mass suicide. Candace Fleming is a fantastic writer, and this book hooked me from beginning to end.

I added Frederick Joseph’s This Thing of Ours to my syllabus next semester because I really liked the incorporation of basketball, creative writing, and activism in this book. It is very well-written, as with all of Joseph’s books.

I adored Cynthia Leitich Smith’s Legendary Frybread Drive-In. It’s a fantastic collection of short stories. Each story was interesting and thoughtful, and I am so glad this collection exists!

Whew–This Place Kills Me by Mariko Tamaki and Nicole Goux takes readers through quite a rollercoaster. This graphic novel is almost like a murder mystery and a thriller. I really appreciated its tackling of difficult topics.

Adult

I had never read Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale, and given its praise (and the fact it is going to be a movie), I decided to give it a go. I really appreciated this well-written story and am glad I went back to read it!

Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents by Lindsay C. Gibson is a fantastic nonfiction text. A few friends read it at the same time as me, and we all really appreciated Dr. Gibson’s knowledge.

My son read Michale Bornstein and Debbie Bornstein Holinstat’s nonfiction book: The Survivors Club: The True Story of a Very Young Prisoner of Auschwitz. This is a tough, tough read about a child’s experience in Auschwitz. I felt absolutely gutted as I read it, but I am very glad that I did.

Jacqueline Harpman’s I Who Have Never Known Men is a translation. It’s a dystopian story about 30 women locked in a cage underground. I really, really enjoyed reading this book and immediately wanted to talk about it with other people. Highly recommend. It’s not new, but it went viral recently, so a bunch of folks are reading it.

I really enjoyed Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy. It’s incredibly well-written—a story about a woman who washes ashore a very remote island. She is searching for her husband, and instead, she finds a family on the island.

Fredrik Backman’s My Friends is truly one of the best books I’ve ever read about friendship. This one is also very well-written. My book club read it, and everyone loved it. It’s hard to get all of us to agree because we have different book tastes, but this one was a winner.

I’ve attended two book clubs that read Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. This historical fiction is a must-read. I learned a lot about women in NASA (a topic I didn’t think I could find to be so fascinating!)

Catherine Newman’s Wreck is another book club book. I liked it okay—it’s send on Cape Cod, so I enjoyed reading it while I was visiting family there. But it was a bit slower in pace (which some people like!).

I will never forget Jennette McCurdy’s Half His Age. It’s about a teacher-student relationship, and I found it incredibly disturbing. It’s vulgar and raw, and it holds no punches.

Adult Romance

I am going to share a very brief comment about each romance!

Alison Cochrun’s The Charm Offensive is a queer romance set on a television reality show set that is very similar to the Bachelor series.

Carley Fortune’s Every Summer After and One Golden Summer are a celebration of summer in romance form.

I love every book in Sarah Adam’s When In Rome and In Your Dreams are a part of a series set in Rome, Kentucky, and I enjoyed every book in this series.

I will also read anything Ali Hazelwood writes, and Two Can Play is about two video game designers.

I loved Lynn Painter’s YA texts, so I snagged Maid for Each Other. I laughed out loud a lot while reading this one. The female narrator is very funny. This is like a rendition of Pretty Woman, but don’t we all love that movie?

Jodi McAlister’s An Academic Affair is about two grad students who become professors and have to compete for the same job.

Lily King’s Heart the Lover is very literary and not quite a romance in its prime focus (but it is a romance). I couldn’t decide whether to put this in my adult or adult romance section. I recommend reading this one with your eyes rather than listening. I don’t think its literary strength is as appreciated on audio (I read it both ways).

Zakiya N. Jamal’s Sparks Fly is a really fun romance that offers some great commentary about AI. I really enjoyed this one.

Julie Olivia’s If It Makes You Happy is about a woman who is post divorce and whose mom just died. She is taking care of an inn that her mom started.

Ricki

Love is a War Song by Danica Nava

Tuesday: The Case of the Scarlet Snakebite by Christyne Morrell

Thursday: Sofia’s YA Book Nook: Nothing More to Tell by Karen M. McManus

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