IMWAYR

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

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. 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!

Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee 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.

 

Last Week’s Posts

We have GIVEAWAYS for the Junket is Nice and Sidekicked pages that are still live. You can enter every day and get 1 free entry daily!!!

**Click on any picture above to view the post**

 

Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: This week I had a pretty good reading week. First, I finished my rereadings of the Walden finalists- they are all so great!!! I may even go back and reread some of them again just to get a final feeling for them. I also reread Stardines and Building Our House in preparation for this week’s reviews. I also read Junket is Nice in preparation for the review this week. Finally, I read Liz Kessler’s newest novel, North of Nowhere. It was filled with mystery and students will be guessing throughout the novel. I will be reviewing for you all in a couple of weeks. Overall, a pretty successful week!

Ricki: Like Kellee, I reread all of the Walden Award finalists this week. I am excited to post more about them this Friday. Kellee and I are joining forces for a blog post about our experiences on the book award committee, so check back if you are interested. We will give more information about applying to the committee at that time. This week, I also read Junket is Nice by Dorothy Kunhardt and More Than This by Patrick Ness (both of which I blogged about–click the pictures above if you missed them). Lastly, I finished When Kids Can’t Read by Kylene Beers. Check back on Thursday for my review. I know it is taught in many reading and methods courses, but if you haven’t read it yet, it is absolutely fantastic.

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: This week I am driving all week, so I hope to finally finish the David Sedaris audiobook that I’ve been listening to all month. It is hilarious and I want to finish cherishing it. I’ve also started Wonder Light by R.R. Russell, also for review, and enjoying it so far. It’s protagonist is a “troubled” girl who is sent to a pony ranch to “find herself.” After Wonder Light, I’m not sure what I’ll read next. I know I want to read Doll Bones  for the #virtualbookclub on August 5th and I have some library books on their way—we’ll see what I end up reading.

Ricki: Last night, I started The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. This year, my students were really obsessed with mental illness and depression. I bought the book in a used bookstore and gave it to a few of my seniors and they loved it. I’ve always been afraid to read it because I worry it will sink me into a sorrow pit. So far, I really enjoy it, but I probably shouldn’t be reading it while pregnant—too emotional. I don’t plan to post a review because many of you have probably already read it. After that, I think I will move onto The Infects or The One and Only Ivan. I missed that one and everyone seems to adore it. Blogging is new to me, and to be honest, I find it difficult to predict what I will read because my mood fluctuates. I don’t like reading to feel like an assignment, so you may be hearing about an entirely different book next week. Send suggestions my way, as I seem to own half of the bookstore (and particularly the high school books), and I am feeling indecisive today!

 

Upcoming Week’s Posts

  

 

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!

 and

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

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. 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!

Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee 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.

Last Week’s Posts

 

 

 **Click on any of the pictures to view the post*

 

Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: Last week I did not have to work so it gave me time to get some reading in as well as some research and writing. As planned, I finished The Price of Freedom and Tom T’s Hat Rack to review (click the book covers above to see my reviews). Unplanned, I read Zebra Forest by Adina Rishe Gewirtz and I cannot wait to share it with you this week. It is a very good debut novel. I also finished Surfacing by Nora Raleigh Baskin which I struggled with, but can see why others really enjoyed it. My favorite read of the week is definitely Primates by Jim Ottaviani. If you followed Teach Mentor Texts or me on Twitter, you know that I am a huge advocate for apes (2 of my favorite books ever have apes) and I’m so lucky to have such a great friend in Maria (@mselke01) that she sent me Primates. When I opened it, I immediately sat down and devoured it. So good! I’ll be reviewing it for Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday next week. On top of my pleasure reading, I read a bunch of articles about Emotional Intelligence and Socioeconomic Status and low reading level for research. 

 

Ricki: This week, I finished Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It. It was incredible and well worth the hype. Kelly Gallagher seems to fundamentally share many of the same theories about education as me, and he does a phenomenal job verbalizing and supporting his beliefs. I can’t wait to use it in my college class next semester. If you haven’t read this one, I highly recommend it. (Oh, and it is fewer than 150 pages, so it doesn’t take long to read.) I also finished Sarah Dessen’s The Moon and More. I fall in love with all of Sarah Dessen’s characters, so I was not surprised to have adored this one. It wasn’t my absolute favorite of all of her books, but it was certainly a wonderful read. In our Launch Week, Kellee and I did a Favorites page. She recommended Love That Dog. When I saw it on many of the Favorites lists of other bloggers in our Blog Hop, I had to read it. It made me want to teach middle school (or even upper elementary school). I would love to use this as a read-aloud. I would have used it in my high school poetry unit, had I known more about it sooner.

 

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: This week I go back to work so I will probably not get as much reading done. I’ll be able to continue my David Sedaris audiobook because I’ll be driving again, so that is exciting. I’m also researching with Teaching Struggling Readers: How to Use Brain-based Research to Maximize Learning by Carol A. Lyons which is quite interesting so far.  For pleasure, I’ll be starting Sidekicked by John David Anderson and I know I’ll love it because everything from Walden Pond Press has been quite brilliant.

 

Ricki: As I plan for my new college class, I will be doing some textbook reading. Luckily, it is all related to promoting reading, so it should be enjoyable. Kylene Beers’ When Kids Can’t Read: What Teachers Can Do: A Guide for Teachers 6-12 came highly recommended, so I will begin tackling that one. I am just about finished with Khaled Hosseini’s And the Mountains Echoed, so I am going to post that review on Thursday. Get ready–this is a great one (if you haven’t read it).

 

Upcoming Week’s Posts

    

 

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!

 Happy reading!

 and

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

 It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. 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!

Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee 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.

 

Announcements!

Last week we had giveaways every week and we are excited to announce the winners today! We’ll be contacting each of you via email today to get some info from you.

Day One: Andrea P. and Megan A.

Day Two: Jennifer F.

Day Three: Holly M.

Day Four: Linda B.

Day Five: Julee M.

Day Six: Katherine N.

Day Seven: Melissa M.

Congratulations!!!

 

Last Week’s Posts

Day One: IMWAYR     Day Two: Meet Kellee     Day Three: Meet Ricki

Day Four: How to Navigate     Day Five: Our Favorites

Day Six: Favorites Blog Hop    Day Seven: Recap

 

Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: Finished my rereads this week! I am so excited! Though the books are amazing it is nice to be moving on to other things. This week, in between rereading I did fit in some other reading. First, I finished Eleanor and Park which Ricki and I will be reviewing later this week. I also read Jeffrey Brown’s beloved Darth Vader and Son and Vader’s Little Princess which were so funny (though I think I would get them more if I was a bigger “Star Wars” fan). Finally, I read a couple of picture books that are on some mock Newbery lists- Stardines Swim High Across the Sky by Jack Prelutsky (illustrated by Carin Berger) and Building our House by Jonathan Bean- and I cannot wait to review both of these for you as well. 

 

Ricki: Unlike Kellee, I still have two more books to reread for our book award. Then, I am free until the next round of rereading! I also finished Eleanor and Park, which I adored. I can’t wait to review this one with Kellee. In case anyone is keeping track, I also finished Les Miserables. I didn’t enjoy it very much, but now I can officially watch the movie without guilt. Lastly, I read Teen Boat, a graphic novel about a teenage boy named Teen Boat who has the ability to turn into a boat. It was very peculiar, but I found it to be quite funny. I’d recommend it to upper middle school teachers.

 

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: Unfortunately Margaret Cho was bounced because I received the newest David Sedaris book in audiobook, Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls, from the library and I bumped everything down to listen to it. I love David Sedaris and so far am really liking this one as well. I’ll also be reading The Price of Freedom and Tom T’s Hat Rack for the reviews later this week. Finally, I began Zebra Forest by Adina Rishe Gerwirtz today and so far am enjoying it. Looking forward to sharing my review of this one as well.

 

Ricki: For starters, I will reread two more books for the book award to get ready for our next round in the process. Also, I started Readicide: How Schools are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It by Kelly Gallagher last week and absolutely love it. I am teaching a college course next semester, and this book came recommended for my syllabus, so I thought I would give it a try. It definitely lives up to the hype and is extremely interesting. Lastly, I finally got my hands on a copy of The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen, so I will definitely be enjoying that one this week.

 

Upcoming Week’s Posts

   

   

 

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!

 

Happy reading!

 and

 

 

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

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. 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!

Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee 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.

Welcome to Unleashing Readers!  We thank you for checking out our new blog and cannot wait to share our love of books and teaching with you. This week we will be getting you acquainted with our blog during our Unleashing Readers Launch Party. We hope you’ll come back and check us out. 

 

Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: This week I continued rereading my books for the award committee, so unfortunately I cannot talk about them. What I can share is that I finished an (adult!) Al Franken audiobook entitled Oh, The Things I Know! which, if you like Al Franken, was quite funny.  He really knows how to find humor in just about any situation.

 

Ricki: I am also continuing to reread books for the award committee, and sadly, I can’t talk about them either. We will surely share news about them when we are permitted. I finished The 5th Wave by Ricky Yancey and loved it. I plan to post a review next Thursday to share its goodies. I also finished Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley, an excellent graphic novel about Kinsley’s life, told through food.

 

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: I am going to take a quick break from rereading because I got a book from the library that I had been waiting for: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. I have heard such great things about it from some people I know who have great taste. After finishing it, I will go back to my rereading though I am almost done.  For my audiobook, next in line is a Margaret Cho (adult!) book which I hope is as hilarious as her stand-up.

 

Ricki: My school librarians gave me one more day to finish Les Miserables, so I will finish that today or tomorrow. Honestly, it has been insufferable, so I’ve been trudging through it for weeks. I always tell my students to put down books they don’t like, but I never seem to follow my own advice! I am also reading Eleanor and Park, like Kellee, and we plan to team up for a review later this month (yahoo!).

 

Upcoming Week’s Posts

 

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!

and