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: Kellee’s 2024 Reading Recap and Stats
Sunday: “Friendship in Schools” by Arleen McCarthy, Author of My Friend John
**Click on any picture/link to view the post**
Kellee
It’s 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
Picture Books
The Cafe at the Edge of the Woods by Mikey Please is a quirky book that my son loved! It is an very odd but very fun!
I adored I Want to Read All the Books by Debbie Ridpath Ohi. I love any books about reading in mass quantities, and this one really celebrates reading! Teachers might read this one before a library trip!
Middle Grade
My son’s Battle of the Books’ team was assigned to read Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea, so I read it with him. He absolutely loved it. I believe he may even review it for the blog next week!
A friend recommended Ahimsa by Supriya Kelkar. It’s a stunning book about civil rights in India. I especially appreciated that it tackled tough topics like–how can we cause harm when we are working toward equity and justice.
I love, love, loved Mexikid by Pedro Martín and will be using it next semester when I teach about critical theory—particularly social class.
Noodle & Bao by Shaina Lu is a great graphic novel that invites readers to consider tradition and innovation!
Young Adult
I read Tasha Spillett and Natasha Donovan’s Surviving the City books I and III. I appreciated the symbolism within the text along with the ways they shared very real issues of murdered and missing Indigenous girls and women, racist monuments, and Indian boarding schools. These graphic novels are short (about 60 pages) and well worth the read. I need to get my hands on volume II!
A friend recommended Ordinary Hazards by Nikki Grimes. I had been meaning to read this memoir, and it is beautifully written and utterly heartbreaking. Nikki demonstrates such incredible strength.
I loved Brownstone by Samuel Teer and Mar Julia. This graphic novel is about a girl who goes to help her father renovate brownstones, but she doesn’t speak Spanish. There are so many complex themes explored in this book. I loved it.
A friend and colleague is hosting a book discussion of Self-Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore, so I reread it to join the conversation this week. I love this book so much—it is a powerful retelling of The Great Gatsby.
A student recommended Northranger by Rey Terciero and Bre Indigo. It’s about a gay teen who goes with his step-father to work on a rural ranch. I liked this book a lot and felt like the setting and characterization were extremely well done.
I was blown away by The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky by Josh Galarza. It explores eating disorders in boys. We need more books like this one. The writing is absolutely stunning.
I was so excited to read Unbecoming by Seema Yasmin after the author spoke at the ALAN Workshop. This is a book that shares the harms that can come to women if we ban abortion.
Adult
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon is going to be my favorite adult read of the year (I can confidently say this in January). It is a creative nonfiction about the true story of a midwife in the 1700s. I highly recommend this book!
Lula Den’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller was popping up on a lot of folks’ best books of the year lists, so I snagged it to read. It’s about a little library of banned books—but the irony is that the books have been swapped and are in dust jackets of old-fashioned texts. So people take books out of the library thinking they are going to read “wholesome” texts, but they end up reading banned books. The little library is in Lula Dean’s front yard, and she is the central censor in the town.
My book club loved Liz Moore’s The God of the Woods. I enjoyed it, but I listened, and I think it is a book that would have been more enjoyable in print. It took me a long time to understand which characters were which. I liked it, but my book club loved it so much.
Adult Romance
I separated my recent romance obsession out from the other adult books to set them apart. I’ve been enjoying reading about love.
Hellen Hoang’s The Kiss Quotient is about an autistic woman who hires an escort to teach her about romance. It’s really sweet and very spicy.
Beth O’Leary’s The Flat Share is about a woman who shares a flat with a man, but they work opposite hours, so they won’t meet.
Sarah Adams’ The Off Limits Rule is about a man who is interested in his best friend’s sister. My kids bought me this one for the holidays!
I fell into Ali Hazelwood’s books. I love her nerdy academic romances! The Love Hypothesis and Love Theoretically are both fantastic.
Ricki
Currently Reading: A World Worth Saving by Kyle Lukoff
Tuesday: Firelight Apprentice by Bree Paulsen
Thursday: Sofia’s YA Book Nook: How to Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine
Sunday:Author Guest Post: “Back Matter Can Be the Beginning” by Charlotte Gunnufson, Author of Dream Submarine
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!
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I love that your son is so excited about Because of Mr. Terupt that he wants to review it himself! That’s awesome!
I love Because of Mr. Terupt, too, so glad it’s still being chosen to read! Thanks for so many, Ricki. I’ve read some & added to my list, too!
Because of Mr. Terupt was a Cybils’ finalist back in 2010, even before your son was probably born! I loved I Want to Read All the Books and actually have a copy of my own because… well, that’s my goal too! Have a great week and stay warm!
I’ve read all these other MG books except Noodle & Bao. (I just put a hold on it.) I adored the rest of them but especially Ahimsa because of what it has to teach all of us who want to be allies.
I’ve read the first two in the Surviving the City series, but am looking forward ti the third. They might be short, but they are profound.
Unbecoming sounds like such an important book. I remember reading Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future by A.S. King, and thinking, this could never happen in America. Yet here we are.