It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
Sharing Picture Books, Early Readers, Middle Grade Books, and Young Adult Books for All Ages!
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly blog hop co-hosted by Unleashing Readers and Teach Mentor Texts which focuses on sharing books marketed for children and young adults. 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.
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!
**Click on the picture/link to view the post**
Kellee
Here are my reading updates since January 9th:
Young Adult
- Whiteout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon: I am so glad that this group of wonderful writers got together to make another book like Blackout. Though not a companion or sequel, it has the same feel–> a wonderful group of romances, all happening simultaneously in the most unlikely circumstances.
- Truly Devious, The Vanishing Stair, and The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson: Maureen Johnson is so tricky!! The first book sucks you in. You need to know how not only the current mystery is solved but also the mystery from the 1930s. You are following Stevie’s progress, all excited, and BAM! a “to be continued…” and guess what? Everything isn’t solved until book 3, but you have to read them all because you HAVE to know! What a great trilogy of books!
- Promise Boys by Nick Brooks: WHOA! This book starts off with a literal bang because the very first thing you learn is about a murder and the 3 suspects. The rest of the book shares the points of view of the suspects and a bunch of different witnesses, all allowing the reader and the characters alike to work to figure out who the real killer is.
- Five Survive by Holly Jackson: Holly Jackson did not disappoint me! The suspense in this book is palpable! What starts off as a fun cross country spring break road trip in an RV turns into an active shooter situation with a group of friends stuck together full of accusations. I mean, look at the title–there are 6 kids, but you know only 5 survive!
- Nothing More to Tell by Karen McManus: Karen McManus is another mystery writer that I can always count on. This story takes us with Brynn back to her old prep school where a teacher was found dead 4 years ago. Although the death was solved, Brynn thinks something is awry and uses this story to land a job at a true-crime show. The book then follow Brynn as she digs deeper into what happened to the teacher.
- Demon Slayer Vol 1 & 2 by Koyoharu Gotouge: I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this series, but I really, really do! It almost seems like it could take place in a similar world as The Promised Neverland which is my favorite manga. I cannot wait to read more of the series to see Tanjiro Kamado grow as a demon slayer while also searching for answers.
- The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe: Nora grew up with a con-artist mom who would make her change her appearance, personality, back story, etc. every time they took on a new con. Now she is finally freed of her mom, but she finds herself stuck in the middle of a bank robbery where her past life will be a benefit. A wonderful mix of flash backs and current action lends itself to a book I couldn’t put down.
Middle Grade/School
- Diper Överlöde by Jeff Kinney: This was a great addition to the DotWK series. It was nice to get a good Rodrick story.
- Play Like a Girl by Misty Wilson, Illustrated by David Wilson: (We reviewed this book a couple of weeks ago.) All of you fans of Raina Telgemeier have another amazing memoir to add to your TBR pile!
- Wings of Fire Graphic Novel #1: The Dragonet Prophecy by Tui T. Sutherland: Trent devoured this series, all 6 of them and is impatiently waiting for 7, and he really, really, really wanted me to read it, so I picked up #1 and was pleasantly surprised. Dragon stories are not my thing, but the mythology of this series is done really well, and I definitely can see why so many people love it.
- Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam by Thien Pham: This memoir graphic novel is almost a short story collection of different times in the authors life that led to who he was when he wrote the book. We follow him from a refugee camp to America to citizenship, all with a story filled with family, friendship, and food.
- Things in the Basement by Ben Hatke: Ben Hatke is one of my go-to graphic novel writers because his books are so unique! Things in the Basement takes the legend of one sock disappearing and turns it into a whole adventure into a never-ending basement filled with mazes, creatures, and unlikely friends.
- Lo and Behold by Wendy Mass, Illustrated by Gabi Mendez: Addie is just looking to be alone during her time with her dad at his summer job, but Mateo and her dad’s colleagues have a different idea which leads to Addie’s summer goals changing drastically! I loved the mix of sci-fi, empathy, art, and science all together in this story.
- A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat: This graphic novel memoir tells the story of Dan Santat’s trip to Europe when he was in middle school. Like the title leads you to assume, this trip is a time of a lot of firsts for Dan, so we get to explore Europe and Dan’s feelings throughout this book. Dan’s art does not disappoint, and we also learn a bit about his childhood art.
- Leonard (My Life as a Cat) by Carlie Sorosiak: Leonard is not the sweet house cat that Olive thought she was rescuing in the middle of the storm–Leonard is an immortal being from outer space. This is Leonard’s story as he learns about Earth and what is all really means down here.
To learn more about any of these books, check out my read bookshelf on Goodreads.
Ricki
It is Kellee’s week to post on IMWAYR; I’ll see you next week!
Kellee
- Reading: Airi Sano, Prankmaster General #1: New School Skirmish by Zoe Tokushige, Illustrated by Jennifer Naalchigar
- Listening: Undercover Latina by Aya De León
- Listening with Trent: The Beast and the Bethany by Jack Meggitt-Phillips, Illustrated by Isabelle Follath
Tuesday: Educators’ Guide for Tiny Pretty Things and Shiny Broken Pieces by Sona Charaipotra & Dhonielle Clayton
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
So jealous whenever I see someone has read Dan Santat’s new book.