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.

CONGRATULATIONS

PATRICIA

for winning a copy of Margarita Engle’s Sky Painter!!!

Last Week’s Posts

 

Tuesday: Top Ten Parents in Books

Friday: Blog Tour, Giveaway, and Author Guest Post: Go, Pea, Go by Joe Moshier and Chris Sonnenburg

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

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: This week was a much slower reading week than last. I did finish another 2 graphic novels. They were very different, but both very good. First, I read Hidden: A Child’s Story of the Holocaust by Loïc Dauvillier which is a different holocaust story than most and told in a very gentle way. It would be interesting to have this same story but told from the adult’s point of view. I think the illustrations and story would be much tougher. I also read Cleopatra in Space: The Thief and the Sword by Mike Maihack which is the second book in the Cleopatra in Space series, and it ends with a HORRIBLE cliffhanger. I need book three now! Additionally, I did finish the novel I was reading Falls the Shadow by Stefanie Gaither. I wanted to love this book, but I ended up just liking it. Worth a read because the plot and concept are so interesting, but I just had trouble connecting with the characters.

With Trent, I actually read 3 new books with him this week! First, we read Thumper’s Furry Friends, a Disney book about Thumper from Bambi. Trent loves touch and feel books and books with holes in the cover that make it easy to open, so this was a win-win for him. We also read Sophie’s Busy Day, a DK book about Sophie la girafe which was also touch and feel. Finally, I read The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone, which is, I think, a favorite of so many people! Jim had read this to Trent before, but this was my first time. I’d forgotten how wonderful this story was! Though I really do wish I had a good Grover voice….. Next to these three books, it is usually the same thing every night (though he has discovered his bookshelf instead of just picking up books off the floor, so I hope this gives us some variety in the future).

Ricki: It’s finals week! Huzzah! One more week and then I am in book freedom! I did get a chance to read Lisa Pliscou’s Young Jane Austen: Becoming a Writer. This was a fabulous little book that taught me a lot about Jane’s early life. I also enjoyed Photos Framed: A Fresh Look at the World’s Most Memorable Photographs by Ruth Thomson. This book explores the photographic elements and subject matter memorable photographs from 1844 through 2011. I found it to be very interesting. Henry and I reread the same ten books that he is in love with. I tried to sneak in a few new ones, and he flipped out each time. Ha. Maybe next week?

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: Last night I started A Creature of Moonlight by Rebecca Hahn. I am still at the very beginning, so we’ll see. It has gotten mixed reviews, but is compared to Bitterblue (big shoes!). In the car, I am listening to The Nearly Honorable League of Pirates: Magic Marks the Spot by Caroline Carlson and narrated by Katherine Kellgren who is doing a WONDERFUL job–I love all of her voices! With Trent we have two more Sophie books to read that his aunt got him, and I hope to read Farmer Dale’s Red Pickup Truck by Lisa Wheeler if he is feeling up to some variety.

Ricki: I would like to read X by Kekla Magoon and Ilyasa Shabazz this week! I have to read and review six manuscripts for a class, and then I am a free bird. 🙂

Upcoming Week’s Posts

 

Tuesday: Ten Books We Will Probably Never Read

 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

   

Tuesday: Top Ten ALL TIME Favorite Authors

Wednesday: Blog Tour, Author Interview, and Giveaway!: Sky Painter by Margarita Engle

Thursday: Win a class set of Ruta Sepetys’ books!

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

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: I’ve had a pretty great reading week! I read three nonfiction books: Seeds of Freedom by Hester Bass, Photos Framed by Ruth Thomson, and Chips and Cheese and Nana’s Knees: What is Alliteration by Brian P. Cleary. I truly enjoyed all three! Seeds and Photos both looked into history that I thought I knew and now know even more about. We’ll be reviewing both of these. Chips and Cheese was just as good as the rest of the series. A great way to introduce a concept to students. I finished two novels this week as well: A Death-Struck Year by Makiia Lucier, a story of a teenage girl in Portland during the Spanish influenza outbreak in 1918, and The Paper Cowboy by Kristin Levine, an intense story that looks at family and community and got better and better as I read (listened). Finally, I read five wonderful graphic novels:

• Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales: The Underground Abductor by Nathan Hale is another amazing installment of Hale’s Hazardous Tales. I am a huge fan of this series, and the newest book is a fascinating look at Harriet Tubman. I look forward to reviewing this for you in a couple of weeks.
• Rutabaga the Adventure Cook by Eric Colossal is the first book in a new series about a cook who travels around looking for exotic food to cook and seems to find himself in some unexpected situations such as fighting a dragon or on an expedition with three warriors looking for a monster.
• The Creeps: Night of the Frankenfrogs by Chris Schweizer is the first book in a series about a group of misfits who help save the day in their town (with no thanks from anyone!).
• The Misadventures of Salem Hyde: Dinosaur Dilemma by Frank Cammuso is the fourth Salem Hyde book and is one of my favorite. It is the first I read since I presented with Frank at NCTE where he explained that he tried to make each page its own comic strip like Garfield or Peanuts, so I read this one differently. I loved seeing the humor in each page and how they all fit together.
• Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson is so wonderful! I don’t know how I missed it in March! I review this one for you this week.

Ricki: I have returned from Chicago! I had a blast and got to see some great sessions. I went to a session about building learning communities in schools. In this learning community, several professors came together and developed a reading list and met each month to learn more about culturally and linguistically diverse learners. It was very inspiring!

I finished Writing Up Qualitative Research by Harry F. Wolcott. It is similar to Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird but more focused on academic writing. If anyone is interested in writing an article, I highly recommend this book. It made me want to drop everything and write.

Henry and I have been visiting different bookstores lately. I enjoy letting him peruse the shelves to touch the books. His face lights up when he finds books with cars on them. His newest favorite (a non-car book) is Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson. Gosh, this is such a fun book to read. It has such great rhythm!

Our trip to the bookstore today!

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: This week I am going to be starting a new audiobook: The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates: Magic Marks the Spot by Caroline Carlson. It’d put it on hold, so when it became available 13 days ago it automatically checked out. That means I only have a week to try to finish it. It is over 5 and a half hours long which is more than I listen to in a week usually, so we’ll see! I also am planning on reading Falls the Shadow by Stefanie Gaither and A Creature of Moonlight by Rebecca Hahn, if I have time.

Ricki: I will be reading Seeds of Freedom by Hester Bass to prepare for this week’s post. I have my comprehensive exams this week, so I won’t be able to read anything else (except my oral defense presentation a few billion times!). I hope they go well!

Upcoming Week’s Posts

 

Tuesday: Top Ten Parents in Books

Friday: Blog Tour, Review, and Author Guest Post: Go, Pea, Go by Joe Moshier and Chris Sonnenburg

 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.

Congratulations to
ERIC W.
for winning the Won Ton and Chopstick Giveaway!

Last Week’s Posts

   

Tuesday: Top Ten Inspiring Quotes from Books

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

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: First, I want to thank everyone for your kind words about Trent. It was pretty scary, but he is doing so much better! Thank you for understanding about my lack of blog visits last week as well! On top of the allergic reaction and ER visit, two bugs hit our house in one week. It was rough!

As for reading, I have read some great novels over the last two weeks!

• I finished Five, Six, Seven, Nate by Tim Federle and immediately wanted another one! I love Nate so much, and the audiobooks were phenomenal!
• I also read Here’s Hank: Fake Snakes and Weird Wizards which is a early chapter book which I will review on Friday. I think Hank and Cody, of Cody and the Fountain of Happiness, would be really good friends!
• Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern was a book I hadn’t heard anything about before I picked it up, but it was a fascinating look at disabilities with a huge cup of romance. It was like Out of My Mind for teens.
• Laurie Halse Anderson has another winner with The Impossible Knife of Memory. Anderson just knows how to craft a novel that tugs at your everything while you read.
• All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven is our next Twitter chat book, and I finished it this weekend. It is a powerful look at mental illness. I will review it soon, and you can see Ricki’s review here.

With Trent, we just kept on signing Sandra Boynton’s Fifteen Animals, Barnyard Dance, and Personal Penguin over and over 🙂 Good thing I love it! I also read Green is a Chile Pepper to him, and we made it all the way through which is great news! My mom also read Peanuts: A Scanimation Book with Trent. He loves the moving pictures!

Ricki: I am in Chicago at the AERA (American Educational Research Association) convention, so I am unable to post an update. Many of you attend NCTE, so if you want a comparison, they are similar with the session formats, but people dress up a bit more formally, and the session topics are focused on any subjects and any levels of education Kindergarten through Post-Secondary Education. Most of the attendees are professors and graduate students, although there are some practicing teachers. I enjoy the eclectic feel of the sessions and attend sessions in my area (English Education), in parallel areas (Literacy), and in outside areas (last year, I got to watch a really cool presentation about revamping Physical Education). They have a neat roundtable format that I don’t believe exists at NCTE. It is a huge room with many roundtables, and each table has three-ish presentations. The presenters discuss their work and get feedback from the others.

I apologize in advance that I can’t comment on blogs this Monday, but I promise to catch up and post double-time next week! I’ll also share anything cool that I learn. 🙂

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: I am currently listening to Kristin Levine’s Paper Cowboy from my #mustreadin2015 list. Has anyone read it? I would love to chat with someone about it. I hope to finish it this week. I also started reading A Death-Struck Year by Makiia Lucier which is a historical fiction YA novel about the flu epidemic of 1918. After Death-Struck, hopefully my hold on I’ll Give you the Sun will be available at the library, so I can read that next.

Upcoming Week’s Posts

  

Tuesday: Top Ten ALL TIME Favorite Authors

Wednesday: Blog Tour, Author Interview, and Giveaway!: Sky Painter by Margarita Engle

Thursday: Win a set of Ruta Sepetys’ books!

 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

   

Tuesday: Characters We’d Like To Check In With

Wednesday: From My (Huge) Library Pile Part Five: We Need Diverse Books (Nonfiction)

Thursday: Blog Tour and Author Guest Post: Won Ton & Chopstick: A Cat and Dog Tale Told in Haiku by Lee Wardlaw

Friday: From My (Huge) Library Pile Part Six: We Need Diverse Books (Fiction)

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

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: Unfortunately, Kellee is currently at the E.R. with little Trent. He is having an allergic reaction. Please excuse her absence from this week’s post. She promises to update you about her reading adventures next Monday!

Ricki: I hope you aren’t disappointed that you are stuck with ME this week. Hopefully, I will impress you with my reading prowess.

Professional development texts: I finished TWO professional development books this week. I read Deborah S. Koch’s How to Say It: Grantwriting. I did learn a lot, but about half of this book felt obvious to me. Overall, I am glad I read it, though. I also finished Carol Grbich’s Qualitative Data Analysis: An Introduction. This was an excellent overview of all of the qualitative approaches. I recommend this book for anyone considering qualitative work.

Middle grade text: I am just about finished with Ann M. Martin’s Rain Reign, so I am going to cheat and call it done. I suspect it will be done by the time this post goes live at midnight. 🙂 I enjoyed this book and see why others liked it. I see why it is popular with middle grade students!

Picture books: I finished Elly Mackay’s Butterfly Park. This may have the most beautiful artwork I have ever seen in a book. The cut paper made it very charming, and I got lost in the illustrations. This is a very warm, inviting book. I also read a great nonfiction book, The Sky Painter: Louis Fuertes, Bird Artist by Margarita Engle. The poetry is fantastic, and I enjoyed learning about this man in our history. I have seen his paintings, but I loved learning about his background.

This Week’s Expeditions

Ricki: My only immediate plan is to read Cody and the Fountain of Happiness by Tricia Springstubb because Kellee and I  are reviewing it Friday. 🙂

Upcoming Week’s Posts

   

Tuesday: Top Ten Inspiring Quotes from Books

 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

    

Tuesday: Ten Books We’ve Recently Added to Our To-Be-Read Lists

Thursday: #MustReadin2015 Spring Update

Sunday: Author Guest Post by Sue Duff, Author of Fade to Black and Mask and Mirrors

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

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: I have had a pile of picture books from the library to read for weeks, so I decided that this week would be when I read them. ALL of them were wonderful. Not a bad one in the bunch! You’ll see below that I am going to review nine of them this week because I was so happy with the diversity I found in these picture books, and I’ll blog about many of the others in the weeks to come. The picture books I read were:

• Winter Bees and Other Poems of the Cold by Joyce Sidman
• Butterfly Park by Elly MacKay
• H.O.R.S.E: A Game of Basketball and Imagination by Christopher Myers
• Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh
• Firebird by Misty Copeland
• Green is a Chile Pepper: A Book of Colors by Roseanne Thong
• Won Ton and Chopstick: A Cat and Dog Tale Told in Haiku by Lee Wardlaw
• By Mouse and Frog by Deborah Freeman
• The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat
• The Sky Painter: Louise Fuertes, Bird Artist by Margarita Engle
• Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker by Patricia Hruby Powell
• Little Roja Riding Hood by Susan Middleton Elya
• Viva Frida by Yuyi Morales
• Little Melba and her Big Trombone by Katheryn Russell-Brown
• Wolfie the Bunny by Ame Dyckman

I also finished two novels this week. First, I read Hunt for the Bamboo Rat by Graham Salisbury which is an interesting look at World War II from a Japanese-American from Hawaii working for the army in the Phillipines. It is a WWII story like none other that I have read. It was also my first Graham Salisbury work, and I know I need to read more as he sure know how to craft a story. I also finished the early chapter book Cody and the Fountain of Happiness by Tricia Springstubb. Ever since Tricia did a guest post here and on Nerdy Book Club, I knew I wanted to read her work, and I am so happy that I was able to read Cody. Readers of Mercy Watson, Junie B. Jones, Bramble and Maggie, and other stories of rambunctious young ladies are going to find a friend within these pages.

Ricki: Henry and I spent some quality time in the library. I picked up several books to read to him, but two stood out most. King for a Day by Rukhsana Khan tells the story of Basant, a holiday to celebrate the arrival of spring, and is set in Pakistan. I loved the beautiful kites and appreciated that the author didn’t make the character’s disability the main focus of the story. If I still taught high school, I would definitely use this book while I taught The Kite Runner. We also enjoyed Please, Mr. Panda by Steve Antony. I’ve seen this one pop up on many blogs, and I finally found a copy. I thought it was charming and will definitely be using it to discuss manners with my son. 🙂

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: I am almost done with Five, Six, Seven, Nate by Tim Federle. I adore these books, and the audiobooks make them even better. I do hope that there is going to be a third. I also plan on reading Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern and Fake Snakes and Weird Wizards (Here’s Hank #4) by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver.

Ricki: I am embarrassed at how far behind I have gotten in my reading. In four weeks, when school ends, I can’t wait to dive in. I know I say this every week. Anyways, I have been reading several books about discourse analysis. I didn’t post them here because I don’t want to bore you. I am fascinated by the ways we use discourse in subtle ways to reveal thinks like our figured worlds. Don’t worry, I will read some awesome YAL or picture books next week to fill the gaps. Some of you are saying, “Thank goodness I have Kellee because I can’t comment on this Ricki lady’s stuff.”

Upcoming Week’s Posts

   

Tuesday: Characters We’d Like To Check In With

Wednesday: From My (Huge) Library Pile Part Five: We Need Diverse Books (Nonfiction)

Thursday: Blog Tour and Author Guest Post!: Won Ton & Chopstick: A Cat and Dog Tale Told in Haiku by Lee Wardlaw

Friday: From My (Huge) Library Pile Part Six: We Need Diverse Books (Fiction)

 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

 

Tuesday: Top Ten Books from Childhood (or Teen Years) We’d Like to Revisit

Friday: Review and Author Guest Post “Josh, Harrison & Dad’s Excellent Adventure” by Henry L. Herz, Author of Monster Goose Nursery Rhymes

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

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: Spring break was good to me! I am so proud of myself because I did a good job of relaxing, spending time with family, and reading. I finished five novels!!! Woot! I enjoyed all of them, but three are new favorites.Both Big Fat Disaster by Beth Fehlbaum (such a hard book to read! And it just kept getting worse and worse!) and The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy by Kate Hattemer (a look at art, poetry, and reality TV) were very good; however, 100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith, Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan, and Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle were just so superb. Andrew Smith is just amazing at crafting a plot with fascinating characters! His books often seem like just another teen book, but then he is able to make them so special. Counting by 7s is such a special book. I now understand why it is compared to Out of my Mind, Wonder, and Mockingbird although I find a lot of comparisons to Fish in a Tree as well. Willow Chance is such an amazing little girl, and the way she is able to change the world around her even in the midst of grieving is inspiring. Finally, Better Nate Than Ever was the perfect book to read this week. It was funny, heart-warming, and had musicals!! I want to go back to high school (I never say that!) at my arts high school, bring Nate with me, and be his best friend! (And btw, the audiobook is so great!)

Like Henry (see below), Trent is only interested in certain books. It makes me a bit sad that he throws fits if we try a new book, but I also love that he has favorites. We were able to squeeze in two new ones in between favorites: Look by Jeff Mack (the personality of this book shines! I also love the use of only 2 words) and Pete the Cat: Big Easter Adventure by James Dean (nothing lives up to the original, but I love that we could read about Easter with Trent’s favorite character).

Ricki: For those of you kind folks who are tracking my long progress in the doctoral program, I am excited to say that I submitted my materials for my comprehensive exams—which are one month from today. AH! I will keep you all posted about how this goes. This week, I made a lot of progress in many books, and I also finished a picture book, Won Ton and Chopstick: A Cat and Dog Tale Told in Haiku  by Lee Wardlaw. It was good fun, and I particularly recommend it for use in middle or high school settings. It is important to infuse picture books into older classrooms. With scaffolding and assistance from an adult, young kids would also enjoy navigating this fun book. I think it is very important to challenge our students, and the balance of vocabulary and a fun storyline will make this book a great resource to teachers.

Henry (who is 16 months old now) shows strong preferences for books. He only wants to read truck books. Like an adult, his draws his pointer finger across the bindings until he reaches any book with the title, Trucks (and his grandmother has bought just about every truck board book that exists). I can recite the position of each of those tractors, skid steers, and all-terrain vehicles on the pages in my sleep. I am excited that he said his first word this week—“car!” (I don’t think “Mama,” “Dada,” “uh oh,” “no,” and “okay” count, right?). So along with a book update, you got a life update. Sorry—next week, it is back to books.

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: I have already downloaded Five, Six, Seven, Nate because I cannot wait to hear what happens to Nate next! I also plan on starting Hunt for the Bamboo Rat by Graham Salisbury tonight. We’re also trying to read a few new books with Trent, including another Easter book, but we’ll see.

Ricki: Still reading and enjoying Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin. My book club meets Tuesday, so I will definitely be done with this one within 48 hours. 🙂 I also listened to three more discs of East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I love it—but I find it very disturbing. I think I’ve reached disc 15 out of 23. It’s quite epic.

Upcoming Week’s Posts

    

Tuesday: Ten Books We’ve Recently Added to Our To-Be-Read Lists

Thursday: #MustReadin2015 Spring Update

Sunday: Author Guest Post by Sue Duff, Author of Fade to Black and Mask and Mirrors

 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

   

 

Tuesday: Top Ten Books On Our Spring TBRs

Sunday: Author’s Guest Post!: “A Love for Reading Begets Passionate Writing” by Jake Marcionette, Author of Just Jake

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

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: This last week I read two very different YA novels: Words and their Meaning by Kate Bassett and Noggin by John Corey Whaley. Words may be one of the most depressing and emotionally-intense book I’ve read in a while. Noggin, on the other hand, was a bit emotionally-intense, but it also was super unique and quite funny. I can see why it was a National Book Award finalist (though I wish the focus had been a bit more on Travis and less on Cate).

I also read two picture books this week: The Red Bicycle: The Extraordinary Story of One Ordinary Bike by Jude Isabella and Monster Goose Nursery Rhymes by Henry L. Hetz. I loved the story of The Red Bicycle. It just shows how one thing can change so many peoples’ lives. Monster Goose will be reviewed on Friday, so stop back.

With Trent, we are continuing to read the same books over and over (see our 9-12 month favorites list). I try to switch it up, but he is just not interested. I now have Fifteen Animals by Sandra Boynton, Personal Penguin by Sandra Boynton, and Pete the Cat by Erit Litwin & James Dean completely memorized.

Ricki: I finished Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil, which is nothing about outer space. The main character reminds me of Charlie from The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. Last week, I compared it to other books, but all in all, it is quite lovely. I hate movies and don’t like video gaming, but it incorporated these two topics in a way that was interesting to me. This book would be a fantastic addition to classrooms. 

Henry and I received a lot of great, new books this week from relatives. His favorite is Gallop!: A Scanimation Picture Book by Rufus Butler Seder. It doesn’t have much depth, but the scanimation part is admittedly cool. The animals run when you move the pages.

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: I am still listening to Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan, but this week is spring break which means I may not listen to as much as I do on a work week. Trent is home with me this week as well, so I am going to try to read 5-7 books this week; however, it is going to be tough. We’ll see!! I am going to start 100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith tonight as book one.

Ricki: I started reading Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin this week, and I love it. I am still working on balancing work and life, so while this one book a week thing is making me feel pathetic, it just has to do. My date for my comprehensive exams is on April 30, so I have been doing a lot of planning for them. 

Upcoming Week’s Posts

 

Tuesday: Top Ten Books from Childhood (or Teen Years) We’d Like to Revisit

Friday: Review and Author Guest Post “Josh, Harrison & Dad’s Excellent Adventure” by Henry L. Herz, Author of Monster Goose Nursery Rhymes

 So, what are you reading?

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