It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly link up hosted by Kathryn at Book Date . Then, Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers decided to give it a focus on kid’s literature. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their weeks of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.
Books I Finished:
Efrén Divided by Ernesto Cisneros tells the story of Efrén and the disruption and heartache caused when his mother is deported. It is a serious reminder for those of us in education that sometimes we have very little idea of the amount of stress and worry that our students are dealing with.
Spanish was woven into the narration throughout the book and I really enjoyed that. The glossary at the end of the book will be very helpful for readers who do not know Spanish.
I loved this book. It is a great middle grade read. It dealt with some heavy subjects in just the right way for this age level. The reality is that many of our students live with the fear of being separated from their parents daily.
Also, I liked how the author was able to make the story hopeful without making it unrealistic. I highly recommend this book.
Books I’m Reading:
The Art of Coaching is a book that I am reading for professional growth.
I am still reading Personality isn’t Permanent. I have still not made any progress in this book yet. Putting together this blog post is reminding me that I should get back to this one.
I am 85% of the way through this novel. As with other William Kent Krueger novels, I am savoring the descriptions and so intrigued by the plot. This is most likely going to be highly recommended by me very soon. I just need to know how it ends first.
What’s Next:
As is almost always the case, almost all of my holds came in at once. I have a killer line up of books that I am looking forward to: Dear Martin by Nic Stone and Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson are in the mix. I will probably start with one of these and see how far I can get in my ebook pile before they expire.
What are you reading this week? I would love to hear from you in the comments!
I watched The Home Edit’s Netflix show over the last two weeks and was very intrigued and inspired to get my refrigerator and pantry organized. So, I splurged on this book on Kindle. It was a read that I finished in one sitting because there is not much to read. I love the pictures and inspiration.
The monthly district coach training was this week and we have a book study discussion so I had to get reading! I read the first 5 chapters this week. We need to read chapters 6 and 7 for the next meeting in the beginning of February.
Pizza Girl is still up next. My sister started a book club with the intention of reading through 
Marie Benedict was one of the authors that I enjoyed hearing the most when I attended the Savannah Book Festival last February. It was so cool to hear about her process in researching and then imagining historical fiction based on powerful women who may not have been recognized as such.
Pizza Girl is up next. My sister started a book club with the intention of reading through 
Marie Benedict was one of the authors that I enjoyed hearing the most when I attended the Savannah Book Festival last February. It was so cool to hear about her process in researching and then imagining historical fiction based on powerful women who may not have been recognized as such. I really loved The Other Einstein and The Only Woman in the Room. So, when I saw that her next book is about Agatha Christie, I had to have it! I pre-ordered this book and should have it tomorrow. I am sure I will dive in pretty quickly. 
This book was an impulse purchase on Black Friday. I am so glad I stumbled across it! I absolutely love Jane Austen and this book really honored that feeling. The stories of the different characters who end up as members of the Jane Austen Society are interesting. However, what I loved the most is how the characters used the literature to help themselves heal from different trauma that they had experienced. And of course, the book is a comedy of manners in and of itself that mirrors a great Jane Austen novel in the twists and turns of the story and the fates of the protagonists. I highly recommend this one to anyone who loves Austen. 
This book is the 13th installment of the Pendergast series. I started the books on a recommendation from a friend. Each one of the novels featuring Pendergast is outside of the type of novels I usually read. The elements of supernatural and a few really far-fetched details sometimes make the suspension of disbelief difficult. I was close to giving up on this series, but this book has brought me back. This one is closer to the murder mysteries that I enjoy reading. I will say that the authors do a great job of making their characters very intriguing and that is why I keep coming back for more, despite a few crazy plot twists. 
I came across this book in Target last week. I read The Guest List earlier this year and really enjoyed the quick and suspenseful read. I quickly searched for this book on my library app and was able to borrow it right away. The Hunting Party is very similar to The Guest List. In both books, a group of people travels to a very remote and isolated spot for a quick getaway. In this book, a group of friends takes a trip each year for New Year’s Day. This year, things go very wrong and one of them ends up dead. I won’t say much more because I don’t want to spoil it, but there are some good twists that make this one fun to read. I would also recommend The Guest List if you do like this one. 
I can’t believe that this really happened. It seems so clear nowadays that the radium was clearly the culprit in the medical issues that these girls went through. This nonfiction book is very well written. I find myself really losing myself in the narrative. I have been reading it for a while now. I find I can only take so much of this story at a time. It frustrates me. I will be working to finish this one this week. 
I am reading The Rose Legacy by Jessica Day George in anticipation of an author visit this May. This book will be coming out on May 1, 2018. So far, it is intriguing and magical. 
I am also reading the first book in the Petra Delicado series by Alicia Gimenez Bartlett. I like to read in Spanish to keep up my fluency. This is quite a long series and they are mysteries so I am hoping that I like them in order to have lots of material to get through. So far, the book is okay. 
I listened to Red Queen and I absolutely got absorbed in the story. I sort of wished I had the book once I got close to the end because I wanted to go quicker to find out the resolution to the problems. I will definitely be looking for the next book in this series. I highly recommend this one for middle and high school students. 
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah is another novel set in France during WWII. I really loved the way the author brought me in to the story right away and made me love the characters. I appreciated this story which gave me yet another perspective into the horrors that occurred in that period in history and the brave souls who worked in the resistance. I highly recommend it for older teens and adults. 
My sister gave me Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal for Christmas last year. She knows the author somehow. I think he was a friend in college. I really enjoyed this novel, which celebrated food and cooking as well as exploring relationships and the way we love each other. I can’t say exactly what I loved about the book, but I can say that I loved it. I would recommend this one for adults. 
I really enjoyed reading Ghosts and learning more about the Day of the Dead. I know my students will absolutely love this one. I highly recommend it. 
I wasn’t sure about reading this one, because I thought it sounded more like a memoir and I didn’t think that would help me at all. Then, I read Better than Before and realized that Gretchen Rubin has some great ideas about how to live life. I read The Happiness Project and just soaked up the amazing suggestions about how to be happier. I love the idea of doing a happiness project of my own. The way this book is written really helps the reader to see how some of the principles might apply to their own life. I highly recommend this one to adults who might be looking for self-improvement. 
Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin explores habits and how people form them. It is a really interesting book that gave me some food for thought when thinking about new habits that I want to form.
I listened to Vivian Apple at the End of the World by Katie Coyle. I had this title because it was one of the free titles offered by Sync Audiobooks. I didn’t know what this book was about before I started listening, but I really was drawn into this story and was fascinated by the mystery of what happened throughout the book. I recommend this one for high school and up.
I loved this book! Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson explores the way friendships change as girls get closer to middle school years as well as offering a glimpse into the world of roller derby. I learned quite a bit in this book and am looking forward to sharing this graphic novel with my students this year.
I am a very big fan of Gothic novels, so this book was right up my alley. Unfortunately for me, I was unaware that it was such a long book. That is the biggest drawback of Kindle! I enjoyed The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, but definitely had a hard time being patient with the drawn out nature of the mystery. I don’t know how much of this attitude about the book was influenced by my being unaware of the length of the book before starting it. If you like gothic novels, this one won’t disappoint…just be ready for a longer read.
This graphic novel is really well done. I was living in Brookfield, which is a suburb of Milwaukee, when Jeffrey Dahmer was caught and arrested. It was so creepy to know that a monster like that was living 20 minutes away from my house. I think this glimpse into his teenage years is really fascinating and it is baffling to think about how a kid could be struggling the way he was without having any adults try to intervene. I highly recommend this graphic novel to older teens and adults.
DIY Literacy is a good reminder of some tools that are important to use in the classroom. I am glad I read it and I will be working on putting together a demonstration notebook for the coming school year.
The Cuckoo’s Calling was a fun mystery to read. I like the characters in the book and will look forward to reading more mysteries by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling).
I didn’t realize that this was the script of a play. I think it made it a quicker read for me. I really enjoyed stepping back into the world of Hogwarts for this short time.
The Secret Horses of Briar Hill by Megan Shepherd takes place in an asylum for kids during World War II. The kids at the home are all infected with Tuberculosis. The main character sees horses in the mirrors but no one else sees them and they do not believe her. Then, one day, one of the winged horses from the mirror world shows up in the gardens that she is exploring. This is an amazing book. I highly recommend that you find it for your classroom library for middle grades. I was able to read an advanced copy from NetGalley. This book will be available in October.
I am absolutely an Austen fan. I love, love, love all of Jane Austen’s books. So, when I heard that Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld was a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice, I knew I had to read it. I actually listened to the audiobook and absolutely loved this story! It was fun to hear how the author interpreted the events and gave a modern spin to the scandalous behavior of Lizzie’s sisters. I highly recommend this book to any fans of Jane Austen as well as any readers who like a good love story.
What do you need? This is the provocative question that a new social media site is asking teenagers in this thriller novel. The story follows the quick downward spiral into danger that happens as teenagers join the site and get what they desire by doing tasks. The tasks that are asked of them get progressively more dangerous and turn out to be deadly to some. Need by Joelle Charbonneau is a really good psychological thriller. I highly recommend this one for high school and up.
The Magician’s Elephant was a great little fantasy story. It almost read like a fable. I love Kate DiCamillo. She is amazing and this is another fun book to recommend to my students.
Winter is a phenomenal conclusion to a series that really just continued to get better and better throughout the books. I really love what Marissa Meyer did with weaving in the elements of the fairy tale stories into a science fiction series. I highly recommend the whole series.
Being the Starfish by Neal Anderson is a book about network marketing. I am doing some personal development and thinking about how to grow a business with doTERRA and since I am a reader, this is how I learn.
I had both of these Ranger in Time books on my shelf. I love the way Kate Messner brings different historical periods to life in this series. I highly recommend getting this series for grades 3 and up.
The Power of Habit was really interesting. It made me evaluate a lot of what I do and gave me some good ideas about how to change some of my habits. I thought the ideas about organizational habits were intriguing. This is definitely a good book for personal development, especially for leaders that might be looking to change their organization’s habits and culture.
Underworlds: The Battle Begins by Tony Abbott is one I will look forward to introducing to my students. It is a good start to a series and I am interested in reading the other books now too. I like the fantasy adventure and the references to mythology in this book. It would be a good one for kids that aren’t quite ready for Percy Jackson, but are still really interested in myths.
The Seventh Wish by Kate Messner is outstanding. She manages to treat a very heavy and serious subject in a way that is appropriate for kids. These kinds of stories are so important because there are so many kids in the world who, unfortunately, do have to deal with having drug addicts in their families. I think the treatment of this subject was tastefully done and that this will be an important book for many students. I also appreciated the glimpse into the world of ice fishing and the world of Irish dancing. I highly recommend having this book in your library for grades 4 and up.