IMWAYR: December Reading Starts with Snow

Monday! What are you Reading? is a weekly blog hop hosted by Kellee and Ricki of Unleashing Readers. 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.

Head over to Unleashing Readers to join the link-up and share your reading!

December is here; books are near. Snow is falling and it’s cold, dear. (Not the best poem, but it describes my life today.) I cannot believe it’s the end of 2024. There’s still so much to do. I’m trying to finish my Goodreads Challenge, but I’m not sure I’ll meet my goal. Rather, I haven’t posted everything I read on Goodreads, so I’ll most likely meet the READING goal, but not the POSTING goal. We shall see!

Libro.fm: I listened to Everything We Never Had, The Misfits: A Royal Conundrum, The Hotel Balzaar, Harvest House (again), Into the Uncut Grass, And Then, Boom!, Glenn Burke, Game Changer, The Yellow Bus, The Talk (by Darrin Bell), Invisible Isabel, and Sunrise Nights this year. Pretty good for a visual learner and not so much an audio person. I’m getting the hang of listening while I drive to and from work and I settle in for a few minutes at lunchtime each day. I hope to listen more in 2025.

Today, I downloaded Flopping in a Winter Wonderland by Jason June (read by Jason June and Shawn K. Jain). It should be perfect since it started to snow today.

Physical Books: I read The Astronaut Who Painted the Moon: The True Story of Alan Bean by Dean Robbins and Sean Rubin, which was another interesting picture book biography that I hadn’t heard of before. Space lovers will enjoy this one, complete with an author’s note, photographs by Mr. Bean, and a timeline.

I started reading Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell. I love the chapter titles (Arrival, Arrival Elsewhere, The Dying of the Light, Before the Murderer, etc.) and the map and illustrations by Ashley Mackenzie and Virginia Allyn. This is a fantasy that is easy to read and follow. I can see why people are recommending this one.

I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving and I’m looking forward to winter break already (so I can read more and stay inside). I hope to “see” many friends at our Zoom meeting on December 14th. (Thanks, Max for setting this up!)

It’s Monday! What are YOU reading?

IMWAYR: Friendly Rivals

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a weekly blog hop hosted by Kellee and Ricki of Unleashing Readers. 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.

Head over to Unleashing Readers to join the link-up and share your reading!

I didn’t concentrate much on reading last week. We were relaxing after work and using the weekend to get some family time in. I DID read J vs. K by Kwame Alexander and Jerry Craft (or Jerry Craft and Kwame Alexander) and I cannot wait to share it and receive my own (signed?) copies in May of 2025! (Little, Brown 2025) As many of you know, Kwame and Jerry are friends in real life (or frenemies) and they cooked up this fabulous title while trying to convince their audiences who is the best. But you know what? They are BOTH the best at what they do! Add J vs. K to your reading list! You won’t be sorry!

Have a great week!

It’s MONDAY! What are YOU reading?

IMWAYR: Veterans Day!

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a weekly blog hop hosted by Kellee and Ricki of Unleashing Readers. 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.

Head over to Unleashing Readers to join the link-up and share your reading!

Happy Veterans Day! Thank you all for your service.

Here are some library books that celebrate and recognize our finest:

Veterans Day (Celebrating Holidays) by Rachel Grack

Bellwether Media, Minneapolis, MN, 2018

(A Blastoff Reader, 2)

What Is Veterans Day? by Elaine Landau

Enslow Publishers, Inc., Berkeley Heights, NJ, 2012

(I Like Holidays series)

Veterans Day by Arlene Worsley

AV2 by Weigl, New York, NY, 2011

(American Celebrations series)

Veterans Day by Meredith Dash

ABDO Kids, Minneapolis, MN, 2015

Twenty-One Steps by Jeff Gottesfeld and Matt Tavares (2021)

Hero Mom by Melinda Hardin and Bryan Langdo (2013)

Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine, and a Miracle by Major Brian Dennis, Kirby Larson, and Mary Nethery (2009)

Sergeant Reckless by Patricia McCormick and Iacopo Bruno (2020)

Rolling Thunder by Kate Messner and Greg Ruth (2017)

Shooting Stars: The Christmas Truce of 1914 by John Hendrix (2014)

The Wall by Eve Bunting and Ronald Himler (1992)

The Year of the Jungle by Suzanne Collins and James Proimos (2013)

I found a YouTube video with Suzanne Collins and James Proimos talking about creating this book. Ms. Collins (Students will recognize her as the author of The Hunger Games series) explains the memories she had of her father while he was away from home and how she got the idea for this book. (Click here – Year of the Jungle by Suzanne Collins and James Proimos.)

It’s Monday! What are YOU reading? Have a great week!

IMWAYR: Halloween Week

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a weekly blog hop hosted by Kellee and Ricki of Unleashing Readers. 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.

Head over to Unleashing Readers to join the link-up and share your reading!

It’s Halloween week, so my students are asking, “Where are the scary books? Where are the spooky books?” I have so many on display in the school library! Here are some of my favorites:

It’s Watching by Lindsay Currie

Scritch Scratch by Lindsay Currie

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! by Charles M. Schultz

Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

Harvest House by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Zooloween by Alan Katz and Stephanie Laberis

The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale by Jon Klassen

It’s Monday! What are YOU reading?

IMWAYR: A Little Bit at a Time

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a weekly blog hop hosted by Kellee and Ricki of Unleashing Readers. 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.

Head over to Unleashing Readers to join the link-up and share your reading!

Physical Books: I’m enjoying reading over the fall break and I’ve cut my activity to smaller chunks of time, which seems to be working well. I read Dear Primo by Duncan Tonatiuh after hearing him speak last weekend. He was so funny with the children during story time at the Raclin Murphy Museum at Notre Dame. I also finished Red Bird Danced (Quigley) and Sherlock Society by James Ponti. I’m recommending both titles for our Battle of the Books list for next year. They are sooo good!

Libro.fm: I listened to the new Jason Reynolds title, Twenty-four Seconds From Now, which is fabulous! The story chronicles the weeks, days, and minutes before “the first time” from a male teen’s point of view, which is greatly needed in the high school reader community. Narrated by Guy Lockard, this one is a must-listen. (For ages 13+, in my opinion.)

It’s Monday! What are YOU reading?

IMWAYR: Indigenous Peoples’ Day – Celebrate!

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a weekly blog hop hosted by Kellee and Ricki of Unleashing Readers. 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.

Head over to Unleashing Readers to join the link up and share your reading!

It’s Indigenous Peoples Day! (NOT Columbus Day) I’m celebrating by reading, and there are stories out there that I want my students to know. I want my students to read and grow to be intelligent citizens who want better for our country, and our world. Here are some titles I recently read and loved:

Harvest House by Cynthia Leitich Smith – This is one of my favorite middle-grade/young-adult titles for fall. The countdown to Halloween is a perfect way to set this story (the chapter titles are a timeline — “23 Days Until Halloween,” etc.) and the characters seem like people I would be friends with if I were still in high school, especially Hughie and Marie. Then there’s Celeste, the ghost, who was murdered years ago. But I’m not giving anything away. A perfect, creepy Halloween story. Read it.

Red Bird Danced by Dawn Quigley – Ariel and Tomah are two urban Natives who are worried about Ariel’s missing auntie. Ariel is a ballerina who isn’t really into dancing like a bird while her auntie is away; Tomah tells jokes to cover up what he really feels. The two together live through the seasons together and learn to grow into the future by learning more about their pasts.

Buffalo Dreamer by Violet Duncan – Summer and her cousin, Autumn, spend summer vacations with their families on the Cree reservation in Canada where Summer’s mom grew up. This year, the girls are old enough to understand what happened there many years ago when the reservation schools took children from their homes and “taught” them “American” ways. This happened to Kokum and Mosom. As Summer and Autumn begin to ask questions of their grandparents, they learn what makes the family so strong, and vow to become activists for saving their culture in the future.

It’s Monday! What are YOU reading?

IMWAYR: Skipping September

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a weekly blog hop hosted by Kellee and Ricki of Unleashing Readers. 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.

Head over to Unleashing Readers to join the link up and share your reading!

Yes, I really did skip posting in September. I had a new school year begin, a crazy cough/cold, and many other things that kept me away from this site. I have been reading, though! Here are some highlights:

Libro.fm: I listened more often since I had more time in the car. I loved The Misfits: A Royal Conundrum by Lisa Yee, read by Cindy Kay and I can’t wait for book two, A Copycat Conundrum. The short children’s story, Into the Uncut Grass, by Trevor Noah and read by him, surprised me — so much sweetness packed into 38 minutes. Now I’m listening to Hotel Balzaar by Kate DiCamillo…you cannot go wrong with a “Kate” book. I love the voice of Allan Corduner, who narrates this one.

Physical Books: Whenever I get into a reading rut, I reach for the picture books. There are so many good ones out there! Recent releases include My Magic Breath: Finding Calm Through Mindful Breathing by Nick Ortner and Alison Taylor (pictures by Michelle Polizzi), I’m Sorry You Got Mad by Kyle Lukoff (illustrated by Julie Kwon), One Small Spark by Ruth Spiro (illustrated by Victoria Tentler-Krylov), Zooloween by Alan Katz (illustrated by Stephanie Laberis), B is For Belonging by Shannon Anderson (illustrated by John Joven), and Quiet Violet Finds Her Voice by Gabrielle Nidus (illustrated by Stephanie Dehennin). I loved all of these!

Another short book that I will read again during fall break is Buffalo Dreamer by Violet Duncan. This one is a finalist for the National Book Awards, well-deserved! I cannot wait to hear the awards announcements.

It’s Monday! What are YOU reading?

IMWAYR: That Librarian

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a weekly blog hop hosted by Kellee and Ricki of Unleashing Readers. 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.

Head over to Unleashing Readers to join the link up and share your reads from this week!

Hello! Welcome back to school! Most of us have already started the first semester at our schools, and many more will start next week. Enjoy the fall season, everyone! And KEEP READING!

Last week I struggled to keep up, as usual, but I still have some great books in hand (and “on desk!”). I’m reading Tear This Down by Barbara Dee, listening to The Talk (almost done) by Darrin Bell on Libro.fm, and finishing When We Flew Away by Alice Hoffman on NetGalley.

Something special came to the bookstore, That Librarian by Amanda Jones, the Louisiana librarian who took the lead in fighting book bans in her community and all over the country. She is my library hero and I’m so grateful to know her, and now read her book. I know that it’s not a children’s book, but that’s what I am reading this week in order to better my work with my students. We need to read!

It’s Monday! What are YOU reading?

IMWAYR: NOT Reading Library Books Right Now

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a weekly blog hop hosted by Kellee and Ricki of Unleashing Readers. 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.

Head over to Unleashing Readers to join the link up and share your reads from this week!

One of the things about being a librarian is that I work WITH books daily, but I don’t necessarily get to read those books while I’m processing them. That’s happening to me as we start back to school. I must stamp, barcode, and label books before placing them on shelves, before students are able to check them out. Our school is grades K-8 now; we added grades K-5 this month. So I’ll tell you this Monday I got a look at the Pinkalicious series, Barbie titles, Hunger Heroes, Clifford books, and many others, but I haven’t READ them. I cannot wait to meet the students at library orientation next week!

So what AM I reading this week, you ask?

Physical Books: Book mail is the best! Barbara Dee sent me Tear This Down, her upcoming middle-grade book about womens’ rights to vote and 7th-grader, Freya Stillman’s history project about a community leader who didn’t think women should have this right. Outrage! Activism! Drama! (I cannot wait to open this book as soon as I get this post done. Thank you, Barbara Dee and Simon & Schuster for the ARC, which I will share with readers of #booksojourn.)

Libro.fm: I am about halfway through The Talk by Darrin Bell, his personal accounts and anecdotes on growing up as a Black boy in America. Compelling! I’m learning so much.

NetGalley: I’m still reading When We Flew Away, which is wonderful so far.

It’s Monday! What are YOU reading?

IMWAYR: Back-to-School Week Break

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a weekly blog hop hosted by Kellee and Ricki of Unleashing Readers. 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.

Head over to Unleashing Readers to join the link up and share your reads from this week!

Nothing new to report today – I start school on Wednesday. I’m sure I’ll be reading new policy manuals and curriculum guides this week. Other than that, I’ll finish those books I started last week.

Have a great week! If you’re back to school already, I hope you’re finding joy in the learning. If you have not started the school year yet, enjoy your last bit of time off!

It’s Monday! What are YOU reading?