It's Monday - July 29th

By -
Umm... it's the end of JULY? Can someone please tell me when that happened?

No matter, it's still time to share some lovely reading from the week. I was beginning to fall behind on my Goodreads goal, which made it the perfect week for checking out some new picture books!

Don't miss the other posts - visit Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers.




Picture Books:
I'll be reviewing Beam of Light on Wednesday and plan to do The Boy Who Loved Math next week.

I enjoyed receiving a poem a day from Jane Yolen in July - and all she asked was that we read one of her books. So I grabbed Grumbles from the Forest from the library this week.

 Sea Monster and the Bossy Fish was adorable! But what else would I expect from Kate Messner?

I spotted Uncle Bigfoot at the library - and grabbed it because it was written and illustrated by George O'Connor. Short and sweet, a cute picture book that will appeal to younger kids who like cryptids.

 Good Night, Gorilla - I bought this one for a baby shower. It was my younger son's favorite as a toddler.


























Fantasy:
While both of these books show up as 4 star here, they were definitely different in quality in my mind. Girl Who Circumnavigated would be closer to 4.5 for me, and City of Glass 3.5 (Yes, I disagree with the "average rating" on Goodreads...)

GWCF was a literary delight. It reminded me of Phantom Tollbooth in style, with a fun narration style and lovely language. This was a perfect read for my stronger readers who will love the main character and enjoy the word choices. I finally bumped this to the top of my TBR pile (it was on the pile last summer, too) because I received an ARC of book 3. So now it's time to catch up!

City of Glass was fun, and a satisfying end to the trilogy, but wasn't as beautifully written. It was more of a fun summer read. I do look forward to the movie of the first book, though!





Newbery / Nerdbery

I continue to inch closer to the finish line with a read of

That makes 83 complete - for those playing at home. I have one left to go in the 70s, and then some scattered books in the next few decades to complete.


In case you missed anything:
Trim Castle - I sliced about my trip to this lovely location.
Zero Tolerance - I wrote a review for "Marvelous Middle Grade Monday" of this realistic fiction novel I enjoyed. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Parent Book Club - Guest Post

By -
Image
Welcome, my friends, to my first ever GUEST POST! My fabulous school librarian (aka @ReaderRoberts ) decided to hold a parent's book club this year, to give parents ideas for getting kids reading. This past week she held the inaugural session, with a  "summer reading"  focus. Let us know what you think!  Parent Book Club - Summer Reading Sometimes your best ideas come to you in a flash.  That is how it was with the parents’ book club.  One afternoon I was sharing a title with a parent volunteer and she ended up checking the book out of the library. Nothing unusual. This happens frequently to all of us when we booktalk.  What was different was that when the parent returned the book she made the remark that I should share this book with everyone. You have probably guessed by now that the book was Wonder by R.J. Palacio. Through the year I have shared many other great titles –many of them discovered through my PLN on Twitter. The...
Read more

Keep it Like a Secret by John David Anderson Blog Tour

By -
Image
Once again, I'm thrilled to read and review a new John David Anderson middle grade novel - even in the craziness that accompanies the end of a school year! About the Book (from the publisher) From the first moment Morgan can remember, Claire has always been there. Big sister and little brother. Cat and Mouse. They’ve always understood each other, saved each other, seen each other. And they stuck to their own personal code, unwritten but understood, that siblings were inseparable, that they had each other’s backs, no matter what. At least, they used to. Somewhere along the line, things between them shifted. Claire started fighting more with Mom, storming out of the house, spending more and more time away, and Morgan felt his sister and best friend slipping away. Now he spends nearly every night sitting awake in his room, waiting for the sound of her key in the lock. It’s a sound he hasn’t heard in nearly a week, ever since her and Mom’s worst fight ever. So when Claire finally calls...
Read more