Maria's Mélange

It's been a while since Batty About Books hit the trail. Last year seemed so crazy - so hectic - that we really didn't get a chance to read anything together. What would it take to get us moving? What kind of book would push us to get the band back together again? Well... take a LOOK at this one. Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older (Goodreads Author) Hardcover, 304 pages Published June 30th 2015 by Arthur A. Levine Books (first published January 1st 2015) ISBN 0545591619 (ISBN13: 9780545591614) (Join us on our blogs  (Kathy is at The Brain Lair ) , on  Facebook , or Tweet/IG with #BattyAboutBooks and/or #Shadowshaper. We'll post brief thoughts and quotes from the text during the week.) I'll admit, I had heard about this book before seeing the cover. There were rumbles about this being an intriguing storyline. When I saw the cover, though, I was hooked. FRONT: + The first thing that strikes me is the strength in that face. So often I feel lik

Time for my quarterly "Must Read in 2015" update! I put 39 books on my list for this year. Full List for the Year First Quarter Update   (Read 12 of the 39) This quarter went fairly well, though I slowed down more than a little due to my current obsession with amigurumi. Some AMAZING books on this list, my friends.  Nonfiction - Adventures in Graphica was filled with fabulous information on teaching comprehension using graphic novels and comics. Middle Grade - The Dungeoneers is amazing! Fun, fast paced, and adventurous. Young Adult - Okay, so mostly I read YA for this challenge this past quarter. Glory O'Brien and Aristotle and Dante were the stand out titles. Afterworlds was a intriguing style - weaving the story of a person WRITING a novel in with the actual novel itself. The Body Electric was a fascinating science fiction tale.