It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? –From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme hosted by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their week 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 in this meme and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.
I have been really having a difficult time with getting to my blog in the last few months. I don’t really know why. I am just going to share a few of my favorite books from the last couple months here.
Books I Finished:
I love everything by Jo Knowles. As always, this one made me cry but also filled me with hope. Still a Work in Progress deals with a young middle schooler whose sister has an eating disorder. It is a tough subject but dealt with realistically. This book is absolutely one I would recommend to middle and high school students.
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.
Books I am currently reading:
I just started reading The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. I am also reading A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink.
What’s Next?
I will be reading How to Win Friends and Influence People for a training I am doing. I will probably also pick up a middle grade title for times when I only have a couple minutes. I started listening to Start With Why by Simon Sinek also.
What are you reading this week? I would love to hear from you in the comments!
I really need to get to Jo’s new book! It’s waiting for me…
Great list! Gretchen Rubin cracks me up, and I have enjoyed each of her earnestly honest books. Ghosts is a big hit in my classroom too, but a lot of questions have been raised about the authenticity / cultural appropriation with the Day of the Dead connections.
Some really great books on this list. The Nightingale sounds right up my alley, I’ve been in a real historical fiction mood recently.
I’m glad you liked Still A Work In Progress. I thought the story was so well done considering what a tough topic it is. I’d love to get to The Nightingale, have heard good things about it. There are so many good books out, and I know I would enjoy them. Time! Have a great week, Andrea.
I am saving up Ghosts by Telgemeier as a gift for my daughter this Christmas. 🙂