It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? –From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme started 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.
Since the last time we saw each other, I have read some great books. I will include all of my books from the last few weeks since some were quite long so there are not too many.
Books I Finished:
I am not really sure what to say about this one. It really caught my attention and I was intrigued by most of the book. However, I think there are some parts in the last half of the book that were not necessary and sort of made the story drag. A book this long inevitably will have some extra content and a few slow spots. Overall, this was a good read and the story really made me think about right and wrong. There are a lot of people in this book making bad decisions, but are those people bad people? It is interesting to contemplate the answers to this.
I got Queen Sugar on NetGalley because I was intrigued by the book description. This is another book for adults. I really enjoyed the story of this woman who moves to the South because her father leaves her a sugar cane farm. She grew up in California and does not know the first thing about running a farm, much less the way things work for African Americans in the deep south. She is living with her grandmother and struggling to learn what she needs to learn in order to save her inheritance from her daddy. The story really captured my imagination and I enjoyed learning more than I knew I wanted to know about sugar cane production. I was impressed by the way the racial tensions were woven into the story and present without being something that hit me over the head–very thought-provoking! I highly recommend this one.
This is a fun and quick read for middle grade students who are interested in science. I thought the whole time I was reading it about one of my students and I can’t wait to get this book into his hands. Jon Scieszka is hilarious and this book does not disappoint!
LOVED this one! Maggie Stiefvater is a genius. I can’t wait to find out what happens next in this series.
I got this one from Netgalley as well. It is coming out later this month. I really enjoyed this fantasy. I will be very interested to see where the next book goes with the story. I would recommend this one for teens who enjoy fantasy series. I like how there is a little bit of a love plot without it really being a main storyline. The world in this book is really interesting and I love the premise.
Books I am Currently Reading:
I started The Magicians by Lev Grossman and am loving it so far. I also am reading Dreams of Gods and Monsters. I listened to the first two books so reading this one is a different experience. I am glad I listened to the audiobooks for the first ones, because the narrator is amazing and I also know how to pronounce the weird names in the book.
What’s Next?
I still have my ridiculous pile of books from the library plus a bunch of galleys to read. I will be choosing mostly by due dates.
What are you reading this week? I would love to hear from you in the comments!
I will agree that Maggie Stiefvater is a genius. I have really enjoyed the Raven Cycle.
I haven't read any of the Frank Einstein books yet. In fact, I don't think we have any in our library! That must be remedied. I too adore the Raven Boys Series. I just hate having to wait!
Hi there Andrea, I was hooked into Maggie Stiefvater's Raven Cycle series – absolutely enjoyed it. Read Lily Blue, Blue Lily late last year, and like you I can't wait for the next installment in the series. The Goldfinch was one of my most beautiful reads last year. It took me months to finish reading it – I have to take huge breathing spaces in between sections – I just found it too depressing. Yet beautifully so. How strange is that.