It’s Monday! What are you reading? –From Picture Books to YA–is a weekly meme hosted by Jen and Kellee at Teach Mentor Texts. Head over to their blog for links to many great blogs and a plethora of good book suggestions.
This week was a busy week for me. I traveled out to CA last Friday to spend some time with my sister, brother-in-law and baby niece. My sister had her last week off this week and starts back to work tomorrow. I have the distinct pleasure of being the first person to provide daycare for my niece. This week I spent a lot of the time I would usually spend reading just hanging out with my sister. We spent a lot of our time watching fun reality shows that neither of our husbands like. Sister bonding at its finest 😉
Did you see that there is a new show called Whodunnit? I absolutely LOVE mysteries!!! I can’t wait to see the murder mystery every week and the contestants participating in the crime solving. It is like a really long murder mystery dinner show!
Books I Finished This Week:
I got Dead Letter Office by Kira Snyder on NetGalley. It is a really fun mystery with some supernatural elements. What is unique about this one is the fact that it has a choose-your-own-adventure component to it. At a few key moments in the book, the reader decides what the main character should do or who she should trust for advice. I would be curious to go back and reread to see how the story goes if the other choices are made. I think this is a fun idea and I really enjoyed this story. There are going to be more in the series and I definitely will look for them when they come out. I would recommend this one to middle school students and up.
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer is phenomenal! I read Cinder last year on a trip out here for my sister’s graduation from medical school. I think I was a little distracted because I liked it but didn’t love it as much as many people did. After reading Scarlet, I am kind of wondering what I was thinking. I absolutely love the world that exists in these books. I am very intrigued and I have a hard time imagining how things will work out in the end. I love it when authors can make things so mysterious and suspenseful for me. I love all of the characters and cannot wait until February 4th, 2014 when Cress comes out. This is just such a creative premise…fairy tale characters in a very science fiction world…WOW!
Books I am Currently Reading:
This is a long list because I seem to be very indecisive lately. I did not get a chance to listen to my audiobook of Through The Ever Night last week, so I am still working on getting through that one. I am reading On Writing by Stephen King as part of my goals for Teachers Write. I also got about halfway through Quiet by Susan Cain and will finish that this week. The last book I am currently reading is Rump: The True Story of Rumplestiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff. I felt that I needed a quick and light read so I could get through it quickly.
What’s Next?
I have a pile of books I brought with me to get through. I will probably pick up the fourth Pretty Little Liars book because I know it will go fast. I also found Sorta Like a Rock Star by Matthew Quick at the library and am excited to read that one. If I finish On Writing, I will start Everyday Editing by Jeff Anderson. I read his newest book last summer and got to hear him speak in February so I look forward to reading about some practical strategies that I can incorporate into Writing Workshop.
What are you reading? Have a great reading week!
I decided not to have the Pretty Little Liars series in my middle school library. I'll be curious to see what you think of the fourth one, since I stopped reading early on! A lot of my 8th grade girls want the books, but luckily our public library delivers!
Dead Key Office sounds perfect for my 6th. graders. Great that you've begun your PD reading, too! Good for you!
I am glad that I found your blog via the It's Monday! What Are You Reading? meme. I enjoyed reading your post and look forward to reading more.
Ah, I loved SORTA LIKE A ROCKSTAR. I hope you love it too! I liked your thoughts on SCARLET because about half of my students felt that way. People seem to either love it a lot or have neutral thoughts about it. I haven't read it yet!
I really didn't like the first book either. Then I stumbled upon the first 5 books in the series on clearance at Half Price Books. I decided to buy the books because the 8th grade girls that read the first one very much disagreed with me and loved it. I have enjoyed the second and third book more.
I am glad you found it also 🙂
I had neutral thoughts about Cinder for sure…but they may have changed after reading Scarlet.