It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!
It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book!
Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and I decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.
Giveaway Announcement:
I'm excited to announce that the winner of
Sam and Dave Dig a Hole
by Mac Barnett with illustrations by Jon Klassen
goes to:
Candy Banda
Thank you to everyone who entered and to Candlewick Press
for a copy of the book to review and giveaway!
Last Week's Book Adventures:
Jen Says: Last week, I finished listening to Seeing Red by Kathryn Erskine and I also finished Sisters by Raina Telgemeier. I started reading Fantasy League by Mike Lupica and also Landline by Rainbow Rowell.
Most of my IMWAYR posts are dedicated to books I'm reading but over the weekend, I read three blog posts and an Atlantic article that really made me rethink my life right now. I can't remember which post I read first - whether it was Ruth's or Donalyn's but they both helped me frame my thoughts on Sunday. Ruth Ayres shared her blog post Personal Landmarksand when I clicked on it, I identified with the idea of trudging along, wondering how I fit in, hoping I'm moving in the right direction especially as it relates to writing. I'm so completely grateful to have been chosen as a Pitch Wars mentee and I feel like I'm moving in the right direction but I still have to manage writing with a completely full-time job along with the full-time job of being a wife and mother. I also read Donalyn Miller's Nerdy Book Club post, Mouths of Babes and I was so happy to know that I already had planned to spend the whole day with Peanut and Little Bean. We were off to pick up some treats from a local bakery and then to visit with friends who recently moved back into the area. I love Donalyn's post but especially these last few sentences where she wrote: "Reading isn’t just taught. It’s passed on, like a treasure from one reader to the next. We should do everything we can as adults to preserve that childhood love of reading when it’s born and foster it when it isn’t. It’s our reading legacy." Then later on Sunday night, I read Katherine Sokolowski's response to Ruth's post. In her post, Finding my Purpose I found solace in knowing that I'm not the only one trying to juggle all the things and feeling like all the things are coming down on me at once. And then, just as I was about to start writing up my IMWAYR post, I was scrolling through my Twitter feed and there was a link to an Atlantic article entitled There's More to Life Than Being Happy by Emily Esfahani Smith where she discusses how important it is to not focus on being happy but rather focus on doing something meaningful. I already contemplate the meaning of life a ton but after reading Ruth, Donalyn and Katherine's words, I knew just how right it is. I think I did already know this, too but reminders are always good. I'm glad I spent the day with my kids singing, playing tag, eating cookies. It made me happy but it also helped me feel like I was focusing my energy on them and that's pretty meaningful. Of course, as soon as I opened up this post to update my weekly reading, I felt like I didn't read enough and guilty for not posting all the posts I meant to post. Except, I'm not letting myself feel guilty any more. It just is what it is. I'm doing my best and I'm trying to make the most of everyday. Right now that means blogging might not always happen and pages might not get read, but I'm still here and appreciate you for stopping in to see how things are going. Thank you!
Most of my IMWAYR posts are dedicated to books I'm reading but over the weekend, I read three blog posts and an Atlantic article that really made me rethink my life right now. I can't remember which post I read first - whether it was Ruth's or Donalyn's but they both helped me frame my thoughts on Sunday. Ruth Ayres shared her blog post Personal Landmarksand when I clicked on it, I identified with the idea of trudging along, wondering how I fit in, hoping I'm moving in the right direction especially as it relates to writing. I'm so completely grateful to have been chosen as a Pitch Wars mentee and I feel like I'm moving in the right direction but I still have to manage writing with a completely full-time job along with the full-time job of being a wife and mother. I also read Donalyn Miller's Nerdy Book Club post, Mouths of Babes and I was so happy to know that I already had planned to spend the whole day with Peanut and Little Bean. We were off to pick up some treats from a local bakery and then to visit with friends who recently moved back into the area. I love Donalyn's post but especially these last few sentences where she wrote: "Reading isn’t just taught. It’s passed on, like a treasure from one reader to the next. We should do everything we can as adults to preserve that childhood love of reading when it’s born and foster it when it isn’t. It’s our reading legacy." Then later on Sunday night, I read Katherine Sokolowski's response to Ruth's post. In her post, Finding my Purpose I found solace in knowing that I'm not the only one trying to juggle all the things and feeling like all the things are coming down on me at once. And then, just as I was about to start writing up my IMWAYR post, I was scrolling through my Twitter feed and there was a link to an Atlantic article entitled There's More to Life Than Being Happy by Emily Esfahani Smith where she discusses how important it is to not focus on being happy but rather focus on doing something meaningful. I already contemplate the meaning of life a ton but after reading Ruth, Donalyn and Katherine's words, I knew just how right it is. I think I did already know this, too but reminders are always good. I'm glad I spent the day with my kids singing, playing tag, eating cookies. It made me happy but it also helped me feel like I was focusing my energy on them and that's pretty meaningful. Of course, as soon as I opened up this post to update my weekly reading, I felt like I didn't read enough and guilty for not posting all the posts I meant to post. Except, I'm not letting myself feel guilty any more. It just is what it is. I'm doing my best and I'm trying to make the most of everyday. Right now that means blogging might not always happen and pages might not get read, but I'm still here and appreciate you for stopping in to see how things are going. Thank you!
Reviewed Last Week:
Click on any picture above to go read my review/post.
Upcoming Book Adventures:
Jen Says: I plan to keep reading Fantasy League and Landline. I need to get to the library this week so I can grab an audiobook...hopefully I can make that happen!
This Week's Reviews:
Check back throughout the week to read these reviews/posts.
So, what are you reading this week?
Link up below and don't forget to check out other blogs to see what they are reading!
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