It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!
It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. 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.
Last Week's Book Adventures:
We finished Sideways Stories from Wayside School and I also finished listening to The Beauty That Remains. I'm still reading Take Joy and started listening to Meet Cute: Some People Are Destined to Meet. It's super cute and I forgot how much I enjoy short stories.
Upcoming Book Adventures:
I'm excited to listen to more stories from Meet Cute and I started reading Breakout by Kate Messner a while go and then loaned it to a friend. I'm hoping to get back to it this week.
This Week's Posts:
Check back throughout the week to read these posts.
So, what are you reading this week?
Link up below and check out other blogs to see what they're reading! To help build our community and support other bloggers, we ask that you comment on at least three other blogs before you. Also, if you tweet about your Monday post, don't forget to use #IMWAYR!
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!
It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. 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.
Last Week's Book Adventures:
I listened to more of The Beauty That Remains and read more of Take Joy. The kids and I are almost done with Sideways Stories from Wayside School.
Upcoming Book Adventures:
I have family visiting from Guatemala this week so I know it's going to be a busy week but I hope to still continue reading The Beauty That Remains and Take Joy.
This Week's Posts:
Check back throughout the week to read these posts.
So, what are you reading this week?
Link up below and check out other blogs to see what they're reading! To help build our community and support other bloggers, we ask that you comment on at least three other blogs before you. Also, if you tweet about your Monday post, don't forget to use #IMWAYR!
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!
It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. 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.
Last Week's Book Adventures:
I finished listening to Option B and started The Beauty That Remains by Ashley Woodfolk. We're still reading Sideways Stories from Wayside School before bed and I also started reading Take Joy by Jane Yolen.
Last Week's Post:
Upcoming Book Adventures:
I'm excited to listen to The Beauty That Remains and to read more of Take Joy. I'm hoping to get back to Darkroom this week and to start The Lost Girl by Anne Ursu.
This Week's Posts:
Check back throughout the week to read these posts.
So, what are you reading this week?
Link up below and check out other blogs to see what they're reading! To help build our community and support other bloggers, we ask that you comment on at least three other blogs before you. Also, if you tweet about your Monday post, don't forget to use #IMWAYR!
Last week when I blogged about Rachel Hollis and Lady GaGa, a friend told me that her dreams are similar to Octavia Butler's so of course, I had to go find out what those were.
Here's an image taken from The Huntington Library where he work is now housed. You can read more about this letter to herself here and here.
When I read her words, it reminds me that each of us has to be the first to believe in ourselves. I have to be the first to believe in myself if I hope someone else will believe in me. It reminds me that I have to put in the work in order to get to a place where I believe in myself strongly enough that others will too.
My favorite part is where she tells herself: So be it! See to it! I really love that. Reading it made me reflect on my own mantra which is: I believe I can and I will. Some days it's harder to live by it...those days when I'm struggling to believe. It's an interesting thing, believing. It's full of hope and faith and but also a bit of knowledge and trust. While I know I have to be the first person to believe, I've had friends lately who have reminded me to keep believing and that has meant a lot. For me, writing is a very social activity. I'm sure it's because I'm an extrovert and most everything is a social activity for me but I truly believe a writing life is better with friends. I can't imagine navigating the writing process or the world of publishing without others to help me along the way. Or even without writing mentors like Octavia Butler who remind me to just get it done. I'm off to write out my own hopes and dreams. If I can dream it, I can believe it. And if I can believe it, I can and I will.
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!
It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. 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.
Announcement:
Congratulations to the
Perilous Journey Giveaway Winner
Cassandra Darensbourg!
*Thanks again Walden Pond Press for sending me a copy of this book to review
and for partnering with me for this giveaway.
Last Week's Book Adventures:
I finished listening to This Song Will Save Your Life and started Option B by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant. I finished The Shape of Ideas by Grant Snider and Your Illustrated Guide to Becoming One with the Universe by Yumi Sakugawa. I also started Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White by Lila Quintero Weaver.
Little Bean and I started reading Sideways Stories from Wayside School and it was so fun to hear him giggling. I loved it!
Last week, I forgot to share that I read What It Is by Lynda Barry and I was yet again intrigued by her style. It was a really fascinating way to look at life and creativity and I highly recommend it. I've also been reading the daily inspiration from Daily Writing Resilience by Bryan E. Robinson. My writing life has been super hard lately...but I blogged about it here.
Last Week's Post:
Upcoming Book Adventures:
This week I'll be listening to Option B, finishing Darkroom and starting How George Became O'Keeffe by Karen Karbo which I got from the library after I saw Jess Keating post about it on Instagram.
This Week's Posts:
Check back throughout the week to read these posts.
So, what are you reading this week?
Link up below and check out other blogs to see what they're reading! To help build our community and support other bloggers, we ask that you comment on at least three other blogs before you. Also, if you tweet about your Monday post, don't forget to use #IMWAYR!
There's a lot of heart that goes into writing. Some people never write because they know how painful it might be. Thanks to writer's workshop when I was in high school, I've always been open to writing, sharing my writing, and receiving feedback. Even when feedback really made me think and I had to work at my writing and it hurt, I still wrote. But the pain I've felt the last few months was so intense that I thought my heart couldn't handle being a writer any more.
Back in July, I shared news of my agent being a fraud. Since then, I've spent a lot of time figuring out what's next for me as a writer. I sent queries out. I got rejections. I considered giving up. I gave myself grace to give myself space. I found a way to write again. I sent more queries. I got more rejections. I cried. So many times. I was heartbroken but I've found a way to go on.
This weekend I watched Rachel Hollis' speech How to Deal with Rejection + Stay Motivated. I thought about my dreams and how much time and energy I've put into my writing. I thought about how close I came to giving up. I thought about how even as much as I didn't think my heart could take it any more, I still found a way to persevere and make my way back to the page. It wasn't easy but writing is in me.
I'm a writer. And in reflecting about my life as a writer, I've thought about the young adult novel I've been working on for the last year and a half. I love the main character so much. In getting back to my writing and thinking about revising again, I've done a lot of character development. And because this main character has a lot of me in her, I've thought about who I am and who she is and I came to a huge realization after watching this Lady GaGa interview where she talked about Dr. Ford speaking out against Brett Kavanaugh.
By the end of the interview, I felt words bubbling up in me like water behind a dam waiting to blast through so I sat down to write.
You see, I have a #metoo story. I've never told anyone about it (besides vaguely telling my husband - even he doesn't know the details). I've never written about it until now.And I can never share more than I've written here. I won't. But my point is: I understand how it's possible to shove a memory you're ashamed of into a box in your brain and keep it locked up. I understand why someone would hold something inside for so long. I get it because I've lived it.
Up until recently, I thought it was just something that happened to me. A sliver of memory that didn't matter that much...because my life moved on. But it keeps popping up in my thoughts more and more lately and as I thought about my character and how she's so tough on the outside when she's really self conscious on the inside...I realized my #metoo story impacted me more than I ever realized.
I was shocked, embarrassed, ashamed, and told to stay quiet. My coping strategy? Pretend it never happened. Act like it was no big deal. Shove any feelings I had away. Move on.
I can name so many other times in my life when I've been hurt and instead of dealing with the emotions or dealing with the situation...I lock up whatever I'm feeling and pretend like nothing ever happened. I pretend I'm fine. Was I always this way? I'm not sure. But it's taken me a long time to work at owning my emotions and telling people how I feel.
And what helped me work through this? Writing.
As angry and hurt and frustrated as I've been because of writing, I've also felt whole and fulfilled and buoyed up by writing. I'm a writer. It's in me. I love writing. Because despite all the ups and downs, writing calls me back. It reminds me who I am. It reminds me that my words are important. It reminds me that my story is important. And so, I write.
I hope you write too. Rachel Hollis and Lady GaGa sharing their thoughts inspired me and maybe my story inspires you. Whether you write for yourself or to share with others, it's worth writing. xoxo
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!
It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. 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.
Last Week's Book Adventures:
Last week, I read A Perilous Journey of Danger and Mayhem by Chris Healy and listened to more of This Song Will Save Your Life. I've also been reading more of Pep Talks for Writers and I also read some of The Shape of Ideas by Grant Snider and I'm part of the Swing launch team for Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess' next book so I read some of that as well.
This week I'll be listening to more of The Song That Saved My Life and finishing up Swing.
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 check out other blogs to see what they're reading! To help build our community and support other bloggers, we ask that you comment on at least three other blogs before you. Also, if you tweet about your Monday post, don't forget to use #IMWAYR!
