“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies . . . The man who never reads lives only one.” – George R.R. Martin
Top 10 Tuesday: Books for Every Color of the Rainbow (and Then Some!)
Welcome to Top 10 Tuesday! This is a weekly challenge hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, and this week’s challenge is about books for every color of the rainbow!
Originally, this post was supposed to be about book titles that sound like they could be Crayola crayon colors, but I really couldn’t come up with anything for that! So instead, I decided to make a virtual rainbow out of book covers! Unfortunately, there are fewer than ten colors in the rainbow, but that just means I got to add in some extra ones! I definitely had to recite ROYGBIV in my head many times while coming up with this list in order to remember the colors and their order in the rainbow (does anyone else do this??). Also, most of these are books I’ve read and enjoyed, but a few of them are on my TBR! However, something they all have in common is that they all have stunning covers! Without further ado, here is my rainbow of books!
Book Review: “We Should All Be Feminists” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
We should all be feminists: A controversial statement that shouldn’t be controversial.
This very short book by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie certainly packs a punch. In this book, she gracefully tackles the concept of feminism and the stigma that surrounds it.
With many personal and relatable anecdotes, Adichie takes down the criticisms of feminism (both a a word and as a concept) one-by-one. I also found that there were many indirect connections to the arguments surrounding the BLM movement, which I liked! In the classroom we call that a text-to-world connection; I thought it was great that I was able to learn and think about so many things in such a short amount of time.
Spoiler-Free Review: “We Should All Be Feminists” is a short but powerful rebuttal to those who have misconceptions about the concept of feminism. In this quick manifesto, Ngozi Adichie shares many…
Top 5 Saturday: April Acrostic
Welcome to Top 5 Saturday! This is a weekly challenge hosted by Devouring Books, and for this week’s challenge I’m using book titles to create an April acrostic poem!
This week’s prompt was originally about books with blood on the cover, but I couldn’t really think of any for that. However, April does have five letters, so I figured an acrostic poem would make a good prompt! The books I’m picking have nothing to do with April or spring or anything, I picked them solely based on the first letter of their titles (and also if I enjoyed them enough to flaunt them on here)! Without further ado, here are my top five books that make up an April acrostic poem:
Top 10 Tuesday: Books I’d Gladly Throw in the Ocean
Welcome to Top 10 Tuesday! This is a weekly challenge hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, and this week’s challenge is about books I’d gladly throw in the ocean!
Normally for these posts I focus on either books I’ve read and enjoyed or books that I’m still looking forward to reading. However, for this post I got to think back on books that I haven’t enjoyed so much. To be fair, even with books I don’t enjoy, I would never go as far to destroy any of them (or in this case, throw them in the ocean). Normally I would just donate them, but I have to say it was fun to reminisce and remember those books that made me feel… strong feelings. Without further ado, here are my top ten books that I’d gladly throw in the ocean!
Book Review: “Peak” by Roland Smith
What’s the most random job you’ve ever had?
One of the most random jobs I’ve had is working as a belayer at children’s parties. A belayer is someone who is there for safety while another person is rock-climbing; the rope runs through their belay device and they make sure everything is secure and safe for the person up in the air. I’m terribly afraid of heights and don’t enjoy rock climbing myself, so this was definitely a strange job for me to have. That being said, I think it’s fascinating to learn about people who do it professionally! And I wish I weren’t so afraid of it.
While mountaineering and rock climbing certainly aren’t the same thing, there are definitely some similarities. I was worried when I started reading Peak that I wouldn’t have too much interest in it. I’m afraid of heights, don’t have much knowledge of climbing of any kind, and don’t typically read books of the adventure genre. However, this book was such a pleasant surprise! I learned so much about mountaineering, and found the story really uplifting as well.
Spoiler-Free Review: “Peak” is an adventurous middle grade novel about a young boy named Peak who joins his father in an attempt to…
Top 5 Saturday: Books with Diverse Characters
Welcome to Top 5 Saturday! This is a weekly challenge hosted by Devouring Books, and this week’s challenge focuses on books with diverse characters.
It was really hard to narrow it down for this one! I love reading books with a diverse cast of characters, and I’m especially particular about this when choosing books to use in my classroom. Therefore, this is going to be kind of an eclectic list of books! I tried to include a broad selection of books that ranges from middle grade, to young adult, to contemporary fiction. Without further ado, here are my top five books with diverse characters (in no particular order)…
March Wrap-Up
Happy April everyone!
Did March feel really long to anyone else?
I’m experiencing some big changes in my job, and I think the stress just felt never-ending this month. But oh well! It’s a new month full of new opportunities and new books! Change is always scary but I’m hopeful it’ll lead to some positive things.
Unfortunately March wasn’t my greatest month of reading. My stress led to more TV and videogame time than usual, and there were even two books I DNF (did not finish), which literally never do. I hate giving up on a book before finishing it, but I realized that I deserve to read books I enjoy, and it’s not worth it to spend time reading something that I dread (or end up not reading at all because I dread it that much).
I think part of the reason I wasn’t super thrilled with my March picks was that I chose to focus on middle grade books this month. I took many books home from my classroom to read during quarantine, and I want to be able to read and return them to my classroom before the end of the school year. While I love middle grade books, I tend to get a little restless when I read too many in a row.
I’m excited for my April reads though! I’m planning on reading the next book in the Uglies series (which comes out in less than a week) and I’m also hoping to read The Glass Castle. Other than that, I plan on just reading whatever I’m in the mood for!
Without further ado, here is my wrap-up of all the books I read in March:
Top 10 Tuesday: Places in Books I’d Love to Visit
Welcome to Top 10 Tuesday! This is a weekly challenge hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, and this week’s challenge is about places in books I’d love to visit!
It was initially places I’d love to live, but I changed it to visit because, well, I’m a homebody and I don’t really want to move anywhere far away (not permanently at least). It was so difficult to choose for this one! There are so many book settings I’d love to visit for a short amount of time, and it was fun to reminisce on all of the great places books have helped me travel to. Without further ado, here are my top ten choices for places in books I’d love to visit (in no particular order)!
Book Review: “Friday Black” by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Spring Break is coming to an end, as is March! While this month didn’t feel as long as January, it certainly has felt pretty long. I didn’t manage to read as much as I wanted to, but that’s ok! I’m just glad that during my break I managed to make time for self-care in other ways, and that I really enjoyed what I did manage to read!
I’m actually still catching up on my reviews for the books I read in February, and Friday Black was certainly a stand-out read from last month! I don’t often read collections of short stories, but I’m so glad I took a leap out of my comfort zone for this one. I discovered this book through going to my city’s book festival in fall of 2018. I picked this particular book talk because it featured Luis Alberto Urrea, one of my favorite authors! Adjei-Brenyah was another novelist featured in this panel, and it was so wonderful listening to him speak. And his book sounded incredible! My now-husband and I immediately purchased his book after, and then stood in line to meet him and get it signed. He is such a kind man and talented writer.
While it may not be a book for everybody, it is definitely a powerful and well-crafted collection of short stories. It is very dark and violent at times, but the commentary contained in this speculative fiction is well worth the discomfort caused by some of the darker, bloodier stories. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Spoiler-Free Review: “Friday Black” is a powerful collection of speculative fiction short stories. These short stories explore everything from…
Top 5 Saturday: Books for Foodies
Welcome to Top 5 Saturday! This is a weekly challenge hosted by Devouring Books, and this week’s challenge focuses on books with a desert setting (which I changed to books for foodies!).
I really couldn’t think of many books with a desert setting, but I figured the word “desert” is similar to “dessert.” This then got me thinking about books that feature food in some way, so I ended up choosing five books that feature food or dessert! In no particular order, here are my top five books for foodies!
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