It's Monday! What are you reading? From Picture Books to YA

I must admit that Week 16 of It's Monday! What are you reading? was greatly disrupted by evil, evil cable television. As I mentioned last week, I was on vacation and I could not resist the call of cable, bed, and air conditioning. Normally, I don't have cable or air conditioning, which leaves me with a bed, the perfect place to read in a quiet environment. But the addition of the two other elements totally threw me off and I pretty much read nothing except magazines. What you see below are the results of my paltry reading after getting home on Friday evening.

I'd like to say that I'll do better this week but, wouldn't ya know, work starts up tomorrow. I can't help but be a bit pessimistic about my reading prospects from here on out. I imagine I'll continue to read picture books at a decent pace for work reasons, but I probably won't be completing chapter books as quickly as I did at the beginning of the summer.

But I can't get too discouraged ... my goal this year is to read 365 books and I've already read 315 books (according to Goodreads I'm 21% ahead of schedule). As long as I keep chugging along I'll accomplish my goal of reading a book a day.

WHAT I READ LAST WEEK:

Pepi Sings a New Song by Laura Ljungkvist

How Did That Get In My Lunchbox? The Story of Food by Chris Butterworth


When Harriet Met Sojourner by Catherine Clinton

The Templeton Twins Have an Idea by Ellis Weiner

WHAT I'M READING NOW:

The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann

Dear Miss Breed: True Stories of the Japanese American Incarceration During World War II and a Librarian Who Made a Difference by Joanne Oppenheim

WHAT I PLAN TO READ THIS WEEK:

The Ogre of Oglefort by Eva Ibbotson

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It's Monday! What are you reading? From Picture Books to YA

My reading progress for Week 15 of It's Monday! What are you reading? ended up being more pathetic than Week 14. I am disappointed in myself! No excuses; I just didn't read.

I'm also on vacation right now and I didn't bring the three books I'm in the middle of reading. (Instead, I brought a couple of this year's California Young Reader Medal Intermediate nominees.) I made a new category this week -- a promise to myself to get back to those books when I get home from my week away.

WHAT I READ LAST WEEK:

Eleven by Patricia Reilly Giff

WHAT I'M READING NOW:

The Ogre of Oglefort by Eva Ibbotson

WHAT I PLAN TO READ THIS WEEK:

The Schwa Was Here by Neal Shusterman

WHAT I PLAN TO GO BACK TO READING NEXT WEEK:

The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann

Dear Miss Breed: True Stories of the Japanese American Incarceration During World War II and a Librarian Who Made a Difference by Joanne Oppenheim


The Templeton Twins Have an Idea by Ellis Weiner

Library Media Specialist on the Loose is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

It's Monday! What are you reading? From Picture Books to YA

It's Week 14 of It's Monday! What are you reading? and I don't know what happened! Clearly, not a big reading week for me. I'm getting a little panic-y about the new school year (which starts in a little over two weeks) so I've been concentrating my energies on brainstorming and researching ideas on the web (and by "researching" I mean pinning on Pinterest). I also covered, and am cataloging, new books that have been sitting around forever. I'm sad that my summer isn't over yet but I'm already falling into my school year reading habits. Boo! I have to try to get in as much reading time as I can in the next two weeks!

This week's picture book selection leaned toward nonfiction (except for Ethan Long's book, which was read to me by the author himself at his visit to {pages}). I enjoy nonfiction picture books immensely; there are so many good ones out there right now. I tend to read more nonfiction to my upper graders -- perhaps to their chagrin -- but I think they're the perfect age for getting a good story (with pictures!) that just happens to be true.

WHAT I READ LAST WEEK:

Up! Tall! and High! (But Not Necessarily in That Order.) by Ethan Long


The Food of Mexico by Byron Augustin


How Underwear Got Under There: A Brief History by Kathy Shaskan


A Horse in the House and Other Strange But True Animal Stories by Gail Ablow


Bon Appétit! The Delicious Life of Julia Child by Jessie Hartland

Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead

WHAT I'M READING NOW:

The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann

Dear Miss Breed: True Stories of the Japanese American Incarceration During World War II and a Librarian Who Made a Difference by Joanne Oppenheim

WHAT I PLAN TO READ THIS WEEK:

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Ethan Long at {pages} a bookstore

I have been frequenting my indie bookseller {pages} a bookstore quite a bit this summer. This week I dropped by to meet author/illustrator Ethan Long. One of his new books (he has over 50 to his credit with more to come in the near future), Up! Tall! and High! (But Not Necessarily in That Order.), sounded like just the book to get for my new nephew. (Betsy Bird of A Fuse #8 Production gave it a glowing review.)

After reading the book aloud (and asking Maya to be his book holder), he drew birds for all of the tikes who were there. At first, he was going to draw the birds in the style of the book's illustrations, but one little guy walked right up and, wordlessly, stuck his hand on the paper. So Ethan just drew a bird out of the handprint! And, of course, if one kid had it drawn that way, all the kids wanted it drawn that way.

I even got one done; I plan to hang it up in my library.

He blogged about his visit to {pages} here. And here he is at work drawing birds:

To purchase the book:

 

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FYI :: Amazon links

I'm sure there are many people who won't agree with this, but I rejoined the Amazon Associates program. From this post on, all book covers will link to amazon through my Associate's account, and if you purchase a book through the link I will receive a small referral rate commission.

Each blog post that has images and/or links that connect to my Associate's account will have a disclaimer at the bottom:

Library Media Specialist on the Loose is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Thank you for your understanding.

It's Monday! What are you reading? From Picture Books to YA

It's Week 13 of It's Monday! What are you reading? and I'm sort of on-pace to meet my goal of reading at least two (chapter) books a week. I'm supposed to be reading this year's Intermediate nominees for the California Young Reader Medal but I haven't even started ... and you might notice that my What I Plan to Read This Week section doesn't include any of the three nominees. But I have so many books from the public library that need to be read before they're due. So many books, so little time!

OK, enough complaining and whining -- back to reading!

WHAT I READ LAST WEEK:

Backbeard and the Birthday Suit by Matthew McElligott

 

If You Made a Million by David M. Schwartz

Zorro Gets an Outfit by Carter Goodrich

The Most Perfect Spot by Diane Goode

Wolf Won't Bite by Emily Gravett

The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon by Mini Grey

If All the Animals Came Inside by Eric Pinder

 (There's a new cover coming out in preparation for the publication of the sequel, Such Wicked Intent, in August 2012.)

The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein: This Dark Endeavor Kenneth Oppel

The Chronicles of Egg #1: Deadweather and Sunrise by Geoff Rodkey

 Forgotten Bookmarks by Michael Popek

WHAT I'M READING NOW:

Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead

WHAT I PLAN TO READ THIS WEEK:

The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann