It's Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA

I'm back after three weeks of neglecting to post my reads. And, honestly, I'm too tired and swamped with other stuff to go back and try to post them retroactively. Sometimes, you have to cut your losses and move on!

This week it's pretty obvious that I focused on reading graphic novels/comics and books about butterflies. I think I've mentioned before that I default to reading GNs/comics when I feel a bit too overwhelmed to start a chapter book but I need to be reading something. And I have a read-aloud for The Reading Connection this coming week, hence the caterpillar/butterfly-themed books. 

I decided to omit the "What I'm Reading Now" and "What I Plan to Read This Week" sections because having them looming over me unchanged from previous weeks when I know I won't get around to those books makes me feel guilty!

[To rehash the concept :: post what you read last week, what you're reading now, and what you plan to read this week. If you have a review of the book(s), great! If you have a picture of the book(s), wonderful! If you have a book giveaway, fantastic! If you just list the title(s) of the book(s), not a problem! Make it as simple or as complex as you need it to be. At least, that's the message I got. This version of the meme is hosted by Jen and Kellee of Teach Mentor Text, which, in turn, was inspired by Sheila over at Book Journey, who hosts the original It's Monday! What Are You Reading?]

WHAT I READ LAST WEEK:

Arabella Miller's Tiny Caterpillar by Clare Jarrett

Butterfly Tree by Sandra Markle, illustrated by Leslie Wu

Fancy Nancy, Bonjour Butterfly by Jane O'Connor, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser

Flop to the Top! by Eleanor Davis and Drew Weing

Houdini the Amazing Caterpillar by Janet Pedersen

Hurry and the Monarch by Antoine O Flatharta, illustrated by Meilo So

Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni

Lillian's Right to Vote by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Shane W. Evans

Little Green Peas: A Big Book of Colors by Keith Baker

The Mitten String by Jennifer Rosner, illustrated by Kristina Swarner

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales, #5: The Underground Abductor by Nathan Hale

Owly & Wormy, Friends All Aflutter! by Andy Runton

Phoebe and Her Unicorn: A Heavenly Nostrils Chronicle by Dana Simpson 

Stella Brings the Family by Miriam B. Schiffer, illustrated by Holly Clifton-Brown

Totally Tardy Marty by Erica S. Perl, illustrated by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Velma Gratch & the Way Cool Butterfly by Alan Madison, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes

Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert

The War at Ellsmere by Faith Erin Hicks

Water is Water by Miranda Paul, illustrated by Jason Chin

Where Are My Books? by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA

I went a little overboard with reading The Sixth Gun this week. I stopped buying the volumes awhile ago so I was excited to find so many of them at the library. My son and I read these so I had to keep retrieving the next volume from his room. 

The Day the Crayons Came Home was as delightful as I thought it would be, and I chuckled several times out loud in the bookstore. What I liked about this volume--compared to the first book--is that the crayons are writing postcards, which means the text is shorter. I think, especially for some younger readers, this will be a draw (Ha! See what I did there?). 

And Circus Mirandus! There's a lot of hype surrounding this book, and it combines quite a few themes well, but I understand some of the criticism about character development. But despite that, and whether or not you like fantasy, you should read it because there's some beautifully written passages in it and Circus Mirandus is a magical place that everyone should visit, even if only in their minds and imaginations. And it's a safe bet that this book will be on lots of best-of lists this year. 

[To rehash the concept :: post what you read last week, what you're reading now, and what you plan to read this week. If you have a review of the book(s), great! If you have a picture of the book(s), wonderful! If you have a book giveaway, fantastic! If you just list the title(s) of the book(s), not a problem! Make it as simple or as complex as you need it to be. At least, that's the message I got. This version of the meme is hosted by Jen and Kellee of Teach Mentor Text, which, in turn, was inspired by Sheila over at Book Journey, who hosts the original It's Monday! What Are You Reading?]

WHAT I READ LAST WEEK:

Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley

The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers

The Sixth Gun, Book 4: A Town Called Penance written by Cullen Bunn, illustrated by Brian Hurtt and Tyler Crook, colored by Bill Crabtree, and lettered by Douglas E. Sherwood

The Sixth Gun, Book 5: Winter Wolves written by Cullen Bunn, illustrated by Brian Hurtt, colored by Bill Crabtree

The Sixth Gun, Book 6: Ghost Dance written by Cullen Bunn, illustrated by Brian Hurtt, colored by Bill Crabtree, and lettered by Douglas E. Sherwood and Ed Brisson

The Sixth Gun, Book 7: Not the Bullet, But the Fall written by Cullen Bunn, illustrated by Brian Hurtt and Tyler Crook, colored by Bill Crabtree, and lettered by Crank!

The Sixth Gun: Sons of the Gun written by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt, illustrated by Brian Churilla, colored by Bill Crabtree, and lettered by Douglas E. Sherwood

Tickle Monster by Édouard Manceau

Vegetables in Underwear by Jared Chapman

WHAT I'M READING NOW:

The Forget-Me-Not Summer by Leila Howland

WHAT I PLAN TO READ THIS WEEK:

The Night Parade by Kathryn Tanquary (publication date: January 2016)

The Grace of Kings (Book One of the Dandelion Dynasty) by Ken Liu

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA

[To rehash the concept :: post what you read last week, what you're reading now, and what you plan to read this week. If you have a review of the book(s), great! If you have a picture of the book(s), wonderful! If you have a book giveaway, fantastic! If you just list the title(s) of the book(s), not a problem! Make it as simple or as complex as you need it to be. At least, that's the message I got. This version of the meme is hosted by Jen and Kellee of Teach Mentor Text, which, in turn, was inspired by Sheila over at Book Journey, who hosts the original It's Monday! What Are You Reading?]

WHAT I READ LAST WEEK:

Beautiful Darkness by Fabien Vehlmann, illustrated by Kerascoët, translated by Helge Dascher

Dirty Rats? by Darrin Lunde, illustrated by Adam Gustavson

Lunde is a local DC author (and Maryland resident) and fellow Cornell alum!

Fairest, Volume 4: Of Men and Mice by Marc Andreyko, drawn by Shawn McManus, colored by Lee Loughridge, and lettered by Todd Klein (rated M for Mature)

The Fog Diver by Joel Ross

How to Read a Story by Kate Messner, illustrated by Mark Siegel

Ms. Marvel, Volume 3: Crushed by G. Willow Wilson, illustrated by Elmo Bondoc and Takeshi Miyazawa

Southern Bastards, Volume 1: Here Was a Man by Jason Aaron, illustrated by Jason Latour (rated M for Mature)

Very Washington DC: A Celebration of the History and Culture of American's Capital City by Diana Hollingsworth Gessler

WHAT I'M READING NOW:

Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley

WHAT I PLAN TO READ THIS WEEK:

The Night Parade by Kathryn Tanquary (publication date: January 2016)

The Grace of Kings (Book One of the Dandelion Dynasty) by Ken Liu

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

[The original It's Monday! What Are You Reading? hosted by Sheila over at Book Journey]

Just as I expected, coming home from a month away required some recuperation (from what, I'm not sure because it was a month of essentially doing nothing). For me, graphic novels/comics/manga are a great way to ease back into habitual reading. This week I read a few of my new Los Angeles acquisitions: a purchase from Pulp Fiction and a gift from my sister's boyfriend.

WHAT I READ LAST WEEK:

Nemo: River of Ghosts (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Nemo #3)

by Alan Moore, illustrated by Kevin O'Neill

Rat Queens, Vol. 1: Sass & Sorcery by Kurtis J. Wiebe, illustrated by Roc Upchurch

Rat Queens, Vol. 2: The Far Reaching Tentacles of N'rygoth by Kurtis J. Wiebe, illustrated by Roc Upchurch and Stjepan Šejić, lettered by Ed Brisson