Monday, January 6, 2014

#IMWAYR Jan. 6

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… who knows, you might discover that next “must read” book!

Our Kid Lit to YA version is hosted by Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers.
GREAT IDEA! Check out all of the What Are You Reading? participants for title ideas.


Been a while but here I am!

A Strange Place to Call Home: The World's Most Dangerous Habitats & the Animals That Call Them HomeA Strange Place to Call Home: The World's Most Dangerous Habitats & the Animals That Call Them Home by Marilyn Singer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Loved the art ... though for the longest time I thought it was Steve Jenkins. Then realized nope, someone else.
The poetry ... well. Some I liked and some I did not. It was hard to read. I kept going back and trying to find some rhythm to the rhyme scheme.


The Forbidden Stone (The Copernicus Legacy, #1)The Forbidden Stone by Tony Abbott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

OOOH. Loads of adventure and intrigue. Is it completely believable? No. Does it have to be? Nope!
I'll be back for book #2. And will get a copy for our school library for sure. Fourth and fifth graders may not have ever heard of Copernicus or Magellan but maybe this will get them curious.
The storyline is more complicated than most of what I've read of Abbott's work before so this won't be a 2nd/3rd grade read.

Hide and Seek (Capture the Flag, #2)Hide and Seek by Kate Messner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Can't wait to share this with some kiddos. Our library copy finally came in just before the break and ... I stole it for the break. ;) They're getting it back next week, though!
And this TOTALLY made me want to go back to Costa Rica. Spent a spring break there a couple years back and it was awesome. Horseback riding. White water rafting. Zip-lining. Loads of picture taking opportunities. Not my usual at all but actually so fun!

Rump: The True Story of RumpelstiltskinRump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Nice backstory on a famous character.
I liked it well enough ... but didn't LOVE it like so many other people. I wonder why.



White Fire (Pendergast, #13)White Fire by Douglas Preston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I got tired of waiting for the library copy so I finally just downloaded it to my Kindle. AWESOME. I felt cold as the Colorado mountainside was described. Or "steely glints" from various characters. Already left wanting for the next Pendergast.

That said, I could have done without all the uses of "mother f_________" as I do not think it conveys any more to the character's motivations or feelings than other less crass vocab. Characters were ugly before they used the language. I might be alone in that.


Coming Up
Since it's harder to get to the "big city" library (and I'm terrible but with family last week and rotten allergies this week I haven't gone to get my smaller city card ... insert face of shame here) I am sure I will be reading more galleys and ebooks in the future.

I'm almost done with Lindsay Leavitt's Going Vintage. I already have The Lost Treasure of Tuckernuck and Flora and Ulysses checked out. We'll see what else happens!




6 comments:

  1. Going to put Hide and Seek and Forbidden Stone on my wish list. Thanks.

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    1. If you have any 39 Clues fans then you'll have readers for Forbidden Stone. Not quite so serialized but the same idea ... fun adventure/mystery with the same history and geography aspect and ... almost absence of adult supervision. Not realistic but FUN!
      As is Hide and Seek. I liked the author's little blurb at the end giving kids some insight into her process. It's on her blog, too, but kids don't always think of looking there.

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  2. I wasn't sure about the Tony Abbott book, good to read your opinion, thanks! I finally got my copy of Wake up missing delivered, can't wait to read another Messner book! :) Happy reading week to you! - Debbie

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  3. I loved Rump and A Strange Place to Call Home. Thanks for sharing!

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  4. Hello there Miss O. I have a copy of A Strange Place Called Home, but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I haven't read any of Kate Messner's novels yet. Hopefully I get to them this year. I can't wait to hear your thoughts about Flora & Ulysses, I read mixed reviews about the book. Have a great reading week! And stay safe and healthy.

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  5. I love when you give the books a star rating! I can't wait to get my copy of Hide and Seek for my library!

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