It's Monday! What are you reading? --From Picture Books to YA--is a weekly meme hosted by Jen and Kellee at Teach Mentor Texts. Head over to their blog for links to many great blogs and a plethora of good book suggestions.
Books I finished this week:
I completely understand why In Darkness by Nick Lake won the Printz award this year. This book was so beautiful and complex and made me think hard. I loved the way the story weaved back and forth between a historical account of the fight for independence and a story of today's slums and living conditions in Haiti. The fact that all of the story was being told through the thoughts of a young man trapped by rubble from the big earthquake made the story that much more powerful and poignant. I will be reviewing this one soon in a more extended format as part of my #Nerdprintz challenge.
I got The Reluctant Assassin (W.A.R.P. #1) from Netgalley after reading about it on another Monday post. I absolutely love the Artemis Fowl series and have enjoyed all other books by Eoin Colfer in the past. When I heard he was writing a new series, I knew I needed to read it. This was an entertaining and quick read. I loved the science fiction story and I know that students will love the adventure and thriller feel to the book. I can certainly see why some teachers would feel that there was too much violence in this book...tread lightly with middle grade students. However, I think that my middle school students would love this fun story and I do not think the content would be inappropriate for grades 6 and up.
Books I am Currently Reading:
I am still reading Rot and Ruin. I am finding the story entertaining, but for some reason I keep picking up other books. I am not sure what it is that is making me feel reluctant to read this one. Perhaps I feel too full of zombie stories right now.
I am listening to Days of Blood and Starlight and will finish it this week. There is about an hour left on the audiobook.
What's Next?
I still have Aristotle and Dante from the library. I don't really know what else I will pick up this week. Now that I am done with report cards, I should have more time to read. The craziness of the end of the school year is still overwhelming and I will probably continue to be slow at finishing books. I cannot wait for bookaday to start in two weeks.
In Darkness is new to me - another one for my summer list!
ReplyDeleteI can't decide what I thought of In Darkness. I thought it was extremely well-written, but I wonder about its depiction of Haiti. Oh well. I might have to read it again! I LOVED both Rot & Ruin and Aristotle and Dante. Two of my favorites!
ReplyDeleteI certainly can understand some reservations about the depiction of Haiti, but it really rang true to me that people living in these extreme slums would live like this. I liked the history lesson about the slave rebellion and I thought it seemed like the author really must have done his research to have such a solid story. I actually went to the web to do some of my own research about the author because I also was not sure at first about this depiction. I think the gritty and realistic picture of a violent life is part of what made this book resonate so much with me.
DeleteI am listing to In Darkness now. Very early in and still on the fence. I feel like I should read it and hope that it picks up for me. I could not get into Rot & Ruin at all, which was so disappointing because at the time I was desperate for a zombie book. Have a great reading week! http://wp.me/pzUn5-1yt
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing In Darkness at NCTE when it was in Chicago. I never read it, though. Hearing you talk about it intrigues me though. Sometimes it helps to hear someone else describe a book and what they enjoy about it and makes me want to read it in a different way. Thanks!
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