It's Monday! What Are You Reading? --From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme started by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their week of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating in this meme and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.
Books I Finished This Week:
Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner is an interesting science fiction read. The short chapters make it a quick read and there is a lot to think about in this story. I can appreciate what the Printz committee may have seen in this book, but it really wasn't my cup of tea.
This was a book I purchased after seeing a link to it in the Big Fresh newsletter from Choice Literacy. I have been needing a little extra oomph in my reading workshop and am probably going to start book clubs again soon. This book was a nice, quick read. Katie Doherty Czerwinski opens up her classroom and really just shares what she does in order to be successful with book clubs in a middle school classroom. I like the way she gives advice and examples of the real kids who arise in our classrooms that refuse to work. I will be using some of her ideas this month as I dive into book clubs in my classroom. I would recommend this book to any middle school teacher who is interested in book clubs, along with the work of Harvey "Smokey" Daniels.
Books I am Currently Reading:
I am listening to The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon. I am enjoying the story so far. It is imaginative and complex. I am also reading Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver and Beautiful Lies by Lisa Unger. Both are adult novels that I am enjoying immensely. The other book I am slowly getting through is The Notorious Benedict Arnold by Steve Shienkin. It is really interesting to learn more about this historical figure that I really only know one thing about.
What's Next?
I don't know what will come next. I have so many great books on the TBR shelf and on my Kindle. I will just pick from those when the time comes for the next read. Since I have so many that I am reading right now, it may be a while before I get to the next one.
What are you reading this week? I would love to hear from you in the comments! Have a great reading week!
I have had an eye on The Bone Season, but I haven't picked it up. Maybe I will go the audio route. I have Cress right now, so everything else has been shoved aside! Have a great week~Megan
ReplyDeletehttp://wp.me/zUn5
I think I need to buy Join the Club - book clubs in middle school can be tricky ventures.
ReplyDeleteThanks for recommending Join the Club. It's not a title I've seen, and several of my pre-service teachers are interested in doing book clubs in their classrooms. Will definitely get a copy of it. I finished Maggot Moon this week too. Like you, I found it a quick read and pretty compelling as a page-turner, but it didn't work for me. Had a hard time putting my finger on just why. I don't really like dystopian fiction, for one, but Maggot Moon just seemed really underdeveloped.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm also interested in Join The Club, Andrea. My teachers of older students are about to finish Book Love, & they might want more specific ideas in handling book groups. Sounds good. I'm sorry you didn't like Maggot Moon-will not have it very high on my list then. Too many other good books... I love Sheinkin, & have the Benedict Arnold book-loved Bomb. Thanks for telling about it, too!
ReplyDeleteHello there Andrea. Sorry to hear about your thoughts on Maggot Moon. Fats, one of the GatheringBooks ladies, said that while it did not capture her interest in the beginning, the ending turned everything around for her. I have two book clubs here in Singapore - Join the Club sounds like a book that I should find.
ReplyDelete