It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 3/2

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.

I have had a few weeks of not finishing many books. I was so busy and I also made the mistake of starting to read a bunch of books at once. This week, I have been sick and unable to get into work. This means, of course, that I have had more reading time. I do not at all relish the fact that I am sick, but I do appreciate the fact that I am not too sick to read and can at least accomplish something while I am home or at the doctor's office waiting for my appointments.

Books I Finished This Week:

I just have to say that I have been reading some amazing things! I would highly recommend them all.

Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor is the conclusion to the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy. I cannot say enough about these hauntingly beautiful books. I would highly recommend listening to the audiobooks of this series. I listened to the first two books and really missed the audiobook narrator when reading the third book. Her voices really brought the characters alive for me. This story is so full of interesting characters who break your heart and give you joy. And the language that this author uses. I couldn't help but grab a couple quotes to demonstrate the beauty of the language in this book. Highly, highly recommended for high school and adult readers.

"He was angles and darkness, her opposite--a moon-creature to her sun, a slicing shadow to her glow. But that was all silhouette. It was in his smile, and in his eyes, and in his waiting--he was still waiting--that she saw him, and knew him. Strength and grace and loneliness and longing.
     And Hope.
     And Hesitation.
    He was standing still to let himself be judged, and it shamed her. She saw it in his stillness. He was afraid that she would think him a beast, and how could she assure him of what she herself, five seconds before, had been uncertain? How could she tell him that he was magnificent, and she was humbled--speechless not with distaste but with awe."

"The smile that she had never seen yet with these eyes....Warm with wonderment, a smile so beautiful it ached. It crinkled his eyes, and shaped his beauty into another kind of astonishing, a better kind, because it was the astonishment of happiness, and that reshapes everything. It makes hearts whole and lives worth living."

I got Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman from NetGalley. I was super excited to be able to read this one and get the word out that everyone should order it.  The book release date is March 10th so it is perfect timing to preorder the book and have it waiting on your doorstep next Tuesday. I loved this story every bit as much as I loved Seraphina. It is such an interesting story world and I really loved the adventures in this book. Highly recommended for teens and adults.

 When I picked up The Crossover by Kwame Alexander, I knew I would have a quick read and I knew it would be one that I liked. I loved how the rhythms of the poems sang to me and I could imagine how reading this one aloud could be so much fun! What I didn't know is that there would be a very raw personal connection that I would make to the main character. My father had heart issues when I was younger and I found that I could relate to some of the more worried tones in some of the poems.

I loved Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers, just as I loved Grave Mercy and Dark Triumph. Fantasy, romance, political intrigue, and assassins fill the pages of this book and the others in the series. What more could you ask for? I liked the way this book wrapped up the story from the trilogy and brought the stories of all three assassins to satisfying conclusions.



Books I am Currently Reading:

I started reading another book from NetGalley entitled Patient Zero: Solving the Mysteries of Deadly Epidemics. I am really learning a lot from this nonfiction book. It would be a great mentor text for middle school. I also started reading the most recent Camilla Lackberg mystery. I really enjoy her mysteries and I always read the Spanish versions because they are released first in Spain.


What's Next?

I will be starting All the Light You Cannot See for my staff book club. I also have The Marshmallow Test on my shelf and would like to get to the most recent Princess Academy book as well. The formatting was off in my NetGalley copy of Read Between the Lines but if I can figure that out, I would love to be able to read that one too. Jo Knowles rocks!


What are you reading this week? I would love to hear from you in the comments!