It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 6/1

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 cannot believe that it is already June! At times this year, I was pretty sure the school year was never going to end. Now, we are just two weeks away from the last day of school and summer! I am looking forward to a few conferences right away after school gets out. At Summer Spark, I am looking forward to hearing Dave Burgess speak and learning about innovative ideas for the classroom. Click on the image to find out more information about this really cool symposium in Milwaukee on June 15-16. 

I also am going to be attending the All Write Summer Institute. I am excited to attend that two days filled with all-stars! Seriously, I am geeking out about going. I also can't wait to meet many, many of the people that I connect with through this blog and through Twitter. 

Now, on to the actual purpose of this blog post--sharing my reading. I haven't done a Monday post since the end of April. I don't know how May slipped by so quickly. I will try to be short and sweet about sharing some of the books I have read since the last post. 

Adult Novels I have read:

Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio was an interesting read. It wasn't really my cup of tea, but I can see how many people have enjoyed this book. I did definitely like the fact that it made me think about what it would be like to have Tourette's syndrome without really knowing anything about the condition. I am so glad that we have more knowledge of disorders in this day and age. 

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon is a beast of a book, with 896 pages. This is the first book that I tried Whispersync with. I listened to most of the book, but also read some of it on my Kindle. It was really slick to do it this way. I really enjoyed the narration and I think I liked the character more because of the narrator's interpretation. I recommend this one to anyone who enjoys romance books. 

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George is a book I got from NetGalley. It will be out on June 23rd. I enjoyed the premise of the book. The protagonist is a man who owns a "book apothecary." He sells books to people like prescriptions for whatever is ailing them at the moment. He also has a particularly tragic story of a lover that died and his many years of pining for her and not moving on from this sad event. It is a novel that really focuses on how people make mistakes, but also how we must move forward and live our life that we have now. This is another one that wasn't quite up my alley, but I did enjoy the literary twists in the book. 

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain is a fascinating glimpse of Ernest Hemingway's life with his first wife. This historical fiction book captured me from the first page and I had a hard time putting it down. If you are like me and are a literature nerd, you need to read this book. 

Young Adult Books:

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins is one that really stood up to the hype. I had heard multiple really great reviews of this one. I am so glad I picked it up to read it. It is a really cute teenage love story and I really enjoyed it. I highly recommend this one for high school and up. 

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen is a retelling of the story of Robin Hood, with a little bit of love mixed in. I found myself laughing out loud at many points during this book. The protagonist is quite witty. I loved this one and highly recommend it for high school and up. 

Middle Grade Books:

The Orphan Army by Jonathan Maberry is a science fiction adventure book. You may know this author from his Rot and Ruin series. This new series is a lot more geared for younger students, but still brings in a post-apocalyptic world full of aliens who are taking over the world. We were lucky enough to have this author come for a school visit this month. What fun it is to be able to provide fabulous experiences with rockstar authors! I highly recommend this series for grades 4 and up. 

How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor is a heartwarming, but also heartbreaking story about a girl who is homeless. She knows her mother needs money and when she sees a reward poster for a missing dog, she comes up with a plan to steal a dog and return the dog for a reward. As you can imagine, things don't quite go as planned. This is a great book for helping kids to build some empathy and I think it would make a great read aloud. I highly, highly recommend this one for grades 3 and up. 

Eddie Red Undercover: Mystery on Museum Mile by Marcia Wells is a fun detective story about a boy who has a photographic memory. When he is called into the police station to describe a suspect in a crime he witnessed, he is not satisfied with the police sketch. He asks to sketch the person himself. He does such a great job with the sketch that the police enlist his help in the case they are working on. I am a sucker for mysteries, so this book was right up my alley. I am sure many kids would really enjoy this book as well. I recommend it for grades 4 and up. 

The Brixen Witch by Stacy DeKeyser is a retelling of the Pied Piper story that looks into who the piper is and why the village finds themselves in the position of needing someone to remove the rats. It is a fun book and I recommend it for grades 3 and up. 

Books I am Currently Reading:

I am reading Shadows by Ilsa Bick right now. It is the second book in the Ashes trilogy. 

What's Next? 

I just ordered some professional books for summer reading, so I will probably get started with one of those. I also want to read the NetGalley copy that I have of Circling the Sun by Paula McLain. I will also probably pick up a couple middle grade titles. With report cards and end of the year records to do, I may not get in much reading. I guess we shall see. 

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