Showing posts with label Middle Grade Fiction;. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Middle Grade Fiction;. Show all posts

Monday, June 22, 2020

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 6/22/20

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date.

Not a heck of a lot going on in my life.  My husband has been furloughed since March 20-something and he just found out he'd be going back on June 30th. We have also decided that within the next month or so, we're going to finally add a new family member - a furry one- dog specifically.  My son is beyond excited and so am I.
What I read last week:
Last week, I read Ghost of Sanju, My Vanishing Country, and The Hero Two Doors Down.



What I am reading now:

I am currently reading another e-ARC of Cowboy Strong and my current audiobook is I Can Make a Promise

Up next:

I'm going to join Amazon's KindleUnlimited this month; they have a special offer due to the pandemic of 2 month free trial offer until the end of the month, so I'm not positive what I'll be choosing next.  They also have books through this, that you also listen to on audible.  I love doing this offer once or twice a year.  The rest of the year. I'm happy to just listen through Overdrive and now my library also has Hoopla available to us, although only 4 books a month. 

Have you read any of these or want to?



Monday, June 15, 2020

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 6/15

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date.

I have been somewhat distracted with all the things going on. Even my little suburb held a B*L*M* peaceful protest this previous weekend that we participated in, it was really nice to see all the solidarity
What I read last week:
Last week, I read Breakfast at the Honey Creek Cafe and listened to The Inn at Hidden Run, No Angel, Coming Home, Like Sisters on the Homefront




What I am reading now:

I am listening to My Banihing Country  and reading Ghost o Sangju

I just requested my library get My Vanishing Country a week ago and got this already. They must have already been planning to get it and no one else had requested it before me.  Ghost of Sangju has been on my TBR and hanging out on my Kindle for just over 4 years; I am so glad to get to this it's long overdue! 
Not sure if I will readCowboy Strong next or lave it for the following week,  Have you read any of these or want to?

Friday, May 15, 2020

Book Beginnings/The Friday 56 05/15/20



Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice and Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader. The idea is to share a sentence or so from the first page and the 56th page of the book you are currently reading!  Also, I will now also include a brief synopsis.




The fifth book in Chris Colfer's #1 New York Times bestselling series The Land of Stories!

The Masked Man has captured all the royal families from the Land of Stories with the help of his army of literature's greatest villains, including the Wicked Witch of the West, the Queen of Hearts, and Captain Hook. With his sinister plan finally in motion, he is eager to destroy the families and take his place as emperor.
Alex and Conner know they are no match against the Masked Man's legion of villains, but they realize that they may be in possession of the greatest weapon of all: their own imaginations! So begins the twins' journey into Conner's very own stories to gather an army of pirates, cyborgs, superheroes, and mummies as they band together for the ultimate fight against the Masked Man.
Meanwhile, an even more dangerous plan is brewing--one that could change the fates of both the fairy-tale world and the Otherworld forever.
Conner's tales come alive in the thrilling fifth adventure in the #1 New York Times bestselling Land of Stories series.


Book Beginnings

Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

Prologue

The Favorite Student

Willow Crest Unified School District spared no expense celebrating the retirement of a beloved principal

Chapter One

The MaskedEmpire

The air was filled with so much smoke, you could barely see the sky

My thoughts: The prologue 1st sentence just reminds me how much I enjoyed this series, when they alter between the real world and the fairy tale world. the 1st line of Chapter One had me wondering what was burning and where-the fairy tale world or the real world.


THE FRIDAY 56

RULES:

*Grab a book, any book.

*Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader.
If you have to improvise, that is okay.

*Find a snippet, short and sweet.


Page 56

"And you promised me HEADS!" the Queen of Hearts roared.

I'm intrigued, I want to read more!

I apologize that I'm not posting more; one, I lose track of the time. due to these stay at home orders, which I'm sure you feel, too! And two, due to the stroke I suffered last July, my typing is very slow and posts take me longer than usual and it's quite frustrating

Monday, May 8, 2017

April Wrap-Up

April was a very productive reading  month with 11 books read, 6 of which were audiobooks.  I was all over the place  this month, a few books, I very much enjoyed. but there were a few that got lower ratings and others that were just good or slightly above o.k..

My Beloved World


I am really debating on whether to give this 2 stars (OK) or 3 stars (good). I wish we could give it half stars and just rate it 2.5 stars. I was expecting to like this better than I did. Sonia Sotomayor was the 1st Hispanic U.S. Supreme Court Justice. It was interesting at times, but other times, my mind wandered too much as I listened to this and I had to reply parts of it. Some parts were discussed for longer than necessary, but the ending seemed rushed.

A Dog Named Boo: How One Dog and One Woman Rescued Each Other--and the Lives They Transformed Along the Way


This was a nice story, but it was not my favorite memoir about a dog or more specifically dogs from the author's life, but it wasn't the worst either. I am glad I read it or actually listened to it on audio. It was enjoyable, but not out of this world or anything. It's great what dogs can help people accomplish. I do think the book was a little on the long side and could have been edited better.

2 stars

The Girl from the Garden

I listened to 5 hours out of the 7 hours of this book; then I had to stop for the day. I dead not care for it at all and I just could not get myself to listen to the remaining 2 hours. There was nothing short of divine intervention that would have me give this book more than 1 star. It was definitely not for me and those were 5 hours that I will never get back. To make matters worse later the next day after listening to another book, my earbuds decided to go kaplooey, so now I have to get a new pair this weekend.

1 star

The Secret Sister (Fairham Island, #1)


During the first half of listening to this, the book was good to ok, but after a few plot twists it changed to being so much better. Originally, I had doubts about whether I'd continue with this series, but before the book ended, I knew I wanted to read or listen to the following book in the series.

3.5 stars.

The Enchantress Returns (The Land of Stories, #2)

This is the 2nd book in The Land of Stories series and it is just as good as the first. It was good to catch up with the twins, their (Fairy Godmother) grandmother, and all the fairy tale characters. The 6th and final book in this series is suppose to be out later this summer, so since I've only finished book 2, there ill be lots more adventures to share with them. This is such a fun series; it is written for middle grades, but was the Harry Potter series and many of the series by Rick Riordan, This one can also be enjoyed by all ages, especially since almost all of us grew up hearing fairy tales as children, hearing Mother Goose nursery rhymes, and watching Disney movies. I definitely recommend this book and series.

5 stars

Forbidden Kisses (Blushing Bay, #1)

I really liked this author's first series, Hero's Welcome and have been looking forward to her new series, Blushing Bay.  Fans of Annie Rains will not be disappointed.  Although this may not have been my favorite of her books, it is a good story and I look eagerly to hearing the stories of the other Sawyer siblings in the future. Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book.

I participated in the blog tour for this book; you can check out my post!

3 stars

Deconstructing Dirty Dancing

I received this ARC from NetGalley as a Read Now selection. I'm not quite sure what I was exactly expecting. It is a short book of less than 100 pages. It was a decent book and relatively fast read. It is a commentary of the entire Dirty Dancing movie. Parts of it were interesting and other parts not so much. I don't think I've seen the movie in at least 20-25 years. I loved the music and really liked Patrick Swayze as most girls in the 80s did. I would like to eventually see the movie again and see if I notice this time around much of the social commentary that could have been taken from the movie.

3 stars


I received this 3 chapter sneak peak from NetGalley and the publisher. When I first requested this , I did not realize it was only a few chapters and I was thinking of not even reading this, but I am glad that I did and find this very much grabs my attention and I look forward to reading more. There was a school shooting at the senior prom and this book begins twelve years later when several of the survivors are back in their hometown to do a documentary. This has started out very promising. When I look up the author's previous work, some of it shows up categorized as erotica, I hope this book does not turn out to be erotica, because I will then not be continuing on with it at a later date.


4 stars


Hummingbird Lake (Eternity Springs, #2)


I listened to this book over a 2 week period. I don't know if it was that it took too long for me to get back to finishing it or if these books just don't lend themselves well to audio but I wasn't crazy about it. I had started the series at #7, Miracle Road and really enjoyed each of the books I read. I really need to only read and not listen to these books; I really think this may be the problem. They aren't good for listening; actually when I think of it, I'm not a fan of the narrator. A new book comes out in this series in June and I look forward to reading it. 

2 stars

Running for My Life: One Lost Boy's Journey from the Killing Fields of Sudan to the Olympic Games

Very inspiring. I felt a vast array of emotions through out the book as I'm sure the author wanted to elicit. The writing itself may not be deep, but he didn't learn English until he was 16 and he's only in his mid-to-late 20s now, I think. This is the true story of one of Sudan's Lost Boys, who was kidnapped by rebel soldiers and would himself become a child soldier had he not been only six. Along with some older boys, he was able to escape the prison camp and for 3 days, more or less ran to freedom, which ended up being a refugee camp in Kenya, where he stayed for 10 years, until he got the opportunity to go to America and later on to represent the USA in the Olympics. I listened to this book on audio, so some of the complaints that readers of this book had I did not pick up on. In my eyes, this book although a true story and sad in parts, is also very inspiring in that he found ways to keep hope alive and always kept his faith in God.

4.5 stars

The Forever Summer

I got this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. It sounded like a great summer/beach read and basically, it is! Although, the plot is engaging along with some surprises thrown in, I did not really connect with the characters and therefore could not get into the story 100%. Although, I enjoyed parts of the story, I just can't help feeling disappointed. I'm torn between giving it 2 or 3 stars and really wish I could give it

2.5 stars

My favorite book this month was Book 2 of The Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns followed closely by Running For My Life.

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

WWW Wednesdays 4/5/2017

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It's time for the weekly meme, WWW Wednesday hosted by Sam
@Taking on a World of Words.

All you need to do is answer the following questions:
  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?
So let's get onto it!

What are you currently reading?  I started over the weekend The Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns by Chris Colfer.  I loved the first book in the series, The Wishing Spell and am enjoying Book 2,

What did you recently finish reading?  I finished the audiobooks, A Dog Named Boo: How One Dog and One Woman Rescued Each Other and the Lives They Transformed Along the Way by Lisa J. Edwards and My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor.

What do you think you’ll read next? My next audiobook will be The Girl from the Garden by Pamaz Faroutan or else The Silent Sister by Brenda Novak.  I'll be reading my current read at least through this upcoming weekend, since it is over 500 pages, but hopefully by next Wednesday, I'll be able to complete it.  But then, I'll be reading an ARC of Forbidden Kisses by Annie Rains, which I signed up for a blog tour and will be posting my review and an excerpt on April 20th.

What about you?  Have you read any of these or do you plan to? What are you reading?

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

WWW Wednesdays 3/29/2017

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It's time for the weekly meme, WWW Wednesday hosted by Sam
@Taking on a World of Words.

All you need to do is answer the following questions:
  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?
So let's get onto it!

What are you currently reading?  I am currently reading an ARC of Somebody's Baby by Donna Alward.  I am enjoying it.  It has a dog in it and the guy is a veterinarian, so that's a plus in my book. Its. the 3rd book in a series and didn't know when I read it, but I seem to be having no trouble getting into the story Also, I just started listening to My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor.  I'm only 6% into it, but so far I'm enjoying it.  The narrator is Rita Moreno, who I'm really liking.

What did you recently finish reading?  I finally finished an ARC of The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See.  I have to admit, I was disappointed in it. I absolutely love her books, but this one was not quite what I was hoping for.

What do you think you’ll read next? I had a library book come in on my library's Overdrive, The Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns by Chris Colfer.  I lobed the first book in the series when I read it in January and am hoping for another winner. I haven't had that much luck lately reading great books, so we will see how it goes.

What about you?  Have you read any of these or do you plan to? What are you reading?

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

WWW Wednesday:

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I am going to try doing this weekly meme.  This meme is currently hosted by Sam @Taking on a World of Words.

To take part all you need to do is answer the following questions:
  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?
So here’s my 3 W’s for the week.

What are you currently reading?

I'm reading from the library The Wishing Spell (The Land of Stories, #1).  I only have about 20 pages left, so I should finish this sometime today.

I'm listening to  Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness and should be finished with this in another hour.

Also, I have started The Second Mrs. Hockaday on my Kindle,  I've received this as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher.  It was just published on Tuesday, January 10th.

What did you just finish?

The last book that I finished and the first book that I  read in 2017 was Crowning Design , which I blogged about here.  I've had a couple books that I DNF'd this year.  Hopefully, I'll get rid of DNF'ing books all at once.

What do you think you'll read next?

My next audiobook will be Born to Run.  It just became available this morning on Overdrive, perfect timing.

I'm just going to finish the 2 books that I'm reading and will decide later what I'm reading next closer to that time.  Of course, I'm going to the library today or tomorrow and since my library often has new  or relatively new releases available, who knows.

Have you read any of these or plan to?

Monday, January 9, 2017

Winter Biannual Bibliothon


Yesterday was the start of the Winter Biannual Bibliothon,  There are 7 reading challenges, but I know there is no way that I will read anywhere near 7 books
The current book that I am reading is Chris Colfer's The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer.  I think this could fall under the challenge of read a retelling.  This is a middle grade book, which is not my usual genre that takes place in both the real world and also the Land of Stories, which can be described as "fairy tale land:.

I'm also listening to the audiobook, Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan.  Although this is a memoir of a Caucasian heterosexual female,, I think this can fit in the read a diverse book, because the book discusses her journey into mental illness and back.

My third choice, which I'll read on my Kindle is The Second Mrs. Hockaday The Second Mrs. Hockaday; I will go with the throwback challenge, which is a challenge from a preview Biannual Bibliothon, more specifically a book with less than 1,000 ratings.  This book is an ARC that will be released on January 10, 2017.

Those three will be what I plan on and if I rad anything else or instead, may or or may not be one of the reading challenges.