Random Musings of a Bibliophile

The ALA Youth Media Awards are on Monday. I'm as excited as ever even if in recent years I haven't had the bandwidth to read as many of the talked about books or engage in any of the lead up conversations. However, I have some 2019 books I would love to see recognized in some way on Monday. They are: I'll be watching the livestream Monday morning and missing the energy of that room!

Here are some musings on some recent realistic MG reads. Look Both Ways  by Jason Reynolds This is an excellent MG book to give students who love realistic stories of friendship, family, and school. It is also a good selection for those who have more trouble concentrating on long form novels. The stories in here are all interconnected because the characters featured all go to the same school. However, each is its own separate story with a different characters. Each plot focuses on the walk home from school but in different ways. My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich  by Ibi Zoboi This is an interesting story about family troubles, friend troubles, and finding your place in community. It is quintessentially middle grade. It is a good book to have on hand for voracious readers of this story type. It takes place in the mid 1980s and is about an African American girl whose grandfather was one of the first African American NASA engineers. From him she has inherited a love for scie...

I take the 2nd Friday of every month to highlight some upcoming releases I am looking forward to that I hope are Future Favorites. Feel free to do your own post, just please link back to my blog and tell me about your post in the comments. Frances Hardinge has a new book coming out this year!!!!! The gods are dead. Decades ago, they turned on one another and tore each other apart. Nobody knows why. But are they really gone forever? When 15-year-old Hark finds the still-beating heart of a terrifying deity, he risks everything to keep it out of the hands of smugglers, military scientists, and a secret fanatical cult so that he can use it to save the life of his best friend, Jelt. But with the heart, Jelt gradually and eerily transforms. How long should Hark stay loyal to his friend when he’s becoming a monster—and what is Hark willing to sacrifice to save him? Release Date: April 14, 2020 from Amulet Books Goodreads I've been waiting for this ever since I read There...

Here are my reading stats for the last month of 2019. Look at all those new reads! (See what three weeks off of school with nowhere to go can do!) December Favorites: Total Reads: 8 (7 new, 1 reread) MG: 2 YA: 2 Adult: 4 Contemporary: 5 Historical: 1 Fantasy: 2 Looking forward to January, here are the releases I'm most anticipating: How was everyone else's reading month? What are you looking forward to reading in January?

The Top Ten No Matter Age Category: Begone the Raggedy Witches by Celine Keirnan The Faithful Spy   by John Hendrix The Lost Girl  by Anne Ursu Lovely War  by Julie Berry On the Come Up  by Angie Thomas The Princess Who Flew with Dragons   by Stephanie Burgis Speak Easy, Speak Love by McKelle George Spinning Silver  by Naomi Novik There's Something about Sweetie  by Sandhya Menon Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind them All  by Laura Ruby Top MG: Top YA: Top Adult: Top Non-Fiction:

Jamie at Perpetual Page Turner hosts this great survey every year that is a fun way of looking back at my year in books. Number of Books Read: 131 Number of Rereads: 47 Most Read Genre: Adult Contemporary Most Read Age Category: Tie Between MG and YA Favorite Adult Novel Favorite YA  Novel Favorite MG Novel  Favorite Non-Fiction Book I Was Excited For But Ended Up Not Loving As Much As Expected: A Skinful of Shadows  by Frances Hardinge  Most Surprising (In a Good Way-I wasn't expecting to love it but I did!): Beyond the Point by Claire Gibson Best Series Started: The Wild Magic Trilogy by Celine Kiernan Best Series Ender: The Princess Who Flew with Dragons by Stephanie Burgis (I don't want it to be over. 😩) Best Out of My Comfort Zone Book: Educated  by Tara Westover (I usually dislike memoirs, but I couldn't put this one down.) Most Unputdownable Book: Sorcery of Thorns  by Margaret ...

This is a look back on my reading of the past three months: the best of the best, the books I couldn't finish, and the non-fiction and adult books I don't review on the blog. These only cover new-to-me books and not rereads. The Non-Fiction: The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler  by John Hendrix The Adult Fiction:  Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes (contemporary) The Flatshare  by Beth O'Leary (contemporary) The Gaucho's Lady  by Genevieve Turner (historical romance) Meg and Jo  by Virginia Kantra (contemporary) Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors  by Sonali Dev (contemporary) The Best of the Best: