Monday Musings

Monday Musings #4,

Musing Mondays is a meme hosted by Should Be Reading, in which book bloggers muse about about something related to books. (Usually.) Rants, raves, random thoughts are all welcome here. I personally will be using Musing Mondays to talk about my other job: being a middle school librarian.


Musing Mondays / School Library Updates

Welcome back to my corner of the world!

So much has changed since I last posted. Yes, I am still the librarian at my school. What is new, is that I am now also a wedding photographer. This is something I've been working SO HARD at, and I am so proud of where I am.

Because of this change in my plans, I was VERY busy this past year. I had 1-2 weddings every week, on top of my other job, and coaching cheerleading. So, as I was afraid of, I cut time by cutting reading.

Like every new year, I am trying to push my reading habits back to where they were, and here I am.

Our book fair, I am proud to say, did the best this year than it has since I've worked here. I believe that is due to the fact that the book I recommend to students this year was The Zodiac, by Stan Lee, AND it was available in paperback, for only $8. As a book lover, I'm surprised when we get the book fair, and they have older titles available only in HC for 12-20 bucks. My middle schoolers don't have a lot of money, and asking parents for $20 for a single book is a hard sell. It was much easier this year to show them a quality book for half the cost as usual.

So, that is my quick and short welcome-back Monday Musings. I've been thinking about posting some wedding photos too, but I don't know if anyone would enjoy that, either. Do you prefer book-specific blogs? Or ones that are a bit more personal? Just let me know!

Hello, Goodbye, Welcome Back!

A hiatus was never planned, but like most things, it was inevitable.

I hate to make excuses. However the fact remains that I have a life outside of blogging, and it doesn’t always align with my blog’s goals. I’m sorry. I hate to leave something ‘unfinished’ and without updating I plan on taking a leave, but I didn’t know until it was too late.

As you all know by now, I work as a librarian at a middle school. While that may seem like the perfect job to correlate to a book blogger, it doesn’t really. That, and I have a two year old.

My husband ended up having to work 90 hours a week for months due to his boss being in a car wreck. Have I mentioned we also have three dogs and a cat? Our house is a zoo.

And, when it comes down to reading, I can’t always read exactly what I want BECAUSE of my job. I felt guilty not reading and reviewing recent releases. In my middle school (6-8th) the reading teachers really focus on genres. In 6th grade, the teachers start discussing dystopian. Without fail that for the first month or so, those students only want to read dystopian and ask me for recommendations. I have yet to read the Ugly series by Scott Westerfeld, but it is high on my to-read list because students always ask about it. 

  

In a round-about way this is an ‘I’m sorry I’m not sorry’ apology. Once again I had to remind myself, this blog is more about ME than you, the reader. I am not a popular blog, I do not have publishers mailing me books to share with you, I am under no obligation to post new books. I am however unfaithful if I don’t blog often. So there you have it.

My blog is back once again, but the content will be more well-thought out and planned than before. It will be purposeful. I hope you will once again contemplate following me on this journey! 

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Weekly Recap

Books read:

All the Bright Places, 2 stars, review to come soon!

Black Ice, 3 stars, review to come soon!

Some kind of Normal, 3 stars, review to come in June

Gone Too Far, 4 stars, review to come!

Upcoming reads:

The One

One of the Guys

When Reason Breaks

Fairy Tale Reform School: Flunked

Lore: A Book Tour and Giveaway!

Welcome to my stop on the Blog Tour, for Lore! I am very excited to share with you this book!

Synopsis: A collection of six folklore retellings that will twist your mind and claim your heart.

SHIMMER: A heartbroken boy rescues a mermaid... but is it too late to save her?

BETWEEN is about a girl, a genie, and a ton of bad decisions. 

SUNSET MOON: Eloise doesn't believe in Native American magic--until the dreamcatcher spiders spin her down an unknown path.

THE MAKER: An incapacitated young man bent on revenge builds a creature to do it for him.

A BEAUTIFUL MOURNING: The story of a Maya goddess torn between duty and love, and the ultimate sacrifice she must make to achieve true happiness.

THE BARRICADES: When a human girl risks everything to save the life of an Eternal prince, will their feelings for each other change the world they know, or tear it apart?

The Details:
Authors: Brinda Berry, Cate Dean, Jayne A. Knolls, Karen Y. Bynum, Laura Diamond, Theresa DaLayne
Publication date: March 2014
Genres: Young Adult

REVIEW: I am a HUGE fan of mythology, fairy tales, and the retelling of such. With most anthologies, there will be one or possibly more in the collection that just isn't as great as the others. As much as we as readers say we will not judge each short story on each other, when they are brought together, it's nearly impossible to do so.

In saying that, let me forewarn you that it is VERY hard to review each story based on it's own merits. As a whole, this anthology will satisfy your needs. There were enough stories in this collection to make me feel I did not waste my time, which is always a great fear! (There just is NOT enough time in the world to read everything I want to read.) That is one of, if not the greatest thing about collections. You can pick and choose what you are looking for! If you feel a story is not working for you, don't feel guilty to skip it. Not every book will be amazing, and it's silly to expect an anthology to also be a "one size fits all" situation.

Overall, this book gets 4 stars, when I average my ratings for each short story. That's a pretty solid score!

Don't forget to follow the tour!

Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Breathe, Annie, Breathe

Miranda Kenneally - Sourcebooks Fire
 

The details:  302 pages, paperback ARC, 2 days to read along munching on jelly beans!

Summary: (From Goodreads) Annie hates running. No matter how far she jogs, she can’t escape the guilt that if she hadn’t broken up with Kyle, he might still be alive. So to honor his memory, she starts preparing for the marathon he intended to race.

But the training is even more grueling than Annie could have imagined. Despite her coaching, she’s at war with her body, her mind—and her heart. With every mile that athletic Jeremiah cheers her on, she grows more conflicted. She wants to run into his arms…and sprint in the opposite direction. For Annie, opening up to love again may be even more of a challenge than crossing the finish line.


Review: Before I start in on my review of this book, let me just say that Sourcebooks is amazing. I have visited their booth twice now, once at ALA and once at BEA, and they have the sweetest people working for them. Thank you, Sourcebooks! They also handed out super cute tins with jelly beans inside, to go along with the ARC. How adorable!

Now, I first read a Miranda Kenneally book last winter, when I was accepted for Racing Savannah from Netgalley. I was hooked. So when I saw on my scheduler that Miranda would be signing at BEA 2014, I HAD TO GO. This was probably my number 1 must have (along with Rainbow Rowell's Landline...) I wound up towards the back of the line, but I was perfectly ok with that. Her team handed us our copies while we waited, and I was literally already on page 40 by the time we made it to the actual signing. 

This book talks a lot about running. The main character is currently training, although she never 'was' a runner. I do not know if I liked the book as much as I did because that's EXACTLY where I am, or not. It sure didn't hurt, that's for sure. ;-) I can tell you that this book if anything, pushed me to run more and train harder for my upcoming 10k. (It's hard to become a runner. It seems everyone IS a runner, and no one besides you are a 'newbie' runner. That's something I really enjoyed about B,A,B is that she is NOT a perfect practiced runner. She understands what I'm going through, and vice-versa.)  She understands where I am coming from.

Like all of Miranda's books, this is a YA romance. There is no excplict sex, but there is quite detailed foreplay. This isn't a book I would probably allow in my school library (middle school) but I would keep it behind my desk for those students that I personally know can handle the book/have permission from their parents. (I read my first romance in 7th grade! My mom gave me the book! I was hooked!) 


If you like running, YA, Romance, or fluff sweet books, this is the book for you! Trust me, this book hits the sweet spot. Plus, I wouldn't be surprised if you went for a run after! ;-)


Rating: 4 stars
Jenni

NEW THIS WEEK!

Who loves a good *new* book? ME! Sometimes a new book squeaks out surprising me. So I try to make it my mission to keep an eye out on what some of the most anticipated titles of the season are, and when they are released.

The books featured here are not the only new releases this week, but just a handful of books Bobby and/or I am interested in. Like usual, if you have reviewed any of these let us know!  Leave a link to your reviews and thoughts and I will check them out.

What book are YOU most excited for this week? 

Happy Reading! 
Jenni

Monday Musings #4,

Musing Mondays is a meme hosted by Should Be Reading, in which book bloggers muse about about something related to books. (Usually.) Rants, raves, random thoughts are all welcome here. I personally will be using Musing Mondays to talk about my other job: being a middle school librarian.


Musing Mondays / School Library Updates

Today I want to talk about Summer Reading. Does anyone remember their teachers or librarians pushing for summer reading, outside of the public library reading program?

I sure don't. Sadly, I didn't push it to my students this past year either. The truth is, the summer gets busy. We all say summer is a vacation, but for me I feel summer is my busiest season! With house cleaning finally underway, cheerleading practices 3 times a week, fundraisers, camps,  craft fairs, and preparing for the next school year, I don't get much reading done. I don't want my students to feel like they need to go without sleep just to read. I know this sounds backwards, but I don't want to ruin reading for those students who are on the verge of NOT being readers. If a student loves to read, they will. If a student is pushed too hard, they won't.
I can tell you most books I have 'hated' were books I was forced to read in school. I know what I like to read, when I like to read and where. I can't focus sitting in a hard chair, elbows held up at an awkward angle.. It sucks.

This summer I have started and abandoned more books than I have read, because I was forcing myself to read. I was burning myself out. Most avid readers have that feeling once in awhile. That burn-out. Not feeling joy from reading, nothing seems to 'hit the spot' and you feel like you are just wasting time. This is NORMAL and I feel many of my students don't know that. They don't think it's ok to read a burn-out, which I feel is a disservice to our future readers and book bloggers. This year I am going to REALLY hit hard that idea that taking a break from reading, or going back to a 'fluff' read to get back into things is 'bad.'

This post is getting wordy, but let me reiterate: I will not force my students to read. I will continue to give them options, and hope they make a connection. However I will not and can not force them into something.

Jenni

Monday Musings #3

Musing Mondays is a meme hosted by Should Be Reading, in which book bloggers muse about about something related to books. (Usually.) Rants, raves, random thoughts are all welcome here. I personally will be using Musing Mondays to talk about my other job: being a middle school librarian.


Musing Mondays / School Library Updates

Welcome back!
It's been awhile since I've updated, and that is because I've been busy! See, I'm also a crafter. So I was working on things for a craft show that I just finished. I make painted wood signs, and with a toddler running around it's been time consuming! 

 Now the clock is on, for school to start back up, and I feel like I have NOTHING finished. I never did find a checkers or chess set, and my decorations consist of 2 plastic paper plates and ball lights to hang up. Oh, and I bought some cheap butterfly wings to hang up around too. (The kind that kids wear, not real wings! ;-))

I also plan on using a QR reader for my "What is Mrs. B reading?" station, since all students will be getting an ipad this year.  I was also hoping on working on my binder this summer of our book recommendations, but that hasn't happened. There is still a month left, I need to get things done!

 

Jenni