Reading Challenges for 2019

Last year, I focused on book clubs, deliberately choosing to not participate in online reading challenges...going to add the following two (I limited myself to two...and these were the two that first caught my attention...so these will be the two for 2019!).

Here we go...

1. Jake, Reinvented by Gordon Korman (retelling of The Great Gatsby; began in 2018)
2. Mistletoe at Moonglow (and cookbook!) by Deobrah Garner (began in 2018)

Reading Women Challenge

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A to Z Challenge

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• J - Jake Reinvented by Gordon Korman
• M - Mistletoe at Moonglow by Deborah Garner

So...this has me thinking...

Reading in my school has been on the decline from the "revival" we had several years ago.  I attribute this to teachers NOT reading.  Thnking...as I type...that maybe our faculty book club should take on the "challenge" feel, for the challenge is really with myself...and who better to compete against/with than who I was!?

I am going to play with this today...and prepare for a release when we return to school on Thursday.  Maybe you, too, would join my challenge?!

Reading in 2018

Yay, me!  I met...and exceeded...my reading goal for 2018 by reading an average of one book per week...or 52+ books this year, reaching a total of 59.

That feels good.  Yes!  This goal I will keep again.  With my busy schedule, this one is doable for me.

Please click here to review a list of my literary journeys.  Many of the books I chose were for book clubs, which has greatly expanded my genre choices...and may have limited the total number I read, as it takes me longer to read a book I may not have chosen.  (Hummm...isn't this how students feel when we choose all their literary selections?!)

Books clubs that most impacted my reading choices were Arkansas Reading Association Book Club,  The Paper Chase Book Store Book Club, and BHS Reads:  BHS Faculty Book Club.  I also read two with my Bible Study group and two with professional groups.  I am empowered and motivated to read with others.  Looking forward do and researching now for an online book club to join for next year.  I will let you know!

I was also a part to two Advanced Reader releases (Swing and Thief of Corinth...both good!)...so enjoyed the reads, the discussion with others reading the advanced copies, and then the release day hype and excitement.  Cool!

While traveling this summer, I read a few books on my Kindle and have since downloaded several.  I can see myself...maybe...moving to appreciate the online format more.  Maybe?  My favorite connection to eBooks is bookbub.com, from whom I receive a daily email, based on my personal interests, of on sale or free eBooks.  Yes!

I just love real books, though.  Yes, I am addicted...with no plans to recover...especially as I have three books in my shopping cart now!  Plus, part of my remaining three days of Christmas Break needs to be spent shelving my newest additions!  Fun!

2019, I have plans for you...as I have four books started right now...Jake, Reinvented (a re-telling of The Great Gatsby...and the young adult book I paired with this classic), First Frost (book for BHS Reads...that I have did not quite finish), The Orphan's Wish (bought during this break while out Christmas shopping), and The Hate You Give.

Will soon begin Crossing the Deadline by Michael Shoulders for our first Arkansas Literacy Association Book Club...first meeting/discussion on Monday, January 14.  Please join us!

Please tell me...what did you read this year?  What book plans to have for 2019?  Enjoy!

Thankful for Books!

It's that time of the year when a tiny, little lull occurs, resulting in my having time to read books...or to finish books.  So nice.

So far, during this Thanksgiving week, I have finished three books...yes, finished three...three that I had already begun.  If a hazard exists to being in so many book clubs, that would be finishing them all on time!  Ooopppss...shhhh....

These three further assist in my meeting my goal to average one book per week..going to make it!  Yes!

• 48.  A Handful of Stars by Cynthia Lord:  This author met with the Arkansas Literacy Association...twice...to discuss this wonderful book.  Then, I had dinner with her and appreciated the opportunity to hear her speak during our annual conference.  Definitely in nerd land!  Yay!  About a young girl who lives with her grandparents who meets a migrant worker...who proceeds to change her life.  Excellent story.
• 49.  A Break with Charity by Ann Rinaldi:  Beginning this year, I have chosen a young adult novel to read with each of my classes' thematic units...this one was paired with the reading of The Crucible.  Told from the perspective of Susanna English, this time frame the reader views through a different lens.  I wish I had finished it while were in the until...but, alas...that thing called time.  Next year, I have this one marked up and ready to use!
• 59.  The Chemist by Stephanie Meyer:  Such a tremendous author!  Loved this one!  Meyer, author of the Twilight series, ventures out further with one for older adults, her second such publication.   As I read, I kept thinking, "I would love to see this one on the big screen, also!" 

I hope this season finds you with a little bit of time to read a book...or finish a book!

Happy reading!

40-43: Thank Goodness for Book Clubs

With the onset of another school year starting, I see a trend...I read for book clubs and not for personal selection as time becomes just too full when August approaches...and ends.

Books 1, 2, and 4 were all read for three book clubs...and selection 3 was one I had been reading for some time during the mornings during my Quiet Time.

1. Fourth Down and Inches:  Concussions and Footballs Make-or-Break Moment by Carla McClafferty
2. Already Home by Susan Mallery
3. The Girl's Still Got It by Liz Curtis Higgs
4. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

All of these, I  definitely recommend...all, though, a different genre.

1. Fourth Down and Inches:  Concussions and Footballs Make-or-Break Moment by Carla McClafferty - This one is a nonfiction that I read with other teachers across the state as the author joined us for the Arkansas Reading Association Book Club.  This one was a bit scary with the facts that surround football...which my students so enjoy and look forward to each week.
2. Already Home by Susan Mallery - This one was just a light read for the Paper Chase Book Club (local book store)...where we meet once a month.  I just so enjoy meeting with them, unwinding, listening, commenting.  Good times.
3. The Girl's Still Got It by Liz Curtis Higgs - To celebrate 25 years of writing, author Liz Curtis Higgs is leading an online discussion and chat about one of her books each month.  This one took me a while to complete as I read several pages a morning (as I had time) during my Quiet Time.  A Bible study of the book of Ruth...I loved it!  So good.
4. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black - A young adult novel, the first in a trilogy, this one goes to the land of fairies and such.  Very interesting.   I will definitely recommend this one next week to my students who will very much enjoy this series.  Now to check out and read the second one!

This past Tuesday, our faculty book club met.  While there, one of my peers said that after reading The Handmaid's Tale, she had not read another book, that it turned her off reading.  What?!  

That saddened me.  One, I would never want a book we read in book club to turn someone off reading!  That just defeats the purpose!  Two, she is an avid reader...and she needs to be reading so she may recommend books to her students, also.

I immediately began book talking books...especially The Cruel Prince...and our next read The Chemist by Stephanie Meyer to her!  I am a reader on a mission!  Definitely!

On Monday evening, the ARA Book Club begins a discussion of Penny Kittle's and Kelly Gallagher's new 180 Days.  Now...to finish chapters 1-2 and write the discussion questions!  Much to do in the land of reading!

What are you reading good?

Summer Reads 2018..So Far!

Don't you just love summer...for the additional time this season brings to read more books?

So far, over this summer break, I have read the following:

1. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
2. Sleepers by Darcy Pattison
3. Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao
4. A List of Cages by Robin Roe (AR Teen Read)
5. Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance
6. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
7. Submerged by Dani Pettrey (checked out from Ind County Library!)
8. Shattered by Dani Pettrey
9. Stranded by Dani Pettrey
10. Silenced by Dani Pettrey
11. Sabotaged by Dani Pettrey
12. Disappeared by Francisco X. Stork (AR Teen Read)
13. Glimmer of Hope by Steve McHugh (Kindle) - July
14. Take Off by Joseph Reid (Kindle) - July
15. Still Waters by Viveca Sten (Kindle) - July

Nine of these were for books clubs (should have read more!  But...I over committed myself, and I am okay with that.  Those others will sit...and wait...on me to pick them up.  :)

1. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - BHS Reads Faculty Book Club - So interesting. And a bit scary, for I kept thinking...could this really happen?
2. Sleepers by Darcy Pattison - Arkansas Reading Association Book Club
3. Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao - Talks with Teachers Book Club
4. A List of Cages by Robin Roe - AR Teen Read
5. Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance - The Paper Chase Book Club
6. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson - Book Love Book Club
7. Disappeared by Francisco X. Stork - AR Teen Read

Once I began this series for Women's Bible Cafe Book Club, I could not stop!  AND...I am so excited to say that I checked out all these books from the local library.  Go, me!  (I have such an addiction to books...one from which I see no hope of recovery.  None.)

1. Submerged by Dani Pettrey  - I so love beginning a series that is already complete...and reading right through to the end.  Fun!
2. Shattered by Dani Pettrey
3. Stranded by Dani Pettrey
4. Silenced by Dani Pettrey
5. Sabotaged by Dani Pettrey

Two I read for the Arkansas Teen Award...am a bit behind as I had commited to read eight of these books this summer!

1. A List of Cages by Robin Roe (AR Teen Read)
2. Disappeared by Francisco X. Stork (AR Teen Read)
3. The Hate U Give...just started this one a few minutes ago...:)

Please feel the excitement!  During my recent 12 days on the road and eight airplane flights, I read three Kindle books!  That's right...right there on my phone.  I have always said that I like the paper...the real...books better, but....but...I did enjoy diving into these books and not having to carry the books around.  Hummm...

1. Glimmer of Hope by Steve McHugh (Kindle) - July
2. Take Off by Joseph Reid (Kindle) - July
3. Still Waters by Viveca Sten (Kindle) - July

Not intentional, not by design...four book dealt with human/sex trafficking.  This stirs many emotions within me, none of which are pleasant.  I do appreciate these three for ever increasing that awareness.

1. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
2. Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao
3. Stranded by Dani Pettrey
4. Disappeared by Francisco X. Stork (AR Teen Read)

Quite the variety this summer!  I recommend all.

I still say the beauty of books clubs is that I read books outside of my reading box...and that is a good thing.

So good news!  Summer is not over!  Much reading still remains (although school approaches quickly with five days of in-service before our start date on August 15...with much to do before we begin again.)  Yes, what I am attempting to parlay...time to read may be limited over the next few weeks...uh, oh!

Happy reading!  What has been your favorite (or not favorite) read this summer?

23: Bread of Angels

Tessa Asfar has done it again!  Through these pages, one journeys back..all the way back to New Testament times, to re-meet through the genre of historical fiction the lovely Lydia, the maker of purple. 

My third Afshar read, I continue to be amazed at the Biblical connections, the adherence to history, and the characters who come alive in my head...and heart.   For these reasons, I now know to clear my calendar for the hours I will need to devote to the immersion into the culture of the times and characters. Always a great journey!

In Bread of Angels, Lydia endures much as she fulfills her destiny as the first documented Christian convert.  Wow!  And what an example she is!  Learning from her mistakes, the reader witnesses the maturation and leadership of one who lived, learned, and learned on the pages of the Bible...and in Afshar’s novel. 

Afshar enlivens this novel even more as she introduces Paul, Silas, and Luke...and others, embedding the prison scene that involved an earthquake. Remember that one?  I enjoyed the shaking!  Well written this scene is. 

As a testament to how much I enjoyed this and the other Afshar novels, my selection for my local book club will be Bread of Angels.  I look forward to the discussion!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ = 5 Stars!

Enjoy!  Happy reading!

22: Thief of Corinth

Tessa Afshar, award-winning author of Harvest of Gold and Pearl in the Sand, does it again:  she captures a Biblical narrative and paints the details of these people's lives onto the pages for the readers to get to know, creating a masterpiece, humanizing those mentioned within the chapters of the books of the Bible.

In the Thief of Corinth, Afshar introduces fictional characters Ariadne and her father Galenos, who in some ways takes on the theme of Robin Hood, as Ariadne soon learns, after coming to live with her father, that he is the Honorable Thief of Corinth.  Quickly, she becomes involved in his adventures, soon meeting Paul and continuing to struggle with the decisions being made and her increasing knowledge of the message Paul shares, who message assists in bringing healing to the torn relations among the family members, including foster brother Theo and biological brother Dionysus.

A stand-alone and one that requires little Biblical background, this novel keeps the read engaged with vivid details and descriptions as the culture and setting are experienced firsthand through the lens of Ariadne, who also trains much for a race in which she will enter, resulting in more than one raised eyebrow.

What a grand journey to travel back into time and learn more about first century Corinth, so, yes, plan some time to dive into this one, for reading cover to cover quickly becomes the goal as adventure, danger, travel, and mystery all wrap around the characters.