I don’t usually have reading goals for myself; I tend to let the books come and go as they are wont to do. But for some reason, this year, I’m feeling like I’m “behind”. I’m not sure that it’s affecting my enjoyment of reading, per se, but there’s a part of me that feels concerned that my numbers aren’t “up” around where I “want” them to be.

Silly, I know. And I have no idea why I feel this way, either. Do you ever get feeling like that? What do you do?

It was another slowish month… but here are the three best blurbs:

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (Little, Brown and Co): “In the valley of Fruitless mountain, a young girl named Minli spends her days workign hard in the fields and her nights listening to her father spin fantastic tales about the Jade Dragon and the Old Man of the Moon. Minli’s mother, tired of their poor life, chides him for filling her head with nonsense. But Minli believes these enchanting stories and embarkes on an extraordinary journey to find the Old Man of the Moon to ask him how she can change their fortune. She encounters an assorted cast of characters and magical creatures along the way, including a dragon who accompanies her on her quest. Grace Lin, author of the beloved Year of the Dog and Year of the Rat, returns with a wondrous story of happiness, family, and friendship. A fantasy crossed with Chinese folklore, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is a timeless adventure story reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz. With her beautiful full-color illustrations featured throughout, Grace has created a charming, engaging book for young readers.

Outlaw: the Legend of Robin Hood (Candlewick): “How did Robin of Loxley become Robin Hood? Why did he choose to fight injustice instead of robbing for his own gain? Expressive and gritty, this graphic novel whisks readers back to Crusades-era England, where the Sheriff of Nottingham rules with an iron fist, and in the haunted heart of Sherwood Forest, a defiant rogue — with the help of his men and the lovely Maid Marian — disguises himself to become an outlaw. Lively language and illustrations follow the legendary hero as he champions the poor and provokes a high-stakes vendetta in a gripping adventure sure to draw a new generation of readers.”

The Lost Conspiracy (Harper): “On an island of sandy beaches, dense jungles, and slumbering volcanoes, colonists seek to apply archaic laws to a new land, bounty-hunters stalk the living for the ashes of their funerary pyres, and a smiling tribe is despised by all as traitorous murders. It is here, in the midst of ancient tensions and new calamity, that two sisters are caught in a deadly web of deceits. Arilou is proclaimed a beautiful prophetess—one of the island’s precious oracles: a Lost. Hathin, her junior, is her nearly invisible attendant. But neither Arilou nor Hathin is exactly what she seems, and they live a lie that is carefully constructed, and jealously guarded. When the sisters are unknowingly drawn into a sinister, island-wide conspiracy, quiet, unobtrusive Hathin must journey beyond all she has ever known of her world—and of herself—in a desperate attempt to save them both. As the stakes mount and falsehoods unravel, she discovers the only thing more dangerous than the secret she hides is the truth she must uncover.”

Other books read this month:
Dream Life
The Undaunted (DNF)
A Wind in the Door
Frankie Pickle and the Closet of Doom
Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith

The Catcher in the Rye