Monthly Round-Up

Monthly Round-Up: November 2019

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Can you believe that 2019 — that the 2010s! — are almost over? I really can’t. This year has been so crazy, in a much different way than the past few years, but it’s gone by so incredibly quickly!

I was super heavy on the YA this month, but my favorite was this one:

Call Down the Hawk

Are you surprised? No, you are not. It really is a great book. As for the rest:

YA:

10 Blind Dates
The Toll
American Street
The Queen of Nothing
Tarnished Are the Stars

Non-Fiction:

Nine Pints
Lab Girl
Born a Crime

Adult Fiction:

Twenty-One Truths About Love

Middle Grade:

Look Both Ways

Monthly Round-up: October 2019

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Happy Halloween! We’re probably staying home and doing… something? I don’t know. All the kids have outgrown trick-or-treating, and looking at the weather, I think we might be getting less than our usual three trick-or-treaters. So, stay inside, watch a movie, maybe, and go to bed at a decent hour. I’m officially #old.

My favorite book this month was (it was hard to choose; there were so many good ones!):

The Starless Sea

It’s so so so very perfect.

As for the rest:

Middle Grade:

The Bookwanderers

YA:

Dream Thieves (link to an old review)
Raven Boys (this is my review for the bookstore which I wrote in 2012 and I’m still super proud of.)

Adult Fiction:

Red, White, and Royal Blue
The Power
Red at the Bone (audio book)
Witches Abroad

Non-Fiction:

Invisible Women
Running with Sherman
The Book of Delights

Graphic Novels:

Pumpkinheads
Stargazing
Guts
Kiss No. 8

Monthly Round-up: September 2019

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Thoughts? I read an awful lot of adult fiction this month. A LOT. And I’ve noticed over the months that I’ve read less and less middle grade. I wonder why.

My favorite this month?

The Fountains of Silence

She is such a good historical fiction writer.

YA:

That Inevitable Victorian Thing

Adult:

The Peacock Emporium
Autopsy of a Boring Wife
The Reckless Oath We Made (audio)
The Testaments
Ninth House

Middle Grade:

Some Places More than Others
Dear Sweet Pea

Non-Fiction:

The Sun is a Compass (audio)

Graphic Novels:

Here There Be Gerblins
Best Friends

What was your favorite this month?

Monthly Round-Up: August 2019

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To be completely honest, while I did read this month, a good portion of what was posted I read back in June. It’s just that way sometimes.

My favorite this month?

Hollow Kingdom

It’s foul, it’s weird, it’s AMAZINGLY narrated, and I ate up every minute of it.

Middle Grade:

My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich

YA:

Hope and Other Punch Lines
The Girl the Sea Gave Back
Steel Tide

Graphic Novel:

Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl
This Was Our Pact

Adult Fiction:

The Stone Sky
Wyrd Sisters

Non-fiction:

Naturally Tan (audio)

What were your favorites this month?

Monthly Round-Up: June 2019

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It’s summer and I want fluffy and romance and brain candy and this one totally fit the bill:

Evvie Drake Starts Over

Really, it was exactly what I needed this month.

As for the rest:

Middle Grade

Other Words for Home

YA

Hearts Unbroken
Love from A to Z
Three Sides of a Heart (audio)
The Inexplicable Logic of My Life
Gunslinger Girl (reread: link to old review)

Non-Fiction

#NotYourPrincess

Adult Fiction

Where We Come From
Equal Rites

Graphic Novel

Queen of the Sea
5 Worlds: The Red Maze

What was your favorite this month?

Monthly Round-Up: May 2019

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I survived the class! Yay! And it was full of interesting discussion. So double yay! And I didn’t get much reading done the second half of the month, so pretty much everything here I read in the first half.

My favorite?

With the Fire on High

It was really a compelling story, incredibly well-written. Acevedo really is a writer to watch!

And for the rest:

Middle Grade:

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street
Glory Be
Indian Shoes
Return to Sender
The Circuit

Young Adult:

Miles Morales Spider Man
Sold
Who Will Tell My Brother?
Monster
Valiant

Graphic Novels:

Lowriders to the Center of the Earth

Nonfiction:

Save Me the Plums (audio book)

Adult Fiction:

There There

Ones I read but didn’t write (another) review for:

One Crazy Summer
Tequila Worm (this one fell through the cracks, and didn’t get reviewed even though it should have)
The Sun is Also a Star
A Step from Heaven

What was your favorite this month?

Monthly Round-Up: March 2019

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It’s been quite the month. But, as I write this, I have enjoyed a couple of days off and am actually thinking about gardening instead of working all the time. It’s heavenly. And maybe I’ll even read more books next month!

And, since it was Middle Grade March, it’s probably appropriate that my favorite was a middle grade book:

Sal and Gabi Break the Universe

Smart, funny, and a whole lot of fun to read!

As for the rest:

Middle Grade:

Lost Rainforest: Mez’s Magic
Ben Braver and the Incredible Exploding Kid
Resistance
The Three Rules of Everyday Magic
Squint

Young Adult:

Field Notes on Love
The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe
Love, Hate & Other Filters

Adult:

Eternal Life
The Bookshop of Yesterdays (audio)

What was your favorite this month?

Monthly Round-Up: February 2019

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Oh, what a month. I swear I’ve worked more this month (even though I’m stepping down!) than I have in a LONG time. That said, I did get some reading done. Some.

My favorite this month (no surprise):

The Library Book

Fascinating, imminently readable and just really really good.

As for the rest…

Middle Grade:

To Night Owl from Dogfish
The Lost Girls
Freya & Zoose
The Size of the Truth

Non-fiction:

Kitchen Yarns (audio)

Adult Fiction:

Where the Crawdads Sing (audio)

YA:

Finding Yvonne (audio)
Courting Darkness
The Poet X
Words on Bathroom Walls