Top Ten Books I Can't Believe I Haven't Read Yet

What is wrong with me?  I haven't read these?  Do I want to read them?  Yes. They are in my Goodreads list.   Will I?  Well I haven't read them yet...so who knows!

In no particular order...


1) Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee

I've written about why I haven't read this yet here.  I need to get over and read it.  Done.

Image Source: Goodreads

2) Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Yeah, not sure why I've never read this.  I've heard amazing things about it and I feel like I should read it.  

Image Source: Goodreads

3) Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Possible a cheat because I've tried to read this--twice.  I can't get past the first 20-30 pages.  I feel like it's something I should want to read, and I kind of do.  I feel like I should like this book, but do I need to waste another week on a book that hasn't worked for me the past two times I tried it?

Image Source: Goodreads

4) Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

I originally put this on my list because of the cover.  I think it's gorgeous, and I want to read it!  I want to get to it.  Might be a priority for this semester.

Image Source: Goodreads

5) Splintered by A.G. Howard


I've been getting more into the retold fairy tales lately.  Plus, I love this cover!

Image Source: Goodreads

6) The Good Girl by Mary Kubica

I've seen this book all over the place and from the moment I saw, I was interested in it almost immediately.  It sounds intriguing and mysterious.  One day.

Image Source: Goodreads

7) Fairest: Levana's Story by Marissa Meyer


 WHY?  WHY haven't I read this yet?  Because I'm afraid?  Maybe.  I don't know, but I've been putting it off.  Maybe I want to stretch it out until Winter comes out.  I don't know, but somebody needs to get on top of things already!

Image Source: Goodreads






8) Serafina and the Black Coat by Robert Beatti

So this only recently came out and I only recently heard of it, but I've been thinking about it since I learned of it.  I will be reading it soon--very soon, but not soon enough!  Also, the cover!  Seriously people, who are you incredibly talented designers creating all these beautiful images?

Image Source: Goodreads 




9) The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

I know.  I know.  Everyone has told me about this book.  People who I would call "readers" have asked me about this book.  I need to try it.

Image Source: Goodreads








10) The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi

This sounds deliciously dark and dystopic and a little scary.  I think it's the scary part that keeps me at bay.  But it sounds so good!

Image Source: Goodreads

So I'm thinking that the best idea would be to make these my first priority for fall.  That means when I finish my next two TBR books, I will start with this list.   

What books are left in your TBR that you're shocked haven't been read yet?  Have you already any of the books on my list?  Opinions on which one I start reading?

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Back to School!

Hey guess what? I have a guest post at Book Bloggers International.

It's all about the book Wonder. Check it out!!

Book Review: A Curious Tale of the In-Between

A Curious Tale of the In-Between
Lauren DeStefano
Bloomsbury
Source: Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

In this haunting story, Pram lives with her aunts in a home for the elderly, is incredibly intelligent, and sees and talks to ghosts.  When she is forced to start attending school, Pram meets Clarence, a boy who has lost his mother and suddenly Pram has a living friend who understands her.  In attempt to try and reach Clarence's mother, they visit a spiritualist, but the woman recognizes that Pram has a special gift, and she's very interested in it.  She promises to help Pram find her long-lost father, but has other plans in mind.  Pram must fight her way through the land of the living and the dead in order to find where she truly belongs.

I fell right into this beautiful story.  It's dark and eerie, yet so beautiful because the characters are so loving and breakable and strong.  Pram has few friends--well none if you count only the living--but she values her friendship with the ghost Felix so much.  Despite his being a ghost, he is a solid, true, and important part of her life, but one she cannot share with anyone else because who would believe her?  Pram's story is heartbreaking, and it's even more so because we know so much more than she does.  We're told the truth of her mother's death in the first pages, but Pram does not know, and as she begins looking for her father our hearts break for her because we know soon she will have to find out.

This is a great book for your middle school students.  It has a mystery, danger, and even death.  Pram is a literary heroine that any young girl could look up to as she battles her own fears and insecurities throughout the story.  I honestly wasn't quite sure how this book would end, and I liked that.  A Curious Tale of the In-Between will be out on September 1, 2015.  Pick up your copy and enjoy!

Image Source: Goodreads

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Book Review: Gargoyle Hall: An Araminta Spookie Adventure

Gargoyle Hall: An Araminta Spookie Adventure
Angie Sage
Publisher: Bloomsbury, 2015
Source: Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Rating: 4/5

In Gargoyle Hall by Angie Sage, Araminta Spookie seems to get herself into trouble an awful lot--but that's only because she's solving a mystery and no one else seems concerned.  Actually there are many mysteries she's working on in this book.  With her sidekick Wanda, Araminta is determined to find out why her Uncle Drac isn't sleeping in the attic with his bats anymore.  Unfortunately her plans are ruined when her Aunt Tabby decides to send her to Gargoyle Hall for Girls.  When she arrives, Araminta discovers another mystery waiting for her to solve it, because a Chief Detective is always on the case.

I thought this was really cute!  Araminta will have a lot of appeal for younger readers as she expresses her annoyance with adults and their strange social rules. She has her heart in the right place and is always trying to help, but something usually goes wrong.

When I requested this, I had no idea it was part of a series.  I just thought it looked like a book my students might enjoy and I might want in my classroom.  As soon as I realized that it was part of a series of books, I was worried that I might not be able to follow along, but the story stands on it own.  Despite that, I thought there were probably a few things I would have gotten out of knowing the back story for all the characters, especially in the relationships Araminta has with different characters.

Gargoyle Hall is a great book for readers around grades 4-6.  It's a bit spooky with beasts and ghosts, but no scary, adding to the mystery and Araminta's quest to discover the truth.  The mysteries unfold with hints as she discovers clues and hones in on her Prime Suspects.  It's a fun and entertaining read and will be available on August 11, 2015.

Image Source: Goodreads

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Teacher Break: It's The Final Count Down! *SOB*

Here we are, ready to return.  My summer break has just jetted by, spinning around and leaving me a little dizzy and a bit wary of the start of a new school year.  I'm slightly excited, as I always am, but I'm not ready.  I don't feel as if I have not done enough to get myself and my classroom ready to go for the year (do I ever feel like I am fully prepared, though?).

I guess every year that I have been teaching I have really made some major changes to the way I teach.  I've researched and revamped and created and planned away.  This year I'm changing the way I do things, but not as much as I have in the past.

Bad?  Did I not reflect enough?  Should I have spent more time on Pinterest (ha!)? Or maybe I should have made more time to read another PD book instead of trying to read more of the books I WANT to read.  Am I already too stuck in my ways that I'm not changing a ton of stuff?

Good?  I've finally found a place where I feel like my teaching is coming together.  Yes it needs improvement and I am improving on techniques, lessons, etc, but they don't need an overhaul.  Does that mean things are just going pretty well so I shouldn't worry too much?  I am changing--I'm not just pulling out the same exact stuff as last year--it's just not to the same degree.

So that's what my back to school "freak-out" is all about this year.  Time to mentally prepare myself.

Good luck to all you teachers out there prepping your own classrooms and fine tuning your back to school letters.  Enjoy those last minutes of a perfect and clean classroom while you can (I love the last few days before students come because my room is finished and it looks beautiful and it will never look that beautiful again until next year).  Get another book squeezed in, and spend some quality time with loved ones.  (Oh and don't forget to clean the house one last time because you know it won't happen again for at least a month!)

We have a week until teachers report, and two weeks until the first day with students.  Are you a teacher?  How are you feeling about it?

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New Book Purchases

Well I've gone a little overboard buying books lately. 

Today I received these two books! 

I'll be using The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore the first week of school as a read aloud and I'm excited to share it. I love the idea of living in this beautiful library with books flying around.  

I also pre-ordered Scrap City by D.S Thornton and A Curious Tale of the In-Between by Lauren DeStefano. 

In addition I'm adding a few Araminta Spookie books by Angie Sage to my classroom. 

 Love getting new books on my doorstep! 

Book Review: The False Prince

The False Prince
Jennifer A. Nielsen
Publisher: Scholastic, 2012
Source: purchased
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Sage is an orphan, just doing his best to get find enough food to eat each day, when a strange man named Conner comes to the orphanage and purchases him.  Sage has little choice but to go and finds himself in a contest to become the lost prince of Carthya.  He and two other orphans are pitted against one another as they attempt to transform themselves into what the prince would be like four years after his disappearance.  The boys who fail will die, keeping the secret buried forever.

I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy this novel when I first started reading, but after the first few chapters Sage really started to grow on me.  Jennifer A. Neilsen has created some great characters dealing with a huge consequence.  She also keeps many secrets from us until the end--some of which I had guessed, but others that surprised me because I just assumed otherwise.  I like not always being right about twists.

The plot moves along quickly.  With only two weeks for the boys to prepare for the final selection of who will be presented at court, there is a lot to cram in there, but Neilsen managed to do this without it feeling like a grocery check list of skills for them to learn and problems that needed to pop up in the middle of it all.  Sage is a character who can't keep his mouth shut and always finds himself in more trouble than his peers, but he also earns the respect and care of others, which helps him when he's in the most trouble.  The question is whether this is enough to keep him alive and help him win the title of the false prince.

This is a great choice for anyone who enjoys fantasy novels.  The quick moving story and many problems in which Sage finds himself will appeal to most readers, especially those reluctant readers.  There are two other books that follow The False Prince and I will definitely be trying to get those in soon.

Image Source: Goodreads

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