• Lifestyle

    It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 3/9/2020

    Last Week It’s been a very busy week which definitely slowed by reading down. This week, I spent a lot of time catching up on stuff at work and when I was home, I was getting some spring cleaning done. I did manage to read a few books this week…

  • Lists

    Top Ten Tuesday: Books With Single-Word Titles

    Top Ten Tuesday

    I love it when a Top Ten Tuesday theme makes me look at books a little differently! Books With Single-Word Titles had me thinking about the power of words and how much of the story you glean just from the title of a book. I love that these single-word titles…

  • Lists

    Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Gave Me a Book Hangover

    Top Ten Tuesday

    A book hangover, for those who aren’t familiar, is when you finish reading a title and you just can’t bring yourself to pick up another book. The book you just finished sticks with you as you mull over characters, plot, setting, etc. I’m a pretty fast reader, so when a…

  • Lists

    Top Ten Tuesday: Chapter Books I Love

    Top Ten Tuesday

    Today was a love freebie for today’s Top Ten Tuesday post, so rather than go with the love feeling, I decided to share some chapter books that I love! Chapter books are not middle grade novels. Chapter books are the perfect books for kids who are successfully reading easy readers…

  • Lists

    12 Middle Grade Friendships for Valentine’s Day

    friendship bracelets

    Valentine’s Day is around the corner and today I’m sharing 12 of my favorite middle grade friendships for Valentine’s Day. I love reading middle grade books as kids are figuring out who they are, where they fit in with friends and family, and managing life at school and outside their…

  • Reviews

    Martin McLean, Middle School Queen

    glitter

    Synopsis:  “Seventh-grader Martin McLean has always been surrounded by people who can express themselves. His mother is an artist, his colorful Tío Billy works in theater, and his best friends Carmen and Pickle are outgoing and don’t care what other people think. But Martin can only find the right words…

  • Lists

    2020 ALA Galleys

    book and coffee

    I told myself that I wasn’t going to pick up too many galleys when I stopped by the ALA Midwinter Conference. I ended up bringing home more than 50 new books! I’m not sure what happened. I’d walk past a publisher’s booth and then see a new book by an…

  • Activities

    25 Books To Get Your Tween Talking

    family

    If you’ve ever wanted to reach past the one-word answers in response to your questions to tweens, try books! Books are a great way to open up a discussion about interesting or difficult topics. With so many things changing in their own bodies and minds, tweens tend to not want…

  • Lists

    Top Ten Tuesday: Middle Grade Books with Blue Covers

    Top Ten Tuesday

    I sometimes love putting together lists of books that are not at all similar except for something somewhat arbitrary like the color of the color! I’ve shared a few other color-themed posts in the past – orange; red, white and blue; purple; and turquoise. Today I’m sharing a gorgeous list…