Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Even Librarians Can Use a Little Yoga: Yoga at the Librarian Conference










For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy ReadsTo participate in Saturday Snapshot: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken and then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky at West Metro Mommy Reads.

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Best Books You've Read In 2017 So Far

This year, 2017, may be my best reading year ever. It is certainly promising; the year is only half over and I've already read 134 books, of which 45 were 4-star reads, and 43 were 5-star reads. That's a lot of good books.

Here are the best of what I've read so far in 2017:

THE BEST CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULT FICTION BOOKS



One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Lyttle Lies: The Pudding Problem by Joe Berger
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson


THE BEST CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULT NONFICTION BOOKS




Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library
D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths
March: Books One, Two, and Three by John Lewis
Stand Up and Sing: Pete Seeger, Folk Music, and the Path to Justice by Susanna Reich



THE BEST ADULT FICTION



 

Chemistry: A Novel by Weike Wang
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Lincoln in the Bardo: A Novel by George Saunders
Homegoing: A Novel by Yaa Guasi
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney



THE BEST ADULT NONFICTION



The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy by Anne Lamott
The Moth: 50 True Stories edited by Catherine Burns
The Art of the Pie: A Practical Guide to Homemade Fillings, Crusts, and Life
Letters of Note: Volume 2 by Shaun Usher
Atlas Obscura by Joshua Foer


Have you had a year like mine? Have you read some I haven't that you'd recommend? Please share them.



Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Sunday, June 25, 2017

The Best of BookExpo


Ninety-eight pounds of books is a lot of books to bring home from a conference, to sort through after a conference. It took a month for me to pick out my favorites from that huge pile of books. In the meantime, I actually managed to read a few of those I hauled home, including The Radium Girls (don't miss this one.) Here, then, are the books I hope to read soon:


The Best Cookbooks from BookExpo:
Cooking with Nonna: Celebrate Food and Family with Over 100 Classic Recipes from Italian Grandmothers
The South's Best Butts: Pitmaster Secrets for Southern Barbecue Perfection
What Can I Bring? Southern Food for Any Occasion Life Serves Up


The Best Children's Picture Books from BookExpo:
Bizzy Mizz Lizzie by David Shannon
Mary McScary by R. L. Stine, illustrated by Marc Brown
Miguel and the Grand Harmony by Matt de la Pena


The Best Middle School Books from BookExpo:
Kid Authors: True Tales of Childhood from Famous Authors
Little Bigfoot, Big City by Jennifer Weiner
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
All's Faire in Middle School by Victoria Jamieson
The Frog Princess Returns by E. D. Baker
The Dragon With a Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis


The Best YA Books from BookExpo:
North of Happy by Adi Alsaid
What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum
Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds


The Best Adult Fiction from BookExpo:
Sing, Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward
The Sunshine Sisters by Jane Green
The Windfall by Diksha Basu
The Leavers by Lisa Ko
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid


The Best Adult Nonfiction from BookExpo:
It's All Relative by A. J. Jacobs
The Blue Zones of Happiness by Dan Buettner
The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin
Ageless Soul by Thomas Moore
Things That Join the Sea and the Sky: Field Notes on Living by Mark Nepo


Pretty cool, right?

Well, another cool thing about BookExpo is that the books continue to pour in even after BookExpo is over. Here are three more that came in this week:

Quirk Books sent Library of Souls: The Third Novel of Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, along with a #STAYPECULIAR book bag and pin and a poster from the upcoming movie.

From New Vessel Press came A Very French Christmas, and from Simon and Schuster came Our Story Begins: Your Favorite Authors and Illustrators Share Fun, Inspiring, and Occasionally Ridiculous Things They Wrote and Drew as Kids.


I think I need to get busy reading!


What are you reading today?






What is the Sunday SalonImagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them,and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....That's what happens at the Sunday Salon, except it's all virtual. Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together--at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones--and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs. Think of it as an informal, weekly, mini read-a-thon, an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities and fall into a good book. Click here to join the Salon.

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news and recap the past week.

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page. We share books that we found in our mailboxes last week. 
 It is now being hosted here.

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews in which you can share the books you've acquired.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from! I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is now being hosted at The Book Date.

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

The Scream: A Photo Booth at Art Night





For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy ReadsTo participate in Saturday Snapshot: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken and then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky at West Metro Mommy Reads.

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Series I've Been Meaning To Start But Haven't


I'm honestly not much of a series reader. When I worked as a librarian in a full PreK-6 school, I found I had to simply read book one in order to make a dent in all the series my students were wolfing down. I proudly made my way through all the Lord of the Rings books, the Harry Potters, The Give books, and the Hunger Games. But for every series I have completed, I have tens of great series that I haven't completed or even started. 

Here are some I wish I've started but haven't completed:






 Here are series I haven't even started:








Do you like series? What's the best series you ever read? Are there any of these I should read?






Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!