Currently Reading

Fiction (Middle Grades)

• Anastasia at Your Service by Lois Lowry. There was such a gap between when I started reading this book to when I resumed more recently, that I’ve lost track of many (likely important) details. I think I will need to start over this week and give it a do-over reading.
• Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers. I don’t know if it’s because the movie is so enchanting, or simply because I have the actors’ interpretation of the characters in my mind, but I’m not enjoying the original book as much as I’d hoped. Mary Poppins, the character, is rather mean and snippy and engages in gaslighting the children after each magical adventure. There were echoes of this in the film, but Julie Andrews brought such charm to the role that it never seemed as hurtful as it does in the book. I feel obligated to complete the book, though, so I’m hoping there’s more warmth and joy to experience as the book goes on.

Recently Completed

Fiction (Middle Grades)

• Positively Izzy by Terri Libenson (library). An illustrated middle school story of two girls facing the “labels” and expectations of others while trying to define who they are. The book is filled with sweet and challenging emotional moments that are ingrained in the drama of the middle school experience. As with Invisible Emmie, also written by Libenson, there’s a twist in the end, and I enjoyed this one even more (although it’s hard to say if it’s because I’m reading this now as an adult and a parent).

Picture Books (both discovered on the free table at work, so they are now part of the shelves!)

• Hands Up! by Breanna J. McDaniel (illus. by Shane W. Evans)
• Alvie Eats Soup by Ross Collins

Picture book count towards 2019 goal: 29. This is way too low. To meet my basic goal of 500 (let’s not even think about my reach goal of 1,000), I have to read about 42 books per month. This means that my count for the next 10 months is 47–48 books/month. To quote every action movie ever: Let’s do this!