It’s Monday! What are you reading? #IMWAYR 4/14/14

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys and invites bloggers to recap what they’ve read this week while planning ahead on what to read next! Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers added their own twist by focusing on kidlit, from picture books up to YA.

Here’s what I’ve read lately:

(Click on the book covers to add these titles to your Goodreads TBR piles)

No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale
2014
YA Mystery
My Goodreads Rating: 4/5 Stars
I really liked this creepy book and am surprised that there aren’t better reviews on Goodreads. The main character is pretty endearing despite her complete lack of social skills and I loved all of the quirky characters.

Threatened by Eliot Schrefer
2014
YA Realistic Fiction
My Goodreads Rating: 5/5
I was really surprised that I liked this book even more than Schrefer’s Endangered. I think this would make an excellent read aloud for grades 7 and up and it will give students so much to think and talk about.

City of Glass and City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments, books 3 and 4) by Cassandra Clare
2009 and 2011
YA Fantasy
My Goodreads Rating: 5/5 Stars for both books
I am still hooked on the Mortal Instruments Series and loving it! I need to get my hands on City of Lost Souls as soon as possible. I love the characters and although there are so many of them, it is very easy to keep them apart and follow their subplots throughout the books. Cassandra Clare has created an amazing world in these books and I cannot get enough of it!

A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd
2014
MG Fantasy
My Goodreads Rating 5/5 Stars
I would definitely not be surprised if this book wins an award this year. It is adorable and filled with so many beautiful lines that I really wanted to highlighted almost every page! Too bad it was a library book. I highly recommend this one and it would make a fantastic read aloud for grades 4-6.

Better of Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg
2014
MG – YA Realistic Fiction
My Goodreads Rating 4/5 Stars
Elizabeth Eulberg is a great author and I have enjoyed all of her books. While this book wasn’t my favorite, I did enjoy the dual narrators and getting both sides to the story. I have already passed this one on to a 6th grade reader and she read it very quickly and passed it to a friend who is devouring it as well.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – The Graphic Novel by Ransom Riggs / Cassandra Jean
2013
MG – YA Realistic Fiction
My Goodreads Rating 4/5 Stars
I’ve already professed my love for Ransom Riggs’ work a time or two on this blog and I wasn’t really surprised I liked this adaptation of the first book in the series. A lot of Goodreads reviewers said that they thought it didn’t tell enough, but I thought it told just enough that readers will want to get their hands on the novel version. I gave this to one of my most reluctant 7th grade readers this week and he can’t stop talking about it during reading time, and often interrupts the class to talk about how cool and creepy it is. I like this graphic novel because it is pretty sophisticated and a step up from some of the other graphic novels I have in my classroom that students sometimes read over and over.

Zebra Forest by Adina Rishe Gewirtz
2013
MG Realistic Fiction
My Goodreads Rating 4/5 Stars
This was another possible contender for next year’s One Book, One School and while I thought it was an intriguing story and very different, it was not my favorite. I did really like the ending though and glad for the choices that the characters made. This is a quick read if you are looking for something different.