What I'm Reading

I've never been one for TBR posts/videos.  I know a lot of bloggers do them, but they just don't work for me.  I don't plan out my reading schedule month-by-month.  Since I don't accept review copies, I don't need to get to a particular book within a particular timeline; I just finish my current book and then decide to read next based on what I feel like reading.  And I figured that since everything I read would show up in a review, a TBR post would be redundant.  

But now that I'm not doing as many review posts, the redundancy is gone and I feel like talking about what I'm reading, so let's get down to it.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

Everyone knows Mango Street, or if they don't they should (but really?  you never read "My Name"?  ever in any of your English classes?  really?  go read it now.)  So I won't bother with a description.  Cisneros' style is really interesting.  She just gives us little snapshots of her life and she has this talent for starting a vignette with a happy optimistic tone and then gut punching  you in the last line. And yet it's not a depressing book.  And the way she crafts her words!  I'm about halfway in and am really enjoying it.


The Family Romanov by Candace Flemming

This biography is ostensibly about the Romanov family, and it is.  But it is as much, if not more, a history of Russia itself in the years leading up to the Bolshevik Revolution as well as the formation of the Soviet Union.  It's really interesting get to know the ruling family better, and I know almost nothing about the formation of the Soviet Union, so this is all new information for me.  Teach me MOAR!  I'm listening to this one on audiobook, so I'm missing out on all the cool pictures, but even the narration is good.  


Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool (historical fiction), Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr (contemporary fiction), How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr (contemporary fiction), The Wand in the Word by Leonard S. Marcus (nonfiction, interviews with fantasy writers)

I'm reading this set for a children's literature symposium I'll be attending in a few weeks.  Three days of just listening to these awesome children's authors (plus Gene Luen Yang and Jon Klassen and Marilyn Singer) and buying lots of their books.  I could just go and listen, but the experience is richer (and you can earn credit) if you've read some of their work.  And it's good work; I started The Wand in the Word last night and am really enjoying getting to know some of my favorite authors better.  


Aaaand then there are the many, many stacks and boxes of books from my classroom library that I, ever diligent teacher, thought I might get to over the summer.  


I haven't read a single one so far.


Umm.  


Yeah.


Hey, I actually did read the purple Nathan Hale book down there in the box in the bottom picture.  It's his latest one about Harriet Tubman.  But I bought it after summer started in preparation for a presentation by Nathan Hale so I could have him sign it, so I'm not sure that it counts.  Good book, though.


I would say I was ambitious when I picked out almost 30 books to bring home, but the truth is I was just indecisive.


So that's what I'm reading, or at least what I'm supposed to be reading.  What's in your reading stack these days?  Let me know or leave a link in the comments below.