Monday, June 4, 2012

It's Monday 6/4! What Are You Reading?


Wow, last week was just a nonstop whirlwind of activity, but I survived!  Our oldest son, Jamie, graduated with honors from high school this weekend.  We are so proud of him!


So, amid all the preparations, house guests, graduation activities, and party, none of us had much time for reading, and I had no time at all for writing blog posts or book reviews.  I don't expect it to get much better this week:  we have more house guests, our son's 8th grade graduation, and lots of vacation preparation.

Still, we did squeeze in a little reading:
  • I read The Pregnancy Project: A Memoir by Gaby Rodriguez, a very unique teen/YA memoir written by a young woman who pretended to be pregnant during her senior year in high school in order to observe how friends, peers, family, and teachers treated her and explore stereotypes of pregnant teens.  It was a fascinating memoir.  I'd like to see the Lifetime movie made from her book.
  • Next, I decided to get started on My Big Book Summer Challenge with an easy one, Blood Red Road by Moira Young, a dystopian teen/YA novel.  It is written in a very unusual style with sparse prose and no quotation marks, but the story is so engaging that is has grown on me.  It's getting hard to put down now!
  • My husband, Ken, is still reading A Game of Thorns by George R.R. Martin, but he says he only has 150 pages to go now!  He's really enjoying it.  He was already perusing the TBR shelves last night, trying to decide what to read next while we're on vacation. 
  • Jamie, 17, had a very busy week, filled with all sorts of senior activities at school, plus trying to finish his work (he was sick a lot this year so has some work to finish over the summer), but when he needed a break, he read Spiral by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams, Book 5 in the Tunnels series.  Talk about Big Books - these are all huge!  Jamie loves this series and says it just keeps getting better.
  • Craig, 14, finished Brian's Winter by Gary Paulsen, part of his series that begins with Hatchet, a favorite in our family.  We'd listened to the audio many years ago, but Craig enjoyed reading the book.  He is now finished with his reading requirements for middle school!  Thank goodness he has some required summer reading for his new high school or he'd probably not read at all during the summer!
 Remember to sign up for the Big Book Summer Challenge - in keeping with the easy-going nature of summer, there are few requirements - just read one book over 400 pages (or as many big books as you like!).  Check out my own stack of big books I hope to read this summer and sign up yourself!

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey with a kids/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Texts.)


3 comments:

Jen Vincent said...

This is such a busy time of year!!! I'm not sure my summer will ever slow down..but maybe. :)

I love the idea of the big book challenge, I'll check it out. I just started Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta and that definitely counts as a big book! Almost 600 pages! Craziness.

Hannahlily said...

At first I wasn't too sure about Blood Red Road, but it really grew on me. Some really great characters in that novel. Congratulations on your son's graduation! You must be so proud :)

Jessica said...

I have seen The Pregnancy Project movie. I had no idea it was based on a true story/book. (I'm sure the movie said that at some point, but I must have missed it.) Hopefully, I can get a chance to check out the book too. Enjoy your busy week!