Confessions of a Bibliovore

Title: Son Author: Lois Lowry Narrator:  Bernadette Dunne “They called her Water Claire.” When the young girl washed up on their shore, no one knew she had been a Vessel. That she had carried a Product. That it had been carved from her belly. Stolen.  Claire had had a son. She was supposed to forget him, but that was impossible. When he was taken from their community, she knew she had to follow. And so her journey began. But here in this wind-battered village Claire is welcomed as one of their own. In the security of her new home, she is free and loved. She grows stronger. As tempted as she is by the warmth of more human kindness than she has ever known, she cannot stay. Her son is out there; a young boy by now. Claire will stop at nothing to find her child . . . even if it means trading her own life.  In the last year I've finished the complete The Giver series.  I listened to both Gathering Blue and Messenger.  Both of those I thought were good.  They add...

I am a middle school media specialist - grades 6-8.  Here are some things happening in our media center!  Some popular books to check out: Babysitter's Club Graphic Novels Wonder Auggie and Me Fort by Cynthia C. Defelice Other Events Coding Fun Not only am I the media specialist I also teach a coding class.   My student had a blast coding Spheros !

I may be a middle school media specialist but that doesn't mean I don't read or need picture books!  I like to keep my eyes open for great picture books that I think my teachers might use.   Today my eyes are on:  Nerdy Birdy By Aaron Reynolds Illustrated by: Matt Davies Nerdy Birdy likes reading, video games, and reading about video games, which immediately disqualifies him for membership in the cool crowd. One thing is clear: being a nerdy birdy is a lonely lifestyle. When he's at his lowest point, Nerdy Birdy meets a flock just like him. He has friends and discovers that there are far more nerdy birdies than cool birdies in the sky. And then another bird moves in... So this book was sitting on a stack of other books in the library.  (That's the advantage of working in a K-8 building - I get to see more picture books).  I just had to pick it up and read it.  Sooooooo stinking cute! I loved eveything about it.  The story is adorable and relateabl...

Title: Wild Born (Spirit Animals #1)  Author: Brandon Mull Four children separated by vast distances all undergo the same ritual, watched by cloaked strangers. Four flashes of light erupt, and from them emerge the unmistakable shapes of incredible beasts - a wolf, a leopard, a panda, a falcon. Suddenly the paths of these children - and the world - have been changed for ever. Enter the world of Erdas, where every child who comes of age must discover if they have a spirit animal, a rare bond between human and beast that bestows great powers to both. A dark force has risen from distant and long-forgotten lands, and has begun an onslaught that will ravage the world. Now the fate of Erdas has fallen on the shoulders of four young strangers ...and on you. I've read and listened to several of the 39 Clues books, and I knew these books would be similar to a degree, so I wanted a taste of the series in order to be able to book talk it better.  From the start I could see why kids like t...

Title:    The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue  by Mackenzi Lee Series: Guide #1 Genre: YA - Historical Fiction Publication:  June 27, 2017 by Katherine Tegen Books Format: Audiobook Source: Library Rating:   ★★★★★ Synopsis: Henry “Monty” Montague was born and bred to be a gentleman, but he was never one to be tamed. The finest boarding schools in England and the constant disapproval of his father haven’t been able to curb any of his roguish passions—not for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men. But as Monty embarks on his Grand Tour of Europe, his quest for a life filled with pleasure and vice is in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy. Still it isn’t in Monty’s nature to give up. Even with his younger sister, Felicity,...

NOTE  →   I recently joined a Goodreads group in which a new book is chosen every month. I thought it would be a fun idea (for myself) to answer the discussion questions, instead of writing a review, on the book we read each month here on my blog. That way I can share my thoughts on it, but also discuss it with others across a few platforms without having to write two things. These posts may contain spoilers. Proceed with caution.  Synopsis: A vivid and mesmerizing novel about the extraordinary woman who married and worked with one of the greatest scientists in history. What secrets may have lurked in the shadows of Albert Einstein’s fame? His first wife, Mileva “Mitza” Marić, was more than the devoted mother of their three children—she was also a brilliant physicist in her own right, and her contributions to the special theory of relativity have been hotly debated for more than a century. In 1896, the extraordinarily gifted Mileva is the only woman studying physics at a...

Title: Love and First Sight by Josh Sundquist Series: N/A Genre: Contemporary Publication:  January 3, 2017 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Format: Audiobook Source: Library Rating: ★★★★★ Synopsis:   On his first day at a new school, blind sixteen-year-old Will Porter accidentally groped a girl on the stairs, sat on another student in the cafeteria, and somehow drove a classmate to tears. High school can only go up from here, right? As Will starts to find his footing, he develops a crush on a sweet but shy girl named Cecily. And despite his fear that having a girlfriend will make him inherently dependent on someone sighted, the two of them grow closer and closer. Then an unprecedented opportunity arises: an experimental surgery that could give Will eyesight for the first time in his life. But learning to see is more difficult than Will ever imagined, and he soon discovers that the sighted world has been keeping secrets. It turns out Cecily doesn’t meet traditi...

Title: 1,000 Facts about the White House Author:  Sarah Wassner Flynn Welcome to the White House! Go behind the scenes to get a 360-degree view of America's most famous president's residence, from how it was built in 1792 and the fire of 1812, to today's state dinners, celebrations, celebrity pets, and more. Discover through 1,000 fun-to-read facts what it's like to live and work at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the quirky rules of the house and how the Secret Service keeps it safe. Find out how the kids who have lived there play, watch movies, and entertain friends. With a treasure trove of material from the White House Historical Association, this book presents a fascinating story of the building and the many people who have shaped its 225-year history. Ok we all know about the White House right?  It's the place where the president lives.  But what do you really KNOW about it?  This book is filled with all kinds of little tidbits about the house we see all the time in...

I'm a little late with this rewind, but I want to be consistent so here goes a few days late! November was a good month, but towards the end of it, I found myself feeling really low. I've noticed that when the weather starts to change, I feel a little sad. My boyfriend is the same way, so for the last week of November I focused a lot on self-care and just getting myself out of sad days. There were a lot of good things this month as well, so let me focus on those.  5 Good Things in November 1//  I went to two shows, one being a favorite band of mine : The Front Bottoms. My boyfriend bought me tickets to both these shows for my birthday (in September) so we'd been anticipating these shows for a little under two months. We had so much fun in the first one, Passafire, which is an all time favorite of my boyfriends.  2// I read a lot: Normally I finish a few books a month, but in November I got a lot more reading done than usual. I'll share more of that below but it defin...

Title: Click'd Author: Tamara Ireland Stone Allie Navarro can't wait to show her best friends the app she built at CodeGirls summer camp. CLICK'D pairs users based on common interests and sends them on a fun (and occasionally rule-breaking) scavenger hunt to find each other. And it's a hit. By the second day of school, everyone is talking about CLICK'D. Watching her app go viral is amazing. Leaderboards are filling up! Everyone's making new friends. And with all the data Allie is collecting, she has an even better shot at beating her archenemy, Nathan, at the upcoming youth coding competition. But when Allie discovers a glitch that threatens to expose everyone's secrets, she has to figure out how to make things right, even if that means sharing the computer lab with Nathan. Can Allie fix her app, stop it from doing any more damage, and win back the friends it hurt-all before she steps on stage to present CLICK'D to the judges? Before the review I want to...

Juniper Lemon's Happiness Index by Julie Israel Synopsis : It’s been sixty-five days since the accident that killed Juniper’s sister, and ripped Juniper’s world apart. Then she finds the love letter: written by Camilla on the day of the accident, addressed mysteriously to “You,” but never sent. Desperate to learn You’s identity and deliver the message, Juniper starts to investigate. Until she loses something. A card from her Happiness Index: a ritual started by sunny Camie for logging positives each day. It’s what’s been holding Juniper together since her death – but a lost card only widens the hole she left behind. And this particular card contains Juniper’s own dark secret: a memory she can't let anyone else find out. The search for You and her card take Juniper to even less expected places, and as she connects with those whose secrets she upturns in the effort, she may just find the means to make peace with her own. Quick Thoughts : This was the group book for the Booktu...