Completely Full Bookshelf

(This post title is in honor of my best friend—she'll know what I mean!) It's been capital-B Busy this last week. Work meetings, org fairs, officer meetings, therapy, night classes, visits with friends (yay!), yoga classes (see below), and networking dinners. I've driven so much  to get to everything—I've been north and south and north again, sometimes both in the same day. It's been hectic, but honestly, it hasn't been bad! There's been a nice balance of work and fun, and I've felt like I have a (relative) sense of purpose. Some random things: My best friend got me into yoga classes, and now I'm hooked! I've been taking some that are full-on exercise classes, and I hate  exercise. But the thing is, we do deep breathing while doing the poses/exercise, and the deep breathing gives me something to focus on besides my body's angst, plus it sometimes gets my body to calm down with it, which makes the exercise easier. I think this is the only form

Y'all, this semester has been something else!  I was going to find 30 minutes or an hour to finish my book and write a blog post last night, and even that wasn't doable. But at the very least, I did want to post a reminder about... The Kidlit Lovers' Meetup! The fourth  Kidlit Lovers' Meetup , a chance for us book bloggers to hang out and connect over a Zoom call, is scheduled for: This Saturday, September 28, 2024 4-5 PM Pacific / 5-6 PM Mountain / 6-7 PM Central / 7-8 PM Eastern RSVP here >> We'll be talking about books, blogging, reading, and more, and I'll have discussion questions prepared to keep the conversation going. The whole thing is designed to be very low-stress—even if you're as chronically introverted as I am, my goal is for you to still feel welcome and enjoy yourself! You can  RSVP for the meetup here , or  learn more about the meetups here . Feel free to email me at completelyfullbookshelf [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions. Plea

Update (Monday morning): I added a sentence I forgot to add! I meant to save an hour at the end of the day to get my book finished and my blog posted, but then things ran late (as they love to do) and my plans went awry! So while I don't have any images or fancy formatting to share with you all, I do have some random tidbits and observations to send your way: After my delightful time reading The Tea Dragon Festival  (second in the series) by K. O'Neill last week, I have since started the third and final book, The Tea Dragon Tapestry ! I'm loving it so far, and it's reminding me of a funny quirk of reading series (which I rarely do): it's helpful when you can remember the books beforehand! I have completely forgotten book 1, The Tea Dragon Society , so maybe a re-read is in my near future. (Or a re-read of The Moth Keeper  too!) Honestly, if I had the energy or initiative, I'd love to do a longer post dissecting themes of O'Neill's work across multiple bo

I finally read a book, y'all!!! Took an entire month, but we made it here. Last week , I considered reading a book by K. O'Neill, and that's exactly what I did—and it was so good . So let's talk about it! The Tea Dragon Festival Written and illustrated by K. O'Neill Middle grade · Graphic novel · 2019 Book 2 of 3 ( The Tea Dragon Society  · The Tea Dragon Festival · The Tea Dragon Tapestry ) Add it on Goodreads · Preview the illustrations · · · The publisher says: · · · Now available in paperback, revisit the enchanting world of Tea Dragons with the beloved companion story to the two-time Eisner Award-winning graphic novel The Tea Dragon Society . Rinn has grown up with the Tea Dragons that inhabit their village, but stumbling across a real dragon turns out to be a different matter entirely! Aedhan is a young dragon who was appointed to protect the village, but fell asleep in the forest eighty years ago. With the aid of Rinn’s adventuring uncle Erik and his partner

I think I've conceived of an entirely new idea for book blogging, and it involves posts where I talk about all the books I didn't  read, rather than the ones I did! How scintillating. /s Seriously, though, this is the third week where I don't have a book to share, not even one I'm in the middle of. Usually when this happens, I'd just not post at all. But hosting the Kidlit Lovers' Meetups has made me feel more connected to this community, so I don't want to drop off the face of the earth just because I haven't read! I completely failed at my goal of reading four graphic novels in August. (Call me Completely Failed Bookshelf.) I did read two, which is definitely not four, but is also not zero, so that's a win! And both of them, Sunhead  and Blackward , were deeply meaningful in their own unique ways. Also, in my defense, I actually did get partway into Ash's Cabin  by Jen Wang, after my previous DNF from a few weeks ago. And it's such an incr

I didn't have the chance to read at all this week, because it was my first week back in grad school and there was so much  happening. I'm hoping that tonight (Sunday night), I'll have the chance to crack open a book...and then we'll see if I can keep the momentum going throughout the week. I did want to mention two things, though: The Kidlit Lovers' Meetup! The next Kidlit Lovers' Meetup is THIS Wednesday: Wednesday, August 28, 2024 4 - 4:45 PM Pacific / 5 - 5:45 PM Mountain / 6 - 6:45 PM Central / 7 - 7:45 PM Eastern RSVP here >> As always, this is a chance for folks to meet other book bloggers and readers, and talk about books, blogging, reading, and more! I'll have discussion questions prepared to keep the conversation going. And it's designed to be very low-stress—even if you're as chronically introverted as I am, my goal is for you to still feel welcome and enjoy yourself! You can RSVP for the meetup here , or learn more about the meetups

So I had actually started a new graphic novel this week, which I was hoping to recommend today! It would have been the third graphic novel for my goal of reading four in August. But alas, my excitement to read it gave way to dismay, because I found it a little bit racially insensitive. The main character is a White boy—not a terribly likable one, but it's a zany, humorous kind of book, so I don't think the goal is for the characters to be bastions of morality. But one of his compatriots is a Black girl, and I honestly felt like her whole character was defined in relation to him—she follows him around, fascinated with his antics but also poking at him in a sort of generic-banter-y way. But at least in the first third of the book, she got no real character development, and I feel like (whether intentionally or unintentionally) the story was implicitly creating a hierarchy, with a White boy on top as the ruler of his "posse," and a Black girl underneath him. All that gav

Hi hi, everyone! I set a goal of reading four graphic novels in the month of August—not terribly ambitious, but considering how chaotic my reading life has been, it's actually a little demanding for me. And I'm halfway there!!! We knocked out Sunhead  last week ( so  good), and then this week, we picked a book very spontaneously and had a great time. So let's talk about it! Blackward Written and illustrated by Lawrence Lindell Young adult/adult · Graphic novel · 2023 Recommended by Earl Dizon Add it on Goodreads · Preview the illustrations · · · The publisher says: · · · Black, weird, awkward and proud of it. Welcome to the club! Tired of feeling like you don’t belong? Join the club. It’s called the Section. You’d think a spot to chill, chat, and find community would be much easier to come by for nerdy, queer punks. But when four longtime, bookish BFFs―Lika, Amor, Lala, and Tony―can’t find what they need, they take matters into their own hands and create a space where they

Hi hi, everyone! This last week was so busy , and this next week may be a smidge better, but not much. But the weekend has had some lovely opportunities for rest—and reading! I'm excited to share about everything today. So let's do it! Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe Written by Benjamin Alire Sáenz Young adult · 2012 · Re-review ( see my original review ) Book 1 of 2 (This book · Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World ) Add it on Goodreads · · · The publisher says: · · · Dante can swim. Ari can't. Dante is articulate and self-assured. Ari has a hard time with words and suffers from self-doubt. Dante gets lost in poetry and art. Ari gets lost in thoughts of his older brother who is in prison. Dante is fair skinned. Ari's features are much darker. It seems that a boy like Dante, with his open and unique perspective on life, would be the last person to break down the walls that Ari has built around himself. But against all odds, when

I'm running too short on time to put a post together with proper formatting, but I did have three things to share! The first is that I am re-reading Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe  by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, for a book club I participate in. It is still one of my absolute favorite books of all time—it makes me feel seen in a way few books (or frankly, few situations at all) do. The second thing is that I am working on scheduling the next Kidlit Lovers' Meetup in August , after a wonderful meetup this past Wednesday, and I need your help! If you'd be interested in attending, please fill out this survey by Tuesday night  so I can choose a date and time that works for as many people as possible. I would really appreciate your input! And if you're not familiar with what these events actually are, click here . The third thing is that I set a goal of reading four graphic novels in August, and I've already picked the books. So if all goes well, I&#