Completely Full Bookshelf

Hi everyone! I'm taking Christmas off from blogging, because (a) I haven't finished any books and (b) I don't know that anyone will be stopping by on the holiday to read a blog post anyway. I do hope to finish reading Solitaire  by the new year and share about that, but I can't promise anything—I'm playing it by ear! I do have one random tidbit—I'm pretty much obsessed with an adult animated miniseries on Netflix called Carol & the End of the World , and although I can only vouch for the first 3 of the 10 episodes so far, I feel like watching it just might be the perfect Christmas gift to yourself! It's hilarious and kindhearted and deeply thoughtful, and although it is DEFINITELY NOT appropriate for kids, perhaps my adult readers will find something to love in it. This article on The Verge  is what convinced me to watch it. That's all for now! I hope everyone has the happiest of holidays, and if this season is one that brings up challenging emotions

Hello everyone! I'm trying to think of some pithy and engaging intro to this post, but I'm failing, so there's that. Actually, wait—I remembered that I wanted to link back to last week's review of The Do-Over  in case you missed it, since that is an absolutely delightful  MG graphic novel worth adding to your list! Now let's talk about some books! Middle Grade/Young Adult: Look on the Bright Side Written by Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann, and illustrated by Lily Williams Graphic novel · 2023 Add it on Goodreads · Preview the illustrations Heads-up: I will keep this review  spoiler-free  of  Go with the Flow ! To do so, I am not including the publisher's description of the book, but you can view it here . Second heads-up: This book is about high schoolers, but it has MG energy and is completely appropriate for middle schoolers, so I'd say it fits into both MG and YA categories. This duology is a great pick for middle schoolers who are always wanting to r

Hello, hello! I am hours away from submitting my final assignment for my first semester of grad school (🥳), and I've finally had the chance to get back into reading for fun, thank goodness. I've missed you all, so I wanted to poke my head in today and share my reading exploits. Let's do it! Middle Grade Left to right: Florence, Millie (our protagonist), Claire, and Gabby. Dear Rosie Written and illustrated by Meghan Boehman and Rachael Briner Additional writing and coloring by Tom Pickwood Graphic novel · 2023 · · · The publisher says: · · · Seventh-grader Millie has the best friends in the whole world: Florence, Claire, Gabby, and Rosie, but when Rosie dies in a car accident everything changes. Rocked by grief, the remaining four girls struggle to move on. Millie barely understands her normal pre-teen feelings, let alone the messy ones left behind by Rosie, so she outruns her emotions by throwing herself into a mystery: a cryptic notebook abandoned at her family's lau

Just poking my head into the blog to say hello and share a quick reading update! Young Adult Heartstopper Volume 2 / Volume 3 / Volume 4 Written and illustrated by Alice Oseman Graphic novels · 2020 / 2021 / 2022 For full transparency, I'm nearing the end of Volume 4 right now, and I'm going to keep this review spoiler-free. If it gives you a sense of how deeply I have connected with these books, I just started the series last week and I'm already almost done with four books. I have literally not consumed any other media besides these books since I started (except for music), and I've already purchased one of Alice Oseman's prose novels (and we know how much I've been avoiding prose novels lately), with plans to buy literally all  of them and become an Alice Oseman superfan. I'm in complete awe. I feel like my understanding of human existence and love has expanded more in the last week than it had in actual months and months, thanks to these books. The thin

Hi hi! This is a very sudden blog post—I've been thinking semi-deeply about what I want to do with this blog in the future, but I also realize I should quit agonizing over that and instead squeal about some books on the Internet. And I must say, assembling this post delivered the most wonderful short-term emotional benefit—I hope reading it will do the same, so let's dive in! Middle Grade: Beetle & the Hollowbones Written and illustrated by Aliza Layne Graphic novel · 2020 · Re-review ( see my original review ) · · · The publisher says: · · · A Stonewall Honor Book An enchanting, riotous, and playfully illustrated debut graphic novel following a young goblin trying to save her best friend from the haunted mall—perfect for fans of Steven Universe and Adventure Time . In the eerie town of ‘Allows, some people get to be magical sorceresses, while other people have their spirits trapped in the mall for all ghastly eternity. Then there’s twelve-year-old goblin-witch Beetle, w

Why, hello there! It's been a busy few weeks for me, but I'm mostly getting accustomed to grad school. On one hand, I feel like I'm less anxious than I've ever been at the start of a semester—on the other hand, that certainly doesn't mean I'm not anxious! Anyway, I'm glad to poke my head out to share a few random thoughts with you, as well as a review of a book that nothing was going to prevent me from reading... Let's dive in! Middle Grade: The Lost Library Written by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass 2023 Add it on Goodreads · · · The publisher says: · · · When a mysterious little free library (guarded by a large orange cat) appears overnight in the small town of Martinville, eleven-year-old Evan plucks two weathered books from its shelves, never suspecting that his life is about to change.  Evan and his best friend Rafe quickly discover a link between one of the old books and a long-ago event that none of the grown-ups want to talk about. The two boys star

The time of me posting weekly and commenting on everyone's blogs is most likely coming to an end, seeing as how I'm starting grad school today (if you're reading this on Monday). It's an exciting and also daunting time, and my hope is to preserve my free time as best I can—but I also know myself, and I know that blogging tends to be the first thing to fall off my to-do list, mostly to preserve my own sanity! But I do have one last post to wrap up the summer. And y'all, I have to say, this was the Summer of Graphic Novels for me, because I read... 33 graphic novels this summer, plus 3 re-reads! Bringing me to a total of... 128 graphic novels read in my lifetime! That feels like a huge  success to me, especially considering that not all of my other my summer goals came to fruition amidst the unanticipated chaos and exhaustion that is Life™. So what I'd like to do now is share one last graphic novel from the summer, and then highlight my favorite graphic novels tha

Why, hello, hello! I've successfully shared all 10 graphic novels I read on my recent trip (see here and here ), so now it's time to catch you up on what I've read since my return. Which isn't much—there was about a week in there where I didn't touch a book at all—but I'm hopefully getting back into a reading rhythm. I've got four warm, inclusive, and thoughtful stories to share with you today, so no more dillydallying—let's get right to it! Picture Books: Bodies Are Cool Written and illustrated by Tyler Feder 2021 Add it on Goodreads · Preview the illustrations · · · The publisher says: · · · From the acclaimed creator of Dancing at the Pity Party and Roaring Softly, this picture book is a pure celebration of all the different human bodies that exist in the world. Highlighting the various skin tones, body shapes, and hair types is just the beginning in this truly inclusive book. With its joyful illustrations and encouraging refrain, it will instill b

My grandfather passed away this week—he was a voracious reader of books and a loyal follower of this blog since its beginning, so I wanted to take a moment to honor and remember him here. He will be missed. ❤️ If you're reading this on Monday, this also happens to be the seven-year anniversary of this blog, and I think this is a good time for me to remember (and share!) how this blog has been a source of joy and connection for such a big chunk of my life. I'm grateful to all of you, whether I regularly comment on your blog or don't know yet who you are, for supporting me on this journey of thinking about the stories I love so deeply! You might recall from last week that I was recently out of town and read 10 graphic novels, and I still have 5 reviews remaining that I'd like to share today. Then next week, I'll catch you up on what I've been reading during the time that this backlog of vacation reviews has been going up. Let's dive in! Middle Grade: Bad Sist