Completely Full Bookshelf

First of all, I have a fun announcement: As of Sunday... Completely Full Bookshelf is 6 years old!!! It's hard to believe I've been blogging for this long, but it's true! And it's all thanks to the two wonderful book blogging communities I participate in, MMGM and #IMWAYR, whose wonderful hosts and participants keep me coming back again and again to discover new books and rant about the ones I've read too! Here's to another year of rambling reviews! Speaking of rambling reviews, I have one today, this time of a fantastic MG graphic novel I've been waiting to read for a while. And I'm glad I fit it in, because I did not realize I haven't read an MG book at all since Go with the Flow ...in April! Today's review is of Long Distance  by Whitney Gardner. (A note before we dive in: I'm calling many of the characters in this book nerds, and I'm including a disclaimer here that I mean that in the nicest possible way—I myself am very much a nerd, ...

Hi everyone! I'm very excited to be reviewing an excellent graphic novel (and Printz Honor book): Dragon Hoops  by Gene Luen Yang. Add it on Goodreads  or preview the illustrations Let's start off with the publisher's description  of this book: ********** In his latest graphic novel, New York Times bestselling author Gene Luen Yang turns the spotlight on his life, his family, and the high school where he teaches. Gene understands stories—comic book stories, in particular. Big action. Bigger thrills. And the hero always wins. But Gene doesn’t get sports. As a kid, his friends called him “Stick” and every basketball game he played ended in pain. He lost interest in basketball long ago, but at the high school where he now teaches, it's all anyone can talk about. The men’s varsity team, the Dragons, is having a phenomenal season that’s been decades in the making. Each victory brings them closer to their ultimate goal: the California State Championships. Once Gene gets to k...

Update (6/19/2022): I made a small correction to this post. Hello everyone! Today, I am so excited to be recommending a spellbinding YA graphic novel: The Greatest Thing  by Sarah Winifred Searle. Just a heads-up, this book is a young adult (YA) novel, and it contains mature content. Also, I am quoting the content warning from the beginning of the book: "This book contains depictions of self-harm and disordered eating." Add it on Goodreads  or preview the illustrations! Let's start off with the publisher's description  of this book: ********** It’s the first day of sophomore year, and now that Winifred’s two best (and only) friends have transferred to a private school, she must navigate high school on her own. But she isn’t alone for long. In art class, she meets two offbeat students, Oscar and April. The three bond through clandestine sleepovers, thrift store shopping, and zine publishing. Winifred is finally breaking out of her shell, but there’s one secret she can...

I've been so much of a mess lately that I totally forgot it's been 2 years since I first joined #IMWAYR! (And since the pandemic started—it reminds me of when I asked my parents in March 2020 if this might go on for a whole month . Uh...that was a slight underestimate.) But anyway, this is always a wonderful time to just say how much I appreciate the blogging communities I am in—I discover SO MANY  great books through all of you, I gain hope in this world through seeing your inclusive and caring demeanors, and I have people to rant about books with! What's not to love? I look forward to continuing to participate in these wonderful groups. And now, drumroll, please...the review! And what a review it is—today I'm looking at an absolutely FABULOUS  graphic novel, Go with the Flow  by Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann! This book is about high schoolers, and I think younger YA readers will devour this book, but it's also completely appropriate (content-wise and complexi...

I hope everyone is doing well! I know I already did this last week , but I have yet another movie to wholeheartedly recommend to you all—I just saw the Netflix original movie The Half of It , and I can confidently say that is is 100% a new favorite movie of mine! All the characters—Ellie, Paul, Aster, everyone —are so layered and so compelling, there's so much real-world insight into love and teenage awkwardness and small-town life, there's meaningful explorations of diversity, every single scene was made with a keen eye for what every single character is feeling in that moment, and the movie is cinematically just beautiful! I was seriously blown out of the water—it's definitely worth a watch! And now for the review! I was going to post a different review in my backlog, but because I need to revise it and I don't want to deal with it today, I'm just going against my own schedule and posting this review today! I'm excited to show you all this wonderfully delightf...

Update (12/13/2021): I have decided to take my first blogging break in quite a long time! I will not be posting reviews on Monday 12/20 or Monday 12/27—I will return on Monday 1/3 in the new year. In the meantime, my hope is to post a Thursday Thoughts post every Thursday from 12/16 to 1/6—I hope to see you there! (And you're welcome to subscribe using the options on the sidebar if you'd like to keep up with those posts.) Happy holidays! I hope everyone is doing well! I need to finish up a relatively easy essay today, and then I will be officially done with my college semester—I can't wait! For my creative writing course, part of my final assignment was to revise one of my short stories, which I have never actually done before—I discovered that revisions aren't as unpleasant as I thought, but I also discovered that wondering if you are actually making things worse  is also part of the revision process, which is...intriguing! Also, I need to clean out my bookshelves once...