Completely Full Bookshelf

I'm back!!!  I really wish I hadn't dropped off the face of the earth quite aggressively for two months, but alas, here we are. In that time, I've: Been so busy that it's really a wonder how I function at all (yet I do!) Been addicted to various  amazing  albums of music ( Midnights by Taylor Swift,  Inner World Peace  by Frankie Cosmos, and Swimming Lessons  by Genevieve Stokes) Done my usual therapy routine (hooray for achingly slow self-improvement!) Played several shockingly gorgeous mobile games I've played before ( Monument Valley , Monument Valley 2 , and Assemble with Care ) and one I haven't ( Florence ) Listened to three tracks from the  Monument Valley 2  soundtrack on loop ("Interwoven Stories," "Child," and "Power of Two") Laughed really hard on some video calls with friends Pondered my future intermittently and with great trepidation (my trepidation is greater than your trepidation, so take that ) Felt like a weird cr...

Hello everyone! I'm excited to be reviewing a graphic novel I've heard a lot about: The Leak , written by Kate Reed Petty and illustrated by Andrea Bell! Add it on Goodreads  or preview the illustrations on Amazon Let's start off with the publisher's description  of this book: ********** In this compelling middle-grade graphic novel, Ruth, a young journalist, is determined to uncover a secret that threatens her town. Ruth Keller is brash and precocious; she argues with her dentist, her parents, and her teachers. So, when she discovers a strange black slime in the man-made lake of her suburban neighborhood, she decides to investigate. Fortified by the encouragement of those around her, Ruth seeks the truth at all costs, even if it means taking on the rich local country club owner, who she believes is responsible for the pollution.  Between the teasing of former friends, and a sudden viral spotlight, Ruth discovers how difficult it is for a journalist to take a stand for ...

I hope everyone is doing well! I spent the last couple of days reading The Magic Fish  for the third time, and it just gets better and better every time I come back to it—I don't know if this read-through will allow me to extract every last drop of depth and meaning from it, but that just means I'll have plenty of other chances to further understand the book later in life. Also, as I post this review, I am noticing that Goodreads has redesigned their book pages, and I am screaming a silent " huzzah! "—they don't seem horrendously confusing, and they look  so much  less ancient and more organized than they used to. And one more thing: the application to judge for the Cybils Awards  opens August 17! I had an amazing experience as a Round 2 Judge for Elementary and Middle Grade Nonfiction last year, and I plan to reapply as a judge this year. You can learn more about judging opportunities on this page —the group is always looking for a diverse group of individuals to...

I hope everyone is doing well! We spent an hour on Saturday doing that most wretched of tasks: changing the smoke detector batteries. I envy everyone who buys those new smoke detectors where you don't have to replace the battery for 10 years. Today I am looking at an intriguing new MG graphic novel: Marshmallow & Jordan  by Alina Chau. And I'm also hosting the Holiday Picture Book Giveaway  with details at the end of this post! Review of Marshmallow & Jordan : Preview the illustrations on the publisher's website         A few weeks ago, I scoured the website of First Second, the massive graphic novel imprint from Macmillan, for new MG/YA graphic novels to pre-order, and this book, which debuted on October 26, was the one I was most excited for (besides Other Boys )! (I mean, just look at that cover.) I haven't seen anyone talking about this book yet, and although it is not a perfect read, I am still excited to be bringing it to y'all's att...

I hope everyone is doing well today! As back-to-school season begins, I just want to take a moment and thank all the wonderful educators I've met in the blogging world, as well as all the wonderful educators I haven't  met at all, for their tireless work in shaping the kids of today and tomorrow into better, smarter people, in spite of being under-paid, under-appreciated, and under-protected from the pandemic. I wish you all good luck!!! I also want to mention that I did some spiffing-up on the blog this past week, so the menu and sidebar have a different layout that is hopefully a little more intuitive—I realized that things I wanted people to see were buried in sidebar widgets or other pages, while things I didn't care much about were taking up space in the main menu. Let me know if the new layout works for you or is totally confusing and awful! (Update [8/15/2021]: I just discovered that the sidebar looks weird on a larger screen, because Blogger, in their...

I hope everyone is enjoying the middle of summer! I'm starting to feel a little frantic about how soon all my reading/relaxing time will come to an end—but we still have a few more good weeks ahead of us! Also, this past Thursday, I wrote about some of my frustrations with MG books as a genre— check it out here! Moving on to today's review for MMGM and #IMWAYR, I have one last review of a graphic novel about middle school experiences (after Truly Tyler  and Just Pretend ) before we shake things up next week. Today, I am recommending the graphic novel  Kyle's Little Sister  by BonHyung Jeong.         I decided to try out this graphic novel after seeing a review of it by Alex Baugh at Randomly Reading , and I'm glad to have tried it out! This story centers around Grace, a 6th grader who is frustrated at constantly being in the shadow of her popular older brother Kyle, an 8th grader. Whether at home, where she fights with him over the TV or feel...

I have a few quick notes before we move into today's review. First of all, I have finally set up a Goodreads account for my blog!  It is currently a bit of a mess, and I will be trying to get it finished up over the next few weeks. And if you're already reading my blog, I honestly wouldn't bother looking at my Goodreads—it's only going to have mini-reviews of the books I'm already reviewing on my blog anyway, along with links back to my blog. But I hope it will be a useful way for new readers to discover my blog so that my posts don't just disappear into the ether! You can visit my Goodreads profile here. Also, some quick self-promotion: I have started a photography blog, A Scrapbook of Stories , that I am using primarily to participate in the #2021picoftheweek challenge hosted by MMGM's own  Of Maria Antonia  (which is also now open to book bloggers)! Make sure to stop by if you're interested. I also revisited my reviews from July to December 2020 in a...