Completely Full Bookshelf

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...

So I've got a delightful review for you today, but first, I have a proposal... The Kidlit Lovers' Meetup! One of the reasons I've gotten back into blogging the last few months is that I've realized my social life needed a little love. And the two blogging groups I participate in, MMGM and #IMWAYR, have always made me feel so welcome and given me a space to talk about one of my favorite interests, as well as how it connects to my own life. But somewhat surprisingly, although I've been reading some of y'all's blogs for nearly eight years, I've never spoken face-to-face with any of you! And I feel like now might be the time to change that! So I'm proposing a Kidlit Lovers' Meetup, where we can hop on a video call for an hour or so and talk about books, reading, and more, and get to know each other a little better! I'm hoping to see as many of my fellow MMGM and #IMWAYR bloggers as possible—basically, if I comment on your blog, I'm hoping you...

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...

Fun fact—this post contains two  made-up hashtags and  an unprompted Star Wars  reference! You're welcome. Also, I'm continuing with my Raina Telgemeier re-read  with the eternal classic. I'm probably going to pause the re-read for a bit, but I'll be pumped to get to Sisters  and Guts  soon! For now, though, let's talk about the book that changed everything... Smile ! Middle Grade Smile Written and illustrated by Raina Telgemeier Graphic memoir · 2010 · Re-review ( see original review ) Add it on Goodreads · Preview the illustrations · · · The publisher says: · · · Raina just wants to be a normal sixth grader. But one night after Girl Scouts she trips and falls, severely injuring her two front teeth, and what follows is a long and frustrating journey with on-again, off-again braces, surgery, embarrassing headgear, and even a retainer with fake teeth attached. And on top of all that, there’s still more to deal with: a major earthquake, boy confusion, and fr...

It's been off-the-rails in my personal life lately, but amidst the mess is exciting news: I GRADUATED COLLEGE!!! I can't believe it. The ceremony is coming up soon, but all the assignments are done, and my grad school program is on the horizon. So that's an exciting thing! And now it's summer, which means the most important thing: BOOKS! So many books. I've already devoured some picture books, and I have some semester reading to report on as well. So let's dive in! Picture Books Kumo: The Bashful Cloud Written by Kyo Maclear and illustrated by Nathalie Dion 2022 Add it on Goodreads · Preview the illustrations · · · The publisher says: · · · The uplifting journey of a bashful cloud ("kumo" in Japanese) who discovers the rewards of feeling seen. Kumo is a cloud whose only wish is to float unseen. When she’s assigned cloud duty for the day, she feels overwhelmed by self-doubt and her fear of being noticed. But after learning that closing your eyes isn’t ...

Hello everyone! If you're reading this on Monday, I'd like to wish you a happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! This past college semester, I took a class where we read King's Letter from Birmingham Jail , and he made a very profound point that I wanted to share. He discussed people's insistence that Black people just remain "patient" and wait for change to arrive naturally, before pointing out that change does not, in fact, just arrive over time—it takes specific actions on the part of the public to make it happen. I think so many of us nowadays sometimes feel like we need to be patient and allow change to be made incrementally, but we can see that the decades and decades Black people waited for change actually resulted in stagnancy and no change  until they started a movement in the 1960s. I think it's worth remembering with many of today's issues that maybe we don't need to wait for change at all—maybe we need to demand change now , because that may...

I hope everyone is doing well this week! I took an hour on Friday morning to listen all the way through Billie Eilish's new album of music, Happier Than Ever , and it was SO GOOD!!! If you'd like song recommendations, I recommend "Getting Older," "Billie Bossa Nova," "my future," "GOLDWING," "Not My Responsibility"/"OverHeated" (which are kind of a pair), "Your Power," and "NDA"/"Therefore I Am" (which I also think work better as a pair). Also, I keep forgetting to plug my Thursday Thoughts posts, so I'll do that now—a while back, I discussed two fun non-kidlit books I had recently read , and this past Thursday, I posted another original poem called "An evening walk" ! Moving on, I've got an interesting and RIDICULOUSLY LENGTHY blog post for you today about my favorite book of all time: Goodbye Stranger  by Rebecca Stead. I could probably have shortened this post, but in...