Completely Full Bookshelf

What a week. I'm not going to get into everything except to say that I am of course utterly appalled and disgusted by the anti-trans legislation in Arkansas. I heard from others that there is a small nonprofit organization in Arkansas called Intransitive that supports transgender people and is advocating against these laws; consider making a donation! Unfortunately, I don't have the mental fortitude for a full super-depressed write-up on that mess—at the rate we're going in the world, I would never actually have any time to review books—but I did want to mention the situation quickly. Also, since I've had the most unpleasant morning, I'm going to warn you all: if you have a Mac, and you are super-behind on software updates, and you are planning to install macOS Big Sur (the newest version), please, please, PLEASE  check and make sure that you actually have enough storage to install it. Because my sibling's Mac laptop gave us the go-ahead to install Big Sur even...

Welcome to February! This month, I'm doing something a bit unconventional with my reviews: I am reviewing four graphic novels (that's not the unconventional part, obviously ) that all feature witches/supposed witches/other related spookiness. I noticed I had a ridiculous volume of books like this on my to-be-read shelves, and since there's no time to review spooky books like February*, I'm getting started on this unusual adventure with a delightfully bizarre graphic novel: Snapdragon  by Kat Leyh. *Actually, there is a much better time to review books like this, but it wouldn't be the first time my Halloween reading occurred during not-Halloween.           I've seen many bloggers enjoying this graphic novel over the past few months, and since I love graphic novels, I decided to finally pick up a copy and see what all of the fuss was about. Snapdragon 's protagonist, Snapdragon Bloom (or Snap for short), lives with her single mother in a trailer park right n...

I hope everyone is having a non-awful start to the week! (I feel like asking for a "great" start to the week is a bit unreasonable right now.) For MMGM and #IMWAYR, I am reviewing the graphic novel  All Together Now  by Hope Larson.           All Together Now  is the sequel to All Summer Long , a graphic novel which I absolutely loved! I've been waiting for this book for a long time, and, unfortunately, its release date was pushed back from May to August because it is printed in China, which we all know was hit hard by the coronavirus. But now it's finally here, and I finally have a review of it!           The wonderful protagonist of All Summer Long , Bina, is also the protagonist of All Together Now . Bina (who loves writing songs and singing/playing guitar) has created her own band with a classmate named Darcy. The two of them are having a great time, until Darcy convinces Bina to let a third classmate named Enzo j...

For #IMWAYR, I am recommending Dear Haiti, Love Alaine  by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite. A word of caution to any young readers: this book is a YA (young adult) novel, not an MG (middle grade) novel and contains some mature content.           Alaine Beauparlant doesn't have an average family. Her mother, Celeste Beauparlant, is a journalist who hosts a widely-watched TV news program called Sunday Politicos  (and is an immigrant from Haiti), and Celeste's twin sister Estelle is the Minister of Tourism for Haiti and founder of PATRON PAL, an app that allows people to donate to help specific children in Haiti and see exactly how they benefit from the money. Alaine's outgoing, fiery nature (like that of her mother and aunt) will likely benefit her later in life, but as a teenager in private school, it is the catalyst for what my copy's front flap calls "the incident." "The incident" results in Alaine's school agreeing for her to spend t...

For MMGM, I am recommending the graphic novel Click  by Kayla Miller.           The main character of Click , fifth-grader Olive, is friends with basically every kid in her grade. She can strike up a conversation with anyone in school, and she often spends time with her classmates outside of school as well. However, when Olive's teacher announces that the fifth-graders will be putting on a variety show, things start to go awry. All of Olive's classmates form groups and start planning their acts, but none of them ask Olive to join. Olive wonders if her friendships meant anything if none of her friends think to include her—but would she even want to choose some of her friends over others for an act, when she likes them all? Olive's mother, Lucy, wants to reach out to the parents of Olive's friends and see if they will include her, but Olive doesn't want to force her way into a group that doesn't want her. However, Olive and her aunt Molly come up with ...

For MMGM, I am wholeheartedly recommending the graphic novel All Summer Long  by Hope Larson.           Bina, the protagonist of All Summer Long , loves listening to music and playing her guitar, but her plans for the summer consist mainly of spending time with her best friend, Austin. These plans are thrown into disarray when Austin leaves for soccer camp, leaving Bina alone to face summer boredom. She starts to sink into the inescapable spiral of binge-watching television, but her mom forces her to get out of the house, and she runs into Austin's older sister, Charlie. Bina and Charlie immediately start to befriend one another (they even like the same music), and Charlie invites Bina on trips to the local soda fountain or to the house where Charlie babysits. But nothing is perfect, and Bina struggles to enjoy her summer, especially once Austin returns from camp with a different idea of their friendship. It's up to Bina to balance her stressful frie...