Completely Full Bookshelf

Before we get started, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving—ours was very peaceful, and it was when I actually finished reading the book I'm reviewing today! Also, I want to quickly mention an album of music I've been enjoying lately. Aimee Mann, who I first started listening to around 2 years ago, just debuted a new album called Queens of the Summer Hotel , and it is awesome! You can go read  this interview to learn about it, but just know that it's brilliant and worth a listen (or several)! (And especially a listen in order, since the order really matters.) Finally, I have the winners of the Holiday Picture Book Giveaway to announce! The first winner is... Danielle! Danielle will be receiving a copy of Eyes That Kiss in the Corners . The second winner is... Carlo! Carlo will be receiving a copy of A Map into the World . The third winner is... Patricia (a fellow MMGM blogger at Children's Books Heal )! Patricia will be receiving a copy of A Big Mooncake for ...

I got my COVID booster shot (Pfizer) on Friday, and I had quite the reaction on Saturday—fever, aches and pains, exhaustion, basically everything except a sore throat or runny nose (thank goodness—I hate  sore throats). I will say, the symptoms are obviously  better than getting COVID. Anyway, I'm doing better on Sunday, which is when I'm writing this post—I tried to write it while I wasn't feeling well, but I was having thoughts like, " Pandemonium  is such a long word—do I have  to type it out?" And that seemed like a good indicator that I needed to write this another day! ***Content warning for this section***  Also, I do want to acknowledge the various enraging things that have happened this week in the world. The Kyle Rittenhouse decision is extremely infuriating and disappointing and just adds to the number of atrocities White people can get away with. And yesterday was Transgender Day of Remembrance, and an article I read about it said, horrifyingly, tha...

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...

My mother and I went to do some shopping recently, mostly to find birthday gifts for a relative, and two things happened: I am starting to get in the holiday spirit now! Which is great, because the holidays are awesome, and which is also terrible, because I have several more weeks of homework to get through that I now want to completely avoid. My mother and I went into Old Navy and discovered that our local Old Navy might just be the single worst clothing store on the planet. They were playing one of those songs that sounded so bad, you had to wonder if the people who made the song made it ironically, or if they actually heard themselves and thought, "This sounds good! Let's subject the entire world to it for several decades." And also—Old Navy had a bunch of sweaters, and one of them was the most comically hideous color and texture I have ever seen in my entire life. It was truly astounding. I'll spare you the details. With that, today I am recommending yet another a...

Well, I didn't get a book read this week, so I read three picture books on Saturday night so I could get a post together for you all! And hey—that's three books off my TBR list, which I'll count as a win. By the way, I got through all the things I was panicking about last week—I visited my three Halloween parties (I even had a little bit of fun—imagine that), and I got my short story submitted for class! Huzzah—now I should have some time this week to start a graphic novel that showed up in the mail. And since I'm throwing this post together on an enormous time crunch, my reviews will probably be pretty short—you can expect a longer post next week. But let's dive into these picture books! Wishes Written by Mượn Thị Văn and i llustrated by Victo Ngai Preview the illustrations on Amazon          This book has been waiting on my bookshelves for months—but I finally got around to reading it after seeing it recommended by Linda Baie at TeacherDance , Sierra Dert...

This week is shaping up to be INSANE. Besides my plan to attend three different Halloween parties (no comment), I am taking a creative writing course, and I have a short story that is due this Sunday—and I'm planning to write something pretty long that I haven't actually started drafting yet (I just have the outline), so I kind of need to get moving on all that. It probably won't be that bad to write—I just don't want to do it! I just want to go read books and play Animal Crossing  and NOT stay up late—seriously, I stay up 20 minutes past my bedtime and then I am noticeably exhausted the next day. College, y'all—it's a thing. Moving along, today we have a review of yet another truly AMAZING graphic novel (we've been on a great stretch following The Girl From the Sea  and Other Boys )—today's book is Nimona  by ND Stevenson. I wasn't sure if this book was MG or YA when I started it, but after reading it, I am quite sure  this book is better for a YA a...