Weekly Wrap-Up: 3/13 – 3/19/17

Hello bookworms!

Did everyone have a good weekend?  Are some of you still recovering from St. Patrick’s Day festivities?  Or are you like me and spent the “holiday” sitting home curled up with a book?

Let’s see what I had going on this week shall we?

*Weekly Wrap-Up is a weekly post where I feature what posts were published on the blog for the past week, any bookish/blog happenings, noteworthy posts around the bookish blogosphere, interesting book related articles I came across, what I recently finished reading, what I am currently reading, and what I will be reading next.

This week on the blog:

Tuesday 3/14

Top Ten Tuesday: Spring 2017 TBR

Wednesday 3/15

Dream Loot Crate: Bookish Crate (Theme: A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab)

*I had so much fun putting this post together!

Bookish/Blog happenings:

» I received my copy of The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel from Blogging for Books.  I can’t wait to read this book and see what all the fuss is about.

» I won a copy of The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui from a giveaway hosted by Crystal @Lost In A Good Book.  Huge thank you to her for hosting this giveaway!  It was funny actually, the day before I had been telling someone that reading a graphic novel was on my bookish bucket list for 2017, then I won this giveaway.  If that isn’t fate, I don’t know what is!

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Around the bookish blogosphere:

» Ashleigh @ A frolic through fiction talks about title appreciation → Book Title Appreciation | Because some book titles just roll off the tongue in that nice way

» Cait @Paper Fury talks about the struggles of reviewing books → 10 Reasons Why Reviewing Books Is Actually Super Hard

» Megan @bookslayerReads is hosting a GIVEAWAY (ends 3/23) → GIVEAWAY EXTRAVAGANZA – Part 2!

» Fadwa @Word Wonders talks about intersectional feminism and gives book recs → Intersectional Feminism: Different Perspectives + Book recommendations

» Yvonne @It’s All About Books talks about how she keeps her ARC mountain under control → Scaling The ARC Mountain

» Reg @She Latitude shares a “Book Look” for You’re Welcome, Universe → Book Looks: You’re Welcome, Universe – Whitney Gardner

» CW @Read Think Ponder talks about characters with “difficult” names → Let’s Talk About: Characters With ‘Difficult’ Names

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Interesting bookish articles:

» 18 Great Books To Read Based On The New TV You’re Binge-Watching

» 10 Authors Who Hated the Movie Adaptation of Their Work

*Apparently Stephen King wasn’t a fan of The Shining!  The more you know… AND #10 broke my heart 😦

» Quiz: Which Literary Villain Are You?

*I got Sweeny Todd?  Not sure how I feel about that…

» 10 Reasons Why You Should Date a Bookworm

*As if you needed more than one reason… #SpoilerAlert: We are awesome!

» Nine Writers on the Author or Character They’d Want to Drink with on St. Patrick’s Day

*I’d like to have a drink with Neil Gaiman and V.E. Schwab… let’s do lunch guys!

» 8 Picture Books That Inspire a Positive Outlook

*Can’t wait for We’re All Wonders

» When Bookstore Employees Get Bored

*I want to be friends with these people

» 13 Read-Alouds to Help You Connect with Your Middle Schooler

» Supernatural Thriller Coming from Stephen King and Son

*I’m excited, are you excited?  Is anyone in this family NOT a super talented writer?!

What have I been reading?

*Book titles link to Goodreads

Recently finished reading:

» Paper Wishes by Lois Sepahban

I read this book in one sitting.  This is a middle grade historical fiction, but I would probably say the target audience is on the younger age range of middle grade.  Maybe 7-10 year olds?  This book tackles a topic that we don’t hear about much in school here in the U.S: the relocation and incarceration of Japanese-Americans in the U.S. during WWII.   This would make for a great book to use in a classroom setting (maybe 2nd-3rd grade?) as this book has themes of family, loss, friendship, etc. along with the historical context.

» The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine

The Shadow Queen was a solid read, but it didn’t blow me away by any means.  The thing I liked the most about this book was how the author spun this retelling of Snow White.  I think she did a good job staying true to the story while giving us some new elements: dragons and more magic.  If you are a fan of YA fantasy and/or fairytale retellings, then I would recommend this book to you!  I think my biggest issue with this book was the characters.  They didn’t feel real to me and were lacking emotion.  I think if the author had slowed the plot down just a tad and focused a little more on character development, this would have helped me to form more of a connection to the characters.

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Currently reading:

» East by Edith Pattou

I am a little over 50% through this book.  After reading the synopsis, I really didn’t have high expectations going into this one.  I must admit, from the description this book sounded a little odd.  I was really surprised with how much I am enjoying it thus far.  East is very fast paced read with short chapters and multiple persepctives.  This book feels very much like a fairy tale because it is based off the Norwegian fairytale “East of the Sun and West of the Moon.”  I am not familiar with this fairytale, so prior knowledge of it is not a requirement to enjoy East.

» Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor’s Story by Caren Stelson

After reading 3 books over 500 pages this month, I’ve been reading lots of shorter books in between to ward off any book hangovers.  I will be starting this audiobook today.  I’ve read so many WWII historical fiction & nonfiction books, but never from the perspective of a atomic bomb survivor.  I am very interested in learning about what the Japanese people went though and the aftermath.

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On deck:

Moving right along with my SOKY Book Fest TBR, here are the books I will be picking up next…

» The Demon King by China Williams Chima

»The Illusionist’s Apprentice by Kristy Cambron

» The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker

What are you currently reading?

What will you read next?

Have a wonderful week, and happy reading