Weekly Wrap-Up: 5/15 – 5/21/17

Happy Sunday bookworms!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  As school is starting to wind down for the school year for my kids, things are fairly hectic around here.  It’s like all the teachers decided to organize a million end of the year activities (breakfasts at school, lunch with your kid day, field days, field trips, etc. etc.) and cram them all into a 2 week period.  I think I am looking forward to summer vacation just  as much as my kids are.

Anyways!  Let’s see what else I had going on this week…

*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, what I recently finished reading, what I am currently reading, what I will be reading next, noteworthy posts around the bookish blogosphere, and any interesting bookish articles I came across.

Thursday 5/18

Book Blogging Babble: What Makes You Click (or NOT Click) That Follow Button?

Friday 5/19

Kids’ Corner: Beautifully Different by Dana Salim + Author Q&A + #Giveaway

 

» My Goosebumps Giveaway ended on Friday night.  The winner of the signed Goosebumps book (Welcome to Dead House) was Kester who blogs at @LILbooKLovers.  The winner of the Goosebumps Retro Scream Collection was the lovely Casey who blogs at @adoptabookaus. Not going to lie, I was thrilled to death that two book bloggers were the winners of these giveaways!!!

» I got #BookMail from my lovely friend Ann Marie who blogs at @Lit·Wit·Wine·Dine.  Enclosed were her copies of Equal of the Sun by Anita Amirrezvani, We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter, and The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman.  We both share a love for historical fiction, and I cannot wait to dig into these books!

*Book titles link to Goodreads

Recently finished reading:

» Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

I am taking part in Jane @Greenish Bookshelf’s Anne of Green Gables Read Along(#AnneReadAlong2017).  May was the kick off to this read along with the first book in the series, Anne of Green Gables.  This was my first time reading this classic, and now I can count myself among the Anne of Green Gables fandom.  If I had to describe my feelings about this book in one word, it would be enchanting.  Now, I am not going to do a traditional review for this book because I don’t typically write reviews for classics.  This book is so beloved by so many, so nothing I could say would really do it much justice.  HOWEVER I will be doing a few different kinds of posts for this read along, so be on the look out for those in the upcoming weeks.

» Gone to Drift by Diana McCaulay

This was a book I requested last year during the “NetGalley Request Binge of 2016” that I never got around to reading.  I think the reason I requested this one was because the cover gave me Island of the Blue Dolphins vibes.  While this was nothing like Island of the Blue Dolphins, this was a very interesting YA novel about a boy’s quest to find out what happened to his beloved Grandfather who never returns from a fishing trip.   I really enjoyed that this book was set in a fishing village in Jamaica, where fishing is the backbone of the town.

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Currently reading:

» I Found You by Lisa Jewell

Lisa Jewell is coming to Cincinnati the first weekend of June to promote I Found You.  Originally I thought I was going to be out of town for this event, but I was mistaken and will be able to attend.  I read The Girls in the Garden earlier this year, and enjoyed it.  I’ve heard good things about this one too.

» Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery

The Anne of Green Gables Read Along continues on until the end of the year, with the goal of finishing the series.  I am not sure if I will be able to commit to the entire series, BUT I am planning on at least continuing on with the second book.

» The History Major by Michael Phillip Cash

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On deck:

» Chronicle of a Last Summer: A Novel of Egypt by Yasmine El Rashidi

» Marie @Drizzle & Hurricane Books defends her favorite genre after seeing some hate on Twitter→ Why YA contemporary is very much alive

» CW @Read Think Ponder gives us some book recs → Book Recs: Diverse Middle Grade Books

» Shiloh @Bookworm Ink shares a tattoo she designed inspired by → Tattooed Inspired: Ouija by Katherine Turner

» Sarah @Heartstring Eulogies shares her issues with the TV show Thirteen Reasons Why → Thirteen Reasons Why Discussion #1

» Drew @The Tattooed Book Geek shuts down those who question book bloggers & their reviews→ I’m ‘just’ a book blogger and proud!!

» Marie @Drizzle & Huricane Books discusses which posts are more popular on book blogs → On popular blog posts

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» How Reading to Your Children Helps You to Be a Present Parent

» Books to Get Your Teens Talking

» 16 of the Best New Books of Summer 2017

» 10 Books About Inspirational Teachers

» Read Globally: 10 Folktales, Fables, and Stories That Introduce Chinese Culture and History to Kids

What are you currently reading?

What will you read next?

Have a wonderful week, and happy reading