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Apr 02 2012
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Bloggiesta: Wrap-Up

I’m counting my first Bloggiesta as a success. I completed the pinterest challenge by creating a Books Worth Reading board, answered the unanswered comments on my posts, and read through the mini-challenges to see if any caught my eye. (So far, I saw one that I will probably do in the future: themed pages.)

I also started cleaning up my tags and labels. I’m about 1/3 of the way through, and that’ll be an ongoing project that I work on a little at a time–probably between grading papers. I like how much cleaner and neater my blog looks on the fixed ones, so that’s good.

I didn’t make a decision about the reviews by author page, which means it stays for now. I may make updating that a task for the Bloggiesta event in September. We’ll see. Next time, I’ll hopefully be able to participate more in the Twitter aspect of it all as well.

All in all: good deal. Two thumbs up, fine holiday fun, etc.

Mar 31 2012
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Bloggiesta 2012: To-Do

I decided to sign-up for Bloggiesta. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get to it, but: let’s be real. I don’t do anything except sit on the couch on Saturdays anyway. To be fair, I am going to a play in about a half-hour, but when I get back, I’m going to get in some quality bloggiesta time.

My planned to-do list:

  • answer comments
  • schedule a post or two
  • update books read in 2012 list
  • decide if I want to keep/update the reviews by author page
  • decide if I want to add a reviews by title page (directly related to previous bullet point)
  • participate in the Pinterest mini-challenge
  • clean up labels/tags/categories
  • read through the other mini-challenge posts (old and new!) and see if something there catches my eye
Jan 01 2012
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2011: Books in Review

End of the year survey, taken from Trisha.

1. Best Book You Read In 2011?
I gave the following books five stars on Goodreads:

2. Most Disappointing Book/Book You Wish You Loved More Than You Did?
Bossypants by Tina Fey, only because so many other people I know and trust enjoyed it so much.

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2011?
Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore. I had zero expectations of this book, and I found it to be a lot of fun. In fact, every time I see the cover, I say to myself, “I really liked that book” and I’m always kind of surprised by it.

4. Book you recommended to people most in 2011?  
Probably Tangerine. Peace from Broken Pieces by Iyanla Vanzant.

5. Best series you discovered in 2011?
The Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan. I’m hooked.

6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2011?
I really enjoyed both of Neesha Meminger’s books. Oh, and Suzanne Selfors.

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?
I didn’t read any new genres.

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2011?
The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan and Tangerine by Edward Bloor, for different reasons.

9. Book you most anticipated in 2011?
Sara Zarr, Sarah Dessen, E. Lockhart, and Meg Cabot‘s new books.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2011?

      

 
11. Most memorable character in 2011?
Ella from Ella Enchanted and Leo from The Lost Hero.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2011?
Where She Went by Gayle Forman

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2011? 
How Al-Anon Works for Families and Friends of Alcoholics and What Did I Do Wrong? for obvious reasons.

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2011 to finally read?
Deenie, only because…Judy Blume. But, seriously, she was so far off my radar when I was growing up, it’s not surprising.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2011?
Echoing Trisha here: Answering this question would just take too much time, and honestly there’s no way I could pick just one.

16. Book That You Read In 2011 That Would Be Most Likely To Reread In 2012? 
Tangerine by Edward Bloor, but only because I want to see if I have the same response to it in print as I did to it on audiobook.

17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers! 
The cliffhanger in The Son of Neptune. I mean, SERIOUSLY?

THE END of THE SURVEY

As for my reading challenges, I completed them all this year, but mostly because, as I said previously, I chose gimmes. Next year will be different.

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Dec 19 2011
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Reading Challenges 2012

My brain is so fried from grading that I am currently incapable of posting any reviews. I wish I were joking, but alas. Every time I think of writing a review, my brain just kind of shuts down, like, “Seriously? You want me to think right now? Do you know what I’ve been doing for the past three weeks?” And then I go take a nap.

So! I will post instead about the reading challenges I’m going to do next year.

At first, like Vasilly, I was all, “I’m not doing any challenges. Imma read what I wanna read.” But then I read this post she linked and had an a-ha moment. The issue for me wasn’t signing up for challenges; the issue was the type of challenges I signed up for. I mean, signing up for gimmes isn’t really challenging. Yes, I read almost exclusively YA so why sign up for a YA challenge? Same with the library book challenge, etc. Also, I was lowballing my numbers, which is not really a challenge either.

On the flip side, when I signed up for the Women Unbound challenge, that really pushed me to seek out and read books I might not have otherwise. So, with that in mind, I’m participating in the following challenges:

Off the Shelf: My bookshelves are ridiculously full of books I haven’t read yet. I mean, it’s kind of a problem. I really want to cull my shelves, especially since I’m moving this summer. So that means I’m going to do the Making a Dint level, 30 books.

  1. Fatherhood by Bill Cosby
  2. The Romantic Obsessions & Humiliations of Annie Sehlmeier by Louise Plummer
  3. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi

TV Reading Challenge: I love reading books that have been turned into other media, and I’m already planning to read The Count of Monte Cristo (see: Revenge on ABC), and this challenge will finally give me an excuse to read Peyton Place. Normally, I don’t list the books I’m reading in advance, but well, there go two right there. I’m doing the Series level, 3-4 books.

  1. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
  2. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Tea & Books Reading Challenge: Since I was already planning on reading CoMC, which is a bazillion pages long, I thought this challenge, which focuses on books with more than 700 pages might be fun. Because I don’t really read long books, I’m going for the Chamomile Lover level, 2 books. Second book TBD, obvs.

  1. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Classic Double Challenge: It’s possible that CoMC might also qualify for this challenge–as long as I can find a corresponding contemporary retelling. Can I just say I had a slight nerdgasm when I saw this challenge? SUCH A NERD. I’ll probably be taking most of my cues from the book From Hinton to Hamlet, but I could be lying. WE’LL SEE. I mean, Melissa has her own pretty comprehensive list up, so I may let that guide me. I’m doing Medium, 4 pairs of related books.

  1. The Count of Monte Cristo/Murder on the Orient Express/”Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption”

2012 Audiobook Challenge: I am all about some audiobooks, and this is kind of a gimme, except I’m going to push myself by signing up at the Going Steady level, which is 12 books. This year, I read ~8 books on audiobook, so that’s a good push. One book a month. I think I can handle that.

  1. Seriously…I’m Kidding by Ellen Degeneres

And that’s it unless some super sexy challenge comes along in the next week or so. Oh, and the people who run the blog haven’t said whether or not it’s coming back, but I’m all aboard the People Of Color Reading Challenge train if it does. So I’ll just leave this here as a placeholder until it’s official.

And it’s back! I’m doing Level 5, 16-25 books.

  1. Fatherhood by Bill Cosby
  2. No Crystal Stair by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
  3. Angry Management by Chris Crutcher
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Jan 01 2011
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2011 Reading Challenges

I have decided to sign up for the following reading challenges for 2011.

Quirky Brown Reading Challenge: The focus here is on books offering an offbeat black experience, which I’m taking to mean no hood lit and no books about slavery (although 47 counts as offbeat, I’m sure). I’m going to do Level II, which is three books.

Books Read for the Challenge:

  1. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
  2. The Man in My Basement by Walter Mosley
  3. Sex, Murder and a Double Latte by Kyra Davis
  4. Saving Maddie by Varian Johnson
  5. 32 Candles by Ernessa T. Carter
  6. Mr. Chickee’s Funny Money by Christopher Paul Curtis

YA of the ’80s and ’90s:  You had me at YA. You won me at ’80s and ’90s.  And that graphic! So much win all around.

Books Read for the Challenge:

  1. A Star for the Latecomer by Bonnie and Paul Zindel
  2. Tangerine by Edward Bloor
  3. Static Shock Vol. 1: Rebirth of the Cool by Dwayne McDuffie, Robert L. Washington III, and John Paul Leon
  4. If This Is Love, I’ll Take Spaghetti by Ellen Conford
  5. Alias Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine
  6. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
  7. Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
  8. Best Friends Tell the Best Lies by Carol Dines

Support Your Local Library Challenge: No brainer. I get all of my books from the library anyway. I’m doing the mini level: 30 books. I don’t really get the image for the button there, but whatever.

Books Read for This Challenge:

  1. Cupid by Julius Lester
  2. Teenage Waistland by Lynn Biederman & Lisa Pazer
  3. Thwonk by Joan Bauer
  4. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
  5. Real Live Boyfriends by E. Lockhart
  6. Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore
  7. Smile by Raina Telgemeier
  8. Wonder Woman: Who Is Wonder Woman? by Allan Heinberg
  9. The Dream Book: Symbols for Self Understanding by Betty Bethards
  10. Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief by Wendelin Van Draanen
  11. Nice Dreads by Lonnice Brittenum Bonner
  12. One Lonely Degree by C. K. Kelly Martin
  13. Tangerine by Edward Bloor
  14. Static Shock Vol. 1: Rebirth of the Cool by Dwayne McDuffie, Robert L. Washington III, and John Paul Leon
  15. Schooled by Gordon Korman
  16. Peace from Broken Pieces by Iyanla Vanzant
  17. Sex, Murder and a Double Latte by Kyra Davis
  18. Saving Maddie by Varian Johnson
  19. Abandon by Meg Cabot
  20. I Saw You… by Julia Wertz
  21. Jazz in Love by Neesha Meminger
  22. What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
  23. She’s So Money by Cherry Cheva
  24. Spanking Shakespeare by Jake Wizner
  25. Lemonade Mouth by Mark Peter Hughes
  26. Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
  27. Level Up by Gene Luen Yang & Thien Pham
  28. Where She Went by Gayle Forman
  29. Athena the Brain by Joan Holub
  30. The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
  31. Excalibur by Tony Lee, illustrated by Sam Hart
  32. Workin’ It!: RuPaul’s Guide to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Style by RuPaul
  33. Bossypants by Tina Fey
  34. Love, Inc. by Yvonne Collins & Sandy Rideout
  35. Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger
  36. The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
  37. Mr. Chickee’s Funny Money by Christopher Paul Curtis
  38. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
  39. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling
  40. Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
  41. How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr
  42. My Life Undecided by Jessica Brody

Young Adult Reading Challenge:  Another no brainer. I’m going to do the Fun Size challenge (20 books) since I came up short this year. My reading tastes have been all over the place lately.

Books Read for This Challenge:

  1. Cupid by Julius Lester
  2. Teenage Waistland by Lynn Biederman & Lisa Pazer
  3. Thwonk by Joan Bauer
  4. Real Live Boyfriends by E. Lockhart
  5. A Star for the Latecomer by Bonnie and Paul Zindel
  6. Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore
  7. One Lonely Degree by C. K. Kelly Martin
  8. Tangerine by Edward Bloor
  9. Static Shock Vol. 1: Rebirth of the Cool by Dwayne McDuffie, Robert L. Washington III, and John Paul Leon
  10. Saving Juliet by Suzanne Selfors
  11. Schooled by Gordon Korman
  12. Saving Maddie by Varian Johnson
  13. Abandon by Meg Cabot
  14. Jazz in Love by Neesha Meminger
  15. What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
  16. Dear Lovey Hart, I Am Desperate by Ellen Conford
  17. Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfors
  18. She’s So Money by Cherry Cheva
  19. Deenie by Judy Blume
  20. Spanking Shakespeare by Jake Wizner
  21. Lemonade Mouth by Mark Peter Hughes
  22. If This Is Love, I’ll Take Spaghetti by Ellen Conford
  23. Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
  24. Level Up by Gene Luen Yang & Thien Pham
  25. Where She Went by Gayle Forman
  26. How Not to Spend Your Senior Year by Cameron Dokey
  27. The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
  28. Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge
  29. Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler
  30. Love, Inc. by Yvonne Collins & Sandy Rideout
  31. Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger
  32. The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
  33. Alias Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine
  34. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
  35. Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
  36. How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr
  37. My Life Undecided by Jessica Brody
  38. Best Friends Tell the Best Lies by Carol Dines
  39. A Tale of Two Proms by Cara Lockwood
  40. The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan

Audiobook Challenge: Another no brainer. We are big on audiobooks now, so I’m all for finding new narrators and authors. I’m going to do the Fascinated level, 6 books.

Books Read for This Challenge:

  1. Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief by Wendelin Van Draanen
  2. Tangerine by Edward Bloor
  3. The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
  4. The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
  5. Mr. Chickee’s Funny Money by Christopher Paul Curtis
  6. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
  7. Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
  8. Sorry, Wrong Number by Lucille Fletcher

Page to Screen Reading Challenge: I frequently seek out books that have been turned into other media. Yay. I’m going to do Level One, 5 books.

Books Read for This Challenge:

  1. Static Shock Vol. 1: Rebirth of the Cool by Dwayne McDuffie, Robert L. Washington III, and John Paul Leon
  2. Dear Lovey Hart, I Am Desperate by Ellen Conford
  3. Lemonade Mouth by Mark Peter Hughes
  4. Alias Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine
  5. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
  6. Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
  7. Sorry, Wrong Number by Lucille Fletcher

POC Reading Challenge: I really enjoyed doing this challenge, so I’m all for doing it again. I’m going to sign up at Level 4 again with an intent to read 10-15 books by POC authors or featuring POC characters.

Books Read for This Challenge:

  1. Healing Rage by Ruth King
  2. Cupid by Julius Lester
  3. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
  4. The Man in My Basement by Walter Mosley
  5. Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore
  6. Nice Dreads by Lonnice Brittenum Bonner
  7. Tangerine by Edward Bloor
  8. Static Shock Vol. 1: Rebirth of the Cool by Dwayne McDuffie, Robert L. Washington III, and John Paul Leon
  9. Peace from Broken Pieces by Iyanla Vanzant
  10. Sex, Murder and a Double Latte by Kyra Davis
  11. Saving Maddie by Varian Johnson
  12. Jazz in Love by Neesha Meminger
  13. She’s So Money by Cherry Cheva
  14. 32 Candles by Ernessa T. Carter
  15. Lemonade Mouth by Mark Peter Hughes
  16. Level Up by Gene Luen Yang & Thien Pham
  17. The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
  18. Workin’ It!: RuPaul’s Guide to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Style by RuPaul
  19. Love, Inc. by Yvonne Collins & Sandy Rideout
  20. Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger
  21. The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
  22. Mr. Chickee’s Funny Money by Christopher Paul Curtis
  23. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling
  24. Astronaut Academy: Zero Gravity by Dave Roman
  25. The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan

Graphic Novels Challenge: I’ve decided that this is the year I’ll read a bunch of classics, but only in graphic novel form. So I feel like this is a good challenge for me. I’m going to do Intermediate, 3-10 books.

Books Read for This Challenge:

  1. Smile by Raina Telgemeier
  2. Wonder Woman: Who Is Wonder Woman? by Allan Heinberg
  3. Static Shock Vol. 1: Rebirth of the Cool by Dwayne McDuffie, Robert L. Washington III, and John Paul Leon
  4. I Saw You… by Julia Wertz
  5. Level Up by Gene Luen Yang & Thien Pham
  6. How to Avoid Making Art by Julia Cameron
  7. Excalibur by Tony Lee, illustrated by Sam Hart
  8. Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge
  9. Astronaut Academy: Zero Gravity by Dave Roman

Off the Shelf Challenge: I have a bunch of books on my shelves that I haven’t read. So yeah. I need to do this one. I’m going to do Tempted, which is 5 books.

Books Read for This Challenge:

  1. Healing Rage by Ruth King
  2. The Man in My Basement by Walter Mosley
  3. A Star for the Latecomer by Bonnie and Paul Zindel
  4. Dear Lovey Hart, I Am Desperate by Ellen Conford
  5. Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfors
  6. Deenie by Judy Blume
  7. If This Is Love, I’ll Take Spaghetti by Ellen Conford
  8. How to Avoid Making Art by Julia Cameron
  9. How Not to Spend Your Senior Year by Cameron Dokey
  10. Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler
  11. I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron
  12. Astronaut Academy: Zero Gravity by Dave Roman
  13. How Al-Anon Works for Friends and Families of Alcoholics by Al-Anon Family Groups
  14. I Hate Being Gifted by Patricia Hermes
  15. Best Friends Tell the Best Lies by Carol Dines
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Dec 31 2010
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2010 Wrap Up

I am spamming. I know. But I have to get everything done before midnight.

This year, I read 74 books and participated in three challenges. According to GoodReads, I rated the following books with five stars:

I signed up for three reading challenges: Women Unbound, POC Challenge, and the YA Reading Challenge.

I more than completed Women Unbound and POC. In fact, I really should’ve bumped up to the next level on POC. Women Unbound was a lot of fun because I totally read books I had intended to read but probably would’ve put off a little longer. So that challenge gave me an excuse to get my butt in gear. As for POC, I don’t think it really changed my reading so much as made me aware of how many books about POC I actually read. I kind of low-balled it, so next time I’ll go for the higher limit.

As for the YA Challenge, considering I didn’t even read 75 books, I think it’s fair to say I didn’t complete the challenge. Shocking is that I didn’t even read 50 YA books. Huh. But that’s okay! Maybe I just am expanding my reading horizons? I don’t even know.

Anyway, next year is a new year with new challenges. Forthcoming post with my sign ups for the next year.

Happy New Year, everybody!

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Dec 05 2010
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Happy Haul-idays!

Chronicle Books is having a contest, and the terms are pretty simple. List up to $500 worth of books that I want? Don’t mind if I do!

Books that I Would Give to Others, specifically my daughter:

  • The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Junior Edition Box Set by David Borgenicht
  • The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Middle School by David Borgenicht
  • Just Between Us by Meredith & Sofie Jacobs
  • Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls by The Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls
  • How to Raise Your Parents by Sarah O’Leary Burningham
  • The Kid Who Named Pluto by Marc McCutcheon
  • L Is for Lollygag: Quirky Words for a Clever Tongue (2 copies!)

Books I Want for Meeeee:

  • Fast Fresh & Green by Susie Middleton
  • Apartment Therapy Presents by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan
  • What’s Your Poo Telling You by Josh Richman and Anish Sheth
  • Office Yoga by Darrin Zeer
  • Wonder Woman Journal (2 copies!)
  • Between the Bridge and the River by Craig Ferguson
  • Disneystrology by Lisa Finander
  • Michael Jackson: Before He Was King by Todd Gray (2 copies!)
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Feb 04 2010
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Diversity Roll Call: Paradigm Shifts

The topic of the current diversity roll call is paradigm shifts, more specifically:

Have you ever read a book and the character’s perspective opened you to ideas, beliefs or realities that you had never considered? Tell us a about a work or an author whose body of work changed how you looked at the world, others or yourself. Have you ever read a book and had a paradigm shift because of it?

It took me some time to come up with my answer to this question.  I have read a lot of books.  A LOT.  My main love, though, is series fiction.  The Baby-Sitters Club was my gateway drug into the world of series fiction, and then I moved on to Sweet Valley High before stumbling upon Katherine Applegate’s Ocean City and then Boyfriends/Girlfriends (now Making Out) series.  And I liked Applegate a lot because she always featured a minority character, which was a welcome change from SVH and its focus on the blonde twins and their ultra-white friends.

I recently reread book one in the Girl Friends series, a ten-book series most people have never heard of.  It was extremely popular with me, of course, but one person does not a successful series make, and author Nicole Grey’s contract wasn’t extended, so the series ends on a wicked cliffhanger.  I had stumbled upon Girl Friends in 1993, voracious bookstore goer that I was.  And at first, I thought it was my pick for the paradigm shift because of what I said at the end of my review there.  Namely:

Empowerment through female friendships.  I’d be lying if I said that this series hasn’t inspired my dissertation topic focusing on female friendship.  If I didn’t love these books with all of my heart, I doubt very seriously that I would even think about or consider friendships between girls as much as I do.

But that’s not even it.  Because Applegate had strong female friendships, and the BSC is founded by best friends.  No, it’s more than that.

In his memoir Bad Boy, Walter Dean Myers talks about his experiences reading.  And he says that he read a wealth of writers, mostly white and male.  But it wasn’t until he read James Baldwin and Langston Hughes that his world changed because they talked about Harlem, and he so strongly identified with their writing about it because that’s where he lived.  He saw himself and his family and friends in their writing.  What he said, and I’ll never forget, is that reading Baldwin and Hughes gave him permission to write the stories he wanted to write about the people and places he knew.

And that’s what Girl Friends did for me.  I always wanted to write a book series because that’s what I liked to read, but I didn’t live in a world like BSC and SVH.  I lived in a world with lots of people of color.  A world where there would only be one white main character, if there was one at all.  (Janis, the only featured white character, is introduced last.  LAST.  Most of the series fiction I’ve read centers around a blond white female.  And if not blond, then still white.  The first character introduced in GF is Stephanie–who is Chinese-American.) It wasn’t until I read Grey’s series that I felt like anyone would read or write a series populated with girls of color or a series that talked about the things I saw going on with the people I knew.  It was the first series I read where it felt like a world I lived in, and that blew my mind.

So, not only did it impress upon me the importance of female connection (note:  none of these girls were ever in competition with each other over a boy), nor did it just open my eyes to true contemporary realism in series fiction, but it also showed me there was a place for me and the people and situations I knew in series fiction.  And that gave me permission to dream, for real, about writing my own series one day.

Which I may get around to doing one day.

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Jan 28 2010
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Middle Grade Lit, Nonfiction, Uncategorized

shameless self-promotion

A review I wrote of Robinn Gourley’s Bring Me Some Apples and I’ll Make You a Pie and Anita Silvey’s I’ll Pass for Your Comrade: Women Soldiers in the Civil War appears in Purdue University’s First Opinions, Second Reactions. [Direct link:  "First Opinion: Women of Distinction".]

Jan 26 2010
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POC challenge

So since I last updated, a lot has happened.  For one, I had a database crash, which means my first two reviews of the year were lost.  (In summation:  Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer is heartbreaking, wonderful, and extremely hard to get into; Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling [as read by Jim Dale] is a fun reread.)  It also sucks because one of my resolutions for the year was updating within two days of finishing a book.  Obviously, that got shot down these past two weeks.

Thankfully, my wonderful friend and her mom were able to recover all of the other posts, so I’m going to get back to reviewing as soon as possible.

And then, Bloomsbury went and lost its mind.  Again.  So I have decided to join the POC Reading Challenge.

I’m going to do Level 4, which is 10-15 books.  I will probably surpass that, especially since I had already informally decided that my Women Unbound non-fic books would be largely focused on women of color.

I tend to read as I go, so I’m not going to make a list except to say that I’m currently reading Angela Davis:  An Autobiography.

Books Read for the Challenge

  1. Angela Davis:  An Autobiography by Angela Davis
  2. Dust Tracks on the Road by Zora Neale Hurston
  3. The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
  4. The Eternal Smile by Gene Luen Yang & Derek Kirk Kim
  5. The Skin I’m In by Sharon G. Flake
  6. Backtracked by Pedro de Alcantara
  7. My Life as a Rhombus by Varian Johnson
  8. The Bum Magnet by K. L. Brady
  9. Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi
  10. Kitty Kitty by Michele Jaffe
  11. The Rose That Grew from Concrete by Tupac Shakur
  12. Calamity Jack by Shannon & Dean Hale, Nathan Hale
  13. Nappy by Charisse Carney-Nunes
  14. Icon:  A Hero’s Welcome by Dwayne McDuffie
  15. Storm by Eric Jerome Dickey
  16. I, Tina by Tina Turner
  17. Pudd’nhead Wilson by Mark Twain
  18. On My Two Feet: A Modern Girl’s Guide to Personal Finance by Manisha Thakor and Sharon Kedar
  19. Diablerie: A Novel by Walter Mosley
  20. Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers
  21. Life Is Funny by E. R. Frank
  22. Cooked by Jeff Henderson
  23. Alvin Ho Books 1 & 2 by Lenore Look
  24. Played by Dana Davidson
  25. The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
  26. Orange Mint and Honey by Carleen Brice
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