My Featured January Reads...

The January portion of the What I'm Reading bulletin board is in place and here's how it looks:

Once I fill in the space with February, I think it'll really start to look nice.  A student cut out all of the stars for me which was so sweet-I never would have been able to do it.  I'm only going to share reviews that I give 4+ stars to, so scope out these books!  I hope you like them as much as I did:

Far, Far Away by Tom McNeal

I listened to this book instead of reading a hard copy of the book and I think it made the story very exciting.  The narrator, W. Morgan Shepard, has an incredible voice and I didn’t want the book to end.  Jeremy, the main character, can hear the voice of Jacob Grimm’s ghost and is a bit of an outcast in town because of it.  He’s very likeable and his friend Ginger is hilarious, clever and fun-loving. This story is a modern fairy tell-it reminds me of “Hansel and Gretel” and definitely gave me the creeps!   

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Since I liked Shiver so much, I decided to give the first book of this trilogy a try.  I was pulled into the story relatively quickly.  I like the dynamic in Blue’s home and am interested to see how the other two books unfold.  Gansey’s fascination with Welsh mythology is mysterious and exciting.  The boys Blue meets are really complicated characters and I enjoyed getting to know them.  I hope we’ll get to learn more about them in the following books.

 Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

I listened to this book and I loved it.  The alternating perspective in the novel makes for an interesting listen because there are two readers.  The story moves very quickly and both characters are complex and fascinating. This book is sad, hilarious, stress-inducing, and possibly, possibly a tear-jerker.  Enjoy! 

I know they're not sophisticated, but I don't want them to be. I'm just hoping to grab the interest of high school students.

As far as baking is concerned, we have a snow storm heading our way and I think I'll spend it with text books, lesson planning, St. Vincent's newest song, "Prince Johnny," and vegan/paleo chocolate chip cookies.  Hopefully they'll turn out as successfully as the ones I made in August.  I'll need to pick up some coconut milk ice cream first!