I reviewed 101 books last year in Latest Reads, which is a small fraction of the books I read. If you count the book reviews in Holiday Reviews, the total jumps to 145. The library accounts are each well over 1,000 checkouts, and my husband keeps begging me to weed the private collection, as it's vomiting books (especially after Christmas!).
Our favorite fiction books of 2018 were by Stuart Gibbs, R.J. Anderson, Chris Moriarty and Patrick Samphire.
My favorite teachable books of 2018 were by L.M. Elliott (I'm excited to post about her books this year, but I read them last year), Sara Holbrook (also read her newest book last year and am looking forward to blogging about it this year), Michael Shoulders (see my post with teaching resources for his book, Crossing the Deadline), and Tracy Holczer (see my post, Paired Texts: Vietnam War about her new historical fiction book).
I've been asked how I choose the books I write about, and it's pretty simple: I have to like the book to write about it here, or think it would be stellar to teach in a middle school classroom.
Not all books I write about are perfect, and many have their flaws, certainly, but all the titles I review have some aspect I like. It can be awesome characters, a fantastic storytelling structure, a cool new world, or an incredible premise. Or perhaps, the book hits the CC standards so well, I just have to mention it! And as you'll notice, I blog about the positive, not the flaws, because no author and no story is perfect (except for Jane Austen!).
I'm also a mother to two teens, ages 16 and 14. They're voracious readers, just like me, and I include their endorsements of the books they read, when appropriate. They're moving out of MG, slowly but steadily, fueled by their high school teachers' reading assignments (some of which are perfectly dreadful and I'm constantly looking for excellent antidotes), so I expect my reviews will move steadily in that direction.
Looking forward to a new year, new books, new stories, new authors and an exciting new direction!
