#BookLove – Page 3 – HonorsGradU

January 19, 2024January 16, 2024

Final Book List for 2023

My final number for books read in 2023 came in at 58 books. I always set a goal to read 50 books in a year, so accomplishing 58 felt great! Here is my list of books read. Please note that not all of these books will be appropriate for everyone. Please do your research on whether a book is right for you or not. Please also feel free to comment to ask about any particular book, I’d love to chat about it and give insight.

Key:

👂🏼 Audiobook
📕 Physical book
📘 eReader

	Title	Author
1	The Summer I Turned Pretty	Jenny Han	👂🏼
2	Crying in H Mart	Michelle Zauner	👂🏼
3	The Case of the Missing Marquess	Nancy Springer	👂🏼
4	The Hotel Nantucket	Elin Hilderbrand	👂🏼
5	The Last Chance Library	Freya Sampson	👂🏼
6	House of Gold	Natasha Solomons	📕
7	A Court of Thorns and Roses	Sarah J. Maas	📕👂🏼
8	Hiroshima Diary	Michihiko Hachiya	👂🏼
9	It Ends With Us	Colleen Hoover	👂🏼
10	Thank You For Listening	Julia Whelan	👂🏼
11	Mad Honey	Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan	👂🏼
12	Hitchhikers	Bernard Poduska	📕
13	Beach Read	Emily Henry	📕
14	A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem	Manda Collins	👂🏼
15	Edenbrooke	Julianne Donaldson	📕
16	The Beach Club	Elin Hilderbrand	👂🏼
17	Maybe Someday	Colleen Hoover	📕
18	Maybe Not	Colleen Hoover	📕
19	A Corner of the Universe	Ann M. Martin	👂🏼
20	Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone	J. K. Rowling	👂🏼
21	The Tattooist of Auschwitz	Heather Morris	👂🏼
22	It Starts With Us	Colleen Hoover	👂🏼
23	Maybe Now	Colleen Hoover	📕
24	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	J.K. Rowling	👂🏼
25	We Were Dreamers	Simu Liu	👂🏼
26	Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow	Gabrielle Zevin	📕
27	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban	J. K. Rowling	👂🏼
28	Enders Shadow	Orson Scott Card	📕👂🏼
29	We Were Liars	E. Lockhart	📕
30	The Bookish Life of Nina Hill	Abbi Waxman	👂🏼
31	The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving	Johnathan Evison	👂🏼
32	Turtles All The Way Down	John Green	📘
33	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire	J. K. Rowling	👂🏼
34	The Unhoneymooners	Christina Lauren	📕
35	Britt Marie Was Here	Fredrick Backman	👂🏼
36	Hello Beautiful	Ann Napolitano	📕👂🏼
37	Beneath a Scarlet Sky	Mark Sullivan	📕
38	A Place to Hang the Moon	Kate Albus	👂🏼
39	The Rent Collector	Cameron Wright	👂🏼
40	This is Your Life, Harriet Chance!	Johnathan Evison	📕
41	The Last Thing He Told Me	Laura Dave	📕
42	The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes	Suzanne Collins	👂🏼
43	Good Man, Dalton	Karen McQuestion	📕
44	The Measure	Nikki Erlick	👂🏼
45	The Pumpkin Spice Cafe	Laurie Gilmore	📕
46	Demon Copperhead	Barbara Kingsolver	👂🏼
47	One For the Murphy’s	Lynda Mullaly Hunt	👂🏼
48	Tokyo Ever After	Emiko Jean	👂🏼
49	Forever, Interrupted	Taylor Jenkins Reid	👂🏼
50	Tokyo Dreaming	Emiko Jean	👂🏼
51	The Mostly Invisible Boy	A. J. Vanderhorst	📕
52	Counting the Cost	Jill Duggar	👂🏼
53	The Cheat Sheet	Sarah Adams	👂🏼
54	The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight	Jennifer E. Smith	👂🏼
55	Resting Scrooge Face	Meghan Quinn	📘
56	Little Fires Everywhere	Celeste Ng	📘
57	A Return to Christmas	Chris Heimerringer	📘
58	Found in a Bookshop	Stephanie Butland	📘

I cannot wait to see what 2024 has in store for my reading journey! What books would you recommend I add to my reading list for the year?

December 7, 2023December 6, 2023

Christmas Picture Book List 2023

It’s here, it’s finally here! The Christmas picture book list of 2023. To see past Christmas picture book lists, head here.

A Creature Was Stirring by Heather S. Pieczynski

“‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a— MOUSE! He had never heard of a mouse not stirring. It was the most glorious night of the year! So he stirred. Squeaked! Eeked! Anything but sleep.” -Goodreads

This book had us giggling on every page! The small, loveable mouse also felt relatable to how my children act on Christmas Eve.

How Does Santa Go Down The Chimney? By Mac Barnett

“Mac Barnett’s iconic talent for earnest deadpan humor and Jon Klassen’s irresistibly funny art honor the timeless question with answers both ridiculous and plausible, mounting in hilarity as the night continues.” -Goodreads

This book is exactly what every child asks at some point. How exactly does Santa go down the chimney? We loved the illustrations and the humor of the book.

The Nutcracker by Jan Brett
“Jan Brett makes this classic her own by setting it in snowy Russia and adding whimsical touches to the favorite elements of the traditional ballet. Enjoying this book will be an instant Christmas tradition for families who love the ballet and those new to the story.

As perfect a gift as Jan Brett’s classics The Mitten and The Night Before Christmas.” -Goodreads

The illustrations along with the changed setting of this book gave the classic story of The Nutcracker a fun, exciting new change.

‘Twas The Night Before Christmas poem by Clement Clark Moore, Illustrated by Mr. Boddington

“Mr. Boddington’s Studio provides a fresh take by using the same poem and updating the style” -Goodreads

We were oohing and ahhing with every page flip because of the amazing illustrations. The color palette used in the pictures flowed incredibly well and the bright colors drew us into each page.

November 25, 2023November 24, 2023

Christmas Book Lists of Christmas Past

I’ve been working on my 2023 Christmas Picture Book list for almost a month now, there are SO many good Christmas picture books out there and this is my favorite post I write all year! Picture books are magical year-round, but for some reason, the magic seems to double around Christmas. We’re not quite ready to roll out the red carpet for our 2023 list, so to hold us all off, here are all of the links to past year’s Christmas picture book lists.

Find the very first Christmas book list here:

Books Sure To Put You In The Spirit Of The Season

My second year of writing a Christmas picture book lists almost felt wrong because it seemed like so many incredible holidays and celebrations were left out. Thus came the Christmas Book List as well as several other lists of holiday books!

The Christmas Book List Of 2020

Merry Christmas! But What About Other Holidays? We Need More Picture Book Representation

By my third year of writing my Christmas Book lists, it felt like a tradition.

Christmas Book List for 2021

Last year’s Christmas book list almost felt like it couldn’t be topped, but maybe this year I’ll say the same thing.

Christmas Picture Books for 2022

Stay tuned! The Christmas Picture Books of 2023 will be hitting the blog soon! Which books are you hoping to see on the list?

November 24, 2023November 24, 2023

Christmas Reading Bingo Chart: FREE Downloadable PDF

Our reading bingo charts have become pretty popular with the reading crowd around our town! Each holiday and season I’m getting new requests for more. You can see our past reading bingos here:

Summer Reading Bingo

Fall Reading Bingo

As always, these are FREE to download. We love sharing this free resource for those who need or want it. These bingo charts have been great for readers who want a challenge and for readers who need some motivation or direction to get started.

On the bingo chart, there are several squares for reading books about different winter celebrations and holidays. If you don’t know where to find these books, look no further! We did the work for you last winter! Check out our winter holiday book lists:

Merry Christmas! But What About Other Holidays? We Need More Picture Book Representation

The bingo charts are available in both color and black and white, for whatever your preference is. Download them here!

Christmas-Reading-BingoMCK Download

Christmas-Reading-BingoMCK-1 Download

October 15, 2023October 12, 2023

What is the National Book Award?

This article is part of a blog series highlighting each book award to learn more about what each of them means. Check out more about this blog series and other posts included here.

What is the National Book Award? Oh, I am so glad you asked! Let me tell you! I love their mission statement right away when you click on their website,

“The mission of the National Book Foundation is to celebrate the best literature published in the United States, expand its audience, and ensure that books have a prominent place in our culture.”

Celebrate literature published within the U.S.
Expand its audience
Ensure that these books have a prominent place in our culture

The winners and finalists receive a medal to be placed on the cover of their book.

Photo from nationalbook.org

There are multiple categories for receiving a National Book Award including, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, translated literature, and young people’s literature. The 2023 National Book Award will be announced next month! The 2022 National Book Award Fictional Writing Award was given to Tess Gunty for her book The Rabbit Hutch.

October 12, 2023October 12, 2023

But Have You Tried Reading a Book?

If your students struggle to be kind to one another… have you tried reading them a picture book?

If you have a student having a hard time sharing… have you tried reading them a book?

A child in your classroom has a lot of anxiety around taking tests… but have you tried reading them a book?

Books are magical. Books are incredible. Books can teach our students more than we will ever fully comprehend. Authors and illustrators have a talent for speaking directly to children in a way they understand.

If you’re working on being a friend in the classroom, have you tried reading The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig?

If you want to teach your class about leadership, have you read Sophia Valdez, Future Prez by Andrea Beaty?

If you have particularly worrisome kids, have you tried reading Ruby Finds a Worry? By Tom Percival?

When your students are struggling or need some extra love or help, can I offer some advice?

Read them a book.

September 27, 2023September 27, 2023

Chapter Books for Grades 10-12

Chapter books for high school aged! I love this question!

It can be so tricky suggesting chapter books to this age range because it’s an age where reading gets a bad rap and required reading can take up a lot of time, leaving less for “fun reading.” (I put this in quotations because the texts that were required reading when I was in school were some of the best books I’ve ever read! But many dislike these stories simply because it was required.)

Here are a few fun chapter books and series for the teenage reader in your life.

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Also notable, To All The Boys I Loved Before by Jenny Han

Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling

The cool thing about the Harry Potter series is that the first few books are fantastic for late elementary/ early middle school, and then as the books go on they grow with the reader as the later books in the series are great for a high school reader.

Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow by Orson Scott Card

If you’ve ever found a friend who has also read both books, I’m sure you had a deep discussion on which book was your favorite too! In my opinion, I think Ender’s Shadow was better than Ender’s Game. And if you have a reader that is really into this series, there are plenty of books and side stories that Card has written in this universe!

The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin

It’ll make you laugh and cry within a matter of minutes.

The Rent Collector by Camron Wright

Also notable, The Orphan Keeper by Camron Wright