Tag Archives: what are you reading

Blog Update & It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Hi everyone! I’m gotten some very good news regarding the results of the recent ALSC ballot–I’m not 100% sure what I can share yet — but the ALSC Election Results are public, and some of you have reached out with congratulations (thanks!) — so I wanted to give a blog update. (If this feels very vague, I’ll update the post once I’ve gotten the final go ahead to do so. But pending final approval, I’ll be a part of an upcoming ALSC award committee!)

Between the requirements of this new committee work, and a personal desire to slow down the pace of my blogging, you’ll notice some changes to the weekly Book Cart Queens blogging routine:

  • Book Review Tuesdays are going on hiatus.
  • It’s Monday What Are You Reading Posts will continue until July.
  • Expect some new Book Club in a Bag Kit posts really soon, and then a break in program-related posts for a while. While there will be new posts each week, the frequency of posts will slow down.
  • Starting in July, my posts will become more infrequent and not in any way book-related.

BUT–none of that means this blog is going to sleep. Michala will be dropping back in with some awesome teen kits, and a NEW blogger will be joining our team!

Sarah Simpson contributed some of her amazing flannel work a few months ago, and she is going to be joining us as a regular blogger featuring her own programs as well as her extensive knowledge of kids lit.

Welcome Sarah! I’m excited for some Book Cart Queens changes, while still sharing awesome content. More to come, but for now, on with the books!

We participate in the blog trend of Monday posts about what we have read during the last week (4/12/2021-4/18/2021).

Annamarie’s Reading

Board Books, Picture Books, and Readers:

Everything Else:

Rambling Thoughts: My big updates are at the top of this post, but I’ll also share that I gave up waiting for Baker & Taylor to ship things to my library, and instead I’m getting a lot of already-released books from other area libraries. Expect these posts to grow fairly long over the next few weeks as I continue to share some great titles with you all until July 1.

Reading by the Numbers:

  • 25 Books Read This Week
    • 18 Books with Main Characters of Diverse Backgrounds (72%)
    • 16 Books by Authors of Diverse Backgrounds (64%)
    • 15 Books by Own Voices Authors (60%)

Favorites of the Week:

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

We participate in the blog trend of Monday posts about what we have read during the last week (4/5/2021-4/11/2021).

Annamarie’s Reading

Board Books, Picture Books, and Readers:

Everything Else:

Rambling Thoughts: Fewer book read this week–a combination of less holds coming in from my library, wrapping up or moving forward with various projects, and starting to slow down my planned reading. My second vaccine dose is coming soon, and I have a long list of things I want to do when my two weeks of post-vaccine time are up. I’m anticipating more audiobook listening but less reading of physical books.

Reading by the Numbers:

  • 15 Books Read This Week
    • 11 Books with Main Characters of Diverse Backgrounds (73%)
    • 9 Books by Authors of Diverse Backgrounds (60%)
    • 8 Books by Own Voices Authors (53%)

Favorites of the Week:

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

We participate in the blog trend of Monday posts about what we have read during the last week (3/29/2021-4/5/2021).

Annamarie’s Reading

Board Books:

Picture Books and Readers:

Everything Else:

Rambling Thoughts: More books, as always. I’m trying my best to wrap up at least a few projects on my never-ending to-do list. Some of that is finally trickling to blog posts–I’m going to start a two or three part series on our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program this week! Back in reading news, I read a lot this week, though there wasn’t anything (except the We Are Little Feminists board books) that I was overly excited about. I’m hoping one of my upcoming audiobooks is as engaging as City of the Plague God or Amari and the Night Brothers.

Reading by the Numbers:

  • 40 Books Read This Week
    • 25 Books with Main Characters of Diverse Backgrounds (63%)
    • 16 Books by Authors of Diverse Backgrounds (40%)
    • 13 Books by Own Voices Authors (33%)

Favorites of the Week:

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

We participate in the blog trend of Monday posts about what we have read during the last week (3/22/2021-3/28/2021).

Annamarie’s Reading

Board Books:

Picture Books and Readers:

Graphic Novels:

Everything Else:

Rambling Thoughts: AMARI AND THE NIGHT BROTHERS! I will be singing about this book from all the library rooftops forevermore. Weekly posts are going to be focusing on some non-“programming” content for a while, as I don’t have as many programs to talk about since my work time is currently consumed by a bunch of other projects (but never fear, weekly book posts will continue, and there are some more program posts planned for a few weeks from now).

Reading by the Numbers:

  • 42 Books Read This Week
    • 19 Books with Main Characters of Diverse Backgrounds (45%)
    • 10 Books by Authors of Diverse Backgrounds (24%)
    • 7 Books by Own Voices Authors (16%)

Favorites of the Week:

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

We participate in the blog trend of Monday posts about what we have read during the last week (3/15/2021-3/21/2021).

Annamarie’s Reading

Board Books, Picture Books, and Readers:

Everything Else:

Rambling Thoughts: I listened to a lot of awesome audiobooks this week, and I’m looking forward to highlighting Amari and the Night Brothers next week, once I’ve finished. It’s so good! Hoping to move through a lot of graphic novels and first chapter books before next week as well–but we will just have to see where the week takes me!

Reading by the Numbers:

  • 21 Books Read This Week
    • 15 Books with Main Characters of Diverse Backgrounds (71%)
    • 12 Books by Authors of Diverse Backgrounds (57%)
    • 11 Books by Own Voices Authors (52%)

Favorites of the Week:

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

We participate in the blog trend of Monday posts about what we have read during the last week (3/8/2021-3/14/2021).

Annamarie’s Reading

Board Books:

Picture Books:

Readers:

Graphic Novels:

Everything Else:

Rambling Thoughts: As you can tell from the covers above, ALL the books are coming in now. I’m determined to get as many of them back out the door as quickly as I can before, I hope, at some point, I can leave the house again and do…something. LOTS of really great books this week, so make sure to stop by on Tuesdays for short reviews of some of these titles!

Reading by the Numbers:

  • 50 Books Read This Week
    • 26 Books with Main Characters of Diverse Backgrounds (52%)
    • 17 Books by Authors or Diverse Backgrounds (34%)
    • 15 Books by Own Voices Authors (30%)

Favorites of the Week:

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

We participate in the blog trend of Monday posts about what we have read during the last week (3/1/2021-3/7/2021).

Annamarie’s Reading

Picture Books & Readers:

Everything Else:

Rambling Thoughts: Shipping delays brought 15 boxes of newly ordered children’s books to my library, all at once, so there are a bunch of titles that I finally got to read this week! And more to come next week.

Also…I have something to ask this week. And I’m just going to push through the awkward and the “should I mention it at all?” and just do the asking already: My name is on the ALSC ballot for the 2023 Caldecott Committee! If you are a children’s librarian, and you aren’t a member of ALSC, it is a phenomenal organization that has helped me grow as a librarian and connect to other professionals in this field. If you are a member of ALSC, make sure to vote! No matter who you vote for, this is your chance to impact the direction of the organization, particularly with those important votes for President Elect and the ALSC Board of Directors. There are some really phenomenal people on the ballot this year in every category. If you happen to have an extra vote for me in the Caldecott section I’d really appreciate it–Caldecott is THE DREAM–but really, vote regardless.

Make sure to stop by on Tuesdays for short reviews of some of these titles!

Reading by the Numbers:

  • 25 Books Read This Week
    • 11 Books with Diverse Main Character (44%)
    • 10 Books by Diverse Authors (40%)
    • 8 Books by Own Voices Authors (32%)

Favorites of the Week:

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

We participate in the blog trend of Monday posts about what we have read during the last week (2/22/2021-2/28/2021).

Annamarie’s Reading

Picture Books & Readers:

Everything Else:

Rambling Thoughts: More books! I loved Concrete Rose, and there is some good stuff here, though really I am just extra tired this week. Vacations that I knew weren’t happening were officially cancelled, and I think that has left me a bit out of sorts. I’ve got some great books stacked up that I am looking forward to reading the next few weeks–so hopefully lots of great titles and reviews to highlight here soon. (Also, this week is the WandaVision finale. So, let’s be honest, that is where my head is.)

Make sure to stop by on Tuesdays for short reviews of some of these titles!

Reading by the Numbers:

  • 14 Books Read This Week
    • 7 Books with Diverse Main Character (50%)
    • 4 Books by Diverse Authors (29%)
    • 4 Books by Own Voices Authors (29%)

Favorites of the Week:

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

We participate in the blog trend of Monday posts about what we have read during the last week (2/15/2021-2/21/2021).

Annamarie’s Reading

Picture Books & Readers:

Everything Else:

Rambling Thoughts: Not too many books this week–still waiting for that big pile from Baker & Taylor to be delivered. I might start using a family member’s card to request titles that I know have been published for a while from other libraries. Bring on the books! Currently listening to and enjoying Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas.

Make sure to stop by on Tuesdays for short reviews of some of these titles!

Reading by the Numbers:

  • 14 Books Read This Week
    • 8 Books with Diverse Main Character (57%)
    • 4 Books by Diverse Authors (29%)
    • 4 Books by Own Voices Authors (29%)

Favorites of the Week:

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

We participate in the blog trend of Monday posts about what we have read during the last week (2/8/2021-2/14/2021).

Annamarie’s Reading

Picture Books:

Readers:

Graphic Novels:

Everything Else:

Rambling Thoughts: I got a good sized stack of picture books this week, so a lot of reading to record here. I’m hoping to tackle more of the chapter books that have been sitting around gathering dust–essentially I’ve only been listening to audiobooks of chapter books for a while now, and it has been a bit sluggish getting back into reading something longer. But then I turn around and look at the big (virtual) stack of eaudiobooks I have checked out and well…I need three weeks to catch up on reading. Which I may have someday soon since I can’t go on a trip anywhere, and I am approaching my vacation day capacity at work. We shall see… but in the meantime I am really enjoying listening to Newbery winner When you Trap a Tiger. More on that title next week!

Make sure to stop by on Tuesdays for short reviews of some of these titles!

Reading by the Numbers:

  • 43 Books Read This Week
    • 24 Books with Diverse Main Character (56%)
    • 15 Books by Diverse Authors (35%)
    • 14 Books by Own Voices Authors (33%)

Favorites of the Week:

1 2 3 … 11