January Reads 2020

Hello book lovers, and happy new year! I love the start of each new year. Fresh goals, fresh intentions…a fresh start, really. As so many do, each new year I set goals for myself and this year, a few of them center around reading and writing:

• Read 40 new books–the focus is on books I have not read yet, as I always reread as well 🙂
• Write at least two blog posts each month (one down, one to go for this month!)
• Write a book!

These goals are out there in the world now, which will hopefully keep me more accountable! Therefore I will work on accomplishing these goals, while also teaching 7th graders. 🙂 I have already managed to read 2/40 books (yay for winter break!) and here are the books on this month’s reading list:

1. The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

Last year, when I was searching for books to get for my classroom library, this book continuously came up on YA books to-read lists. It has so much which seems interesting–dark fairy tales, a reclusive grandmother, adventure, and mystery. I’m looking forward to reading it not just for myself, but also to see if it will work in my classroom library!

2. Pardonable Lies by Jaqueline Winspear

This is Winspear’s third book in her Maisie Dobbs series, and as I am about halfway through it at this point, I can say that it probably my favorite one so far. Maisie Dobbs is a “Psychologist and Investigator” in post-World War I London. In this particular book, she is forced to confront her past as a nurse during the war while searching for two different missing/presumed dead persons. She is an interesting and endearing character and I can’t wait to read more. Besides reading physical books, I always have audiobooks and podcasts queued up for all the time I spend in my car, and this series is a great choice for audiobook listening. I use the Libby app to borrow these from my local library and it is an excellent resource.

3. Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak

I grew up reading Nancy Drew, as so many others did. Nancy was the reason I became obsessed with mystery stories, and her stories were the ones I emulated when I first started writing as a kid. It has been so much fun to see some of my students reading the tales of the teen sleuth in class, and, with the new Nancy Drew show on the CW out, I have had renewed interest in the stories. I found this book in our cute little independent bookstore and I can’t wait to learn more about the history behind this character and her creators!

I’m so excited to get going. Plus, I got a fun journal to keep track of my reading this year. It comes built-in with its own reading challenge that I think will be fun to take part in. I’ll post the challenge soon to my Instagram feed, @bookish.bird!

Cheers, and happy reading!