Tag: David Liss

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: My Summer Reading Plan 2018

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: My Summer Reading Plan 2018

Posted on by Jaymie

Last summer I posted a pretty extensive Summer Reading Plan. This year I’m keeping it simple (for me). I’m continuing our Family Reading Challenge, I’m doing #Bookaday, and I have a Summer TBR collection.

Family Reading Challenge

This will be the third year of the Reading Challenge for my teen and I. Last summer we drew my husband in for the festivities.  This started as a way to convince my teen to read some books I thought he would enjoy but couldn’t get him to try. This year we have only assigned three books to each person, instead of the five we did last year.

These are the six I will be reading; the first three were assigned by my teen. Renegades is the third book in the Randoms series. My son has assigned me each of the books in this series, and I have liked them more than I expected. Both my husband and son have read Ready Player One, and they have been talking about assigning this to me for months. I might also try listening to the audio book since it is read by Wil Wheaton. Neither of us have read the Marissa Meyer Renegades, but it’s been on my list. My husband is a huge Baldacci fan, but I have only read the ones he assigned me last summer so he’s assigned me two new ones. And while I love Jen Hatmaker, I haven’t read anything by her husband, so I am looking forward to reading one of his books.

These six are for my teen; the first three were assigned by me. I am two books into the Darkest Minds series and I have loved them. I think my son will love the first book. You can read my review of Moxie here. Both my teen and my husband will be reading this one so we can talk about the themes. And while my son has been raised to know that the answer to life, the universe and everything is 42, he is not yet familiar with the source material. This summer, he will be. My son has enjoyed some adult books in the mystery and adventure genres, so this summer he is going to try some Baldacci, Clancy and a science fiction book about Artificial Intelligence.

These are my husband’s challenge books, the first three chosen by me. If it takes me 20 years, one book at a time, I am determined to show my husband the gloriousness that is the Kitty Katt-Martini series. So this year he gets to read book 3. I adored Scalzi’s Lock In, and I think the premise is just the sort of book my husband will enjoy. I am currently waiting for a library hold to come through for the sequel. And he will also be reading Moxie. My son assigned him book two of the Randoms series and both book one and two of the Scythe series. We both have loved this unusual series, and I’m eager to hear what my husband thinks of it.

#Bookaday

Teachers, Librarians and other book fanatics all over social media (Instagram, Twitter) choose to read a book each day of summer vacation. My #bookaday will run from June 1 to July 31, so 61 books in 61 days. And to help with that I have a Kindle full of Advance Reader Copies and my personal TBR pile for the summer

TBR Shelf

These are the books that I have prioritized for the summer in addition to my ARCs I need to read. There’s a mix of non-fiction and fiction, books for kids, teens and adults, as well as new books and books I have been meaning to get to for ages. Two were gifts – one from a former student – and one is a new edition of a book I read years ago.  It’s going to be a great summer of reading!

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD - My Summer Reading Plan

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD – My Summer Reading Plan

Posted on by Jaymie

I am a planner by nature.

I always have a to do list, and I faithfully check things off as they are completed. Summer is a prime time for me to make a few lists.

There’s the list of projects I want to finish while school is not in session. Then I have the list of fun things I want to be sure we do before school starts up again. And finally, I have my summer reading plan.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago in my post about summer reading recommendations, a list or a challenge isn’t a great idea for every reader. For some folks, that would make the reading seem like a chore. But I LOVE a challenge. I was the kid who loved the March of Dimes reading challenge at school or who responded well to a sticker chart. Anything where I could track my achievements.

So I set a reading challenge every year in January, and I have another one that covers my summer reading. Here are some of the things on my 2017 Summer Reading Plan:

#Bookaday

If you are on Twitter, you can find a number of teachers tweeting about their reading year-round, but especially in the summer, with this hashtag. The idea is to try to read one book for every day of your “summer” (and you get to choose what qualifies as “summer). This year, my summer will run from June 5 to July 30, which is 56 days. This is pretty standard for me. It gives me a week or so after the school year ends to do whatever I want, which usually includes some reading, but is less structured for the transition from school year to summer. This also gives me whatever non-school days I can get at the start of August to shift my thinking from summer back to school year. So, my #bookaday goal this summer is to read at least 56 books.  The library is a great resource for #bookaday, although my TBR shelves at home easily hold 56 books.

Classics

I tend to read in pretty rigid categories. I like new books – the newer the better – and I stick with mysteries and fantasy/science fiction with some realistic fiction thrown in. This summer, I am challenging myself to read some classics. In most cases, these are re-reads – books I read ages ago but can’t remember. These are the classics on my list:

  • Sense and Sensibility – I’ve never read Austen, and I don’t like Pride and Prejudice, but I love the Sense and Sensibility movie
  • Jane Eyre
  • Wuthering Heights
  • Wrinkle in Time – I’m going to read the graphic novel
  • Much Ado About Nothing – One of my favorite Shakespeare plays

Family Challenge

Last summer my son and I chose 5 books for the other person to read. He did a fabulous job and read all 5 I recommended. I, however, did not. I ended up only reading 3 in the summer, and picked up a fourth one this spring when he insisted. This summer my husband is getting into the act. We are each choosing 2 books for the other two people in the house. I will be reading:

  • Rebels by David Liss (Book 2 in the Randoms series) – chosen by my teen
  • Planet Thieves by Dan Krokos – chosen by my teen
  • The Innocent by David Baldacci – chosen by my husband
  • The X-Files Origins: Agent of Chaos by Kami Garcia – chosen by my husband
  • I have assigned my son The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson (a book from my TBR shelves)
  • I have assigned my husband Alien Tango by Gini Koch and The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
  • My husband has assigned my son The Haunting of Barry Allen by Clay and Susan Griffith and The Recruit (CHERUB) by Robert Muchamore
  • My son has assigned my husband Randoms by David Liss and Quantum Prophecy: The Awakening by Michael Carroll

Nonfiction

I love learning new things, but I am not a good finisher when it comes to nonfiction. So I am challenging myself to read the following:

  • A Mile Wide by Brandon Hatmaker (My husband recommended this one)
  • The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
  • Sleep Smarter by Shawn Stevenson (I have started this but haven’t finished)
  • Uninvited by Lysa TerKerst (I’ve read this but I want to read through it again)
  • Daring Greatly by Brené Browning

Re-reads

When I was teaching, my students were always so excited about summer break because they could re-read some of their favorite books without penalty. I love to re-read my favorites in January and also over the summer. Some of my re-reads this summer will be:

  • The Fixer and The Long Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (I LOVED The Long Game but I’ve only read it once.)
  • The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde (a nursery rhyme based mystery)
  • StarFleet Academy – The Edge by Rudy Josephs (this is the first in a four book series with the new JJ Abrams cast in mind)
  • Talons of Power by Tui T. Sutherland (this is the most recent Wings of Fire book. I want to read it again before the last book comes out in July)
  • The Amber Photograph by Penelope Stokes (This is one of my comfort books that I read over and over)

New books

Of course, there are all sorts of new releases coming out this summer that I hope to read! If you check out my Book News posts on Mondays this summer, you’ll see some of the ones I am most looking forward to.

 

What are you hoping to read this summer? Do you like a challenge or do you prefer to read whatever comes along?

REVIEW: Randoms by David Liss

REVIEW: Randoms by David Liss

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Zeke Reynolds is one of four Earth kids chosen to spend a year in space learning about the Confederation of United Planets. If the kids perform well, Earth will be invited to join the Confederation. The three other kids were chosen because of their skills – academic, martial arts, chess/strategy. Zeke was chosen by chance. He’s the “random.”

Historically, teams have chosen to ostracize the Random and try to win without him or her. Zeke tries not to care – he wants Earth to join the Confederation so his mom will get a cure for her ALS. He hangs out with the other Randoms and hopes to help his team as well as his new friends as he can.

But Zeke keeps running into obstacles. The Earth chaperone keeps trying to throw him under the bus and get him kicked out of the competition – or worse. Zeke saves a ship under attack and somehow becomes the villain in the story. One of the other delegates is out to get Zeke. And plenty of folks are keeping secrets. Zeke is going to have to prove himself in a lot of ways if he wants to save his mom.

Review

This is an excellent science fiction story with tons of awesome sci-fi references and lots of laughs. I read this on the recommendation of my teen, and he nailed this recommendation. This book was right up my alley!

The characters in the story are great. Zeke is funny, smart and sarcastic. His pop culture references – especially for Star Trek and Star Wars – are endearing (at least to this Star Trek/Star Wars fan!). The other characters – human and alien – are well defined with interesting quirks, alliances and agendas.

The story is compelling. I cared about Zeke’s success first because of his mom and then because I liked him. I wanted him to overcome the obstacles placed in his path. As the “mystery” developed, I kept flipping pages to see how Zeke and his friends were going to survive, much less if they would succeed in earning membership in the Confederation.

The story ended with something of a cliffhanger. Several loose ends were left dangling. I will obviously have to sneak the sequel, Rebels, from my teen so I can find out what happens next. Book 3, Renegades, releases this fall.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½