Jackaroo by Cynthia Voigt
(Tales of the Kingdom, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★★★ – it was amazing
Review:  Yes
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  April 30 – May 13
Read Count:  5-ish
Favorite Thing:  My favorite thing this time around is too spoilery to mention, but trust me it’s cute shit (if quite subtle).
Least Favorite Thing:  Win is so obnoxious, he annoys me every single time.

Well, new year, new read-through of the Tales of the Kingdom books! You know I can’t resist these books for long. As they are my all-time favorites, I recommend them to everyone.

My Posts About Jackaroo

On Fortune’s Wheel by Cynthia Voigt
(Tales of the Kingdom, book 2)
Rating:  ★★★★★ – it was amazing
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  May 13 – 17
Read Count:  5-ish
Favorite Thing:  The ability of the main characters to endure any circumstance.
Least Favorite Thing:  Creepy, gross men. (Hm, my least favorite thing in real life, too.)

I can’t believe this used to be my least favorite of all the books, I am so dumb. Birle is a treasure and I love her.

My Posts About On Fortune’s Wheel

Maybe (Maybe Not) by Robert Fulghum
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  April 4 – May 18
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  Nothing really stood out.
Least Favorite Thing:  Again, some things didn’t age well.

I swear Mr. Fulghum is the grandfather everyone could wish for. He’s so weird, but in a good way, and you could probably tell him your strange thoughts without judgement…

My Posts About Maybe (Maybe Not)

 In Progress

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  January 4 – March 6
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Witty-funny.
Least Favorite Thing:  Just dragged a little bit.

This book was strange for me. I would go from loving it and completely engrossed to bored out of my mind and back again. I can’t quite put my finger on the issue I had, but there definitely was one. I was supposed to read it along with the discord server Books & Tea in the month of January, but it wound up taking me until March to get through it!

My Posts About Good Omens

Girl, Stolen by April Henry
Rating:  ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  March 8 – 13
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  I found the depiction of her blindness and the way she did things despite it to be fascinating.
Least Favorite Thing:  I can’t actually think of something I didn’t like…

I loved the way this book wrapped up. There was just enough closure and just enough left to wonder about.

My Posts About Girl, Stolen

It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It by Robert Fulghum
Rating:  ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  March 24 – 28
Read Count:  3
Favorite Thing:  He’s so weird and introspective.
Least Favorite Thing:  There were a few things that didn’t age super well…

I first read Fulghum’s books back in middle school and I figured it was high time I reread them, so I’ve been working my way through a little at a time.

My Posts About It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It

In Progress

I saw a version of this on another blog and thought it looked like fun so I adapted it just a little. They didn’t know who had come up with it originally, so I obviously don’t either. But I thought it was neat so here it is, to celebrate the end of the month:  April Acrostic!

To play, just spell the word “April” with some of your favorite titles! (Be sure to link me to your post if you do it!)

For my April Acrostic I chose:

• All the President’s Men by Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• The Runner by Cynthia Voigt
• It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It by Robert Fulghum
  &
• Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme, hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker, that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

I’m currently reading…
Up next I think I’ll read…
I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
I can’t wait to get a copy of…
I wish I could read ____, but…
I blogged about ____ this past week…

THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: Have you ever read a book that changed your life?

I blogged about ____ this past week…

• Monday, October 2 – Musing Monday this week talked about what we do with physical copies of books that we don’t want to keep. And I posted a Currently Reading bookstagram.
• Tuesday, October 3 – Teaser Tuesday, using Sons from Afar by Cynthia Voigt.
• Wednesday, October 4 – WWW Wednesday and a WAYRW, again using Sons from Afar.
• Thursday, October 5 – I finished Sons from Afar and made a rating post for it, along with my usual Thursday Quotables, and then later a Currently Reading bookstagram and an update on Seventeen Against the Dealer by Cynthia Voigt.
• Friday, October 6 – The usual First Lines Friday & Friday 56. And throughout the day a couple updates on my progress through Seventeen Against the Dealer, ending with a rating post for that book.
• Saturday, October 7 – Just my weekly Persuasion progress post.

Have you ever read a book that changed your life?
To be honest I’m pretty sure every book I’ve read has changed my life in that the books we read shape the way we think and view the world in minute ways, but as for books that changed things significantly…

The Harry Potter series did, around middle school. I had always loved reading, even as a toddler, but around 6th grade my depression began to get overwhelmingly bad and I was struggling just to get through the days, with no energy left over for things like pleasure reading. Then in 7th grade I saw a chance to do something I wasn’t allowed to do and get away with it, which I always loved. (That thing being reading Harry Potter.) Thanks to those books I rediscovered my love of reading. In addition I discovered that reading could take me away from the struggle in my own life and mind, could give me an escape. I’ll always be grateful for that.

Cynthia Voigt’s books changed me too. Her writing changed the way I think. They taught me to look at problems differently, to face challenges differently. I think they helped me learn to be resilient. I learned from characters of hers how I could think to help me enjoy hard work, ways to appreciate small things and see beauty around me. Not that I couldn’t sometimes do those things already, but not as well. Her characters taught me how to arrange my thoughts to appreciate the things already around me. When I want to feel like my best self, I always reread a Cynthia Voigt book. It bothers me that more people don’t know about her books because they had such an impact on me.

Robert Fulghum is another that changed me I think. His books taught me an introspective way of thinking, taught me to look for meaning in my experiences. They also taught me to look at everything with a dose of humor, to laugh at myself, and to enjoy experiences in a more childlike way even as I became more mature. And on a lighter note, they were the first books I ever read that weren’t marketed specifically to children or teens, and I discovered I could like adult books.

I’m sure there have been others, but those are the ones that stand out in my mind. What books have changed you?

These are some of your favorite books from before you joined the online book community, whether that be booktube, goodreads, blogs, bookstagram, twitter, tumblr, etc.
To participate in Top 5 Wednesday, just head over to their Goodreads Group and join the fun!

1. Tree by Leaf by Cynthia Voigt
2. Homecoming (The Tillerman Cycle, book 1) by Cynthia Voigt
3. Elske (Tales of the Kingdom, book 4) by Cynthia Voigt
4. It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It by Robert Fulghum
5. The Goose Girl (The Books of Bayern, book 1) by Shannon Hale

Gee… I guess I sort of like Cynthia Voigt, huh?

What were your favorite books from before you joined the online reader community? Comment here or make your own post and leave me a link so I can check the books out!

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme, hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker, that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

I’m currently reading…
Up next I think I’ll read…
I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
I can’t wait to get a copy of…
I wish I could read ___, but…
I blogged about ____ this past week…

THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION:  If you could be best friends with an author, who would you choose and why?

I wish I could read literally anything, but… I’m totally scattered right now and it’s hard to even get through a page before my consciousness just checks right out, like, “Goodbye Lee, nice knowing you, nothing is real anymore!” And then I’m just staring at a wall or doing some totally weird impulsive thing that I drop halfway through. I haven’t even finished Skinned yet which is so embarrassing because I should be able to read a ~300 page book in less than a day.

If you could be best friends with an author, who would you choose and why?
Um… if it has to be best friends then I say Cynthia Voigt. She seems like she’d be the most enjoyable to talk with.

But if I can change this question to something like “what author would you most want to be related to” then I’m saying Robert Fulghum because I’ve always thought he’d be the world’s coolest/most interesting grandfather. Of course, I’m basing all of this on reading/tv because I’ve never had a grandfather and don’t actually know what they are like! But I really like to think they are like Robert Fulghum.

Winter is a hard season for a lot of people and many of us are slumpy. Let’s talk about some books that are great for getting you out of a slump!
To participate in Top 5 Wednesday, just head over to their Goodreads Group and join the fun!

So normally, the key for me to get out a slump is to read a book I know I love, but not one that I’ve read so recently that everything is still fresh in my mind. So here I’m going to put some series/authors that can typically be counted on to pull me from a slump, regardless of which of the books from them I pick.

1. The Tillerman Cycle // Cynthia Voigt
   She has several stand-alones that can be used if I’ve read this series too recently as well.
2. Uglies series // Scott Westerfeld
3. Robert Fulghum
   Any of his collected essays, such as It Was On Fire When I Lay Down on It, will do.
4. Sarah Dessen
   Any and all of her books so far have the power to break a slump!
5. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
   I had to put this one on this list since it’s actually the one that pulled me out of my most recent slump!

What books do you use when you are stuck in a slump? Comment or make your own T5W post!

The pig was so earnest. So sincere. So very “there.” The pig brought gravity and mythic import to this well-worn fairy tale.

-Robert Fulghum, ‘Uh-Oh: Some Observations From Both Sides Of The Refrigerator Door‘

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books And A Beat.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
  
• Open to a random page
  
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

In that moment of educational ennui, a freshman girl says, “I can bring a human brain to school if you want–my father has lots of them.“ (Talk about a full-scale class alert: “She’s going to do WHAT?!”)

– Robert Fulghum, It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It, page 38

Version:
Paperback, 224 pages
Published March 2nd 1991 by Ivy Books

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books And A Beat.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
  
• Open to a random page
  
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!