My Personal Book Challenge

With the end of 2015 approaching, I thought I'd reflect on my reading. For a few years, I've heard about something called the "Empty Shelf Challenge". The idea behind it is that you clear off a shelf on your bookcase. Then, after you read a book, place it on the shelf. During the course of the year, you can see the shelf getting more and more filled and by the end of the year, you will be amazed by how much you read. I wanted to motivate myself to read more in 2015, so last winter I thought I'd embrace the challenge. Here was the issue: I read a lot of books from the library and I had just gotten a Kindle. So instead of the "Empty Shelf", I began the "Empty Word Document Challenge". Every time I finished a book, I wrote the title down in a Word Document. I was amazed at how long the list got. I began the list on the first day of winter break last year, and now with winter break right around the corner, I am SUPER excited to announce that over the course of one year I read: 111 books

I can't believe it! It was such a busy year, but I made sure to get lots of reading done. In full disclosure, that number includes numerous junior high novels, which as an adult, I can read quickly. It also includes books that I reread simply because I wanted to enjoy them a second time.

There were definitely spurts of reading -- winter, spring, and summer break had lots of books crammed in, while October and November of this year were definitely my slower points. But keeping track helped me stay motivated and gave me a nice surprise at the end of the year. I'm going to try it again in 2016.

WHO'S JOINING ME??

Book Recommendations

Let me let you in on a fun secret: I run the summer reading blog!! I love doing it because right around summer, I get to add lots of book lists and review for students to check out. Here are the links if you haven't seen the page:

The blog: http://merchantvilleschoolreading.blogspot.com/

Books that will be movies soon: http://merchantvilleschoolreading.blogspot.com/2015/06/read-book-before-movie-2015.html

The hashtag recommendations from junior high students last year: http://merchantvilleschoolreading.blogspot.com/2015/06/what-can-you-recommend-junior-high.html

Junior High Book Lists: http://merchantvilleschoolreading.blogspot.com/2015/05/junior-high-book-suggestion-lists.html

Common Sense Media

Attention Parents!!

Have you ever wondered if a book was appropriate for your child? Even as a teacher sometimes I wonder about the content of a new book that I don't have time to read. Here's a secret: Sometimes I check a website called Common Sense Media

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/

Common Sense Media is a website devoted to educating parents and teachers about media content. Movies and books are reviewed for and rated on the amount of: Positive messages, Positive role models, Violence, Sex, Language, Consumerism, Drinking, drugs, & smoking. The website will tell you specifically what the book contains within those categories so you can make an educated decision. It gives recommended ages for the books or movies. It even has reviews from parents and kids who admit that the book might have been too mature or even that it was boring. Check out this website and see what it says about any YA books you might be interested in!

Here's a preview of what the Maniac Magee page looks like:

Book Review: Isle of the Lost

Isle of the Lost: A Descendants Novel

by Melissa de la Cruz

This book was the inspiration for the Descendants movie on the Disney Channel. BE AWARE! This book is NOT the movie -- it is a prequel (takes place before the events of the movie). It follows four famous Disney villain's children: the children of Maleficent, Jafar, Cruella De Vil, and The Evil Queen. Each chapter focuses on a different character as they deal with regular school issues, as well as parent issues. The book has great word choice and action. I enjoyed it and think lots of you will too. It's themes and content was a bit darker than the movie and definitely made the characters more empathetic than the movie, but I find that a perk. Check it out!

Camden County Library Link

Common Sense Media Information