Reader, Writer, & Writing Teacher
I know I’m not alone in feeling like my TBR list (to be read list) is always growing. I can remember times going into a bookstores and thinking that I had no idea what to buy or nothing that I wanted to read next … somehow I doubt that will every happen again. Here are a few books that recently cropped up on my TBR list. Let me know what you think of them and what books you are hoping to read soon in the comments! Continue reading “Top Ten Books I Recently Added to My TBR List”
Hello and happy Monday! I’m about to board a bus away from my family in Annapolis and an absolutely lovely spring break (still can’t believe I actually get one of those now!) back to New York. Just so I’ll be able to torture myself the whole bus ride about choosing between three AMAZING novels, I picked three of my favorite YA books published last year: I’ll Give You the Sun, by Jandy Nelson, Belzhar, by Meg Wolitzer, and We Were Liars, by E. Lockhart. Ooof this is going to be a hard one for me, but I can’t wait to read which book you’d read (your favorite), rewrite (second favorite or one you want to change something about), and burn (least favorite). Continue reading “Burn, Read, Rewrite: I’ll Give You the Sun, Belzhar, & We Were Liars”
When I was growing up, my grandmother used to host a classical music concert at her house every year. When I was 12 or 13 and much more into Bewitched or The Beatles or (as is evidenced by my love of this book) Broadway show tunes than classical music, I remember asking my mom if she really liked the concert. She told me that she liked going not because of the music, but because of how great it was to watch talented people having fun doing what they love. Now I loved Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green and David Levithan. And I Loved (note the capital L) Tiny Cooper. But the best part of reading Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Copper Story was reading words that felt like the author had an incredible amount of fun writing.
You definitely don’t have to have read Will Grayson, Will Grayson to read this companion, musical novel, but if you have you will know that a large portion of the book’s plot centers around Tiny Copper writing, directing, and starring in a musical play about himself. Hold Me Closer is that play. Song lyrics, monologues, stage directions and all. Continue reading “Book Review: Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story, by David Levithan”
Continue reading “Wordless Wednesday: J.K. Rowling Drawings of Harry Potter”
Happy Tuesday! Looking through my childhood books while on spring break and being in a class about picture books and books for middle schoolers definitely has me thinking about which books from my childhood I want to reread. Which makes this week’s top ten tuesday topic perfect for me! Here are some books that are definitely in need of a revisit soon. Let me know what books you want to revisit in the comments! Continue reading “Top Ten Books from my Childhood that I Would Love to Revisit”
My literature class has moved on from picture books to middle grade books. Here are three of my favorite books from elementary school and middle school.You know the drill. In the comments list which book you’d read (your favorite), rewrite (second favorite or one that you want to change in some way), and which you’d FIGURATIVELY burn (your least favorite). Since it’s only fair, I’ll play along too! Continue reading “Burn, Read, Rewrite: Matilda, Charlotte’s Web, & Ramona”
Happy Tuesday, Friends! We are just days away from the first day of spring, and already the slightly warmer weather is thrilling. I can’t wait to go outside without wearing a coat, take long walks, and reading in the park. Hopefully, I’ll be reading at least a few of the books on this TBR list. Let me know what books you’ll be reading this spring in the comments! Continue reading “Top Ten Books On My Spring TBR List”
Since its the NYC Teen Author Festival this week and I’m even more obsessed than usual with all things YA, I thought I’d present three classics for us to (figuratively) burn, read, and rewrite. Your choices: A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle, The Giver, by Lois Lowry, and The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman. Your mission: let me know in the comments which book you would read (your favorite), rewrite (second favorite and/or one that you have something you want to change about), and burn (least favorite). Lest you be worried, no books were harmed during the making of this blog post. Continue reading “Burn, Read, Rewrite: A Wrinkle in Time, The Giver, & The Golden Compass”
The fact that I’ve never read an Ally Carter novel has felt like a big hole in my YA repertoire so far. I knew I would soon rectify the situation after reading her hilarious story in My True Love Gave to Me. Now that I’ve read, All Fall Down – her newest suspense novel – I definitely know why she is such a beloved young adult author.
The novel follows Grace Blakely, who (as the back cover tells you) is absolutes certain about three things. (1) She is not crazy. (2) Her mother was murdered. (3) Someday she is going to find the killer and make him pay.
To give a little more information, Grace’s main problems come from her tendency to get into trouble and the fact that no one believes her. Continue reading “Book Review: All Fall Down, by Ally Carter”
Alison Doherty 