books read in July

[orangerful]

Hm...not as many as I thought...you know why? Because I signed up to be a moderator at a book conference in October, got the list, checked out all those books...and then immediately set out at finding other books to read instead. Because that is what happens when I get any kind of assigned reading, even when I assign it to myself!

ANYWAY, it's a short list. I'm including a couple picture books because why not?

Wolfie the Bunny by Ame Dyckman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Another fun, fantastic book about family, specifically dealing with siblings. Because when your parents bring home a little brother, you assume he is another species. Great for a school visit.



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I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I had no idea what this book was about and it was a pleasant surprise the whole way through! Very quick read, just enough suspense to keep you reading one more chapter and I love the Princess X comic! Highly recommend it!



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Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek by Maya Van Wagenen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


3.5 stars. Really cute book, perfect for geeky teens who want reassurance that popularity is more about point of view. I don't think this was works as well for an adult read, but I think middle schoolers (Maya is in 8th grade when she write this) will identify with Maya and her classmates and her grand experiment.



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Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book gets an extra star for being such a surprise! I've read plenty of books by comedians and usually they end up either being transcripts of their stand up acts or a strange mix of memoir and gag chapters. Aziz Ansari was smart. Instead of just signing a book deal and taking the easy way out of copy+pasting his jokes, he instead decided to use this time to dig deeper into something that has inspired much of his observational humor - dating and relationships in the modern, mobile phone world. He teamed up with a sociologist, did his homework, and created a fascinating book about the pros and cons of dating in 2015, about how much has changed in the world of relationships and how things have stayed the same. A really fun read!



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The Princess and the Pony by Kate Beaton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is going on the school visit list for sure! I love Kate Beaton's adult comics and she managed to write a children's book that is just as much fun. LOVE IT!



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Comments

[pleasant-valley.livejournal.com]

That Wolfie the Bunny book looks adorable.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

It is adorable, especially when my friend Mathew reads it out loud, which is how I "read" it this month during a meeting at work LOL

[ragnarok-08.livejournal.com]

The Princess and the Pony looks cute :)

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

IT IS! If you find it at a store, flip through and read it. I love her art style. Have you read any of her comics?

[eowyn.livejournal.com]

Oh how cool! Moderating a book conference, that's awesome!

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

I've done it a few times now (because if you volunteer to moderate you don't have to pay the fee LOL). It's an interesting conference too because they invite teens to come along so you have all these librarians and teachers and then a bunch of 15 year olds. Sometimes it can be like pulling teeth to get them to talk and other times you need duct tape LOL

[eowyn.livejournal.com]

Ha! That would be a really cool experience though, and open you up to some books you might not have otherwise read..?

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Definitely! They even changed up the groups a bit this year so that it wasn't organized by genre but by a theme, so you end up reading all different kinds of stories.