Running Wild is a survival/adventure story set in the Alaskan wilderness as three siblings escape their father‘s increasingly concerning behavior. The adventure is exciting and rife with tension, the characters you will root for, and the landscape is beautiful. I wish some of the moments had held more emotion (it felt like they should have), but it was still very enjoyable! 🛶🛶🛶🛶🛶

Kiddo wanted in the photo. 😉
What an adventure! Philbrick ratchets up the suspense from page one and never lets off the throttle (never!)! I loved the direction the story took (with all of its twists and turns) and was bouncing in my seat for the last few pages.
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

My new reading buddy is pretty sweet. 😍

This one is worth the read to experience the narration, alone. 💙

Finally getting to this one! One chapter in and Merci is already her own person. 🤓

Philbrick sure knows how to ramp up the tension in only a few short pages!

Definitely eye opening to a horrifying situation, but I spent the entire book nauseous and was not relieved of that feeling at the end. Not at all the direction I expected, and I feel betrayed. This was a bad time to read this one. 😭😭😭

The only other Schmidt I‘ve read was Orbiting Jupiter (which knocked me on my butt) so I really should‘ve seen this coming. What a delightful and unexpectedly powerful, relatable story. The audio narration was amazing. Christopher Gebauer was convincingly a British butler, middle school boy, and grumpy vice principal in the same breath. 🏏🏏🏏🏏🏏

I am loving this audiobook! The narration is spot on. I‘m even finding myself interested in the game of cricket. If the butler pulls a Mary Poppins at the end I will SOB. ☂

I‘m teaching my bad habit of starting five different books at once to my kid. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Well, that was extremely adorable and makes me want to revisit the pumpkin patch of my youth! Sweet as a pumpkin bomb! 🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

Just started on my lunch break and I already love it! 🎃

Trying to get a head start on reading for my committee before I go on maternity leave. I‘m only a few pages in and my stomach‘s already in knots! #glgb

Current read with the kiddo. More of a children‘s chapter book than an intermediate chapter book like I was expecting. Nixie is dealing with some big changes in her life, but does she have to be so self-centered while she does? 😬

Next up with the kiddo!

This audiobook was amazing! I spent the last hour or so crying on and off because it was awful, but also fist-pumping-in-the-sky freaking awesome! I‘m going to be thinking of Annabelle‘s story for a long, long time. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A fantastical ride through space featuring girls kicking butt in the science fields, breaking the rules, and a three-headed kitten named Princess, Sparkle, Destroyer of Worlds! 😺😺😺 (three heads, but five stars)

The mythology and world-building is fabulous! I enjoyed the adventure and immersing myself in her world, but found her inability to build connections with other people disappointing. There was also a lot of back and forth with loyalty that seemed added for “dramatic effect”, though it instead left me exasperated. Those minor concerns aside, this was a wonderful foray into the world of science fiction with a healthy dose of mythology throughout!

Starting our Teen Book Club book for Summer Reading on audio. Narrated by Julia Whelan, one of my auto-listens! Loving it so far!

I adored Flores-Scott‘s first book “Jumped In”, but I‘ve been putting off starting this because then I‘ll have to wait less time for the next. Anyone else do this? 🤦🏻‍♀️ I shouldn‘t have waited because this is going to be awesome! 🕶

Cleaning out my car while giggling along to this one. I‘m behind on my Natalie Lloyd reading! Fixing that this summer. 🕶

This is set in the UP and sounds amazing! 🕶🕶

Unf. What a beautiful, gutting, suckerpunch of a book! Brutal from beginning to end, this clear commentary on the abhorrent treatment of women will make your blood boil. Yet, there is the reminder that we are stronger together, that we can create change and tear apart the status quo working as a team. Women are a force to be reckoned with!

Wednesday Books can do no wrong. Geeked to start this one!

I could hear the wind and waves sailing with Willa and Taylor while they struggled to salvage their friendship. Sometimes you just need to read about women supporting each other and finding their own ways in the world. 🦀 🏴‍☠️ ⛵️ 🌮 🚲 ❤️ ☀️ ⛈

If anyone can pull me out of a reading slump, it‘s Trish! 💙

Getting a jump start on my pick for my summer reading book club while waiting to get my blood drawn. The mythology is so cool!

Weirdest pregnancy symptom: reading makes me nauseous. I haven‘t read anything in two months! Have to power through this one: April‘s tween book club pick.

My Teita and I love talking books. I‘m slowly making my way through her recommendations. I think I‘ll tackle King next. She‘s a former English teacher so I know she won‘t steer me wrong!

Next up for Book Worms (my Tween Book Club). Cameo appearances by Sadie, my dog, and “Elsa”, my three-year-old who is watching Frozen for the 87,000,000,000th time. ❄️

Country music + tour + romance? Sign me up!

Nicholas still has the best hair of the group. Ha! I enjoyed this volume better than the first. Much more doing than telling. The matches were high energy and kept me guessing and I liked getting to know the guys better as well. I‘m looking forward to the eventual blowup with the Costes. It‘s going to be epic. ⚔️

No one writes like Laini Taylor. She surprises me throughout her books with the combinations she'll use to convey meaning; I would never have thought to do it that way, let alone how she uses the same technique to interweave her stories. I am always surprised. I am always at her mercy. I trust her not to leave my heart dashed to pieces on the shore. I was right to trust her with this one. It was so much more than I could have imagined!

I enjoyed this one more than I thought I did while reading it. Had to rush through it to be done in time for book club, but there‘s a lot of great humor, mythology, and characters within. Also, so many Kurt Cobain references. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I‘m a sucker for books in verse, especially those ABOUT verse and girl power. This one has both in spades. Well deserving of the Printz. 🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤

Next up with the kiddo. Unicorns and the scientific method. Can‘t go wrong! 🌈

This was everything I didn‘t know I needed. AMEN, Neil Gaiman, AMEN.

I love the idea of these, but I always feel lost in the story. I can‘t keep track of who‘s on what side and how the events cause each other. I need more framework, and some additional info on Echo would also be appreciated! (I saw that little nod to Gilmore Girls, Scott B. Henderson; I‘m on to you!)

I just was not expecting so much talk of death! And not just animal deaths; there is mention of the offscreen death of a baby that just pulled at my soul. The story of Winslow and Louie was sweet, but I wanted more with Nora. I just wanted more overall. I love Sharon Creech, but this is not one of my favorites of hers.

I‘m ready! #yma2019

Heeding the advice of my committee and listening to this one. Awesome so far!

Next up! I spent most of last night rereading Lord of Shadows because: Wow! I had forgotten a lot!

A fantastic, short introduction to...well, what the title says. I appreciated the overview and how clear and concise it was. I definitely feel more prepared than I did before. I do wish they‘d included Ze/Hir as well, and/or a list of other pronouns people use other than he or she, though they were mentioned briefly. (Don‘t mind my messy office/storage room!)

I wanted to like this more than I did. I enjoyed the info on fencing, the family drama, and even the drive for a rematch, but it just drops off. Even as part of a larger story, this is still a complete volume. There isn‘t one wrapped-up storyline to be found! I‘ll give Vol 2 a try, but I‘m disappointed in the lack of a whole story in this one.

“To Cassandra Clare, Thanks for letting me share the excellent name Magnus”.

My worlds are colliding! Starting this one next for my Tween Book Club: Book Worms!

You know you‘ve found a good book when you devour it in one sitting. Evan‘s story held me captivated and literally on the edge of my seat. I cannot imagine growing up with such a vindictive and violent mother, always waiting for the other shoe to drop. The cycle of abuse confuses the hell out of me: if you were treated horribly why on earth would you turn around and put your own child through that?! Evan‘s story is ultimately hopeful.

Next up! Let‘s see if I can finish it before my meeting tomorrow. 🤞🏻

This was adorable!! I somehow did not see the twist at the end coming and was even more delighted for it! Absolutely lovely. (Pictured is this weekend‘s reading. That‘s a lot for me!)

Next up tonight! I‘ve been wanting to read this one for a while. 😊