It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR

Jen Vincent at Teach Mentor Texts and Kelle and Ricki at Unleashing Readers co-host It's Monday! What Are You Reading? Be sure to stop by and see what others are reading and recommending this week.

My one little word for 2020 is commit. I have made "10 Commitments" and one of them includes participating, supporting and engaging with my social media communities. #IMWAYR is one I have participated in, yet not very consisently. I hope to be more committed to not only my reading life but to also sharing it!

Here is what I read the last two weeks:

Allies by Alan Gratz

I have loved everything that Alan Gratz has written, and Allies was no different. He has this knack of creating several characters and intersecting their stories. I wish he would now write the story about the two girls at the end of the book. They deserve they own title!

The Toll by Neal Shusterman

The much-anticipated conclusion to the Scythe series was quite the read! The first 200 pages were frustrating for me as I was trying to remember things that had happened in the previous books. But after that, the story was the perfect ending to a must-read trilogy.

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

The Crossover as a graphic novel added a nice touch to a beautiful story about the importance of family. I did feel that the poems lost some of their effect in this format, but the addition of the illustrations was perfect. 

On my reading radar this week:

Happy Reading!

#100daysofnotebooking

Have you ever had someone share an idea with you, and you think, "Oh yeah, that would be fun!"?And then that idea grew like a snowball rolling downhill.

That is exactly what happened when Michelle Haseltine told me about her 100-day notebook challenge. It was a simple concept - write in your notebook every day for 100 days and share it on social media. Michelle's goal was to help others develop a meaningful habit of writing and to discover the power of writing and the joy it can bring.

But it has created a writing revolution.

I started my day writing about my one little word and posted it in the #100DaysofNotebooking Facebook group and on Twitter. Twelve hours and 160+ members later, writers are still posting and tweeting and sharing and commenting and inspiring and encouraging each other.

People have posted inspiring notebook pages full of one little words, thoughts, dreams, vulnerabilities, pain, and artwork. The community that has evolved from this little idea is inspiring.

Who wouldn't want to be a part of this!

As a member of #TeachWrite, I believe that teachers who write make better writing teachers. But I also believe that writing makes us better humans. One thing I learned from the events of today is that people want to write. People want to share their words. People want a community.

I don't know where this will lead, but I am honored to be a part of it.

If you are interested in learning more, check out Michelle's website here. It is not to late to join us!