The RAHM Report for 5/14/18

Bout of Books

Bout of Books 22 is this week! I'll be updating daily on Twitter and will share my progress for the entire week here next Monday.

What I Finished Reading

• Rosetown by Cynthia Rylant (digital ARC)
  This is a short and sweet, gentle novel set in a small idyllic town in the 1970s. I enjoyed the way it was written and the fact that the main character enjoys vintage books and used bookstores. My review will publish to the blog tomorrow.
• Post-Mortem by Patricia Cornwell, audiobook read by C.J. Critt
  I read this eight years ago according to my Goodreads account, but I had no memory of it, so I decided to listen to the audiobook. It was very good, especially toward the end when the truth started to come out. I'm planning to listen to the second book soon.
• Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum by Laura M. Berquist
  I skimmed the second half of this book since middle school and high school curricula won't be relevant to me for another 8 or 9 years, but I found the author's approach to homeschooling very compatible with my plans. I'll have a full review up on Goodreads later this week. 
• The Secret Science of Magic by Melissa Keil (review copy)
  This is a YA romance novel with a few things in common with John Green's Turtles All the Way Down. It was very slow to start, but was surprisingly emotional as it went on and the two main characters got to know each other. Review coming soon. 
• Secret Sisters of the Salty Sea by Lynne Rae Perkins (digital ARC)
  Like this author's All Alone in the Universe  and Criss-Cross, this is another realistic fiction book where it feels like not much happens. The writing is very strong, but not every is going to gravitate toward the story. My review will be up in a week or so, hopefully.
  

What I'm Currently Reading

• By the Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleischman
  I keep forgetting that I'm reading this. I will really try to remember to finish it this week.
• The Happy Hollisters at Sea Gull Beach by Jerry West (ebook)
  I'm reading this one with my four-year-old. She loves it, but I think the first two books were better.
• Wild Blues by Beth Kephart (digital ARC)
  I loved Beth Kephart's YA novel, This is the Story of You, so I could not pass up the chance to read this new middle grade book involving a prison break in the Adirondacks. I've read four chapters and the writing is just beautiful. I have a feeling this will be the book I focus on the most this week. 
• Send in the Clowns by Julie Mulhern, audiobook read by Callie Beaulieu
  I just started the audiobook of this cozy mystery. It's good so far, except that the narrator keeps pronouncing the word "calliope" as "callie opie" and it's completely distracting. 

I'll be linking up today with Unleashing Readers/Teach Mentor Texts and Book Date for It's Monday! What Are You Reading?