Where Is Your Bookmark?

After a pleasant but busy holiday weekend, somehow we all ended up getting sick. I am currently fighting some sort of bug and feeling pretty miserable. I also hurt my dominant hand somehow, and it is making doing even the simplest things difficult at the moment. 

Reading wise, I am enjoying Alma Katsu's The Deep at the moment. Since I shared excerpts from it last week, I thought I would share a bit of the book my daughter and I just finished tonight, Big News! (Emma is on the Air #1) by Ida Siegal with you this time around.

WNBC reporter Ida Siegal makes her debut as a chapter book author with a hilarious look at one girl's journey into journalism, mystery-solving, and fame -- or at least two out of those three!

This is Emma Perez, and I'm ON THE AIR!

"Today at lunch, my friend Javier found a slimy worm in his hamburger. It was extra gross! Now everyone wants to know how the worm got in there. Someone might even get in trouble! The school needs my famous reporter skills to solve the case!"

Emma Perez has been looking for some big news to help her become a famous reporter. Javier's wormburger is perfect-people need to know what happened! Emma is ready to find witnesses, gather clues, and file her report. [Goodreads Summary]

A weekly meme where readers share the first sentence of the book they are reading and say what they think. Hosted by the wonderful Gillion Dumas of Rose City Reader.

If you have to do a chore, you might as well set the table. That's my chore. It's better than cleaning your room, scrubbing the toilet, or worse . . . changing your baby sister's diaper trash can! Yuck. Plus, when you set the table, you can practice being famous. 

My thoughts: She has a point. Not to mention setting the table can go pretty quickly as far as chores go. Of course, anything is better than scrubbing toilets. Or mopping floors. I hate mopping floors.

A weekly meme in which readers share a random sentence or two from page 56 or 56% of the book they are reading. Hosted by the wonderful Freda of Freda's Voice.

"Why aren't you girls eating your lunches?" she asked. 

"Miss Thompson, there's no time to eat today," I said, panting a little. 

My thoughts: Emma is in the middle of her investigation and doesn't have much time to question her witnesses. It is clear Emma has a one track mind when she's on a story.

My daughter really enjoyed reading Big News! and would like to read more in the series, which makes this book a winner in my mind. We both liked Emma as a character, and I appreciated the added bonus of having a character who speaks Spanish as well as English.


Have you read this book or one of the books in the series? If so, what did you think? What are you reading at the moment?

Every Friday Coffee Addicted Writer from Coffee Addicted Writer poses a question which participants respond on their own blogs within the week (Friday through Thursday). They then share their links at the main site and visit other participants blogs.

What is your go-to recommendation for someone who doesn’t read often? (submitted by Amanda @ Give Me Coffee and Books)

I honestly do not have a go-to recommendation in a situation like this. I try to find out what the person may like to read when they do read and come up with similar books they might like. Or if it is a person who does not really know what type of book they might like, I might try to match a book with their movie or television taste--or perhaps something that fits with an interest of theirs--and go from there. I would definitely recommend the person stop reading if they are not enjoying the book. There is nothing that kills enjoyment of reading like reading something one is not interested in! Especially for the reluctant or infrequent reader.

Do you have a go-to recommendation for someone who doesn't read often? 

Everyone has a favorite and then we also have something we dislike. Like a coin, there are two sides to every question. Each week, Carrie at The Butterfly Reads and Laura from Blue Eye Books ask participants to list what they like and don't like about that week's topic.

This week's topic is  Favorite/Least Favorite Paranormal or Fantasy Novel of 2019

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow was my favorite historical fantasy novel of 2019 hands down.

It was not that I did not enjoy it, but I did struggle with Karen Lord's Unraveling, which I read this past year. I liked it okay, but did not love it.

Every Tuesday Heidi at Rainy Day Rambling hosts Tell Me Something Tuesday, leading a discussion about a topic of her choice. As you can see though, it is not Tuesday, but Friday. But I wanted to play along just the same. 

Who are some of the recent debut/ new to me authors that impressed you?

I began the year with Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles, which I really enjoyed, and I am eager to read more of her work. Circe is high on my wish list.

But I have to say the real stand out for me so far this year is Nic Stone, another new to me author, whose Dear Martin won my February TBR List Poll. It has been compared to Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give, which I also loved, and is just as powerful. Both books involve police shootings of young black men, but each narrative tells its own story, touching on similar and also different themes that are very relevant today in the U.S. I wish everyone would read Dear Martin. It gives voice to a much needed perspective that is all too often silenced or ignored.

 Who are some new to you authors that have impressed you recently?

 I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Be sure and tell me what you are reading and are up to!

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