Looking for a creepy read for October? This one definitely had me unsettled as I read it. I don’t gravitate towards horror or even scary books often but for some reason I was compelled to read this one. It was weird and creepy. If you like stories about secret societies and cults then look no further. It’s a doorstopper clocking in at just over 600 pages but I found myself deeply engrossed. A combination of things I think worked really well here: 1) The setting of Argentina during and after the military dictatorship I thought gave this book a darker tone. The true horrors of living during this time were always just scratching below the surface waiting to break out. 2) The characters are all well written. There’s not much to root for here, but you have to know what happens to them! And 3) The horror elements were not overdone. Enriquez gave you little peeks at times to keep you guessing or described scenes with such brutal detachment it somehow made it worse.

I would like to read more horror in this vein. It had just the right amount for me, and gave me a new appreciation for the genre. #horrorbooks #scarybooks #octoberreads #spookyreads #creepyreads #ourshareofnight #weirdbooks #bookstagram #bookstagrammer

Enjoy. @sona.rukmani and @climatejusticeteachermom

I was tagged by @readwithneleh and inspired by @margauxreadit

Enjoy a couple of out of context texts from some dorky moms who are passionate about teaching and creating a more just future for every kid, but also books. Duh.

That Shit was Sloppy AF:
Disorientation
All This Could Be Different
The Rabbit Hutch
Anna K

Listen to teachers. Lol:
We Want to do More than Survive
Teaching to Transgress
The Knowledge Gap
Lies My Teacher Told Me

Why are men like this?
Stay with Me
The Days of Abandonment
Girlhood
Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma

I Cried the Whole Way Home Lol:
Yolk
All My Rage
The Great Believers
The Vanished Birds

Elmo Burning:
We were once a family
Allow me to retort
Empire of pain
Dear America
Babel

No Bad Vibes! BEYONCEEE:
Easy Beauty
(If you know you know)

#booksbooksbooks #bookstagram #coolmoms #alwaysreading #fiction #nonfiction #learnmore #readmore #teachersofinstagram #readersofinstagram

So many books. Too little time. The end of 2023 approached (which just blows my mind) what should I prioritize?

#bookstagram #booksbooksbooks #alwaysreading #reading #readmore #readmorebooks #nonfiction #fiction

The rage in Elie Mystal’s Allow Me to Retort is so thick you can hammer it with a meat cleaver. But rightfully so. Look, my high school education was incredibly white washed. My US history teacher, his favorite president was ANDREW JACKSON. so yeaaaaaah. The only thing I remember about my US government class was learning about checks and balances which we all know is bullshit. There is no such thing.

Reading this helped me fill in a lot of gaps and I learned a ton about the Supreme Court. It is a bleak read. Mystal does not sugarcoat anything, he’s realistic. He knows and understands the fight ahead, and I appreciate how he lays it out. He really helped me make sense of things you see on the news every day. It’s one I find myself going back too if I need clarification about certain Amendments and what they REALLY mean. It helps that he’s also quite funny. I highly recommend this one for people who want to understand how we got here and where we go from here. If I taught high school I would definitely pull some of these essays. I would’ve actually paid attention in class if this was part of the reading.

#allowmetoretort #nonfiction #usgovernment #history #alwayslearning #alwaysreading #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #learnushistory #readmorenonfiction

Yesterday was #talklikeapirateday and I totally missed the opportunity to post this gem. The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty was a perfect summer read. Badass female pirate in her forties and a mother? SIGN ME UP. My only complaint (and it’s always THE complaint) is it went too long. Nevertheless if you’re looking for something fun and purely entertaining, then this book will be there for you.

But seriously, can we please get more fantasy with main characters like Amina?! I loved that she had this internal struggle of loving her daughter and being a mother but also loved being a pirate and going on adventures. That struggle is so real! (I mean I wish my job was that of a sea faring pirate but alas I’m just a classroom teacher) I loved seeing that internal struggle all working moms go through represented in a really creative way here. I will definitely be checking out book two.

#piratebooks #fantasybooks #fantasynovels #badassbooks #bookstagrammer #adventurebooks #funbooks #novels #booksbooksbooks #bookstagram

Three books I read this summer that I loved:

The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty snuck up on me. I don’t know what I was expecting but I ended up completely captivated with this novel. It’s beautifully written and slightly weird. Taking place in a crumbling midwestern town called Vacaville we follow several different characters whose lives intertwine in different and unexpected ways. The more distance I have from this book the more I like it and want to revisit.

The characters in What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez pop off the page. I loved all these women and I was rooting for them the whole time. Two sisters and their mom try to uncover what happened to their missing sister, as they move along the journey they discover more about themselves and their love for each other along the way. This slim novel packs a punch, and I highly recommend this one.

All My Rage is a YA novel that had me ugly crying when I finished it. Reading this was a cathartic experience and I loved it so much. It won the National Book Award for Young Peoples Literature and I can see why. I love that it’s YA too. File under books I wish I had when I was a kid.

I loved all three of these and I would recommend them to anyone.

#booksrecommendations #fictionbooks #booksbooksbooks #ilovereading #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #summerreading #therabbithutch #whathappenedtoruthyramirez #allmyragesabaatahir #greatbooks