Middle Grade Madness! discussion

Let's start off 2022 with only the very best books!

How It Works:
- You can recommend a book for our book list (read more about that below) OR you can just take part.
- There's no need to sign up to take part, just join in the conversation below.
- This readathon starts in January 2022 (countdown below).
- Recommendations for our book list closes on 22nd December.
- I will feed the books from our book list into a random picker.
- Using the link below (not yet added), access the random picker, spin the wheel, and it’ll randomly pick a book from our list for you to read.
- Read the book and let us know your thoughts on it are below!
- Then spin the wheel of the random picker again and it’ll choose another book for you.
- Try to read what the random picker picks for you but if you don’t have access to that book yet or if it chooses a book you’ve already read for the readathon or that you've already read before or that you don't want to read/have DNF'ed/aren't interested in then spin it again and it’ll choose something different.
- Alternatively, you can just ignore the random picker and read anything on the list that you like, but the random picker makes it more fun.

IF YOU WANT TO RECOMMEND A BOOK FOR THE BOOK LIST:
The Rules on Recommending:
- You can only recommend a book/graphic novel you have read in 2021!
- Please make sure the book you recommend is the one you loved/enjoyed/thought was the best of all the books you read in 2021.
- Preferably only recommend 1 book but if you can't choose then recommend 3 and I will randomly pick 1 from the 3 to add to the list.
- The book you recommend can be MG, YA, Adult or New Adult and can be any genre but please make sure the book is appropriate.
- The book can be a graphic novel or manga.
- The book must be in English or translated to English books are also allowed.
- The book must be more than 100 pages long.
- The book cannot be from the middle of a series if it's not possible to read the book outside of the series and still understand it.

RECOMMEND YOUR BOOK FOR THE LIST HERE:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...
(or just write it below and I will add it to the poll for you)

Countdown to start of readathon: https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown...
Link to random picker: https://www.classtools.net/random-nam...

The Book List:
Operation Hurricane by Benjamin Shaw - Kadi
Pumpkin by Julie Murphy - Lisa
Planet Earth Is Blue by Nicole Panteleakos - Annie
Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono - Aurora
Alone by Megan E. Freeman - Sarah
The Explorer's Code by Allison K. Hymas - Lynn
Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston - Haniya
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech - Grace
Starfish by Lisa Fipps - Keya
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton - Sameeksha
Capsule by Mel Torrefranca - Serena
The Highland Falcon Thief by M.G. Leonard - Kat
The Key to Extraordinary by Natalie Lloyd - Andrea
Worst-Case Collin by Rebecca Caprara - Critter
City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab - Georgann
The Marvels by Brian Selznick - Spencer
Save the Date by Morgan Matson - Ilsen
The Yearbook by Holly Bourne - Eden
The Crown Tower by Michael J. Sullivan - Audrey

(Names in italics are the recommender)

Hey everyone, sorry for the delay with the list. It's a super busy time of the year!
Anyway, our best books of 2021 reading list can now be found above! And the link to the random picker is here: https://www.classtools.net/random-nam...

I'm excited to get started in less than 2 days!

Kadi wrote: "Hey everyone, sorry for the delay with the list. It's a super busy time of the year!
Anyway, our best books of 2021 reading list can now be found above! And the link to the random picker is here: h..."

was already on my TBR so Im going to read that next month.

The only one I've read (besides mine) is The Devil and the Dark Water, which was excellent. I have not liked any of Schwab's books so far, so I don't think I'll try City of Ghosts.

@Audrey I've heard almost a billion times that it's good and I've never read a VE Schwab book which is quite surprising considering she's written like 20 MG and YA books. So I'm going to be reading it hopefully!

I'm also going to try and read Keke's Delivery Service, Starfish and Worst Case Collin. There are more I'd like to read from the list but these are my main focus because I tend not to read more than 4 books for readathons (a pattern I've slowly noticed).

Kadi wrote: "@Audrey I've heard almost a billion times that it's good and I've never read a VE Schwab book which is quite surprising considering she's written like 20 MG and YA books. So I'm going to be reading..."

I dont know if I read a book by her before I go by content not author. I hope you enjoy reading Kiki's delivery service.

I have a list of books to read in January but we'll see if I actually read them all. I want to draw chibis, I got Chibi Art class by Yoai for Christmas and some other things I want to keep enjoying in January lol

I’ve read City of Ghosts; I gave it three stars, so I thought it was okay, but not great. Didn’t like it enough to continue on with the series.

The only book that I know for sure I want to read for this readathon is Kiki’s delivery service. Some of the other books sound interesting, but I’m mainly going to try and focus on the 2022 tbr challenge next month.

Grace wrote: "I’ve read City of Ghosts; I gave it three stars, so I thought it was okay, but not great. Didn’t like it enough to continue on with the series.

The only book that I know for sure I want to read f..."

If you do end up reading Kiki's delivery service even if its not in January I hope you enjoy it. Its so cute and a fun read.

@Grace focusing on the TBR challenge from the start is smart. I’m really excited for it but I realised Worst Case Collin and Starfish are both novels in verse which means they’ll be quick reads so I’m starting with the Readathon instead. Watch me not finish the TBR challenge for another year in a row😂😭

@Aurora ooh drawing chibi!! That’s cool they’re really cute! Hope you enjoy the class!
Also I haven’t started Kiki’s Delivery Service yet but I’m already in love with the cover, it’s so adorable!

Kadi wrote: "@Grace focusing on the TBR challenge from the start is smart. I’m really excited for it but I realised Worst Case Collin and Starfish are both novels in verse which means they’ll be quick reads so ..."

Thanks its a really cool art book. I am enjoying it a lot, even just looking at the cute art.

So I've already started reading Worst-Case Collin. I know it's 1 day before the readathon starts but I'm impatient and it looked really good.
I'm almost halfway through already because novels-in-verse are so fast to read and I'm enjoying it a lot. Will probably finish it soon!

Annie wrote: "AurorainBookland wrote: "Kadi wrote: "Hey everyone, sorry for the delay with the list. It's a super busy time of the year!
Anyway, our best books of 2021 reading list can now be found above! And th..."

Planet Earth is blue is reserved will be ready early next month as libraries are closed for the holidays. It sounds really good and your enthusiasm makes me even more excited to read it!

Grace wrote: "I’ve read City of Ghosts; I gave it three stars, so I thought it was okay, but not great. Didn’t like it enough to continue on with the series.

The only book that I know for sure I want to read f..."

I felt the same way about City of Ghosts.

Oh dear all these mixed feelings about City of Ghosts is not what I expected! I’m interested to see which side I’ll fall on once I read it now

Aaand I’ve finished my first book for this readathon already! It’s also my first book of 2022!

Worst-Case Collin by Rebecca Caprara, recommended by Critter - 5 stars!
A touching and heartfelt story. Bonus: it’s a novel in verse so it’s a really quick read!
Here’s my review if you’re interested: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Next I’ll be reading either Starfish or Kiki's Delivery Service, I haven’t decided yet.

I spun and I got The Explorer’s Code! Which sounds super cute and it’s available in my library. Hopefully I can actually get to it!

Here are all of my favorites of 2021 in case you want other options that are not on the list. (It is in order):

1. The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan
2. Save the Date by Morgan Matson
3. Sheets by Brenna Thummler
4. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
5. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
6. Slay by Brittney Morris
7. A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir
8. Primer by Jennifer Muro
9. Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
10. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

Ok so ummmm my sister got COVID. So I am not going anywhere meaning that I cannot get to my current pick at the moment. So I will be just picking a book from this list which is the only one I own and that is Amari and the Night Brothers.

Omg Ilsen that’s so sad to hear about your sister!😞 I hope she’s holding up ok! I hope she recovers from COVID soon and I hope you’re able to stay safe too! Reading is a good pastime but your health and well-being is the most important thing😊

Thank you Kadi! I’m hopefully going to get tested tomorrow but I just want to lay low until then. What a weird way to start the new year….

Ilsen wrote: "Ok so ummmm my sister got COVID. So I am not going anywhere meaning that I cannot get to my current pick at the moment. So I will be just picking a book from this list which is the only one I own a..."

Sorry to hear about your sister and COVID. Hope she is okay.
It's good that you already had a book from the list.

Thank you Lynn. She’s feeling fine but it’s getting really crazy out there. And yea I bought Amari and the Night Brothers around my birthday so I can read at least one book from this list.

Awk hope she’s ok and u plus side is more time to read sending love
Also Amari and the night brothers is brill so enjoy

Yeah COVID cases are on the rise in my area too. It's probably because of Christmas and New Year's celebrations where people were gathering without any restrictions.

Hope you and your sister are doing well Ilsen!
And anyone else on the group who has COVID or whose family members do, I hope you're doing okay. Thankfully, books are a good way to pass the time whilst in quarantine.

Kadi wrote: "Yeah COVID cases are on the rise in my area too. It's probably because of Christmas and New Year's celebrations where people were gathering without any restrictions.

Hope you and your sister are d..."

My sister and I are fine now. She got a negative and then went back home. I'm fine for now but now my aunt has COVID who I saw on New Years.... This thing never ends, It really sucks.

@Ilsen Aah that's good to hear! But oh no you're aunt!! It really is a never-ending thing. My uncle got COVID last week and now my brother and sister are going back to school again so they're at risk of getting it and me too getting it from them. Otherwise, I don't really have a chance of getting it because I study online thanks to COVID invading London. Whenever will the world go back to normal? Thank goodness for books being a constant in this crazy situation!

Hey everyone, if anyone's interested, Annie and I are planning on buddy reading Starfish from the book list this Saturday. If you're interested in reading it this weekend too or anytime during the next week, feel free to join our buddy read here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I recommend RED, WHITE, AND WHOLE by Rajani LaRocca (MG 2021). Like STARFISH, LaRocca’s book is a novel-in-verse. It is beautifully written!