My Summer Reading Confessions...

So, back on June 15th I wrote a post called, My Summer Reading List. It was supposed to be a quick, fun little post of seven (JUST seven) books that I wanted to read before September 1st. I also promised in that post that I would report back with my success...

Well. I just realized that it is now September 3rd and I have read none, NONE, of the books that were on my summer reading list! With all the other reading commitments I have made, I was not able to squeeze in a single one of these books. SIGH.

So...my summer went from this:

To this:

Not an actual photo of me, but you get the idea...



So, even though I didn't read any of my most desired books this summer, I will share with you what I HAVE read since June 15th.  I'm not going to link or add the cover art, because this post would become HUGE, but here's the boring ol' list for you to read, if you so desire. 

June 15  - Sept.  1:

The Peculiars by Maureen Doyle McQuerry

The Initiate by Megg Jensen

The Assassin and the Desert by Sarah J. Maas

Home is Beyond the Mountains by Celia Barker Lottridge

The 10 p.m. Question by Kate de Goldi

The End of Infinity by Matt Myklusch

Camo Girl by Kekla Magoon

The Girl is Murder by Kathryn Miller Haines

Bluefish by Pat Schmatz

Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers

Blue Sky by Audrey Wood

Summer Days and Nights by Wong Herbert Yee

Zoom, Rocket, Zoom! by Margaret Mayo

Blackout by John Rocco

A Good Night Walk by Elisha Cooper

YoYo Goes Next Door by Jeannette Rowe

Sidewalk Trip by Patricia Hubbell

Miss Malarkey Doesn't Live in Room 10 by Judy Finchler

The Man in the Moon by William Joyce

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce

Bedtime for Monsters by Ed Vere

Wildwood by Colin Meloy

Show Me a Story: Writing Your Own Picture Book by Nancy Loewen

How to Raise a Dinosaur by Natasha Wing

No T. Rex in the Library by Toni Buzzeo

How do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food by Jane Yolen

A Dinosaur Called Tiny by Alan Durant

The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney

Flotsam by David Wiesner

Tuesday by David Wiesner

Robot, Zombie, Frankenstein! by Annette Simon

Sorry by Norbert Landa

You Will be My Friend! by Peter Brown

Liar, Liar by Gary Paulsen

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Spark by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Innocent Darkness by Suzanne Lazear

Hothouse by Chris Lynch

This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel

Draw the Dark by Ilsa J. Bick

Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans

Crunch by Leslie Connor

The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer

Fairest of All by Sarah Mlynowski

The Fear by Charlie Higson

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Loss  by Jackie Morse Kessler

Serenity:The Shepard's Tale by Joss Whedon

The Traitor and the Tunnel by Y. S. Lee

The Wings of the Wicked by Courtney Allison Moulton

What Happened to Goodbye? by Sarah Dessen

Black Howl by Christina Henry

Timepiece by Myra McEntire

Scary School by Derek the Ghost

The Warlock by Michael Scott

The Enchantress by Michael Scott

Fairie-Ality Home:Inspirations from Nature by David Ellwand

The Garden Intrigue by Lauren Willig

Sleepover Stakeout by Kim Harrington

The Apothecary by Maile Meloy 

Kiss the Dead by Laurell K. Hamilton

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

Something to Hold by Katherine Schlick Noe

Whew! So, as you can see, I've been busy, busy, busy... 

Did you all get to your summer reading goals?

Scary School

Scary School
by Derek the Ghost 

You think your school's scary?


Get a load of these teachers:

Ms. Fang, an 850-year-old vampire
Dr. Dragonbreath, who just might eat you before recess
Mr. Snakeskin—science class is so much more fun when it's taught by someone who's half zombie
Mrs. T—break the rules and spend your detention with a hungry Tyrannosaurus rex!

Plus gargoyles, goblins, and Frankenstein's monster on the loose, the world's most frighteningly delicious school lunch, and the narrator's an eleven-year-old ghost!

Join Charles "New Kid" Nukid as he makes some very Scary friends—including Petunia, Johnny, and Peter the Wolf—and figures out that Scary School can be just as funny as it is spooky! (description from Amazon.com)

What a cute start to a new "scary" but not too scary series. This would be great for kids who are desperate  to read Stine's Goosebumps series, but perhaps aren't quite ready yet. Then this would also segue really well  into these same kids reading Harrison's Monster High series when they got a  little older. 

With scary, but funny teachers, a weirdly fascinating and dangerous school, and kid characters that you immediately want to befriend,  this book was a quick and FUN read! Narrator and ghost, Derek, walks  us through the school year, introducing both teachers and classmates.  I  loved that there was a girl named Frank (that's pronounced RACHEL!) and that the school Librarian is a dinosaur and that the gourmet school lunches are cooked up by a giant octopus! One of my favorite scenes was when the half-dead sports coach gives a special anatomy lesson by peeling off his skin so that students can see his internal organs!

With a surprisingly good "moral" about friendship, Scary School begins a series that is sure to find fans among the chapterbook set! Book two,  Monsters on the March also just came out on June 26th.

Full disclosure: Review copy set to me by the author