I'm participating in Becky's Book Reviews' Middle Grade Reading Challenge this year, but I hadn't actually updated my progress at all this year. Last week, I sat down with the list of middle grade books I had read so far, and was surprised to see that I had read 27! I knew I loved middle grade books, but I didn't expect that they would account for over a third of my reading so far this year. I decided to share some of the awesome books I've read in hopes that someone else might be inspired to try some of these great middle grade titles!

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
This is one of this year's Newbery Honor books. It is incredibly powerful.

Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
​This was just pure bookish, problem-solving, code-breaking fun!

Rebound by Kwame Alexander
​Okay, I haven't read that many books published this year, but I needed some category to get this book on my list, because it is awesome.

The Door in the Alley by Adrienne Kress
I've read seven books this year that are the first book in a series. Many of them were good, but this one definitely has me hooked.

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser
​This book was just delightful. Can the Vanderbeekers adopt me, please?

I actually went to a bookstore last week and walked out without buying anything!! This is not a common occurrence for sure. It's a really nice used bookstore, but there were at least ten books filed in the Fiction section that were actually nonfiction (like Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt). It was really starting to bug me, but I didn't quite have the courage to say anything to the person at the desk. Sadly, I wasn't really in the mood to buy any books after noticing that. Hopefully the next time I visit will be different, because I've certainly walked out of there with stacks of books before!

The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan (Georgette Heyer and James Herriot references?? Yes, please! This book is pure delight for any book lover.)

Birth of the Chess Queen by Marilyn Yalom (I haven't been in the mood to read nonfiction for a long time, so I'm taking advantage of the feeling while it lasts.)
The Pirates! in an Adventure with Communists by Gideon Defoe (This was a library book sale find. It's small and short, so I decided to read it and check it off my list of books to read. It is hilariously satirical so far!)
​The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne Birdsall (Continuing my audio reread of this series!)

The Pearl Sister by Lucinda Riley (I love Lucinda Riley's books, and I'm so excited to dive into this fourth book in her Seven Sisters series!)

I rarely stop reading a book before I've finished it. I'm someone who likes to finish what I've started, even if I'm not totally enjoying the experience. I know this is kind of silly, because there are so many amazing books out there. Why would I waste my time reading something I didn't like?

But what if I've read other books I've loved by that author? What if everyone raves about the book? That's what I'm running across at this moment, and I can't decide whether to bail or not.

The book I'm reading is Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Her Grisha trilogy was five-star reads for me. I enjoyed The Language of Thorns, her collection of folk tales. Six of Crows takes place in the same world, although with completely different characters than the Grisha trilogy. Well, the world she created was one of the things I loved, so why wouldn't I like another book set in that same world? Not to mention that everyone seems to love this book. It has a 4.46 rating on Goodreads. That's crazy high. I've read many raving reviews. It seems like this would be a surefire win for me.

All of those are reasons why I'm struggling to give up on this one. I'm 150 pages in, and I just don't care about the characters. I knew it was a book about criminals and a heist going in, but I'm not finding enough redeeming qualities to make me feel attached to any of the characters. And I like heist stories (I've watched Ocean's 11 several times), but this one is just not hooking me.

So do I walk away from the book? There are still 300+ pages to go, and even though it's a fast read, I'm having trouble forcing myself to even pick the book up.

I'm curious about how everyone else makes this decision. What criteria do you use when you decide to DNF a book?

My wonderful husband took care of our two-year-old on Saturday so that I could have one last day to myself before the baby arrives. I read a book and a half and went out to lunch. It was glorious!

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler (Our book club book for June. I've never read one of our selections so far in advance, but I wanted to make sure I had it done before baby arrived!)
Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman (This was the book that I read in entirety on Saturday. It was so good and so much fun!!)

It Happened at the Fair by Deeanne Gist (Christian fiction set at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. There's original photographs and everything, so I'm learning a lot!)
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall (I'm loving revisiting this series through audio!)

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (I loved her Grisha trilogy, so I'm excited to try this series.)