I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and extra-long weekend! I enjoyed spending time with family, putting up a Christmas tree (for my in-laws; not ours yet), and staying up late reading. Now it's back to reality!

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (I did not expect to get this book read in one week. But it was so good that I had difficulty putting it down. I even stayed up past my bedtime Saturday so I could finish it!)

Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotson (This is really cute so far.)
The Importance of Being Earnest and Four Other Plays by Oscar Wilde (I was hoping to finish this over this long weekend, but I didn't quite make it. Just one more play to go!

Vivaldi's Virgins by Barbara Quick (I'm a music history geek. And this will complete by Authors A-Z Challenge!)

Another year of reading Newbery Award winners, Newbery Honor books, and Caldecott Medal winners is just about finished. We have about a month left to go. Have you completed your challenge yet? This is the place to link up your wrap-up posts, or feel free to leave a comment saying how you did. Hope you enjoyed this year's Newbery Reading Challenge!

P.S. Sign-ups for the 2016 Newbery Reading Challenge will be live next Saturday!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my (American) readers! I hope you have time today to spend with family, eat some good food, and be thankful to the One who has given us all of these blessings!

This week's discussion is hosted by Katie at Doing Dewey.

I Am Malala has been on my radar for quite awhile, but I honestly wasn't planning to read it for Nonfiction November. I had my books all planned out so that I could finish up some of my reading challenges. Then I discovered that I Am Malala actually fulfilled spots in two different reading challenges, and would end up saving me a book. So with that thought in mind, I decided to give I Am Malala a try.

And oh, my goodness, I am so glad I did. This book was fascinating and terrifying and inspiring, all at once. I knew next to nothing about Pakistan. Have you looked up pictures of the Swat Valley? It is unbelievably beautiful. I can understand why she wants to go back. Learning the background of the Taliban was also interesting. One man with a radio station - pure propaganda can be a more dangerous weapon than any gun.

I read this book the weekend of the attacks in Paris and other places around the world. It could not have been a more timely read. Knowing Malala's story has also provided an interesting perspective on the Syrian refugee crisis. Those refugees are just like Malala and her family - driven from the area they love through the evil and violence of others. What are they supposed to do?

Malala is incredibly brave. I can't imagine having to be afraid for your life or your family's lives almost constantly. And she never backed down. She never let fear rule her life or change her opinion. We need a lot more people like her in the world.

Sometimes a book comes just when you need it. That was true for me and I Am Malala. I'm so glad Nonfiction November gave me the push to read this book at this time. Words are important. Books are important. Education is important - for everyone, everywhere.

As I reflect on things I am thankful for this year, books are definitely on the list. For this week's Top Ten Tuesday topic, I thought I would share ten books that I am thankful I read this year.

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot By the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai
The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by Alice Ozma
America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great by Ben Carson
How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming by Mike Brown
Because I Said So!: The Truth Behind the Myths, Tales, and Warnings Every Generation Passes Down to Its Kids by Ken Jennings

House of Living Stones by Katie Schuermann
​Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

It snowed here on Saturday! I love snow - especially at this point in the season. I must admit to getting a little tired of it. We got around 5 inches, and it was so beautiful coming down in fluffy, white flakes and coating the tree branches. Perfect weather for hot chocolate and a good book!

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (This was a fun read.)
The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by Alice Ozma (Really enjoyed this one!)
Cinder by Marissa Meyer (I see what everyone has been raving about! Can't wait to get my hands on the rest of this series!)

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (Just started this one yesterday, so I've barely gotten into it. But I'm enjoying it so far!)
The Importance of Being Earnest and Four Other Plays by Oscar Wilde (I'm halfway through An Ideal Husband now. And just one play to go after that!)

Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotson (I'm not 100% settled on what I'm reading next, since I know The Moonstone is going to take awhile. But it'll probably be this middle grade novel.)

I found this tag through Bev at My Reader's Block, and it looked like a lot of fun. And just maybe, it will inspire me to read more from my own shelves instead of checking books out from the library. Or inspire me to read more of my books before buying stacks of new ones. Or just inspire me to read more! (Like I need help with that one.)

Well, you could technically say I have two TBR piles. One is physical books I own that I haven't read yet. There's no system of tracking there. I don't even keep them sorted apart from the books I own that I have read. Anarchy rules my shelves. The other TBR list is on Goodreads. I do own a few of the books I have on that list, but mostly those are books I've found in the blogosphere that I want to read someday.

Entirely print. I don't really do the whole e-book thing. That may change someday, but for now I'm perfectly content with letting stacks of books take over my house.

About this time of year, I'm scouring my shelves to find the last few books I need to finish out my reading challenges. But other that, I just read whatever looks good at the moment.

I've owned a lot of books for many years and sadly haven't gotten to them yet. But the longest may be War and Peace​ by Leo Tolstoy, which I attempted to tackle for the first time in eighth grade. I didn't get very far.

The most recent books I bought came from the bargain shelf at Barnes & Noble (I love that shelf). They are The Midnight Rose by Lucinda Riley and The Supreme Macaroni Company​ by Adriana Trigiani (but first I need to read the first two books in this series, which have been sitting on my shelf for awhile).

There are very few books on this list, because I generally don't buy a book unless I plan to read it. But I suppose The Queen Mother​ by William Shawcross could qualify. I bought it when The King's Speech movie came out because that particular royal family fascinated me. But it's a honking big book, and I'll probably never care enough again to actually read it.

I'll have to dive into my Goodreads TBR for this. I'm beyond excited for The Road to Little Dribbling​ by Bill Bryson. I love anything he writes, but I am stoked for a new travel narrative from him!

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. I know some people have even read or listened to it multiple times before I've gotten around to reading it once. I will someday!

Okay, so this book isn't technically on my TBR, but I'm going to answer this question with Cinder by Marissa Meyer. There is a lot of chatter about this series, especially now that Winter​ is out. I haven't read any of the books in this series, but I've heard so many good things about them that I picked Cinder​ up at the library last week.

The Island of Dr. Libris by Chris Grabenstein. I LOVED Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, so I bought his next book earlier this summer. Just haven't had a chance to read it yet, but the day is coming soon!

187. I try to keep it reasonable (which originally meant under 100 and now means under 200). Twelve of those I physically own. I don't even want to attempt to count the number of books I own that I haven't read yet. Way too many. Let's just leave it at that.

If you want to answer the questions, feel free to do so! Everyone can play. No tagging necessary!

I'm onto my fourth nonfiction read of the month - The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma. I devoured I Am Malala this past weekend, and I can't wait until next week to share all my thoughts and read everyone else's!

Here's this week's topic for Nonfiction November:​

Nontraditional Nonfiction: This week we will be focusing on the nontraditional side of reading nonfiction. Nonfiction comes in many forms. There are the traditional hardcover or paperback print books, of course, but then you also have e-books, audiobooks, illustrated and graphic nonfiction, oversized folios, miniatures, internet publishing, and enhanced books complete with artifacts. So many choices! Do you find yourself drawn to or away from nontraditional nonfiction? Do you enjoy some nontraditional formats, but not others? Perhaps you have recommendations for readers who want to dive into nontraditional formats.  We want to hear all about it this week!  ​

So far in my reading life, I've been very attached to traditional print. There's just something about holding a book in your hand. There is a type of nonfiction that I'm drawn to listening as an audiobook (although I honestly haven't done much of it yet). That would be memoirs read by the author. I just think it's awesome to be able to have the person themselves tell you their life story. I really enjoyed Dick van Dyke's memoir, My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business. My mom has also told me how much she liked Frank McCourt's books narrated by him. I know there are a lot of celebrities out there that now narrate their own memoirs, and I'd really like to listen to more. Anyone have some good suggestions for me?

I really don't keep track of quotes from books I'm reading. I often wish I did, because I'd love to look back someday at all of the quotes I've loved (hmm, I'm sensing a New Year's resolution in the making. . .) So this post is going to be more like Top Two Tuesday. I read I Am Malala over the weekend, and I wrote down a couple of quotes that jumped out at me.

I find that second quote especially inspiring in view of the events in Paris and around the world over the weekend. In the morning, we find our light (God's Light) again.

If you haven't read I Am Malala​ yet, I highly recommend it. Her story is incredibly inspirational.

This past week was parent-teacher conferences, which was great but also exhausting. It also meant (since I teach at the nicest school ever) that we had no school on Friday to give all of us teachers a chance to recover from our 14-hour days. I spent the day reading and sipping hot chocolate in my cozy library. A pretty nice reward for a crazy week! :​)

The Hidden White House: Harry Truman and the Reconstruction of America's Most Famous Residence by Robert Klara (A fascinating read)
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender (I devoured this one on my day off - and really wished for some lemon cake to devour along with it.)
I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai (I wasn't sure if I was going to read this one for Nonfiction November, but I am so glad I did. What an incredible person she is.)

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (I read Huck Finn in high school, but somehow missed this boyhood romp.)
The Importance of Being Earnest and Four Other Plays by Oscar Wilde (I finished A Woman of No Importance over the weekend. Just two more plays to go in this collection!)

The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by Alice Ozma (Hooray for books about books!)