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 2017 Newbery Reading Challenge will be live next Wednesday!

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving (unless you live outside the U.S. and didn't celebrate Thanksgiving last week. In that case, I hope you had a good week in general!). We had a great time with family, exploring some towns in the area, and spending some relaxing time at home. Back to normal life now!

Istanbul: Memories and the City by Orhan Pamuk (Stop #5 for Circumreading the World. It was a beautifully written book. Random facts/review will go up on Friday.)

Pip Bartlett's Guide to Magical Creatures by Jackson Pearce and Maggie Stiefvater (December selection for the Reading Together Book Club. Join us!)
The Iliad by Homer (Lots of people die in this book. I guess I didn't realize going in that so much of it was about battles.)

Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses by Bruce Feiler (So yeah, this was my "coming up next" selection last week, too. It took longer to read Istanbul than I thought. I'm sure I'll get to this one this week!)

Premise of the book: Robert Rodi visits Siena, Italy during the Palio season in 2003, and falls in love with the city, the people, and the culture. He visits Siena seven times (hence the title) over the next few years in an effort to become one of them. His efforts are always amusing and sometimes frustrating, since the Sienese are a very close-knit people.

General thoughts on the book: This was a really fun book. My only quibble is that I wish Rodi had gone into more of the history of Siena. Instead, he just focused on the Palio aspect of the culture, as well as his adventures there. He tells of those adventures in a very light-hearted, self-deprecating way that makes for a very enjoyable read.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Even if you're not in the U.S. and not celebrating Thanksgiving, you still have much in your life to be thankful for - the roof over your head, the family and friends surrounding you, and all of the love and laughter in your life. I hope you have a blessed, thankful day!

Most of the time, I love living in Michigan. But when the weather goes from 70 degrees on Friday to 30 degrees on Saturday? Not so much. At least there were some pretty snowflakes to watch out the window. If it's going to be that cold, then it had better be snowing!

Seven Seasons in Siena: My Quixotic Quest for Acceptance Among Tuscany's Proudest People by Robert Rodi (A great travel narrative and stop #4 on my Circumreading the World project. My post of random facts from it will go up on Friday.)
West From Home: Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder, San Francisco, 1915 by Laura Ingalls Wilder (I never would be known this book existed if it weren't for the Little House Read-Along. And that would be a shame, because I really enjoyed it!)

Istanbul: Memories and the City by Orhan Pamuk (Stop #5!)
The Iliad by Homer (Halfway!!)

Walking the Bible: A Journey By Land Through the Five Books of Moses by Bruce Feiler (This is next up in my around the world journey, and I'm really excited for this one!)

Premise of the book: The title pretty much says it all. Bailey walks through Wales from south to north. He includes history lessons, local legends, and anecdotes from his travels. It was published in 1992, so some of the information might be out of date, but it still gives a comprehensive portrait of the country at the time.

Random Facts Learned By Reading This Book:​

General thoughts on the book: I love walking when travelling, so I loved Bailey's account of his journey. This book provides a good mix of history, facts, and stories from his adventure. I learned a lot about Wales. This is a fun way to "visit" a country and get an intimate picture of what life is like there.

I actually got a chance to sit down and read for almost two hours this past Saturday! My husband gave me a "day off", and he took care of our little guy all day. I had forgotten what it felt like to get stuff done! I got the bathrooms cleaned, boxes dealt with, bookshelves rearranged - and I still had time to read and sip hot chocolate in the afternoon. That day was exactly what I needed!

The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom (This is a wonderful book, especially if you're a music person. It's narrated by Music, so it has a similar feel to The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Very satisfying read.)

A Walk Through Wales by Anthony Bailey (This is the third stop on my Circumreading the World tour. I am greatly enjoying this one.)
The Iliad by Homer (I have to admit, I've pretty much lost the thread of what's going on. The gods keep getting involved, and there are lots of people fighting and dying. I may need to check out some Cliffs Notes when I'm all done to make sense of what I just read.)

Seven Seasons in Siena: My Quixotic Quest for Acceptance Among Tuscany's Proudest People by Robert Rodi (On to Italy next!)

Last week, my local library hosted an adult coloring event. I was the only one who showed up. (I live in a pretty small town, so it wasn't that surprising.) So for an hour and a half, I was coloring with the librarian on duty and our new library director, who has been working there for only a few months. I'm not very good at small talk (long live introverts!), but the conversation was flowing pretty easily, and I was enjoying myself and the quiet time away from my little guy.

After about 15 minutes, the library director went over to the only other patron in the library. She was a high school student who was killing time by watching YouTube videos on the computer. The director invited her to come color, and she reluctantly agreed. Within the next 45 minutes or so, here is the awesomeness I saw from the librarians:​

Libraries are about so much more than books. Yes, free books are great. But librarians are incredible human beings who take care of the people who walk through their doors in so many other ways than just providing books.

​So thank a librarian. They richly deserve it!

Premise of the book: Andrea di Robilant found a sixteenth century travel narrative of a fourteenth century journey by the Zen brothers to the North Atlantic. The map included was one of the first and best to show that region in its time. But the veracity of the map and narrative have been questioned during the following centuries, and di Robilant sets out to discover the truth and explore the areas that the Zen brothers explored.

Random Facts Learned by Reading This Book:​

General thoughts on the book:​ This book was the perfect mix of history and travel narrative. It was informative and clearly written. And how often do you get to read a book about Greenland or the Faroe Islands? I really enjoyed this one!

Fall colors are at their peak here in my area of Michigan! It's been sunny and warm (65 degrees! In November!). And it's cider and donuts season. I love this time of year!

Irresistible North: From Venice to Greenland on the Trail of the Zen Brothers by Andrea di Robilant (The second book for my Circumreading the World adventure. I really enjoyed this one! Thoughts/random facts will be posted on Wednesday.)

The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom (Had to take a break from my around-the-world reading to read my book club book for November.)
The Iliad by Homer (28% complete!)

A Walk Through Wales by Anthony Bailey (Time for the next stop!)