Happy Monday, y’all!  So the big bookish news of this week is that Peanut got – and started listening to – her first big-kid chapter books.  For a few weeks now, she has been requesting that I read her “long books,” and she usually asks me to read to her from the book I’m reading.  But my reading this month has been pretty grown-up in themes and content, so I’ve been putting her off.  Over the weekend, though, Nugget and I made a trip to Barnes & Noble as a way to get out of the house while Peanut napped, and we picked up a couple of chapter books for her – Freckle Juice, by Judy Blume, which I loved in elementary school, and Mr. Popper’s Penguins, which I’ve never read before but which had chapters of the right length and looked sweet.  We’ve started Mr. Popper’s Penguins and we’re about five chapters in, and the whole family is really enjoying it.  (Except for Nugget, that is.  He barely has the patience for a board book, let alone a chapter book.  He’ll get there.)  I can’t tell you how excited I am to read “long books” to Peanut – finally!  I’ve been waiting for the day that she could enjoy reading chapter books since, oh, pretty much since she was born.  And now I can’t wait to introduce her to so many – the Mouse and the Motorcycle books!  Ramona!  Matilda!  Island of the Blue Dolphins!  There are so many new fictional friends and favorites for Peanut to discover.

As for my own week in reading, it started out slow but got really good at the end of the week.  Last Monday I was struggling through The High Mountains of Portugal, trying to convince myself that I really wanted to read it, and wondering how it could be that a book with such a gorgeous cover was not holding my attention at all.  (You know what they say – never judge a book by its cover.  It works both ways.)  My BFF, Rebecca, was reading it at the same time and commiserated with me.  We both absolutely loved Life of Pi, but neither one of us found The High Mountains of Portugal very compelling – even though the plot description sounded wonderful.  Rebecca finished it on audiobook, but I ended up abandoning it after I yawned through a scene in which one of the main characters accidentally caught fire.  If that couldn’t get my attention, nothing was going to – so I moved on.  Next I picked up The Fifth Season, the newest novel (and start of a trilogy!) from N.K. Jemisin – and WOW.  It was incredible.  Exhilarating, riveting, heart-wrenching – magnificent.  Now I need to read Jemisin’s entire backlist.  If her earlier books are even half as good as The Fifth Season, they’ll be among the best fantasy novels I’ve ever read.  Finally, after finishing The Fifth Season on Sunday, I turned my attention to March: Book 2, which I had been dipping into all week.  Congressman John Lewis’s life story is really fascinating, and the graphic novel format is such an interesting way to present his narrative.  It’s really wonderful.

On deck for this week’s reading – I’m going to finish March: Book 2 first, and then I’m not sure what will be next.  I have Jam on the Vine out from the library – another story of the African-American experience, which I heard recommended on the All the Books! podcast – and I’m really looking forward to it, so I’m hoping to pick it up next.  But I also have a handful of library holds to pick up on Tuesday, and some of them might be seven-day books – I’m not sure.

On the blog this week, I have an adorable selection for February’s Diverse KidLit title on Wednesday, and then the first (disgustingly belated) Colorado recap will post on Friday!  I know you’ve all been holding your breath – ha.  Check back!

What are you reading this week?