July 2025 Reading & Writing Wrap-Up

July Wrap-Up

Book News/Progress:

LITaPalooza and KidLITaPalooza – I got to participate in LITaPalooza (and KidLITaPalooza) at Anderson’s Bookshop. I’ve attended these events at Anderson’s for years, so it was really exciting to be on the other side of it. This was the first event where I got to participate on panels, too!

 

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Other News:

Cincinnati trip – I ended up deciding to stay a week in Cincinnati to help Danielle settle into her new apartment for her internship. While we were in Cincinnati, we hit some fun local spots like Jungle Jim’s (a crazy 4-acre international grocery store) and Findlay Market, the Cincinnati Zoo (of Fiona the hippo fame), Krohn Conservatory, and Danielle’s local library! We ate (and drank) at some local breweries, a cute local place called The Root Beer Stand, and Skyline Chili. And we visited the cutest little kids’ bookstore called Blue Marble Books – they have a Great Green Room!

Pics from left to right: Blue Marble Bookstore (The Great Green Room and front of store), The Root Beer Stand, a fun display at IKEA, Danielle’s local library (just look at it – such a cool old building!), a mural I loved, and cheetah cubs playing ball at the zoo.

What I Read:

• I listened to The City Beyond the Sea (Greenwild #2) by Pari Thomson. I really loved the first book, and I was excited to continue the series!
• Then I listened to Graciela in the Abyss by Meg Medina since I was going to be meeting her at LITaPalooza (read about that above) – loved the worldbuilding in this one!
• Next up was Gut Reaction by Kirby Larson (another LITaPalooza author) about a girl who’s diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.
• My final LITaPalooza read (for now) was Matt Sprouts and the Curse of the Ten Broken Toes by Matt Eicheldinger. He gave the keynote at LITaPalooza, and it was one of the best keynotes I’ve heard – both funny and inspirational!

• I listened to Sadie by Courtney Summers. This was one of the many books on my shelf that I found when I did my purge. I’d heard amazing things about this book, and the audiobook version was really interesting because of the podcast aspect (and it’s a full cast version).
• I read Octopus Moon by Bobbie Pyron, a wonderfully lyrical middle grade verse novel about a girl with depression.
• Then read Troubling Tonsils by Aaron Reynolds, a super fun spooky chapter book follow-up to the Jasper Rabbit picture books!
• Finally, I listened to The House at the Edge of Magic by Amy Sparkes, a fun magical adventure story!