Well, I am back from California and it has definitely been a rough adjustment…I spent the last week of July acting as Recording Secretary for our church denominational Conference. Between working on minutes of the sessions I was trying to schedule contractors for the house we’re trying to sell back in Washington state (yes…while still working on the two units in our house in Rhode Island…we are insane), keep tabs on our contractors and lead inspection here in Rhode Island, and try to spend time with friends. If I’m honest…I sortof dreaded coming home to all the projects.

In my last post I shared this DIY Hat Stand because cute outfits are non-existent in my house right now. My wardrobe consists of ratty clothing that I can carelessly coat in paint or joint compound. In fact, I felt like a bit of a diva because I decided I needed more options to rotate through my ratty clothing options! Ha!  If I was smart I’d put together a post for you about some of my DIY projects. But they aren’t your glamorous DIY crafts or decor! I mean, I could do a post on how to skim coat (I’m getting good at it!) or how to repair cracks in the ceiling, haha. But seriously…I’m not an expert and no one wants to see photos of our ancient plaster ceilings!

Ok, enough with the rambling.  Here at More to Mrs. E I’m all about helping others find balance beyond the workplace. I am especially passionate about helping other teachers do that and one way I find balance is by reading. During the school year I rarely find the time to read for pleasure but during summer break I devour books like a starved traveler emerging from a desolate, fictionless land!

Summer Teacher Reads: YA Fiction Series to Read Before Summer Ends

One of my guilty pleasures is a good Young Adult Fiction book. I know… you’d think I’d get enough of the teen drama at school! But no, I’m pretty obsessed with YA Fiction series and I find that they are a great way to connect with my students. I’m able to talk with them about the books I see students reading and suggest ones they might want to try next. So, before August gets too far along, I’m going to be giving recommendations for some of my favorite YA Fiction Series.  This first post will be on 6 YA Fiction series to read before summer ends.

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The Red Queen Series by Victoria Aveyard

So far there are 3 books out in this series. This is on my list because King’s Cage came out this summer so it was on a lot of must-read lists. I am a little ambivalent about this series. I love the first book (Red Queen) because it truly was as described, a cross between Graceling and The Selection (both of which I LOVED). It has adventure, romance, characters with interesting powers and a bit of a social commentary. I couldn’t put it down and bought the second one (Glass Sword) right away. That book was a let-down. The characters became whiny and the plot dragged on too long. If you want to be up on teen fiction though, this series is one to read. Even though the second book wasn’t as great, the third and most recent book (King’s Cage) was pretty good and has been near the top of sales and reading lists for teens this summer.

Throne of Glass Series by Sarah Maas

Sarah J. Maas is my favorite YA Fiction author. Her story-worlds are engaging and exciting and her characters complicated and endearing. In fact, I have read through both of her series twice. I had to go back and see what I had missed! It makes them fun to read because the book is different the second time.

Her newest addition to the Throne of Glass Series comes out Sept. 5 so students will definitely be picking that up around the time school starts. If you want to be ready for that, you’re going to have to start reading now because there are five books that come before it! I loved all of the books in the series until the most recent one. It was like she tried to stretch out the series too long and had to fill it with unnecessary sex scenes to get enough plot to spread over Empire of Storms and two more books. That being said, Tower of Dawn is from a different character’s perspective so I have high hopes that it will go back to what I have loved about the Sarah Maas books.

 

The Mortal Instruments & The Dark Artifices by Cassandra Clare

Cassandra Clare is another very popular YA Fiction author. Her Mortal Instruments Series (Paperback series) with City of Bones in 2007 and is still very popular. The Infernal Devices spun off the original series and her most recent spin-off, The Dark Artifices. I have not read any of The Dark Artifices but I really enjoyed the first few of The Mortal Instruments. I love when a world I’ve invested in gets continued in a new series. The Mortal Instruments started getting very dark by the 4th book though so I moved on to cheerier YA Fiction. Lord of Shadows (#2 in The Dark Artifices series) came out in May and was one of the top teen reading choices of the summer.

The last two I will mention for this post are…

Shadow and Bone Series & Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Like Cassandra Clare’s books, the Six of Crows series is related to the same world of the Shadow and Bone trilogy. Both are intriguing and well-written. Even though Crooked Kingdom (#2 in Six of Crows) came out last September, it’s still in such high demand that it’s hard to get your hands on it at the library. I’m #10 in line for my copy through my library’s ebook service! The Six of Crows series would be a great one to read before school starts up again. You will likely find it making more sense after reading the Shadow and Bone Series.

 

Ok, that’s all for this post. Make sure to pin this post to find it later!

Next Thursday I will finish up my “summer teacher reads” with other popular series in the YA Fiction genre that students are still reading, even if they didn’t have books coming out this summer. In the meantime, if you’re a teacher and already starting to think about back-to-school shopping, check out this post on my top 5 places to shop for teacher clothes!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Definitely let me know what you’ve been reading this summer!

-Virginia

Linking up with: Sincerely Jenna Marie, More Pieces of Me, Inspire Me Monday, Tutorials and Tips Link Party, Totally Terrific Tuesday Linky, Pumps & Pushups, Style Elixir