Hey all, Dani here.
How have we made it through another month in the year already? Because I still don’t feel like it’s been that long, but my phone and calendar say otherwise. Because we have gotten this far into the year and I am so behind on my plans for blogging and my reading challenge and almost everything. I am making pretty great progress on my writing though. I think I’ve managed to write a few character stories for our D&D campaigns and more in-game character journal entries and such totaling up to something like 10,000 words or so. It feels good to be writing, and hopefully this will motivate me to keep writing and get back to my novel soon enough.
Anyway, it is the first Monday of the Month and that means it is once again time for a Calendar Girls post.
Calendar Girls is a monthly blog event that was started by Flavia and Melanie, and then it was being hosted by Katie and Adrienne. They are all wonderful ladies, and you should check out their lovely blogs. Okay, so pretty much everyone is on a hiatus due to COVID-19 and all the stresses that brings, so I’m hosting Calendar Girls on my own for a little bit.
So if you link back to me, I can keep track of all the book picks and posts each month. Thanks, everyone!
First, more about the Calendar Girls. It is designed to ignite bookish discussions among readers, and was inspired by the 1961 Neil Sedaka song, Calendar Girl.
Just like the song, each month has a different theme. Each blogger picks their favorite book from the theme, and on the first Monday of the month reveals their pick in a Calendar Girls post. Make sure to post back to the hostess’s post, and the hostess will make a master list for the month. The master lists allow everyone to see the other Calendar Girls’ picks and to pop on over to their blogs. Thus, we all get to chat about books and even make some new friends!
Oh, and you don’t have to identify as female to join the Calendar Girls. We welcome readers of all types. So if this sounds like fun for you, join us in all of the fun bookish conversations.
So, without further ado, the March theme is…
Read Across America Day
Favorite Children’s Book
This is actually a really difficult theme for me to choose a winner for. I know I’ve had several conversations with other readers about the books that got them into reading and all that, and usually it ends up being something like The Hunger Games, Twilight, Divergent, or City of Bones. Nothing against any of those because they’re all great books to spark that love of reading, but I’ve been a hard-core reader since my Dr. Seuss days when I was a toddler. And now that I’m nearing 33 years old, I have read so so very many books in my lifetime that it can be difficult to remember some of those great children’s books I read back in the day.
I can think of so many classic choices, like Babysitter’s Club, or Boxcar Children, or Goosebumps, or His Dark Materials trilogy…the list could go on and on. Ooh, or the Dear America series was also a childhood favorite.
But if I’m being completely honest, there’s one series that is my favorite from my childhood. It’s probably the first book series that I went uber-fangirl about. I had to have each book pretty much as soon as it was released. I made my friends pretend to be part of the story with me on the playground at recess. I actually wrote (really bad) fanfiction as if I was in the story.
Of course, I am talking about the Animorphs series by K.A. Applegate. And yes, now years and years later, I know that Katherine Applegate actually wrote these books with her husband. Still, even now, all these years later, I still very fondly recall reading these books. The series finale is one that made me cry. I fought with my brother over the television remote just so I could watch each and every episode of the TV adaptation.
Do I still own all 63 books released (the 54 of the main series plus all the spin-off, Alternamorphs, prequels, etc)? The answer to that is a resounding yes. Do I want to re-read the whole series sometime, perhaps as part of a weekend readathon or something? Also yes. Would anyone be interested in me doing either reviews for each book in the series, or mini-reviews every 5 books or so? Let me know in the comments. If yes, then I’ll see what I can do.
Other Calendar Girls Posts to Check Out
Ashley at Inside My Minds: Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
Free State of Geek 