My Introduction to Steampunk Novels

I love historical fiction.  Historical fiction is where I began my love affair with books.  I love a book that lets me escape and challenges my imagination.  Honestly, sometimes realistic fiction is my least favorite genre of fiction - sometimes it is too real, hits too close to home.  Later on, I discovered Fantasy novels and fell equally in love.

I am always reading young adult and teen fiction. So, I recently have read a few Steampunk novels.  I may have found a new genre to love.  It's a little bit alternative history, a little bit fantasy, a little bit science fiction, and even often a little bit 19th century Victorian Romance. Here is the definition of Steampunk from Wikipedia.

If you have read a lot of Steampunk, I would love to hear some of your favorites! Here is what I have read recently:

Boneseeker by Brynn Chapman

I reviewed that one in this post.  It was an easy summer, on-the-plane read, but I didn't love it.

The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

This book is the first book in the "Steampunk Chronicles."  It is ranked high on lists of steampunk books. Here is one Steampunk list I found on Goodreads.  I finished this book over the last week. The main character finds out she has special strength and abilities, but is struggling because she has black outs.  She ends up meeting a group of other people who have special abilities.  The story is sort of a mystery meets Xmen meets Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It was a fun story, and I'm sure I will read the rest.  However, I'm not sure I would rank it is high as many do on Goodreads. This one I would recommend for 8th grade and up or more mature 7th graders.

Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger

I am half way through this now, and I love it!  It is fun and engaging. The plot and the characters are unique.  There is a lot of satire and wit as well, which I always love in a book. The main character is 14 and too tomboyish for her parents.  She is more interested in climbing and inventions than being a lady. So she gets sent to finishing school, except the finishing school secretly trains girls to be assassins and spies. This one to me seems like you could even let 5th and 6th graders read it, especially if they were a little more mature.  This book reminds me a little bit of the Mysterious Benedict Society, primarily because you have a group of kids away at school having their own adventures. It also reminds me of The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place because of the wit and humor about the role of girls and women in history.  If you have not read The Scandalous Sisterhood, it is worth reading.

A couple other Steampunk books I read last year were The Clockwork Scarab and The Spiritglass Charade by Colleen Gleason.  Both of these are enjoyable reads.  I would highly recommend them. I would probably go 7th grade and up for these two. They are about the female offspring of Stoker and Holmes, and they solve mysteries.

What steampunk books have you read? Any must-reads you recommend? I would love to find some appropriate for 5th and 6th grade as well.

Monday Made It: Paleo Recipes

Well, I haven't linked up with Monday Made It in a long time...  But I thought I would link up with 4th Grade Frolics today even though I haven't really done anything crafty.  I thought I would link up with some Pinterest recipes I have tried.

If you aren't on Instagram, you should be.  It's my favorite social media - so much fun to be inspired by those you follow: books to read, recipes, workouts, teaching ideas, and just life.  Last year I decided I really wanted to try the Paleo diet after seeing everyone's Whole30 Instagram posts.  I did a 30 day strict Paleo diet in January (It was more just Paleo than Whole 30).  I would like to do another 30 days of strict Paleo after school starts, so for now I am making an effort to try some new recipes that would meet Paleo guidelines.  I find it is easier to be successful with a strict diet when I have an arsenal of recipe and food ideas I am already comfortable with.  If every meal is a new recipe, it can be overwhelming.

Summer Squash Taco Boats 

I bought some summer squash at the farmer's market, so I thought I would try this recipe for taco-filled summer squash. The recipe calls for ground turkey, but I used ground beef.

I used SmileSandwich's recipe with the taco seasoning part from Skinny Taste's recipe. If you leave off the shredded cheese, it is easily Paleo.  It was very good.  The hardest part was hollowing out the squash with a small spoon. Here was my picture right before I put it in the oven:

Made taco filled yellow squash tonight. Thank you #farmersmarketveggies. Very easily #paleo or #whole30 without the shredded cheese. Love #pinterest recipes that come out well. #teachersfollowteachers #healthyteachers #summerdinners

A photo posted by April Walker (@ideabackpack) on Jul 21, 2015 at 7:26pm PDT

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

I really wanted to find a good recipe for sweet and sour meatballs without soy.  I have made Plaid and Paleo's recipe a couple times, and it is very good. It is one of my new favorite recipes.  I did use the Coconut Aminos and Apple Cider Vinegar alternative they mention in the recipe.

I will be honest though; I made a cheat version.  Instead of making the meatballs from scratch I used frozen turkey meatballs and cooked it in the crockpot with all the seasoning from the recipe and with onion, broccoli, and bell pepper.  We had it with rice, but if I was making it more paleo I would make a cauliflower rice.  Crockpot recipes just make things so much easier.  You also can find gluten free frozen meatballs, so I might do that when I do Paleo. I usually cooked it in the crockpot on high for 2-3 hours or low for 4-5 hours.

HERE is my Pinterest board for Paleo recipes.  Have you tried any good recipes this summer?

What I have Been Reading - July 20

I love summer!  It is a time for sleeping in and naps and books and Netflix.  Need I say more?

I have been meaning to link up for #IMWAYR for a couple weeks now.  Earlier this month we went on vacation to California where we went on a bike ride through wine country and went whitewater rafting. I have been slowly returning to the world of productivity since I returned.  What have I read recently?

Adult Audiobooks I recently listened to:

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

I really enjoyed listening to this book.  It is a dystopian novel about a group of musicians and actors who travel from town to town in a post-civilization, dystopian setting.  It almost reminiscent of a traveling carnival or circus around the Great Depression or early 1900's. Most dystopian novels focus on years or decades after civilization has fallen.  The structure of this novel flashes back and forth between pre-fall and twenty years after a plague has killed most of the planet. It deals with bigger issues of humanity and the meaning of life.  It asks questions like: What is the role of beauty and art in humanity and civilization?  The book was very well written and very unique.  I would highly recommend it.

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

I will first say this book is very long.  It will not be a light, easy read.  The audiobook was 26 discs. The novel is about a teenage boy who loses his mom under tragic circumstances and finds himself on this crazy path of loneliness, stolen art, drugs, and complicated relationships.  The book started slow in my opinion and took awhile for me to get into it, but once I did I was determined to finish. Like many long novels, at times it felt some sub-plots went on for too long.  However, overall I would recommend reading it. It is another novel that deals with greater issues on the role of beauty and love in life.  There is also a romance with the joy to be found in beautiful objects and a respect for the history of things.

Books I read:

Flora and Ulysses by Kate Dicamillo

I have been meaning to read this book for many months, and I am so glad I did.  This was the first book in a very long time to make me repeatedly laugh out loud.  The last book that made me laugh out loud was Beauty Queens by Libba Bray. I absolutely love juvenile novels with a great sense of voice and wonderful humor.  Kate Dicamillo did a fabulous job creating fun, unique characters who each have a wonderful sense of voice.  I absolutely intend to use this book as a mentor text next year.  This book alternates between a superhero squirrel's point of view and a little girl who is a self-proclaimed cynic.  It will be such a great text to use to discuss writing about small moments, voice, point of view, imagination, plot, etc. 

Graceling by Kristen Cashore

I borrowed the ebook of this novel from the library and read it on my Kindle app while I was on vacation.  I enjoyed this teen novel.  This is a fantasy novel where some in the land are given graces, which are special abilities.  The main character Katsa has been raised to believe she has the grace of being able to kill others, so her uncle who is a king uses her as an assassin and an enforcer. She meets a love interest in the novel and goes on your typical journey of self-discovery and good versus evil.  It was an easy, fantasy read and overall pretty enjoyable. 

Boneseeker by Brynn Chapman

This book is about a girl who is a scientist and finds herself in the middle of a love story and a mystery.  She is the daughter of Sherlock Holmes.  It was a fun, easy on-the-airplane read.  I do love the idea of heroines solving mysteries in a time period where women had limited roles.  If you are looking for a contemporary spin-off of Sherlock and Holmes with young heroines though, I think The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason is a lot better novel. 

What have you been reading?