Owl Diaries Series

I cannot remember how I discovered this early chapter book series, but it’s probably one of 2020’s best finds in our house.

Currently I think there are 14 books in the series and we now have most of them. I have enjoyed being able to tell family that they can buy my daughter another in the series when they ask for gift ideas, and even my younger daughter really enjoys listening to these.

Some details:

Start with book #1: Eva’s treetop festival, where we meet a cute owl and her friends and family. It’s written in the style of a journal and each book has a different theme. They can be read in any order if you happen to find one of the others first.

Level - probably a 1st or 2nd grade level but great to read aloud to a child of 3 or 4. Average of 80 pages per book, which means you can read it in under an hour.

These books are written and illustrated by the talented Rebecca Elliot. I also noticed that Amazon has this book listed as a ‘Teacher’s pick’, so you don’t only have to take my word for it. If you have a new reader in your house, why don’t you give one of these a try and let me know what you think.

Comments

The Goldfinch (part 2)

I said previously that I would post about this literary fiction book again once I was done reading it, and I finally finished it a few weeks ago. It's taken me a few weeks to write about it, partly because I'm not entirely sure what to say about it, and also because I immediately jumped into a few lighter reads. Am I glad I read The Goldfinch ? It's a very big, long, slow book. Yes, because now it's no longer on my TBR list. Yes, because I'm not sure I've ever read a book that won a Pulitzer Prize, and I'm not sure I will again. But in all honesty, once I was done, I kind of felt like not much happened in the story considering it's well over 500 pages long. I think perhaps if you're in the mood for a slower paced, book that is clearly super well written and perhaps a breath of fresh air from a typical beach read then this is the book for you. If you're sick of romcom type books, then this is the book for you. Definitely w...

Sisters by choice

Sisters by Choice , by Susan Mallery was a random find at the library and I thought I'd read one of her previous books so I grabbed without knowing anything about this book. That fact is even clearer as I write this because apparently this book is book 4 of 4 in the Blackberry Island series . Having never read any of the other books in this series, I can confidently say that this book does just fine as a stand alone book. This beach read type novel follows cousins by chance, who are sisters by choice. Sophie Lane returns to Blackberry Island after her cat toy empire goes up in flames. Can she learn to let go, and grow her business within the small town life she finds herself thrown into or will she lose everything. Then there's Kristine who is a wife and mother of 3 growing boys. But what she really wants is to open a small bakery. Will she have to choose between her marriage and her dreams. Finally there's Heather who would like nothing more than to ...

The Jane Austen Society

The Jane Austen Society was written by Natalie Jenner. Having never actually managed to read any Jane Austen, but being a fan nonetheless, I was intrigued by this novel about a small town in England where Jane Austen once lived. It was definitely a slower read, but no less enjoyable that the fluff type books I've been reading lately. Jane Austen and some of her extended family lived in Chawton and now, a few years after the Second world war, the villagers begin a society in her honor to preserve some of what is left of her legacy. We follow their trials and tribulations as well and even meet some interesting characters from London and America. There are also a few unexpected surprises, which I will not spoil for you. and at the end of the day, will their plans succeed? This is well worth a read, and actually makes me want to finally read some Jane Austen. In fact, some of the references in this book may have made more sense had I read all of Jane Aust...

Search This Blog