Present over Perfect by Shauna Niequist, who also wrote Bread and Wine feels like an important read, about how to make decisions that give you the life you really want to and need to be living.   I read Bread and Wine , about feasting and fasting, and cooking for the life you’re living.  I still cook some of the recipes in that book.  And I think it makes a fantastic book club read. So when this book came around, I was excited to read another book by Shauna.  And it did not disappoint. This book makes you think about which parts of your life are important to you, and which parts you perhaps need to decline.  Where can you rework things to live the life you are meant to live.  It is a Christian book, but I would hazard that anyone would be able to learn something from this one.  Especially if you feel like you’re running on an endless treadmill.  You can take some control and make space for the things that are really important to you.

  Savvy is the first book in this series by Ingrid Law.  Amazon recommends this series for ages 9 - 12, and I think that is pretty accurate.  I listened to both Savvy and Scumble, and really enjoyed them.  They were clean and appropriate for my 6 year old to listen to a little bit, although I don’t think she would have followed the whole story. A Beaumont gets their savvy, or special power, on their 13th birthday.  Whether it’s controlling electricity or causing hurricanes, Mibs is almost 13 and is wondering what her savvy will be.  But just before the big day, her dad has a big accident and is admitted to hospital, so now Mibs is hoping for a power that can help save her dad.  Convinced she will get a powerful savvy, Mibs catches a ride along with the preacher’s kids to town.  And the ride is super eventful, along with talking tattoos and such - nobody will come away unchanged. Scumble is set 9 years after Savvy, and follows the summer Ledger gets his Savvy.  He’s hoping for the pow

 I picked this book up at Barnes and Noble when I was buying a birthday present for a friend earlier in the year, because I cannot go into a book store and not buy a book that looks interesting.  This is definitely a little bit of an investment in terms of time, since it’s over 500 pages.  I decided to take it with on our 2 week vacation, since I figured it would last for most of the trip.  And it did - I finished it a few days after we got home. The Guestbook is a family saga spanning 3 generations, which deals with the great divide between the rich and poor, Jewish and Protestant, Black and white, as well as how the decisions we make will affect our families through generations.  Kitty and Ogden buy Crockett’s Island, and a fair bit of this very well written story takes place on the island.  There are clearly some interesting family secrets which Sarah Blake slowly reveals throughout the story.  This is definitely a slower read, but a very important message, and probably also a valu