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 g...

 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...

 It is quite clear that my blog has been on a 3 week hiatus, and the reason for that is a family vacation, which ties in really neatly with this book.  We undertook a road trip to the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Arches National Park, Denver and a couple of other spots for almost 2 weeks.  I thoroughly enjoyed all of these spots, and as such, bought this book for my daughter. This is a really cute story, written by Theresa Howell, of how Scout becomes a Junior ranger when her and her family visit the Grand Canyon.  Being a foreigner in the US, I didn’t really know about this program, and after reading this cute story, our family worked through junior ranger programs at Zion, Canyonlands and Arches national parks. When checking for the link to this book, I see that there are multiple options for different parks.  I would imagine the stories are quite similar, and perhaps only the one from your first national park makes most sense.   My girls really enj...

 “Those that truly love, have roots that grow toward each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two. “ From Captain Corelli’s Mandolin I randomly spotted this book at my library’s “New and notable” section, and the title, The Lost Love Song , and cover art caught my eye.  The blurb sounded interesting so I brought it home.  And boy was that a good idea.  I read this wonderful book by Minnie Darke in 2 days, and immediately sat down to write this review.   I occasionally play piano, so this tale that starts with a very talented pianist who meets her true love, and composes a love song for him while away on tour, was especially interesting.  But then tragedy strikes and Diana is lost to Arie forever.  But, perhaps her song can get back to him.   Through a crazy turn of fate, this amazing song makes its way from musician to musician in different parts of the world...

Sandra Boynton is one of my favorite children’s board book authors.  I discovered her in a free box of books at a small English library somewhere in Tubingen, Germany.  I cannot remember what the library was called, but I still love The Belly Button Book .  And I then climbed on German Amazon and bought 2 box sets.  The greatest hits Big blue box contains Moo, Baa, La La La!; A to Z; Doggies and Blue Hat, Green Hat.  And then The greatest hits Big Yellow box contains The going-to-bed book; Horns to toes; Opposites; But not the hippopotamus.   I can still recall almost verbatim at least 3 or 4 of these books, since we read them so so many times.  And I would happily read them another 100 times each, except for the fact that my kids have kind of outgrown them, which is sad.  Now I buy a smattering of these for new babies, especially friends who live in South Africa because you can’t get these there. We have also read a number of her other books, ...

 I’ve seen Elizabeth Strout’s books recommended quite a lot, and I’ve previously read My Name is Lucy Barton, which was a fun, short read.  I plan to review it too at some point, but when The Burgess Boys came up in my library list, I thought I’d give it a chance. This author definitely writes what I would call more complicated books, that is to say they’re not your typical beach read, and she’s won some serious book awards for her stories.  But I’m trying to branch out my reading a little, and this book was great for this.  I was definitely a little slow reading it, but I enjoyed it, and even found myself thinking about the characters after I was done reading it. Jim and Bob Burgess left the small town in Maine where they grew up as soon as they were old enough to head to New York City.  As a side note, I love reading about NYC since we’ve visited 3 times, and we can’t wait for our next post Covid visit.  Jim is a successful corporate lawyer and Bob is a ...

The next great Jane caught my attention because I’m a tentative Jane Austen fan, who really enjoys her stories, but has not ever managed to actually read one.  K.L. Going writes an interesting young adult novel here, in which we meet Jane, who loves to write and fancies herself the next great Jane. She has the fortune to meet a famous author who promises to share her secrets for great writing with Jane. Jane doesn’t seem to think the advice is all that revolutionary, but will some unlikely friendships, some science projects and some good old falling in love prove her wrong. This is a fun, quick read, which I can highly recommend for anyone over the age of 10 since it is appropriate for younger readers.  I’m interested to see what some of this author’s 10 other YA novels on Amazon are like - I would happily read any of them based on the enjoyment which I got from reading The Next Great Jane.

 My daughter got Hotel Flamingo Holiday Heatwave for her birthday a few months ago and we only just read it all together over the last week or so.  This easy chapter book of 180 pages is written by Alex Milway.  It’s charmingly illustrated in 3 colors, and with chapters of only a few pages each, it’s a great read aloud for kids as young as 3 I think, and definitely good for a first grader or second grader to read independently. We meet a cast of animal characters and a little girl, Anna Dupont, who together run a hotel in Animal Boulevard.  Their are some seriously fun animals to meet, like Lemmy the Lemur and Madame Le Pig, who is obviously a pig and is the hotel’s chef.   We pick up the story when the king and queen send their envoy to book a stay at Hotel Flamingo for the first time.  They have a very long list of demands, and it’s a race for Anna and her staff to get it all done.  While they’re trying very hard to be as good as The Glitz hotel for...

Four friends is a beach read type novel by Robin Carr has a slightly slow start where we meet three friends, who walk around their neighborhood together in the morning and share the ups and downs of their lives with each other. Gerri’s marriage falls apart first when she finds out a devastating truth about her husband and she cannot figure out how best to handle it in a way that feels right for her and her 3 older kids.  Will she get what she wants and learn something about herself as she navigates this big event or will it ruin everything. Andy’s next bad marriage ends and she finds herself alone once again.  And when she finds herself attracted to someone she would not normally spend time with she has to work out what she really wants and needs. Sonja is normally the one in the neighborhood watching out for and taking care of everyone else, and now her husband has declared he is done with their marriage as well.  How will Sonja cope with being thrust into life on her o...

 There are now 8 books in this wonderful series by Asia Citro, with a 9th set to release later this year. They are early chapter books, great for a 2nd or 3rd grader to read independently and great as a read aloud for ages 5 to 10 I would imagine - Amazon agrees.  We first listed to the first, Dragons and Marshallows when it was on sale through Audible and recommended by Everyday Reading.  My girls really enjoyed this captivating story about a little girl and her mom who can see and assist ailing magical creatures who come to their barn.  Can Zoey figure out how to help the little Dragon who is sick by using scientific principles - you heard me right, these books use basic scientific principles in the stories, which this mommy really loved. We have since also read Merhorses and Bubbles , Catterflies and Ice and Unicorns and Germs .  Each of the books has a different magical creature which Zoey and her mom have to help, using a different scientific method or pr...

 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...

This picture book written by Chris Harris and illustrated by Dan Santat is one of the better ones I have read with my girls lately.  If you think your youngster is too old for The Alphabet's Alphabet because they can read, I encourage you to try it anyway.  I think it's worth a read for any child who enjoys picture books, and I guarantee you will enjoy reading it too. You've never seen an alphabet book where each letter is compared and made into family with another letter in the alphabet.  I found it so clever and refreshing.  And the logic equation at the end is super great for the mathematician in me. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

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 ...

This children's novel was first published in 1947 and was written by Betty MacDonald.  Mrs. Piggle Wiggle is a charming, old fashioned story which I really enjoyed reading to my children.  It is full of good clean fun and entertaining names and crazy happenings. Mrs. Piggle Wiggle lives in an upside down house in a small town.  She loves children and all the neighborhood children visit her house every afternoon.  She is known for being able to fix children's ailments in a most interesting manner.  Mary becomes afflicted with answer-backerness, Dick is very selfish, Allen becomes a slow-eater-tiny-bite-taker and sisters Joan and Anne are afflicted with quarelitis - Mrs. Piggle Wiggle has the perfect cure for all of them.  The cures are as funny as they are sensible and they always work perfectly well. If you enjoy stories like Mary Poppins, you will surely enjoy this story.  My girls are 3 and 6 and they enjoyed this as a read aloud, but any confident...

Forever or a long long time by Caela Carter, is a young adult novel about a foster child and her younger brother, and picks up in their life 2 years after they are adopted into their forever family.  While I'm not sure this would be useful for foster children to read, I found it very informative.  Flora and her brother have lived in so many foster homes, that they don't know where they come from and so don't believe that they were born.  They have many interesting theories about how they came to be.  Flora struggles to trust her new mother and trusting that she really is forever.  When a new baby appears on the scene, Flora struggles even more.    And so Flora, her brother Julian and their mother embark on a trip to find where the children came from.  While this book doesn't wrap everything up in a neat bow, I think that is very apt for a story like this, where nothing is perfect.  Really a well written and interesting read, particularly if ...

Victoria Jamieson has written quite a lot of books, and we recently read one of the Pets on the loose series.  The Great Art Caper is an elementary graphic novel, and is probably an 2nd or 3rd Grade level, but makes a fun read aloud for younger kids too. This story follows a bunch of school pets as they try to make art for the school art show.  But they're in 2 separate camps, and the crazy fun that ensues is hilarious.  Will the school art show be ruined, will the mean mice win, and will Carina's art win first prize.  This is a fun 60 pager that I would highly recommend.  And we'll be reading the next one, The great pet Escape , soon I'm sure. 

This turns out to be book 1 of 6 written by Ransom Riggs.  The first book, which is the only one I've read, was a little slow to start, which comes from not knowing what's going on initially.  But once you get through the first third or so, then it's hard to put down because you really want to know what is going on. If you like time travel, and X-Men type stories, then this will be fun for you to read.  Jacob's grandfather dies at the beginning of the story, leaving behind some strange photographs and stories he's told Jacob throughout his childhood.  This tragedy sends Jacob on a trip of discovery to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he finds an abandoned orphanage, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children .  Why were these strange, and perhaps even dangerous children on the island, and are they still alive? Definitely worth the read for older children (Amazon recommendation on book 1 is ages 14-17) or even adults.  And you'll want to read ...

These graphic novels by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee are a recent find from Everyday Reading and since we seem to enjoy many of the same books, I thought we'd give these a try.  So far we've read Bink and Gollie as well as Bink and Gollie, Two for On e.  I'm sure we'll be requesting the third book ( Bink and Gollie, Best friends forever ) in the series from the library very soon. Each book contains 3 short stories that are somewhat related, but are written so that you could read only 1 at a time.  My 3 and 6 year old daughter love how funny these stories about 2 friends are.  They get up to some crazy shenanigans  and it's fun to see how things get resolved and how their friendship grows.  These would be appropriate for a first or second grader to read independently as well.  And since they are graphic novels, they might encourage a reluctant reader to pick up something new.

The Swap , written by Robyn Harding, was a new type of book for me.  Definitely a littler riskier than I would normally read, and I actually considered not finishing, but the background story got me hooked and I wanted to know what happened.  So be warned if you pick this one up. Low is a teenager, living with her very hippie parents in a small island town.  Low is different and doesn't fit in at school, so she doesn't have any friends.  But then she meets Freya, who is teaching her pottery class and everything changes.  Low becomes obsessed with her new friend and gets very jealous when Freya makes another friend in town.  Freya becomes friends with Jamie, who owns a small gift store and they have the shared characteristic of neither of them having children - Jamie because she suffers from infertility and Freya because she doesn't want kids.  So they bond and enjoy each others company, and even manage to get their husbands in on the friendship. And on...