I read 24 books this month, bringing the yearly total to 147.

Fiction (1)

*****The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve

Living on the Maine coast with her husband and two small children, Grace’s life is turned upside down when wildfires advance toward their town. Grace is left on her own to save her children.

It’s a slow burn at first, but by the middle I hated to put it down. This book has an unexpected hitch and I was concerned and rooting for Grace the whole way. It was tense for a bit! Shreve got the to the heart of what it was to be a woman in the 1940s. Highly recommend.

Graphic Novel (1)

*****Flung Out of Space: Inspired by the Indecent Adventures of Patricia Highsmith by Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer

Thriller (2)

*****The Good Girlhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18812405-the-good-girl by Mary Kubica

I really liked this twisty tale. Told from three perspectives until the epilogue where we get a fourth, this is the story of a kidnapping for ransom that goes awry. We hear the story from during the abduction and after all mixed together from the voices of the detective, the kidnapper, and the victim’s mother.

An oldish thriller, but one perfect for your summer vacation if you haven’t already read it.

****Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson

An atmospheric thriller that you’ll move through fast even as the absurdity hits you.

Abigail was getting married and her uber rich husband to be sends her and her bridal party off to a winery in California. Abigail, has a few drinks too many and makes one very bad decision. That very bad decision shows up at the private island resort where she and her husband are honeymooning 3 weeks later. As you might imagine, it doesn’t turn out well.

If you like sinister thrillers then I’d give this one a go. If you are marrying soon, please read this as a cautionary tale 😉

Romance (1)

****It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover

A fine follow up to the bestseller, It Ends With Us.

Non-fiction (3)

****Sincerely, Your Autistic Child edited by Ballou, da Vanport, Onaiwa

****The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up: A Magical Story by Marie Kondo

****The Yards Between Us: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Football by RK Russell

Kids Picture Books (14)

*****Addy’s Cup of Sugar:Based on a Buddhist Story of Healing by Jon J Muth

Have you had to deal with the death of a pet (or even a loved one) with a child? It’s tough enough for adults and a child has little way of making sense of it.

Addy’s cat was killed by a car and she asks Stillwater to help bring him back to life. Stillwater says he can help, but first Addy needs to borrow a cup of sugar from a neighbor, but not from any home who has lost a loved one. Sounds easy enough but as Addy learns, loss is a part of everyone’s life.

Addy’s Cup of Sugar: Based on a Buddhist Story of Healing ❤️‍🩹 is a wonderful book for children. It’s based on the Buddhist legend, The Mustard Seed, but it is a book for any faith (or none at all).

*****One Little Bag: An Amazing Journey by Henry Cole

Encourage your kid to save the world one little brown bag at a time. A wordless story until the Author’s Note on the last page.

*****Endlessly Ever After: Pick Your Path To Countless Fairy Tale Endings! by Laurel Snyder and Dan Santat

This oversized 85 page picture book is gorgeous. Go ahead and slide through some of the pages. Gage loves choose your own adventure books and when I saw this I knew it would be fun lunchtime browsing material. After he chose at least a half a dozen endings he rated it a 10 out of 10.

Obviously, there are a few favorite fairytale characters you can run into and some of them are scary 🐺. The illustrations are great and the reading level is maybe 3rd grade?

*****We Are Branches by Joyce Sidman and Beth Krommes

For the younger elementary kid. I’m obsessed with this and open it to a random page every time I walk by it. The art is GORGEOUS. I may have to buy this one just to have on our shelves.

*****The Fantastic Bureau of Imagination by Brad and Kristi Montague

A very creative story that will engage the older elementary kid. Ideas weren’t being shared and the inventions, songs, and performances were overwhelming the Cave of Untold Stories.

*****All Rise: The Story of Ketanji Brown Jackson by Carole Boston Weatherford and Ashley Evans

I thought this was very well done, taking us from her childhood to when she became first Black woman to serve as a US Supreme Court Justice. It only took “232 years and 115 prior appointments.”

*****How Dinosaurs Went Extinct: A Safety Guide by Ame Dykman and Jennifer Harney

Hilarious for both young kids and adults!

*****Becoming Charley by Kelly DiPucchio and Loveis Wise

Fun for younger kids about becoming the person you were meant to be.

****When You Can Swim by Jack Wong

****Free At Last: A Juneteenth Poem by Sojourner Kincaid Rolle and Alex Bostic

****A Day With No Words by Tiffany Hammond and Kate Cosgrove

***Real to Me by Minh Le and Raissa Figueroa

***Action!:How Movie Began by Meghan McCarthy

**A Day in the Sun by Diana Ejaita

Middle School Fiction (2)

****The Onts: Secrets of Dripping Fang #1 by Dan Greenburg, Scott M. Fischer illustrations.

It was good enough that we’re reading book 2!

****Too Small Tola by Atinuke, Onyinye Iwu

Set in Nigeria about a young girl living with her brother, sister, and brother. Also part of a series.