March Favorites

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It’s always been my intent to have every book I read on here on the blog. When I started this way back in 2008 it was for the fun of the bookish community, but mainly I wanted to use it as an online book journal. As I read more and more, I haven’t been able to keep up here or on Instagram and I’m going to try and make that happen while acknowledging that living life is more important 🙂

With that said I read 38 books this month (117 for the year) and have continued by book a day goal. Here are my 5 adult favorites…

Comfortable With Uncertainty by Pema Chodron.

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

The Match by Harlan Coben

with an honorable mention to the quirky novella Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson

My 5 favorite kids books…all non-fiction

She Persisted Around the World by Chelsea Clinton and Alexandra Boiger

Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors? by Tanya Lee Stone and Marjorie Priceman

Just Like Beverly by Vicki Conrad and David Hohn

Planting Stories by Anika Aldamuy Denise and Paola Escobar

Joan Procter, Dragon Doctor by Patricia Valdez and Felicita Sala

Jason and I have never told Gage he was diagnosed with PDD-nos when he was 2. We’ve discussed the different challenges he faces, but never the label as a whole. He’s 11 and it was time. Being me, I requested every book our library system had and Jason and I spent a few hours going through them, both of us shocked at how bad some of them were. I’m still a little miffed that some parent will read some of them to their typical kid and think that that’s what autism is. A post for another day. The ones pictured are the ones that pass the sniff test for Gage to read. We didn’t introduce all of these, but I have them on hand for when questions come. So far he’s only read one. He took the news better than we’d hoped and hasn’t seem to care too much. I hate labels because I find them a much too simple way to judge an individual and so far the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree 🙂

How was your reading month? Anything I need to read?

Top Ten – Adjectives in Title

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I’ve been in a bit of a blogging slump lately. I’m still reading a book a day, 107 total for the year so far, but haven’t had the time (or energy) to take pics for IG or post here. So, I thought participating in Top Ten Tuesday was a perfect way to spend some time 🙂


Top Ten Books with Adjectives in the Title is the prompt and here are the ten I chose, all women for Women’s History Month. Do you see a favorite in the stack? My favorite so far has been The Starless Sea, but there are still several I need to read.

📕American Wife by Curtis Settenfeld

📒The Paris Wife by Paula McLain – liked it

📗American Duchess by Karen Harper

📘An American Marriage by Tayari Jones – really liked it

📙The Bitter Season by Tami Hoag

📒The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman

📗The Rooftop Party by Ellen Meister

📕The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner – loved it

📘Shallow Waters by Anita Kopacz – really liked it

📙The Starless Sea by Erin Morganstern – loved it

Do you see a favorite here?

The latest Harlan Coben and Elizabeth Chudleigh

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The Duchess Countess.
Let’s talk about a rather infamous woman from from the Georgian Era for Women’s History Month. Elizabeth Chudleigh was a woman who learned how to use her considerable assets to gain security and influence. In the mid 1750s women had make an advantageous marriage and Elizabeth managed to do that, twice and at the same time.

She was a strong-willed woman who knew what she wanted and no shortage of men willing to provide it. She made a hasty marriage when she was young and a well-suited one when she was in her middle years. When she becomes a widow she still has a husband left.

This biography was dense and well annotated, so I really got a sense for the customs and politics of the day and all the players involved. Because of that it wasn’t a fast read, but I suppose if you were more familiar with her or her story this might read a little easier.

She was fearless, but with vulnerabilities too. A fascinating woman.

Thanks to Atria Books for sending me a copy of this book.

The Match.
Wilde, The Boy In the Woods, is back. It’s a few months after the first book ended and he’s managed to track down his father via an online DNA database. He also finds someone he believes to be his brother. Only neither one is really forthcoming with information for different reasons.

This can be a standalone, but do yourself a favor and read The Boy in the Woods first. You’ll want to know more about Wilde. All of the great characters from that book are back as is an additional guest from another Coben novel, The Stranger.

No one does thrillers quite like Harlan Coben and his latest is the sequel to Wilde’s story that I’d hoped he write.

Wilde survived in the woods on his own as a very young child, so Gage and I took this book on a walk in the woods and discussed how likely that would be. We decided you’d have to be extremely 🍀, but today is a lucky day, so anything is possible!

Loved it and am looking forward to more Wilde in the future.

Women’s History Month Reading

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A few of my reading favorites so far this month…

❤️My favorite was The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner. Dual storylines and three perspectives made this a fast read. In the 1700s there’s an old apothecary shop that women in need can find to assist them with their troubles, man troubles. A young girl visits one day bringing friendship and disaster. The current day storyline involves a woman with man troubles of her own unraveling the mystery of the serial killer apothecary.

❤️ Piece by Piece: The Story of Nisrin’s Hijab by Priya Huq is a colorful graphic memoir by a Bangladeshi-American. I really liked this true story of her experience as a 13 year old girl being targeted in a hate crime. She showed the struggle of coping, the family drama, and the lessons learned about friendship, as she came out the other side of her PTSD a stronger person. Perfect for tweens who need to read from another kid’s point of view.

📚The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict was a good historical novel that imagines what was behind the true life 12 day disappearance of renowned mystery writer Agatha Christie. I liked it , but admit I wasn’t thrilled at the end 🤷🏻‍♀️ it did make me do some internet reading, so it sparked an interest!
On a Night Like This by Lindsey Kelk. A sensible young woman with a fiancé who doesn’t appreciate her has the opportunity to live out her wildest dreams. It definitely had some Cinderella vibes, in the best way. One magical night at a ball brought Fran the excitement she didn’t even know she was looking for. She was kind and funny and I liked her journey to find herself and the friends she picked up along the way.

I was sent the ARC but ending up mostly listening to it because I really liked the audio.
These are a few of the favorites we’ve read for Women’s History Month this week pictured with the only other girl in the house.

We just finished Who Was Amelia Earhart after dinner. I learned new things that either I didn’t know or didn’t remember. It really is amazing how her plane just disappeared with a Coast Guard ship waiting for her and 10 ships and 65 planes trying to find her soon after. A mysterious and tragic end for a badass woman.

We read She Persisted Around the World by Chelsea Clinton. It featured 13 women who didn’t take no for an answer. We used the one page as a starter and supplemented with other books or articles. A great message for girls (and boys, but I imagine it would mean more for girls).

Who Said Women Can’t be Doctors? The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell by Tanya Lee Stone was great. She applied to 28 medical schools and was told NO! by all. Women were not doctor material. Her 29th application proved fruitful and in 1849 she graduated and became America’s first woman doctor. If that doesn’t convince your kid to never give up on a dream I don’t know what will.

Gloria Takes a Stand: How Gloria Steinem Listened, Wrote, and Changed the World by Jessica M. Rinker is a nice reminder to all of us that change doesn’t happen without a fight. Too many people like to wax poetic about the good old days without bothering to acknowledge the ridiculous limitations put on women (and others but specifically women here). It was a nice reminder to use your voice for progress.

February Favorites

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I wish I had time to log in all of my February books, but this will have to do. You can see on the right the stack of picture books Gage and I read for Black History Month (plus 2 Van Gogh books). The back row were standouts for me.

❤️ The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson and EB White
❤️Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills by Renee Watson and Christian Robinson
❤️A Children’s Introduction to African American History by Jabari Asim and Lynn Gaines 👉🏻 we used this 96 pager as our textbook for the month

You can see my list of adult reads on the left is considerably smaller. Still managed to have ones I loved just a little bit more.
❤️Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall and Hugo Martinez 🖋 graphic novel
❤️Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney
❤️The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina by Zoraida Cordova

I’ve read 90 books this year and I’m in my 15th month of reading a book a day.

This Week – Quick Road Trip

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Highlights of the Week – Jason decided that he couldn’t take the Cleveland cold and snow for another week and booked us a stay on Lake Norman in North Carolina. He did this late Friday afternoon and we left bright and early Sunday, lol. I was already 100% stressed and when he came to me on Friday afternoon with his plan I have to admit I was pissed. That is not a word I use lightly. My husband came to me with photos of this gorgeous condo on the lake with promises of beautiful weather and all I could think about what how long my multiple to-do lists were. For us, going on a road trip involves some planning mainly due to Gage’s food allergies, but I was able to get that done and our cat to the vet and a week’s work of washing and packing and homeschool planning in a day and a half. It really wasn’t until we got there and I had a glass of wine on the deck that I forgave him.

As I enjoyed our week away, we watched, read, and talked about what was happening in Ukraine and I felt all kinds of entitled for my attitude. It’s truly heartbreaking. Seeing the destruction and death and one man’s insatiable thirst for power is difficult to take. I’ve been praying for Ukraine and even booked a Ukraine Experience on AirBnb on our way home, mainly as a way to feel as though I was doing something (Jason had different opinions, but it gave me a momentary sense of helping).

Now that we’re home, the worries that I left with are still here, but I’m hoping to maintain a level of chill for as long as I can so, here are are pics from our week away.

Picture Books for Black History Month

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Another installment of our picture book reading this month.

❤️ Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills was so fantastic. I loved the story and the illustrations.❤️

❤️ The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage. I always like sharing these kinds of stories with Gage so I can see his complete shock that anyone would think it’s okay to tell people who they can and can’t marry. We ARE making progress. ❤️

❤️Sisters & Champions: The True Story of Venus and Serena Williams. We’ve read a few books about these powerhouse women and this one was really good. ❤️

❤️ Follow Chester!: A College Football Team Fights Racism and Makes History. Perfect for Gage’s Super Bowl reading 😁

❤️ Opal Lee and What It Means To Be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth.

Sing a Song: How Lift Every Voice and Sing” Inspired Generations

This is the Rope: A Story From the Great Migration by Jaqueline Woodson

Sweet People Are Everywhere by Alice Walker. I like the idea, but needed more.

Visiting Langston by Willie Perdomo and Bryan Collier. There wasn’t much of a story but we loved the illustrations.

This Week – Immersive Valentines

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On Valentine’s Day I took my two loves to the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit. I went with my mom in December and knew that they would love it. If you have a chance to see it make sure you do.

Other highlights of the week – Two Gage doctor appointments, both with very different opinions. I’m currently on the fence and have a ton more research to do. Instead of doing that, I have cleaned our laundry room top to bottom and I’m exhausted, lol.

The board of our Friends of Library group welcomed 4 new board members on Monday and I successfully balanced the books for the month. Only 11 more months as treasurer (not that I’m counting or anything. I hate being in charge of this much money).

ETR phone meeting complete. IEP coming up on Tuesday. Sending positive energy my way for that would be appreciated. Since he’s a homeschool kid I’m not stressing too much because if I send him back to public school we have to redo the whole process anyway. It feels like wasted time that’s only going to stress me out. Have you had to be part of an IEP meeting? It’s a group of educators taking turns telling you what your child’s deficits are. Can it be useful? Yes. As a parent do I usually end up crying in the car after? Yes.

Currently reading

Books read this year – 68

Posts this week

Two Good Books

Cybils Award Winners

On TV

Jason and I flew through season 2 of Discovery of Witches. Looking forward to the concluding third season.

Movies

We watched this with Gage since he liked the first one.

Puzzles Completed

Plans for the weekend

I’m not sure, but the weather will be nice tomorrow so we’ll do something outside. What about you?

I’m linking up with The Solon Salon at Readerbuzz.

Two Good Books

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I’ve been reading so many picture books this month that I’ve been struggling to finish books over 40 pages, lol. Here are two that I read and liked… (The TBR book service I mentioned below is having a giveaway for one lucky person to try it for free here)

Last year Razorblade Tears was a standout for me so I decided to try his other book that also received a lot of buzz, Blacktop Wasteland. I listened, and as before, Adam Lazarre-White made it flow like fine wine.

Beauregard ‘Bug’ Montage is a reformed criminal with a wife and kids, but when money troubles threaten to consume him he finds an opportunity. No fast money is free and Bug must turn back into the man he said he would never be again. With his father’s ghost hanging over him and threats to his family turning ugly Bug has to choose who he is and who he wants to be.

Lots of violence, like the other one, and that didn’t bother me. I wasn’t quite as drawn into the storyline as I was with Razorblade, this one is heavy into cars, but I did love getting an inside look at Bug’s life. If you liked Razorblade Tears this will probably be your kind of read as well. A good Black History Month choice too.

The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina was in my first box of books from Book Riot’s TBR (Tailored Book Recommendations) and I’m thrilled with this selection. Rey chose this for me because it’s a family saga full of magical realism in the vein of Isabel Allende.

The Montoya family has been summoned back to Four Rivers to attend the death of the matriarch, Orquidea. I loved her transformation and the way the family reacted to it. She leaves them all a gift, some beautifully visible for the world to either admire or shy away from.

Three of the cousins are close and this becomes their story as well as a quest to learn more about the life of Orquidea and how it poses a danger to them now.

The story was full of whimsy, magic, and foreboding and I really enjoyed it. In the end, while I did get Allende vibes, I wish some of the characters had been more fleshed out. But that is a small wish about a book I really had fun with.

And this is why it’s great to have someone else choose books for you. I never would have picked this up and yet it was exactly what I was in the mood for 😁

Cybils Award Winners

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Cybils Awards
The Cybils Awards announced their winners this week, so make sure to check out all of the category finalists and winners.

I had the honor of being a finals judge for the Cybils Awards again this year for both board books and picture books. The five of us exchanged a flurry of emails after we’d read these 7 finalist board books and chose a winner…

🎉Big Bear, Little Bear by Marine Schneider was universally loved and a perfect book to read and reread with your wee babes. Simple and sweet with touches of humor, it has a nostalgic feel that’s sure to please. 🎉

The other finalists were also fantastic and I can easily recommend all of them for the 0-3 crowd.
❤️ Comparrotives by Janik Coat (I was so charmed by this parrot!)
❤️ Circle Under Berry by Carter Higgins was Gage’s favorite.
❤️ Animals Go Vroom by Abi Cushman had a fun animal story with peekaboo pages.
❤️This is Still Not a Book by Jean Jullian was full of whimsy with funny pictures and pull up pages.
❤️Turn Seek Find Habitats by Ben Newman is a new take on hidden picture fun with the turn of a wheel changing what you seek every time through.
❤️ Caution! Road Signs Ahead by Toni Buzzeo and Chi Birmingham is an easy choice for your car loving toddlers with big road signs and what they mean.

For the Picture Books category we had 7 fabulous choices and between the 5 of us finalist judges we chose…

🎉 Watercress by Andrea Wang and Jason Chin 🎉 This has won many awards this past year for good reason. A quiet story with heart and an important message. Eat weeds for dinner that your family picked on the side of the road? That’s a tough sell for any kid. This was my and our favorite.

Other finalists
❤️ Someone Builds the Dream by Lisa Wheeler and Loren Long ❤️ I loved this one almost as much but for different reasons. Want to teach your kid to celebrate everyone who contributes to building bridges or rides or parks? This is your book!
❤️ Bodies Are Cool by Tyler Feder❤️. Every child needs to spend some time with this book. Seriously. This book celebrates every body type you can imagine. I can’t recommend this one enough for body diversity awareness. And it’s really fun too!
❤️ The Midnight Fair by Gideon Sterer and Mariachiara Di Giorgio❤️ This story of animals taking over the fair at night has no words and doesn’t need them. Loved it.
❤️ Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem by Amanda Gorman and Loren Long. Beautifully celebrates the difference one child can make in the world.
❤️Itty-Bitty Kitty Corn by Shannon Hale and Leiden Pham. Cat or unicorn lovers will want this one.
❤️ Arlo Draws An Octopus by Lori Mortensen and Rob Sayegh Jr, is perfect for any budding artists out there.

Have you read any of these?