{May in the Books}

I read 6 books in May.  I read most of these all at the beginning of the month, because by the time it got towards the end of the month I fizzled out. I got a little bored with some of the books I was reading, but hopefully June will recharge me.

English Trifle, Josi Kilpack

This is the second book in a series of murder mystery books I've found that I really enjoy.  They are fun and pretty clean...not to gory or descriptive.  I like the recipes that are in each book and I've tried a couple of them.  This book took me a little longer to get into, I'm not sure why, I did like it.

Your Divine Purpose, Richard Paul Anderson.  

I've had this book on my shelf for a couple months and I haven't got to it till this month.  I loved it.  It had some really great ideas and I found myself underlining and highlighting a lot of passages.  I think it would be a great read for anyone!

Too Much to Carry Alone, Camille Fronk Olson

This was a short book, Time Out Classic book.  I enjoyed it.  I read it in one sitting and it had some really interesting points about what it means to take upon the yoke of Christ in our lives.

The Power of Everyday Missionaries, Clayton M. Christensen

I had seen some good reviews of this book online and heard a couple people talking about it so I decided to give it a try.  I LOVED this book.  I even sent a copy to my dad.  It was really great and had some really great real life experiences that he shared.  I think every member should read this book.

Devils' Food Cake, Josi Kilpack

Book 3 in the culinary mystery series, this book was really fun to read.  I have enjoyed reading more about the characters in each book and seeing how some relationships are developing.  

Key Lime Pie, Josi Kilpack

Book four was great!  I really enjoyed this book and the recipes in this book were even my favorite.  I love that I can sit down and read these books pretty fast.  I have taken a little break after this book, I started the 5th book, but decided to read another book in between.  Then life got busy.  I hope to read more culinary mystery books in June.  They will be a great series to finish reading this summer.  The final book comes out this fall, and then it looks like a cook book will be published!

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My total for the year is now 43.  Almost halfway to 100!

{April in the Books}

In April I read 10 books.  I got halfway through the month and felt like I hadn't read anything at all, but looking back, I guess I did alright.  

I read one free about home organization on my kindle.  It was okay...nothing new, so I'm glad it was free. I almost feel like not even counting it.  I'm loving middle grade reader books right now. I've been reading them with some of the kids at school for my job, and getting recommendations from some of them too.  They are fast and easy.

The One and Only Ivan, Katherine Applegate

I read a couple pages of this book with a girl at school and was pretty interested.  It was a fun story.  Told from the point of view of Ivan, the gorilla living in a cage in a strip mall.  I think this book would be fun to read out loud to my kids at some time.  I think they would love it.

Close to Famous, Joan Bauer

I found this fun book at the library and decided to give it a try.  It was a fun story of Foster McFee, a young girl who aspires to be a cooking show host.  It's full of stories from her life and how she makes it through hard times.  It was a pretty charming read, I would recommend it to preteens or young adult readers.

Stargirl, Jerry Spinelli

I've had so many people tell me that I should read this book and I finally made time to read it.  My friend and I actually read it at the same time...although we still haven't made time to sit and chat about it yet:)  I loved Stargirl, and loved/hated Leo.  Sadly I could see my high school self being way more like Leo than Stargirl.  I think it's a pretty empowering book for girls to read.  It left me with a lot to think about.

Love, Stargirl, Jerry Spinelli

Since I loved Stargirl so much I thought I would go ahead and read the next book, Love, Stargirl.  I wasn't too impressed.  I found myself skimming and skipping around pages.  It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't Stargirl.

Dangerous, Shannon Hale

I think I am a pretty big fan of Shannon Hale. I have really enjoyed a lot of her books.  I was looking forward to this book, but was a little disappointed.  It felt a lot like Stephanie Meyer's book, The Host.  I wasn't a fan of some of the characters.  Without giving everything away, I wasn't  a fan of the boy she ended up with.  I wasn't in love with the end of the book either.  If you like young adult science fiction books you could try this book.

Making it through the Middle, Emily Freeman

I think this could have been my favorite book I read this month.  I've read it a couple times actually. (it's only 50 or so pages, so it's really short and not hard to read in an hour or so)  I heard Emily Freeman speak at Time Out for Women this month and really enjoyed her perspective.  This book is exactly what I needed.  Everyone always talks about what happens at the end of a trial, but what happens in the middle?  How do you get through?  This short little book offers such great ideas and insights on how to make it through.

Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson

I read this book out loud to the 5th graders I read with at school.  I've seen the movie, but I can't remember if I've read the book or not before.  It is great, we laughed out loud at parts and really enjoyed the book.

With a Name Like Love,Tess Hilmo

This is another library find this month.  It's a middle grade reader about a girl named Ollie Love and the mystery she runs into in Binder, Arkansas in 1957.  It's a simple story, but has lessons that everyone can learn from.  I found it at the library, but wouldn't mind buying it for my own collection at some time.  I also am looking forward to reading the other book by Tess Hilmo!

Lemon Tart, Josi Kilpack

I've seen these series of books around the library and book stores for years and never really picked them up.  I'm not really big into mystery books, but I decided to try it this month.  I thought it was a good clean mystery and really enjoyed it.  I've already started the next book in the series.  I also am looking forward to trying some of the yummy recipes that are included in each book!

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My total for the year is now 37!  Wow!

What have you been reading?

{March in the books}

I read 8 books this month.  I had a couple that I really loved.  LOVED.  

Like Wonder.  

I posted this picture on my Instagram feed as soon as I finished it.  I loved it.  I want to buy a hard copy of it sometime in the future.  Such a great book.  More about it below...

Besides these books I also started a couple other different books and for one reason or another I couldn't get past the first couple chapters.  They weren't bad or disappointing, I just wasn't in the mood and will keep them on the back-burner for the future.

My March books were:

The Tutor's Daughter, Julie Klassen

I enjoyed this book.  I spied a girl reading a book by Julie Klassen one day at story time and was attracted to the cover of the book.  Klassen had a couple different books and they all look good to me, but then saw this book on a friends goodreads profile and thought I would start with this one. It had a little mystery and a little romance.  It was very clean and proper.  After finishing this book it was hard not to immediately pick up another book by Klassen.  I am looking forward to reading more by her in the future.

Just Ella, Annette K. Larsen

I keep seeing this book recommended to me by amazon, so I finally decided to try it.  I was not really looking forward to it - I know I shouldn't judge a book by it's cover but I kinda did and thought this might be a fluffy type book.  I was really surprised and loved it!  Princess Gabriella - or Ella - doesn't like acting like the normal princess.  This story has a little romance and adventure. Once I started it I was sucked in and couldn't put it down.   It's a cute, clean read and I think a great young adult book too.

Freeing Your Child From Anxiety, Tamar E. Chansky

We've having some anxiety issues at our house.  I've read a couple anxiety books before, I really have liked Overcoming School Anxiety.   (click for link) It's a good resource and I review different chapters every now and again.  I decided I needed a little more help, so I headed to the library and checked out a couple different books.  This book was the one that I felt had the most useful information for me and our family.  We don't have a lot of major issues, but some minor anxiety that causes stress, makes bedtime hard, was starting to cause stress at school, etc.  This had good helpful ideas.

Please Explain Anxiety to Me, Laurie Zelinger

A friend recommended this book to me as a resource.  So, honestly, the pictures in this book I found really cheesy.  I was really skeptical when I started the book, but as I read it I was really impressed.  I couldn't wait to read this with the kid dealing with anxiety.  I knew this would help him!  It's a good tool to read with kids, it is in a language that they can understand.  We read this together the next day and it clicked with him.  Now we use this book a lot.  We are able to identify what is going on with our fears and we can read the book together and it helps us feel better about things.  

Kira-Kira, Cynthia Kadohata

I saw this book at school on a 6th graders desk one day and though it looked really interesting.  A story about spirit and strength, this book is about a young Japanese-American girl living in Georgia in the 50's.  I really loved this book.  I think if you like historical fiction, you will enjoy this book.  Other books you might enjoy if you like this one are, Bud, not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, Each Little Bird that Sings, by Deborah Wiles, or Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner.

Wonder, R. J. Palacio

The last couple months I have started to see this around the school in different classrooms, it at the library and in stores.  But after Gage told me that his 4th grade teacher was reading it to their class and that he really loved it I decided it was time to read it.  Plus, I was up at night with a sick baby and couldn't do much but sit and hold her, so I downloaded a copy and could not put it down! I read it all night long. I LOVED this book.  I think everyone should read it.  The book is about a boy, August, who was born with some birth defects that make his face look different.  He has always been home schooled, but this book follows his journey of starting 5th grade in a mainstream school.  Wonder is a story about friendship, growing and love.  I cannot say enough good things about it.  Everyone should read it...really!

The Widow of the Larkspur Inn, Lawana Blackwell

I got this book free on my kindle.  There was nothing wrong with it.  I enjoyed it, but it wasn't a favorite.  It's a first book of a series and I might read the next couple books, but I'm not in a huge rush.  It was very clean and had a good Christian base.  It was more a story about a family learning who and how strong they are than a romance.  I would give this book 3, maybe 3 1/2 stars.

The Million Dollar Shot, Dan Gutman

This book is on a list of books for a reading competition at the school.  Our kids didn't sign up for Battle of the Books, but we have read a lot of the books on the list this year.  I hadn't read this one so when I saw it at the libary I thought I would check it out.  What a fun read!  Another book that I have loved this month.  It's only 114 pages and an intermediate book so it's easy to pick up and read in an hour or two.  Or read out loud to the kids - which we have done too.  Some parts have left me laughing out loud.  Great little book!

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So far my book total for the year is 27 and my goal was 65.  I might challenge myself and change that to 100.  

What have you read this month?

February in the books

February is always a busy month for us, but I read seven books.  I really loved a couple of these.  Here are my top five.

Lions of Little Rock, Kristin Levine

I LOVED this book.  I found it at the library and I am so glad I decided to pick it up.  Two girls separated by race form a friendship during these uncertain times in their lives.  I cannot recommend this book enough, I thought it was fantastic.  It's based in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1958, the year after the Little Rock Nine happened.  If you don't know about the Little Rock Nine, pick up this book - and maybe Warriors Don't Cry too, it is a true account of integration in Little Rock in 1957.  The Lions of Little Rock is a young adult fiction, so it's a great recommendation to youth too.

Women and the Priesthood, Sheri Dew

I started this book in January and finished it this month.  It was recommended to me by a friend.  I have really enjoyed it.  I highlighted a lot of parts I loved.  I recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about  how the priesthood can take a role in your life.

Georgiana Darcy's Dairy, Anna Eliott

This was a fun read about the continuing story of Georgiana Darcy.  I enjoyed the diary and look forward to some of her other books.  It was also free on my kindle, I think her other books are free or pretty cheap too - so that doesn't hurt!  It filled my craving for a regency romance this month.

Heart of the Ocean, Heather B. Moore

I got this book as part of a collection of books on my kindle.  It was a fun read and had some romance and  mystery involved.  

When Life Gets Hard, Meg Johnson

This was another fantastic library find.  I loved it!  Meg Johnson fell from a cliff in southern Utah and left her quadriplegic.  This is a very inspiration read and you might need a box of tissues too.  If you are having a tough time, or someone you know - take a look at this book.  It's really short and a quick read that can really help you find perspective and direction.

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The other books that I read this month were, "If Life Where Easy, It Wouldn't Be Hard by Sheri Dew and Masquerade by Janette Rallison.  Both were good books - The Sheri Dew book I thought was good and offered some great advice.  The Rallison book was a fun fluff read.