I crossed quite a few books off my list during the month of January.  Jase has finally started sleeping better and so I am able to stay up later (too late, sometimes) and read. That’s my favorite time to read, when everyone else is asleep and the house is quiet. In order to keep up with what I’m reading, and to hopefully help you add a few books to your list, I’m going to do monthly recaps here on the blog.

(In case you are wondering, that vow I made to stop reading ebooks?  It isn’t going so well.  I’m switching back and forth between regular books and ebooks.  I love the feel of real, print books but reading on my ipad is so dang convenient!)

Well let’s cut the chitchat. Here are the books I read in January:

Mean Streak by Sandra Brown.  Sandra Brown is one of my favorite authors.  I’ve made a pledge to myself to read all 70-something of her books.  So far, I’ve finished nine.  In Mean Streak, Dr. Emory Charbonneau goes missing on a marathon training run in the mountains of North Carolina.  She is rescued and nursed back to health by a mysterious man who won’t even reveal his name.  Full of suspense, deception, and romance, I give this book a 5 out of 5.

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson.  If you follow me on social media, you know I have gone on and on about this book.  It is a documentary of sorts, following Bryan’s on story as founder of the Equal Justice Initiative in Alabama.  Just Mercy is a true story that calls us to evaluate our justice system and take a hard look at poverty, in general.  If you read no other book on this list, read this one.  Obviously, I give it a 5 out of 5.

The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan.  I swiped this one from my library–I like to be knowledgeable about the books the students are reading.  The Lightning Thief is Book 1 of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.  In it, Percy Jackson discovers that he is a true half-blood–half (little-g) god, half human.  He finds himself delivered to a camp for other children like himself and on a path to save the world.  The Lightning Thief is full of Greek mythology and legends and the action is non-stop.  This book is slotted for the 5th-9th age group, but I really enjoyed it myself.  I give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. This was my Collaboreads choice for January. Read that review here.

I Survived the Joplin Tornado of 2011 by Lauren Tarshis.  Lauren Tarshis’s I Survived series is written for kids, but it never fails to catch my interest.  This newest book is no exception.  The story follows 12-year old Dex as he shadows a storm chaser on the ride of his life.  I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

What have you been reading this month?  Anything I need to add to my list?

The girls and I love reading.  I forced instilled my love of reading on them at an early age and lucky for me, it stuck.  We love reading alone but we also really enjoy reading together.  Over the past few years of reading together, I have found several book series’ that we instantly fell in love with.

Book Series for Girls:

Ivy and Bean by Annie Barrows.  The story of two unlikely best friends who take on elementary school (and big sisters) together.  With a third grade reading level, I’d recommend this book to girls in second through fourth grades.

Clementine by Sara Pennypacker.  Much like Junie B. Jones, Clementine is a sassy chick who has her share of bad luck.  With hilarious antics, this book isn’t just for girls–even boys can appreciate Clementine’s uniqueness.  This book is written on a fourth grade reading level, but in my opinion, would interest readers in grades first through fifth.

Humphrey by Betty G. Birney.  With titles ranging from The World According to Humphrey and Friendship According to Humphrey, and written at a third grade reading level, elementary readers from both genders will adore this series.  Humphrey (the hamster) is everyone’s favorite classroom pet.  He learns to read and write and the books are his hilarious journals.  Humphrey is a great problem-solver and he discovers that you can learn a lot from observing another species.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.  I know you aren’t surprised to see the Narnia series on my list.  My girls were enthralled with these magical tales.  In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (which is actually book 2 of the series), four siblings step through a wardrobe door and find themselves in the land of Narnia.  Narnia is frozen in eternal winter–always winter and never Christmas, mind you–and under the reign of the White Witch.  The siblings, together with the Great Lion, Aslan, must work together to change the atmosphere in Narnia.

Owl Diaries by Rebecca Elliott.  This book explores friendship among animal friends.  It’s easy to read, with illustrations spread throughout.  (These are the books that made Libby fall in love with reading!)

Those are our favorites–what are yours?  Have any books or book series you would add to my list?

I used to do these ‘what I read’ posts a lot more frequently, but then I got caught up reading things that weren’t books. Lots of blogs, a few magazines, things like that. And I could be wrong, but I feel like you don’t really want to know whether or not I liked the October edition of Southern Living 🙂

The past few weeks, I have absolutely buried myself in books. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I’m reading print books instead of e-books….there is just something about turning real, physical pages.  Here’s the rundown:

The Sanctuary by Ted Dekker.  This book was loaned to me after a conversation on thrillers for the October #Collaboreads challenge.  I ended up not using it for my challenge, but the book was solid.  The Sanctuary is a story of a priest who is serving time in a ruthless prison system for two vigilante-type murders.  I give it 4.5/5.

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert.  This book is PURE GOLD, I  tell you.  It’s all about pursuing your passion, whether your passion be writing, dancing, art, or underwater basket weaving.

This quote:
“Take your insecurities and your fears and hold them upside down by their ankles and shake yourself free of all your cumbersome ideas about what you require in order to become legitimate.”

This book is, without a doubt, 5/5.

Goosebumps:  Welcome to Dead House.  It has been a long time since I’ve read a Goosebumps book.  With the release of the Goosebumps movie, I thought I might should familiarize myself with them.  I was surprised at how scary it actually was.  Not bone-chilling scary for me, but pretty scary considering that it is a 4th grade leveled book.  I give it a 4/5.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn.  I read Dark Places for my October #Collaboreads challenge, so you can go here to check it out.

Play Dirty by Sandra Brown.  I am a HUGE Sandra Brown fan.  Her novels have a way of pulling me out of my world when I need a break.  I can get absolutely lost without having to think too hard about what’s going on, but it isn’t completely mindless junk either.  I give it a 4/5.

Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler.  I actually started this book in September and kept putting it down.  I’d pick it up in between other books.  The storyline was great and even had me in tears at points, but it wasn’t attention-grabbing.  Other books just always looked better.  I  give it a 3.5/5.

Give me your recommendations–what should be on my list for November?

It’s no secret that we are a household that loves to read.  (Well, with the exception of Justin, that is.)  Together, the girls and I compiled a list of the 15 Best Thanksgiving Books for kids.

Thank You, Sarah by Laurie Halse Anderson.  This is an inspirational tale of a woman who, with persistence and petitioning, saved Thanksgiving.

Turk and Runt:  A Thanksgiving Comedy by Lisa Wheeler.  The hilarious tale of two turkeys who learn the hard way why all the other turkeys are leaving the farm.

Turkey Surprise by Peggy Archer.  Two pilgrim brothers go hunting for a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner.  One is a dedicated hunter, the other is not.  This hilarious book will have you cheering for the turkey, no doubt!

Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano.  Turkey tries on many different disguises in an attempt to survive Thanksgiving.  In the end, he comes up with the perfect disguise!

Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet.  The story of Tony Sarg, the puppeteer who developed the balloons that became the trademark of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

The Ugly Pumpkin by Dave Horowitz.  A poor pumpkin doesn’t fit in with the other pumpkins in the patch.  He’s just not quite like them.  But come Thanksgiving, he finds where he really belongs.

One is A Feast For A Mouse by Judy Cox.

Beauty and the Beaks by Mary Jane and Herm Auch.

Its Thanksgiving by Jack Prelutsky.

The Collaboreads criteria for October was a thriller published before 2010. Quite a while ago, I had purchased Gillian Flynn’s e-book set. (I had wanted to read Gone Girl and for a few extra dollars, I had Gone Girl, Dark Places, and Sharp Objects.)

I loved Gone Girl. Ok, maybe loved is too strong, but I read it in two days.  It sucked me in. So as soon as I saw the criteria for this month, I knew I would read one of the other books in my Gillian Flynn set. I chose Dark Places, published in 2009.

Y’all, this book. Never before have I so wanted to stop reading right this minute AND finish right this minute so I know what really happened. I never read books like this–Sandra Brown and James Patterson type mysteries, yes. But not this dark, gruesome tale that I got myself sucked into.

RIVETING. What part of this book could you not get enough of?

The storyline sucked me in from the beginning.  As much as I tried to solve the mystery on my own, I just couldn’t do it.  Every chapter threw a new curveball and it was all I could do to keep up.

The Amazon review reads:

Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” She survived—and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, the Kill Club—a secret society obsessed with notorious crimes—locates Libby and pumps her for details. They hope to discover proof that may free Ben. Libby hopes to turn a profit off her tragic history: She’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club—for a fee. As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started—on the run from a killer.

A quote I found humorous:  “He must be Christian.  He had the patience and optimism of someone who thought Jesus was watching.”

ELEMENTS. How did you relate to/care for the characters? What’s your thought on the plot line?

Flynn talks about murder and death, in all their gory details, with a very detached attitude.  The mystery lured me in and kept me reading, but it was very difficult for me to read through the specifics of the crimes.

ASSOCIATE. What other books, movies, or tv shows remind you of?

I tend to shy away from this genre, so I honestly cannot think of a single thing to compare it to.

DESIGN.  What did you think of the cover?  

There are several different covers of this novel out there, but this was my favorite.  It’s simple, but ties in greatly to the story.  Locked up secrets, locked up houses, locked up bedrooms, locked up people.

STARS.  

This is hard.  The story was riveting and nail-biting and suspenseful, even if it wasn’t my “type” of book.  I’m going to give it 4 out of 5.

Don’t forget to check out Amber or Rachel’s page for more Collaboreads goodness.

I am addicted to blogs–both the reading and writing of.  So when I saw todays prompt on Bailey’s Blog-tember challenge, I knew I had to join in.  The only trouble I had was narrowing my favorites down.  The goal was 5–I came in with 9.  🙂 In no certain order, here are the blogs that I read daily.

For Your Soul:

• Flowerpatch Farmgirl
• Lori Harris
• Emily P. Freeman

For Your Style, both personal and home:

• The Nester
• Bower Power
• Southern Curls and Pearls

For Your Every-Day Living:

• Big Mama
• Taz and Belly
• Mr. Thomas and Me

Now it’s your turn–who should I add to this list?  What is the first blog you read when you have a chance?

(PS:  You can find my other #blogtember posts here and here.)

(PPS:  If you haven’t had a chance to fill out my Reader Survey yet, go here and help a sister out!)