Happy 4th quarter of the year! I may have just recently realized how many books I need to read each month for the rest of the year to hit the 175 books finished that I've hit the last many years. It's more than I've finished any other month this year! But after really getting into a reading rut over the second half of summer, I've now gotten my reading time firmly planted back in my childless school days where I am being able to settle down with a book for a bit before the business of working from home, cleaning the home, or other such things. It's wonderful.
I'm very active on Goodreads here, somewhat active on Instagram here, and linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy on the 15th!
One other book post this month: {10} Fantastic Book Covers, part 3
Now what I've been reading!
Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson
This was much less literary than the cover suggested to me. Three siblings in Brooklyn. Their parents move out of their childhood home and let the brother and his wife move in. The two sisters don't like this because their sister-in-law doesn't seem to care about the house and all the priceless antiques in it, she has no emotional connection to it, and doesn't seem to welcome people dropping by whenever. So partially a battle over the house but also adult sibling dynamics and how families change as they grow and how lives change. 3.25 Stars
Mrs. Porter Calling by AJ Pearce
This is the third in a charming series about the staff at a ladies' magazine being published in London during World War II. Like many of you, I've read quite a few World War II novels but these have been a bit refreshing in that they aren't about women being spies or working for the resistance, just women getting on with their lives throughout the Blitz and trying to keep moral up with their magazine. I rather clearly remember the first, nothing about the second. Went in a bit blind for this third one but caught up and was charmed all over again. 3.75 Stars
Will They or Won't They by Ava Wilder
A romance set on a hit tv show where the leads were madly in love at the start, then they weren't. She left the show and they hadn't spoken in years but now she's coming back for a final season. Sparks fly! There is tension! Will they or won't they?!?!? It was fun, fairly open door. 3.5 Stars
The Blonde Identity by Ally Carter
A light thriller about a woman who wakes up in Paris, not knowing who she is, but on the run from something. It was not serious although there were tense moments, most were resolved fairly quickly. It was fun, following her all over Paris and the guy who is helping her and seems to know her. She slowly gets some memories back. It really felt like it could be a whole series, setting up the whole premise for one book seemed like a lot. I would read another if there was one! 3.5 Stars
There are Moms Way Worse Than You: Irrefutable Proof That You Are Indeed a Fantastic Parent by Glenn Boozan
A quick read, about some of the things animal moms do to their kids in the wild (letting them get eaten to save themselves, eating their babies, etc.). Nice little pick me up if you feel like you're messing up your kids with bad parenting. At least you (probably) aren't eating your kids! 3.5 Stars
The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim DeFede
This was a reread for book club and I liked it better this time around. It was still very optimistic writing that got a little too cheery at times?? But overall, the story is just wonderful, about all the planes headed for the US that got rerouted to Gander, Newfoundland on 9/11. The town hosted thousands of extra people for a few days while they waited for the US airspace to open back up. Showing humans at their best at a time when the worst of humanity was all over the news. I think the copy I read this time was a second edition too, it didn't have all the little editing errors that I remembered from my last read. 4 Stars
The Do-Over by Lynn Painter
A fun YA novel about a girl who goes through a terrible break-up on Valentine's Day and then has to relive the day over and over again. Just when she thinks she can act however she wants...the day stops repeating. I had read this author's self-published grown-up book and only made it 50 pages in. It was terrible. However, she writes FANTASTIC and fun YA. This was really enjoyable. 3.75 Stars
Freaks, Gleeks, and Dawson's Creek: How Seven Teen Shows Transformed Television by Thea Glassman
Non-fiction about seven teen shows, going from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air to Glee. I have only watched two of these shows: The O.C. and Friday Night Lights so learned quite a bit about the other 5. I would have appreciated more of a thread-line tying them all together. At times there would be behind the scenes people mentioned on one show and then on another without even a sentence pointing out we've read about this person before (they finally did mention that on one person in one of the last chapters, but it happened many times before that). If these are shows that "transformed" television, somehow connecting one to the next would have been helpful. It was more like a brief history and some trivia on each show and then moving on. But I did enjoy it. 3.5 Stars
Absolutely, Positively Natty by Lisa Greenwald
Middle grade about a middle school girl who is going through some transitions in her personal life (parents just split up, she's moved back to her Dad's hometown to live with her Dad and his parents) starts at a new school that has no school spirit. She injects some into it with starting a pep squad and getting people to go along with her. She makes a difference but also confronts some of her own problems. Natty was charming and you had to admire her for getting out and getting things done. 3.5 Stars
Slow: Simple Living for a Frantic World by Brook McAlary
I've read a lot about simplifying and minimalism but this might be the first one I've read just about slow living. It did start with simplifying possessions, easier to live a slow life if you have less to take care of. But then just about how to really enjoy the life you have, not always rushing or trying to keep up with others. I definitely appreciated it, especially in our very busy September. 3.75 Stars
Reign by Katharine McGee
The 4th and final book in this series about if America had gone with a monarchy, starting with George Washington. This book takes place at approximately current day with the first Queen on the throne. Still trying to decide if she should get married and dealing with some rouge sibling behavior. Took me a bit to get my baring but it was a fun read at a alternative universe for our country. 3.5 Stars
Untroubled by the Unknown: Trusting God in Every Moment by Fr. Mike Schmitz
A very short book (60ish pages) based on homilies Fr. Mike has given. They seemed to be mostly COVID related and living with that uncertainty in our lives although I was thinking more or other uncertainties. Quick and easy and somewhat helpful still. 3.5 Stars
28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand
A favorite that I had read many Labor Day weekends and had forgotten about this year until mid-September. I almost skipped it this year but then was between books and flew through this, for the 4th time. I KNEW what happened but I still couldn't put it down. One of my favorites of hers. 4.5 Stars
School Trip by Jerry Craft
Middle grade graphic novel, third in the series, following a "new kid" at an elite school in NYC. In this one the kids are all split up to take different school trips, this one mostly follows the one to Paris. Maybe in NYC middle school kids go to Paris on a class trip?!?!?! My kids' school definitely isn't going there...a fine end to the series. 3.25 Stars
Read with Luke and/or Sam
Home Again by Kallie George, illustrated by Stephanie Graegin
The 4th and final book in the Heartwood Hotel series. I read this series twice through with Luke and this was my first time through with Sam. Very charming and cute. Sam liked it. 3.5 Stars
The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois
A read aloud I started with both boys on our Florida trip...in July. We finally finished it. Sam especially was more interested in it than I expected! The boys were fascinated by the diamond mine and all the balloon travel. One of our first joint read-alouds for both boys and it was successful. 3.75 Stars
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, illustrated by Garth Williams
Sam had started listening to this as a Playaway on the Florida trip but when he was on about chapter 6 and was still asking me "Who is Wilbur??"...I thought maybe we should switch to having me read it to him first...so we read this and he LOVED it. It is a classic for a reason. Just a solid book to read to a kid. Now we have the playaway on hold for him to try again. 4 Stars
What have YOU been reading lately??
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