Back to reading! I read a lot of places this month: in the car at a cross country meet (waiting for it to start...I took 5 books), in the car at cross country practice (waiting out the rain), at SkyZone waiting for my nieces to jump, and then also at home. But usually I only read at home or at whatever place we've traveled to! It was nice to be able to read a book those places and not just mess on my phone.
I'm very active on Goodreads here, somewhat active on Instagram here, and linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy on the 15th!
What I've been reading:
28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand
This is one of my favorites of hers and I've read it every Labor Day weekend (ish) for 5 years straight now. Takes place almost entirely over Labor Day weekend, over 28 summers, as two people are each other's "Same Time, Next Year", where they have a passionate affair for one weekend every single year. The end still makes me teary. 4.5 Stars
Heavy Hitter by Katie Cotugno
This was Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce but make it baseball instead. Like...that was the big change. It was under 250 pages so it didn't drag on, which I appreciated, and just enough time to get to know the characters, all that. Sometimes a quick read is really nice. 3 Stars
The Floating Feldmans by Elyssa Friedland
I've read many "family drama" books by this author, most of them taking place on some sort of vacation. This one was a cruise with the whole family where everyone has secrets and they all come to light over the course of the cruise. Interesting although sometimes I get impatient just waiting for all the truths to just come out. Also made me want to go on a cruise. 3.25 Stars
The Frindle Files by Andrew Clements
A follow-up book to Frindle which is one of the best books I've read and made me cry both times I've read it. This wasn't quite as good but I still teared up reading it. 4 Stars
Ella of All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
Finishing up this series and it's been delightful to read this over the last few months. This book mostly followed the oldest daughter (Ella) and her romantic relationship but in a very 1910ish way. Also stories about the rest of the family. Just a sweet, charming series I have enjoyed this year. 3.75 Stars
What Your ADHD Child Wishes You Knew: Working Together to Empower Kids for Success in School and Life by Sharon Salin
This was a bit of a drag to get through at times, just a lot of info and trying to take it all in. Not the most fun read to pick up but I really did learn a lot and, if anything, gave me more patience in dealing with my ADHD kid, knowing his brain just is working differently than mine. 4.25 Stars
The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce
This is a book I wish I had given up on about 50 pages in instead of sticking around for almost 400. First, it didn't need to be 400 pages. Cut at least 100 pages, maybe 150. Maybe I've just read too many books lately in the "we were formerly in some sort of relationship, now we think we hate each other and haven't spoken in years before we are stuck together again and will be falling in love even though we think we hate each other.". Honestly, that sums up most of the romance I've read this year and this one just didn't gel for me. 2 Stars
Tangled Up in You by Christina Lauren
Just a fun, fun take on Tangled but current day and a pretty closed door story. Not much happens here, romance wise, that didn't happen in the Disney movie. And that's a top 5 animated movie for me so this was an enjoyable read. 3.75 Stars
Women at Ground Zero: Stories of Compassion and Courage by Susan Hagen
I purposely read this in September and it was harder to get through than I thought. It was published in 2002 and most, if not all, of the interviews took place in late 2001 or early 2002. The work these women did around Ground Zero was still very very fresh. It was heart breaking and very heavy at times but ultimately these women did amazing work on a terrible day, all just doing their best to survive and help others. Women who responded as emergency workers that morning, women who worked on the bucket line on clean-up, women who worked at the morgue trying to ID body parts, women who worked at the dump where they took the buckets from Ground Zero, women covering the day for the news, women who just happened to be near. Their stories really were astonishing. I have read a decent amount about 9/11 in the 20+ years since and there were still many new details to me here. A worthwhile read, for sure. 5 Stars
House Rules: How to Decorate for Every Home, Style, and Budget by Myquillyn Smith
A hard pivot in my nonfiction reading, on 100 "rules" for decorating, where the very first rule is to break the rules. Pretty pictures and I always appreciate some new inspiration for our home, even though making any improvement doesn't seem to be in the time schedule lately. 4 Stars
The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry
Dual timeline historical fiction about the Pied Piper program in London during the Blitz of World War II. Two sisters were evacuated and one is presumed dead a few months into their countryside stay, after a disappearance next to a river. In the second timeline, the non-missing sister comes across a book containing stories eerily similar to the ones she told her missing sister during their time away. Who could have written it??? The Pied Piper program is fascinating to me and this was well told. 3.5 Stars
Read with Sam
The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo by Judy Blume
Quick and easy chapter book I read with Sam. This book really felt LONGER when I was a kid (it's about 50 pages). But he liked it. It's cute. 3.5 Stars
The Runaway Reindeer by Amelia Cobb
We've been working through this 27 book series for exactly a year at this point and just have 3 books to go! This was a Christmas set book we read in September because that's when my inter-library loan came through. Ideally we would have read it in December but I don't think Sam minded too much. 3.5 Stars
I've been reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with Luke since June. Maybe we'll finish by Christmas?? It's a LONG book!
What have YOU been reading lately?
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