First Quarter Reading

I've been making an effort this year to read more books instead of spending all of my time reading blogs and catching up on Instagram. This is what I managed to read during the first quarter of the year.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - I read this book aloud to my girls. We've been slowly but surely working our way through the Harry Potter series since last spring when my daughter first discovered the books right before I went to London.

Before Green Gables  - I wrote a review of this book here. It was a fun read. Now I need to go and re-read the Anne of Green Gables series.

Wind, Sand and Stars - The language of this book was beautiful. It was about early aviators flying around the world and read like a travel diary. However, I didn't finish it because I lost interest.

Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner - I loved this book! The story switches back and forth between the modern day and WWII. Kendra, an American student studying at Oxford is interviewing the elderly Isabel McFarland about what it was like to live through WWII. During the war, Isabel then known as Emmy, was a fifteen year-old girl aspiring to be a wedding dress designer until war forced her and her younger sister Julia into the countryside where most of London's children were evacuated to. The main theme of the story is choices and the paths that they send us down, and the impact that forces outside our control have upon our choices. I have read quite a few fictional stories set in the WWII time period and this one was by far my favorite. And the cover is simply beautiful.

Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids - This was a great parenting book mainly focusing upon the problems created when our lives and environments are permeated with too much stuff. They had a lot of great suggestions in this book that I will be implementing.

Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking - The women in my family read this for our book club and we had a fun party to discuss it. There were tons of interesting concepts in this book, and the one that perhaps stands out the most to me is the idea that we need to "edit" when we make decisions. It made me think about how popular the concept of minimalism has become and the idea of capsule wardrobes, meal plans, etc.

The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You - This was a quick read full of ideas on how to be more productive.

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear - This was a very interesting book to read, especially for someone like myself who likes to create (mostly through my photography.) The biggest take away for me is that done is sometimes better than perfect. There were tons of other gems inside this book so I highly recommend reading it.

Socks by Beverly Cleary - We listened to this book in the car while in Oregon because we wanted to have something by Beverly Cleary and our Ramona audiobooks weren't working. Socks is an all around funny and pleasant little story about the life of a cat.

Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder from the World of Plants by Jane Goodall - I listened to this audiobook on double speed while driving in the car and using the treadmill at the gym. It was quite interesting and made me want to become better at gardening.

The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed by Jessica Lahey - Not allowing our children to make mistakes in their early years leads to bigger consequences later in life when they are finally allowed to fail. Bottom line - we are doing our kids a disservice (not showing our love) by babying them through their whole lives. We have the responsibility to teach our kids that failure is ok and is part of the learning process.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - I listened to this while on the treadmill at the gym. It was fun listening to it as opposed to reading it (like I have done in the past) because they do a great job at acting out the characters with various accents. I've always love the story of Huckleberry Finn.

The Lake House  by Kate Morton - I adore this book, despite the fact that I agree with many people when they say the ending is a little too tidy. I read this book from start to finish while we were on our trip to Oregon. Most of the time I was reading it I had the sea breeze coming through the window and the sound of the ocean crashing against the shore. Each night I stayed up far too late reading it because I found the storyline so compelling and also I was a little nervous to go to sleep for fear of bad dreams. I had previously tried to listen to the audiobook, but gave up because I got confused when the narration jumped back and forth between 2003 and the time around WWI. Set near a scenic lake hidden in the countryside of Cornwall, England, the Edevane family leads a charming and perfect life--or so it appears. When Alice Edevan's eleven-month-old little brother Theo disappears on the night of the family's big mid-summer party and the mystery remains unsolved for seventy years, the family is devastated and abandons their home and their possessions to move to London. Nearly seven decades later, Sadie Sparrow, a detective on leave from the London police force stumbles upon the house and opens up her own investigation.