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.

Summer Reading, A Recap

I read a fair amount of books this summer despite the fact that I always wish that I had time to read more. Some were new to me, some were repeats being read aloud to my five year-old for the first time. I enjoyed all of them, although a few stand out as notably exceptional.

The Royal We  by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan - I LOVED this book. I read it while in San Diego and it was impossible for me to put down. The storyline was compelling and I just kept wanting to know more. I am still wanting to read more, despite the fact that the story is over. The basic plot of the story follows a similar storyline to the courtship of Prince William and Princess Kate. The protagonist in this story is an American girl named Bex,and while there are many similarities to the real royal couple, there are several aspects of the story that don't fit with the life of William and Katherine which make the story similar but different enough that there is room for suspense and guessing. One of the most interesting themes of the book is the theme of all that one has to be willing to give up and/or accept when they are in love with someone of fame/responsibility.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty - I just finished this book and it was very compelling and relatable. It follows the story of a murder at a school trivia-night and all of the events leading up to it. The parents that the story follows are parents of new Kindergartners. I started this book the week my daughter started school (not realizing at the time that this is what the story would be about) and it made me laugh in parts because of the current realities of starting this whole school stuff.

Slim By Design by Brian Wansink - A very interesting read. There were scorecards throughout the book so that you could track how you were doing. I loved that it made me think more about the reasons behind why things are sold in smaller packages, why buffets are set up in certain ways, etc. I also love that the book pointed out useful strategies.

Mindless Eating, Why We Eat More Than We Think by Brian Wansink - This book was written in similar fashion to Slim By Design and there are parts where the details overlap. Also a great read, although if I had to pick one I would pick Slim By Design to read.

Delancey: A Man, A Woman, A Restaurant, A Marriage by Molly Wizenberg - A very fascinating autobiographical sort of book about the beginning of a popular pizza joint named Delancey. I had never thought about all of the details that go into making a restaurant success full, nor had I ever realized that I would care to know such details, but it really was a fascinating book and I would highly recommend reading it. I also loved that there were recipes interspersed throughout the book.

One Plus One by Jojo Moyes - I read this book while we were on a vacation because I had heard it was a good "wanderlust" themed book. In the story a single mom and her kids travel to Scotland with a complete stranger, a very wealthy one (who's life has started to fall apart) to help the lady's youngest daughter participate in a math contest. The hope is that she will win and earn a scholarship to attend a prestigious math school. This was also a very good read.

Veronica Mars: Mr. Kiss and Tell by Rob Thomas - Mindless, easy summer reading. I loved the tv show Veronica Mars so of course I have to read the novels that have started to come out. Although I wouldn't say the writing is amazing, it is an interesting read.

Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill: A Brief Account of a Long Life by Gretchen Rubin - This was a fascinating book. I love that she considered Churchill from so many different angles and points of view. So many people forget to question the things that they read, looking for bias and deciding for themselves what is fact and what is opinion. I love that Gretchen points those things out and tries to look at every aspect from multiple angles to paint her own picture of who the thinks Churchill was as a man, a leader, a husband/father/son, etc.

Blackmore by Julia Donaldson - I was very sick for a few days and all I could do was lay in bed and try very unsuccessfully to sleep. While I was laying there I listened to this as a book on tape. It was a sweet story and fun to listen to, although I don't think modern takes on the Jane Austen style romances will ever quite match.

The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley - A very fascinating fictional novel about children refugees in the countryside of England during WWII. While it is historical fiction, the details are well researched and it is a new perspective on WWII. Read it, you won't regret it! It is a young adult novel so a very quick read.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo - I thought that this book was pretty interesting, although I am rather glad I read it during my week in a condominium so that I didn't get the urge to start tearing into stuff and decluttering. I think there were quite a few good pointers in the book but I think I would actually have to apply the concepts before I can decide whether it is realistic and the best approach. I have read a lot of cleaning, decluttering, and organizing books in the last few years and I'm not sure which ones I would say are the best.

The Betsy Tacy Treasury: The First Four Books (including: Betsy-Tacy; Betsy, Tacy, and Tib; Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill; and Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown) by Maud Hart Lovelace - My daughter got these books for her birthday and we read them aloud to her. The whole family LOVED THEM. The books are so relatable and funny. I was a huge Little House on the Prairie fan as a kid and these stories sort of reminded me of those. The girls in these books are spunky and just so much fun.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling - My five year-old is obsessed with Harry Potter so we are reading these aloud. No explanation needed because of course everyone should read Harry Potter at least once in their life. (Hint to my husband who still refuses.)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets  by JK Rowling

I also started the book Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande but I had several other books waiting to be read and so I ran out of time. The first 50 pages were very interesting, although I am in a bit of a light/fun/fiction phase right now because of it being summer. Perhaps I will try this again in the fall or winter.