Let's start with the BeSt 5 star read of the month!!
My daughter recently went on a play date and I saw this book on the shelf. When I mentioned to the mom that I had always wanted to read it, the mom said 'go ahead and borrow it'! (I know this woman is going to be a cool mom friend, and her book shelves ROCK.)
Tara Westover is a memoirist and historian with a doctorate from the University of Cambridge at Trinity College. In this book, she shares the magnificent story of her life.
I. could. not. put. it. down. people.
Tara was raised by anti-government, survivalist-primitive parents!
Her family never allowed the children medical care, educational books other than the bible, current events, and did not believe in modern anything.
The fact this story takes place in the deep wilderness of Idaho in the middle of a scrap yard, with a bipolar father, a herbalist mother, and an abusive brother just add to the dimensions with each page.
Remember the Ruby Ridge stand off? Think of the same type of family. Sometimes you see the perspective of the family but not for long.
After I read this story, I watched every interview that Tara Westover ever gave and google searched her ENTIRE family.
I've read a lot of interviews and reviews where people question the validity of this story. I was so surprised at the people who wrote "why didn't she leave?"
I'm 43 years old and have lived in the deep south my whole life and never for one second did I question this story. I also FULLY understood Tara's mentality and struggle to even think of parting from her family or their ideals.
As a teacher I know family (no matter how wrong, how criminal, how backwards) is the single most important and influential part of a child's life. You are better off respecting that from the start.
Run don't walk to get this one (if you are one of the few that haven't read it yet).
This one I bought on clearance as an audio read.
I love baking shows, so I LOVED the synopsis of this book:
Josh Kincaid has to save his family's bakery because after all his family saved him when they adopted him as a homeless 10 year old.
He finds the solution in Kimmy- the world's BEST cupcake baker with a domineering mother, a low confidence, and a bad habit of sharing her weird dreams. The problem? Josh is suppose to be Kimmy's competition and enemy.
Doesn't it sound good?
Doesn't it sound good?
Sadly, it did nothing for me but make me hungry. Normally I adore quirky fun characters but this one was WAY over the top and the audio made her voice extremely squeaky and needy.
I also wasn't prepared for the sugary overload of metaphors that came out of this one-
"I'm going to butter her cream..."
"She will frost my cupcakes if she ever found out..."
"He looks like he wants to powder your muffins..."
"He was a full fledged german chocolate cake with sprinkles..."
"You feel better than caramel frosting..."
Seriously this book got 5 star reviews!!
Maybe your "tastes" will differ but don't get a toothache from all those metaphors.
This is a 5 book mystery set that was on sale via Chirp!
I went through the first one and bought the other four.
If I'm following a book on audio it has to be something with a pretty simple plot, otherwise I'm hitting the rewind button every minute because I get lost in thought.
I'm already on the third with this series.
Meet Maggie Gerber who leads the "Good Buy Girls", a group of women who love good deals and big fun.
Maggie lives in small town St. Stanley, Virginia and is moving into her 'empty nest' phase of life. Things are going along smoothly when there is a MURDAH and her good friend (the sweet librarian) is accused! (dun..dun...dun)
Maggie uses her same take charge approach with solving crimes that she does with getting good buys. (I loved the Tasty Freeze Lawyer too.)
The best part is when her old flame enters the picture by becoming the new sheriff (he sounds pretty cute). Maggie thinks he is doing a terrible job and tells him about it. Lots of fabulous tension between Maggie and the sheriff.
Of course Maggie has to swoop in and start solving the crime with her price slashing friends. They have the total Girl Squad thing going and fully support Maggie every time the town's mean girl (Summer) tries to take a bite out of her while she takes a bite out of crime.
These books are also pretty PG, so you don't have to worry about playing these while making dinner.
I read this with my middle school reading group as part of my intervention stations. I love books that have lower reading levels but adult concepts (but don't worry, not too adult).
This book lends itself to a lot of upper level discussion.
Meet 11 year old Ellie.
Ellie is going through typical girl growing pains. She and her mom are totally different, her best friend has found a new group, and her parents are divorced...
Oh yeah, AND her grandfather is a genius scientist who turned himself into a teenage boy.
There were so many funny moments partnered with serious moments. The thing that I really liked is that everyone in Ellie's family loved and supported her and each other. Just because a family is divorced or different doesn't mean everyone can't put the child first!
I also adored the way Ellie and her grandfather grew closer together, and he helped Ellie discover that she too was a scientist. The part about Ellie's grandmother literally brought me to tears because grandpa loved her so much.
This book challenges the concept that "younger is better" and Ellie learns to stand on her two feet. When she found her voice it was awesome. During the time I was reading this book, my own 9 year old was struggling to find her place in school and I really understood Ellie. I agree with the message in this story that sometimes you have to step back to let your child step forward.
I'm already on some February reads. I'm trying to step outside my typical genre. See ya next month.
