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Emily C Gardner

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The Wondering Years by Knox McCoy
25 Bunny Books perfect for Spring
17 Wintery Children’s Books
A Bible Literacy Book Flight
An Epistolary Book Flight

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Thank you to @harperkids for supplying me with such fantastic weekend reading. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I’m partway through four books at the moment (not my fave reading style), but am I going to start one of these middle grades? 100 percent yes. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ What are you planning to read this weekend?

The audiobook saved this for me. Has that every happened to you? I was three chapters in to The Good House and stopped reading because it was just a bit too slow for what I want right now out of my books. When @scribd gifted me a subscription I remembered that several of you mentioned it was good on audio so I thought I’d give it another try. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ You were right - excellent narration brought this sleepy novel to life! The Good House is set in one of those historied New England towns where generations upon generations of the same families are often in contention with the new, wealthy inhabitants who buy homes there when they get sick of the city. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Hildy Good is an alcoholic realtor who discovers something about a new resident that throws multiple people into a loblolly of deceit and suspicion. The town is a living, breathing character in itself that gets pitted up against a mildly unreliable narrator and her own personal history. It’s just suspenseful enough to be a great October read without being an actual thriller. 3⭐️ (and go for the audio!)

I stumbled upon a description of Flora and Ulysses in a book about the Old Testament (the author also referenced The Vanderbeekers so you knew I could trust her taste in books) and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to read about a poetry writing squirrel. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Flora is a self-described cynic who witnesses a squirrel being sucked up into a neighbor’s rogue vacuum. After she is able to resuscitate the squirrel, she quickly realizes he’s not quite the same - he seems to have super powers. Flora and the soon-to-be-named Ulysses form a fast friendship that some people (*ahem* her mother) don’t approve of. High jinx ensue. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This middle grade, semi-illustrated novel is a Newbery Medal Winner, rightfully deserved. It’s a tender and quirky look at broken families, loneliness and friendship. Ulysses’ simple observations of the world remind readers to stop, wonder and appreciate the beauty and people around them. I loved this one! 5⭐️

When you bring a fussy four-year-old home from a doctors appointment and find this amazing package waiting for you, you don’t waste any time... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Thank you @scribd for making my weekend with these goodies. Peter Heller’s Scribd Original coming out October 22!

My kids were really feeling themselves when I asked if they’d pose for this photo 😂 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Smarter Than A Monster came out yesterday (thanks for the gifted copy @shadowmountainpub!) and it was a hit with my son, in particular. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This books helps kids take control of their fear and teaches them good nighttime habits - because monsters leave kids alone who have fresh smelling breath and stay in their own beds... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I will say, if you’re kids don’t have a fear of monsters already, this book may put the idea in their head (as it did for one of mine 🤦🏼‍♀️). Overall it was a good one, especially if you have a youngster who struggles with monsters.

Do you ever abandon good books? I was in the middle of three different books - and really enjoying each one - but just put all of them aside because my mind just can’t do super thoughtful content right now. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ We’ve been going hard at some home maintenance we’ve put off for 3 years 🤦🏼‍♀️, so all of my free bits during the day involve shoveling a crap ton of mulch, painting various things and reminding myself that I don’t have to complete our mile long punch list TODAY. So when I drop into bed after the kiddos go down, I don’t have the energy to appreciate something deep. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Enter these two books I picked up from the library yesterday. I devoured 100 pages on Flora and Ulysses yesterday (during which I laughed out loud multiple times) and am looking forward to getting lost in Boston’s North Shore with The Good House (which Anne recommended to Mary Laura Philpott on @whatshouldireadnext).

My first day of fall involved 88° weather, having to make the crust of this pie twice and a power outage that hit while this pie was still in the oven. But ding dang it, I made an apple pie (and it ended up none the worse for the 30 minutes without power). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Mentioned this weekend in stories that I was the first to snag the next installment of @karinaisreadingandwriting’s wonderful Vanderbeeker series from the library by using @whatkarireads hold method. I would highly recommend going back and listening to her episode of @whatshouldireadnext - she shares way more about being a library holds ninja there! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Back to The Vanderbeekers To The Rescue... This third book did not disappoint. I love this family, the Harlem setting, the siblings unique personalities and misadventures, everyone’s big heart and all the animals and baked goods. If you have not picked up this series, you should! I was delighted to see there is a fourth coming out in 2020.

Wilting flowers are artistic, right? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ After hearing @knoxmccoy talk about it on @thepopcast, The Dearly Beloved became my most anticipated read for the fall. I know it’s going to make me think and squirm and that’s what I want out of my books right now. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ What’s high on your fall TBR? What do you want out of your reading life right now?

Full of unique creatures and mythic lands, #lalaniofthedistantsea is a wildly creative middle grade novel rooted in Filipino folklore. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The author celebrates the art of story telling with her richly drawn world of Sanlagita, where villagers are governed by a stern and selfish menyoro and live in fear of the dangers that lurk on Mount Kahna and in the Velied Sea. Lalani takes on her dark world with a quiet tenacity that ends up propelling her on an epic journey. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I really enjoyed being immersed in Lalani’s world and am always amazed at authors’ creativity when it comes to crafting fantasy. This was darker than I expected it would be (not necessarily a bad thing) and there were parts that didn’t feel cohesive to the whole, but overall I found Lalani and The Distant Sea to be an engaging story with beautiful illustrations. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Thank you to @harperkids for my free review copy!

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