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Emily C Gardner

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Recent Posts

  • 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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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!
We survived the first week of Kindergarten 🎉 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I don’t have an August wrap-up photo because I’m sensing this is going to have to be a season of less #Bookstagram, but I do have some things I learned in August... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ • Physical mobility should not be taken for granted. • The Instant Pot is worth the hype. • purchasing a battery operated lawn mower that I can easily turn on and use whenever I want was s huge marriage win. • The raccoon at our local zoo is named Titan. • I am strong and capable of doing hard things but it’s a gift to have a partner to share the load. • Sometimes a new language for things is all you need to approach the job/task in a fresh, more effective way. • Mater is easily one of my favorite Disney characters. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ What did you learn in August?
Been struggling to catch up with some reviews, so here are some thoughts about a vacation read that I loved: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I’ve been reading Fire By Night: Finding God In The Pages Of The Old Testament by Melissa Florer-Bixler and a couple sentences about Jacob and Esau reminded me of the story being captured in Lager Queen. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “These lives will not be separated. They weave in and out, bearing the consequences of the past while being drawn toward one another.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Stradal explores how two sisters lives diverge and converge over a lifetime after their father leaves their shared inheritance to the younger sister. (Now that I’m typing this, I can see the huge parallels to Jacob and Esau - did anyone else notice that?) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Beer and breweries play an important role in this novel (though you don’t have to know or enjoy beer to like the story) and I’m always a huge fan of authors who infuse a novel with a topic they must be passionate about. The details fit seamlessly into the narrative and I learned a ton. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
A girl after my own heart. Things have been significantly quieter and slower with big bro in school. I was worried about her missing a 24/7 playmate, but she seems to have adjusted 😏 She brought her own books down for lunch. #raisingreaders
It wouldn’t be a vacation if we didn’t come home with a stack of new books (these acquired at a library book sale + Mom’s Lending Library). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ My son listened to 18 Magic Treehouse books (this was a huge Libby win) and we all listened to Charlotte’s Web (a children’s classic that totally holds up). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ During vacation I finished Evvie Drake, Lager Queen, Camino Island (more on this Grisham novel later) and Little Women (on audio). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It was a wonderfully unplugged vacation and we have been easing back into real life since Friday (a bit begrudgingly). Our oldest starts kindergarten tomorrow and we’ve all had an odd mixture of excitement and resignation at the dawn of this new season. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Hope y’all have a great Sunday!
If only packing was as fun as picking books to take on vacation... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I’m finishing up Evvie Drake Starts Over and hope to make good work of these four during our last hoorah of Summer before my sweet little man starts Kindergarten. (It’s fine, I’m fine, we’re all fine 😱). Thanks to the tagged publishers for a couple of these! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ How are you all ending the Summer?
Tru & Nelle is a fictionalized rendering of the non-fiction friendship between Truman Capote and Harper Lee. As a To Kill A Mockingbird devotee, I was a little ashamed that I didn’t know they had been friends before encountering this book. A biography of Lee is now one of my next reads... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Capote and Lee are some of the most celebrated American authors of the twentieth century and I love that a book like this exists - exposing young readers to the real lives of writers they will encounter in school and beyond. (Sometimes I forget that authors are real people with real lives outside of their books.) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Tru & Nelle is a sweet story with a little mystery, a little heartbreak and a little peak into 1930s life in the South. The authors note added a half star to this one for me: 3.5 ⭐️
Bookmail that comes with a crown? Yes, please. It also came with an inflatable sword, which lived a short life. Thanks @jkscommunications for this gifted book. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I don’t indulge in this affinity very often, but I love all the legends about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. (If this is you too, don’t miss Mary Stewart’s Merlin Trilogy.) I know the medieval period wasn’t all princesses and Camelot, but it’s fun to read about... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Which is why I’m excited about this YA historical fiction novel (by the co-creator of the TV show 24) set in medieval times. The Sword And The Dagger chronicles an epic journey to uncover a murder plot, set against the backdrop of the Crusades in the Middle East. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “What kind of an ass sends a lock of his own hair as a gift?” How’s that for an opening line? 😏
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