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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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Sickie Sunday’s are for banana bread, watching church online, organizing bookshelves, legos and embracing my non-white house (for the time being at least 😊). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Thanks to my new library system and @imprintreads (for gifting me the second in the series), I will be immersed in a time-bending #middlegrademarch. Has anyone read The Library of Ever? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Product Description: “The Library of Ever is an instant classic for middle grade readers and book lovers everywhere - and adventure across time and space, as a young girl becomes a warrior for the forces of knowledge.”

I get it now. I’m Hundo P invested in Three Pines and Inspector Gamache. If we weren’t at my parents’ house, I’m not sure if my kids would have eaten yesterday while I consumed this book. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Now to figure out when to ignore life completely and read the rest of the series...

Books keep coming at me at just the right time. And when the volunteer who prices books takes the time to endorse it, you know it’s going to be good 😊. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Found this slim volume at the Friends of the Library Book Shop and have now been introduced to a whole new backlist of agriculture memoir for me to consume. Noel Perrin was an English professor at Dartmouth and hobby farmer on some acreage in Vermont. This is his account of building a sugarhouse on his property to rival Thoreau’s cabin on Walden Pond. His tale is straightforward and charming full of a sly, dry wit. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Since finishing this book over the weekend, I’ve bought all four books in his out-of-print Person Rural series (essays about his adventures in farming) from @thriftbooks. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Amateur Sugar Maker was especially fun because we have family friends who make their own amazing maple syrup (@arnoldsmapleproducts). More on that in stories today!

@chroniclekidsbooks #gifted // A Girl, A Raccoon, and The Midnight Moon was a mixed bag for me. On the surface it falls in the sweet spot for Books Emily Will Enjoy - middle grade, mystery, libraries... But there were enough elements that did work for me to make it less than a winner. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Brief synopsis: Ten year old Pearl was born in Lancaster Ave. Branch of the library. Literally she grew up surrounded by the books, staff and dwindling patrons of that library, guarded by Vincent, the statue of poet Edna St. Vincent Millay that looks over the library’s garden. One morning, Pearl discovers Vincent’s head is gone and is launched into an investigation that could recover more Vincent’s head - it could save the library. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ THINGS I ENJOYED: • Learning more about about Edna St. Vincent Millay. • The author’s obvious passion for the library and books. • The side notes sprinkled through the narrative. • The growing friendships among the young people in the book. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ THINGS THAT DIDN’T WORK FOR ME: • The plot lagged several times for me. I feel like it could have been tightened up which would have made for a quicker, more enjoyable read. •Seemed like the author was trying to comment on too many things. • The voice felt inconsistent. There were two specific phrases used only once that just felt so jarring to the general tone of the entire novel. •The plot contains some magical realism that I’m not quite sure I bought into. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ So, overall, not a total winner but it does represent a genre I love. Any other middle grade about books and libraries I should read?

I wasn’t planning to read any type of goal-setting, kick-bum-at-life book this year because I knew I didn’t need the extra (self-induced) pressure time get it right as we were settling into a new home, new job and new state. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ But... Atomic Habits was available on audio and I had heard such good things about it. I’m about halfway through and it’s already know I will purchase a hard copy to refer to again and again. Tiny changes seem manageable and that’s the underlying premise of James Clear’s habit development theory. One of the things I’ve been trying to implement is habit stacking - where you attach a new habit to something you do every day. I’m not good about washing my face at night (because by that time all I want to do is dive under the covers and not reemerge for at least 7 hours). So, I started to wash my face right after we get the kids in bed, before I sit down to read or watch something with my husband. I’ve been at it for over a week and my skin says thanks. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Have you read this one? PS - Swipe for the evolution of this photo. I always add in the book image later using Canva to avoid glare. Normally I screenshot the book in whatever audiobook app I’m using but the cover was super small in Scribd, so I grabbed it somewhere else. I edit my photos using Colorstory.

I love it when some good old fashioned book serendipity happens. We were recently exploring our local indie bookstore (@northshirebooks in Saratoga Springs - it’s amazing!) and I got side tracked from my original mission - to acquire a hard copy of Atomic Habits - by the wall of staff recommendations. I was tempted by a couple and then was drawn to this lovely cover with its summer gardening vibes. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Come to find out it’s the recently released second book by an author I love! Kristin Kimball was a journalist in NYC when she fell in love with a farmer and started a member supported farm together in Upstate New York. Kimball’s first book - THE DIRTY LIFE - chronicles the beginning of their love story and their farm. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I’m on chapter 3 and am equally taken by her smart and engaging story telling. And now we live only 2 hours from their farm in Essex. So grateful I ran into this book! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ What’s the last book that found you at just the right moment?

Thanks to @tlcbooktours + @harperonebooks for the gifted book. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ As an Enneagram 1 who thrives in structured environments, I’ve always been drawn to spiritual disciplines as a means of connecting with God. Sometimes they have fed my natural bent toward legalism (like if I DO this I will be holier than thou which is NOT how it works...). But increasingly spiritual disciplines have been a means of slowing down and adopting rhythms that orient me toward God’s Truth and peace. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I have historically shied away from fasting as a spiritual discipline because of some disordered eating in the past. However I love how fasting and feasting was woven into the daily lives of God’s people and am curious how that could be adopted healthfully in my life. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Eat, Fast, Feast looks like it might be a good jumping off point for that discussion. Honestly, I don’t care about intermittent fasting as a weight loss tool so I will probably skip those parts... The author does provide a 40-day plan that combines “nutritional keto sis” with spiritual disciplines that would be cool for Lent. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ What’s your relationship with spiritual disciplines? (If they are a new concept for you, I really enjoyed Spiritual Disciplines Handbook by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun.) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #eatfastfeast

This book. Many thanks to Ashley, @sunnystateofbooks, for putting it on my radar. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The Wednesday Wars made my heart ache and swell. It made me laugh out loud and shed actual tears. It reminded me that a caring adult, especially a teacher, can change the trajectory of a kid’s life. It is a testament to the power of seeing world events through the eyes of adolescents. It’s an ode to The Bard. Perfection. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Have you read it?

Admiring a lovely Christmas present from my mom (who is a 2019 Three Pines devotee) before I pack these in a box... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I am keeping Still Life out to start sometime in January - seems like the perfect read to help diffuse some of the moving stress. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ What books did you get for Christmas?

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