*The Hormone Cure by Sara Gottfried, MD - Listen, peeps, I don't know what to tell you other than I feel like my hormones have been out of whack for a solid few years now. I'm putting in the effort to figure out WHAT all of them are for, HOW they do what they do (in their prime) and WHY I have certain symptoms that won't go away. This is book one by Gottfried, and I'll follow it by her #2, The Hormone Reset Diet. If you're a woman aged 30-55, this might be a worthwhile side-table read. I know I'm learning a lot.
*50 People Every Christian Should Know by Warren Wiersbe - This book is one I found (amazingly!) at a big thrift store for about $3. I'd wanted to read it since I read it's sister book last year (different author) about 50 Women. I didn't like this one as much because it included too much of each bio to what the person had written in their lifetime, and the author's opinion of those books. I'd much rather have read more short stories or bits of the person's life, not just what they did in their religious vocation. I read one biography per day and learned a lot. Who knew Scotland had so many amazing spiritual men bring people to the Lord in the 1800 and 1900s?! I'd have liked to see more women included, since I believe there were only two within the fifty, but the 50 Women book certainly took care of that.
*Harry Potter and The Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany - This was the long awaited story of Harry and the gang 19 years later. No spoilers here-it's mostly about their kids and an alternate reality. It's intriguing, and because it's written as a play (going strong in London, there are literally 80+THOUSAND people waiting in line when they open ticket sales!), it's hard to get into the flow, but in the Rowling way, once you do, you breeze through the book. There are a number of spots that get confusing, and it'd be less so on stage, but then there are parts where I thought, "HOW can they possibly make that work on a stage?" Read it in less than 48 hours, in natural Potter fashion.
*Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed - This book was SO interesting. I'm not sure if I was just in the mood to read it, or if it's because of my life-long love for any type of advice columns like Dear Abby that aided my enjoyment of this book. Strayed, or "Sugar" (Dear Sugar), as she is anonymously known, ran an advice column on The Rumpus.com for years and this is a collection of some of her most famous responses. The writing is superb, the advice mostly excellent**, and the language salty. The 'chapters' are just broken up by her the letter writer/question-asker, and her response, so you can get through it really quickly, too. Some of her responses bring you to tears, some make you laugh and punch your fist in the air in solidarity, a few I inwardly cringed at. I rarely give 4 stars, but there it is.
*Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World by Kristen Welch - I can't remember where I came across this book first, but I knew I quickly pinned it to my Bookshelf pinterest board because I was intrigued. I read this book in just a few days, and it's filled with personal stories and practical advice, perfect for a 200 page nonfiction parenting book. I often see entitlement creep into one or both of my kids (ahem, one more than the other), and so I need all the help I can get in this department. It's funny because we don't have much compared to the wealth out here in the lowermainland, and still, trying to get out of hard work, complaining, and unrealistic expectations still hit our home. I especially liked the age-appropriate action items at the end of each chapter.
*Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - I was half-way through this book when I had to give it back to the library, and it's an easy read for me because it's part apocalyptic (in the mildest sense, really), and is also filled to the brim with 80s references. So many, in fact, that even I've been stumped by a few (and I thought my 80s pop culture references were pretty good!). Some people have enjoyed the book simply for that, I actually liked the characters, the satirical aspect of the cyberworld OASIS, and the writing.
Read Alouds
*Sophie Mouse Winter's No Time to Sleep! by Poppy Green - This was the 6th in the series we read aloud, and just like the others, they are short, sweet, and with very cute illustrations. In this 'episode', the gang meets a new friend, who is a nocturnal hedgehog. I definitely recommend these to the K-3 crowd. They're especially great for readers who need more confidence with chapter books as the print is large and nearly every other page or two is covered in illustrations.
*Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Rudolf Wyss - This was the abriged, illustrated version of the classic, and the kids loved it. I had never read this book before, but I knew Lukka would enjoy the hilarious adventures the family has, and all the interesting animals and items they found on the island to help them in their new life on a deserted island. After finishing this book, we of course rented the original Disney movie to go with it, as it should be.
*Mathematicians Are People, Too! (Vol. 1) by Luetta Reimer - This was a fun 'school but you don't know it's school' book to read aloud to the kids. It's a book with biographical stories of 15 different mathematicians from all over the world, and from all time periods, told in engaging story format. My kids really enjoyed listening to a chapter or two per night before bed, and although some of the mathematical theories, or discoveries were a bit over their head, I'm of the mind that it's never too soon to start learning about these men and women that will eventually influence them in science and math. I'm looking forward to reading Vol. II!
**Some advice I highly disagree with, but that's to be expected.
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