July was a busy month but I was able to squeeze in 12 books. Some of
the books were absolutely amazing and a couple books just checked
off boxes for challenges. My favorite book was The Hate U Give and
right behind it was The Lost Castle. I really enjoyed Magical Miniature
Garden & Homes and I have been trying to create little fairy homes
in my garden. It is a lot of fun.
the books were absolutely amazing and a couple books just checked
off boxes for challenges. My favorite book was The Hate U Give and
right behind it was The Lost Castle. I really enjoyed Magical Miniature
Garden & Homes and I have been trying to create little fairy homes
in my garden. It is a lot of fun.
Fiction Books 12 Total Books
The Hate U Give ***** 5 Fiction books
Night Road **** 2 YA Fiction books
The Sun Is Also A Star *** 3 Middle Grade Fiction books
When We Left Cuba ***** 2 Nonfiction books
The Keeper of Lost Things ***
The Lost Castle ****
Summer of 69 ****
Middle Grade Books
Ella Enchanted ***
Anne of Avonlea *****
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle ***
Nonfiction Books
American Fire ***
Magical Miniature Gardens & Home
Happy 4th of July. I’d like to say I was relaxing by the pool reading a good book but we have a day scheduled with family fun. A morning parade, lunch at home, playing with grandkids, grilling out with the family and of course fireworks. ❤️
Summer of ‘69 by Elin Hilderbrand is the perfect summer read. I loved reading the story of the Levin-Foley-Nicholson family as they told their story of the Summer of ‘69. Lots of historical information mixed with musical references all tell the personal stories of each member of the family. The story focuses mainly on Jessie, the youngest, member of the family as she deals with her mother and grandmother who are drinking a lot. She is almost invisible in the family as her parents deal with her two older sisters and her older brother who is drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. The book addresses many social issues of the time. I have read several of Elin Hilderbrand’s books and this is my favorite. I give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars.
This is my book club book with my CK teacher friends and I can not wait to hear their opinions of the book. Many of the teachers were around the Summer of ‘69 and it will be interesting to hear their memories vs those in the book.
“If I’m going to have regrets in this life, I’d rather them be for the chances I took and not the opportunities I let slip away.”
--C. Cleeton
After my sister and I read Next Year in Havana last month for a buddy read we decided to read part 2 When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton. We both liked When We Left Cuba better than Next Year in Havana. I think because it was one complete story instead of two separate stories.
The story focuses on Beatriz Perez, she is the sister of Elise from Next Year in Havana. Her family left Cuba during the revolution and had to leave everything behind and is starting over in Florida. Beatriz is trying to balance her new life of freedom while missing her old friends and status from home.
She is retelling her life story and the decisions she made during the Cold War as a young girl. She shares her story of love for her country and her handsome young man. She tells her of her opportunities with the CIA to revenge the death of her twin brother.
I really enjoyed this historical fiction book. It has romance, adventure, historical events all rolled into one book. I give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars.
“Plants, like people, learned to grow in rocky terrain.”
K. Hannah
Night Road by Kristin Hannah was the July buddy read for KHBCbuddyread. I unfortunately did not meet any of the reading deadlines so I didn’t get to participate. However I did finish the book today and it broke my heart.
Lexi is a young girl who has had a very rough childhood. She finally ends up with a Great Aunt who provides a simple but stable home and most importantly love. Lexi finds a best friend on her first day of high school, Mia. Mia’s family, the Farradays, embrace Lexi and treats her as a member of their family. Lexi falls in love with Zach, Mia’s brother, and the three of them are inseparable.
Jude Farraday has dedicated her life to raising to raising and protecting her children to the best of her abilities. She has big dreams for them. But senior year is upon the trio and they have relationships to work through and parties. In a blink of an eye, one decision changes all their lives forever.
I was impressed with Lexi character. To me it seemed she stepped up and took responsibility for her decision. I was disappointed in Zach he didn’t stand up for Lexi and I feel he really didn’t take responsibility for his decision.
I was really disappointed in Jude. She only blamed Lexi and didn’t seem to see Zach and Mia’s role. Most importantly why Zach and Mia made that decision….they did not want Jude to be angry and they pressured Lexi. I couldn’t believe how Jude treated her family and Lexi.
This book made me go through several emotions and most importantly made me think how would I act in a similar situation. Would I be able to forgive or would I want to punish? This is a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star story.
Magical Miniature Gardens & Homes by Donni Weber is a book I purchased on my Kindle so I could put together a Fairy Garden. It is something I’ve wanted to do since I saw this little house on a book at the library. I found the fairy house on Amazon and I found the book through Pinterest. I really enjoyed looking at the pictures in the book. The first chapter was very informative and helpful. I read some useful tips and I put together this cute garden for the side of my house. Now I need to find the perfect fairy for the garden.
“Sometimes you can do everything right and things will still go wrong. The key is to never stop doing right.”
A. Thomas
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Star book by far. It addresses present day problems in our society head on from both sides. I’m not going to say much about the topic because I feel I have little experience in the matter. However I will say that when you see the signs, Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter you can see that people are passionate about getting the message out. ALL LIVES MATTER and Angie’s book points out that our society needs to work together to solve problems…...LISTENING to all voices echoes throughout this book. My advice is to read the book!
“In books and in life, you need to read several pages before someone's true character is revealed.” G.C. Levine
I was encouraged to read Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine by Brandi @lollipopsandlyrics and her list of #newbery2019 books. Ella Enchanted is the book to read for the month of August, unfortunately my library holds don’t always line up with the reading schedule so I had to read it this month.
Ella Enchanted was the perfect book for me to read this week because it was just after putting together my fairy garden. In the book Ella is given the “gift of obedience” by a foolish fairy who doesn’t completely understand the consequences of her gifts. Ella does not want this gift and goes on a quest to search for the foolish fairy who is the only one who can reverse the spell. However this quest is very dangerous because Ella must obey every ogre, wicked stepsister and anyone else that learned of her “gift.”
“…I'm so thankful for friendship. It beautifies life so much.”
L.M. Montgomery
Listening to Anne of Avonlea was such a breath of fresh air. To be able to go back to Green Gables for a couple of hours was so relaxing. I listened to this story while working in the garden this week. Anne is so optimistic and full of life anyone can get caught up in her carefree life.
I especially liked this book because it touched on Anne’s years as a school teacher and how she felt about her students. I also enjoyed listening about the twins that Anne and Marilla agreed to raise. It is humorous to me that at 17 years old Anne is working as a teacher, volunteering in the community, raising children and considered an adult herself.
I picked this edition Anne of Avonlea from my Puffin Classic collection for the photo because I don’t like the picture of Anne. I think the eyes make her look mean and don’t know if it is just me but if feels like an unpleasant picture of Anne. Anne is always so cheery and upbeat in the stories. What are your thoughts???
“The wonderful thing about books was that they were films that played inside your head.”
R. Hogan
I picked this book last year because I loved the cover. In fact I have this book in two of my challenges for a beautiful cover, #MMDchallenge2019 and #HBTB2019reads. I was hoping the story was as beautiful as the cover unfortunately I found the story confusing at times. There are three different stories going on. I felt two were tied together nicely and the third was just there and had some tie-ins but not enough to create a story line out of it. In fact the author did that a lot she even included the short stories one of the main characters wrote.
As an audiobook this book was hard to follow. Maybe the actual book would be easier to follow. I give this book ⭐️⭐️/5 stars.
“Maybe part of falling in love with someone else is also falling in love with yourself.”
N. Yoon
The Sun is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon is a sweet book about falling in love. I enjoyed listening to this book on Audible mainly because there were several readers which helped to keep the characters straight. I was glad I owned a hard copy of the book as well because there was a couple of times I got confused and was able to go back to the book and straighten things out.
I found Natasha and Daniel to be like-able characters. The story takes place over the span of one day while Natasha and Daniel are both skipping school to go to appointments that will change their lives. Daniel is drawn to Natasha as soon as he meets her, but Natasha needs some convincing. The story bounces back and forth between Natasha and Daniel’s point of view.
I was surprised by the end of the story however I still think the story deserves ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars.
“A sailor may choose the wind to ride out of seaport,
but the wind has a mind of it's own.”
but the wind has a mind of it's own.”
—AVI
The True Confessions Of Charlotte Doyle by AVI is the book I read
along with @lollipopsandlyrics and @happylittlebirdy during the month
of July. It is a Newbery Honor Book from 1991 and considered a
historical fiction book. Although I found some of the situations to
be a little bit unrealistic.
along with @lollipopsandlyrics and @happylittlebirdy during the month
of July. It is a Newbery Honor Book from 1991 and considered a
historical fiction book. Although I found some of the situations to
be a little bit unrealistic.
Charlotte is a young girl, 13 years of age who is going home from
boarding school in England to America in the 1800's. An employee of
her father leaves her on a ship with no other women to supervise her
which was unheard of in that time period. Women did not travel on
their own with a man in fact would she even had traveled with her
dad’s employee? Doubtful!!! Once she was on the ship, the captain,
I would think would had been more responsible with Charlotte there so
she doesn’t report him to her father.
boarding school in England to America in the 1800's. An employee of
her father leaves her on a ship with no other women to supervise her
which was unheard of in that time period. Women did not travel on
their own with a man in fact would she even had traveled with her
dad’s employee? Doubtful!!! Once she was on the ship, the captain,
I would think would had been more responsible with Charlotte there so
she doesn’t report him to her father.
I did like that Charlotte took her own responsibility as the voyage
continued, however I think it would be very difficult for a thirteen
year old girl to do the same tasks as an adult man. I was
disappointed in the ending I would like Charlotte to stand up to her
family.
continued, however I think it would be very difficult for a thirteen
year old girl to do the same tasks as an adult man. I was
disappointed in the ending I would like Charlotte to stand up to her
family.
“The story we’re writing in this life, day by day,
it’s a gift from God and we can’t afford to waste a moment of it.”
it’s a gift from God and we can’t afford to waste a moment of it.”
-K. Cambron
I picked up this book to fulfill a category in the #HBTB2019
reading challenge, I didn’t expect much and I was pleasantly surprised.
In fact I was captivated by this historical fiction piece.
This story takes place over three different time periods:
The French Revolution, WWII and present day. Each time period had
a wonderful story with mystery, suspense and romance.
The story begins with Ellie Carver who is struggling emotionally as reading challenge, I didn’t expect much and I was pleasantly surprised.
In fact I was captivated by this historical fiction piece.
This story takes place over three different time periods:
The French Revolution, WWII and present day. Each time period had
a wonderful story with mystery, suspense and romance.
her grandmother is slipping away from her as she is suffering from
Alzheimer’s. One day her grandmother speaks of a past and a place
that Ellie knows nothing about. She is talking about a castle in
ruins and her past during WWII. Ellie goes to France to search for
her grandmother’s past.
Ellie sets out on an adventure to Loire Valley in France in search
of the castle known as The Sleeping Beauty. She is surprised to learn
of the castle’s history and secrets along with her grandmother’s
secrets all which lead to her future. This is a wonderful ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
star book.
of the castle known as The Sleeping Beauty. She is surprised to learn
of the castle’s history and secrets along with her grandmother’s
secrets all which lead to her future. This is a wonderful ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
star book.
“The trouble with being the type of person who would do anything
for love was that you would do anything for love.”
for love was that you would do anything for love.”
― M. Hesse
I read this book to meet two criteria for two book challenges:
1. For MMD, read a book outside your genre comfort zone,
2. HBTB Reading Challenge, genre you don’t usually read.
In fact the entire time I was reading this book I was thinking
I am checking off two boxes on my challenges.
1. For MMD, read a book outside your genre comfort zone,
2. HBTB Reading Challenge, genre you don’t usually read.
In fact the entire time I was reading this book I was thinking
I am checking off two boxes on my challenges.
American Fire was written by Washington Post reporter Monica Hesse
who was assigned to cover a five-month arson spree in rural Accomack
County, Virginia. Charlie and his girlfriend Tonya were arrested
for lighting fires, however Charlie and Tonya’s stories did not match.
who was assigned to cover a five-month arson spree in rural Accomack
County, Virginia. Charlie and his girlfriend Tonya were arrested
for lighting fires, however Charlie and Tonya’s stories did not match.
The reporter digs into the stories of Charlie, Tonya, the sheriff
and several of the volunteer firefighters.
and several of the volunteer firefighters.
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