Pioneer Woman Dinnertime Kathie and I were stranded at a used bookstore in Washington for a few hours one afternoon. After I'd browsed and browsed to my hearts content, I found this book and settled down on a wooden chair near the children's book and read it cover to cover. (Sort of -- I read all the commentary and skimmed the best looking recipes :)
Stuck This picture book was Owen's Christmas present this year. And it's such a fun story that it was one of the presents I was most excited to give. A little boy's kite gets stuck in a tree and he spends the afternoon working to get it unstuck (but ends up with a tree overflowing with paint, firemen, a whale...) very silly and just so fun.
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy I can only remember one book that I've read + finished and didn't like more than this one (Of Mice and men in high school English -- I don't even remember much of the story, but I very much remember throwing the book across the room because it made me so mad!) We read this for book group and when I almost thought I couldn't make it through another page (not that it was so terrible really, just kind of nonsense?) , I realized I'd finished the book! (The kindle version said I was only at 64% but the last 1/3 was book group stuff, etc.) After talking to others at book group though, I disliked the book a lot less :)
Battle Hymn of a Tiger Mother I loved this. There were definitely some over-the-top parenting strategies, but the things that really struck me as "I'd never do that!" were really just the things that I do more of than I wish. Even if I didn't agree with her style, her intentional mothering helped me rethink my own intentions. And it was just so interesting to see inside the life of a family very different from ours.
Michael Vey (book 1) This was Landon's Christmas present and I read it first just to make sure it would be good for him. It was a fun enough story that I have the 2nd on hold at the library (for me!).
Peter and the Starcatchers Jordan and Landon started reading this out loud together and I thought I was just catching up to them to join in, but then I got hooked and read the whole thing on my own again. These are fun and silly and I'm excited to re-read the rest. (They are much more fun listening to Jordan read though, so I'm going to try to be more patient and stick with them next time.)
The Gifts of Imperfection - I loved this. It was perfect for me right now and included so many things that I felt like I should be working on. I read the kindle version and highlighted a phrase from nearly every page. I've gone back a few times to re-read my highlights and I think I want to just make notes of each topic to focus on one at a time for a little while. And I'm excited to read more of her books.
Okay for Now - This is a companion/sequel to The Wednesday Wars that I really liked. And I think I liked this even more. Although, I cried through the whole book. (And I can't even remember the last time a book made me cry!) With heartache for Doug Swieteck and all the real kids in the world with similar stories. And with tenderness for all the goodness of the characters surrounding him and for all the goodness in the world and the people who I've known and have shown such love for me.
Humans of NY Stories - I didn't get very far into this before I decided the language was too much for me. I love the beautiful and inspiring stories and pictures he gathered, but not so much the rest.
How to be Lovely - I wanted to like this, just because I found it from a fun book club group on instagram where I've loved a lot of the recommendations. But it was kind of like a little souvenir book that you'd find if you'd just visited an Audrey Hepburn museum exhibit... so maybe you'd love it if you were already really so super interested?
Island of the Blue Dolphins - This was one that has been on my bookshelf for ages and I hadn't read it since I was a kid. What I loved most was reading the afterward and finding out it was based on a true story - can you even imagine??
