What's on the Book Pile? Selah Edition

I’ve had many people ask what types of books that I’ve been reading for Selah, so I thought I’d share my Selah book pile today! I have not actually finished most of the books on the list, as we read by subject over the course of the two-year certificate program. But I will add any notes or recommendations where I can!

1. Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us - I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to grow in intimacy with God. It is basically just a list of all different Spiritual Disciplines, with explanations of how to do them (spiritual direction being one of many)! I find it fascinating and have kept it on hand ever since I read through the introduction.

2. The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism - I have only read the introduction to this so far, but I’m excited to keep going with it!

3. The Deeply Formed Life: Five Transformative Values to Root Us in the Way of Jesus - Another one that I highly recommend for anyone who calls themselves a Christian. I have followed this author/pastor on Instagram for several years and find him to be very insightful.

4. Holy Listening: The Art of Spiritual Direction - I finished this book and chapter one was absolutely my favorite, though the whole book was helpful in defining spiritual direction for me.

5. Holy Invitations: Exploring Spiritual Direction - This is the book that I found most helpful in explaining what exactly spiritual direction is! If you are confused about the topic, you might find this one helpful.

6. The Deeper Journey: The Spirituality of Discovering Your True Self - This is another where I have only read chapter one, but already am anxious to continue.

7. Care of Mind/Care of Spirit: A Psychiatrist Explores Spiritual Direction - This one I found very scientific. If that is how your mind works, this might be a good read for you in examining spiritual direction.

8. The Critical Journey, Stages in the Life of Faith - I have only read the introduction to this one so far, but it was very interesting and I’m looking forward to reading more!

9. The Practice of Spiritual Direction -

10. Beginning to Pray - I have only just started this one, but find it very thought-provoking as a way to deepen my prayer life.

Not Pictured, but read and highly recommend:

Be the Bridge: Pursuing God's Heart for Racial Reconciliation
Article by Steve L. Porter “Sanctification in a New Key: Relieving Evangelical Anxieties Over Spiritual Formation”

What’s on the Book Pile? Winter 2023

I’m especially excited to share my book pile this season, because I have officially started my reading list for my Spiritual Direction training with Selah! I was happy to see that several of the books were ones I wanted to read anyway, so I am starting with those.

N.B. These are not recommendations, unless I specifically state that I recommend a particular book. This is simply what I am currently reading. If you’d like to know more about a specific book, or recommendations for you or your children, feel free to contact me. I love to recommend books for kids of all ages! You can also follow me on Goodreads.

From top to bottom:

1. Merci Suárez Changes Gears by Meg Medina. (E-book, borrowed with Libby) I decided since I love middle grade fiction so much (and am even attempting to write one), that I should read through medal winners in this age group. This book won the 2019 Newbery Medal.

2. Reading the Sermon on the Mount by John Stott. This is a book we are working through in my small group at church.

3. The Deeply Formed Life by Rich Villodas. I have been following this author for years on Instagram and so appreciate what he has to say, so I was so excited to see his book on my Selah reading list!

4. All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot. This is a re-read and is still on my pile from the end of summer! I am enjoying reading it slowly and remembering how much I loved it from my childhood.

5. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Children's Books by Harold D. Underdown. This is the most recommended book on how to write and publish a children’s book. So if it’s something you would like to pursue, definitely pick up a copy! Reading this, and joining the SCBWI, are now my go-to recommendations when someone asks me for advice.

6. Kingdom of Ash by Sarah Maas. Finally going to finish this young adult series.

7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling. Reading the illustrated version with my 9-year-old. Highly recommend!

Not pictured: The Hero of Ages: A Mistborn Novel (The Mistborn Saga, 3) by Brandon Sanderson. This is one of many excellent fantasy series by Sanderson. I am listening on Audible and enjoying them immensely. Definitely recommend if you like an easy to read fantasy.

Finally, I am also reading a lot of children’s magazines, mostly for research - to see if any of my children’s stories would be a good fit! But they are also entertaining and I know my son will enjoy them when I’m done.

I just became an Amazon Associate, because I link to books so often on my blog! As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases, so if you want the book and to support me, use my links in this blog post. Thank you!! ❤️

What’s on the Book Pile? Autumn 2022

My book pile looks a little different than normal! Usually it’s full of middle grade fiction and mysteries, but this fall I’ve taken a lot of recommendations from friends and family and so the current pile is a bit of a hodgepodge.

N.B. These are not recommendations, simply what I am currently reading. If you’d like to know more about a specific book, or recommendations for you or your children, feel free to contact me. I love to recommend books for kids of all ages! You can also follow me on Goodreads.

So let’s dive in!

1. Beach Read by Emily Henry, recommended by my cousin. A light, romantic comedy, but not recommended for younger readers.

2. For the Life of the World by Alexander Schmemann, recommended by my husband. We don’t often read the same books. But something about this one really spoke to him and he asked me to read it. This doesn’t happen often (or maybe, never before?) so I am honored to read it for him. (It’s a stretch for me and my fiction-loving ways, though!)

3. Tower of Dawn by Sarah Maas, recommended by a friend. I had started this series years ago, but they were a bit too intense for me. By the end of book 5, I couldn’t take it any longer and took an indefinite hiatus. Recently, I was encouraged to get back into the series by a friend, so I’m going to give it a go!

4. The Bad Guys (book 5) by Aaron Blabey, recommended by my son (8) who absolutely adores this series. I’ve already read books 1-4 and they are cute and silly. He is just very persistent that I finish the entire series, though (17 books and counting!), and who can resist his adorable face???

5. All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot, recommended by my church reading group. I have listened to this one multiple times on audiobook, but it’s fun to read it through again. I read through about half of them with my kids, most of stories going over their heads. One story in particular, though, hit us all where it hurts: the story of an older dog dying. I blubbered through it the best I could, and I’m pretty sure my kids cried with me. It was a surprisingly sweet moment.

6. Start with Hello by Shannon Martin. This one I picked up myself and have been devouring it. She had me hooked when she spoke of herself as a “shy, awkward introvert”, which is exactly how I would describe myself! I appreciate that this book ties in nicely with my current small group study on how to make friends and be a light in the world. I even sent Shannan Martin a note through Instagram thanking her, and she sent the kindest reply! That makes me want to read her books all the more.

7. Book of Psalms. This is a book of the Psalms with beautiful photography interspersed throughout. The way it is laid out just makes it a pleasure to read. I like to read them out loud for the full effect of the poetry. Just lovely.

8. And finally, Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard. This will probably end up in my book recommendations for November, but I wanted to read it through and savor it one more time. It has a lot of information at the end, and I want to make sure I take the time to learn and absorb it fully before writing about it on my blog!

Not pictured:

I am finishing the Manor House Mystery series by Kate Kingsbury on my Kindle. It’s been fun to read these 9 books, especially as I started them when we visited the English countryside this past August! These are the epitome of cozy mysteries.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien on Audible. This is a re-read (re-listen?) of many times over, but this time is with my son. It has been a delight to listen with him and watch him become enamored with Bilbo, Frodo, and the One Ring to Rule Them All.

I just became an Amazon Associate, because I link to books so often on my blog! As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases, so if you want the book and to support me, use my links in this blog post. Thank you!! ❤️

Book Recommendations: Back to School!

I love these two back-to-school books, because they focus on the mothers’ love for their child, and how that can help their child get through the nerves of the first day. (This reminds me of 1 John 4:18.)

We read The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn every eve of the first day of school, and we have for years now! In this book, the mother gives her child a kiss on his hand, and tells him to use it whenever he needs it during his school day. Now we give each other Kissing Hands, and my kids laugh and laugh that I can never resist “using it” right away.

Love by Corrinne Averiss is a new book that we read this year. (My son didn’t like it, but probably because it’s about a little girl instead of a little boy!) But it is a sweet idea and one that I think can help calm nerves about the first day of school. It reminds me a lot of The Kissing Hand. The idea of Love is that we all have strings that connect us to the people we love, and it is comforting to know the string is always there.

So for anyone starting school this week, or who has started school already, or starts school sometime soon, I hope you know you are so loved!

What's on the Book Pile? Summer Edition

This picture sums up my summer reading very well. Mostly a mix of fiction, from middle-grade to popular adult. There’s always a Harry Potter in the mix and maybe one or two non-fictions. As always, if you’d like a complete list, follow me on Goodreads, where I have lapsed in writing reviews, but still try to count and rate each one finished. I am also 19 books behind schedule, according to my goal set back in January, and I think that is also very telling about my summer reading (or lack thereof).

As to these specific books, I’ll discuss from top to bottom:

1. The Jaguar’s Jewel (A to Z Mysteries) by Ron Roy. This is a series I am working through with my 7-year-old son and he is very into them. They are all mysteries, so he gets excited at the end of each chapter and wants to continue reading. I count that a success! He could easily read these himself (if you are curious about the reading level of these books), but I choose to read them out loud to him.

2. Be the Bridge by Latasha Morrison. This is an amazing book about racial reconciliation by a compassionate and wise Christian woman. We read this book as a church and then came together to discuss once a week. I would definitely recommend. It’s still on the book pile, though, because I have yet to read the last few pages!

3. Bliss by Kathryn Littlewood. This was recommended to me by my 10-year-old daughter, and when she asks me to read a book, you better believe I’m going to read that book! This is not a chore, though, because as previously mentioned, I really do love middle-grade fiction.

4. This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger. I have recently joined an unofficial bookclub with my two cousins! We talk on the Voxer app about which books we are reading and which ones we love. This one came highly recommended by both cousins, so I am anxious to get into it more. So far it is sad. I hope the payoff is coming! (I think it is.)

5. The Fowl Twins by Eoin Colfer. I am a huge fan of the Artmis Fowl books (yes, more middle grade fiction), so I was happy to see another book in the same universe! Have yet to start it, but check Goodreads for it’s rating once I finish. (And read the Artemis Fowl books if you haven’t. Actually, listen to them because the reader, Nathaniel Parker, is phenomenal.)

6. Children of Exile by Margaret Peterson Haddix. I have yet to read this one, but I discovered this author this summer and have read a couple others of hers and she is so good. The books of hers that I have read I would call Science Fiction Lite (is that a thing?).

7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling. I am reading this one with my daughter and we are enjoying it together. It’s so fun sharing some of your interests with your kids and having them be interested, too!

Not pictured (audio books):

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. This book was sad and sweet and was a story of healing. And while I would recommend the book and the narrator, I do not recommend listening in the middle of the night, because there were some parts that the narrator portrayed as quite creepy!

The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riodan. Another book by Rick Riordan about the Greek gods. This one is from the god Apollo’s perspective, which is not my favorite, but still humorous and entertaining.

Book Recommendation: Spiders?!

This book is an all-time favorite in this house. We found it at the library years ago and kept checking it out over and over again. Finally I caved and just bought a copy! And guess what, it’s still a favorite! My kids are older now, but will still pull this book out occasionally and just laugh and laugh.

(I need to warn you, however, that the title is a bit misleading. I am not now, nor have I ever, tried to love spiders. And though the book is entertaining and has convinced me of their usefulness, I still feel no affinity for the crawly creatures!)

I’m Trying to Love Spiders, written and illustrated by Bethany Barton. She has some fun printables on her website to go along with her books!

We’ve also enjoyed her other books on Bees and Math, though I’m sorry to say we still do not love either of those things either.

Book Recommendation: Last Stop on Market Street

I absolutely love Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña and illustrated by Christian Robinson. It is the story of CJ and his grandmother taking the bus on a Sunday afternoon. We don’t know where they are going until the end (which is a very sweet surprise, so I won’t ruin it), but most of the book is about the journey and the community on the bus. CJ’s grandmother helps him to see the good, the exciting, and the beauty in the mundane.

My favorite part of the story is this:

He reached for his Nana’s hand.
“How come it’s always so dirty over here?”
She smiled and pointed to the sky.
”Sometimes when you’re surrounded by dirt, CJ,
you’re a better witness for what’s beautiful.”…
He wondered how his nana always found beautiful where he never even thought to look.

Can I just say that I want to be just like CJ’s grandma?

And if you didn’t believe me about our love for my last book recommendation, I snapped this picture this morning. My son and his Dino were reading about the goldfish and once again so worried about whether they got the right fish!

Even so, it’s a fun read.

Book Recommendations, Summer Vacation

It’s officially summer and I hope many of your are thinking about, and planning(!), your vacations! My pick for a book about summer vacations is Goldfish on Vacation by Sally Lloyd-Jones and illustrated by Leo Espinosa. This is a true story about a city fountain being the temporary home of New York City’s pet goldfish population! I love this one because the children never actually leave the city, but just having their goldfish go on vacation is enough to bring so much excitement to the summer!

The big question in my house is “How do they know they got the right goldfish in the end?” My answer is “They just know their fish.” If you want to know more, you’ll have to read the book!

A quick note about the author and illustrator links I’ve been including: They are worth visiting! The illustrators’ especially have beautiful pictures up on their homepages and it’s been so fun to see all the different styles and subjects. Also, Sally Lloyd-Jones’ site in particular has a lot of good resources for parents and children!

Book Recommendation, Just a Favorite

This is one of my absolute favorite children’s books. My kids like it, too, but I’m not even sure they get how clever it is. It makes me laugh every time!

If you are a fan of fairy tales and humor and beautiful artwork, you need to pick up this book!

The Princess and the Pig by Jonathan Emmet. Illustrated by Poly Bernatene.
(Check out both of their websites, they are great!)

Book Recommendation, Pentecost

To be honest, I was going to recommend this book this week even if it wasn’t Pentecost this coming Sunday (May 23) because it is one of my absolutely favorites. Not only is it just beautifully illustrated and wonderfully written, but it tells the story of the most beautifully family, of my family, the worldwide church. So the fact that it coincides with Pentecost makes it even better!

Pentecost on the church calendar marks the beginning of the early church. It is when the Holy Spirit descended on the early church leaders and they were able to tell all about Jesus in all different languages! As my friend, blogger, and writer Tamara Murphy says,

“At Pentecost, we get to act out with our everyday lives what the Holy Family embodied at Epiphany, the good news that the gift of Christ is for all people. All of the longing, doubt, grief, and the sins of the world we held up in the dark nights of Advent and Lent, all of the bright hope and relief that resurrected to life with the Risen Christ is channeled into this great movement of Spirit and Church at Pentecost.”

If you want to know what that means, then pick up this book. It is excellent, it is beautiful, and if you are a Christian, it is about your family, too.

God’s Very Good Idea by Trillia J. Newbell
(The other books in this series are amazing, too.)

Book Recommendations, Dinosaur Day

Did you know that National Dinosaur Day is celebrated twice annually, on May 15 and June 1? I guess that’s just how important the dinosaurs are (were?)! So in celebration of this important day, I am recommending some of our favorite dinosaur children’s books.

All the Dinotrux books, by Chris Gall

How to Catch a Dinosaur, by Adam Wallace

Bang! Boom! Roar! A Busy Crew of Dinosaurs (not pictured), by Nate Evans

These are just a few of the great children’s books on dinosaurs. Do you have any to recommend?

Book Recommendations, Mother's Day

Because I love children’s books so much, I thought I’d add a weekly feature to my blog on book recommendations for kids and parents, while trying to keep the books relevant to the times and season as well!

This week, I’m featuring one of my favorites to buy for new moms:

I Love you, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt and Illustrated by Cyd Moore.

Now it’s your turn, what are your favorite books featuring a mother’s love?

This book is one of my son’s favorites (and mine!) because it is so silly and so heartfelt. What could be more normal (and more beautiful) than a son dreaming up all kinds of scary creatures and a mother’s reassurance of unconditional love?

Formational Books

My friend and writer Tamara Murphy recently posted a very comprehensive list of books she’s read, and also indicated which ones she felt were formational as part of her journey. So this blog post is dedicated to her.

This got me thinking about books that I would consider formational in my own journey. And by formational, I mean they stand out in my memory as having a significant impact on developing the person I am today, including my interests, my beliefs, and my passions.

Have you ever thought about this? What are your formational books? If you don’t have any books that you would consider formational, what about movies? Trips? Other experiences? What memories stand out that have formed you into the person you are today?

These are my Top 9 Formational Books, with some honorable mentions at the bottom.

1. Jane Erye by Charlotte Bronte. This is the first book I remember reading all through the night and having an extreme emotional reaction. I cried and cried all the way through it and felt like my heart was going to explode. This is before I knew much about the kind of person I am but looking back now, I realize this book spoke right to my heart. (Enneagram 4 anyone?).

2. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. To be honest I don’t even remember this book very much. What I remember is sobbing on a plane as I finished the end (and being very embarrassed) as I realized that “someone had to die”, but the person that died was not the person who deserved it. It was a beautiful, tragic, poignant picture of the Cross. (Someday I want to re-read this and see if I have the same reaction.)

3. The Sacred Romance by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge. This is the first book I read that introduced me to the idea of “beauty” and something awoke inside of me as I discovered my passion.

4. The Jesus I Never Knew by Phillip Yancey. Again, I don’t remember much of this book. All I remember was at the end of one chapter, it hit me hard, in a way that it never had before: Jesus is GOD. I can’t explain it, but it made me fall in love with Jesus in a deeper way than ever.

5. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. My love of fantasy began with The Hobbit. Before reading this book, I didn’t know anything about fantasy literature. This book changed the entire course of my reading journey.

6. The Lineage of Grace series (by Francine Rivers). These books opened my eyes to the fact that God has loved and looked out for women through all of time.

7. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. An all-time favorite. This is one that feels very “mainstream” to me (I mean, come on, it was the focus of an episode of Friends!), and I keep wanting to not like it as much as I do. But then I read it and fall in love with it again and again.

8. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. See Jane Eyre above.

9. One-Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I credit this book with moving me out of a life of fear and into a life of gratitude. There are still many, many moments of fear. But somehow the change in perspective was completely life-altering for me.

Honorable Mentions

The entire James Herriot series
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Some Favorite Fiction
(just a few books that will always stand-out in my memory, not formational just fun/engaging/excellent in their own way):

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
The entire Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
A Cry in the Night by Mary Higgins Clark

What's on the Book Pile? Moving Edition

We are in the process of a move and it’s made me realize something… we own a lot of books! Many of them have been read and loved and kept for that reason. But there are also many that have just been kept.

There is nothing I love more than a used bookstore with a huge “cozy mystery” section. I could browse there for hours! But usually I don’t have hours to make my selections, so I grab a few that look interesting and add them to my pile.

Hence the book pile, moving edition…

These are books randomly selected from the cozy mystery section of our favorite used bookstore. My guess is that these books will entertain me enough, but I won’t feel any need to keep them. The goal was to read this stack of books before moving.

So far I’ve only finished one. We move next week.

But I will finish the pile, even if it means moving the books with me! Find me on Goodreads to follow my progress.

Oh, and that one I’ve read is “Death in the Air” by Kate Kingsbury. I enjoyed it enough to add the rest of the series to my “Want to Read” shelf on Goodreads. Read my review here.

Books Read in 2020

Number of books read through the years. I didn’t quite make my goal of 100 this year. I’ll go ahead and thank the pandemic for that one.

This year, I am resurrecting an old tradition on my blog in Januarys! That is to list the books I read in the previous year and hopefully offer up some suggestions (and warnings) to my readers.

A few notes about the list:

1. I did not link to the books, because let’s be honest, who has time for that? I think I gave you enough information to find the book if you’d like to.

2. You will notice many children and young adult books on the list. My motivations for this were twofold: One is that I just enjoy a lot of young adult books! They tend to have more fantastical and magical elements than books written for adults. I also wanted to make more of an effort to read books that my daughter (10) is reading. This has opened up many conversations for us and I hope it also shows her that I am interested in her life. Those were my initial motivations, but I have realized several other unintended blessings! In my work in children’s ministry at our church, I am able to engage with the kids on their level - from young boys reading “Captain Underpants” to older girls reading Natalie Lloyd! Not only this, but occasionally I have been a resource to parents who have children reading the books but haven’t read the books themselves. I can offer a Christian adult perspective, as well as suggest topics of conversation based on the book for the parents to engage in with their child. What an unexpected blessing from something I enjoy anyway!

3. If you pay attention, you might see that I have started a lot of different series of books, but I rarely finish them. This is for various reasons, one of which being that I tend to get obsessive, and if I just push through book after book in the series, I am no earthly good to anyone. So I usually take a break between books, and by the time I no longer care that much, I have forgotten most of the previous book and don’t have much desire to pick up the series again! (One of my goals for 2021 is to continue various series that I have started.)

4. Many of these books have reviews written by me on Goodreads if you would like more information (or feel free to contact me).

Books Read in 2020

James Herriot's Treasury for Children, James Herriot

Flavia de Luce series #1-7, Alan Bradley

The Arctic Incident, Eoin Colfer

Lizzy & Jane, Katherine Reay

The Adventure of the Dying Detective, Arthur Conan Doyle

The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery, Ian Morgan Cron

Taliesin (The Pendragon Cycle #1), Stephen R. Lawhead

Murder Most Malicious (A Lady and Lady's Maid Mystery, #1), Alyssa Maxwell

Full: Food, Jesus, and the Battle for Satisfaction, Asheritah Ciuciu

The Green Ember (The Green Ember, #1), S.D.   Smith

Frozen 2: Forest of Shadows, Kamilla Benko

Sacramental Life: Spiritual Formation Through the Book of Common Prayer, David A. deSilva

The Beautiful Mystery (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #8), Louise Penny

Misery Loves Maggody (Arly Hanks, #11), Joan Hess

Mischief in Maggody (Arly Hanks, #2), Joan Hess

The Key to Extraordinary, Natalie Lloyd

Discipline That Lasts a Lifetime: The Best Gift You Can Give Your Kids: Dr. Ray Answers Your Frequently Asked Questions, Ray Guarendi

The Glass Bird Girl (Knight's Haddon, #1), Esme Kerr

In Dublin's Fair City (Molly Murphy Mysteries, #6), Rhys Bowen

The Problim Children, Natalie Lloyd

The Return of Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes, #6), Arthur Conan Doyle

Death from a Top Hat, Clayton Rawson

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, #1), Ransom Riggs

Big Little Lies, Liane Moriarty

The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man, Abraham Joshua Heschel

One for the Money (Stephanie Plum, #1), Janet Evanovich

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1), C.S. Lewis

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4), J.K. Rowling

Erak's Ransom (Ranger's Apprentice, #7), John Flanagan

Tuesdays at the Castle (Castle Glower, #1), Jessica Day George

The Boxcar Children (The Boxcar Children, #1), Gertrude Chandler Warner

The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1), Brandon Sanderson

You Who? Why You Matter and How to Deal With It, Rachel Jankovic

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, Nicholas D. Kristof

Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters, Annie Dillard

Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living, Shauna Niequist

Surprise Island (The Boxcar Children, #2), Gertrude Chandler Warner

Naughty in Nice (Her Royal Spyness Mysteries, #5), Rhys Bowen

What Alice Forgot, Liane Moriarty

Journey on a Runaway Train (The Boxcar Children Great Adventure #1), Gertrude Chandler Warner

The Mark of the Dragonfly, Jaleigh Johnson

Rodrick Rules (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, #2), Jeff Kinney

Dog Days (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, #4), Jeff Kinney

The Clue in the Papyrus Scroll (The Boxcar Children Great Adventure #2), Gertrude Chandler Warner

Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People (Captain Underpants, #8), Dav Pilkey

The Last Mrs. Summers (Her Royal Spyness, #14), Rhys Bowen

The Shackleton Sabotage (The Boxcar Children Great Adventure #4), Gertrude Chandler Warner

The Detour of the Elephants (The Boxcar Children Great Adventure #3), Dee Garretson

Tell Me, Pretty Maiden (Molly Murphy Mysteries, #7), Rhys Bowen

The Last Straw (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, #3), Jeff Kinney

A Stitch in Time (A Needlecraft Mystery, #3), Monica Ferris

Crime Brûlée (A Carolyn Blue Culinary Mystery, #1), Nancy Fairbanks

The Khipu and the Final Key (The Boxcar Children Great Adventure #5), Gertrude Chandler Warner

In a Gilded Cage (Molly Murphy, #8), Rhys Bowen

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, J.R.R. Tolkien

Mississippi Trial, 1955, Chris Crowe

A Conventional Corpse (Claire Malloy, #13), Joan Hess

Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier

The 39 Clues, #1-7, Rick Riordan and other various authors

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (The Wingfeather Saga, #1), Andrew Peterson

Over the Moon, Natalie Lloyd

Mystery Ranch (The Boxcar Children, #4), Gertrude Chandler Warner

Guts, Raina Telgemeier

Sisters (Smile, #2), Raina Telgemeier

Smile (Smile, #1), Raina Telgemeier

Ghosts, Raina Telgemeier

Drama, Raina Telgemeier

Damsels in Distress (Claire Malloy, #16), Joan Hess

What’s on the Book Pile? Library Edition

My library book haul and my favorite introvert mug

When I take my kids to the library, I like to stroll through the young adult section. I tell myself it’s because we’re in the children’s area already and I don’t want to leave my kids alone. But the truth is I like young adult books for easy reading and good entertainment.

So here’s my haul from this past trip:

The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
I’m not sure I’ve read this Sherlock Holmes! So this is exciting.

The Girl with the Glass Bird by Esme Kerr.
I’ll be honest, I picked this book because it had a pretty cover and it had that hardly “Mystery” sticker on the spine.

The Key to Extraordinary by Natalie Lloyd.
I read this author previously based on the recommendation of my friend, Miriam, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Problim Children by Natalie Lloyd.

Ranger’s Apprentice: Erak’s Ransom by John Flanagan.
A young adult fantasy series that I’ve been reading for years now.