Category: Books

Books

Young Adult Books 📖

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Ever since my first born started reading chapter books I read whatever she read. It started out so that I could help her prepare for her quizzes. At her old school they did AR and had to take a short computerized quiz after finishing every book. So I would read her books to help her with comprehension. I would get emails throughout the day with her scores on those quizzes and she was doing great! Then it turned into more of a parental control…. as her reading flourished the levels she advanced to included a lot of books I wasn’t ok with my elementary student reading. Therefore I would read many of the books before her or try to stay a chapter ahead of her. This way I could steer her clear of inappropriate books or be prepared to have to explain some iffy content. By the end of elementary school her reading level included books that I definitely didn’t approve of, often times sending books back to school with a note to the teacher saying I wasn’t ok with this particular book choice. Last year when she started middle school we went to the school library during summer hours to stock up for summer. I came to realize there were no more levels and many of the books there were books I had read myself and wasn’t quite ready for her to read. At this point she’s pretty good about weeding out the junk and we both can do a quick google search to find age appropriate levels. But she’s 13 now and many young adult books nowadays are read by adults as well…. i.e. The Hunger Games Series, Divergent Trilogy and The Fault In Our Stars just to name a few.

Recently I heard about Book of The Month Young Adult and I was super interested. I love that you get to choose which book you receive from new reads every month. I decided to be an affiliate and logged in to get my September choice. I was able to read a little synopsis of each book that way I can choose something I know my daughter (and myself 😜) would like and what would be appropriate. The choices were great across the board and included books for younger teens to college/adult age. Honestly I would’ve enjoyed all of them myself!

Here’s our first box:

I chose the book Frankly in Love by David Yoon. No spoilers, but it’s about a Korean American boy who’s parents are insistent he find a nice Korean girl. Needless to say he has other plans but comes up with a plan to appease his parents. I’ll definitely post a little review after finishing!

And let’s not forget the goodies that came in the box 😍 My girls devoured the cookie immediately! I haven’t decided if I plan to share those bookmoji pins yet 🤔 we’ll see.

I’m really excited for future boxes. I know my daughter is looking forward to it and already has plans to pass the books along to friends. Here’s my link below ↙️ if you’re interested in giving it a try, I think you’ll love it!!

Book of the Month YA

~Elena 📚

Books

2019 Reading Challenge Update 📚

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Summer has been way busier than I imagined it would be. I pictured lots of quiet time relaxing & reading poolside, finishing books left and right …. but it hasn’t worked out that way yet. I’ve had some time here and there, but otherwise we’ve been doing a lot of running around with camps, swim lessons, summer baseball, errands, workers at the house and a recent 13th birthday that took up quite a bit of time as well!

Needless to say I’m averaging about a book a week -give or take a few days.

So here’s my most recent dozen:

I can honestly say I really liked them all!! I’m not going to spoil anything but here are some thoughts of mine on just a few of the books:

The Looker was a quick and easy read if you’re looking for something speedy. But left me with a lot of questions.

The Silent Patient definitely surprised me. It was one of those books that has an amazing twist in the end that you never saw coming, sooo good!

My Lovely Wife was not at all what I expected!! I try not to read too much about books beforehand because I don’t want to read spoilers by accident, so this was disturbing and intriguing all at the same time. The story was so different than anything I’ve read before.

No Exit was intense because there is not much back and forth time wise. Most everything pretty much takes place in a day or two period of time. So this one was really hard for me to put down once I got in to it.

The First Mistake I was sent as a prerelease and this one is definitely a good summer read. I thought I knew where the book was going but I had it all wrong. Can’t wait for her next book!

Honestly, We Meant Well- I was sent through an Instagram giveaway and had to put on hold for a bit because I had a few library books that were only 2 week holds. But once I got started I loved it! I love seeing the points of view of all the family members and the fact that everyone has secrets, thoughts, memories and hidden agendas that the others aren’t privy to. This is my first Grant Grinder book so now I really want to go read the others!

I have a long queue at the library, about two dozen screenshots in my phone and a Barnes & Noble order coming this week, but if there is something you’ve read lately that I must read please let me know!!

I’m at about 50 books so far for my 2019 Reading Challenge, not too bad. 😊 📖

Happy Reading! 🤓

~Elena 💖

Books, Family

🏖Summer break is in sight! 🖼

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It’s that time of year again…Summer Break!! ☀️ Well …we still have about ten hectic school days to finish here in CT but we can see the finish line! As much as I love a break from the routine, I don’t love the kids complaining they’re bored, bickering and expecting me to be cruise director EVERY SINGLE DARN DAY!! So that being said I still try to provide some casual structure to our summers. My kids know they have to be responsible for their rooms, cleaning up after themselves around the house , some chores and get some reading time in on the daily. But I also like to keep their brains from shriveling up which means some learning needs to happen, but just a tiny bit.

When my oldest finished her first year of preschool her teacher gave each student a Bridge book for the summer. What an amazing and generous gift that was and it’s now been our tradition for ten years! Every year as the school year comes to an end I order my kids each a Bridge book based on the grade they finished and the grade they will be entering. Every (well that’s an exaggeration, so let’s say most) weekday mornings in the summer I will ask the kids to do 20-30 minutes in their Bridge books. When they were little they loved it and they would want to keep going and often even pull out the book during the day. As they get older and pages get harder it’s certainly more of a chore. But I’m here to help and I enjoy having my morning coffee in the kitchen while they sit and do some work.

I used to order on EBay but this year I ordered from Amazon, and they’re super cheap! Most books are less then $10.

As you can see the book is to ‘bridge’ your child from the class they just finished to the grade they will be entering. So the early activities are things they are familiar with and the book then gets harder as they go farther. The back is usually full of flash cards for spelling, math facts, vocabulary…anything that they are working on for those assigned grades. The book is divided into sections and then days. So your child can easily do a day at a time, or more if it’s easier and they finish quickly. There are even stickers in the back if you decide to review their work when they’re complete.

My kids have always gotten excited when their books arrive and enjoy doing them, at least for the first few weeks! 😂

I let everyone pick out a small basket or bin at the dollar store to keep in the kitchen for the summer. They each put their Bridge book, whatever book they’re reading, a devotional and anything else in there that they plan to work on daily throughout the summer.

This year my husband ordered for our Kindergartener through her subscription to High Five magazine. So hers was a bit pricier but she got a bunch of other fun books thrown in!

And being that my oldest will be 13 in a few short weeks 😱 and did amazing in her first year of middle school, I let her off the hook this year. But instead we’ve propositioned her with a Reading Challenge! She loves to read but sometimes there’s too many distractions, so we’re offering a little reward for every book she completes this summer.

I wish someone would reward me for every book I finish! 📚

~Elena 💖

Books

‘The First Mistake’, book review.

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I was sent ‘The First Mistake’ a few weeks ago as a pre-release to read. This was my first Advance Readers Edition and I was super excited! A few months ago I had read ’The Other Woman’ also by Sandie Jones and I couldn’t put it down, so I had no doubt that this book would be just as good. I had to table it for a week or so because I had 2 other books I was in the middle of and really wanted to finish them first…. but I was anxious to begin it.

I started ‘The First Mistake’ and had completed the book in less than a week. I know everyone says “I couldn’t put it down” but seriously that was the it. Something about her writing leaves me wanting answers. I certainly don’t want to give too much away and ruin the book for anyone who plans to read it…because I really think you’ll want to read it. If you like novels that keep you asking questions and curious to the end full of twists and surprises, then this one should be on your ‘to read’ list!

As the book started we are introduced to Alice and get a tiny glimpse into her present life. But throughout the early chapters there are sudden hints about her past and why she is the way she is today, without ever giving too much away. I can’t tell you how many books I have to put down and walk away from because they just don’t capture me. I try to force myself to push pass page 50 before I give up. If I feel like it might go somewhere but I still don’t love it yet, I may even force myself to make 100 pages. But who wants to force themselves to read a book? Not me! I hate to give up on a book, but sometimes the author talks to much, describes too much or doesn’t explain enough and I just can’t take anymore. Sandie Jones gives just enough of a teaser that keeps you curious to find answers. And at some point I thought I had figured things out, only to find out I was totally off course.

Between Alice’s husbands (yes plural, just not at the same time😜 lol) and her best friend, I was back and forth trying to figure out who the ‘bad guy’ was , and I even wondered if I was blind to who Alice really is. This book had me questioning everyone and wondering if anyone could actually be trusted. The ending was shocking and definitely not at all what I expected.

Jones’ writing makes for an enjoyable and thrilling read. I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next!! This ones on sale 6/11 but I checked and you can preorder now on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Let me know what you think! 📖

~Elena 🤓 📚