Category: Uncategorized

I completed my first task in this year’s Read Harder Challenge! It’s my first time taking part in the challenge (or any reading challenge for that matter), and I think it’s really going to stretch my reading in both numbers and diversity. I’m excited to see where it takes me over the next 12 months or so.

I started with the nonfiction science book, mostly because I had already checked Gulp out from the library at the end of last year. I just hadn’t gotten around to reading it yet. Mary Roach is an author of many science-related books, popular for her sense of humor and for making each topic accessible to the unfamiliar reader. I told my husband I was reading a book about the digestive system and he responded by saying, “Hmmm.” But the author really makes it interesting!

The book definitely picked up as it went along. Roach started at the beginning of the alimentary canal, in the mouth, and ended…well…at the end, if you know what I mean. She doesn’t hesitate to throw in some childlike humor (like poking fun at the real-life gastroenterologist named Dr. Terdiman), but this only shows the fun she has with researching and presenting what may otherwise be dull subjects. I plan to read other books she has written. I am not a scientist by any means, so I appreciate any help I can get with expanding my knowledge on scientific matter.

Other books I considered for this task: Missing Microbes by Martin J. Blaser, MD, On Immunity by Eula Bliss, anything else by Mary Roach

*You can find the editable form for the Read Harder Challenge (like the one I used above) at this link. I’ve also found good suggestions for each task on the Goodreads group for the challenge.

It’s the last day of 2015, which means it’s time to reflect on my reading this year! I’m feeling pretty good about my stats (see below), but it’s pretty apparent that I need to increase my goal for next year since I completed 160% of this goal! I rated most books in the “okay” range, but there were a handful that really stood out:

Did you set any reading goals? How did you do? What were your favorite books this year? Let me know in the comments! Tomorrow, I’ll be back with my 2016 reading goals and some reading challenge suggestions if you’re wanting to take your reading to the next level!

Here are my stats if you’re interested:

Thanks, Goodreads, for helping me keep track of my stats!

With 2015 coming to a close and hundreds of “Best of” lists having been posted, it’s time to talk about next year’s book releases! Quite a few have caught my eye, but I’ve narrowed it down to 24 of those I’m most excited about. I am separating them by 12 nonfiction and 12 fiction titles, listed in order of publish date. Merry Christmas Eve! My gift to you is new books to look forward to!

Nonfiction

White Walls: A Memoir About Motherhood, Daughterhood, and the Mess In Between by Judy Batalion

Batalion reflects on her own dysfunctional childhood to explore mother-daughter relationships. While I didn’t have a mother who was a hoarder or who escaped the Holocaust, I am betting she will touch on issues that complicate all families.

Release date: January 5 (NAL)

Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up has been on my TBR list since it blew up over the past year or so. While that book set the foundation for Kondo’s methods, this companion book sounds like it will help followers continue putting it into practice.

Release date: January 5 (Ten Speed Press)

A Thousand Naked Strangers: A Paramedic’s Wild Ride to the Edge and Back by Kevin Hazzard

From what I know, not just anyone has what it takes to become a paramedic on a whim, but that’s exactly what Hazzard did. He not only recounts specific incidences on the job, but he also looks at how people become their truest selves in the face of disaster.

Release date: January 5 (Scribner)

Lit Up: One Reporter. Three Schools. Twenty-four Books That Can Change Lives by David Denby

Insider info alert: I’ve taken some baby steps toward becoming a high school English teacher. In other words, I know what I need to do and it’s just a matter of finding the time to do it! Denby’s attempt to discover how to interest teenagers in reading fits right into my upcoming education on the subject.

Release date: February 2 (Henry Holt and Co.)

The Importance of Being Little: What Preschoolers Really Need from Grownups by Erika Christakis

This book also discusses education, but it interests me more as a parent than a teacher. I’m always on the lookout for books to help me understand the tiny person that is my sweet, though sometimes challenging, daughter.

Release date: February 9 (Viking)

A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold

If the author’s last name rings a bell, you may have devoured the details of Columbine the way I did in the months and years following the shooting. Being a young student when it happened, I found I wanted to understand what would make a person do such a thing. There’s no question that I will read this book by the mother of one of the Columbine killers, the proceeds of which go to research and charities focusing on mental health issues.

Release date: February 15 (Crown)

The Good Death: An Exploration of Dying in America by Ann Neumann

I loved reading Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty, and I think this book will captivate me in a similar way. We often talk about living well, but what does it mean to die well? I can’t wait to find out (and I say that in a totally non-morbid way).

Release date: February 16 (Beacon Press)

Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck by Adam Cohen

It’s sometimes hard to believe the United States ever went through a eugenics phase in its not-so-distant past. Cohen’s book puts all of the disturbing details out in the open in his upcoming history of the dark topic.

Release date: March 1 (Penguin Press)

The Mommy Group: Freaking Out, Finding Friends, and Surviving the Happiest Time of Our Lives by Elizabeth Isadora Gold

Here is another parenting book I would like to read next year. This one focuses on mothers and our attempts to preserve our sanity by relating with others. I think that new motherhood is perhaps more isolating today than ever before, and this book should give more reason to connect with other new moms who probably need you as much as you need them.

Release date: March 1 (Atria Books)

How to Be Here: A Guide to Creating a Life Worth Living by Rob Bell

Rob Bell’s sometimes unconventional ways of thinking and describing Christian principles have always interested me. I look forward to his take on following passion to find joy and purpose.

Release date: March 8 (HarperOne)

Adulthood Is a Myth: A Sarah’s Scribbles Collection by Sarah Andersen

Sarah’s Scribbles comics tend to run in the same circles as Allie Brosh’s popular Hyperbole and a Half (who is also publishing another book next year). Classifying this as nonfiction based on the (possibly) autobiographical qualities of Andersen’s book is debatable. Regardless, as someone who is no good at “adulting,” I plan to check this out as soon as possible.

Release date: March 8 (Andrews McMeel Publishing)

I Will Find You: A Reporter Investigates the Life of the Man Who Raped Her by Joanna Connors

I’m always drawn to the personal lives of journalists, having been a wannabe journalist once upon a time. But, judging by its description alone, I think this particular book is going to hit a lot of people pretty hard. I’ll be on the lookout for additional buzz surrounding this one after it comes out.

Release date: April 5 (Atlantic Monthly Press)

Fiction

This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

This indie YA offering tells of a school shooting, as it’s taking place, from four perspectives. Books tend to reflect current events and this situation has become far too common. I’m interested in seeing where Nijkamp takes the story.

Release date: January 5 (Sourcebooks Fire)

Only Love Can Break Your Heart: A Novel by Ed Tarkington

The description of this book gives just enough details to pull me in. Rocky is abandoned by his brother at age eight. The brother then disappears. Later, as a teen, Rocky’s affair with a neighbor turns ugly and a double murder shakes their small town. Wow, that’s a lot to take in!

Release date: January 5 (Algonquin Books)

Firsts: A Novel by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn

The main character is seventeen-year-old Mercedes, who provides teen guys with sexual experience so that they aren’t totally lost during their actual first times. As you can imagine, problems arise with this “business plan” in Flynn’s first novel, a young adult release.

Release date: January 5 (St. Martin’s Griffin)

American Housewife: Stories by Helen Ellis

This book is full of oddball stories that speak truths about the craziness of womanhood. I expect it to result in equal parts laughter and hoping I don’t end up like one of these gals.

Release date: January 12 (Doubleday)

The Big Rewind: A Novel by Libby Cudmore

They had me at “story about an aspiring music journalist.” But I’ll stay for the mysterious death of a friend and a mixtape that may help find the killer.

Release date: February 2 (William Morrow Paperbacks)

This Was Not the Plan: A Novel by Cristina Alger

A widower loses his job over a bad decision and is left to a life with his peculiar five-year-old son and his estranged father. Maybe reading about parents who just can’t get it right in a big way makes me feel a bit better about my occasional small mishaps!

Release date: February 2 (Touchstone)

I’m Glad About You by Theresa Rebeck

Alison and Kyle meet and fall in love while still in high school. Yet, they decide to go their separate ways to chase their dreams and only come back together after those dreams fall apart. I’m hoping I don’t get too frustrated with their bad decisions before I find out how their story ends.

Release date: February 23 (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

Kill the Boy Band by Goldy Moldavsky

2016 is shaping up to be another big YA year, which I’m not complaining about. Moldavsky’s debut sounds like a laugh-out-loud boy band stalking gone very wrong.

Release date: February 23 (Scholastic Inc.)

Alice & Oliver: A Novel by Charles Bock

Alice and Oliver are new parents, which is a difficult enough situation. But when Alice learns she has cancer, they turn their focus to her survival. It sounds like a deeply moving portrait of a marriage that I’m ready to read.

Release date: April 5 (Random House)

Thirst by Benjamin Warner

What would happen if the world’s water supply just vanished? This book is about the summer day that it does and the chaos that ensues. Warner’s terrifying thriller is near the top of my reading list.

Release date: April 12 (Bloomsbury USA)

Every Exquisite Thing by Matthew Quick

I am most certainly a Matthew Quick fan. His next YA novel (about a rebellious teenager, of course) is already set to become a film and I have a feeling it might blow up, Silver Linings Playbook style.

Release date: May 10 (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

(As yet untitled) by Andy Weir

All I know about Andy Weir’s follow-up to The Martian is that it will take place on the moon and the central character is female. But there’s no way I could leave it off of this list. I can’t wait to read another book by him!

Release date: Late 2016 or early 2017 (Random House)

I apologize for my hiatus over the past couple of weeks. Thanksgiving came and went, I shopped my heart out for Christmas gifts, and now I am recovering from the stomach flu (which, trust me, you do NOT want)!

My toddler daughter absolutely loves reading books and we have them all over the house, so it was really difficult to narrow down our favorites for this post. But I do remember being late in my pregnancy with her and thinking, “There are so many children’s books. How in the world do I know which ones to get?”

Thankfully, I got a great start on her library from shower gifts (hint: in the shower invite, we requested books with personal inscriptions rather than greeting cards and it was a great success). Therefore, my loved ones made it a lot easier on me by gifting books that they or their own children once enjoyed. Now, I feel like I’ve made it far enough in our journey to at least recommend some excellent books for baby’s first year or so. Take a look at the categories and selections below, and then comment to let me know which books your child couldn’t live without!

Softcover

What Are Little Girls Made Of? by Kids Preferred

This is the first book  I really remember our daughter falling in love with. It’s so short and simple, but the textured pictures are sweet and she just wanted to chew on the teethers and crinkly pages anyway.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar: Let’s Count by Kids Preferred

This is another teething-friendly book that is a nice alternative to the full-length board book. It counts through the foods the caterpillar ate over the first five days. This version holds a younger infant’s attention much more easily.

My Family & Friends by Genius Baby Toys

My daughter still cannot get enough of this. It’s not technically a book, but a photo album that you can fill with familiar faces. It holds up against any rough handling and keeps photos protected. She looks through it and points and names people all day long.

Board Books

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle

The rhythmic, repetitive nature of this book is a win. And Carle’s illustrations are always captivating to little eyes. I’d also like to mention here, and for every animal book that follows, that making animal sounds while reading is a must! Babies love it and some of my daughter’s first “words” ended up being animal sounds.

Barnyard Dance! by Sandra Boynton

Boynton is a clear favorite in our home, but this book was THE FAVORITE of all favorites for a very long time. Its sing-song lines about farm animals’ dance moves make you want to dance along, and the illustrations couldn’t be any cuter. Our daughter’s first birthday party theme was based on this book. Other favorites by Boynton include Moo Baa La La La!, Horns to Toes and In Between, Opposites, and Doggies.

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

I’ll be honest, despite this book’s status as a classic, I wasn’t a fan for the longest time. It wasn’t until recently that I realized its hypnotizing powers at bedtime. My daughter likes to point out the named items and it seems to calm her down after a long day.

Peek-A Who? by Nina Laden

This book takes the “peek-a boo” phrase and creates clever rhymes with bright, fun illustrations. Baby can also guess what comes next through holes in the pages. It’s not very long, but little ones seems to want to read it over and over.

Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney

Our first Dewdney book was Llama Llama Wakey-Wake, another great one, but I couldn’t believe how excited my daughter was over this particular book in the series. I think the key is being really dramatic with Llama’s emotions while reading aloud. My daughter was shouting along with me every time we read it.

You Are My Sunshine by Caroline Jayne Church

Of all of the board book illustrations I’ve seen, I think Church’s are some of the sweetest. Accompany them with a lovely, timeless song and you have a hit. It’s fun to sing this to a baby (and sometimes tear up because you mean every word of it). Also check out Church’s How Do I Love You?.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star by Kate Toms

This is my current bedtime favorite to read aloud (and my little girl loves it too, of course). You can sing the entire book to the tune of the song. Toms is another illustrator I love, especially for her hand-stitched work. And the mouse’s adoration for the little star is charming.

I Love You, Good Night by Jon Buller and Susan Schade

This is my other bedtime favorite – also starring mice! A mouse tells a little mouse just how loved they are, with comparisons such as, “I love you like I love strawberry milkshakes.”

First 100 Words by Roger Priddy

This is the book my daughter carries everywhere lately. She points at the images and waits for me to name them. And because there are ONE HUNDRED WORDS, it holds her attention for a long time (in toddler minutes, that is).

On the Farm You Might See… by Flowerpot Press and Lisa M. Gardiner

Farm animals are a popular theme in board books, but most focus on their  physical features or sounds. I like this book because it teaches each animal’s purpose on the farm (example: “On the farm you might see a horse. They are for riding.”).

Rhymoceros by Janik Coat

I have my local library to thank for this discovery. Each page spread features rhyming pairs of rhinoceroses, and the creativity in the illustrations makes me laugh every time. Hippopposites is another Coat book along the same lines, instead featuring pairs of opposites.

1 2 3 Zoo

There is nothing complicated about this book that counts animals, but it’s the illustrations in bright, contrasting colors that set it apart and interest baby from the start.

Your Baby’s First Word Will Be DADA by Jimmy Fallon

Even as a Fallon fan, I was skeptical of his ability to produce a good board book. In fact, the first few times I read this one, it wasn’t clicking. But then I started getting really into the voices I was using for each animal and it all came together, earning lots of smiles from my little one whose favorite word still happens to be “DADA.”

Interactive books

Noisy Farm by Tiger Tales

Parents be warned: if your child is sensitive to sound, this book may take some time to introduce. Our toddler cried at first with this one because the loud noises startled her. After a while, she got used to it and now pushes the buttons herself! The added textures to the photographs are a nice feature.

Bright Baby Touch & Feel: On the Farm, Baby Animals, At the Zoo and Perfect Pets by Roger Priddy

Lots of our time has been spent with this boxed set. Each book has short poems about the animals shown. You may find them so catchy that you end up memorizing them like I did after many re-reads!

Ten Little Ladybugs by Melanie Gerth

I wouldn’t have guessed how popular this basic countdown book would be with my daughter. Don’t get me wrong; it’s very cute. I think she is intrigued by the little ladybugs that disappear with each page turn! It’s a fun book to read with her.

Peekaboo Sophie! by DK

Although we never had one of the Sophie teething toys, our little one really liked this lift-the-flap peekaboo book. Each page also includes different textures as you help Sophie find her friends.

Chomp! by Heather Brown

This was another great library find. The library is one of my favorite ways to find new children’s books, and it really helps with variety every couple of weeks so I’m not reading my daughter the same stories so often. Brown’s book is really fun with it’s pull-tab chomping teeth to learn about ways animals use their mouths.

Do you plan to #shopsmall at your local indie bookstore today? I did, and the tote bag swag was a nice takeaway!