Bucket List Book Club: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Buddy Read!
Get ready for the first book for the Bucket List Book Club!! I chose A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
If you want to join in on this book, we will be reading it from January 31 to March 1, with a discussion over on my Instagram account the following week. If you’ve already read it, come join us in the discussion! If you plan to read it in the future, the discussion will stay up on my Instagram page, so jump in at any time.
You can also follow the hashtag #bucketlistbookclub on Instagram to see other people’s posts as we get started.
Have you read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
I’ll post my review here when I’m finished, and you can also use the comments section on that post, and this one, to discuss it.
Happy reading, and may our unread piles get a little bit smaller in 2018!
The Unread Shelf Project 2018/Bucket List Book Club
If you’re like me, or even a fraction like me, chances are you have a few unread books in your house. Maybe you have a stack on your nightstand, a stack on the floor, or several shelves dedicated to those unread books. Me? I have all three of those. I started adding up my unread books, and they top 130. I don’t really have a problem with this, because I love books, but I DO want to read them, and obviously had every intention of reading them when I bought them. Luckily, Whitney at The Unread Shelf started The Unread Shelf Project 2018 on Instagram, so that we can all endeavor to read more of our unread books in 2018.
There are no hard and fast rules. This project is what you make of it. Some people are going on complete book buying bans. (I can’t do that. Louise Penny is the reason.) Some people are planning to read a certain number of their unread books per month. My personal goal is to read 1-3 books off of my unread books shelf/shelves/stacks/piles each month, leaving room for new books and books I feel like reading.
In addition, I’m starting the Bucket List Book Club so that we can read a few of these books together! (Some of these books I’ve had on my shelf for 20 years!) You can check out our dedicated Bucket List Book Club page HERE! I will keep a comprehensive list of books, posts, and additional reading on that page.
If you want to join in, go follow @theunreadshelf on Instagram and follow her hashtag as well, #theunreadshelfproject2018.
I’ll be posting about this soon, but the first two books for the Bucket List Book Club will be:
My Brilliant Friend: Neapolitan Novels, Book One
Middle Grade Review: Erasable
Thank you so much to the author, Linda Yiannakis, for sending me a free copy of this book! All opinions are my own!
Then she sat down and began to make a list of everything that needed erasing from her life.
I enjoy reading middle grade books, and when the author of Erasable
Ellie is 9-years-old, stuck in summer school, and constantly trying to avoid both the school bully and her annoying little brother. One afternoon, while escaping to the attic to get away from her brother’s noisiness, she comes across a carved chest, a mysterious notebook, and an old eraser that never seems to run out. When she discovers that anything she writes in the notebook and then erases with the special eraser disappears, for good, Ellie decides she’s going to make some permanent changes in her life. What she doesn’t know is how those changes will affect everything else around her.
I love the concept here, and I think kids will enjoy it too. Seeing Yiannakis’s version of what would happen if the things we thought we hated most disappeared for good is fun. It’s also a lesson-every time something disappears, Ellie’s life changes, but so do the lives of other people around her, and not in the best way. Be careful what you wish for takes on a whole new meaning here, and it’s a great story for seeing that play out.
While Ellie is 9 in the book, she seems older, (The story is still great for 9-year-olds, she just seems to be doing more complicated math than most third graders.) and I did wonder why the entire school was in summer school, including first graders. I believe the author wanted to play up the fact that Ellie had to take extra classes, rather than enjoy her summer, but it seemed more like the events were just taking place during the regular school year.
Erasable
What My Kids Are Reading: January 19, 2018
Charlotte’s Web
We’re finally getting back into the swing of things after a long Christmas break and a long weekend made even longer by snowy and icy weather in Texas! It’s been nice to have a real winter, but I’m ready for warmer days now.
My kids are reading some fun books this week, and at least one of them will continue on for a couple of weeks! Let me know what you’re all reading this week!
The 9-Year-Old
Charlotte’s Web
The entire third grade at my son’s school started reading Charlotte’s Web together this week. I believe the plan is to read a chapter a day at school, with kids taking turns reading out loud. I’m reading along at home as well. A kind of forced buddy read, if you will. I haven’t read this book in a long time, and I really want to be able to talk about it with my son! This is such a classic book, and while I am not a fan of the ending (Charlotte is the only spider I will ever love), it’s fun to dive back into this world of Charlotte, Wilbur, Fern, and Templeton. My son really likes it so far, but he’s seen the movie and knows what’s coming, and his sensitive soul wishes the ending was different too. This is a great book for elementary and middle grade readers, with short chapters, a few pictures, and a good mix of easy and challenging words.
The 6-Year-Old
Horrible Harry in Room 2B
I bought this book for my 6-year-old in an attempt to find a series that he both liked and could read on his own. While he absolutely loves books, stories, and being read to, he is not the voracious reader that his older brother is. Which is fine, because I love a challenge. When I saw a series about a second grade boy who creates mischief (reminds me of someone in my house . . .), I knew we had to try it. My son LOVES this book and we will be getting the next few in the series. Harry, a good, fun friend to have, causes all kinds of trouble in school and loves to be silly. This book is perfect for kids beginning chapter books and who love funny books. And if you’re looking for a series about a male character (surprisingly hard to find sometimes) for your kids, this is a great one!
What We’re Reading Together
A Wrinkle in Time
I wanted to read this to my 9-year-old (my 6-year-old half listens to it while building Legos) so that we can see the movie together in March! To be honest, I wasn’t sure if he would like it, because the book is a little . . . weird. The writing obviously isn’t contemporary, and it is solidly science fiction. But he LOVES it. Every night he asks me to read “just a little more” when it’s time to stop, and he said it reminds him a little of Harry Potter. (I think Meg Murry, the main character, reminds him of Harry, Ron, and Hermione all mashed up into one, and of course it’s quite the adventure.) I don’t remember the last time I read it, and it’s been so long that I don’t remember much of the story, so it’s really fun for me to read too. I will say that I don’t like how often the word “moron” is used, and how many times people’s looks are referenced, but it just gives us another talking point. I’m starting to do some research on the deeper meanings of A Wrinkle in Time in case there are any simple enough to talk about, so if you have any pointers please let me know!
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Yes, we’ve been reading this one for awhile! We took a huge break from it over the holidays to read other things, and we’ve listened to the entire book as well. But my 6-year-old is back to wanting me read it to him every night. Which means I have read and listened to half the Harry Potter series in the past 6 months. Twice. This will be round three, and I love it!
Review: The Wife Between Us
Read between the lies.
One of the best things about joining Bookstagram last year was getting new book recommendations. I discovered that I love suspense novels, and I’ve read more of them than ever before. When Book of the Month club offered The Wife Between Us
So this is where I would usually put a description of the plot. But truly, any description of plot for this book would ruin it! It’s that twisty! So I will just say this. There is a wife. There is an ex-wife. There is a husband. And none of them are what they seem.
I’m so sorry to do that to you! But if you read this book, you’ll understand. The book felt suspenseful by the end of chapter 1, which is always a good sign. One of the premises is that the ex-wife might be a bit crazy, and I kept wondering if she was actually crazy or if her ex-husband was gaslighting her. (If you haven’t seen the 1944 film Gaslight, you should watch it immediately. It would be a great companion watch with this book.)
The first twist (there are many) is interesting, but it made me a little concerned about where it would go from there. The second big twist in the novel was . . . something I didn’t see coming, and I’m still not sure how I feel about it. I think if the authors had somehow tied it into the first half of the novel a bit more I would have been ok with it, but I ended up feeling a bit played, and a bit weird about wanting to keep reading. (But I did, because I needed to know what happened.) And just to be clear for those who have read it or who do read it: it’s not the subject matter I have a problem with in that big twist, it’s the way it was presented. Just a personal preference issue!
I realize this review is a bit vague, but I really don’t want to spoil the book for anyone. I’ll leave it at this: If you like suspense novels with major twists that you may or may not see coming, absolutely read The Wife Between Us
⭐️⭐️⭐️
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