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A Matilda comp is usually, for me, a must-read. However, I got busy this year, so even though this was published in March 2023, and was nominated for Capitol Choices, I did not get around to it until November 2023. Whoops! I’m here now, rectifying that. I genuinely enjoyed reading this book, but the Matilda-esque…

I love a good children’s book that treats kids like the weird, brilliant people they are. Bea Wolf is just that. Is it for every child? Absolutely not. Is there big parental appeal? Yes, but a a former English major, I’m also amazed at what this book was able to accomplish! This is a graphic…

A major priority of mine during this fun period of “Free Reading” as I’ll call it is working through the titles I’ve collected over the past 2-3 years that I wanted to read but simply never had the time to, or frankly the interest, in many cases. A lot of those are YA and adult…

I love a good Days of the Week series—and I like Megan Dowd Lambert’s work on the Whole Book approach, so finding this new easy reader series was a real treat! April and Mae are two best friends with a dog and cat who are best friends, and each day they have their routine or…

Dawn Quigley is back with a third Jo Jo Makoons early chapter book, and this one is perfect for reading as the weather gets colder and you dream of snowy days curled up inside. Rambunctious Jo Jo and her beloved cat, Mimi, are learning about what it means to be healthy: eating healthy foods, getting…

WE ARE BACK, baby! Out of a reading slump, back into mostly purely pleasure reading, and back on the wagon, so to speak. October ties May 2023 for my highest reading months of the year: 72 titles! As always, keep in mind that includes picture books, but it’s important for me to track those as…

As my award committee work came to an end, I got very very excited about reading some backlist titles, plowing through a good book again, and reading a lot of the older books taking up space on my shelves that I swore I was “going to get too soon.” Enter: Alice Austen Lived Here by…

The year is almost over, and there are still a lot of great books coming out this year that I haven’t gotten my hands on yet. Now that my award committee is winding down, I have a lot more flexibility in what I read, but also so much catching up to do! The Manor House…

I am so so so excited to announce that the blood sweat and tears I’ve been giving to a book award committee has come to fruition! The LONGLIST of the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction is HERE. I read and read and read and read and now the best 45 titles…

As someone who completely devoured and loved the first My Lady Jane novel, I was enthralled to see The Plot to Kill the Queen by Deborah Hopkinson come across my desk. Part theatre, part history mystery, with remnants of My Lady Jane and the Midwife’s Apprentice, I was game! Emilia Bassano is a court girl,…

Q3…is over. My hopes and goals for the year…almost over as well. September 2023 was one of my WORST reading months of the year, because I felt like I didn’t have time to finish any of the books I started and didn’t absolutely enjoy, but I also went whole days without opening a novel because…