Books for Breakfast

I'm just gonna put this out there: I really need to stop buying books I haven't read before. It stinks, because there is nothing like the excitement of buying a new book and the feeling like you are getting yourself into a wonderful new adventure. But too many times over the last year I have found myself buying books with anticipation only to actually read them and wish I had checked them out from the library and saved my money for a favorite book. I think this goes along with my desire to really curate my own book collection... as hard as it is, I really want to try and only buy books that I know I will either share with my own family or read over and over again. I want my collection to reflect myself and my interests, and books that I don't love , don't really fit into that. I could go on for awhile so I'll move onto my review :) Caraval was a solid 3-star read for me. I'm beginning to wonder if I am slowly moving away from the YA genre because I found mys

I don't think I can add many more thoughts to these well-loved books. This isn't my first time reading these, but I have never completed the entire series and I wanted to start from the beginning. I just love the simplicity with which Lewis tells his stories. In my opinion this really sets these stories up as being perfect for all ages; easy to understand for children, but full of deeper meaning and adventure for adults. I am already picturing reading these to my own children and students someday. I finished the first one in less than a day so I'd say I'm off to a good start :) Stats: Completed: Feb 16 Rating: 5 stars Pages: 186

I did not like this book... now that I've gotten that out of the way :) I picked this one up because Sarah Clarkson included it in one of her recommendation lists in Book Girl . The initial concept intrigued me and I am always up for reading a good book about books. However, this one did not turn out quite like I expected. Honestly I would have abandoned it if I had realized earlier on that I wasn't enjoying it; by the time I did I was more than halfway through and it seemed like a waste not to follow through. I am glad I completed it, though. I really dislike DNFing books because of the feeling I get of no resolution. I had the overall feeling of a lack of plot, for one thing. Sometimes I thought the main plot was a romance between Miss Prim and the Man in the Wing Chair, but that wasn't entirely resolved. Other times I thought it was meant to be some kind of growth journey on Miss Prim's part, and while she did show some change at the end, it didn't feel like e

I have a bit of catching up to do so I will be posting several short reviews. First up is If by Amy Carmichael. This little book was gifted to me by a dear friend and I finally got around to reading it. This friend was the same that recommended Georgette Heyer to me; I now trust all her suggestions implicitly :) This small book is unassuming in its size but it packs a powerful punch. Included in these 94 pages are short poems about Calvary Love. All are based on Biblical and theological truth, worded in such a convicting and powerful way. Many of them I had to re-read quite a few times before moving on to truly let the words sink in. I know that I will read this many more times because one cannot absorb all the truth in these pages with one pass through. I will share one of the poems, perhaps one of the entries I find most convicting; most heart-stirring and causing of growth in me. I'm not kidding when I say this book stirred my heart in all the right place and encouraged

I am officially one-tenth of the way finished with my reading goal! That's exciting to say. My tenth book was A Jane Austen Education by William Deresiewicz. I discovered this title after re-reading parts of Book Girl by Sarah Clarkson. There were parts of this book that I really enjoyed. I found the author's reviews of each of the six novels Austen is most famous for ( Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, and Emma ) to be illuminating. As someone who has struggled with reading Austen, I was grateful to have a modernized recap of each novel; I feel a little more comfortable going into reading the novels now because I have a better grasp of what's going on. Deresiewicz consistently connects his experiences with Austen's novels to his personal life, which I surprisingly enjoyed. His main purpose in the novel was illustrating how an unlikely guy can find connection and meaning with 18th century English literature a

Your eyes do not deceive you, I am reviewing a picture book. Let's get this out of the way: picture books are books, and thus I cam counting it towards by 100 books. A book should not have to meet a page minimum to be considered a book. Yes, I am opinionated, but I was prepared because I already had this conversation with my Mom and sister! Anyways... Bear Has a Story to Tell is written by Phillip C. Stead and illustrated by Erin E. Stead. I read this as an assignment for my children's theater class. We were asked to choose a children's picture book and film ourselves reading it aloud. I had a lot of fun with it and definitely see where I can improve as I gain more experience with reading aloud. I picked this one up at my local library. It is super cute, engaging, and offers the opportunity to use different voices as there are several characters. It's got a few bits where children will probably laugh if the narrative is delivered in the right way and it could even j