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...