January 2021 Book Review

 It's time for my first book review of the year!!

I started January off with a bang by reading 10 books, yay! That will definitely help me get to my goal of 100. And lots of variety this month, I love when I don't end up being my own cliche of chick-lit only reading ha. I also had a lot of 4 and 5 star reads this month and many books that will help with my 2021 goals, so it was a great month! {Remember - find me on Goodreads, I love this app!}

Kiss My Cupcake by Helena Hunting - This was an adorable start to 2021. The owners of 2 neighboring restaurants get off on the wrong foot but quickly figure out they are a good couple. I liked that there wasn't a huge relationship issue between the 2 leads - there was definitely a challenge they faced but it wasn't the traditional 'we misunderstood each other and got in a fight and now are we broken up or what' that happens a lot in chick-lit/romance. The characters were fun, the plot was cute, I highly enjoyed! Rated R.

The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abe Dare - Holy smokes. This is going to be hard to top as best book of 2021. Adunni grew up in a small rural village in Nigeria with a mother who wanted her to get an education and give herself a louding {loud} voice. She faces SO MANY hardships on her journey but never gives up. Her spirit and hope were the heart of the book, and I had ALLLLL the feels while reading it. Just phenomenal.

Know My Name by Chanel Miller - And just like that, my non-fiction favorite might be clenched too! This is a memoir about Chanel Miller who was raped while unconscious at a party on Stanford's campus. I have 1 word to say about this book: WOW. This is one of the most beautifully written books I've ever read. Chanel is an insanely gifted writer! We read this for my 'regular' book club and I took so many screen shots to capture all the powerful things Chanel said about her experience and the aftermath. This book also made me think A LOT about the pressures society places on women to meet certain expectations and their treatment when they don't. As a mother of young girls, I struggled a lot with that. And as a mother of a young {white, privileged} boy, it also made me think a lot about how I want him to behave and treat women. An amazing, MUST READ.

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Kambili and her brother, Jaja, live a privileged life in Nigeria...or so it seems from the outside. Being in their world was fascinating as they navigate having a religiously fanatical father who is viewed by the outside world as a hero but makes their private lives hell. This book was excellent! There were a lot of twists and turns I didn't see coming, and I really enjoyed it! I did feel like the ending was a bit abrupt, I would have liked a little more time with the characters at the end!

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein - This story was told from the POV of a dog at the end of his life. He looks back on his family and the trials they went through. I thought this was a completely charming story...but then about 2/3 of the way through it took a big turn and I couldn't put it down!

Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria by Beverly Daniel Tatum - This was the selection for the BFBC, and it was another excellent book that looks at the effects of systemic racism. I think every parent and educator should read this book - there was so much good information in it! It was pretty hefty in terms of content, but it wasn't too much to process which I appreciated!

I Will Plant a Lilac Tree by Laura Hillman - Trent and I read this book together, and he really enjoyed it! It's a woman's true account of surviving the Holocaust as being on Schindler's List. This book was written for middle grades, so it was a little less descriptive than I would have liked, but it was still a good book and a fascinating story. Trent said he would give it 4 or 4.5 stars while I wasn't quite that enthusiastic about it, ha.

The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner - I have a lot of mixed emotions about this book. It was such a sweet premise - people in a small town in England after WW2 where Jane Austen lived for a while work together to preserve memorabilia of hers. It was just really, really slow. The first 80% of the story felt really long, and then ALL THIS STUFF happened in the last 20% {and I might be generous with those percentages}. I loved how everything ended but wish the exciting parts could have had more room in the story! When it ended, my heart was very happy, and I was glad I stuck it out...but it was, at times, a slog.

The Duke and I by Julia Quinn - After watching Bridgerton, you guys knew I would want to read this Regency romance series. I mean I'm kind of surprised I hadn't heard of this before if I'm being honest! This has everything I love in a romance - set in England, set in the 1800s, Aristocracy, love story - BOOM! AND it's a series - 8 books! I will definitely keep reading the series.

Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer - Well. I have read ALL things Twilight over the years. The whole original series, the short stories, the story where the genders are swapped, this story when it was just a leaked 100 pages. I love the world of Twilight! But this...was not good. Sigh. This is Twilight from Edward's point of view, and it was just SO long and whiny, ugh. I did NOT enjoy being in his head - a lot of the time I was skimming. I'm very sad about this! I will say it was fun to be back in Forks with some of my favorite vampires, but this story wasn't for me.

All Things Kids

I had a random assortment of things to share about the kiddos, so I decided it would make a nice post together.

First off, Trent! This kid is 11.5 and rocking 6th grade. He's had some big changes this year.

1) He got braces! We have known for a LONG time he'd need them and have just been waiting for his baby teeth to finish falling out. Once we knew he was ready, we gave him the option of getting them now or waiting a little. He picked to do it now and get it over with, which I thought was really smart!

2) His school year has been his best year EVER {minus 2 fights and 1 suspension ha}. And he's had A LOT to deal with! In typical 2020 fashion, he's on his 3rd teacher and just finished a class-wide 14-day quarantine. He has moved easily from virtual to on-campus and has made us so proud with handling all the changes at school.

3) This one blows my mind. Trent now wears a bigger shoe size than me! He wears a size 5 in kids, which translates to an adult 7. I wear a 6! He's getting really close to 5' tall too - he's going to pass me up within a couple of years. I'm not ready!

Whose is whose? Ha!

Drew has had a lot of things going on that are super fun to share.

1) She celebrated her First Reconciliation a few weeks ago. This was her 2nd sacrament and is in preparation for her First Communion which will be in May. My mother-in-law is going to make her dress, and I am so excited to get started on it!

2) Next week Drew is starting piano lessons! She got a keyboard for Christmas, and we've been using a beginner book to start, but a lady in our neighborhood teaches, and she is so excited to start. Learning to read music is something I want all my kids to be able to do, but Trent is SUPER resistant ha.

3) After switching rooms over a year ago, we FINALLY finished Drew's room in the fall by painting 1 wall. We narrowed it down to a few colors in the spring, then Covid happened so we couldn't go buy any, and then she changed her mind! We finally got a consensus on a color {the same color in Trent's room ha}, and my mother-in-law came over one day and we slapped some paint on it!

Last, but certainly not least, Paige has had some big developments too!

1) She is 100% diaper free! After an accident in the fall set us back {only because she peed in our brand new bed ha}, we put her back in diapers for a while, but she was consistently waking up dry. We finally took the plunge again and haven't had any accidents, yay!

2) Not really a new development, but she continues to be the silliest child with a huge personality. {grin}

2) In the hopes to curb her nighttime wanderings into our room, we have Paige and Drew sleeping together, and it is the cutest thing ever.

So there's a little update on our brood. Making my heart happy every day!