Good Reads: Several Must Own Books

I haven't done a good reads post since October which means I have a lot to catch you all up on!  Plenty of good books to recommend to you.

Let's start with BOOKS for Adults:

Make Something Good Today
By Erin & Ben Napier
I love the show HomeTown with Erin and Ben Napier.  It's set in a small town in Mississippi.  The show is so charming.  Every episode makes me miss living in the South.  I love their style on a budget and that they have built a creative team of their friends and neighbors in Laurel, MS.  I just knew I'd love their memoir.  I was right.  It is full of pictures, handwritten notes, stories and inspiration that will leave you wanting to make something beautiful.

Erin & Ben's life stories are very interesting, but their love story is the most compelling part of the book.  They are such a sweet couple.  They both take turns writing back and forth throughout the whole book.  They give lots of behind the scenes glimpses of their real life outside of the show and insider tips of what it's really like to film their show.  Their marriage is filled with tender moments, sweet traditions and the way they have built their business is admirable.  They are the kind of down to earth couple that you'd love to be best friends with.  They are new parents and their business is booming.  I'd highly recommend this book for some creative inspiration for anything you're interested in doing or for a sweet love story.

It's Not Supposed to Be This Way:
Finding unexpected strength when disappointments leave you shattered
By Lysa Terkeurst
I've read several of Lysa Terkeurst's books over the years so I am always curious when a new one comes out.  I was especially intrigued by this one because if you follow Lysa's life much you know that she has gone through a ton of hard things recently - healthy, family, marriage and more.  I hated to see her going through all that suffering.  As you read the pages of It's Not Supposed to Be This Way you'll feel all the emotions she felt during this hard season.  She wrote this book as she was navigating her own personal storms.  You can feel that raw, unfiltered vibe throughout the whole book.  You know that she knows what it's like to really struggle and she still finds a way to encourage others in the midst of it.

The book is written in a way that would be perfect for a Bible Study or small group.  There are statements to cling to, scripture to reference, reflection questions and prayers at the end of each chapter.  I would have enjoyed discussing this book with a group of women.  I'd highly recommend this book to anyone that has gone through hard times or is currently in the middle of them.  Lysa would be a good friend to all of them.

Illustrated Faith Bible Book Tabs
from Amazon
I am really excited about this set of Bible book tabs.  I think they're adorable, add some cute color to my Bible and my real excitement comes from the hope that they'll make my Bible more readable.  It took me about 30 minutes to put them on my Bible and they seem really durable.  They're a pretty reminder on my desk every day to open up my Bible.  I have always been a little embarrassed about not knowing exactly where every single book of the Bible is located and now I have no excuse.  Just use these cute tabs and get busy reading!  We're studying the book of Judges at church and I'm hoping to get into a good routine with my daily quiet time.

BOOKS for Kids:
I've been trying to read more adult books, but the truth is, I spend a ton of time reading children's books to my kids.  They love to sit and read.  We try to do official book club every day where the three of us each pick out a couple of books and then we read them together.  Olive has started asking to read a little so that's a fun development.  She's also memorized most of our board books so she will sit down with Fletcher and retell the stories she's heard so many times.  They both love it.

Super Pooper and Whizz Kid Potty Power!
By Eunice Moyle and Sabrina Moyle
I was skeptical about this book being an effective potty training aide, but I was WRONG.  My son (and fully potty trained daughter) LOVE it.  It's funny, clever and the illustrations are wonderful.  It's a really cute book with tons of potty references and explanations.  It is perfect for boys AND girls.  It shows both genders and addresses things for both kids unlike many potty training books.  The book addresses everything from bathroom routines, hand washing, accidents and big kid underwear.  You finish the book feeling like a potty superhero to your family when you've successfully gone to the bathroom.  It's really sweet and one I think we'll add to our home library since we are in the trenches of potty training.

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons
By Eric Litwin
Pete the Cat first won our heart with Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes.  His lyrics are so catchy that everyone will be singing along.  He teaches colors in the white shoes book and then we're working on simple counting and subtraction in the four groovy buttons book.  It's great to read aloud and will make you love Pete the Cat even more than you already do. 

Fancy Nancy
By Jane O'Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser
My five year old daughter loves Fancy Nancy.  She loves her french words, the new vocabulary she teaches and how everything Fancy Nancy touches turns fancy.  The illustrations are so detailed and over the top fancy.  Nancy has great ideas and big feelings.  Her stories are really relatable to the 5-7 year old girl audience.  They fun, funny and easy to read.  Good thing there are tons of them!

A Sick Day for Amos McGee
By Philip C Stead
I picked this book up in a Scholastic book order and saved it for a sick day.  It's such a sweet story about friendship and caring for others.  It's a Caldecott award winning book so it is no surprise that the illustrations are really charming.  There's tons to talk about on each page and each character has a personality of its own.  We have read this one again and again.





What are you reading right now??
I'd love to hear about it.

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