Book Club Favorite Books

I'm coming to you today with some book club favorite books.  I have loved being in a book club with my neighbors.  We rotate who picks the book, plan a monthly dinner out to eat on a date that works for everyone and text about the books + neighborhood nonsense all month long.  Our dinners are heavy on the chatting and light on the books, but we always have a good book chat in person.

Some of us buy the books, some reserve it on Hoopla and sometimes we swap physical books mid month.  There is no pressure and that's my favorite thing.  If you had a crazy month and never read the book, we are all still thrilled to get together for a dinner out.

Our next book is The Calamity Club.  I had no idea it was 600+ pages so I was shocked when this massive book arrived in an Amazon box.  I need to get busy and read.  I have heard such mixed reviews about this book.  Have you read it?  Tell me what you thought of it in the comments.  I'm excited to see what it's all about.

Our last book - my pick - was The Burning Side.  I LOVED Sarah Damoff's debut novel The Bright Years and couldn't wait to read her next novel.  And that might be part of the problem because I did not love The Burning Side.  I think I set the bar pretty high for her next book.  I read reviews that said it was even better than her first book and it just wasn't for me.  The story line is compelling - a couple is on the brink of divorce when they lose everything in a fire.  Will the fire change the trajectory of their lives or will everything continue down the road to divorce??  The leading lady April was hard to connect with.  Her husband Leo wasn't a great communicator.  Actually neither of them were.  The side characters seemed more interesting than the main characters to me and I did not love the ending.  So if you are interested in Sarah Damoff, I'd highly recommend The Bright Years and maybe wait for her third novel to come out next.

I love tracking my books on Good Reads.  It's nice to have all the books I read for the year in one spot.  I'll do a little recap of my favorites.  I adore anything by Emily Henry.  Funny Story was a good one.  Local Woman Missing was scary, WILD and I still think about it today.

Remarkably Bright Creatures will be one of my favorite books of the year.  I know.  A book about an octopus.  Trust me.  It's more than that and you'll love it.  Follow up the book with watching the movie and you'll love them both equally.  You might just surprise yourself by crying over an octopus.  I did.

Theo of Golden.  Wow.  I'm going to say this one goes in my favorite books of all time category.  I adored Theo, adored his view on life and loved to see how much he impacted the community around him.  I think of Theo often.  I'm still in shock that this is the debut novel for Allen Levi.  His story of challenging himself to write a novel and then writing one like Theo of Golden on his first try is nothing short of amazing.  I'd recommend Theo of Golden to any adult.  You'll be better for reading it.

Again, I adored The Bright Years.  You should read it!

And then you get a glimpse at my mom read alouds - Mercy Watson & Hardy Boys.  My boys would recommend them to your kids.  Along with Elephant and Piggy, Dogman and Who Would Win books.

What have been your favorite books this year?  Have we read any of the same books?  Let me know in the comments!

Summer Book Club Ideas

I have loved being in a book club so much!  My neighbors make the best book buddies.  We take turns picking a book.  Choose a local restaurant to meet at each month.  We text a little about the book throughout the month.  There have been anywhere from 4-6 ladies in our group.  We all look forward to a dinner out at a favorite local spot.  It's easy peasy.

This month we read The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff.  It was very good.  

The characters were so interesting and compelling.  You grow up with some and grow old with others.  There were tons of twists and turns and things that catch you by surprise.  You find yourself rooting for all the characters to be their best selves in spite of the things life throw their way.  Your heart breaks as they experience the effects of alcohol, divorce, untimely deaths, tragedy, miscarriage, marriage, moving, job loss and all the high highs and low lows that come their way.  It's very well written and a quick read.  It's hard to believe that it's the debut novel for Sarah Damoff.  Well done, Sarah!

So what should we read for June??  

It's my turn to pick and I need your help!  What is a book that you have read and loved??

Teacher Mom: 4 Ways to Turn Your Kids into Lifelong Readers

We love to read at our house!

Kevin is always reading several books and I'm working hard to pick up a book instead of picking up my phone when I've got some free time.  I try to always keep a book with me.  The kids love to be read to and the older two are really enjoying reading on their own.

We have some good book routines in place that I thought might be helpful to share with you.

 

1. Go to your local library or book store regularly.

We go to the library regularly and each kid gets to pick out a stack of books.  Sometimes I'll tell them to grab a certain number of books, but I usually just tell them to pick up any books that look interesting to them.  I put books on hold and pick them up for my oldest and myself.  All the kids (ages 3-almost 10) love looking through the library shelves to grab books that look interesting to them.  I don't stress about reading levels or supervising their book selections too much.  I just ask them to find books they're excited to read and learn from.

My MIL invites the kids to Barnes and Noble and lets them each pick out some new books.  They love that!  We've done this on vacation so they have new books to enjoy that week and also at home.  The kids have enjoyed both so much.  Check out your local thrift stores for some really affordable book options to build your home library.

2. Surround them with books at home.

We have books in about every room.  I keep our picture books and a basket of board books upstairs in the playroom.  We've got a shelf for library books in our family room.  Leo has a shelf down low for his books in our family room.  My oldest keeps books on her nightstand and the kids have a shared bookshelf of chapter books.  I keep my books on my desk and Kevin's books are everywhere :)

 

3. Read to your kids.

I'm always reading a chapter book out loud to my big kids.  We're currently reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate Dicamillo.  I read most nights at bedtime.  

I think kids of all ages benefit from being read to and I think every parent should be reading to their kids every day.  I said it.  It's such a fun way to bond and connect over books.  It gives you something fun to talk about and tie into your everyday lives.  Even your older kids can build their vocabulary and comprehension skills when you read to them.  We all take turns reading books to Leo.  He knows we have a hard time telling him know when he brings us a stack of books. 

Olive recently requested that we do a bookclub where we read the same book together!  So we're both looking for good book ideas to read on our own and discuss together.

 

4. Model reading.

Show your kids what it looks like to love reading.  Read books.  Keep books around and show them that reading is important.  I try to read in car line, on the patio or in our playroom as the kids play nearby or bring a book with us on vacation.  I love for my kids to see me reading and learning from books rather than scrolling on my phone.  I wish the same for them as they grow up!

How do you set your kids up for success with reading at home?

Best Chapter Books for Kids in 2023

Happy March!  Let's kick off a new month with new books!

I love reading chapter books with my big kids.  And several of you have messaged me asking for book recommendations!  These posts take a long time to put together so I'm excited to finally share my list of current favorite chapter books with you.  

I've gotten into a good routine of reading to them at bedtime.  Olive sometimes reads to Fletcher after I head downstairs and we also read picture books during the day.  Today I'm going to share our very favorite chapter books!  These are books that the kids have really enjoyed.  I'll try to give you a few details about why we love them and then I'll put my Amazon link with the description.

This stack of books makes me smile!  It's my favorite record of all the books we've read recently.  It makes me proud to see on hard parenting days and I hope these books will be books that the kids look back and remember fondly.

 1 // The Wild Robot & The Wild Robot Escapes

This set of books is so interesting!  Roz, the wild robot, is endearing, interesting and always learning.  She's very smart and she works so hard to make new friends.  She's creative and we were all invested in her wild life.  We read these months ago and still talk about them regularly.  There are sweet illustrations that help you love the characters even more throughout the books.  Book #3 comes out in September - we can't wait!!

 

2 // Dog Man Series

We are new to Dog Man by Dav Pilkey.  It's the same author/illustrator as Captain Underpants, but we like this graphic novel series better.  They're silly, are filled with sight words for early readers and both my 1st grader and 4th grader enjoy them.  My new reader feels confident reading pages aloud because of all of the familiar sight words.  These are more fun to read together when you're sitting side by side.  You won't want to miss these cute illustrations.  Everything is very child like - crossed out words and doodles for art.  There are even drawing lessons in the book of book 1 so that you can write your own Dog Man story.  There are at least 11 books in the Dog Man series.

 

3 // Cat Kid

These go along with the Dog Man graphic novels, but have more of a cat focus.  My kids love them for all the same reasons that they love Dog Man.  The illustrations and text are really approachable and interesting.

 

4 // Frindle

This is a classic novel that I always loved reading to my 3rd graders.  Nick Allen might be labeled a troublemaker by some, but really he's creative and interested in doing new things.  He's a friendly guy full of creative ideas that he likes to try out on his teachers and classmates.  Why do you have to call a pen a pen?  This was a fun one to read and discuss.

 

5 //  Hotel Flamingo

We loved this animal packed series.  Anna inherits Hotel Flamingo and is set on revitalizing it as a booming hotel on Animal Boulevard.  The hotel workers and guests are the most interesting animals.  We really enjoyed learning facts about the different animals and loved seeing what jobs they did around the hotel.  Anna is a very hard worker and loves to handle any animal challenge or adventure that comes her way.  The illustrations are darling and the whole series is so cute.  We loved the whole set!

 

6 // The Zebra Wall

This is another classic that I always read with my students.  The Vorlob family is so interesting.  They do everything their own way.  They have unique family traditions and seem to make a splash wherever they go.  Their oldest child has lots of big feelings about adding a new baby to the family.  The family dynamics are so interesting.  This story gave us lots to talk about - everything from home decor, to embarrassing situations, to things we're scared of and naming a baby.  The Vorlobs are the most interesting family around as illustrated by their family car - a retired school bus!

 

7 // Kitty and the Moonlight Rescue

We loved reading about Kitty's adventures rescuing a cat in need.  She was brave and bold and the neighborhood knew they could count on her.  The illustrations are precious and very detailed.  It would be a fun book to read side by side so you don't miss any of those details.  This book feels geared to a 1st/2nd grade audience, but my 4th grader didn't complain about listening to it.  There is a whole series if your kids enjoy book #1.

 

 

8 // Clementine

For those of you whole like silly kids, Clementine is your girl.  She's got the best of intentions, but her plans often go wrong.  She has an incident with hair cutting, marker messes and little brother troubles.  Her mom is an artist.  Her dad is the building maintenance man and there is never a dull moment with Clementine.  These are much better than Junie B Jones and leave room for lots of discussions about how Clementine could handle things differently or how she was misunderstood.  Both kids love Clementine.

 

 

9 // Who Was... Series

4th grade Olive loves these biographical stories.  She's probably read about every female she can get her hands on.  She says they are interesting and she loves to read them independently.  She is always talking about them and things she's learned from them.

 

10 // Who Would Win...

1st Grade Fletcher loves to read this series.  He's still an early reader and can use the pictures + the text to read these on his own.

 

 

I hope this gives you some new book options to read with your kids!!  Let me know if you have any questions or any tricky readers are your house.  I'd love to help connect you with good books!

5 Ways to Add Reading to Your Daily Routine

This year I'm making a bigger effort to read every day.  I am making some changes to my routines to ensure that I make reading a priority.  It usually means making the choice to pick up a book instead of picking up my phone.  It's a much needed change in my life.  I'm also trying hard to limit the amount of time I'm on my phone when my kids are around.

These simple things have ensured that I am reading more:

1. Always have a book handy - in my bag, on my desk or in my car.  

All those moments of waiting at an appointment or waiting to pick up kids have helped me finish a couple of books already this year.

 

2. Read while the kids play.

*Bonus if you have a cat on your lap.  Penny loves this set up.

We have gotten into a good routine of screen free chunks of time and I'm trying hard to make it a screen free time for me, too.  I bring a book to the playroom or to the patio and I read while the kids play.  Yes, I get interrupted a million times, but I'm still reading and finishing books.  I also like that the kids are seeing me read and asking me what I'm reading/learning about.

 

3. Read with the kids

I have a long list of children's literature that I love from my teaching days so I'm slowly introducing the kids to some of my favorite books.  Kevin reads a chapter book with them before bed each night and I'm reading to them after school.  We have finished lots of books this way.  We just read a couple pages or one chapter a day and it's so fun to have ongoing conversations about the books we're reading together.

 

4. Pick a comfy reading spot

I have a cozy reading spot upstairs and downstairs that are my reading spots.  I also have my big kids pick a favorite listening spot when I read to them.  They grab a pillow and a blanket and love to listen to a good story.  It took a little practice for them to find the perfect spot and to be able to listen to me read, but once you establish the routine, it's a really fun parent moment.

5. Need to do: Get a library card.

We used our library a lot in our previous city so I want to get back into the habit of being regular library patrons.

 

Kid Books:

1. My Side of the Mountain - Kevin is currently reading

This is a really interesting survival story that Kevin loved when he was little.

He has also read the Ramona Series, Boxcar Children, Hatchet and the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

2.The Chocolate Touch by Patick Skene Catling - the kids enjoyed this funny story about a boy who loved chocolate so much that he ended up with chocolatitis.

3. Frindle by Andrew Clements - I am currently reading aloud.  I love this tale of creativity, pushing limits and thinking outside the box. 

My books:

1. Adventuring Together by Greta Eskridge

I LOVED this book!   Greta felt like a friend telling about her experiences as a mom.  She was very relatable and inspiring.  I loved her idea of starting an adventure club and found her book to be very approachable.  She talks of all kinds of travel and adventures.  She mentions international trips, camping, exploring all the cool things near your home and totally understands what it requires to load up your young kids and go.  I'd highly recommend it if you are looking for ways to get outside and connect with your kids.

2. Awaking Wonder by Sally Clarkson

I'm a big Sally Clarkson fan.  I really enjoyed this book.  She shares tons of great ideas for getting your kids excited about learning and in the habit of life long learning.  She talks about modeling it for your kids and setting expectations in your home of conversation, learning and interacting.  It's a great read!

What are you currently reading?

Cheers to more reading in 2022!