Bookish Links- May 2024

May new releases I'm excited about: The British Booksellers // My Dearest Bea // Night Falls on Predicament Avenue 

Booktrovert- that's me

For those who struggle to fit in Bible reading, have you ever considered listening to the Bible instead? 

Then again- don't give up on physical Bibles 

A few fun bookstore finds from the last couple of months: Bless my Sole and Standing on the Word scripture socks // Flexilight // a bookmark that shows where you left off (This one hurts my Myers-Briggs J brain a little bit. Who is closing their book mid-page? Mid-paragraph?! 😱)

Amy's bookstore-coffee dates with her sister never disappoint! 

This was written in 2020 so it may or may not still be accurate but- How to get free Christian books on Bookbub

Classic children's book quiz, so fun! I got 81%. 

Fascinating read on Christians and public libraries

Dollhouse bookshelf, such a cute idea! 

I can't speak for the content of all of these but- 50 fantastic Christian audio books! 

Such pretty bookish cupcake toppers! 

The Good and the Beautiful launched their new bookshop and summer reading program this morning! 

Currently reading: Bible // Take the Risk // Two Weeks // Ginger Pye // The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey

More great books for Asian American and Pacific Island Heritage Month

May is Asian American and Pacific Island Heritage Month. I shared 9 books to help you celebrate a couple years ago and I'm back today with a few more recommendations for you. 

🇨🇳 Chinese Menu (secular, middle grade, nonfiction-fiction combo)... We love Grace Lin around here! This one has such a fascinating look at the history of Chinese (and Chinese-American) foods, complete with her signature style of folk tale stories mixed in. I am going to try making a sweet red bean soup this week! 

🇯🇵 Hiroshima (secular, middle grade)... This one was a bit depressing, without much hope/redemption involved, but it was short and it was based on true accounts. 

🇺🇸 Love in the Library (secular, picture book, biography)... This picture book tells a Japanese Internment camp story. I love when history is shown through picture books, and in a way that expresses the sadness without forving children to feel deep sorrow. This one pulled that off. 

🇯🇵 Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes (secular, middle grade)... Based on a true story, this one is about a young girl's battle with cancer after the atom bomb. This one does not leave children with alot of hope but it is very good.  

🇺🇸 Seen and Unseen (secular, middle grade, nonfiction, graphic novel)... This Japanese internment camp account is told graphic-novel style. It's a very quick read as a result and I added it to our list for middle school. 

🇰🇷 Seesaw Girl (secular, chapter book/ middle grade, TGTB book list)... This one is more historical in that paints a cultural picture of 17th century Korea. This TGTB book list offering ends with a lighter tone than some of the others on this list. It's also a very fast, easy read. Linda Sue Park is another favorite around here. 

🇨🇳 What is the Great Wall of China? (Secular, middle grade, nonfiction)... This series is very hit or miss with me but I liked this one fine.  

I debated whether or not to add this one but I'm also going to include one of my very favorite middle grade novels, Echo. The third part follows a Mexican-American family as they take care of a Japanese family's farm while they're in an internment camp. There are questions and concerns about the Japanese family being spies and I feel like this story paints an important picture but since it's not through their own eyes I was hesitant to include it. 

And, for diversity that isn't historical in nature: Corinne (middle grade, secular) // East Meets Vegan (cookbook, secular) // Nana, Nenek, and Nina (picture book, secular)

Independent Bookstore Day!

 

It's Independent Bookstore Day today! 

Some bookstores pull out all the stops and do so many fun things to celebrate! Some don't even know this is a thing. I enjoy buying a book to keep an independent bookstore running either way. A very loving personal sacrifice on my part 😉 

I hope you find a great store and a great book today! 

The bookstore above is Rediscovered Books in Boise, Idaho but click here to see other bookstores I've shared here in the past!  

Things I've been reading and learning about

First, I've been reading and skimming lots more middle grade to keep up with my voracious reader firstborn. The younger siblings are also voracious readers but I already filled their book lists to the brim thanks to their brother so their reading lives require far less upkeep on my part.

Berlin Wall- I have been listening to The Berlin Letters as an audiobook and realized this is a subject I have always been fascinated by (primarily thanks to a movie on the Wetzels in elementary school and later a great picture book about them) and yet have not read much about. Last year I enjoyed A Night Divided, which is on my son's book list for next year, so with this week's library holds I decided to get a few middle grade nonfiction offerings on the subject both for my own interests and for his when he reads A Night Divided.

Codes and ciphers- I read and approved the first Book Scavenger book and the first Mysterious Benedict Society book so now my son is obsessed with codes! I will be reading the second book in both of those series soon but in the meantime he asked me to borrow a whole bunch of nonfiction library books on the subject. Good luck trying to enter this house without first solving a code/cipher.

Conjoined twins- I read Gifted Hands a few years ago and really liked it. I do hope to watch the documentary at some point but right now I am reading Take the Risk in my morning reading. This has led me down a rabbit trail researching lots of articles about conjoined twin separations stories and I just got a nonfiction grown up book from the library about the conjoined twins from Siam (the ones for whom the term Siamese twins was coined) who traveled with the circus. If you have followed here for any great length of time you might recall that the circus is one of those random subjects I am always excited to read about so I'm really looking forward to this one.

Dogs- This is what my girls usually request right now. One girl loves bear picture books and another loves pig chapter books but all three ask about various dog books pretty regularly. I read a ton of fiction and nonfiction chapter books on the subject these days. 

Food scarcity- So many kids are hungry and when they do eat, it's nutrient-light junk. I'm so super passionate about this right now. 💙

Health- Always. This is so important for me, and for so many people my age (I swear it's more every year!). I recently read that the life expectancy for a female my age will be 84.9 years old and I thought, 'I just know I can beat that!' and then I swallowed a raw clove of garlic whole. I want to be able to take care of + support my family and community for as long as that is God's plan for me. I often hear that He has chosen our number of days in advance but what people don't think about is how we'll feel during those days. I want to feel vibrant and alert for as many of those days as possible! 

Homemaking- I feel so joyful, grateful, and passionate about this subject again. Sometimes it's just so normalized for me that I appreciate it but don't think about it a ton, the all the sudden I'll become wildly passionate about it again.

5 Things I've Been Loving

💐 Colorful flowers popping up all over the place- all around businesses, all over people's yards. 

🍎 Our emergency lunchbox... I now keep this full at all times- a filling bar, dried fruit, and nuts or crackers or something. If one of us has to leave the house unexpectedly we can grab it + whatever fruit is handy and boom, automatic snack plate lunch all set. 

💰 Prize money... I filled out the winter bingo card my library put out as an adult reading program and I won a $25 gift card! Reading does pay. Less than $1 a book, but still 😉 

👕 Crann Organics... My daughter got one of their sweatshirts for Christmas and my son just got a pair of their sweatpants. They both love their Crann items and I am now watching this company for coupon codes + sales! 

🎧 I've had great luck with podcasts lately and wanted to share Max Lucado on Read Aloud Revival