The Magic Carousel by K.L. Small My rating: 4 of 5 stars I really enjoyed this middle grades adventure book. It was fun to meet Russell and his Grandpa. Rusty learns many lessons throughout this story = the importance of his grandpa, friendships and trust. When Grandpa takes Rusty on his first ride on the […]
When Magic Calls: A Collection of Modern Fairy Tales by Caitlin Berve My rating: 4 of 5 stars Who doesn’t love a good fairytale? This is a great collection of modern day fairytales. I wasn’t sure about the book to start with, but found that each story intrigued me to keep reading. I loved the […]
Back to the 80’s by S.E. Reichert My rating: 4 of 5 stars This was a fun read for an 80’s kid! Brought back so many memories! The story is a cute rom com. Blaine and Eric find themselves in a situation that pits them against each other. I really liked how Blaine problem solved […]
Complicated Choices by Risa Nyman My rating: 4 of 5 stars I read this while traveling for work this weekend. It was a great airport/plane read. I really enjoyed the story line of the daughter helping her mother overcome a really difficult situation. Mental Health, postpartum depression, divorce, unplanned pregnancy, coming of age, friendship and […]
Ten Little Starfish: A Counting Book by Kim Ann My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is a beautiful children’s book! The illustrations are my favorite part of the book – the colorful starfish and the cool crabs that show up on every page. A counting book with information on starfish at the end – […]
How to Catch Little Boys and Eat Them by Lois Wickstrom My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a story all about Jack and how he outsmarts the giant in the sky. It is a very interesting take on Jack and the Beanstalk. The illustrations are cute. I enjoyed how Jack turned on the […]
Broken. by N.D. Jackson My rating: 4 of 5 stars Broken is a romance with a side of steam! Wow. Indigo is finding herself, healing herself, and making headway in love and business. Gideon is a great friend who is living with Indigo – he finds his way into her life both in business and […]
Murder in a Gated Community by Laura Koerber My rating: 4 of 5 stars This was a highly entertaining quick read! The characters were fun to get to know and to see how their relationships evolved. I giggled quite a few times. The gated community is very realistic – how people interact and pass rules […]
Hole in the Rock by Rebecca Bischoff My rating: 4 of 5 stars This a good middle grades story. I really enjoyed the characters and the story line. Lizza learns the importance of being honest and open instead of trying to intervene to get what she wants. I liked that Lizza has a great friend […]
Goldilocks and the Six Simple Machines by Lois Wickstrom My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is a great book to read with your children or in a school setting. It takes a well-known story and turns it into a learning experience about simple machines. What I love is that Goldilocks is a girl and […]
Falling Again by Libby Kay My rating: 4 of 5 stars I really enjoyed this book. It was a great airport/travel book – easy to read, story was great and the characters were totally relatable. It isn’t a surprise that a marriage can feel detached once you have careers and kids – it was fun […]
Fetching Dreams by Mary Evanson Bleckwehl My rating: 5 of 5 stars This book is one that I walked about thinking about after every reading session. There was hope, tears, celebrations and the gut wrenching realization that this is real for so many today. The story is told through a penpal relationship between two girls […]
Shalom Israel: A place like no other by Melissa Lavi My rating: 5 of 5 stars I enjoyed this peek of the different places in Israel. I loved the illustrations – a mix of drawings with real photos – they really gave me the vison of the places the book introduced me to. The story […]
Living With Conviction: Unexpected Sisterhood, Healing, and Redemption in the Wake of Life-Altering Choices by Toby Dorr My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a great non-fiction autobiography. The experiences shared by the author are hearfelt and honest. The choices we make in life often have great consequences that we don’t think about, but […]
Ways to Improve Bailey by Cori Cooper My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a cute and funny young adult romance novel. I loved the setting up i Flagstaff, AZ – a great community for a setting! Bailey and her brother made me giggle – their relationship is a hoot – he really takes […]
A Teacher’s Heart by Melissa Lavi My rating: 5 of 5 stars All teacher’s teach from their heart – no matter what. This is a cute children’s book about teachers. Being an educator, this book spoke to me. It is so correct to say that all teachers are different, but they all have one thing […]
Lap Baby: Emotional Women’s Fiction by Amy Q. Barker My rating: 4 of 5 stars I wish I had known up front that this was based off a true story! Wow! This book takes you through an emotional timeline that starts with a plane crash. It follows several survivors and shows how they each work […]
Holding Up the Sky by Lois Wickstrom My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is a great children’s book with a message to not be fearful and to work together is better – at least how I read it! The illustrations are gorgeous. It is a good read aloud that takes you through the story […]
The Messy Kids by Lois Wickstrom My rating: 5 of 5 stars What happens when your kiddo doesn’t want to clean up his messes? Well, he can get some cute little alien guys to come to help. But then, they don’t really help the right way! This book is so cute – the story and […]
Huff…Puff…Grind! The 3 Little Pigs Get Smart: a science folktale by Lois Wickstrom My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is a GREAT take on the story of the big bad wolf and the three pigs. The pigs are great problem solvers and come up with a solution to the problem of the wolf trying […]
Editor Kill Fee by G.G. Collins My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book can be read as a stand alone- even though it is part 3 of a series. GG Collins does a great job with describing the setting – you can vividly picture New Mexico where it takes place. This is a great […]
Helpful Hudson by Dannielle Pickford My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is a GREAT children’s book about self care. We teach our littles to be helpful to others, but we forget to teach them to know how to take care themselves because if we don’t take care of ourself, we can’t help others! The […]
PROOF: People Safari by Feather Chelle My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is a GREAT book – looking at humans from the animal point of view. Just as we, humans, go to watch wildlife in their habitats, a group of deer joing their tour guide to see the life of humans. They encounter dwellings, […]
Fee, Fi, Fo, Grow!: The Real Magic of the Beans by Lois Wickstrom My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is a take on Jack and the Beanstalk. In this story, Jacqueline falls for the old trick of giving her cow for some magic beans. She figures out how to make the trick work to […]
The Guardian of Whispers by B.E. Padgett My rating: 4 of 5 stars This middle grades book is a great one for kids from 4th- 7th grade and beyond. The characters – the twins, Jon and Frankie are likable. It was fun to read about their discovery of their own special gifts, going to boarding […]
Fee, Fi, Fo, Grow!: The Real Magic of the Beans by Lois Wickstrom My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is a take on Jack and the Beanstalk. In this story, Jacqueline falls for the old trick of giving her cow for some magic beans. She figures out how to make the trick work to […]
What Do the Plants Say? by Lois Wickstrom My rating: 4 of 5 stars What I love about Ms. Wickstrom’s books is that she uses girls as inventors and science lovers. This book fits right in with that! Alex listens to the beautiful purple flowers, finds a way to talk with them, and then invents […]
The Promised Plan by Sharon Hughson My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a story of loss, grief and rebuilding relationships. It is not an easy read as it tears at your heart – knowing that sisterbond, and mother daughter bond can so easily be broken. I liked how the author shows us all […]
Raising Elle by S.E. Reichert My rating: 4 of 5 stars First off, living in Wyoming made me like this book a little more! Small town romance, good characters and a story line that keeps you reading is what you get with this story. I liked Elle’s determination and desire to keep the ranch going. […]
A Spot of Earl Slay by Aubrey Elle My rating: 4 of 5 stars I really enjoyed this mystery book – it was a quick read that kept me engaged! I mean, who doesn’t like a book where the main characters find a corpse in their storage shed! Fayette seems like a quaint town that […]
