book review

Kids Edition: Hey! Wake Up! + Broccoli Stew

January 23, 2021 by Megan Leave a Comment

Bedtime stories get all the love. But, one of our favorite books in this house is actually a morning story: Hey! Wake Up! by Sandra Boynton. I’m not even sure where we got our copy, which is pretty battered, but from the very first read, the rhymes were stuck in our heads and we find ourselves saying lines from the book all the time.

The book follows a morning routine, from waking up to breakfast and getting dressed, playing and morning snack. At both breakfast and morning snack, the bunny in the story gets "broccoli stew" (which no one seems to like except for the bunny).

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Devolution + Blueberry Lavender Lemonade Popsicles

January 19, 2021 by Megan Leave a Comment

Max Brooks’ Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre is a wild ride. It is told primarily through the journal of Kate, a resident of the secluded Greenloop when it was attacked, along with a few post-massacre interviews. It’s both a scientific observation and a horror story, as we first discover Sasquatch (aka Bigfoot) with her and then watch as she and the other residents frantically scramble to protect and defend themselves when Bigfoot attacks.

Devolution by Max Brooks — Available at Bookshop.org and Amazon

This is the kind of book where I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say that the book is not what it seems at the outset — which to me, at least, was a far-fetched romp about Bigfoot. Brooks does an excellent job of building his characters and the action. First, it progresses slowly, luring you in, and then aggressively so you can’t help but turn pages faster to keep up. I love seeing how different people cope in a time of crisis, and this is a study in those differences.

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Big Lies in a Small Town + Collard Greens

January 14, 2021 by Megan 5 Comments

I’m excited to be a part of the paperback release party for Big Lies in a Small Town today! When I was asked to join by the Book Club Cookbook, I didn’t hesitate — I absolutely adored my previous Diane Chamberlain read, The Dream Daughter. Her latest novel centers around a post office mural painted in 1940, with a dual timeline that goes back and forth between the artist who painted it and the artist who later restores it nearly 80 years later.

Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain

Chamberlain does an excellent job weaving both stories together and keeping the reader interested throughout. I didn’t necessarily like one timeline better than the other, which is so often the case in books like this; I found something worthwhile in both stories. I loved the strong women she created.

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Show Us Your Books Reading Recap — What I Read in December

January 12, 2021 by Megan 10 Comments

I had a really good reading month, one of my best in a long time! Most of my reads were shorter or easy or unputdownable (or some combination of all three!), which definitely helped.

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A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow + Strawberry and Cream Cheese Empanadas

January 9, 2021 by Megan 1 Comment

I first heard about Laura Taylor Namey’s young adult novel, A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow on one of my favorite book podcasts, All the Books! It was described as delightful and heart-squeezing by Liberty Hardy, and she said the descriptions of food made her so hungry. I knew I had to pick it up, and luckily, I was able to get a copy from the library nearly right away!

Lila is a Cuban-American girl living in Miami. As she graduates high school, Lila knew exactly what was in store for her future, but unfortunately, life had other plans. Newly adrift, she is sent to England to live with her cousin for the summer. Lila doesn’t sulk for long and soon she is getting back in the kitchen (her cousin lives at a bed and breakfast), making friends, and discovering a new future.

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Best in Books - 2020 Edition

December 29, 2020 by Megan 2 Comments

Can we believe it? 2020 is almost over (yay!), which makes it the perfect time to look back at the year behind as well as look forward to the (hopefully better) year ahead. I did this survey in 2018 — skipped last year due to a brand new baby — and loved it. I want to give a shoutout to The Perpetual Page Turner, who has been doing this annual year-end survey for 11 years now! Without further ado, my 2020 in review:

2020 READING STATS

Number Of Books You Read: 70 (as of 12/28 before bed)

Number of Re-Reads: 3 — this is huge for me because I never re-read books. One of these books was an old favorite, one was a book I read and disliked the first time but loved the second time around, and one was a book I read 70% of a couple years ago and DNF’d (I got so far into it the first time that I’m considering it a re-read)

Genre You Read The Most From: I’m going to guess it was Literary Fiction again

*A note: In most cases, the links below will go out to my full length review, if you'd like to read more of my thoughts on the book and/or a fun book-inspired recipe!

1. Best book you read in 2020? Without a doubt my favorite fiction was The House in the Cerulean Sea. It was happy and hopeful, and exactly what everyone needed in 2020. My favorite nonfiction was Hood Feminism, which I’m glad I was able to get from the library after a very long time on the waitlist.

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