easy prep

Kids Edition: Thank You and Good Night + Peanut Butter Cookies

February 27, 2021 by Megan Leave a Comment

When Henry was still a very tiny baby, we fell in love with a book I’d never even heard of before — Thank You and Good Night by Patrick McDonnell. We insisted on starting a bedtime routine around 3 months old and settled on: bottle, pajamas, book, bed. Almost a year later, bedtime remains the same (except the bottle is replaced with teeth brushing). We also always read two books, and this is often one of them.

In this book, three friends have a sleepover. Jean the elephant and Alan Alexander the bear spend the night at their friend Clement the bunny’s house. They play and play and eat and play until they are exhausted enough to finally go to bed.

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Oona Out of Order + Chai Lattes

February 16, 2021 by Megan Leave a Comment

Even though I read Oona Out of Order almost a month ago, I’ve thought about it almost every day since. I love time travel novels, because not only are they usually very interesting but they also get me thinking. When I closed the book, I wasn’t ready to be done with Oona. I seeked out a podcast interview with the author Margarita Montimore. It also just so happens that last week Netflix announced that it would be adapting the novel into a series (so excited!).

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore — Available on Bookshop.org and Amazon

The concept of Oona Out of Order isn’t one I’ve encountered before — in it, the main character Oona experiences her adult life (you guessed it) out of order. Her birthday is on New Year’s Day, which is quite symbolic I’d say, new beginnings and all of that. Every year, at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve she abruptly leaves the current year and "wakes up" in a completely random one; it could be the future, it could be the past. The first time it happens, she turns 19 but is suddenly living in her 51-year-old body. She’s also leaped forward from 1982 to 2015.

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The Bean Trees + Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

February 2, 2021 by Megan 1 Comment

The Bean Trees is a book I’ve been wanting to read for a while. I picked up a copy years ago at a used book sale. It sat on my shelf untouched. In early 2020, I received another copy in the mail from a friend, and though that should’ve been the catalyst I needed, it wasn’t. So, in pursuit of my "read my shelves" goal this year, I chose it as my book club’s latest read — and finally, mission accomplished!

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver — Available at Bookshop.org and Amazon

Barbara Kingsolver’s novel follows Taylor Greer, who grew up in Kentucky with a focus on avoiding pregnancy and getting out of town in the future. She heads west in a beat-up car and finds herself caring for an abandoned child, an American Indian girl she calls Turtle. The story is about their life together as they settle in Arizona with a group of friends who becomes family. It’s a short book, but one that I thought was perfect for a book club discussion.

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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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