The Hundred Dresses

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm not sure how I missed reading this book when I was younger, but in my attempt close some of my reading gaps, I fell into the school days of little girls. It's a sweet story with powerful imagery. I'd love to read it with my niece. I think it's the type of story we should be sharing more with younger readers.

Happy reading--

Rumors of War

Rumors of War by Dean Hughes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The nostalgia of stepping back in the Thomas family was perfect for a holiday book choice. The writing is cheesier than I remembered, but the characters are no less loveable. The five stars is purely for how much I enjoy falling back in their Sugar House world and how much I think these characters influenced my younger self...and because I couldn't put them down. It's December 31st, and my tree is still up. Some of the unwrapped gifts are still under the tree, and I'm reaching for the next in the series....

Happy reading--

Harry Potter and the Socerer's Stone...Again

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sometimes the word needs a bit more magic and bit less realism. Enter Harry Potter. Perhaps it's because my niece and nephew are debating which one of them is the bigger Harry Potter fan or because I cannot wait to read these books with future children. Either way, hours spent listening to Jim Dale spin Rowling's amazing tale are always welcome and strangely reminiscent of holiday times. Perfect for the end of the year--

Happy reading--

ps. I've lost count on how many times I've read this one. It's at least eight or nine....Yes, I'm that person.

The Deal of a Lifetime

The Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm not sure this one should even qualify as a full book since it barely qualifies as a novella, but I appreciate this timely Christmas story. It's not the same as visiting the various Christmas scenes with Scrooge in Dickens' Christmas Carol, but it has that same feeling. Powerful message and imagery with the type of vivid character details as only Backman can write. After this story, I think it's time for Jimmy Stewart and "It's a Wonderful Life" while I work on decorating our team. It is that time of year after all-

Happy reading, happy living, and happy Christmas--

ps. I rounded up because, you know...Christmas magic...lots of chocolate...twinkle lights...and that little girl in the story had great lines.

Leap Year

Leap Year by Helen Russell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dear Helen-

I can't say that your book is life changing the way that Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project or Brene Brown's The Gifts of Imperfection were. But I still thoroughly enjoyed your ups and downs as you attempted to figure out how to get more comfortable with life and change. I identify so strongly with some of your challenges that the fact that you added wit and humor to them made me feel better about the world. Your way of describing things is so clever and at times, hilarious, that I couldn't help wishing I was one of your friends and you had given me a not-so-subtle moniker. Perhaps I could be something the "American who wishes she was a Brit"...I'll let you decide when somehow we stumble across each other's paths someday. A girl can dream--

Love,
Jaclyn

ps. Your audiobook reader is everything. She helps make the book.
pps. Am I allowed to say that your original title "The Year of Living Danishly" would have been closer to a five star read, but lost points for the weirdly candid details on Danish sex lives, and this one would probably be more of a 3.5, but I was so happy to listen more of your anecdotes that it gets a four? You won't read this for real, so I'm going to assume yes. Thanks for understanding.

[This book, for the record, is not to be confused at all with that less-than-great Amy Adams movie. Just FYI. :) Happy reading--]

What Alice Forgot - Round 3

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I haven't read the same book three times in one year since I was a little girl reading the American Girl doll books. But I really love this book, and when I finished another book a couple weeks ago, I needed to hang out with Alice and Libby again. Through Libby, Moriarty gives voice to the infertility journey in a way that I have never heard another person say out loud. I needed that. Happy reading and happy holiday season--

QB: My Life Behind the Spiral

QB: My Life Behind the Spiral by Steve Young
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I know what you're thinking - 5 stars for a memoir by a former NFL player seems a little high. But what you need to envision is a teenage girl sneaking out to her car between meetings at church to hear what the score of the 49er game was...a girl who nearly cried when news broke that Steve Young would retire after one too many concussions....a girl whose memories with her dad and many of the men in her extended family revolve around San Francisco sports. If we're honest, the adult version of this girl doesn't follow the NFL nearly as much as her younger self did. She decided ten plus years ago that she couldn't follow so many sports and still do all the things she wanted to, so she consciously decided to become a more casual fan. But reliving so many classic 49er games and getting to hear more of Young's story was strangely exhilarating. Perfect fall choice--

Happy reading-

(my Hawaii books for our 2017 Thanksgiving trip)