Bekah's bookshelf: all en-US Thu, 24 Apr 2025 12:46:04 -0700 60 Bekah's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Class Act (New Kid #2) 50358040 In this companion book toÌýNew Kid this time it’s Jordan’s friend Drew who takes center stage in a story about being one of the few kids of color in a prestigious private school.

Eighth grader Drew Ellis is no stranger to the saying “You have to work twice as hard to be just as good.â€� His grandmother has reminded him his entire life. But what if he worksÌýtenÌýtimes as hard and still isn’t afforded the same opportunities that his privilegedÌýclassmates at the Riverdale Academy Day School take for granted?

To make matters worse, Drew begins to feel as if his good friend Liam might be one of those privileged kids. He wants to pretend like everything is fine, but it's hard not to withdraw, and even their mutual friend JordanÌýdoesn't know how to keep the group together.

As the pressures mount, will Drew find a way to bridge the divide so he and his friends can truly accept each other? And most important, will he finally be able to accept himself?]]> 249 Jerry Craft 0062885502 Bekah 5 4.26 2020 Class Act (New Kid #2)
author: Jerry Craft
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2020
rating: 5
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date added: 2025/04/24
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]]> Broken Country 214151202 “The farmer is dead. He is dead, and all anyone wants to know is who killed him.�

Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.

As Beth is pulled back into Gabriel’s life, tensions around the village rise and dangerous secrets and jealousies from the past resurface, this time with deadly consequences. Beth is forced to make a choice between the woman she once was, and the woman she has become.

A sweeping love story with the pace and twists of a thriller, Broken Country is a novel of simmering passion, impossible choices, and explosive consequences that toggles between the past and present to explore the far-reaching legacy of first love.]]> 320 Clare Leslie Hall 166807818X Bekah 0 4.41 2025 Broken Country
author: Clare Leslie Hall
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/09
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]]> Nothing to See Here 42519313
Madison’s twin stepkids are moving in with her family and she wants Lillian to be their caretaker. However, there’s a catch: the twins spontaneously combust when they get agitated, flames igniting from their skin in a startling but beautiful way. Lillian is convinced Madison is pulling her leg, but it’s the truth.

Thinking of her dead-end life at home, the life that has consistently disappointed her, Lillian figures she has nothing to lose. Over the course of one humid, demanding summer, Lillian and the twins learn to trust each other—and stay cool—while also staying out of the way of Madison’s buttoned-up politician husband. Surprised by her own ingenuity yet unused to the intense feelings of protectiveness she feels for them, Lillian ultimately begins to accept that she needs these strange children as much as they need her—urgently and fiercely. Couldn’t this be the start of the amazing life she’d always hoped for?]]> 288 Kevin Wilson 0062913484 Bekah 0 to-read 3.95 2019 Nothing to See Here
author: Kevin Wilson
name: Bekah
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/01
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]]> <![CDATA[Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High]]> 15014
When stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong, you have three choices: Avoid a crucial conversation and suffer the consequences; handle the conversation badly and suffer the consequences; or read Crucial Conversations and discover how to communicate best when it matters most. Crucial Conversations gives you the tools you need to step up to life's most difficult and important conversations, say what's on your mind, and achieve the positive resolutions you want. You'll learn how to:

Prepare for high-impact situations with a six-minute mastery technique
Make it safe to talk about almost anything
Be persuasive, not abrasive
Keep listening when others blow up or clam up
Turn crucial conversations into the action and results you want]]> 240 Kerry Patterson 0071401946 Bekah 0 to-read 4.04 2002 Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High
author: Kerry Patterson
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2002
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/01
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]]> <![CDATA[A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot, #1)]]> 40864002 ASIN B08H831J18 moved to the more recent edition

Centuries before, robots of Panga gained self-awareness, laid down their tools, wandered, en masse into the wilderness, never to be seen again. They faded into myth and urban legend.

Now the life of the tea monk who tells this story is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of "what do people need?" is answered. But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how. They will need to ask it a lot. Chambers' series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?]]> 151 Becky Chambers Bekah 0 to-read 4.25 2021 A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot, #1)
author: Becky Chambers
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/30
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]]> The Outlaw Noble Salt 195511946 From New York Times bestselling author Amy Harmon comes a sweepingly romantic tale of risk, redemption, and what happens when America’s most famous outlaw falls in love.

When infamous outlaw Butch Cassidy decides to go straight, he discovers that too many of the powerful men he crossed won’t let bygones be bygones. To have a chance at a new life, he’ll have to become someone else entirely.

A brief, fateful encounter with the celebrated singer Jane Touissant on the eve of his escape offers a glimpse of what might have been, but Butch disappears, leaving her behind, until their paths unexpectedly converge again in Paris.

Despite having discovered his true identity, Jane trusts the outlaw and enlists his protection on her upcoming American tour. Although Butch is reluctant to agree, fearing his sordid past may put the woman and her young son in danger, the salvation she offers is too hard to resist.

As they set forth on their journey, Butch’s past and Jane’s secrets put them at risk from threats far greater than the law, and this legend of the American West will have to decide what matters most—his life, his legacy, or the woman he loves.]]> 364 Amy Harmon 1662514441 Bekah 0 to-read 4.41 2024 The Outlaw Noble Salt
author: Amy Harmon
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1)]]> 186074
The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature.

A high-action story written with a poet's hand, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that will transport readers into the body and mind of a wizard.]]> 662 Patrick Rothfuss 075640407X Bekah 0 to-read 4.52 2007 The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1)
author: Patrick Rothfuss
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/14
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]]> <![CDATA[Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon, #1)]]> 960
A devastating new weapon of destruction.
When world-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a mysterious symbol -- seared into the chest of a murdered physicist -- he discovers evidence of the unimaginable: the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati...the most powerful underground organization ever to walk the earth. The Illuminati has now surfaced to carry out the final phase of its legendary vendetta against its most hated enemy -- the Catholic Church.

Langdon's worst fears are confirmed on the eve of the Vatican's holy conclave, when a messenger of the Illuminati announces they have hidden an unstoppable time bomb at the very heart of Vatican City. With the countdown under way, Langdon jets to Rome to join forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and mysterious Italian scientist, to assist the Vatican in a desperate bid for survival.
Embarking on a frantic hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and even the most secretive vault on earth, Langdon and Vetra follow a 400-year-old trail of ancient symbols that snakes across Rome toward the long-forgotten Illuminati lair...a clandestine location that contains the only hope for Vatican salvation.

An explosive international thriller, Angels & Demons careens from enlightening epiphanies to dark truths as the battle between science and religion turns to war.]]> 736 Dan Brown 1416524797 Bekah 0 to-read 3.95 2000 Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon, #1)
author: Dan Brown
name: Bekah
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2000
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/14
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]]> <![CDATA[The Handmaid’s Tale (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)]]> 38447
Funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing, The Handmaid's Tale is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and tour de force.]]> 311 Margaret Atwood 038549081X Bekah 0 to-read 4.15 1985 The Handmaid’s Tale (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1985
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Red Rising (Red Rising Saga, #1)]]> 15839976 "I live for the dream that my children will be born free," she says. "That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them."

"I live for you," I say sadly.

Eo kisses my cheek. "Then you must live for more."

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations.

Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies... even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.]]> 382 Pierce Brown 0345539788 Bekah 0 to-read 4.26 2014 Red Rising (Red Rising Saga, #1)
author: Pierce Brown
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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]]> Intermezzo 208931300 An exquisitely moving story about grief, love, and family—but especially love—from the global phenomenon Sally Rooney.

Aside from the fact that they are brothers, Peter and Ivan Koubek seem to have little in common.

Peter is a Dublin lawyer in his thirties—successful, competent, and apparently unassailable. But in the wake of their father’s death, he’s medicating himself to sleep and struggling to manage his relationships with two very different women—his enduring first love, Sylvia, and Naomi, a college student for whom life is one long joke.

Ivan is a twenty-two-year-old competitive chess player. He has always seen himself as socially awkward, a loner, the antithesis of his glib elder brother. Now, in the early weeks of his bereavement, Ivan meets Margaret, an older woman emerging from her own turbulent past, and their lives become rapidly and intensely intertwined.

For two grieving brothers and the people they love, this is a new interlude—a period of desire, despair, and possibility; a chance to find out how much one life might hold inside itself without breaking.]]> 454 Sally Rooney 0374602638 Bekah 0 to-read 3.87 2024 Intermezzo
author: Sally Rooney
name: Bekah
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> The Great Divide 181110028
It is said that the canal will be the greatest feat of engineering in history. But first, it must be built. For Francisco, a local fisherman who resents the foreign powers clamoring for a slice of his country, nothing is more upsetting than the decision of his son, Omar, to work as a digger in the excavation zone. But for Omar, whose upbringing was quiet and lonely, this job offers a chance to finally find connection.

Ada Bunting is a bold sixteen-year-old from Barbados who arrives in Panama as a stowaway alongside thousands of other West Indians seeking work. Alone and with no resources, she is determined to find a job that will earn enough money for her ailing sister’s surgery. When she sees a young man—Omar—who has collapsed after a grueling shift, she is the only one who rushes to his aid.

John Oswald has dedicated his life to scientific research and has journeyed to Panama in single-minded pursuit of one goal: eliminating malaria. But now, his wife, Marian, has fallen ill herself, and when he witnesses Ada’s bravery and compassion, he hires her on the spot as a caregiver. This fateful decision sets in motion a sweeping tale of ambition, loyalty, and sacrifice.

Searing and empathetic, The Great Divide explores the intersecting lives of activists, fishmongers, laborers, journalists, neighbors, doctors, and soothsayers—those rarely acknowledged by history even as they carved out its course.]]> 321 Cristina Henríquez 0063291320 Bekah 0 to-read 3.62 2024 The Great Divide
author: Cristina Henríquez
name: Bekah
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> Heavenbreaker 203579306 Bravery isn't what you do. It's what you endure.

The duke of the powerful House Hauteclare is the first to die. With my dagger in his back.

He didn’t see it coming. Didn’t anticipate the bastard daughter who was supposed to die with her mother―on his order. He should have left us with the rest of the Station’s starving, commoner rubbish.

Now there’s nothing left. Just icy-white rage and a need to make House Hauteclare pay. Every damn one of them.

Even if it means riding Heavenbreaker―one of the few enormous machines left over from the War―and jousting against the fiercest nobles in the system.

Each win means another one of my enemies dies. And here, in the cold terror of space, the machine and I move as one, intent on destroying each adversary―even if it’s someone I care about. Even if it’s someone I’m falling for.

Only I’m not alone. Not anymore.

Because there’s something in the machine with me. Something horrifying. Something�more.

And it won’t be stopped.]]> 424 Sara Wolf 164937710X Bekah 0 to-read 3.64 2024 Heavenbreaker
author: Sara Wolf
name: Bekah
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/10
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]]> Mum & Dad 48923240 Sunday Times number one bestseller Joanna Trollope explores the issues at the heart of a modern family with her trademark wit and warmth, in Mum & Dad.

‘What a mess, she thought now . . . what a bloody, unholy mess the whole family has got itself into.�

It’s been twenty-five years since Gus and Monica left England to start a new life in Spain, building a vineyard and wine business from the ground up. However, when Gus suffers a stroke and their idyllic Mediterranean life is thrown into upheaval, it’s left to their three grown-up children in London to step in . . .

Sebastian is busy running his company with his wife, Anna, who’s never quite seen eye-to-eye with her mother-in-law.

Katie, a successful solicitor in the City, is distracted by the problems with her long-term partner, Nic, and the secretive lives of their three daughters.

And Jake, ever the easy-going optimist, is determined to convince his new wife, Bella, that moving to Spain with their eighteen-month-old would be a good idea.

As the children descend on the vineyard, it becomes clear that each has their own idea of how best to handle their mum and dad, as well as the family business. But as long-simmering resentments rise to the surface and tensions reach breaking point, can the family ties prove strong enough to keep them together?

'Trollope writes about family relationships with intelligence and clear-eyed sympathy' - The Times

]]> 332 Joanna Trollope Bekah 4 3.69 2020 Mum & Dad
author: Joanna Trollope
name: Bekah
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/09
date added: 2025/03/10
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This was picked for my by a librarian where I work. I was very skeptical BUT I REALLY enjoyed it. Took less than a week to finish!
]]> <![CDATA[One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey]]> 124718
Thousands have had such dreams, but Richard Proenneke lived them. He found a place, built a cabin, and stayed to become part of the country. One Man's Wilderness is a simple account of the day-to-day explorations and activities he carried out alone, and the constant chain of nature's events that kept him company.

From Proenneke's journals, and with first-hand knowledge of his subject and the setting, Sam Keith has woven a tribute to a man who carved his masterpiece out of the beyond.]]> 224 Sam Keith 0882405136 Bekah 0 to-read 4.32 1973 One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey
author: Sam Keith
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1973
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Lost Baker of Vienna: A Novel]]> 221739728 An historical novel inspired by the experiences of the author’s own family after the Holocaust, a sweeping saga about survival, loss, love, and the reverberating effects of war

In 2018, Zoe Rosenzweig is reeling after the loss of her beloved grandfather, a Holocaust survivor. She becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to her family during the war.

Vienna, 1946: Chana Rosenzweig has endured the horrors of war to find herself, her mother, and her younger brother finally free in Vienna. But freedom doesn’t look like they’d imagined it would, as they struggle to make a living and stay safe.

Despite the danger, Chana sneaks out most nights to return to the hotel kitchen where she works as a dishwasher, using the quiet nighttime hours to bake her late father’s recipes. Soon, Chana finds herself caught in a dangerous love triangle, torn between the black-market dealer who has offered marriage and protection, and the apprentice baker who shares her passions. How will Chana balance her love of baking against her family’s need for security?

The Lost Baker of Vienna affirms the unbreakable bonds of family, shining a light on the courageous spirit of WWII refugees as they battle to survive the overwhelming hardships of a world torn apart.]]> Sharon Kurtzman 0593830873 Bekah 0 to-read 4.61 The Lost Baker of Vienna: A Novel
author: Sharon Kurtzman
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.61
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]]> The Woman in the Cabin 137992406
Deep in the woods, you can hide more than secrets...

Every day, in a remote cabin hidden deep in the woods in the Scottish Highlands, Mary wakes up before dawn to make breakfast from scratch. She tends the garden and feeds the animals. Every night, Mary makes sure she has dinner on the table for when her husband Cal gets home from work.

She puts on his favorite lipstick and greets him with a smile. 'I've missed you.' It's not true and he knows it. But he likes to hear it all the same.

Mary is the perfect wife and like any good wife she knows her job is to keep her husband happy.

But lately as she notices her first wrinkles appear, she can sense Cal change. A scowl at dinner not being ready on time, a too tight grip as he leads her to the bedroom tells her he's noticed too. And old memories are coming back too, of her life before the cabin...

Then she finds a stack of letters hidden under the floorboards detailing a life eerily similar to her own. They're addressed to her: 'To the next woman.'

If she's not the first to play the role of Cal's perfect wife, what happened to the woman in the cabin before her? And how long does she have until she is next?]]> Becca Day 1471413837 Bekah 0 to-read 4.06 2024 The Woman in the Cabin
author: Becca Day
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Heartless Hunter (The Crimson Moth, #1)]]> 127305713
Spending her days pretending to be nothing more than a vapid young socialite, Rune spends her nights as the Crimson Moth, a witch vigilante who rescues her kind from being purged. When a rescue goes wrong, she decides to throw the witch hunters off her scent and gain the intel she desperately needs by courting the handsome Gideon Sharpe � a notorious and unforgiving witch hunter loyal to the revolution � who she can't help but find herself falling for.

Gideon loathes the decadence and superficiality Rune represents, but when he learns the Crimson Moth has been using Rune’s merchant ships to smuggle renegade witches out of the republic, he inserts himself into her social circles by pretending to court her right back. He soon realizes that beneath her beauty and shallow façade, is someone fiercely intelligent and tender who feels like his perfect match. Except, what if she’s the very villain he’s been hunting?

Kristen Ciccarelli’s The Crimson Moth is the thrilling start to a romantic fantasy duology where the only thing more treacherous than being a witch� is falling in love.]]> 406 Kristen Ciccarelli 1250866901 Bekah 0 to-read 4.16 2024 Heartless Hunter (The Crimson Moth, #1)
author: Kristen Ciccarelli
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/07
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]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)]]> 58613345
As in all wars, life goes on. Sixth-year students learn to Apparate, and lose a few eyebrows in the process. The Weasley twins expand their business. Teenagers flirt and fight and fall in love. Classes are never straightforward, though Harry receives some extraordinary help from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince.

So it's the home front that takes center stage in the multilayered sixth installment of the story of Harry Potter. Harry struggles to uncover the identity of the Half-Blood Prince, the past owner of a potions textbook he now possesses that is filled with ingenious, potentially deadly, spells. But Harry's life is suddenly changed forever when someone close to him is heinously murdered right before his eyes.

With Dumbledore's guidance, he seeks out the full, complex story of the boy who became Lord Voldemort, and thereby attempts to find what may be his only vulnerability.]]> 672 J.K. Rowling Bekah 5 4.58 2005 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2005
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5)]]> 58613451 896 J.K. Rowling 043935806X Bekah 4 4.49 2003 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2003
rating: 4
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]]> Trust 58210933 An unparalleled novel about money, power, intimacy, and perception

Even through the roar and effervescence of the 1920s, everyone in New York has heard of Benjamin and Helen Rask. He is a legendary Wall Street tycoon; she is the daughter of eccentric aristocrats. Together, they have risen to the very top of a world of seemingly boundless wealth—all as a decade of excess and speculation draws to an end. But at what cost have they acquired their immense fortune? This is the mystery at the center of Bonds, a successful 1937 novel that all of New York seems to have read. Yet there are other versions of this tale of privilege and deceit.

Hernan Diaz's TRUST elegantly puts these competing narratives into conversation with one another—and in tension with the perspective of one woman bent on disentangling fact from fiction. The result is a novel that spans over a century and becomes more exhilarating with each new revelation.

At once an immersive story and a brilliant literary puzzle, TRUST engages the reader in a quest for the truth while confronting the deceptions that often live at the heart of personal relationships, the reality-warping force of capital, and the ease with which power can manipulate facts.]]> 402 Hernan Diaz 0593420314 Bekah 0 to-read 3.77 2022 Trust
author: Hernan Diaz
name: Bekah
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Where the Library Hides (Secrets of the Nile, #2)]]> 203578814 Where the Library Hides is Isabel Ibañez's stunning conclusion to the story that started in What the River Knows. A lush immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt filled with adventure, and a rivals-to-lovers romance like no other!

"Ana Osorio and Ahmed Hamad are consistently excellent as they deliver this audiobook."�AudioFile

Inez Olivera traveled across the world to Egypt, seeking answers into her parents' recent and mysterious deaths. But all her searching led her down a perilous road, filled with heartache, betrayal, and a dangerous magic that pulled her deep into the past.

When Tío Ricardo issues an ultimatum about her inheritance, she’s left with only one option to consider.

Marriage to Whitford Hayes.

Former British soldier, her uncle’s aide de camp, and one time nemesis, Whit has his own mysterious reasons for staying in Egypt. With her heart on the line, Inez might have to bind her fate to the one person whose secret plans could ruin her.

A Macmillan Audio production from Wednesday Books.]]> 400 Isabel Ibañez 1250822998 Bekah 0 to-read 3.84 2024 Where the Library Hides (Secrets of the Nile, #2)
author: Isabel Ibañez
name: Bekah
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/07
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]]> <![CDATA[Realm of Ice and Sky: Triumph, Tragedy, and History's Greatest Arctic Rescue]]> 211003941 Two-time National Outdoor Book Award-winning author Buddy Levy's thrilling narrative of polar exploration via airship�and the men who sacrificed everything to make history.

Arctic explorer and American visionary Walter Wellman pioneered both polar and trans-Atlantic airship aviation, making history’s first attempts at each. Wellman has been cast as a self-promoting egomaniac known mostly for his catastrophic failures. Instead he was a courageous innovator who pushed the boundaries of polar exploration and paved the way for the ultimate conquest of the North Pole—which would be achieved not by dogsled or airplane, but by airship.

American explorer Dr. Frederick Cook was the first to claim he made it to the North Pole in 1908. A year later, so did American Robert Peary, but both Cook’s and Peary’s claims had been seriously questioned. There was enough doubt that Norwegian explorer extraordinaire Roald Amundsen—who’d made history and a name for himself by being first to sail through the Northwest Passage and first man to the South Pole—picked up where Walter Wellman left off, attempting to fly to the North Pole by airship. He would go in the Norge, designed by Italian aeronautical engineer Umberto Nobile. The 350-foot Norge flew over the North Pole on May 12, 1926, and Amundsen was able to accurately record and verify their exact location.

However, the engineer Nobile felt slighted by Amundsen. Two years later, Nobile returned, this time in the Italia, backed by Prime Minister Benito Mussolini. This was an Italian enterprise, and Nobile intended to win back the global accolades and reputation he believed Amundsen had stripped from him. The journey ended in disaster, death, and accusations of cannibalism, launching one of the great rescue operations the world had ever seen.

Realm of Ice and Sky is the thrilling narrative of polar exploration via airship―and the men who sacrificed everything to make history.]]> 384 Buddy Levy 1250289181 Bekah 0 to-read 4.16 2025 Realm of Ice and Sky: Triumph, Tragedy, and History's Greatest Arctic Rescue
author: Buddy Levy
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/06
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]]> Ms. Marvel: Beyond the Limit 58505915
COLLECTING:ÌýMs. Marvel: Beyond the Limit (2021) 1-5]]> 120 Samira Ahmed 1302931261 Bekah 0 3.55 2022 Ms. Marvel: Beyond the Limit
author: Samira Ahmed
name: Bekah
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/06
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves:
review:

]]> The Book That Almost Rhymed 181344998 Every great adventure needs a hero—or two! This playful take on storytelling and equity proves that two tellers can make a rhyming tale twice as nice.What do you do with an interrupting sibling? Especially when she's stepping all over your story with wild ideas that don’t. Even. Rhyme. Knights riding rockets? Dancing pirates? Who’s ever heard of a fire-breathing armadillo?! But when this big brother realizes his sister just might be improving his yarn—and doing it with an impressive surprise of her own—it's clear what you do with an interrupting sibling. You share the narrative! Turns out adventure is way more fun when you build it together, rhyme by daring rhyme.]]> 40 Omar Abed 0593406400 Bekah 4 4.49 2024 The Book That Almost Rhymed
author: Omar Abed
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: picture-books-rhyming, picture-books-imagination
review:
Cute brother-sister duo that have great imaginations! The tongue and cheek mis-rhymes are hilarious.
]]> Just What to Do 199927650 A tender picture book about grief and the many ways to offer comfort in sad times, from Newbery Honor-winner Kyle Lukoff.

When you see someone sad, it's only natural to want to cheer them up. But how? Some people like hugs but others don't. Sometimes a joke is more comforting than a card. How can you do the just-right-thing if you don't know what it is?

With its spare, poignant text and unexpectedly levitous illustrations, Just What to Do offers an important lesson about how to offer comfort to loved ones by setting aside your assumptions and following their lead.]]> 40 Kyle Lukoff 0593462947 Bekah 4 4.49 Just What to Do
author: Kyle Lukoff
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.49
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/11
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: picture-books-friendship, picture-books-dealing-with-loss
review:
I love all the different ways to help someone grieving are shown. Also, teaching that different people need different things to help their grief.
]]> <![CDATA[Sunday (A School Library Journal Best Book of 2024)]]> 205977889 Martin and his family spend every Sunday together and every Sunday they have the same routine. Not this Sunday, he decides while everyone else watches TV, cooks, and folds laundry.

Instead, Martin invents a world adventure with his dog, Maize, braving extreme cold alongside penguins on ice caps, facing a dragon, confronting pirate ships, and crossing an arid desert on a camel’s back. When he returns from his travels happy and exhausted, he recounts his magical journey with Grandma, who marvels at his courage and wonders where he will go next.

Sunday reminds readers young and old about the power of imagination, play, and dreams coming true. In a world where screens are the default, Martin’s journey detailed in playful line art with bold colors will encourage kids to make their own discoveries and share their creativity with friends and family.

Perfect for rainy-day reading, this book is also a thoughtful gift for grandparents and little readers who love dogs and new experiences.]]> 48 Marcelo Tolentino Bekah 4 picture-books-imagination 4.09 Sunday (A School Library Journal Best Book of 2024)
author: Marcelo Tolentino
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.09
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/13
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: picture-books-imagination
review:
My second reading was better than the first because I noticed all the tie ins between pictures!!!
]]> <![CDATA[Oh No!: Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World]]> 7483091
It's even worse when it's your fault.]]> 40 Mac Barnett 1423123123 Bekah 5 3.80 2010 Oh No!: Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World
author: Mac Barnett
name: Bekah
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: picture-books-imagination, picture-books-stem, picture-books-sci-fi
review:
The words and pictures work perfectly together!!! I laughed out loud reading this book! The insides of the front/back covers are full of geeky details!
]]> <![CDATA[A Thousand Sisters: The Heroic Airwomen of the Soviet Union in World War II]]> 39938128 The gripping true story of the only women to fly in combat in World War II—from Elizabeth Wein, award-winning author of Code Name Verity In the early years of World War II, Josef Stalin issued an order that made the Soviet Union the first country in the world to allow female pilots to fly in combat. Led by Marina Raskova, these three regiments, including the 588 th Night Bomber Regiment—nicknamed the “night witchesâ€â€”faced intense pressure and obstacles both in the sky and on the ground. Some of these young women perished in flames. Many of them were in their teens when they went to war. This is the story of Raskova’s three regiments, women who enlisted and were deployed on the front lines of battle as navigators, pilots, and mechanics. It is the story of a thousand young women who wanted to take flight to defend their country, and the woman who brought them together in the sky. Packed with black-and-white photographs, fascinating sidebars, and thoroughly researched details, A Thousand Sisters is the inspiring true story of a group of women who set out to change the world, and the sisterhood they formed even amid the destruction of war.]]> 388 Elizabeth Wein 0062453017 Bekah 0 to-read 3.95 2019 A Thousand Sisters: The Heroic Airwomen of the Soviet Union in World War II
author: Elizabeth Wein
name: Bekah
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Stateless 61398928 A murder mystery set in 1937 Europe with intrigue, glamour, secrets, and betrayal.

When Stella North is chosen to represent Britain in Europe’s first air race for young people, she knows all too well how high the stakes are. As the only participating female pilot, it’ll be a constant challenge to prove she’s a worthy competitor. But promoting peace in Europe feels empty to Stella when civil war is raging in Spain and the Nazis are gaining power—and when, right from the start, someone resorts to cutthroat sabotage to get ahead of the competition.

The world is looking for inspiration in what’s meant to be a friendly sporting event. But each of the racers is hiding a turbulent and violent past, and any one of them might be capable of murder…including Stella herself.]]> 400 Elizabeth Wein 0316591246 Bekah 3 3.90 2023 Stateless
author: Elizabeth Wein
name: Bekah
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves:
review:
Code Name Verity by the same author is one of my favorite WWII books. So when I saw this one by her I was super excited. I was a little disappointed though. I was thinking the youth flight competition promoting peace was real but it was based off of the fact there were several competitions- but not necessarily this one. I guess I was hoping for more of the story to be based off actual historical events and people than they were. Also, I felt like there wasn't enough character development.
]]> Swim Team: A Graphic Novel 61116052
A splashy, contemporary middle grade graphic novel from bestselling comics creator Johnnie Christmas!

Bree can’t wait for her first day at her new middle school, Enith Brigitha, home to the Mighty Manatees—until she’s stuck with the only elective that fits her schedule, the dreaded Swim 101. The thought of swimming makes Bree more than a little queasy, yet she’s forced to dive headfirst into one of her greatest fears. Lucky for her, Etta, an elderly occupant of her apartment building and formerÌýswim team captain, is willing to help.

With Etta’s training and a lot of hard work, Bree suddenly finds her swim-crazed community counting on her to turn the school’s failing team around. But that’s easier said than done, especially when their rival, the prestigious Holyoke Prep, has everything they need to leave the Mighty Manatees in their wake.

Can Bree defy the odds and guide her team to a state championship, or have the Manatees swum their last lap—for good?

Praise for SWIM

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor

National Book Award Longlist

Kirkus Best Book of the Year

Harvey Award Best Children’s or Young Adult Book Nominee

“A revelation! You’ll root for Swim Team—the water is just right.� —JOHN JENNINGS, New York Times bestselling and Eisner Award–winning creator

“Swim Team is a beautiful story about trying new things. Johnnie Christmas is a fantastic storyteller and artist.� —KAZU KIBUISHI, author of Amulet

“Full of charm, heart, and pulse-pounding races. A winner!� —GENE LUEN YANG, author of American Born Chinese and Dragon Hoops]]> 256 Johnnie Christmas 0063056801 Bekah 5 4.47 2022 Swim Team: A Graphic Novel
author: Johnnie Christmas
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/01
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: african-american, graphic-novel, middle-grade-novel
review:
I LOVE swimming so have had my eye on this GN for awhile. Finally I broke down and bought it- so glad I did! Very uplifting and fun middle grade read.
]]> <![CDATA[What's Inside a Caterpillar Cocoon?: And Other Questions About Moths & Butterflies]]> 70915673 With warm and heart-fluttering illustrations, discover the next nonfiction picture book about butterflies and moths from the creator of the New York Times bestseller Women in Science!

Butterflies soar in the sunlight. While moths flutter under the moon and stars.

Find out more about these mysterious and majestic insects similarities and differences, andÌýtheir awestrucking metamorphosis!Ìý

Rachel Ignotofsky's distinctive art style and engaging, informative text clearly answers any questions a child (or adult) could have about butterflies and moths in this nonfiction picture book series.]]> 48 Rachel Ignotofsky 059317660X Bekah 5 4.41 2023 What's Inside a Caterpillar Cocoon?: And Other Questions About Moths & Butterflies
author: Rachel Ignotofsky
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: picture-book-nonfiction, picture-books-butterflies, picture-books-informational, picture-books-insects, picture-books-nature-science
review:
I love how this book compares and contrasts cmbutterflies and moths right from the get go! Of course the illustrations are gorgeous and I felt the text was spot on this time as well!
]]> <![CDATA[Home Is Calling: The Journey of the Monarch Butterfly]]> 63322474 Join the monarchs as they embark on a transcontinental journey home in this moving story about migration.

As the sun dawns in Canada, a flutter of monarch butterflies take flight, ready to begin their months-long journey to their ancestral home in Mexico. The migration will not be easy, but it is necessary for the next generation of monarchs to be born. Brought to life with illustrations as vivid as the monarch’s iconic orange and black hues, this story invites young readers to experience the monarch’s migration from the butterflies� point of view as they search for food, huddle together through storms, and tirelessly fly south.
Ìý
Parents and educators alike will find much to love about this poetically written book. The story touches on how climate change and deforestation are impacting monarchs, and kid-friendly back matter provides additional information about the butterflies, including their life cycle, anatomy, and migratory patterns, as well as several simple ways children can help monarch butterflies themselves.
Ìý]]> 40 Katherine Pryor 1546003134 Bekah 4 4.51 Home Is Calling: The Journey of the Monarch Butterfly
author: Katherine Pryor
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.51
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: picture-books-butterflies, picture-books-multicultural, picture-books-nature-science, picture-books-outdoorsy, picture-books-informational
review:
Great informative book on Monarch butterflies flying to Mexico from North America each year. Also, answered my question about if the butterflies make the journey in one generation. Read the book to find out!
]]> Hike 52368048 Take to the trails for a celebration of nature—and a day spent with dad.

In the cool and quiet early light of morning, a father and child wake up. Today they're going on a hike. Follow the duo into the mountains as they witness the magic of the wilderness, overcome challenges, and play a small role in the survival of the forest. By the time they return home, they feel alive—and closer than ever—as they document their hike and take their place in family history. In detail-rich panels and textured panoramas, Pete Oswald perfectly paces this nearly wordless adventure, allowing readers to pause for subtle wonders and marvel at the views. A touching tribute to the bond between father and child, with resonant themes for Earth Day, Hike is a breath of fresh air.]]> 40 Pete Oswald 153620157X Bekah 5 4.36 2020 Hike
author: Pete Oswald
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: picture-books-nature-science, picture-books-outdoorsy, picture-books-wordless
review:
I plan on buying this picture book!!! While nearly wordless (other than words like, " zip, meow, etc") the pictures tell it all! All the details are precious!
]]> You Are a Story 61196286 An empowering reflection on the many things we are and the ways we relate to the world.

Poet Bob Raczka’s You are a Story highlights all of the nuance and potential of a growing person’s identity, delighting in the things that make us special and connect us to others. Text and illustrations replete with inventive imagery and appealing metaphors show how we all live as individuals and citizens of the world.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýYou are a living thing.
ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý You breathe. You eat. You Sleep.
ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý You work and play.
ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý You have dreams and fears.
ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý You have thoughts and memories.
ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý You are.

What makes you you ? So much goes into who you are, and you are so many different A child, an animal, a body of water, a friend, a mystery, one-of-a-kind, a miracle. You are and could be so many things, but whatever you choose to do, it’s your life to write, you are a story.]]> 32 Bob Raczka 0823449149 Bekah 5 4.11 You Are a Story
author: Bob Raczka
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.11
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: children-picture-books, picture-books-all-about-me, picture-books-graduation-gift-idea
review:
This book could work great in an "All About Me" unit in Kindergarten or as a Graduation gift for a highschooler!
]]> <![CDATA[Code Breaker, Spy Hunter: How Elizebeth Friedman Changed the Course of Two World Wars]]> 54776091
In this picture book biography, young readers will learn all about Elizebeth Friedman (1892�1980), a brilliant American code breaker who smashed Nazi spy rings, took down gangsters, and created the CIA's first cryptology unit. Her story came to light when her secret papers were finally declassified in 2015. From thwarting notorious rumrunners with only paper and pencil to “counter-spying into the minds and activities of� Nazis, Elizebeth held a pivotal role in the early days of US cryptology. No code was too challenging for her to crack, and Elizebeth’s work undoubtedly saved thousands of lives. Extensive back matter includes explanations of codes and ciphers, further information on cryptology, a bibliography, a timeline of Elizebeth’s life, plus secret messages for young readers to decode.]]> 48 Laurie Wallmark 1419739638 Bekah 5 4.13 2021 Code Breaker, Spy Hunter: How Elizebeth Friedman Changed the Course of Two World Wars
author: Laurie Wallmark
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: picture-books-biography, world-war, world-war-two
review:
I loved learning about Elizebeth Friedman and her code breaking skills! I knew about Alan Turing and the women who worked on the Enigma machine but I didn't know of Friedman! This is for older readers and not necessarily a good read-a-loud bc it has more text than the typical picture books.
]]> <![CDATA[The Zorg: A Tale of Greed and Murder That Inspired the Abolition of Slavery]]> 222361467 From Pulitzer finalist and New York Times bestselling author of Cobalt Red:
A notorious slave ship incident that led to the abolition of slavery in the UK and sparked the US abolitionist movement

In late October 1780, a slave ship set sail from the Netherlands, bound for Africa’s Windward and Gold Coasts, where it would take on its human cargo. The Zorg (a Dutch word meaning both “care� and “worry�) was one of thousands of such ships, but the harrowing events that ensued on its doomed journey were unique.


After reaching Africa, The Zorg was captured by a privateer and came under British command. With a new captain and crew, the ship was crammed with 442 slaves, and departed in 1781 for Jamaica. But a series of unpredictable weather events and mistakes in navigation left the ship drastically off course and running out of food and water. So a proposition was put Save the crew and the most valuable of the slaves—by throwing 140 people, mostly women and children, overboard.


What followed was a fascinating legal drama in England’s highest court that turned the brutal calculus of slavery into front page news. For the first time, concepts such as human rights and morality entered the discourse on slavery, in a notorious case that boiled down to a simple but profound Were the Africans on board the Zorg people or cargo?


The case of the Zorg catapulted the nascent anti-slavery movement from a minor evangelical cause to one of the most consequential moral campaigns in history. In this book, Siddharth Kara utilizes primary source research, masterful storytelling, and painstaking investigation to uncover the Zorg’s journey, the lives and fates of the slaves on board, and the mystery of who finally revealed the truth of what happened on the ship.]]> Siddharth Kara 1250348234 Bekah 0 to-read 4.00 2025 The Zorg: A Tale of Greed and Murder That Inspired the Abolition of Slavery
author: Siddharth Kara
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives]]> 60784614 The revelatory New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestseller, shortlisted for the Financial Times Best Business Book of the Year Award.

An unflinching investigation reveals the human rights abuses behind the Congo’s cobalt mining operation―and the moral implications that affect us all.

Cobalt Red is the searing, first-ever exposé of the immense toll taken on the people and environment of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by cobalt mining, as told through the testimonies of the Congolese people themselves. Activist and researcher Siddharth Kara has traveled deep into cobalt territory to document the testimonies of the people living, working, and dying for cobalt. To uncover the truth about brutal mining practices, Kara investigated militia-controlled mining areas, traced the supply chain of child-mined cobalt from toxic pit to consumer-facing tech giants, and gathered shocking testimonies of people who endure immense suffering and even die mining cobalt.

Cobalt is an essential component to every lithium-ion rechargeable battery made today, the batteries that power our smartphones, tablets, laptops, and electric vehicles. Roughly 75 percent of the world’s supply of cobalt is mined in the Congo, often by peasants and children in sub-human conditions. Billions of people in the world cannot conduct their daily lives without participating in a human rights and environmental catastrophe in the Congo. In this stark and crucial book, Kara argues that we must all care about what is happening in the Congo―because we are all implicated.]]> 288 Siddharth Kara 1250284309 Bekah 0 to-read 4.36 2023 Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives
author: Siddharth Kara
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine who Outwitted America's Enemies]]> 32025298 Joining the ranks of Hidden Figures and In the Garden of Beasts, the incredible true story of the greatest codebreaking duo that ever lived, an American woman and her husband who invented the modern science of cryptology together and used it to confront the evils of their time, solving puzzles that unmasked Nazi spies and helped win World War II

In 1916, at the height of World War I, brilliant Shakespeare expert Elizebeth Smith went to work for an eccentric tycoon on his estate outside Chicago. The tycoon had close ties to the U.S. government, and he soon asked Elizebeth to apply her language skills to an exciting new venture: code-breaking. There she met the man who would become her husband, groundbreaking cryptologist William Friedman.

In The Woman Who Smashed Codes, Jason Fagone chronicles the life of Elizebeth Smith who played an integral role in our nation's history for forty years. After World War I, Smith used her talents to catch gangsters and smugglers during Prohibition, then accepted a covert mission to discover and expose Nazi spy rings that were spreading like wildfire across South America, advancing ever closer to the United States. As World War II raged, Elizebeth fought a highly classified battle of wits against Hitler's Reich, cracking multiple versions of the Enigma machine used by German spies. Meanwhile, inside an Army vault in Washington, William worked furiously to break Purple, the Japanese version of Enigma--and eventually succeeded, at a terrible cost to his personal life.Fagone unveils America's code-breaking history through the prism of Smith's life, bringing into focus the unforgettable events and colorful personalities that would help shape modern intelligence.]]> 444 Jason Fagone 0062430483 Bekah 0 to-read 4.04 2017 The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine who Outwitted America's Enemies
author: Jason Fagone
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Pedro's Yo-Yos: How a Filipino Immigrant Came to America and Changed the World of Toys]]> 48850739
It can spin and roll, leap and twirl. You can stretch it between your hands or swing it between your legs. The tricks you can do with one are nearly endless. No wonder the yo-yo is one of the most successful toys ever made! And its popularity began with a Filipino immigrant.

Pedro Flores was born in the Philippines in 1896, when Spain still ruled his country. After the US took over, Pedro traveled to California, received an education, and looked for ways to go into business for himself. Then he remembered a toy from his childhood called the yo-yo, which means "come back" in Tagalog. With a couple of blocks of wood and a little string, Pedro created his first model yo-yo and practiced tricks to show it off.

It was an instant hit! When children saw the yo-yo in action, they clamored to get one themselves. So Pedro always performed his tricks near movie theaters, outside candy shops--anywhere he knew children would see the toy. Soon he was hiring fellow Filipinos to advertise it for him, while he ran factories that manufactured more than a million yo-yos a week! Winner of Lee & Low's New Voices award, Pedro's Yo-Yos is the lively story of one immigrant's ups and downs as an entrepreneur and his determination to create a toy that would capture the imagination of children and adults all over the world.]]> 40 Rob Peñas 162014574X Bekah 4 4.05 2024 Pedro's Yo-Yos: How a Filipino Immigrant Came to America and Changed the World of Toys
author: Rob Peñas
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: biography, children-nonfiction, picture-books-immigration, picture-books-informational
review:
Great picture book about how Pedro Flores capitalized on a simple toy he grew up with in the Philippines! I loved learning that the name "yo-yo" means "come back" in Tagalog.
]]> <![CDATA[José Feeds the World: How a Famous Chef Feeds Millions of People in Need around the World]]> 157020078 40 David Unger 1728279526 Bekah 5 4.37 José Feeds the World: How a Famous Chef Feeds Millions of People in Need around the World
author: David Unger
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.37
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: biography, children-nonfiction, picture-books-community, picture-books-informational, picture-books-multicultural, picture-books-natural-disasters
review:
I've read two picture books about José feeding the world...both were great BUT I prefer this one. I felt like it told José's story in more detail (and still managed not to be wordy)
]]> <![CDATA[Fabulous Frogs (Read and Wonder)]]> 25614267 There are so many kinds of frogs in the world � more than 5,000! � and all of them are fabulous.

Huge frogs, tiny frogs, hairy frogs, and flying frogs hop through the pages of this colorful nonfiction book. Discover the Goliath frog, biggest in the world, and the Darwin’s frog, which has a pointy nose and holds its tadpoles in its mouth until they are big enough to care for themselves. Learn why some frogs are brightly colored, and which one can bury itself in the desert until rain comes. Curious minds will jump at the chance to explore all kinds of frogs, from the most exotic to the greenish-brown specimens in their own backyards.]]> 32 Martin Jenkins 0763681008 Bekah 5 3.96 2016 Fabulous Frogs (Read and Wonder)
author: Martin Jenkins
name: Bekah
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/03
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: picture-books-informational, 2x2-reading-list-2017
review:
Love this book on frogs!!!! I love the different sizes of text, the index in the back (fantastic to teach how to use an index), and the variety of frogs spotlighted.
]]> Butt or Face? 63386805 Butt or Face? is a hilarious nonfiction picture book that teaches fascinating facts about animals! Are YOU ready to play?

Move over, Jeopardy, Family Feud, and The Price Is Right—this book will be your new favorite laugh-until-your-stomach-hurts family game! In Butt or Face, weird animals are introduced with a close-up photo. Kids must guess: are they seeing seeing...um...err... the bottom or the top?

Readers will learn about animals like Cuban Dwarf Frogs, whose backsides look like a pair of eyes, and the Mary River Turtle, which not only has a unique face, but even breathes through its butt! On every reveal page, kids can enjoy the animals' complete photos and fascinating scientific facts, which explain how the critters' camouflage and trickery help them to engage with their habitats.

Can YOU tell a butt from a face?]]> 40 Kari Lavelle Bekah 5 4.46 Butt or Face?
author: Kari Lavelle
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.46
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: children-nonfiction, picture-books-animals, picture-books-funny, picture-books-informational, picture-books-nature-science, 2x2-reading-list-2024
review:
Gross and Funny! Will definitely appeal to kids (and many adults!). I learned a lot and guessed several correctly.
]]> <![CDATA[Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider]]> 59440721 A nonfiction story following a day in the life of a backyard jumping spider.

What if you were small as a bean,
Could walk on the walls and ceiling,
Sense vibrations through your elbows,
And jump five times your body length?

That is Jumper's world.

Open this book to discover the hidden life of a backyard jumping spider.]]> 48 Jessica Lanan 1250810361 Bekah 5 4.35 2023 Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider
author: Jessica Lanan
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: picture-book-nonfiction, picture-books-nature-science, spiders, 2x2-reading-list-2024
review:
Well done! Anyone who loves spiders or is enamored with nature will appreciate this book. The added information in tha backpages is very well done.
]]> <![CDATA[Ice Cream Man: How Augustus Jackson Made a Sweet Treat Better]]> 61058384 Discover the inspiring story of Augustus Jackson, an African American entrepreneur who is known as the father of ice cream, in this beautifully illustrated picture-book biography.

Augustus Jackson was born in 1808 in Philadelphia. While most African Americans were enslaved at that time, in Pennsylvania, slavery was against the law. But while Augustus and his family were free, they were poor, and they depended on their garden and their chickens for food. Augustus enjoyed helping his mom prepare meals for their family. He dreamed of becoming a professional cook, and when his mom suggested he may be able to make meals for the president one day, Augustus didn't waste any time in making that dream a reality. In 1820, when he was only twelve years old, he set off for Washington, DC. He applied to work in the White House, where the head cook offered him a job as a kitchen helper. After five years of working hard, Augustus, or Gus, was promoted to cook. He went on to serve presidents James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, and Andrew Jackson.

During his time at the White House, Augustus became an expert at making a popular egg-based dessert. He soon made an eggless version--known to us today as ice cream--and left the White House determined to make and sell the frozen treat to everyone, not just the wealthy. Gus headed back home to Philadelphia, and in 1830, he opened his very own ice cream parlor. He devised a way to keep the ice cream frozen so that it could be shipped and sold to other businesses. Gus also began adding rock salt to the ice that he used to make his ice cream, which made the mixture freeze more quickly. This allowed him to speed up his production process. He created more ice cream with new flavors, and soon he was shipping product via train to places like New York City, which was 100 miles away. Gus's dream had come true, and better yet, he had brought smiles to many faces.

Shining a light on a little-known visionary, this inspiring picture-book biography includes an afterword, a list of sources, and an easy-to-follow recipe so readers can make their own delicious ice cream!]]> 40 Glenda Armand 0593563220 Bekah 5 4.28 2023 Ice Cream Man: How Augustus Jackson Made a Sweet Treat Better
author: Glenda Armand
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: picture-books-with-recipes, bluebonnet-nominee-2024, picture-books-inventors, african-american
review:
Y'all! This is a fantastic book! Informational while quick to read, engaging pictures, and a recipe at the back! Love it!!!
]]> Once There Were Wolves 54860573 From the author of the beloved national bestseller Migrations, a pulse-pounding new novel set in the wild Scottish Highlands.

Inti Flynn arrives in Scotland with her twin sister, Aggie, to lead a team of biologists tasked with reintroducing fourteen gray wolves into the remote Highlands. She hopes to heal not only the dying landscape, but Aggie, too, unmade by the terrible secrets that drove the sisters out of Alaska.

Inti is not the woman she once was, either, changed by the harm she’s witnessed—inflicted by humans on both the wild and each other. Yet as the wolves surprise everyone by thriving, Inti begins to let her guard down, even opening herself up to the possibility of love. But when a farmer is found dead, Inti knows where the town will lay blame. Unable to accept her wolves could be responsible, Inti makes a reckless decision to protect them. But if the wolves didn’t make the kill, then who did? And what will Inti do when the man she is falling for seems to be the prime suspect?

Propulsive and spell-binding, Charlotte McConaghy's Once There Were Wolves is the unforgettable story of a woman desperate to save the creatures she loves—if she isn’t consumed by a wild that was once her refuge.]]> 258 Charlotte McConaghy 1250244145 Bekah 0 to-read 4.07 2021 Once There Were Wolves
author: Charlotte McConaghy
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Evelyn the Adventurous Entomologist: The True Story of a World-Traveling Bug Hunter]]> 43666739 40 Christine Evans 1943147663 Bekah 5 4.38 Evelyn the Adventurous Entomologist: The True Story of a World-Traveling Bug Hunter
author: Christine Evans
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.38
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/03
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves:
review:
Great biography of "Evelyn the Adventurous Entomologist." This was a thorough introduction to Evelyn Cheesman, whom I didn't know about before this book. I loved the interview of the modern day entomologist, Dr. Alexandra Harmon-Threatt, in the back.
]]> <![CDATA[Haiku, Ew!: Celebrating the Disgusting Side of Nature]]> 179517700 32 Lynn Brunelle 1728492505 Bekah 5 4.16 Haiku, Ew!: Celebrating the Disgusting Side of Nature
author: Lynn Brunelle
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.16
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/03
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: picture-books-nature-science, picture-books-poetry, picture-books-gross
review:
Ok, this book grossed me out BUT it was super well done! A lot of the disgusting facts have stayed with me though and I learned a lot. I really like the art style too.
]]> <![CDATA[Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night]]> 7999433

Come feel the cool and shadowed breeze,
come smell your way among the trees,
come touch rough bark and leathered leaves:
Welcome to the night.

Welcome to the night, where mice stir and furry moths flutter. Where snails spiral into shells as orb spiders circle in silk. Where the roots of oak trees recover and repair from their time in the light. Where the porcupette eats delicacies—raspberry leaves!—and coos and sings.

Come out to the cool, night wood, and buzz and hoot and howl—but do beware of the great horned owl�for it’s wild and it’s windy way out in the woods!

This Newbery Honor-winning picture book combines beautifully written poetry with facts of the forest and elaborate illustrations to form a marvelously engaging collection.]]> 32 Joyce Sidman 0547152280 Bekah 4 picture-books-poetry 3.99 2010 Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night
author: Joyce Sidman
name: Bekah
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/03
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: picture-books-poetry
review:
Well done poems with various nocturnal creatures as their subjects. Each poem is paired with a beautiful painting and a snippet of information about the nocturnal creature.
]]> Begin with a Bee 55707533 A Chicago Public Library’s Best Informational Books for Younger Readers selection

Begin with a Bee and its story of the life of one queen bee, a rusty-patched bumblebee, teaches us not only about bees but also about our own responsibilities in the natural world

By looking closely at the life cycle of one bee, Begin with a Bee helps readers of all ages understand and appreciate the contributions and significance of all bees. The life cycle of the rusty-patched bumblebee is a tale of wonder, the adventure of one queen bee who carries an entire colony of bees inside her tiny body. Her story begins in the spring when she emerges from a hole in the ground to search for pollen. She finds a nest, “underground best,� lays a few eggs, and seals them in pollen. All summer this single queen lays more eggs, and more worker bees hatch. They gather pollen and maintain the colony until next year’s queen hatches in the fall.

The queen bee’s life unfolds through Claudia McGehee’s captivating illustrations. The authors—three beloved and prolific writers of award-winning children’s books—impart the poetry and basic science of the rusty-patched bumblebee, the first bee to appear on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Endangered Species list.Ìý

Extensive commentary at the end of the book offers suggestions for being a friend to bees as well as a good citizen of the natural world. It also introduces the native plants that bumblebees need for survival. Begin with a Bee might inspire a child (or any of us) to seek out, identify, even cultivate these essential flowers—and participate in the next chapter in the story of all bumblebees.]]> 40 Liza Ketchum 1517908043 Bekah 4 picture-books-bees 4.24 2021 Begin with a Bee
author: Liza Ketchum
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/03
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: picture-books-bees
review:
This would be good read to a little older audience such as 6 and older. It goes through the whole life cycle of a rusty back bumblebee. At the end is more information about how to help bees.
]]> <![CDATA[How to Count to One: And Don't Even Think About Bigger Numbers!]]> 60901772 A hilariously irreverent picture book about counting that children will love to outsmart! You know how to count, right? GREAT! There are LOTS of fun things to count in this whales, baboons, rainbows, pyramids . . .There's just one rule. You must ONLY ever count to ONE. So don't even about THINK bigger numbers. OK?! Get ready to show off your skills in this fun new counting book! But not everything is as it seems . . . is this book really only about counting to â€ONE?â€� Because there are SO MANY fun things that you could count. But wait —maybe there's a way to outsmart the book . . . and count all the way up to 100! A fun and interactive read-aloud experience, perfect for fans of B. J. Novak's international bestseller The Book With No Pictures.]]> 0 Caspar Salmon 1839941928 Bekah 5 4.29 How to Count to One: And Don't Even Think About Bigger Numbers!
author: Caspar Salmon
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.29
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/03
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: picture-books-funny, picture-books-math
review:
Laugh out loud funny! Perfect book to pair with a lesson on the number 1 in Prek or even Kindergarten.
]]> Lou 59147732 Don't miss this humorous and heartwarming picture book by debut creator Breanna Carzoo about an unlikely everyday hero: a fire hydrant!

Meet Lou. Lou has an important job . . . as the neighborhood toilet for dogs on their walks.

Useful as he may be, he gets the feeling that deep down inside, there might be more to him than that. He just doesn't seem to know exactly what yet. When disaster strikes, will Lou find out what he's made of and save the day?

From debut creator Breanna Carzoo comes a charming and funny story that reminds us to never let anyone--including yourself--hold you back from sharing your gifts with the world.

Kids will fall in love with Lou and his journey of self-discovery as he saves the day from a fire that breaks out in an apartment building nearby. You'll never be able to look at a fire hydrant the same way again!]]> 32 Breanna Carzoo 0063054051 Bekah 4 4.10 2022 Lou
author: Breanna Carzoo
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: picture-book, picture-books-funny, picture-books-fire-fight
review:
Quick, cute, and funny! Also, fun fact, the author's picture is taken in front of a giant fire hydrant where I work (Beaumont, TX)!
]]> The Interpreter 211953340 A sharp and heartfelt picture book about a young soccer-loving girl who’s an interpreter for her Spanish-speaking parents.Some kids have one to be a kid! Cecilia has two. When she isn't on the soccer field scoring goals, she's accompanying her parents to all kinds of grown-up places, like the DMV, the accountant's office, and the auto shop. She helps them translate from Spanish to English and from English to Spanish.ÌýIt’s an important job, and it can even be fun. It’s also hard work.ÌýSometimes Cecilia's second job is so much responsibility, it feels like she'll split in two! Is it time for Cecilia to blow her whistle and call for a time-out?Olivia Abtahi’s clever text and Monica Arnaldo’s charming illustrations capture a common aspect of life for immigrant and bilingual families while offering a model for teamwork that helps everyone feel understood.]]> 40 Olivia Abtahi 0593620445 Bekah 0 to-read 4.44 The Interpreter
author: Olivia Abtahi
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.44
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> People of Means 213344051 From the acclaimed author ofÌýThe Kindest Lie, a propulsive novel about a mother and daughter each seeking justice and following their dreams during moments of social reckoningâ€�1960s Nashville and 1992 Chicago—perfect for readers of Brit Bennett and Tayari Jones.

Two women. Two pivotal moments. One dream for justice and equality.

It’s 1959, and Freda Gilroy has just arrived at Nashville’s Fisk University, eager to begin her studies and uphold the tradition of Black Excellence instilled in her by her parents back home in Chicago. Coming from an upper-middle-class lifestyle where Black and white people lived together in relative harmony, Freda is surprised to discover the menace of racism down South. When a chance encounter with an intriguing young man draws her into the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement, Freda finds herself caught between two worlds, and two loves, and must decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice in the name of justice, equality, and the advancement of her people.

In 1992 Chicago, Freda’s daughter Tulip is an ambitious PR professional on track for a big promotion, if workplace politics and racial microaggressions don’t get in her way. With the ruling in the Rodney King trial weighing heavily on her, Tulip feels increasingly agitated and decides she can no longer stay quiet. Called to action by a series of glaring injustices, Tulip makes an irreversible professional misstep as she seeks to uplift her community. Will she find the courage to veer off the “safe� path and follow her heart, just as her mother had three decades prior?

Insightful, evocative, and richly imagined with stories of hidden history,ÌýPeople of MeansÌýis an emotional tour de force that offers a glimpse into the quest for racial equality, the pursuit of personal and communal success, and the power of love and family ties.]]> 368 Nancy Johnson 0063157519 Bekah 0 to-read 4.01 2025 People of Means
author: Nancy Johnson
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Orbital 123136728
Contudo, mesmo tão distantes do mundo, os seis astronautas não conseguem escapar à sua constante influência. Chegam notícias da morte de uma mãe, trazendo pensamentos de regresso e de saudades de casa. A fragilidade da vida humana torna-se um tema central nas suas conversas, nos seus medos e nos seus sonhos.

Apesar de tão longe da Terra, nunca antes se haviam sentido tão protetores dela, tão parte dela. Começam a refletir: o que será a vida sem a Terra? O que será a Terra sem a humanidade?]]> 207 Samantha Harvey 0802161545 Bekah 0 to-read 3.55 2023 Orbital
author: Samantha Harvey
name: Bekah
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> All the Water in the World 211003759 In the tradition of Station Eleven, a literary thriller set partly on the roof of New York’s Museum of Natural History in a flooded future.

All the Water in the World is told in the voice of a girl gifted with a deep feeling for water. In the years after the glaciers melt, Nonie, her older sister and her parents and their researcher friends have stayed behind in an almost deserted New York City, creating a settlement on the roof of the American Museum of Natural History. The rule: Take from the exhibits only in dire need. They hunt and grow their food in Central Park as they work to save the collections of human history and science. When a superstorm breaches the city’s flood walls, Nonie and her family must escape north on the Hudson. They carry with them a book that holds their records of the lost collections. Racing on the swollen river towards what may be safety, they encounter communities that have adapted in very different and sometimes frightening ways to the new reality. But they are determined to find a way to make a new world that honors all they've saved.

Inspired by the stories of the curators in Iraq and Leningrad who worked to protect their collections from war, All the Water in the World is both a meditation on what we save from collapse and an adventure story—with danger, storms, and a fight for survival. In the spirit of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and Parable of the Sower, this wild journey offers the hope that what matters most � love and work, community and knowledge � will survive.]]> 304 Eiren Caffall 1250353521 Bekah 0 to-read 3.56 2025 All the Water in the World
author: Eiren Caffall
name: Bekah
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Wild Dark Shore 211004089
Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers. But with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants, packing up the seeds before they are transported to safer ground. Despite the wild beauty of life here, isolation has taken its toll on the Salts. Raff, eighteen and suffering his first heartbreak, can only find relief at his punching bag; Fen, seventeen, has started spending her nights on the beach among the seals; nine-year-old Orly, obsessed with botany, fears the loss of his beloved natural world; and Dominic can’t stop turning back toward the past, and the loss that drove the family to Shearwater in the first place.

Then, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman washes up on shore. As the Salts nurse the woman, Rowan, back to life, their suspicion gives way to affection, and they finally begin to feel like a family again. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting her heart, begins to fall for the Salts, too. But Rowan isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers the sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes Dominic is keeping his own dark secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, the characters must decide if they can trust each other enough to protect the precious seeds in their care before it’s too late—and if they can finally put the tragedies of the past behind them to create something new, together.]]> 303 Charlotte McConaghy 1250827957 Bekah 0 to-read 4.27 2025 Wild Dark Shore
author: Charlotte McConaghy
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection]]> 220341391 John Green, the #1 bestselling author of The Anthropocene Reviewed and a passionate advocate for global healthcare reform, tells a deeply human story illuminating the fight against the world’s deadliest disease.

Tuberculosis has been entwined with humanity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it.

In 2019, John Green met Henry, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone while traveling with Partners in Health. John became fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and a big, goofy smile. In the years since that first visit to Lakka, Green has become a vocal and dynamic advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequities that allow this curable, treatable infectious disease to also be the deadliest, killing 1.5 million people every year.

In Everything is Tuberculosis, John tells Henry’s story, woven through with the scientific and social histories of how tuberculosis has shaped our world and how our choices will shape the future of tuberculosis.]]> 208 John Green 0525426051 Bekah 0 to-read 4.58 2025 Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection
author: John Green
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Pig Town Party 199531995 40 Lian Cho 0063237512 Bekah 4 4.00 Pig Town Party
author: Lian Cho
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/27
date added: 2025/02/27
shelves: young-adult-non-fiction, pig, picture-books-selfishness
review:
Justice is served in this hilarious book about a very spoiled little girl!
]]> <![CDATA[I Quit (Wild Princess Kitty Books)]]> 200982366 Fans of Cat Problems and Mother Bruce will not want to miss this hiss-terical picture book! I Quit is an oh-so-relatable story about a misbehaving kitty who's had just about enough... only to find out she's had what she needed all along.

When kitty first got adopted, everything was purr-fect.

Then came the rules. NO eating the bread! NO chasing the baby! BAD KITTY! Excuse me? She’s not a bad kitty. Left with no choice, she says goodbye to everything she loves (even her favorite crinkled-up receipt) and quits!

But kitty's adventure in the great outdoors doesn't go as planned, and she realizes that she may have made a few mistakes. She knows she can do better, but how can she get home? Would her family even want her back?

A laugh-out-loud picture book perfect for anyone who has ever had that "I quit!" feeling.]]> 40 Kristen Tracy 0374392196 Bekah 4 3.95 I Quit (Wild Princess Kitty Books)
author: Kristen Tracy
name: Bekah
average rating: 3.95
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/27
date added: 2025/02/27
shelves: picture-books-animals, read-a-loud, cats
review:

]]> It's All or Nothing, Vale 213243938 A poignant novel in verse where, after a life-changing accident, one girl finds her way back to her life’s passion. From the Newbery Honor Award-winning author of Iveliz Explains It All.

All these months of staring at the wall?
All these months of feeling weak?
It’s ending�
I’m going back to fencing.
And then it’ll be
like nothing ever happened.

No one knows hard work and dedication like Valentina Camacho. And Vale’s thing isÌýfencing. She’s the top athlete at her fencing gym. Or she was . . . until the accident.

After months away, Vale is finally cleared to fence again, but it’s much harder than before. Her body doesn’t move the way it used to, and worst of all is the new number Myrka. When she sweeps Vale aside with her perfect form and easy smile, Vale just can’t accept that. But the harder Vale fights to catch up, the more she realizes her injury isn’t the only thing holding her back. If she can’t leave her accident in the past, then what does she have to look forward to?

In this moving novel from the Newbery Honor-winning author of Iveliz Explains It All, one girl finds her way back to her life’s passion and discovers that the sum of a person's achievements doesn’t amount to the whole of them.]]> 272 Andrea Beatriz Arango 0593810929 Bekah 0 to-read 4.16 2025 It's All or Nothing, Vale
author: Andrea Beatriz Arango
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Secret Book of Flora Lea 61964751
In the war-torn London of 1939, fourteen-year-old Hazel and five-year-old Flora are evacuated to a rural village to escape the horrors of the Second World War. Living with the kind Bridie Aberdeen and her teenage son, Harry, in a charming stone cottage along the River Thames, Hazel fills their days with walks and games to distract her young sister, including one that she creates for her sister and her sister alone—a fairy tale about a magical land, a secret place they can escape to that is all their own.

But the unthinkable happens when young Flora suddenly vanishes while playing near the banks of the river. Shattered, Hazel blames herself for her sister’s disappearance, and she carries that guilt into adulthood as a private burden she feels she deserves.

Twenty years later, Hazel is in London, ready to move on from her job at a cozy rare bookstore to a career at Sotheby’s. With a charming boyfriend and her elegantly timeworn Bloomsbury flat, Hazel’s future seems determined. But her tidy life is turned upside down when she unwraps a package containing an illustrated book called Whisperwood and the River of Stars . Hazel never told a soul about the imaginary world she created just for Flora. Could this book hold the secrets to Flora’s disappearance? Could it be a sign that her beloved sister is still alive after all these years?

As Hazel embarks on a feverish quest, revisiting long-dormant relationships and bravely opening wounds from her past, her career and future hang in the balance. An astonishing twist ultimately reveals the truth in this transporting and refreshingly original novel about the bond between sisters, the complications of conflicted love, and the enduring magic of storytelling.]]> 355 Patti Callahan Henry 1668011832 Bekah 0 to-read 4.03 2023 The Secret Book of Flora Lea
author: Patti Callahan Henry
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[My Italian Bulldozer (Paul Stuart, #1)]]> 30236772 When writer Paul Stuart heads to the idyllic Italian town of Montalcino to finish his already late book, it seems like the perfect escape from stressful city life. Upon landing, however, things quickly take a turn for the worse when he discovers his hired car is nowhere to be found. With no record of any reservation and no other cars available it looks like Paul is stuck at the airport. That is, until an enterprising stranger offers him an unexpected alternative. While there may be no cars available there is something else on offer: a bulldozer.

With little choice in the matter, Paul accepts and so begins a series of laugh out loud adventures through the Italian countryside, following in the wake of Paul and his Italian Bulldozer. A story of unexpected circumstance and lesson in making the best of what you have, My Italian Bulldozer is a warm holiday read guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

]]> 242 Alexander McCall Smith 0349142300 Bekah 0 to-read 3.50 2017 My Italian Bulldozer (Paul Stuart, #1)
author: Alexander McCall Smith
name: Bekah
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> We All Live Here 213244534 The #1 New York Times bestselling author, whose books so many love, brings us a fresh, contemporary story of a woman and her unruly blended family

Lila Kennedy has a lot on her plate. A broken marriage, two wayward daughters, a house that is falling apart, and an elderly stepfather who seems to have quietly moved in. Her career is in freefall and her love life is... complicated. So when her real dad—a man she has barely seen since he ran off to Hollywood thirty-five years ago—suddenly appears on her doorstep, it feels like the final straw. But it turns out even the family you thought you could never forgive might have something to teach about love, and what it actually means to be family.]]> 460 Jojo Moyes 1984879332 Bekah 0 to-read 4.19 2025 We All Live Here
author: Jojo Moyes
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Half of a Yellow Sun 18749 A masterly, haunting new novel from a writer heralded by The Washington Post Book World as “the 21st-century daughter of Chinua Achebe,� Half of a Yellow Sun re-creates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra’s impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in Nigeria in the 1960s, and the chilling violence that followed.

With astonishing empathy and the effortless grace of a natural storyteller, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie weaves together the lives of three characters swept up in the turbulence of the decade. Thirteen-year-old Ugwu is employed as a houseboy for a university professor full of revolutionary zeal. Olanna is the professor’s beautiful mistress, who has abandoned her life of privilege in Lagos for a dusty university town and the charisma of her new lover. And Richard is a shy young Englishman in thrall to Olanna’s twin sister, an enigmatic figure who refuses to belong to anyone. As Nigerian troops advance and the three must run for their lives, their ideals are severely tested, as are their loyalties to one another.

Epic, ambitious, and triumphantly realized, Half of a Yellow Sun is a remarkable novel about moral responsibility, about the end of colonialism, about ethnic allegiances, about class and race—and the ways in which love can complicate them all. Adichie brilliantly evokes the promise and the devastating disappointments that marked this time and place, bringing us one of the most powerful, dramatic, and intensely emotional pictures of modern Africa that we have ever had.]]> 435 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 1400044162 Bekah 0 to-read 4.34 2006 Half of a Yellow Sun
author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> We Should All Be Feminists 22738563 We Should All Be Feminists, a personal, eloquently-argued essay—adapted from her much-viewed TEDx talk of the same name—by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the award-winning author of Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun.

With humor and levity, here Adichie offers readers a unique definition of feminism for the twenty-first century—one rooted in inclusion and awareness. She shines a light not only on blatant discrimination, but also the more insidious, institutional behaviors that marginalize women around the world, in order to help readers of all walks of life better understand the often masked realities of sexual politics. Throughout, she draws extensively on her own experiences—in the U.S., in her native Nigeria, and abroad—offering an artfully nuanced explanation of why the gender divide is harmful for women and men, alike.

Argued in the same observant, witty and clever prose that has made Adichie a bestselling novelist, here is one remarkable author’s exploration of what it means to be a woman today—and an of-the-moment rallying cry for why we should all be feminists.]]> 52 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Bekah 0 to-read 4.42 2012 We Should All Be Feminists
author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Keeper of Enchanted Rooms (Whimbrel House, #1)]]> 60596112
Hulda Larkin of the Boston Institute for the Keeping of Enchanted Rooms has been trained in taming such structures in order to preserve their historical and magical significance. She understands the dangers of bespelled homes given to tantrums. She advises that it’s in Merritt’s best interest to make Whimbrel House their ally. To do that, she’ll need to move in, too.

Prepared as she is with augury, a set of magic tools, and a new staff trained in the uncanny, Hulda’s work still proves unexpectedly difficult. She and Merritt grow closer as the investigation progresses, but the house’s secrets run deeper than they anticipated. And the sentient walls aren’t their only concern—something outside is coming for the enchantments of Whimbrel House, and it could be more dangerous than what rattles within.]]> 347 Charlie N. Holmberg 1662500335 Bekah 0 to-read 4.14 2022 Keeper of Enchanted Rooms (Whimbrel House, #1)
author: Charlie N. Holmberg
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Anxious People 49127718 A poignant, charming novel about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined

Looking at real estate isn't usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. The captives include a recently retired couple who relentlessly hunt down fixer-uppers to avoid the painful truth that they can't fix up their own marriage. There's a wealthy banker who has been too busy making money to care about anyone else and a young couple who are about to have their first child but can't seem to agree on anything, from where they want to live to how they met in the first place. Add to the mix an eighty-seven-year-old woman who has lived long enough not to be afraid of someone waving a gun in her face, a flustered but still-ready-to-make-a-deal real estate agent, and a mystery man who has locked himself in the apartment's only bathroom, and you've got the worst group of hostages in the world.

Each of them carries a lifetime of grievances, hurts, secrets, and passions that are ready to boil over. None of them is entirely who they appear to be. And all of them—the bank robber included—desperately crave some sort of rescue. As the authorities and the media surround the premises, these reluctant allies will reveal surprising truths about themselves and set in a motion a chain of events so unexpected that even they can hardly explain what happens next.

Humorous, compassionate, and wise, Anxious People is an ingeniously constructed story about the enduring power of friendship, forgiveness, and hope—the things that save us, even in the most anxious of times.

Includes short story - The Last Round of Golf]]> 336 Fredrik Backman 198216963X Bekah 5 It is not all funny though - suicide and depression are talked about a lot- just a heads up. Reading this book takes you through the whole gamut of emotions.]]> 4.17 2019 Anxious People
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/23
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves:
review:
I laughed out loud so much that my husband wouldn't let me tell him anything about the book bc he wants to read it now. Sometimes I felt like I got whiplash with the book bc what I thought was going on....well....just read it and find out.
It is not all funny though - suicide and depression are talked about a lot- just a heads up. Reading this book takes you through the whole gamut of emotions.
]]> Crying in H Mart 54814676
In this exquisite story of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist. With humour and heart, she tells of growing up the only Asian-American kid at her school in Eugene, Oregon; of struggling with her mother’s particular, high expectations of her; of a painful adolescence; of treasured months spent in her grandmother’s tiny apartment in Seoul, where she and her mother would bond, late at night, over heaping plates of food. As she grew up, moving to the east coast for college, finding work in the restaurant industry, performing gigs with her fledgling band � and meeting the man who would become her husband � her Koreanness began to feel ever more distant, even as she found the life she wanted to live.

It was her mother’s diagnosis of terminal pancreatic cancer, when Michelle was twenty-five, that forced a reckoning with her identity and brought her to reclaim the gifts of taste, language, and history her mother had given her.

Vivacious, lyrical and honest, Michelle Zauner’s voice is as radiantly alive on the page as it is onstage. Rich with intimate anecdotes that will resonate widely, Crying in H Mart is a book to cherish, share, and reread.]]> 243 Michelle Zauner 0525657746 Bekah 4 Listening to this book made me sooooo hungry for Korean food I hardly knew anything about. Also, it was insightful to hear about her struggles with being 1/2 Korean - 1/2 American.]]> 4.25 2021 Crying in H Mart
author: Michelle Zauner
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/24
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves:
review:
3.5 stars. I listened to the audio and I wasn't a huge fan of the narrator BUT it was the author! So I feel like that is how she wanted the book to be read, obviously. Just very monotone.
Listening to this book made me sooooo hungry for Korean food I hardly knew anything about. Also, it was insightful to hear about her struggles with being 1/2 Korean - 1/2 American.
]]> <![CDATA[The Man Who Didn't Like Animals]]> 199531873
There once was a man who loved his tidy home and whoÌý didn’t Ìýlike animals. Then one day, a cat appeared. The man and the cat both likedÌýnapping and watching the rain and eating dinner precisely at six. Well, maybe thisÌý oneÌý animal could stay. Next came a dog . . . This big-hearted and funny tale with delightful artwork from Caldecott Honor artist LeUyen Pham celebrates the joy of embracing new perspectives.]]> 40 Deborah Underwood 0358567130 Bekah 5 4.53 2024 The Man Who Didn't Like Animals
author: Deborah Underwood
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/26
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: picture-books-animals, picture-books-farm, picture-books-funny, picture-books-nursery-rhymes, read-a-loud
review:
Read this and then sing Old Mcdonald had a Farm! Fantastic read aloud book for preschool age to kindergarten!!!!
]]> Chez Bob (Chez Bob, 1) 53435396 From the hilarious author of Who Wet My Pants?, Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great, and the Dinosaur Vs. series comes a kid-pleasing read-aloud about a devious alligator who learns to love!

Welcome to Chez Bob, which seems like a real restaurant ... until you realize ... it's on an alligator's NOSE! Bob's got a hidden plan for his customers: "Birds will come to eat, but I will eat the birds!" As they fly in from all over the world to dine on Bob's face, something starts to happen that takes the lazy, hungry reptile by surprise—the birds stay. "More yummy birds!" he rejoices—he'll want for nothing! But when the time is right, will Bob make the right choice?

Comic genius Bob Shea cooks up a tasty tale that proves anyone, even hungry alligators, can have a change of heart and learn to be a good friend.]]> 40 Bob Shea 0316483117 Bekah 4 4.28 2021 Chez Bob (Chez Bob, 1)
author: Bob Shea
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/26
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves:
review:
Fun, humorous, and a quick read. All great things for a read-a-loud!
]]> <![CDATA[What Do They Do with All That Poo?]]> 36373525
There are so many different kinds of animals at the zoo, and they each make lots and lots (and sometimes LOTS!) of poo. So what do zoos do with all of that poo? This zany, fact-filled romp explores zoo poo, from cube-shaped wombat poo to white hyena scat, and all of the places it ends up, including in science labs and elephant-poo paper—even backyard gardens!]]> 40 Jane Kurtz 1481479865 Bekah 4 4.29 2018 What Do They Do with All That Poo?
author: Jane Kurtz
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: picture-books-informational, speculative-fiction, steam-punk, picture-books-animals, picture-books-zoo
review:
4- very well done but I wish there was more information in the back. Throughout the book there would be info given and talk about scientists had studied this but then I was left hanging. I want to know how forceful the penguins shoot their poo out- come on! LOL. Also would have like to know which names were given to each animal's poop. Like guano for bats. They mention about the different names but don't label consistently.
]]> Greenlight 63076683 32 Breanna Carzoo 006305406X Bekah 4 3.72 Greenlight
author: Breanna Carzoo
name: Bekah
average rating: 3.72
book published:
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: read-a-loud, picture-books-transportation
review:
Perfect for any kid who is obsessed with transportation and/or cars. Would be perfect for a transportation unit in Kindergarten.
]]> Millie Fleur's Poison Garden 195261595 Wednesday Addams meets The Curious Garden in this delightfully peculiar story about finding joy in being wonderfully weird.

Garden Glen is a very bland place. Every house and every garden looks exactly like the other. That is� until Millie Fleur La Fae comes to town.

Up on a scruffy hill, beside a ramschackle house, Millie Fleur plants her marvelously strange garden, filled with Sneezing Stickyweed, Fanged Fairymoss, and Grumpy Gilliflower. Millie Fleur finds it enchanting, but the townspeople of Garden Glen call it poison!

But Millie Fleur is proud of her beloved little garden. So if some townspeople want to be sticks in the mud, she'll take matters into her own hands and find the kindred spirits who appreciate everything the garden has to offer.

Millie Fleur's Poison Garden is a reminder to embrace everything that makes us wonderfully weird. Perfect for readers of The Creepy Carrots and fans of the Addams Family movies.]]> 0 Christy Mandin 1339023318 Bekah 5 4.46 2024 Millie Fleur's Poison Garden
author: Christy Mandin
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: picture-books-community, picture-books-flowers, read-a-loud, picture-books-garden
review:
A fun take on the theme, "it's okay to be different. " Very fun read aloud!
]]> Graphs! 199846816
For students, STEM topics don’t always feel like a walk in the park. But what if they were more like a day at the fair? Follow Janet and Ben from the Ferris Wheel to the carousel as they use graphs and data collection to make decisions about their day. This is the sixteenth book in this duo’s math picture book series.

Combining elements of a graphic story with engaging and accessible nonfiction text, David A. Adler combines his well-established STEM know-how with Edward Miller’s vibrant, high contrast art to take young readers on a wild ride through the world of bar graphs, pictographs, pie charts, and more!]]> 32 David A. Adler 0823448630 Bekah 4 3.41 Graphs!
author: David A. Adler
name: Bekah
average rating: 3.41
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/26
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: picture-books-stem, picture-books-informational, picture-books-math
review:
Great informational book on graphs! This would be a great addition to several math lessons on graphs. I would break up the book to coordinate with the type of graphs being taught.
]]> <![CDATA[Butterflies Are Pretty ... Gross! (Nature's Top Secrets)]]> 54611453 Warning--this book contains top-secret information about butterflies! Prepare to be shocked and grossed out by this hilarious and totally true picture book introduction to a fascinating insect.

Butterflies are beautiful and quiet and gentle and sparkly . . . but that's not the whole truth. Butterflies can be GROSS. And one butterfly in particular is here to let everyone know! Talking directly to the reader, a monarch butterfly reveals how its kind is so much more than what we think. Did you know some butterflies enjoy feasting on dead animals, rotten fruit, tears and even poop? Some butterflies are loud, like the Cracker butterfly. Some are stinky -- the smell scares predators away. Butterflies can be sneaky, like the ones who pretend to be ants to get free babysitting.

This hilarious and refreshing book with silly and sweet illustrations explores the science of butterflies and shows that these insects are not the stereotypically cutesy critters we often think they are -- they are fascinating, disgusting, complicated and amazing creatures.]]> 36 Rosemary Mosco 0735265925 Bekah 5 4.21 2021 Butterflies Are Pretty ... Gross! (Nature's Top Secrets)
author: Rosemary Mosco
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: picture-books-spring, read-a-loud, picture-books-butterflies, picture-books-insects
review:
I think I may like this one even more than the "Flowers are Pretty Gross." They are both funny and informative. The illustrations make the book!!!!! Great job Mosco and Souva! A great author/illustrator team!
]]> Jovita Wore Pants 39834364 Aida Salazar Bekah 4 4.18 2023 Jovita Wore Pants
author: Aida Salazar
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/24
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: nonfiction, picture-books-biography, picture-books-mexico
review:
Memoir or Biography of Jovita; a woman who dressed as a man in order to lead Mexican Freedom Fighters. The artwork is gorgeous. The extra information at the end adds a lot. Great resource for learning about this time period in Mexican history and/or the historical figure, Jovita.
]]> <![CDATA[After the Fall: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back up Again]]> 33376257 I'm famous for falling off a wall.

(You may have heard about it.)

But that's only half the story...
Because I decided to get back up.
And when I did, something amazing happened.

This story is about my life...
AFTER THE FALL.

Inspiring and unforgettable, this epilogue to the beloved classic nursery rhyme will encourage even the most afraid to overcome their fears, learn to get back up--and reach new heights.
(front flap)]]> 40 Dan Santat 1626726825 Bekah 5 4.38 2017 After the Fall: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back up Again
author: Dan Santat
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/26
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: picture-books-bravery, picture-books-funny, picture-books-imagination, read-a-loud, picture-books-nursery-rhymes
review:
LOVE IT!!! Best ending, or should I say new beginning for Humpty Dumpty ever!
]]> Volcanoes 195263597 40 Nell Cross Beckerman 1338874675 Bekah 5 4.37 2024 Volcanoes
author: Nell Cross Beckerman
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/24
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: children-nonfiction, picture-book-nonfiction, picture-books-earth, picture-books-stem, volcanoes
review:
Great read aloud on volcanoes! There is extra snippets that can be read for more information or just read the larger text for a basic overview.
]]> Listen 55710805 In the tradition of Tomie dePaola’s Quiet and Scott Magoon’s Breathe comes this lyrical, meditative picture book about listening and mindfulness.

BEEP!
WOOF!
VROOM!

Isn’t the world a noisy place?
But what if you
stop, close your eyes,
and LISTEN?

Can you hear each sound?
Can you listen past the noise
and hear the quiet, too?

Beautifully illustrated and poignant, this lovely picture book follows a girl through her school day as she listens to sounds across the city: caws of crows, shouts across the playground, and finally, the quiet beating of her heart and whispered goodnights.]]> 40 Gabi Snyder 1534461892 Bekah 4 picture-book, 5-senses 4.18 Listen
author: Gabi Snyder
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.18
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/24
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: picture-book, 5-senses
review:
This would work great with a lesson on the 5 senses focusing on hearing. Also, it could work great with a lesson on learning to listen for sounds in words!
]]> Alice in a Winter Wonderland 209192682 A striking rendition of Alice in Wonderland transported to a shimmering Alaskan tundra, in Jan Brett's rich signature style.When Alice spies a white rabbit checking his pocket watch before hippity-hopping down a crevasse in an Alaskan glacier, she knows she must follow him. And so she pops down the rabbit hole, into a world of absurd personalities, topsy-turvy action, and laugh-out-loud silliness. Favorite characters like Cheshire Cat and the Duchess and King and Queen come to life as vibrant animals native to Alaska making this classic tale shine through a fresh lens, certain to appeal to readers of all ages.]]> 40 Jan Brett 0593533887 Bekah 5 3.84 2024 Alice in a Winter Wonderland
author: Jan Brett
name: Bekah
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/24
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: picture-books-imagination, alaska, alice-in-wonderland-retelling
review:
Jan Brett does it again- creating magnificent illustrations that tell a story within the story she tells with words! Love this retelling of Alice in Wonderland. Just as whimsical and crazy!
]]> <![CDATA[A Plate of Hope: The Inspiring Story of Chef José Andrés and World Central Kitchen]]> 156738661 A moving picture book biography about chef José Andrés, who, along with his World Central Kitchen organization, is sure to inspire kids to help out in their own communities.

José Andrés’s love of cooking began as a young boy in Spain as he gathered the wood to make the fire that would cook the paella just right. José loved everything about the sizzling olive oil, the mounds of chopped vegetables, and the smell of saffron. When he left home, he realized he wanted to tell stories with food. And tell them he did, creating magic with the seeds of ripe tomatoes and pomegranates and cheese. His dreams grew until they were as big as the stars in the sky. He thought, No one should ever go hungry. I want to help feed the world-- and World Central Kitchen was born.

From the earthquake in Haiti to the war in Ukraine and the Covid pandemic, José and his team at World Central Kitchen have been at the frontlines, serving more than 200 million meals and counting, and bringing comfort and hope in the darkest times.

With a lyrical text and stunning illustrations, here is a picture book biography about a world-renowned humanitarian and chef that’s sure to inspire a new generation of community helpers.]]> 48 Erin Frankel 0593380592 Bekah 4 4.19 A Plate of Hope: The Inspiring Story of Chef José Andrés and World Central Kitchen
author: Erin Frankel
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.19
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/24
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: picture-books-biography, picture-books-immigration, picture-books-multicultural, picture-books-helping-others, picture-books-careers
review:
Cute and informative book. Love how it highlights Jose Andres and his love of feeding people!
]]> All the Colors of the Dark 203019740 From the New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End comes a soaring thriller and an epic love story that spans decades.

1975 is a time of change in America. The Vietnam War is ending. Mohammed Ali is fighting Joe Frazier. And in the small town of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing.

When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges—Patch, a local boy with one eye, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake.

Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another.

A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession, and the blinding light of hope.]]> 608 Chris Whitaker 0593798872 Bekah 0 to-read 4.23 2024 All the Colors of the Dark
author: Chris Whitaker
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Shelterwood 198563674 A sweeping novel inspired by the untold history of women pioneers who fought to protect children caught in the storm of land barons hungry for power and oil wealth.

Oklahoma, 1909. Eleven-year-old Olive Augusta Radley knows that her stepfather doesn’t have good intentions toward the two Choctaw girls boarded in their home as wards. When the older girl disappears, Ollie flees to the woods, taking six-year-old Nessa with her. Together they begin a perilous journey to the rugged Winding Stair Mountains, the notorious territory of outlaws, treasure hunters, and desperate men. Along the way, Ollie and Nessa form an unlikely band with others like themselves, struggling to stay one step ahead of those who seek to exploit them . . . or worse.

Oklahoma, 1990. Law Enforcement Ranger Valerie Boren O’dell arrives at Horsethief Trail National Park seeking a quiet place to balance a career and single parenthood. But no sooner has Valerie reported for duty than she’s faced with local controversy over the park’s opening, a teenage hiker gone missing from one of the trails, and the long-hidden burial site of three children deep in a cave. Val’s quest to uncover the truth wins an ally among the neighboring Choctaw Tribal Police but soon collides with old secrets and the tragic and deadly history of the land itself.

In this emotional and enveloping novel, Lisa Wingate traces the story of children abandoned by the law and the battle to see justice done. Amid times of deep conflict over who owns the land and its riches, Ollie and Val traverse the wild and beautiful terrain, each leaving behind one life in search of another.]]> 368 Lisa Wingate 0593726502 Bekah 0 to-read 3.82 2024 Shelterwood
author: Lisa Wingate
name: Bekah
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Lion Women of Tehran 199798217 A heartfelt novel of friendship, betrayal, and redemption set against three transformative decades in Tehran, Iran.

In 1950s Tehran, seven-year-old Ellie lives in grand comfort until the untimely death of her father, forcing Ellie and her mother to move to a tiny home downtown. Lonely and bearing the brunt of her mother’s endless grievances, Ellie dreams of a friend to alleviate her isolation.

Luckily, on the first day of school, she meets Homa, a kind, passionate girl with a brave and irrepressible spirit. Together, the two girls play games, learn to cook in the stone kitchen of Homa’s warm home, wander through the colorful stalls of the Grand Bazaar, and share their ambitions for becoming “lion women.�

But their happiness is disrupted when Ellie and her mother are afforded the opportunity to return to their previous bourgeois life. Now a popular student at the best girls� high school in Iran, Ellie’s memories of Homa begin to fade. Years later, however, her sudden reappearance in Ellie’s privileged world alters the course of both of their lives.

Together, the two young women come of age and pursue their own goals for meaningful futures. But as the political turmoil in Iran builds to a breaking point, one earth-shattering betrayal will have enormous consequences.]]> 327 Marjan Kamali 1668036584 Bekah 0 to-read 4.47 2024 The Lion Women of Tehran
author: Marjan Kamali
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Booklover's Library 207909446
In Nottingham, England, widow Emma Taylor finds herself in desperate need of a job to provide for herself and her beloved daughter, Olivia. But with the legal restrictions prohibiting widows with children from most employment opportunities, she’s left with only one option: persuading the manageress at Boots� Booklover’s Library to take a chance on her.

When the threat of war becomes a reality, Olivia must be evacuated to the countryside. In her daughter’s absence, Emma seeks solace in the unlikely friendships she forms with her neighbors and coworkers, as well as the recommendations she provides to the library’s quirky regulars. But the job doesn’t come without its difficulties. Books are mysteriously misshelved and disappearing, and her work forces her to confront the memories of her late father and the bookstore they once owned together before a terrible accident.

As the Blitz intensifies in Nottingham and Emma fights to reunite with her daughter, she must learn to depend on her community and the power of literature more than ever to find hope in the darkest of times.]]> 416 Madeline Martin 1335015132 Bekah 0 to-read 3.83 2024 The Booklover's Library
author: Madeline Martin
name: Bekah
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Wedding People 198902277 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250899576.

A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew.

It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other.

In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.]]> 384 Alison Espach Bekah 0 to-read 4.11 2024 The Wedding People
author: Alison Espach
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[What's Inside A Flower?: And Other Questions About Science & Nature]]> 54061767 From the creator of the New York Times bestseller Women in Science, comes a nonfiction picture book series ready to grow young scientists by nurturing their curiosity about the natural world--starting with what's inside a flower.

Budding backyard scientists can start exploring their world with this stunning introduction to these flowery show-stoppers--from seeds to roots to blooms. Learning how flowers grow gives kids beautiful building blocks of science and inquiry.

In the launch of a new nonfiction picture book series, Rachel Ignotofsky's distinctive art style and engaging, informative text clearly answers any questions a child (or adult) could have about flowers.]]> 48 Rachel Ignotofsky 0593176510 Bekah 4 4.45 What's Inside A Flower?: And Other Questions About Science & Nature
author: Rachel Ignotofsky
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.45
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/24
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: children-nonfiction, children-picture-books, picture-books-nature-science, picture-books-spring, picture-books-stem
review:
Ignotofsky's beautiful illustrations draw me in everytime! This book really gives a lot of information about the inside of a flower plus how they reproduce. I appreciate how she introduces what is covered, covers all the ifo and then gives a synopsis at the end again.
]]> A Song to Drown Rivers 203578730 Her beauty hides a deadly purpose.

Xishi’s beauty is seen as a blessing to the villagers of Yue—convinced that the best fate for a girl is to marry well and support her family. When Xishi draws the attention of the famous young military advisor, Fanli, he presents her with a rare opportunity: to use her beauty as a weapon. One that could topple the rival neighboring kingdom of Wu, improve the lives of her people, and avenge her sister’s murder. All she has to do is infiltrate the enemy palace as a spy, seduce their immoral king, and weaken them from within.

Trained by Fanli in everything from classical instruments to concealing emotion, Xishi hones her beauty into the perfect blade. But she knows Fanli can see through every deception she masters, the attraction between them burning away any falsehoods.

Once inside the enemy palace, Xishi finds herself under the hungry gaze of the king’s advisors while the king himself shows her great affection. Despite his gentleness, a brutality lurks and Xishi knows she can never let her guard down. But the higher Xishi climbs in the Wu court, the farther she and Fanli have to fall—and if she is unmasked as a traitor, she will bring both kingdoms down.]]> 325 Ann Liang 1250289467 Bekah 0 to-read 3.84 2024 A Song to Drown Rivers
author: Ann Liang
name: Bekah
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Outdoor Farm, Indoor Farm 186491403
Outdoor farm,
tractors toil.
Indoor farm,
zero soil.

With energetic, enchanting verse and sunshiny, colorful illustrations, discover how the food you eat is grown both outside—and inside! Join two children as they explore the inner workings of an outdoor farm and an indoor farm. You’ll see how a variety of amazing machinery like tractors and drones along with innovative farming techniques yield the wonderful food we all love to enjoy.]]> 32 Lindsay H. Metcalf 1635925916 Bekah 5 4.30 Outdoor Farm, Indoor Farm
author: Lindsay H. Metcalf
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.30
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/21
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves: picture-books-farm, picture-books-rhyming, nonfiction
review:
Great book comparing outdoor and indoor farming! Has fantastic resources in the back about both and ideas for activities.
]]> We Are Definitely Human 201750777 An alien invasion story with a message about what it means to be human. When three mysterious visitors from "Europe" crash-land in Mr. Li's field, he does what any good host he invites them back to his farmhouse and offers to help fix up their "car". No, there's nothing strange about these guests at all. Just like other humans, they "make business", "play sportsball" and "wear hat". As the townsfolk also come to the aid of the visitors and the gathering turns into a little party, interplanetary relations reach an all-time high.]]> 48 X. Fang 1774882027 Bekah 5 Super cute and funny! 4.40 2024 We Are Definitely Human
author: X. Fang
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/20
date added: 2025/02/20
shelves: picture-books-funny, picture-books-sci-fi
review:
Super cute and funny!
]]> Lucky Duck 156738407 From Geisel Award-winning author Greg Pizzoli comes a hilarious picture book about a duck who learns just how lucky she is.

Susan the duck has the worst luck. Her rollerskates are two sizes too big. She's lost her favorite marble. And she's run out of pickles.Ìý
But with each unfortunate discovery, Wolf shows up with a gift she's won. Her luck has turned around . . . hasn't it? Come see just how lucky Susan is, in this slyly funny story about finding luck when you least expect it.

Geisel Award-winning creator Greg Pizzoli delivers another rib-tickling picturebook that will have kids howling with laughter.]]> 49 Greg Pizzoli 0593649796 Bekah 4 4.08 Lucky Duck
author: Greg Pizzoli
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.08
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/18
date added: 2025/02/20
shelves: picture-book, picture-books-funny, read-a-loud
review:
Cute, quick, fun read! No worries, no ducks are harmed in the reading of this story.
]]> I'm Sorry You Got Mad 202774970 Newbery Honor-winner Kyle Lukoff explores the importance of learning to apologize.

Jack wants to apologize for hurting Zoe's feelings. He just can't seem to find the right words.Ìý

Turns out there's more to an apology than just saying "I'm sorry."

Elevated by equally charming illustrations and text, I'm Sorry You Got Mad is a journey in learning the importance of an apology that goes deeper than just words.]]> 32 Kyle Lukoff 0593462912 Bekah 4 4.47 2024 I'm Sorry You Got Mad
author: Kyle Lukoff
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/18
date added: 2025/02/20
shelves: picture-book, picture-books-emotions-mad
review:
This is a funny story about a boy learning to actually apologize and mean it.
]]> Ahoy! 182484348
Raise the mainsail!
Batten the hatches!
It's time to set sail…on the couch!

There's a storm coming, and a child is ready to captain the ship. "Make haste and climb aboard," they call out to their parent, "before you're swept out to sea!"

Sea? What sea? The parent is only trying to vacuum the rug. But the child is adamant. It's not a rug--it's the ocean. And that broom? It's the ship's mast. Soon enough, child and parent are both off on an imaginary nautical adventure!

Here is a thoroughly engaging, hilarious picture book that celebrates the joys of playing make-believe--and hanging out with a parent!]]> 48 Sophie Blackall 0593429400 Bekah 4 4.08 Ahoy!
author: Sophie Blackall
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.08
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/18
date added: 2025/02/20
shelves: picture-books-imagination, picture-books-parent-child
review:
Cute story where a parent takes the time to enjoy time with their child. Great imaginative adventures ensue!
]]> The Last Stand 57933665 The author of Nigel and the Moon, delivers a tender intergenerational story inspired by his childhood in the rural south. Here's a farm stand that represents the importance of family, community, and hope.

Every stand has a story.
This one is mine.

Saturday is for harvesting. And one little boy is excited to work alongside his Papa as they collect eggs, plums, peppers and pumpkins to sell at their stand in the farmer's market. Of course, it's more than a farmer's market. Papa knows each customer's order, from Ms. Rosa's pumpkins to Mr. Johnny's peppers. And when Papa can't make it to the stand, his community gathers around him, with dishes made of his own produce.

Heartwarming illustrations complement the lyrical text in this poignant picture book that reveals a family's pride in their work, and reminds us to harvest love and hope from those around us.]]> 40 Antwan Eady Bekah 4 4.39 The Last Stand
author: Antwan Eady
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.39
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/20
date added: 2025/02/20
shelves: picture-books-community, picture-books-family, picture-books-grandparent-relations, picture-books-farm, picture-books-african-american
review:
This story may need a little background given beforehand (look at the author's note); it can also be read without background and still remain meaningful. The intergenerational relationship between grandfather and grandson is touching.
]]> Chooch Helped 207567587 48 Andrea L. Rogers 1646144546 Bekah 4 4.25 Chooch Helped
author: Andrea L. Rogers
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.25
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/18
date added: 2025/02/20
shelves: picture-books-family, picture-books-multicultural, picture-books-native-american
review:
This book would be best read one on one or with background given beforehand. I love the interactions between older sister and her "annoying" little brother. The author and artist's notes at the end make the story and illustrations that much more meaningful. Also, there are instructions in the back to make a traditional pinch pot that even young children could do.
]]> Go and Get with Rex 195156688 The Geisel Award–winning creators of See the Cat channel their comic sensibility into a rousing alphabetical exercise in thinking outside the box.

Jack, Jill, and Rex are excited to play a game of Go and Get! The rules are simple: on the count of three, each player must go and get,/i> something that begins with a certain letter. While Jack’s and Jill’s picks always fit the bill (What starts with F,? Frog! Fish!), Rex keeps getting it wrong (a duck?)—or does he? David LaRochelle and Mike Wohnoutka share a laugh-out-loud primer on subverting expectations that will have readers clamoring to play Go and Get themselves—and competing to see who can come up with the most creative answers.]]> 48 David LaRochelle 1536222062 Bekah 5 Loved this!]]> 4.31 2024 Go and Get with Rex
author: David LaRochelle
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/20
date added: 2025/02/20
shelves: picture-books-beginning-sounds, picture-books-funny
review:
Pre-K and Kinder teachers- add this book to your classroom! You could just read aloud to help teach beginning sounds but you could also turn it into an interactive game where one of your students goes off in search of something that starts with....
Loved this!
]]> <![CDATA[Flowers Are Pretty ... Weird! (Nature's Top Secrets)]]> 58492460 Warning -- this book contains top-secret information about flowers! Prepare to be shocked and weirded out by this hilarious and totally true picture book introduction to some of nature's strangest plants.

Flowers are beautiful. They have bright colors, soft petals and sweet nectar. Yum! But that's not the whole truth. Flowers can be WEIRD . . . and one bee is here to let everyone know! Talking directly to the reader, a bee reveals how flowers are so much stranger than what we think. Did you know that there are some flowers that only bloom in the nighttime? Some flowers are spooky, and look like ghosts, or bats, or a monster's mouth. And while most flowers smell good, there are some that smell like dead meat, or even horse poop!

This hilarious and refreshing book with silly and sweet illustrations explores the science of flowers and shows that these plants are not always stereotypically pretty and harmless as we often think they are -- they are fascinating, disgusting, complicated and amazing.]]> 36 Rosemary Mosco 0735265941 Bekah 5 4.06 2022 Flowers Are Pretty ... Weird! (Nature's Top Secrets)
author: Rosemary Mosco
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/20
date added: 2025/02/20
shelves: picture-books-bees, picture-books-flowers, picture-books-nature-science, picture-books-spring
review:
Awesome book to teach about bees (and other insects that transfer pollen) and of course flowers! Kept me interested the whole way through. The illustrations are beautiful and frankly this book is just a great book to read aloud for fun as well! I concur, after reading this book, flowers ARE pretty weird.
]]> What's New, Daniel? 154488407
"What’s new?" We casually say this to each other all the time, but when Daniel’s grandpa asks him this question, Daniel’s curiosity is sparked and he’s determined to really find out! And there is so much new stuff to report on, since their local park is brimming with spring life. Birds have reappeared from their winter journeys, ducklings are hatching, and polliwogs are growing long legs—just like Daniel!]]> 32 Micha Archer 0593461304 Bekah 4 4.22 What's New, Daniel?
author: Micha Archer
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.22
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/20
date added: 2025/02/20
shelves: picture-book, picture-books-earth, picture-books-grandparent-relations, picture-books-spring
review:
Great read-aloud to young listeners (kindergarten and younger) to help them think about all the new things that occur during spring! Great relationship between Grandpa and Grandson.
]]> Wonder Walkers 54735137 Micha Archer's detailed collages give readers an outlook on the splendors of nature.

When two curious kids embark on a wonder walk, they let their imaginations soar as they look at the world in a whole new light. They have thought-provoking questions for everything they see: Is the sun the world's light bulb? Is dirt the world's skin? Are rivers the earth's veins? Is the wind the world breathing? I wonder . . . ]]> 32 Micha Archer 0593109643 Bekah 5 4.19 2021 Wonder Walkers
author: Micha Archer
name: Bekah
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/20
date added: 2025/02/20
shelves: picture-book, picture-books-imagination, read-a-loud, picture-books-earth
review:
LOVE the art work. The text is simple and flowing with questions full of imagery.
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