One Chapter

Scaredy Squirrel Gets a Surprise by Melanie Watt

4 Stars Children’s Picture Book

Always the extreme with this guy! He’s a hoot!! Scaredy reads his horoscope and finds out that he’s supposed to get a surprise. What! He doesn’t like surprises so …. Of course, he gets all dressed like he is going on a safari hunt, and he sets out to look for this “surprise.” Scaredy finds a crate under his tree and Scaredy thinks of all the horrible things it can be. A shocking robot, an octopus that will ink him, a dinosaur egg that will hatch (and who knows what will happen then), and of course there are other scenarios that has Scaredy all nervous. Scaredy tries his best to get rid of the crate with the help of Ivy. I loved how Scaredy wanted to move, and then, he wanted to move the crate to Antarctica. Ha! Good thing Scaredy has some logical friends.

When the gang finally get the crate open, it proves not to be so scary. But they do have more problems to solve. Always more problems, ha. Things do calm down for a while…..just for a while and the gang does have some fun. And the story, it somehow ends in Antarctica 😊

I have to be in the mood for Scaredy as he jumps all over the place for me. I do like how his imagination works as he dreams up lots of ideas for things, but I don’t like his negativity. There seems to be too much of it. I did like this book more than some of the other books I have read about Scaredy. 4 stars

The Thing on the Wing Can Sing: A Short Vowel Sounds Book With Consonant Digraphs by Brian P. Cleary

5 stars Nonfiction

This is part of a series of books which can help an individual learn to read. This book is devoted to short vowel sounds with constant digraphs. Letter combinations that create a new sound. Combinations like CK, NG, KN are used in this book. The author uses three rhyming words on each two-page spread in this book; to create a sentence and it’s then illustrated on these pages for the reader. The author takes those words and illustrates them first. Then, there is a sentence and an illustration based on that sentence.

On the first two pages the words are Chin, Shin, and Thin. The sentence is: “His chin and his shin are thin. “The rhyming words are highlighted in bold print in the sentence, and the illustration is colorful and it shows a man pedaling a bicycling. There is also a mouse on each 2-page spread throughout the book and the mouse asks the reader a question about the words that were used on these pages. This book seems simple yet it’s a great concept for new readers to grasp. Repetitive, rhyming, simple, and a great way to get emerging readers exposure to these concepts

What I liked: * easy to understand * easy to follow * large print * illustrations are colorful and go with words on the page. * rhyming * words used are illustrated (for clarification) * difficulty of this book gets harder as you progress through it * great as a refresher for vocabulary words

What I didn’t care for: * the book progress (which is good) but at the back of the book, there are added rhyming words added to the sentences which are not illustrated and part of the 3 rhyming illustrated words for that 2-page spread. Which could be confusing or hard for some readers.

Overall, I liked this book, and I think I am going to check more of these out for my grandson this summer as he is going into 1st grade and I think it would be a good series to keep him reading. 5 stars

You Poop Here by Paul Meisel

4 stars Children’s Board Book

This is a very basic board book which addresses where different creatures poop.

The creatures range from ants, beetles, grasshoppers, bears, bats, bees, seals, seagulls, jaguars, sloths, etc. So, you see….it’s a wide range of creatures. The concept is simple but important for little ones. Where do these creatures’ poop at? In the air? In a rainforest? In a desert? In the water? From a tree? So many different places! At the end of this book, the author asks the reader, “Where do you poop?”

And it gives the answer with great illustrations with a variety of children sitting down on the potty. 4 stars

What I liked:

the easy-to-read text * great color scheme * the easy-to-read text * text has repeated words * characters have great facial features *variety of children *variety of animals and situations * subject matter

What I didn’t care for:

the children on the potty were playing with toys

Judgy Bunny and the Terrible Beach by Scott Rothman

4.5 Stars Children’s Picture Book

I liked this book a lot! With colorful illustrations and a great message – this book gets huge marks from me. Judgy Bunny is a negative bunny at the beginning of the book. The reason? He is not part of the group, or he just likes to see the negative in every situation. It’s “too hot!” or “I can do that better!” or “that is terrible.” Some of the situations involve other bunnies and some do not. The book changes gears when Judgy Bunny is invited to join the other bunny’s party. Judgy Bunny gets all snooty at first and is resistant to join, it’s like he wants them to beg him to come.

When the other bunny grabs his hand and pulls him to the party, Judgy Bunny is shocked! Does he have a good time? No, he’s still miserable until something happens at the party which Judgy Bunny feels is his fault. The other party guests are shocked but…….the party continues on.

I liked Judgy Bunny emotions in this book. I liked how the other bunnies accepted him into their party and how their party continued on after Judgy Bunny joined them. I liked how they didn’t try to “cheer him up” but just accepted him as he was.

The expressions in this book were good and helped tell the story. I think this story would be a great read a loud for children. 4.5 stars for me.

Puzzled: a Memoir About Growing Up With OCD by Pan Cooke

3 stars Nonfiction

I had been looking forward to reading this graphic novel. This is the author’s true account of growing up with OCD which was supposed to be heartful, honest, and funny. I appreciate that the author shared his experience and was honest about it. There were parts that made me smile, parts that I felt sorry for him, and parts that were ok.

I think what really hit home with me in this book was the countless times that anxiety took over for Pan. Pan knows that he has issues and he tries desperately to ignore them. He tries to act normal (or what Pan feels is normal) but before he knows it, he becomes overwhelmed with a puzzle that is floating around inside his head. Pan must solve that puzzle! He feels compelled to solve it before doing anything else. Unfortunately for Pan, once that puzzle is solved, another puzzle pops up inside his head and the process begins again. Pan wants out! It’s too much. Pan just wants to be like his peers as this constant roaming, attention seeking activities are consuming his life.

I appreciate the author sharing his story with us, but I felt I was missing something. I didn’t feel any connection as the story felt like the worst of times. Having OCD affects your life but I felt like the book showed the worst of times whereas every aspect of his life, his OCD takes over in the worst way. I didn’t understand where this all began or when things started to occur or what a typical day is like. The book is great to show someone that they are not alone in this diagnosis and to help others understand this condition. I really do appreciate the author’s honesty and time to open himself up so others can understand. 3 stars

How To Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay by Jenny Lawson

5 stars Nonfiction

Another great book by Jenny. I have read 3 books by Jenny, and I felt this book was more serious than any of the previous books that I have read. Jenny tackles the issue of depression, anxiety and ADHD as she herself deals with these issues herself. I like how she approaches these issues with her honesty, her sincerity, as she is all in. She holds nothing back. I met Jenny at an author event a few years ago, and she was one real individual!! I appreciated her down-to-earth style and that she actually came to Iowa. Seriously, we do have a lot of book readers and book fanatics in Iowa.

I seem to read books of this nature as they can help others, and they have tons of information that opens my eyes to the real world around me. Jenny has some LOL moments inside this book which follow the format of her other books. She mentions a letter that Sigmund Freud sent his fiancée in 1884. She mentioned this letter as she addresses the topic of confidence. Her advice is to act confident because you can. Fake it, if you have to because someone has to believe in you and that might as well start with you. Reading Sigmund’s letter, had me laughing but it made total sense, if you think about it. “So, I gave my lecture yesterday. Despite the lack of preparation, I spoke quite well and without hesitation, which I ascribe to the cocaine had taken before hand. I told about my discoveries in brain anatomy, all very difficult things that the audience certainly did not understand but all that matters is that they get the impression that I understand it. “ (Sigmund Feud’s letter)

Here are some things that I am taking away from this book:

Rose, Rose, Thorn, Bud exercise – practicing gratitude. Done nightly describe Each of these four subjects: Rose – something good that happened during the day or something that made you happy. Thorn- something that difficult that you had to deal with during the day. Bud – Something that you’re looking forward to the near future. This sounds like a great activity although I’m not sure if I could do it every day.

She also mentioned making a list of items that bring you joy or comfort and continuing going to this list adding items.

Her comments about Buffering hit home with me as I find myself lost every day in thoughts, unable to quickly recall information while others wait on me. Now, I hope I can remember to use “buffering” instead of “it’s the meds”

Buying Wine for Babies – wonderful idea! I love it! Hilarious when she talks about.

Everyone deserves joy and contentment. WE all deserve people who will take care of us but we also need to take care of ourselves, which is a hard concept for me. She talks about giving ourselves a special treat, a special activity, or even forgiveness because we are worthy. We don’t have to rely on others for that.

Noise colors? This is a totally new concept for me. I have heard of white noise since our grandkids use the good old sound machines but pink noise, brown noise, green noise, blue noise, violet noise, gray noise, and zombie noise? I am intrigued and will have to investigate this.

All in all, this is a great book – one that I will have to come back to and address over and over again. Don’t blow it off just because you don’t have anxiety or depression or ADHD, read it because there is knowledge in there that might help others or might help you and you just don’t know it yet. 5 stars

Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough

4 stars Thriller

Emma has a lot going on these days. A phone call from her sister, Phoebe, got Emma excited as she finally thought she could relax and quit lying about her past but nope, her life just got more complicated. Emma has been carrying around a secret which has a timepiece attached to it. As the days go by, Emma’s anxiety and uncertainty skyrocket as her future is up in the air.

Emma does have a mother but to those who know her, Emma’s mother is dead. This was Emma’s choice as she informed everyone years ago that her mother was dead but now, Emma will have to do some explaining. Why was Emma just at the hospital? What’s her sister Phoebe here for? Why did she lie about her mother’s death?

There were multiple situations that ran through my head as I thought about why Emma lied. Her sister Phoebe has been visiting their mother lately, without telling Emma, so whatever happened in their family must have affected Emma more than Phoebe. Emma’s birthday is coming up and instead of being excited or perhaps just accepting it as “just another day,” Emma is dreading it. It’s like dooms day for Emma. As the book counts down the days till Emma’s birthday, we watch Emma fall apart.

When Emma’s mother turned forty, it was a traumatic experience. Emma remembers, clearly, the day that her mother turned forty. The curse that her mother placed on her that year has plagued her mind repeatedly throughout the years and now, Emma feels that curse will soon be playing out for all to see. It will be hers and that is all she can think about.

Boy, my anticipation was growing as I turned the pages on this one. I wanted to feel for Emma, I wanted to understand her anxiety and frustration, but I also wanted her to just enjoy life. Phoebe didn’t seem to understand everything that Emma was juggling, or I felt she just didn’t take to heart what Emma was feeling. Emma was the emotional one, Phoebe just went with it. Maybe Emma was too emotional? I didn’t know but something was seriously happening here as Emma was losing it. 4 stars

Dear Debbie by Freida McFadden

4.5 stars Thriller

Ahhhhh! What a story! Debbie, oh Debbie. I loved her progression in this story. She was magnificent. A wife, the mother of two teenage daughters, and an employee at a newspaper writing an advice column, she was doing it all. Debbie’s life started to unravel when the opportunity to get her backyard garden photographed for a magazine spread fell through. This news, set Debbie rolling. Debbie had worked hard to get her garden noticed. Riding high, Debbie’s garden was going to be featured in the magazine Home Gardening. Disappointing, this does not even come close to how Debbie felt when she learned that her neighbor’s roses were chosen over Debbie’s garden. I loved Debbie’s reaction. She didn’t take the news lightly and she confronted her neighbor immediately. This wasn’t a friendly, neighborly exchange between these two women, but I expected things to be heated as the circumstances leading up to this wasn’t good. As Debbie returns home, I could feel the fire burning within her, and I knew that this matter was not settled between them.

Debbie’s husband Cooper left for work this morning with the intention of asking his boss for a promotion. He was definitely worth more money, and today was the day that he was going to approach his boss about it. As Debbie continued going through her day, there were blinders everywhere! The different individuals that she meets up with are clueless with what is actually taking place in their lives Debbie’s life starts to spiral out of control with all these little fractions of deception.

As the rest of the city sleeps, Debbie “takes care” of her neighbor and as I read, that sinister laugh in me came out. The ramifications of Debbie’s actions will take care of the roses and Debbie could find herself inside the magazine after all. Holding back on informing his wife about his unemployment, Cooper just might have saved himself as Debbie’s actions as an advice columnist has now landed her job on the line. She doesn’t seem to be the person for this job anymore as her advice is getting pretty raw.

I’ d hate to be anyone getting on Debbie’s bad side right now as her revenge is getting extreme. She’s focused and she knows what she wants. The gloves are off and she’s not backing down. Everything and everyone are getting involved and Debbie’s past is brought into the mix. This was one crazy ride! There were moments when I was laughing and others where I was cringing, wondering what could happen next. I couldn’t put this book down, but I wanted to read it slowly to savor the experience and characters. Great characters and twists. 4.5 stars

She Didn’t See It Coming by Shari Lapena

4.5 stars Mystery

Lizzie – oh boy, she didn’t see how deep she was digging her own hole. She loved the attention she was getting online and then, when someone started to take control of the online situation, she started to lose control. She was acting erratically. She wasn’t going to let someone else take over the situation, this was hers! This girl, she was a hoot for me. She loved attention, she wanted to be in the limelight, but it had to be the attention that SHE wanted. She wanted to call the shots. If somehow, it got out of control, she lost control.

Bryden was missing. She failed to pick up her young daughter from daycare today, which was very odd and it was later discovered that her car and purse were still at home. She was working from home today and when her husband Sam left for work, she told him that she didn’t want to be disturbed. So where is she? Is she somewhere in their apartment complex? As the authorities search the complex, Sam tries to comfort their daughter Lizzie and contemplates where his wife might be.

It’s determined that Bryden was a responsible mother and that something unfortunate has happened to her. Hours pass and there are still no leads on her whereabouts. Bringing in some specialized units to help search the complex, they finally locate Bryden’s body in and now …..all the questions start rolling in.

Who would do such a thing? Why would they do that to Bryden? When did this happen? Oh, the questions started to fall and once the story started rolling, we had a good number of suspects to draw from. I liked how everyone’s story escalated and intensified as the investigation dragged on. I didn’t care for any of the characters, I thought they all were guilty of something and that they should go down (ha) for the activities they had or were committing.

This was a book that I listened to on audio, and I couldn’t wait to get back to it. I did feel sorry for Lizzie, the daughter, as she was the innocent one. I enjoyed this audio book. 4.5 stars.

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It’s Not Her by Mary Kubica

4.5 stars Thriller

It was supposed to be a getaway for these two families, but it ended up being a nightmare. This quiet vacation, located in a secluded cabin camp setting, includes two siblings and their families. Courtney was best friends with her brother’s wife, Emily and their families had been together before, so this vacation had the makings of a great time yet as the story begins there seems to be tension in the air. Flipping between the present and the past, I couldn’t put the book down as the story unfolded.

Courtney’s husband takes off early one morning for fishing, as her young son and niece are sleeping after having a sleepover the previous night. The quiet morning is interrupted by a scream that rips through the air. Courtney takes off and discovers the bodies of her brother and Emily, dead in their cabin. Her 14-year-old nephew had slept through the chaos in the house as he had been given medication the night before. Her 17-year-old niece is gone. There are no signs of her anywhere. What?!? Did whoever murder the parents take Reese? Did Reese kill her parents? What just happened?!?

Dang! Everyone is told to stay inside their cabin. Everyone is a suspect and is questioned. The police begin looking for Reese. Courtney feels the need to go look for Reese; she can’t just sit inside the cabin waiting. What about Courtney’s husband, Elliot, who was out fishing? Didn’t he hear the scream? Was he really fishing? Oh, my goodness.

As the chapters changed perspectives, we crossed over timelines, I just couldn’t figure out why. Why were the parents killed? Everything that I had read didn’t give me any strong motive(s) for the reason(s) behind their murders. What was I missing? Courtney was such a strong character, a character who was all in. If she was hiding something, she was doing a great job, as it felt as if her heart was into solving this case, even if she had to do it by herself. Her husband Elliott seemed to be a side character which sounded alarm inside my head. Fishing, bloody shoes, clueless, hum? As I tried to check the characters off on my list, the author was throwing twists around inside this story making my calculations pointless. I highly recommend this story as one you will not be able to put down. 4.5 stars