Review: The Shippers

 

JoJo's ex-best friend crashes her wedding. He tells her she's making a mistake marrying Pearce. But to JoJo, Pearce is the first boy she's ever dated that she didn't dump. In fact, JoJo chased him. He didn't seem that interested in getting married. They took forever to figure out a date and plan the wedding. Even then, JoJo didn't get anything she wanted - his mother planned the whole thing, right down to the itchy wedding dress. JoJo is no longer sure of anything. So, she does what Cooper suggests - she faints and then calls off the wedding.

Six weeks later, her sister is getting married on a cruise ship. Her sister decides that JoJo should date their recently single child neighborhood friend - the one JoJo had the biggest crush on. The one she shared her first kiss with. Only he doesn't remember her. Still, the plan must go on. JoJo and Allison are determined to use this week to make him fall in love with her.

Since Cooper showed up, JoJo enlists his help. Things are awkward and funny, but they also just might seem to be working....

My Thoughts: I liked this one, but I didn't love it. I think it's because I didn't connect much with JoJo. She was forcing too much and made too big a deal out of getting together with Finn. I did like Cooper. And I need to know why they stopped talking all those years ago. Also, I wanted more about the cruise ship - the events on board, the food, the ship itself. I read this one quickly because it was a good read, but there was something missing for me. I do really like this author's work, and I'll read more of her books.

Cover Thoughts: Cute

Source: my Library

Library Recommendation: Highly recommended for your romance collection 

Picture Book Review: Nature Books

Just a few picture books about Nature.

When life gets crazy and overwhelming, sometimes one needs to escape into nature. 

Nature grounds us and lets us remember to slow down, breathe deeply, and be present. I love how there are little Nature Knows moments in the book. 

* Book sent for review

A journal reflecting two types of butterflies, this book is chock full of information.

The illustrations are amazing; I love the set-up of this book.  The timeline goes through June to September.  There are several pages of notes about journaling, sketching, and butterflies. This book is fantastic for any nature lover and older readers 

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Recommend

 This week's topic is books that live in your head - but I'm changing it to books I recommend - which I think is mostly the same thing. As I work in a library, I LOVE recommending books to kids and teens. I love sharing favorites with adults too, but primarily I work with kids and teens.

Here are some kids chapter books I recommend often:

Have you read any of these?
What other kids books do you recommend? 

Middle Grade Review: Three Sisters

 

Harper and her two sisters are stuck going on a hiking trip with their father to bury their mom's ashes. Harper doesn't want to climb the mountain, but nothing will stop her father. The mountain is where their father proposed. 

The Three Sisters are part of a mountain range that is a volcano. Activity has been recorded in the area, but the park rangers are furloughed. Harper thinks she feels some rumblings, but their father presses on. When they are finally at the top, there's a rockslide. 

Things get dicey. The volcano erupts. ash is everywhere. No one is making good choices. Injuries start piling up. Is it possible to get down from the mountain?

Why I picked this up: I love survival stories

My Thoughts: I loved this book. Yes, it's a book about grief but also about survival. The sisters bickered the entire book. The father was the worst. Ryker is a genius who shares information, even if it's better to keep it to yourself. Jentry wants to be a doctor and has a lot of medical knowledge that comes in handy. This one is a real page turner because you want to find out if/how they get off the mountain. I liked how the story was "interrupted" by reports about the volcano and more. 

Cover Thoughts: Great

Source: My Library

Library Recommendation: Highly recommended for your school and public library

If we were having tea

 

I'm trying to be a little more personal on the blog, so for the second time in a month, let's chat honestly.

I'm still deep in Summer Reading. The summer is half over and it's been really busy. But it's also been full of meaningful moments and getting to see some favorite families now that they have more time. It's nice to catch up with everyone. Who do you need to catch up with?

It's the family reunion week and because of work obligations and being down a full-time person, I'm not attending this year. I will miss the ocean and catching up with all the people and the ice cream. Guess it's time to take a trip to Mel's! What's your favorite ice cream flavor?

It's almost Christmas in July and that makes me want to get started on crafting ideas for the holidays and making Christmas cards. I might have listened to a few Christmas songs recently. I make my Christmas cards, and I send out a lot to family and friends and author friends, so I get started early because they can take a long time. I just bought some new stickers/washi tape and I'm eager to play with them. When do you start holiday crafting?

I've also started reading Christmas romance books - from Netgalley and I'm pretty excited about all the ones coming out this year, especially the number of YA books. I'm not trying to rush over fall (which is my favorite season), but Christmas in July does hit me. Plus, there are so many great looking ones, I never get a chance to read them all. Do you read Christmas romances books all year round or save them for the holiday season?

The produce scare has been changing up my eating habits. I did pick blueberries from a local orchard last weekend. And I used the last of them to bake blueberry buckle (a favorite treat my grandmother used to bake for me). I'm not sure regular berries are safe and I love having berries in my cereal in the mornings. It's also rough because this is the best time of the year for fresh produce. I love strawberries and blueberries in cereal, raspberries in baked goods, and melons. What kind of fruit is your favorite?

I would ask, what's new with you. What do you want to share?

* This idea was taken many years ago from Jamie over at The Perpetual Page Turner

Fresh Fiction Reviews (23)

I haven't done one of these posts since last year. And I have quite a few books to share.

"From Burnout to Belonging: A Satisfying Final Visit to Rome, Kentucky"

"Calling all Anne girls"

"A Typewriter. A Wish. Consequences No One Saw Coming."

"Tennis Anyone?"

"An insider's look at Buckingham Palace"

"So much love for the library cozy series"

"Fun Fresh Rom-Com"

"Murder in a Small Town"

"The Perfect Summer Read"

"Fantastic start to a new series"

Painting Evolution

 In order to have a finished painting - usually the process for me involves several previous paintings. 

For instance a house:

A window or outside the house:

Outside building (still needs improvement)

Some of these are copies of pictures, some are copies with my twist, and some are just paintings from my head. But almost always there are several before pictures and some okay pictures and some good ones.

I learn from the mistakes I make or mistakes I see in the final product. 

It also means I have a boatload of paintings just hanging around my house. And I’m not sure what to do with most of them. 

Thoughts?