I read books three ways: as a reader, a writer, and a woman/mother/grandmother. That being said, when recommending a book, that recommendation extends to others by that author.
The One-In-A-Million Boy delighted me on all levels. Be warned: it is not an easy read; it begins after an 11-year-old boy’s death. The story, told in chapters that bounce effortlessly backwards and between viewpoint characters, tells of the boys’ parents (mostly his guitar man father) coping after losing him.
But mostly, it’s about the boy’s 104-year-old friend ala scouts’ service project, Ona Vitkus, who spurred by the boy’s challenge to set a Guinness Book of World Records for being the oldest person to do something, anything, learns there to be more, want more, live more.
It’s a rich, multi-generational story of unique, nuanced, flawed characters so charming and loveable I smiled while crying and wanted to keep them all.
She may be 104 years old, but Ona Vitkus is on a mission and it's all because of THE ONE-IN-A-MILLION-BOY...
Monica Wood's unforgettable novel about a boy in a million and the 104-year-old woman who saves his family is not to be missed by readers who loved THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY, ELIZABETH IS MISSING or THE SHOCK OF THE FALL.
'A lovely, quirky novel about misfits across generations' Daily Mail
'A bittersweet story about finding friendship in the most unlikely of places' Good Housekeeping.
The story of your life never starts at the beginning. Don't they teach you…
The Lincoln Highway is the 1950s American version of The Odyssey with all the temptations, dangers, and dilemmas.
In the aftermath of their father’s death and foreclosure of the family farm, 18-year old, Emmett, a recent reform school inmate, takes on the role of reluctant hero steering his ship—a blue Studebaker—down the Lincoln Highway bound for California, with his 8-year-old brother Billy in the role of sidekick, navigator, and moral compass.
I am a sucker for a road trip yarn and Towles weaves a rollicking adventure chock full of believable unbelievable characters and inevitable, unavoidable twists and turns that left me gripping the pages as tightly as any steering wheel. And, oh that Billy… I couldn’t stop reading and didn’t want the ride to ever end.
Nothing to See Here is nothing short of mouth dropping.
First the plot: A going-nowhere-fast college dropout, Lillian, gets roped into serving as nanny for her oldest ex-ish best high school friend’s stepchildren: a pair of 10-year-old twins who spontaneously combust. And not metaphorically, either. When threatened or scared or nervous Bessie and Roland catch on fire.
As impossible as it sounds, this isn’t sci-fi or fantasy; it’s heartful and soap opera-ish, in the good way. Wilson’s characters, especially Lillian, Bessie, and Roland, are real, believable, and engaging. And as much as Lillian would prefer we didn’t, we end up liking and rooting for her.
Each twist and turn is as unbelievably believable as the last—and the ending is surprising, inevitable, and perfectly perfect.
A New York Times Bestseller • A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!
Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, People, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, TIME, The A.V. Club, Buzzfeed, and PopSugar
“I can’t believe how good this book is.... It’s wholly original. It’s also perfect.... Wilson writes with such a light touch.... The brilliance of the novel [is] that it distracts you with these weirdo characters and mesmerizing and funny sentences and then hits you in a way you didn’t see coming. You’re laughing so hard you…
The House That Ruth Built, a historical non-fiction picture book celebrating baseball, Babe Ruth & the first baseball stadium in the world! With true-to-event illustrations by Susanna Covelli, reminiscent of Norman Rockwell, and facts on every page about the game, stadium, players, and baseball.
Prior to the April 18, 1923 opening day game in Yankee Stadium, legendary slugger Babe Ruth said he’d “give a year of his life to hit a homer” that day. In the bottom of the third inning, two on, two out, the big question was: Could the Babe come through? The House That Ruth Built recreates the excitement—on and off the field. End notes include the results of the game and fun facts about Yankee Stadium, with places and websites to visit for more baseball!
We are a family of critter-insect-nature lovers so Stretch to the Sun, the story of how a tiny sprout grew into the tallest tree in the world, was an instant favorite!
The format a lovely lyrical story with tiny bites of facts sprinkled throughout appeals to all ages. The art is alive with interesting details, and best, as befits a tall tree story, Stretch to the Sun features a long fold-out showing all the creatures—other plants, animals, insects living on and in the tree that keep us looking and talking and coming back to read again.
The tallest known tree on earth is located in Redwood National Park in northern California. More than twelve hundred years old, it is approximately 380 feet tall--and still climbing!
For more than twelve hundred years, a little sprout has grown, survived fires, drought, and logging, and flourished undiscovered. Tall-tree researchers found the tree in 2006 and at more than 380 feet today--and still growing--it's the tallest tree known on earth. A unique, vibrant ecosystem hides high in the coast redwood's canopy: huckleberry bushes, ferns, and mosses grow atop its branches, while salamanders and squirrels scamper from limb to limb, and…
Grief is an Elephant isn’t the book the grands wanted, it’s the book they—we, the whole family—needed after the expected passing of their dear great-grandmother and the unexpected passing of a beloved dog.
Who wants to have to talk about death, and loss, and how much it hurts, and how it doesn’t ever really go away? Grief is An Elephant is visually lovely and the heartful, loving, gentle but honest text gave us a way to begin and continue talking and sharing.
An imaginative and heartfelt book that reminds us that there is no loss without love. When Grief first arrives, it is like an elephant-so big that there is hardly room for anything else. But over time, Grief can become smaller and smaller-until it is a fox, then a mouse, and finally a flickering firefly in the darkness leading us down a path of loving remembrance. This lyrical work is an empathetic and comforting balm for anyone who is experiencing grief-be it grieving the loss of a loved one or the losses in the world around us.
