Still catching up from a fast-ending summer…In August I read two middle-grade novels and two adult novels. Ashes to Asheville by Sarah Dooley is a book I picked off the shelf at a bookshop/toy store in Waynesville, North Carolina, while on vacation, and I’m so glad I did. The story takes place in about 24…
All posts tagged #readermom
Summer Reading: Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk
Caregivers and teachers, if you are searching for a middle-grade novel for your student’s summer work or for your bookshelf, Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk is a must read. Ellie and her family have moved to the woods of Maine and her father suffers an accident that leaves him in a coma for months. As…
July Reads
Not a huge pile for July. Kate Morton’s The Lake House is a hefty read with a cast of about forty people across three generations – a lot to keep track of. It’s a great story, especially if you like to get lost in a mystery full of dark family secrets, crimes, and hidden identities.…
Bookstores & More
While vacationing in western North Carolina, I visited the The Battery Park Book Exchange and Champagne Bar in Asheville. I think I’m in love. Forget the coffee & book combo. This place knows how to keep readers inside. A beautiful setting to sip bubbly from crystal glasses while browsing the shelves or sitting with a…
Monthly Reads: June
Posted on Author Jill M SmithPosted in Care Givers, Monthly Reads, What I'm Reading, WritingLeave a Reply
This month I’ve read two fiction books, and one non-fiction book on the craft of writing. Anne of Green Gables is a children’s classic that I just read for the first time. It is interesting to see how the craft of writing and publishing standards have evolved over the years. Hang the Moon was about…
What I’m Reading: the Beartown Trilogy by Fredrik Backman
I’ve finished reading Fredrik Backman’s trilogy, Bear Town, Us Against You, and The Winners. Backman is one of my favorite contemporary authors. Readers get to know his characters in their day to day routines: what they eat; if they walk, run, or drive; if they’re good at hockey or not. Backman breaks the rule about…
On My Bookshelf: books about mothers, motherhood, and mothering
I’ve been thinking about books that explore the relationship between mother and child. Pictured are volumes pulled at random from my own bookcase. Once I started pulling, I realized I had more than I thought – many more that are not in the picture. The mother-child relationship keeps readers engaged…do we see ourselves in the…
April Reads
Because of travel, April was not as reading-strong as I would have liked. The Wilder Boys Saving Cody by Brandon Wallace is the third in this middle-grade series which is the genre I write in, and the protagonists are two brothers, which is another similarity to my own manuscript. Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote…
What I’m Reading: The Essay by Robin Yocum
Posted on Author Jill M SmithPosted in Care Givers, Teacher Inspiration, What I'm ReadingLeave a Reply
I love discovering an author whom I’ve never read – sometimes never heard of – through friends or other recommendations. When I read a book by such an author, I am apprehensive of what my reaction will be. Just because a friend or family member liked it, will I? Robin Yocum is an example of…
March Reads
The Paris Bookseller and Fried Green Tomatoes contain strong bonds between women who work together, live together, and even love together. In Remarkably Bright Creatures, the hero for me was the female protagonist, Tova, more so than the octopus, Marcellus, although I did enjoy seeing what he was up to. In her memoir, The Glass…
