Books 23-26 of 2011

I'm a little bit behind on blogging about the books I've read recently. Life has been slightly hectic. But I have been doing some great reading. I've really been on a roll lately of reading books that are so good I can't seem to put them down! Here are the latest.

Book #23 was Little White Rabbit by Kevin Henkes, the amazing author/illustrator of one of my favorite children's books, Kitten's First Full Moon. I liked Little White Rabbit a lot as well. It is a sweet story about a rabbit using his imagination as he looks at his surroundings. The illustrations are great too. 5 stars


Book #24 was If You're Hoppy written by April Pulley Sayre and illustrated by Jackie Urbanovic. A fun and silly book about animals with cartoon-y illustrations? Right up my alley! I loved it so much I came home with my own copy of it. 5 stars


Book #25 was The Heights by Peter Hedges. I really enjoyed this book about a young family living in Brooklyn Heights. It was an impulse read, I found it while wondering around the library without any particular purpose. While the blurb on the book flap hinted at a mystery that didn't actually exist in the book, I still thought it was engaging and the format of short chapters with alternating points of view made it a quick read. 4 stars


Book #26 was The Help. Like probably everyone else on the planet (or at least in the Southern United States) I have been hearing raves about this book for a couple of years now. I've been wanting to read it, but just hadn't gotten around to it yet. My husband was actually assigned this book to read for one of his classes, so I thought I'd try to read it as well while we had it checked out from the library. It was fantastic! Well worth all the praise. I could not put this book down. It's 451 pages and I read it in 3 days. It's thought-provoking and eye-opening, especially for someone of my generation and up-bringing. It made me mad and sad and happy and... it's just great. Go read it. 5 stars

Really Big News!

This is a very big day in the Presnell household. Andrew was just sworn in as a First Lieutenant in the United States Air Force! He will be participating in the Air Force Health Professionals scholarship program. They will pay for the rest of his schooling (2 1/2 years including his internship) and then he will serve as a psychologist for the Air Force for 3 years with the opportunity to re-enlist at that point if we decide that's what is best for us. It has been a big decision and we have mostly kept it quiet, because it was a competitive scholarship and we wanted to wait until it was official. I am so very proud of him. It is an opportunity to help our soldiers in a way that is very needed. And a way for us to get some great experiences and opportunities. So that's about all we know for now. I'll share any more details when I have them!

Book #22 of 2011

Book #22 was The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. I loved this book! And I was really excited to find out it was the first in a series of 7 books. The heroine of this book is Flavia de Luce, an eleven-year-old aspiring chemist living in a picturesque English village in the 1950s. When a dead body turns up in the garden of her family's estate, it turns out that Flavia is pretty good at solving mysteries, too. Reading this book was just fun. I highly recommend it to pretty much anyone. 5 stars

Cadbury Creme Deviled Eggs

Usually, I hate deviled eggs. Just thinking about them now kind of makes me want to gag. But THESE are some deviled eggs I could get behind. Although I'm pretty sure I could only eat about half of one of these sugary concoctions, made from Cadbury Creme Eggs and buttercream frosting. If you want to make them, check out the info over at Serious Eats.

Ferris Bueller Board Game

I love this Ferris Bueller board game! So fun, colorful and creative. I have seen this movie probably 100 times (at least). I'll stop every time I see it on tv. "You're Abe Froman? The sausage king of Chicago?" Click on the picture to see a larger image. From Max Dalton.

Books # 20 & 21 of 2011

Well, I'm now a fifth of the way through my goal for 2011! Book #20 was The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly. I thought the movie looked pretty good, and I always like to read the book before seeing a movie if possible. I thought the book was pretty good, although there was a little too much lawyer-speak for me. I was hoping there would be a little more action and less focus on the courtroom proceedings. 3 stars

Book # 21 was The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Ranch Wife by Ree Drummond. Ree is one of my very favorite bloggers. Her website, www.thepioneerwoman.com, is full of great photography, recipes, and other fun and pretty things. However, this cookbook was just ok. I didn't feel like it offered much past what is available on her website. In fact, I think there are some much better recipes on her website! 3 stars

Books #18 & #19 of 2011

Book # 18 was Let Sleeping Dogs Lie by Mirjam Pressler. This is a young adult book translated from German. To me, the subject matter, about a teenage girl who learns about her grandfather's involvement with the Nazi party, had more potential than the writer was able to live up to. While I'm sure it's possible that the writing could have suffered in the translation, the novel was disjointed and at times confusing, going back and forth between the main character's inner dialog and actual advancement of the plot. However, this book does offer an interesting perspective of how the German people are dealing with the sins of their fathers (and grandfathers). 3 stars


Book #19 is Runaways Deluxe Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughn. This is maybe the best graphic novel I've ever read, or at least my favorite. A group of teenagers learn that their parents are super-villians and set about an attempt to thwart them. Published by Marvel, Vaughn sprinkles in some fun references, including Captain America coming in to "save the day" but really not doing anything of the sort. I can't wait to read the follow-ups to this first volume. 5 stars