Bluebird Books

 Did I mention I love mysteries?  It's one of my go-to genres for busting up reading slumps and for general book enjoyment. Anthony Horowitz seems to write a really good mystery.  I read Magpie Murders after it came out years ago and loved it.  It was so good I bought The Word is Murder   and then set it aside, thinking I would save it for a rainy day. Bookstagram let me know that Anthony Horowitz is coming out with a new book and I realized I hadn't picked up The Word...   yet.  I pulled it off my shelf on an actual rainy day and was completely absorbed.   A woman walks into a funeral parlor, plans out her funeral, and is murdered later that day.  It's an interesting premise for sure, but I really loved the way Horowitz himself (well, kind of) helps solve the murder.  I said in my Instagram review that it gave me Inception and Fletch vibes so of course, I loved it.  Authors who play with form and don't take themselves too seriously and still manage to pull all of that

 My first book of October was The Ghost at Dawn's House by Ann M. Martin.  I've been part of an online book club where we read a Babysitters' Club book every two weeks.  The Bookshelf started this back at the beginning of summer and I'm so grateful.  It's reminded me of how much I loved these books and how much fun it is to read something easy and quick.   BSC books have been good palette cleansers between books dealing with big, important, and sometimes scary things.  They are fun, they hold my attention, and they provide a healthy dose of nostalgia.  I also love looking at the parenting in these books and picking and choosing what might be useful in my family (don't sleep on fiction as parenting manuals).   I've heard many times that when kids are struggling to read, the best thing you can do is give them easy to consume books or books that bring joy.  The secret to why my pandemic reading life is so full is that I've sprinkled in some easy books to

 If nine months into a global pandemic isn't the right time to revive your blog then I don't know when is... I'm back, maybe not better than ever, but trying. I've been doing a lot of reading and this year will likely be my best ever from a quantity perspective.  I've also been doing a lot of writing.  The first draft of my novel is done and now I'm in the weeds of rewriting.   Stay tuned for high-quality content like: book reviews, book mail, bookstagram pet peeves, picture book parade, what's saving my life, monthly and seasonal TBRs, and end of month wrap-ups.   This year has been rough and on the good days and the bad books have gotten me through.  Books have calmed me and my children, they have given us a distraction, and reminded us that humanity has been through bad times before.  The purpose of this blog is not to gain followers or add pressure to your reading life.  My purpose is to write a love letter to books, to remember the books I read, and may