Monday, May 6, 2019

Sitting Still Like a Frog Activity book by Eline Snel

Sitting Still Like a Frog Activity Book: 75 Mindfulness Games for KidsGet this as a physical book. I got it as an ebook ARC from NetGalley and loading the pages was So Slow. It took up to 5 minutes to load a page and it crashed by reading app several times.
Other than that, this was an okay book. The stories were fairly preachy. It reminded me more of an 1800s primer more than anything else.

Three stars
This book came out April 9
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Sunday, May 5, 2019

I Want You Back by Lorelei James

I Want You Back (Want You, #1)In a previous book in this series, Jaxson Lund had described his daughter's mother, Lucy Quade, as someone barely better than Lucifer himself. At the end of the story, we learned that Lucy may not really be as bad as she seemed. And now that Jaxson has retired from hockey and pulled himself out of the grips of alcoholism, he can admit to himself that she is a really good mother. And a really good woman. In fact, he wants her back.
But Lucy isn't so sure. Mimi was an unexpected baby. She and Jaxson had supposedly been in love but he cheated on her and then dragged her name through the mud. She's dating and looking for something better. Even though that park is still there...
I liked that Jaxson had some consequences from his sleeping around. I did not so much like the flashbacks. I'm not sure why it's so popular right now to flip back and forth between the present and the past in romances but I find it very distracting. Not distracting enough not to read the next book in the series though; I'm really hoping it's the romance between ice skater Gabri and Jaxson's brother.

Three and a half stars
Followed by Want to Want you
This book came out April 2nd
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Saturday, May 4, 2019

A Justified Murder by Jude Deveraux

A Justified MurderSara, Kate, and Jack are back in a new mystery. When Janet Beeson is stabbed, shot, and poisoned, everyone in town looks to the trio that solved the last big murder. But they aren't interested in helping. That's not what they do. But somehow, they are dragged into the story of a woman who was seemingly the most liked person in town. So who would want to kill her that bad?
This was a completely scattered book with parts of the story stuck in here and there and things said about characters that weren't backed up in the story... and yet Deveraux manages to charm. Sentence structure is odd and unnecessary asides are plentiful but I think people who enjoyed the first book will like this one as well.

Three stars
This book came out February 26th
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Friday, May 3, 2019

Southern Lady Code by Helen Ellis

Southern Lady CodeMs. Ellis gives us a series of biographical essays. Some touch on her own life, some are a list of instructions, all are highly entertaining. She gives young girls instructions on what to look for in a man (hint: nothing from the Bachelor), she talks about living in New York (it is definitely a privileged life but she doesn't hide that), and talks about aging.
I wish it had been longer but I don't regret reading it.

Four stars
This book came out April 16th
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Thursday, May 2, 2019

Can You Crack the Code? by Ella Schwartz

Can You Crack the Code?: A Fascinating History of Ciphers and Cryptography
Schwartz introduces a number of different ways that people could hide messages using numbers, switching letters, or even creating machines. Each chapter focuses on one way to create a code and then provides examples for the reader to try. Weaving a bit of fun with history, this is a book I would have devoured as a middle schooler.

Three stars
This book came out March 26
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley

Wednesday, May 1, 2019

Making of a Manager by Julie Zhou

The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to YouI've been reading a lot of books on management lately and this is the one that has spoken to me the most. Ms. Zhuo has been a manager since she was 25. When she started, no one told her how to go on. She had to figure a lot of it as she went out. Here, she talks about a wide breadth of topics related to management including how to build trust; how not to waste meetings; how to creat a culture for your own team. I got this book from NetGalley but think I will get it for myself.

This book came out March 19th
Four stars
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

A Kind of Paradise by Amy Rebecca Tan

Spending the summer volunteering in the library is not how Jamie Bunn envisioned her vacation. But she made a Very Big Mistake and she ended up here. It's not bad. She really likes her coworkers and seeing the people in the library is really opening her up to the world around her.
This is definitely a This Is a Punishment That Will Change Your World In a Wonderful Way book but it is done deftly, with characters that come alive and keep the readers engaged.

Four stars
This book comes out May 7
ARC kindly provided by Edelweiss; Opinions are my own