Although this book is considered a “middle reader” book, it is a delightful story of a fourth grade girl and her friends response to book banning in the elementary school library. The audiobook narrator was very good. Is the response engineered by Amy Ann, et al something fourth graders could pull off? Maybe. The banned books include Harriet the Spy, Matilda, Is That You, God? It’s Me, Margaret and other classics. This book has been banned in Florida? Is there any other reason necessary to read this book?

I read this book because it was an Indie Next pick for May and I wanted to mix it up with a memoir/nonfiction read. I was unfamiliar with the author’s podcast but I loved the idea of a bookseller’s book. I felt like Annie was relatable. I appreciated her perspective on church. Overall, I thought she had a clear voice that will resonate with some but maybe not work for others. I listened to the audiobook on Libby.

I read this book because I was looking to fulfill a book bingo challenge to read a book published in 1985. I have seen the movie a couple times so it was fun to revisit Kiki’s magical world in audiobook form. This is a short, cozy, whimsical read.

the books i read were great

Helen Cartwright, 83 y/o, has returned to her family home in a small village in England after 60 years in Australia to die. Not that she has a diagnosis beyond being old. She has been back for 3 years, but returned still actively grieving the abrupt loss of her husband and the tragic loss of her son. She is very lonely and isolated. She does the same thing most days and memories do not give her comfort. Then she unwittingly brings a 5” male mouse into her house. He decides to stay with her and she decides to care for him. (This is not a talking mouse or an anthropomorphic rodent). To care for him she starts meeting a few people she can connect with as she moves from removing the mouse by trapping to naming Sipsworth and hoping wildlife rescue group will take him to making Sipsworth a housemate. Eventually it is revealed that Helen has done significant things. Slow start. A comforting book. Perhaps this book raises awareness of long term grieving, loneliness, sadness and isolation in people in our lives (or in ourselves).

Spy camp by Stuart Gibbs is a very good book about theirs kid named Ben Ridley is on spy school but the bad organization called SPIDER is trying to get him to work for them but he rejected it so now they are trying to find him to kill them. But they have to get to a place 500 miles away where SPIDER is. Van they make it alive and still takedown the enemy?

Explains more about the relationship between brothers Jim and Bob Burgess. Great reading for fans of Strout’s other books.

This book kept popping into my radar as an Indie Next pick for July 2025 and I read about it via The NY Times. I don’t often go for nonfiction memoir/biography but my interest piqued at this tale of a couple surviving adrift for four months after their yacht capsized. It’s a wild story and worth a read. I listen to the short audiobook on Spotify.

The Deadlands: Survival is a book about adventure, heroism, and finding a place to belong. I enjoyed reading this book because I like dinosaurs and it had an interesting concept. The author knows a lot about dinosaurs, a little bit more than I know about dinosaurs. Just the tiniest bit more. The start of the book was so good that I really wanted to keep reading and barely put it down. I would recommend The Deadlands series to people who like dinosaurs and adventure.

I listened to this audiobook of short stories on Libby after it popped on my radar as a July Indie Next pick. This is a collection of 11 tales set in the south that cover a lot of content: pregnancy, violence, sex and intimacy, church, hair, Blackness and more. Nearly all of the vignettes felt forgettable and most seemed unresolved in my opinion. The narration was solid but the stories didn’t captivate me. My hands-down favorite from the bunch was “How Does Your Garden Grow?” which is a memorable and unique depiction of fibroids.