A Fine Line by Tim DeRoche

*Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own. 

About the book-

In 1954 the Supreme Court ruled that little Linda Brown couldn't be excluded from a public school because of her race. In that landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, the court famously declared that public education must be available to all on equal terms. But sixty-six years later, many of the best public schools remain closed to all but the most privileged families. Empowered by little-known state laws, school districts draw attendance zones around their best schools, indicating who is, and who isn't, allowed to enroll. In many American cities, this means that living on one side of the street or the other will determine whether you leave eighth grade on a track for future success or barely able to read. 

In A Fine Line, bestselling author Tim DeRoche takes a close look at the laws and policies that dictate which kids are allowed to go to which schools. And he finds surprising parallels between current education policies and the redlining practices of the New Deal era in which minority families were often denied mortgages and government housing assistance because they didn't live within certain desirable zones of the city.

It is an extraordinary story of American democracy gone wrong, and it will make you question everything you think you know about our public education system.

My thoughts-

When my oldest child was 5 we decided it was time to buy a house. Both my husband and I were in our late 20's and just starting out so we didn't have a huge budget to spend so we ended up in a town with a school district I was aprehensive about, and I still am not a huge fan of 7 years later. The school I had wanted her to attend was literally 5 minutes down the road, but the houses on that side of town were astronomically more expensive. I feel kind of dense now, but I never really realized until I read this book that housing prices can be  directly related to the type of public school your child will end up attending and it is infuriating! There are definitely some discrepencies in the public school system in the United States and A Fine Line lays them out for you. It is evident a lot of research has been put into this book and a ton of thought has been put in by the author about how to fix these problems. We didn't get into the school we wanted and we are not in a financial struggle. There are people with far less that have even worse choices in bigger inner city school districts. Unfortunately I think it will be an uphill and very long battles, but the more people that are educated about these unfair practices, the more people that can join the fight to remedy them. 

Elephants by Tom Jackson

*Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own. 

About the book-

Other than the size of their ears (African elephants have much larger ears), how else do African and Asian elephants differ? Well, both male and female African elephants, rather than just some male Asian elephants, have long tusks. And African elephants also have two, rather than one, finger-like digits in their trunks to help grip. African elephants have more wrinkly skin, and their heads are more rounded, whereas Asian elephants have twin-domed heads. Elephants is an outstanding collection of photographs and captions showing these majestic animals in their natural habitat. You’ll discover how, yes, African and Asian elephants differ, but also about the different species or subspecies in each continent. You will learn how herds of female elephants and their young are formed, how they feed and use their tusks – elongated incisor teeth – as weapons or for moving objects or digging, how they use their ears to cool themselves and how intelligent they are – they’re up there with primates and dolphins. They have captured the popular imagination for thousands of years and have been domesticated by humankind., Featuring the surviving species and subspecies, from African bush elephants to Asian pygmy elephants, the book explores how these fascinating animals hunt and feed, reproduce and rear their young, compete, defend each other from predators, and protect the herd. Featuring 150 outstanding colour photographs, Elephants is a brilliant examination of the world’s largest land mammal.

My thoughts-

The beauty of the magnificent elephant is captured in this book full of gorgeous photography. Sprinkled throughout every few pages are facts about elephants. I loved the close up pictures on the body parts as part of the descroption for learning about each part of an elephant and what it does. The book teaches about both African and Asian elephants, and about the species nomadic lifestyle (did you know an elephant's life is pretty much mostly devoted to searching for food? It makes sense since they are such massive creatures!). My adored everything about this book, but my absolute favorite thing was the last chapter about the precious babies. They are so adorable! I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys learning about wildlife. 

Let's Fix Lunch! by Kat Nouri & Stasher

*Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own. 

My thoughts-

I aboslutely loved this combined concept for this book. Part cookbook, part environmentally concious tips for the concerned citizen, Let's Fix Lunch combines it's efforts to both help the environment, as well as provide delicious lunch recipes. The idea behind focusing on lunch recipes is that many people order take out for lunch and that causes a lot of pollution with the wrappers, and plastic cutlery and such, so making your own lunches is healthier for you and the environment. The cookbook makes it easy to want to make your own lunch with fantastic recipes. I was surprised but well pleased to even find a recipe with Persian roots in this eccletic book. At the end of the book there is also a nice little bonus section that lists a bunch of different ways you can further reduce your carbon footprint in many different ways. I recommend this book to anyone looking to take better care of the environment, or who just wants some fantastic new and different recipes for lunches.

The One-Pot Paleo Cookbook

*Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own. 

About the book-

People have praised the paleo diet as an approachable and appetizing method of losing weight and managing chronic conditions—but the stressful daily grind can lead paleo followers to rely on highly processed, high-carb dishes. The One-Pot Paleo Cookbook combines the hearty flavors and health benefits of the paleo lifestyle with a variety of easy-to-make, single-vessel recipes to keep you on the paleo path.

The One-Pot Paleo Cookbook explores the basics of the "cave-dweller diet" with details on paleo-approved foods and an overview of how the paleo diet can reduce heart disease and inflammation, encourage healthy weight loss, and improve digestion. Utilizing a simple set-it-and-forget-it process and fuss-free recipes, these 100+ mouthwatering, macro-friendly meals are perfect for staying on the paleo diet—all you need is one dish.

My thoughts-

There are some delicious recipes in this cookbook. Eating healthy is always easier when you have delicious new recipes to keep things from getting boring. I thought most of the recipes sounded fantastic. I don't follow a paleo diet but I think that is a tremendously  healthy way of eating and the whole foods you use are great foods that are good for you and taste fantastic. I am particularly excited to try steak with tomatoes and green beans. That sounds like a lunch I would go to often. I also thought the ground beef and cabbage stir fry and the pot roast dinner sounded like great healthy versions of comfort foods. I recommend this book to anyone who wants some new variations on dinner, especially when we are stuck home right now cooking more and variety can really help eating healthy way less boring. 

Summer on Honeysuckle Ridge by Debbie Mason

*Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own. 

About the book-

Welcome to Highland Falls, a small town where love is always in the air.

In just a few months Abby Everhart has gone from being a top influencer to an unemployed divorcée living out of her car. So inheriting her great-aunt's homestead comes at the perfect time. Abby heads to Highland Falls, North Carolina, to spruce up Honeysuckle Farm before putting it on the market for some much-needed cash. But instead of finding a charming getaway, she discovers a serious fixer-upper, complete with a leaky roof, overgrown yard, and a reclusive -- albeit sexy -- man living on the property.

Ex-Delta Force soldier Hunter MacKenzie has faced war and loss, but nothing has quite prepared him for an outgoing redhead who's determined to turn his life upside down. Hunter doesn't want to get involved with anyone, especially a city girl who plans to sell the only place he's ever felt at home. But the sparks between them are undeniable. Spending time with Abby is easy. Convincing her to stay for good is another matter entirely.

My thoughts-

We are in the middle of a really strange moment in time where we are all kind of stuck in limbo at home until further notice. It's a scary and weird time, but I am trying to make the best of it by catching up on a ton of reading! I think that right now is the absolute perfect time to read a lighthearded(ish) romance novel and I found the perfect book for that in Summer on Honeysuckle Ridge. This is the beginning of a series which made me want to read it anymore because I love these small town series where everyone knows everyone and we can watch several beautiful stories unfold. I will be honest that it took some time for me to not think Hunter was a jerk, but his backstory will definitely explain why he is so closed off from the world. I love Abby! She is the perfect character to get invested in and I love her bubbly and talkative and affectionate personality. This book is equal parts funny and serious, and the romance scenes are pg so it's a good read for someone who loves love stories but doesn't like passionate scenes to go overboard on the details. I absolutely recommend this book to anyone looking for a lighthearted and easy read or who likes romance novels. 

The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel

*Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own. 

About the book-

Eva Traube Abrams, a semi-retired librarian in Florida, is shelving books one morning when her eyes lock on a photograph in a magazine lying open nearby. She freezes; it’s an image of a book she hasn’t seen in sixty-five years—a book she recognizes as The Book of Lost Names.

The accompanying article discusses the looting of libraries by the Nazis across Europe during World War II—an experience Eva remembers well—and the search to reunite people with the texts taken from them so long ago. The book in the photograph, an eighteenth-century religious text thought to have been taken from France in the waning days of the war, is one of the most fascinating cases. Now housed in Berlin’s Zentral- und Landesbibliothek library, it appears to contain some sort of code, but researchers don’t know where it came from—or what the code means. Only Eva holds the answer—but will she have the strength to revisit old memories and help reunite those lost during the war?

As a graduate student in 1942, Eva was forced to flee Paris after the arrest of her father, a Polish Jew. Finding refuge in a small mountain town in the Free Zone, she begins forging identity documents for Jewish children fleeing to neutral Switzerland. But erasing people comes with a price, and along with a mysterious, handsome forger named Rémy, Eva decides she must find a way to preserve the real names of the children who are too young to remember who they really are. The records they keep in The Book of Lost Names will become even more vital when the resistance cell they work for is betrayed and Rémy disappears.

My thoughts-

Historical fiction will always be my favorite genre, particularly novels set during WWII. Just when I think there isn't a new angle to take for one of these stories, along comes The Book of Lost Names, a story about the resistance, and not just the resistance but the forgers making the documents for the resistance. I have read stories about couriers but never about the actual forgers. I can not imagine having to make the decision to help people you know are being wronged and putting your life on the line day after day to help them, but there were actual real life people who did that and I love reading stories like these because they always help me to remember that ordinary people did extraordinary things during a time when there were such abhorrent things going down every minute of every day. I loved this particular story for bringing to light the things the forgers had to do, and of course for the beautiful loved story of Remy and Eva. The Book of Lost Names is my absolute favorite WWII novel I have read probably since The Nightingale. I will be recommended it to everyone I know. 

Forever and Ever, Amen by Randy Travis with Ken Abraham

*Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own. 

About the book-

From a working-class background in North Carolina to a job as a cook and club singer in Nashville to his "overnight success" with his smash 1986 album Storms of Life--which launched the neotraditional movement in country music--Randy’s first three decades are a true rags-to-riches story.

But in 2009, this seemingly charmed life began a downward spiral. His marriage dissolved, he discovered that his finances had unraveled, and his struggles with anger led to alcohol abuse, public embarrassment, and even police arrest in 2012.

Then, just as he was putting his life back together, Randy suffered a devastating viral cardiomyopathy that led to a massive stroke which he was not expected to survive.  Yet he not only survived but also learned to walk again and in 2016 accepted his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame by singing the hymn that explains his life today: "Amazing Grace."

Filled with never-before-told stories, Forever and Ever, Amen is a riveting tale of unfathomable success, great joy, deep pain, and redemption that can come only from above.

My thoughts-

When I think of Randy Travis I think of my childhood. Whether my older brother and I were listening to the radio at home or if we were spending the summer at our aunt's house in Houston listening to the radio with her, Randy Travis was a big part of our childhood. We loved all of his songs. He doesn't live to far from where I do in north Texas and I knew he had a big rough patch before his stroke, and an interesting story before he became famous and I wanted to hear about it from his own mouth, so I appreciate that he wrote this book, not only to give us a glimpse at his rise to stardom, but the testimony of a broken man giving his life to Christ.  This was a great read for me right before Easter. I can't believe all of the things that Randy Travis has had to overcome in his life, but I am glad he did. He seems to be in a good place now. I hope it stays that way forever and ever, amen. 

The Kitchen Pantry Scientist: Chemistry for Kids by Liz Lee Heinecke

*Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own. 

About the book-

This engaging guide offers a series of snapshots of 25 scientists famous for their work with chemistry, from ancient history through today. Each lab tells the story of a scientist along with some background about the importance of their work, and a description of where it is still being used or reflected in today’s world. A step-by-step illustrated experiment paired with each story offers kids a hands-on opportunity for exploring concepts the scientists pursued, or are working on today. Experiments range from very simple projects using materials you probably already have on hand, to more complicated ones that may require a few inexpensive items you can purchase online. Just a few of the incredible people and scientific concepts you'll explore:

My thoughts-

Many books with science expirements for kids are just small easy projects that might entertain very young children but even then only for a few minutes. The Kitchen Pantry Scientist: Chemistry for Kids is full of interesting science expirements using things that you can find in your pantry. The absolute coolest things about this book is that the expirements are tied to the beginning of the chapter of the book which each feature a famous scientist and their contributions to the field. My boys are 10 and they would love every expirement in this book, and since we are at home from school right now social distancing just like much of the rest of the world, we may actually have time to give them a try. My only complaint is the book isn't long enough. I recommend this to any parent with kids who enjoy science or who are looking for something outside the box today thats fun but educational. 

Admission by Julie Buxbaum

*Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own. 

About the book-

It's good to be Chloe Wynn Berringer. She's headed off to the college of her dreams. She's going to prom with the boy she's had a crush on since middle school. Her best friend always has her back, and her mom, a B-list Hollywood celebrity, may finally be on her way to the B+ list. It's good to be Chloe Wynn Berringer--at least, it was, until the FBI came knocking on her front door, guns at the ready, and her future went up in smoke. Now her mother is under arrest in a massive college admissions bribery scandal. Chloe, too, might be facing charges, and even time behind bars. The public is furious, the press is rabid, and the US attorney is out for blood.

As she loses everything she's long taken for granted, Chloe must reckon not only with the truth of what happened, but also with the examination of her own guilt. Why did her parents think the only way for her to succeed was to cheat for her? What did she know, and when did she know it? And perhaps most importantly, what does it mean to be complicit?


My thoughts-

I think when the college admissions scam broke, some of us were probably surprised that such a thing could occur, and then others of us were probably thinking that this has probably been going on forever and these were just the people that finally got caught. What I like about the book is the it is from the perspective of the daughters, one in the middle of the scam, and one who has nothing to do with any of it- and what they both are dealing with. I felt a great deal of sympathy for Chloe and I actually felt her character got way more than she deservedd from her so called friends. Yes, I get that she is priviliged and as a result she doesn't always think about how other people might have struggles she has never thought of, but at the same time she kind of does. She is mentor to Cesar, a little boy with way more worries in his little life than Chloe will ever have to deal with and she seems aware of this from the very beginning. The scam seems to help her grow as a person to see even more of the errors of her ways, and yes they shoulld have been angry at her, but I felt like her friends were unsympathetic and unforgiving. Her parents did something very bad, and it is interesting to see through the book how they work through it all both legally and emotionally. I thought it was a great book that I would definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys contemporary fiction or young adult novels.