The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan

Again, another Courtney Milan romance. Still enjoyable.

How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question by Michael Schur

I really enjoyed this book, which I heard about on the Office Ladies podcast. Michael Schur was a writer on The Office and he came on the podcast, and this book sounded so interesting so I decided to check it out. It's basically an overview of an Ethics 101 class, and he goes over all of these different views of ethics and ethical questions. I really enjoyed it because I felt like Schur did a great job of explaining everything in a really easy-to-understand way, but also making it really funny. I found it actually really engrossing and I plowed through it in just a couple of days, even though it didn't seem like it would have been a super exciting thing. I felt like I learned a lot about ethics and what it means to be truly good.

The Suffragette Scandal by Courtney Milan

Just another romance by Courtney Milan. Nothing super exciting to say about it.

Becoming Trader Joe: How I Did Business My Way and Still Beat the Big Guys by Joe Coulombe

I had heard that this book was a fun story of the history of Trader Joe's, and I thought it sounded interesting enough to read myself. It was available on e-book so I checked it out to read on the plane on our trip to Utah. I thought a lot of it was interesting--it was pretty fun hearing about the beginnings of Trader Joe's and how he started from it being a small chain of convenience stores and how it changed over time. I felt like I learned a lot about the history of California and how grocery stores run and that was fascinating. But it was pretty boring a lot of the time too and he got kind of rambly. I kind of feel like I should have stopped reading but once I got too far in I wanted to finish it. Overall it could have been better if it was shorter. 

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling

The boys and I read this one together and it was really fun. I think this is honestly one of my least favorite of the HP books now that I'm reading it aloud, mostly because of Harry's angry emotions and yelling and constant anger--and plus how frustrating that he never tries very hard to learn Occlumency and it ends in Sirius dying. I feel like it was very believable for HP and his age and what is realistic for a kid that age... so I can totally understand it. But it's still frustrating to read. 

Real Friends, Best Friends, and Friends Forever by Shannon Hale

I really liked this graphic novel series by Shannon Hale. It's a really cool idea to me--a graphic novel memoir for middle schoolers about Shannon Hale's middle school experience with her friends, her anxiety, her goals and dreams, and learning about getting to know people and make friends. I really loved how realistic and honest she was about what it was like for her. I feel like this could be a really great book for any middle schoolers, especially girls, just showing how normal these friend problems can be and how important good friends are. I really enjoyed all of these books and I especially loved how fast I got through them since they were graphic novels. 

Redwall by Brian Jacques

I looooooved Redwall when I was younger. Loved it! And I loved many of the sequels as well. I would happily read a Redwall book any time. But my dedication to it paled to Dane's this winter--he plowed through every book in the Redwall series in chronological order over Christmas break and January and February. There are over 20 books and he made his way through all of them! It was a lifesaver for the weeks we were stuck at home with Covid. And as he always does, he wanted me to read the books with him. And once again, I was happy to oblige with Redwall to see how it held up for me. It definitely was still a fun read, and it was so fun to slowly remember what happened. I only had vague memories of what happened but I definitely had things coming back to me as I read. I love the main character of Matthias and his determination and courage (I can definitely see why Dane loved it) but I think most of all, I love Redwall Abbey and what an amazing home it seems like. The descriptions and the characterization of Redwall as so peaceful (and always so filled with delicious food!) are what make this book so appealing to me. I remember not always loving the Redwall books that weren't actually set at Redwall as much. So this was a fun one to re-read (although I stopped short of reading all 20 books like Dane wanted me to).