A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro

I actually have no idea where I heard about this book or where I got it as a recommendation, but I am a sucker for all sorts of modern adaptations of classics, and this is a Sherlock-and-Watson book set in modern times, with the idea that Sherlock's great-great-granddaughter and Watson's great-great-grandson become friends at a boarding school in Connecticut and have to solve a mystery together. I liked the connections to the original novels and stories, and I really liked Holmes's and Watson's characters. I thought the story was really fun, but things got kind of dark at different moments, which I didn't really want out of this book. It was a great mystery and I loved how everything got resolved at the end.

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

I actually really enjoyed this audiobook and I almost wish I had read it as a hard copy so I could take notes and mark passages that stood out to me. This seems like it's going to be a time management self help book with tips about how to get more done and be more productive and use your time better, but it actually is kind of giving the opposite message: that there will never be enough time, so you need to decide what you really want to be doing with your time so that you can have a good life now. I have thought a lot about this book and I have found myself telling some of his points to lots of different people over the last few weeks since I read it, and I kind of want to re-read it and take more detailed notes. I do feel like I'm not terrible at what he's talking about--I feel like my life choices reflect my true desires and that I am savoring and enjoying what I'm doing in my day-to-day life--but I think this book has really valuable advice. 

Toys Go Out by Emily Jenkins

I read this book out loud with Dane when he was in preschool and I thought Lucy would love it too, and we managed to read it together before our trip. (I have done a terrible job of reading chapter books to Lucy! It makes me so sad! But I kind of felt like it was reading lessons or chapter books this year and I went with the reading lessons.) But she loved this one and I thought it was super cute and fun to read together. 

The Party Crasher by Sophie Kinsella

I've read plenty of Sophie Kinsella over the years--including all of the Shopaholic books long before I started keeping this blog--and she always has these characters that are just really zany and over the top with their own funny problems. The characters always get into the most ridiculous situations and this book was no exception--at one point Effie is hiding under the table while everyone else in her family is eating around her for hours. I always feel like so many problems in these books could be avoided by just normal adult conversations and communication--but it was still a fun book to read. It was good that it all ended up happy in the end. 

Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray

This was purely a Newbery read and I kind of struggled through it. But I think this could have been a book I actually enjoyed when I was a kid. It tells the story of a boy in medieval times who follows his dad who is a minstrel--and ends up getting lost and losing his dog and needing to find his way back to his dad and his dog. It is a journeying story and I think it was a great book about medieval times and what it was like back then--probably the least depressing of the medieval books I've read. But it still felt a little like a slog to me at times. I thought that Adam was a great character who found joy and determination at good times and I would be happy for my kids to read this one. \]

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

I have loved both of Emily Henry's previous books that she's written (Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation) and was super excited to hear about this new one that she wrote. I powered through this one super fast and loved the story about the hardcore literary agent and the book editor who have clashed in the past and end up falling in love in an unlikely location. Nothing super extraordinary to include about it but it was just the romance I needed.