The President is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson

I have read my share of John Grishams and Tom Clancys, but I haven't read much by James Patterson (maybe one or two that I can't remember?). But since this book was going around having been marketed as being written by Bill Clinton, I was a sucker like everyone else and decided to listen to it. It is basically whatever you would expect--a political thriller with an assassin, a cyberterrorism threat, and all sorts of distrust on all sides. The title is misleading, I thought, because it makes you think the president will be, well, missing, but since he's narrating most of the story, the reader always knows where he is. I felt like there didn't seem to be much interesting knowledge that Bill Clinton shared about being president, though. And I wonder if he thinks that President John Duncan is a version of himself--someone trying to do the right thing for the country but who's stuck fighting politics. It seems telling that the book opens with President Duncan in a mock Senate hearing trying him for impeachment (but not for a sex scandal). There were also some kind of preachy parts about "why is our political system so broken? Stop being terrible people!" and a few things that felt like they were being thrown in just to show how current the authors are--a reference to Flint, Michigan, and the president telling the Russian Prime Minister "stay out of our elections." (I felt like that was super annoying.) And it seems like the people that the President is surrounded with are all the smartest, most talented, most tortured, most whatever of anyone ever. He literally goes to get his make-up done by "the most beautiful woman in the world" when he's going in disguise somewhere, who just "happened" to be his wife's college roommate at Harvard.

I was caught up in this story and enjoyed it for its thriller-like aspects, and I was caught off-guard by who the actual traitor was at the end of the story. So that part was great. The pregnant female assassin was pretty fierce too. But there were a lot of holes and I was a little creeped out by the kind-of similarities to Bill Clinton and wondering if that's what he really thinks he was as the President.

Rilla of Ingleside by L. M. Montgomery

I always loved this book, the last in the Anne series, about the Blythe family. It seemed very poignant and bittersweet this time, now reading it as an adult with kids of my own, since it is set in WWI and reading about the Blythe boys going off to war. I love this look at what the time during the war was like in Canada for the women back home, and I love the message that you can survive anything. I loved the coming-of-age development that Rilla went through and how she raised a baby. I teared up several times while reading it and full-on cried at the end when Jem came home and Dog Monday saw him. This is a lot heavier than the previous few books, because of the war storyline, but it feels a lot more real too.

This was such a good series to read for me. I absolutely love it and I will always come back to it.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

I think this may have been the boys' favorite book I've ever read aloud to them. And who WOULDN'T love this book? How could it not capture any kids' imagination? Just the setting alone, of a magnificent, magical chocolate factory, is enough to set any kids' imaginations on fire. Add to that the magical great glass elevator, and the Oompa Loompas, and Charlie being given the chocolate factory at the end--it just doesn't get any better. Even after reading just the first chapter, Graham was already begging me to take them to a chocolate factory. We may have to look up and see if there are any chocolate "factories" around here--but they will definitely be disappointing after Mr. Wonka's chocolate factory.

Rainbow Valley by L. M. Montgomery

This was possibly my favorite of the Anne of Green Gables books when I was younger. I would reach for this one before any of the other ones if I was wanting to read something happy. I think now the first three are my true favorites (because Anne is hardly in this one), but I still feel a lot of love for this book. I like it much more than Anne of Ingleside, because that one feels like a random assortment of stories about her kids, none of them connected or leading to a bigger point. This one is totally about the kids, but it focuses more on their new neighbors, the Merediths, who have moved into the manse nearby, and their friendship with the Blythes and their struggle to grow up. I love that there is an ongoing story with the irrepressible Faith and sweet Una and Jerry and Carl making hilarious mistakes (like going to church with no stockings on! Shocking! Scandalous!) and trying to behave better in order to help their father. I have to say, I can't see why they love their father so much when he completely ignores them and is so caught up in his theological thinking, and I cannot understand him for being so abstracted all the time when his kids are starving for attention. It's pretty neglectful, even though they have a housekeeper taking care of them.

I'm dying now to read Rilla of Ingleside. I've been thinking about it for the last few weeks as I've been reading the last few and I'm so excited. I love that one so much. This whole series has been a breath of fresh air for me and it's been so great for me to read these beloved books.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I read this back in 2011, when it was relatively new (or when the movie was coming out). But my book club is reading this for February, so I listened to it over the last week. I'll admit that I wasn't overly thrilled about reading this again, because this is a book that everyone has read and everyone knows about from ten years ago when it originally came out. But the minute I started the audiobook again, I was hooked and I couldn't stop listening. The story is so good, and the three main characters--Aibilene, Minnie, and Skeeter--are so well-written and interesting that it's hard not too get invested. The audiobook version of this book is so well-done as well, with three different narrators for each of the women. It was definitely worth a listen and the 18 hours of the audiobook flew by. I forgot how great it is and I'm glad to have read it again. I loved the connection that forges between Skeeter and Aibilene, and how the women start to learn about each other and their similarities, and how they start to slowly make change in their town by just sharing their stories. I really do think that the only way to break down stereotypes, even on an individual level, is by getting to really know someone, and that's what this book is really about.

I'd Rather be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life by Anne Bogel

I've been reading Anne Bogel's book blog Modern Mrs. Darcy for at least five years now, and I've gotten countless book recommendations from her and I feel like I know her. She's thoughtful, deliberate, interested in bookish things, and seems like the type of person I would be friends with in real life. I read her first book about personality types, Reading People, last year, even though I'm not super interested in personality types myself, just because I like her. But I definitely wanted to read this book, with essays about being a reader, because I love books about books. So I bought myself a copy when it was half off on Amazon as a Christmas present for myself, and I read it over a few short hours. It's very short--only twenty essays--but each one made me smile.

I definitely don't think this is a book that would be relatable to everyone, but for someone like me, it's perfect. It's meant for those of us who spend all our extra time reading, who love organizing our bookshelves. I had to laugh because she had a chapter on how to organize your library when you're a reader, and I had literally spent the whole day reorganizing my bookshelves just that morning. She said, "For beautifully styled bookshelves, follow this decorators' rule of thumb: each bookshelf should hold one-third books, one third accessories, and one-third empty space. You're a book lover; you don't have enough shelves to begin with. Ignore the decorators." Haha! And this: "Stay open to possibility; you'll change your system soon enough. Some people play tennis in their spare time. Others knit or scrapbook. You're a reader; your hobby is organizing your bookshelves." Yep! Or those of us who have longed to own a bookstore just because we want to be around books. "I've dreamed of working in a bookstore, or owning a bookstore, or at the very least, of spending enough dollars at a bookstore that its denizens cheer my arrival and greet me by name, since I was a kid." Yep, again. To me, this book felt like someone knew me and understood me. I don't expect my friends to share my total love of reading, because everyone has their own "things." But it was really nice to read this and know I'm not a total eccentric, because sometimes it feels like I am. This was really enjoyable and fun and I could totally see myself reading it again in a few years.

Anne of Ingleside by L. M. Montgomery

I loved, loved this book as a kid, but I had less love for it now. There were some sweet stories that I loved in it--like when Jem got his mother a pearl necklace and thought it was real but was heartbroken to find out that it wasn't. There were so many repetitive stories that kind of were the same about her kids, where they get fooled by someone and believe them (because they're so trusting and sweet) then they get heartbroken to learn that they were lied to. I loved those stories when I was younger, but they started to drag after a while. I wish that this book were more about Anne and not so much about her kids--that's what Rainbow Valley is all about, and I loved that one so much when I was younger too--but I wanted more about Anne as a mom. I also wish it were a little more realistic, because it makes it sound like Anne was always perfect and patient and loving and never laughed when her kids did dumb and hilarious things, except once when she had a "Jonah day" and her kids had never heard her talk so sharply to them before. My kids hear me talk sharply to them every single week. It probably was really easy to be perfectly patient and nice with your kids when you have a LIVE-IN MAID/COOK/NANNY who does all the cooking and cleaning and will watch your kids any time you want to leave the house to go on a date with your husband or on a beautiful walk along the beach by yourself. Sure, if I didn't have to make dinner and had ample time to take care of myself then I might be a lot nicer mom too.

Anyway, I didn't love this one as much as I used to, sadly. I hate when things aren't as wonderful as you remember them, but I guess that's part of growing up. At least the first five held up really well, and I'm pretty sure that Rilla of Ingleside will too.