I love these books that teach kids of all ages, on all sides of the spectrum of life.
The pictures that accompany the pages are so bright and colorful. The words are simple so that even the youngest reader can understand and learn from it.

George is not excited that it's Monday and he has 5 very good reasons to tell. His parents help him with 5 ways of their own to show him that he can do this hard thing- go back to school on Monday.

My daughter is one that loves Mondays because she's such a social butterfly and gets to go back to her friends and her fun teacher. My boys though have a hard time... Especially my son with Autism. He feels safest at home. This book is for him and he knows that he can do the hard things and that we will always be there to help him.

I liked this second installment into this series. Max and Dani are just so fun together, banter and simmering heat galore!

Their best friends are getting married. Max is the man of honor to Marie and Dani is the best man to Leo. Role reversals are just the perfect way for it to be. Mac and Dani start texting and spending a lot of time together.... At the beginning, just for the sake of the wedding but it turns into a genuine friendship and then more.

I like Max a lot. His brother Seb is awesome but their parents... Not so much. I love how Max looks out for Seb. He's so caring. I like his relationship with Dani. He's a great friend and honestly cares so deeply about her and her feelings as she's dealing with trying to get divorced. Dani is a calming presence for Max and encourages him to be his best.. Even when it's not what his dad, the Duke, wants for him.

Such great stories, some people know well like Dickens's A Christmas Carol and some people may not know well like the story of the song Old King Wenceslaus.

Told through story and song, these really get you into the Christmas spirit. I teared up at a few of them and felt my heart lightened!,

So this was my first graphic novel ever read. It was interesting. Sometimes I was confused as to who certain Gods were and I know the mythology pretty well.

On one hand, Persephone seems so immature to what I've usually read about her. In the other hand, Hades seemed a bit more mellow from what I'm used to reading about him.

I want to kick Apollo in the face for what he did to Persephone! The author wrote content warnings in the front of the book so you know what you might come across.

Black Cake is a complicated novel about family and the lengths you might go to to protect a secret.

Benny and Byron, estranged siblings, come back together at the death of their mother. They are summoned to hear their mother's last wishes that she recorded for them.

They find that their mother is not all she seemed. There are lies upon lies, cover up upon cover up and the truth of where she comes from and who she is. It's a very complicated tale that will pull at your heart and make you feel bad for the things that were forced upon her. She did take good care of her kids though and it's very sweet how she protected herself and them.

Abby sure can write!

This book was SUPER GOOD! It's nice to see an older women dating a younger guy in a story but they are both so mature and it isn't so focused on (except a little by the MC girl)

This book will make you laugh (who can resist a baby goat in pajamas or a pig named Kevin Bacon!) This will make you sad (as it deals with the heavy topic of abuse in a couple of different forms). It will make you see people change and grow in ways they themselves never really expected.

Alexis has grown up in a life of privilege and her path is mapped out for her. Then she meets Daniel. Daniel is 10 years younger than her. He rescues her car out of a ditch and they have a one night stand that turns into a burning love affair. But Daniel is from a totally different world than her. He's had to work hard to get where he's at and it's still just barely hanging on.

One thing I loved a lot about this book is how sweet Daniel is and that he shows Alexis that she's more than just her status and wealth. He makes her see just how controlling her parents are. He makes her want to change her thoughts for the better. I love that Alexis jumps right in to help Daniel's little town with her medical knowledge!

I love that Alexis knows that the other character that deals with abuse needs to want to leave before she will accept any help she is offered. I love that therapy is suggested (thank heavens for this being normalized these days!) to someone that takes that advice and decides they want to change how they act as a human being.

I have to give this a 3.25 as I wanted tons more Jacks than we got.

Evangeline is devastated when her one true love gets engaged to her step-sister. So she goes to the one place she is sure The Prince of Hearts is sure to hear her cries..and she makes a deal with this Fate.

Jacks helps her but for reasons of his own. She doesn't get the help exactly as she hoped. Jacks needs her for a reason all his own.

Jacks is nefarious and you never know what his real deal is. He's so mysterious but he opens a bit to Evangeline. I just love his whole persona!

I thought this one was every bit as good as the first.

In this, we start with a memorial. Then Pip's friends Connor comes to her saying his brother is missing and the police won't do anything because "he's older than 18 and had run away but come back before" (seriously... What is with this police force? They seem to investigate nothing!)

So Pip (unwillingly at first) takes the case and Season 2 of a Good Girls Guide to Murder podcast is born.

I love the characters so much that support Pip! The ones that look at her with disdain and hate, I just don't get some of them. The book is fast paced and the mystery is compelling. The pace I thought really picked up when Jamie's mysterious disappearance leans into another mystery from the past. Surprising to learn about one of the town's people and sad for their ending.

I knew going in that this was a wintery read (as the title obviously suggests) but I didn't know that I might fall in love with snow a little bit more.

This book is so warm and inviting. It makes you laugh, makes you scream at a certain someone (but not the one you think you will be screaming at), and will make you grieve and cry.

Sonny is a meteorologist that works in Palm Springs, CA until a live rant of hers spreads and gets get in trouble. She is given the chance to go back home to Michigan, which she has avoided for so long, to work there.
She lost someone very close to her and doesn't want the memories staring her in the face.

I felt for Sonny. But I love that her home and the people there begin to thaw her heart again and invite her to open her heart to the things she has been missing. There is a little bit of romance in this too. It's just a feel good book and I'm so glad to have read it!