Evan doesn't look very excited about his new role, but I'm hoping he'll show a little more enthusiasm once May rolls around...(Hint: click on the photo to make it larger if you can't read his shirt!)

Evan Summer 2011

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly allows you to customize your photo book just the way you want.

Lauren Myracle and the National Book Award

The National Book Award finalists were announced, and I was pleased with the list of books chosen for young people's literature, especially since it included Gary Scmidt's Okay For Now, my most recent favorite. Another nominee was Lauren Myracle's Shine, which I reviewed here. Imagine my surprise to read today that oops, the NBA committee made a mistake and didn't really mean to nominate Shine, so they asked Myracle to withdraw her name. Talk about an incompetent, unfortunate mistake! By all accounts, Myracle (who I got to meet when she visited Baldwin a few years ago) handled it with grace and class. Read all about it here.

Click here to see the full list of NBA nominees. What do you think about the screw-up?

Attention Kindle Owners!

Finally, Amazon has gotten with the program and is allowing libraries to loan out ebooks for the Kindle! If your public library subscribes to OverDrive, and you own a Kindle, you're in luck -- you can borrow ebooks for free!

I've been using my library's account to check out books for my Kobo for a while now. Usually I have to place a "hold" and wait a little while, but you can't beat free.

For more info, see School Library Journal's article here.

Very Brief Book Review: Do Chocolate Lovers Have Sweeter Babies?

Do Chocolate Lovers Have Sweeter Babies?: Exploring the Surprising Science of Pregnancy by Jena Pincott

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Entertaining and informative! I now plan to eat chocolate every day of my next pregnancy. A mother's sacrifice begins early.



* I was provided a free copy of this e-book for review by Simon & Schuster's GalleyGrab.



View all my reviews

A Beautiful Perspective

Even if you don't use cloth diapers (and I know the majority of us don't; I'm not here to impart any mom guilt -- I've got some Huggies in Evan's closet!), if you are a parent, I think this post will encourage you. It was shared over at The Cloth Diaper Whisperer.

I have been reading a lot lately, just not posting about it! I recently finished Angie Smith's I Will Carry You, which I pretty much cried through, but found to be an honest and encouraging look at tragedy and grief from a Christian perspective. It caught my eye at Borders (Borders, I shall miss you) and finally made it from my "to-read" list to my "read" list!

Speaking of my to-read list, if you're a reader and you're not on goodreads yet, what are you waiting for? It's a great way to keep track of what you've read and what you want to read. So sign up and be my friend!

Dystopia Burnout

I think I'm over dystopias.

My love affair with dystopias began with Lois Lowry's The Giver and continued with books like Janet McNaughton's The Secret Under My Skin and, more recently -- and, of course -- The Hunger Games books by Suzanne Collins. But now that those are coming to the big screen, dystopias are being released left and right, trying to compete with the recent rash of vampires, werewolves, and zombies. And for a while, it was my new favorite genre. But now, I think I'm weary of the whole trend. Maybe I want a little optimism for a change. Is the future really all doom and gloom?

So, I'm going to continue with my new favorite genre: the cozy mystery. My favorite cozy series is July Hyzy's White House Mystery Series, starting with The State of the Onion. Main character Ollie is a chef at the White House, serving a fictional administration, and, of course, often finding herself in the midst of plots involving murder, terrorism, and danger galore -- while still finding time to create delicious menus (included)! Hopefully number 5 in the series will be published soon.

How about you? Tired of a genre you once loved? What are YOU reading (besides The Help)?