The Miracle of You is a children’s book written by Cleere Cherry Reaves and illustrated by Alejandra Barajas.
The words in this little book serve as a gentle and beautiful reminder to kids of all ages that God made you and loves you.
There are rich and vivid illustrations as well, which will readily capture any reader’s imagination.
This book would make a great gift for a small child, and I can see it being a great bedtime read, as well as a wonderful discussion starter between caregiver and child.
I would like to thank Thomas Nelson Children’s for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my review. Thank you!
I was able to clean up all of the mess I made from bringing in the rest of my supplies I had stored in our exercise room (I talked about this in part four), and I cleared off my white desks, and also emptied these two:
For the next project, I decided to tackle the floor. I wanted to get everything else on the floor up and put away!
I started with The Hubby’s piles from work.
I cleared out my piles that were underneath his desk and piled all of his there instead. He still has access to everything, but the craft room floor is now clear.
It was mostly MORE papers underneath that desk, and I spent over four hours going through them all! It doesn’t look all that different because I replaced my stuff with The Hubby’s stuff but check out the difference on the floor!
Before:
After:
I also worked a bunch more on my brown bookcase and got rid of/consolidated supplies. And I went through my ink pads and gave a bunch of those to my kids.
The kids have been loving this clean out, because they have been getting a ton of supplies for themselves. They like the supplies, and I like getting rid of stuff. Win, win I say! 🙂
Next up is cleaning off the rest of the brown desk. I have started it, but there is a LONG way to go. I will share more about my progress next time!
The Hot Cross Bunny is a children’s book written by Carys Bexington.
Steve is about to be in hot water. It’s time to harvest the chocolate eggs for Easter, only……he never grew any.
Can he take a shortcut and save the day, or will his experiment destroy the Easter Egg Hunt for everyone?
My Thoughts: This is a cute premise for a book. I like the twists and turns this book takes and think kids will get a kick out of the dragon that poops chocolate especially (even though that was a bit much for me!)
Overall, the story is clever (including the title), and an eggscellent read as well. 🙂
I didn’t totally love the artwork, but the story was a lot of fun.
I would like to thank Quarto Publishing Group for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my review. Thank you!
Under Fire is a suspense novel written by Lynn H. Blackburn. It is book three in the Defend and Protect series, but it is not necessary to have read the previous books in order to read this one.
Summary: Special Agent Tessa Reed has a big job ahead of her. She and her team are preparing Raleigh for a visit from the president himself.
She is ready for the challenge and doesn’t mind the chance to get to work with her best friend USSS Special Agent Zane Thacker who recently transferred to the president’s detail.
But when she discovers someone’s got a target on her back, things start to get dicey.
It’s all coming down to the wire. Can Tessa keep the president safe-and stay alive doing it?
My Thoughts: I thought this book had a lot of great action and suspense, with a pretty healthy dose of romance as well.
I enjoyed the plot line, and I really liked how the characters had each others’ backs and were such great friends.
The ending felt a bit rushed and thrown together, but overall, it was a fun read and I enjoyed it.
I would like to thank Revell for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my review. Thank you!
That’s it for now, but I hope you find time to do something fun today, and feel free to join us for this month’s challenge. You have until April 9th, so there’s plenty of time!
Here are my reading goals for 2023: 1. Read 250 books. This includes the books I read to the kids, audiobooks, and anything I read for myself. 48 DONE 2. Read twelve (new to me) classics/award-winners. 2 DONE 3. Read twelve self-help/education books. 2 DONE 4. Re-read thirty books. There are so many good books I have been meaning to re-read, so this is my goal to help with that! 6 DONE
A few formatting notes: 1. I have inserted pictures as well as Amazon links to the books I enjoyed most for the month so that it is easier to read more about each book if you are interested. Hopefully, your local library system will carry most of these. 2. If I completed a more detailed review of any of these books, I included a review link after my comments. 3. If a book is not available yet, you will see the publication date in parenthesis after my comments. 4. I have rated each book using a bold numbered star after each comment.
The rating system is as follows: *5-This book was so good, I either bought it, or think it is worth buying. I am pretty picky about the books I buy, so this is as good as it gets! *4-This book was worth reading, but not necessarily worth buying-look for these books at your local library *3-This book was just OK. I wouldn’t need to read it again. *2-Don’t bother *1-There probably won’t be any of these, because if it was THIS bad, I wouldn’t finish it. 🙂
Well, COVID curtailed my reading plans this month, but The Hubby and I did get in some audiobooks at least and made some more progress on some Sherlock Holmes short stories as well as another How to Train Your Dragon book.
Here is what I read in February:
1. How to Decorate a Christmas Tree by Vikki VanSickle-cute children’s book *3 (10/10/23) 2. A Scandal in Bohemia by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (audiobook)-didn’t love this one *2 3. Blind Trust (The SNAP Agency #3) by Natalie Walters-pretty good *3 (4/11/23) 4. The Red-Headed League (Sherlock Holmes) by Arthur Conan Doyle (audiobook)-I liked this one-very clever! *4 5. Texas Ranch Target by Virginia Vaughan-tons of action, but a few holes in the story line *3 (4/25/23) 6. A Case of Identity (Sherlock Holmes) by Arthur Conan Doyle (audiobook)-terrible ending! *2
7. Memory Lane by Becky Wade-very good! *4 8. The Boscombe Valley Mystery (Sherlock Holmes) by Arthur Conan Doyle (audiobook)-OK *3 9. The Five Orange Pips (Sherlock Holmes) by Arthur Conan Doyle (audiobook)-LAME *2 10. The Man with the Twisted Lip (Sherlock Holmes) by Arthur Conan Doyle (audiobook)-pretty good *3 11. The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle (Sherlock Holmes) by Arthur Conan Doyle (audiobook)-pretty good *3 12. The Adventure of the Speckled Band (Sherlock Holmes) by Arthur Conan Doyle (audiobook)-kind of creepy *2
13. How to Betray a Dragon’s Hero (How to Train Your Dragon #11) by Cressida Cowell (audiobook)-relistening to these with Hubby-SO GOOD! *5 14. The Ever Storms (Wilderlore #3) by Amanda Foody (audiobook)-this was good! I liked it better than book two. It’s a fun series. *4 15. Fields of Fire (Matthew Redd #1) by Ryan Steck-TONS of action in this thriller, I liked it *4 16. Lethal Range (Matthew Redd #2) by Ryan Steck-lots of action, but more on the unbelievable side *3 (8/8/23) 17. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder-read this aloud to the kids, very good as always! *5 18. Sincerely, Emerson by Emerson Weber-cute one-time read *3 19. Arthur’s Great Big Valentine by Lillian Hoban-a favorite series from when I was a kid! *4 20. The Kremlin Conspiracy (Marcus Ryker #1) by Joel C. Rosenberg (audiobook)-this is a favorite series of mine I am re-reading before the next one comes out in May-SO good! *5
This month I read one book to the kids, and I read/listened to sixteen books just for me. Â I also read three picture books to myself for review.
For the year, I have read four books to the kids and thirty-three books just for me. I’ve also read eleven picture books to myself for review.
That’s it for today. I will share my March books the first Tuesday in April!
The Last Chance Cowboy is a western romance written by Jody Hedlund. It is book five in the Colorado Cowboys series, but it is not necessary to have read the previous books in order to read this one.
Summary: Catherine Remington has just delivered a baby boy. And then been witness to a murder.
She has promised the dying mother she would take the baby to his father out west, and now that one of Chicago’s biggest crime bosses is gunning for her, she decides she has no choice but to make a run for Colorado.
 Dylan McQuaid is finally living an upstanding life as sheriff of his small town. There are still those who think he isn’t up to the task, but he is determined to prove them wrong.
But when Catherine arrives with the baby, Dylan must make some quick decisions, or risk losing the respect he’s worked so hard to gain from the townsfolk.
Can he adjust to his new life as a dad? And where will Catherine go now that she’s delivered the baby and can’t return home to the danger she left behind?
My Thoughts: This book is a fun read. I liked the unique premise, and the author did a great job of setting up a nice romance in the story as well. I enjoyed it!
I would like to thank Bethany House for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my review. Thank you!
Memory Lane is a contemporary romance/mystery written by Becky Wade. It is book one in the Sons of Scandal series.
Summary: Remy Reed feels most comfortable all alone in her cabin-just her and her art.
But when she spies a man floating helplessly in the ocean not far from her home, she drops everything to rescue him.
The only problem is…he has no idea who he is.
As the man recovers from his wounds, Remy wants nothing more but to get him out of her house, and back to where he belongs.
Can she figure out the mystery behind the man? And why is she starting to feel a twinge of sadness that if she does solve all of the questions, she may never see him again?
My Thoughts: This book is great. It has a unique premise, lots of quirky and fun characters, a nice romance, and a good mystery besides.
This is a perfect easy read and would make a great addition to any library or as a gift for a friend. I definitely recommend it!
I would like to thank Victory Editing for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my review. Thank you!
Slow Down, Enjoy, and Create Part 2 