Second Quarter Reading

April, May, and June were busy months (vacations, races, birthdays, graduation, selling our townhome/buying our house, and moving) with not a lot of time for reading. I'm kind of amazed I read anything! If it weren't for my nightly reading with Corbyn, this list would be really embarrassing. What I lacked in quantity I made up for with quality. I read some really excellent books!

Excellent:

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: The Illustrated Edition by J.K. Rowling (illustrated by Jim Kay). I've read this book many many times, but reading the illustrated version was a special treat. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful!

2. The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman. A young couple is separated when the Nazis invade Prague. After the war, they both believe the other is dead and eventually move on with their lives. Years later they are reunited when their grandchildren are getting married. (I promise I'm not giving anything away, you learn that in the first chapter.) This book was incredibly well written and also incredibly sad (but that's how Holocaust books go). 

3. To Mothers: Carrying the Torch of Faith and Family by Jeffrey R. Holland and Patricia Holland. Elder and Sister Holland write to mothers with a message of hope and encouragement. Elder Holland's talks are always my favorite, so naturally I loved this book. (If I'm being completely honest, I wished the whole book was written by Elder Holland as Sister Holland's sections suffered in comparison to Elder Holland's sections. But only because Elder Holland is just beyond amazing.)

Great:

4. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. James goes on a great adventure with a bunch of oversized insects in a peach as big as a house! Somehow I think I missed reading Roald Dahl's books as a child. (I know a lot of the stories from watching the movies, but reading a book is almost always better than watching a movie based on a book.) It has been fun discovering them with Corbyn.

5. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory is opening at last and Charlie wins a golden ticket to enter along with 4 other children. Another fun Roald Dahl classic.

Good:

6. The BFG by Roald Dahl. Sophie is snatched from her orphanage bed one night by the BFG (big friendly giant). The two combine forces to vanquish 9 other giants who eat children. One of the ladies in my book club back in Spanish Fork suggested we read this book with our kids and then take them to see the movie. I think Corbyn and I were the only ones who actually read it and we moved before the movie came out, but I'm glad we did because it got us reading Roald Dahl's books! This one wasn't my favorite, but it was still fun to read together.