Once Upon a Time in Maggie's Key West

Short and sweet, this little self published novel for middle grade readers had good bones, but could definitely have used an editor. It was riddled with spelling and grammatical errors, the formatting was weird, and the homemade drawings were very... amateur. That being said, I think it's an enjoyable story about a young girl and the magical Christmas she spent with her family in Key West. It's easy to read, sweet, and fun. Again, I think the story has potential, it just needs some more TLC. I do believe this is also part of a series. 

28 Days of Neon

This was a quick read that will appeal to middle graders. Twelve year old, Neon overheard her parents whispering in their bedroom and to her utter dismay she finds out that she only has 28 days to live. They are trying to keep her healthy and happy; but they are hiding the truth from her. Neon decides to live her last 28 days to the fullest and doesn't let her parents know that she knows. She decides that she wants to do one good deed a day and if she's really good, maybe she'll be granted a miracle and can live. She decides she'll help everyone in town if that's what it will take to get a miracle. She helps her elderly neighbor, decides to sit with an autistic classmate at lunch, gives her sweater to someone who needs it and so on. The pressure to keep her secret though is weighing on her. She doesn't want people to start treating her any differently. Soon though she is having to make up lies and is inadvertently pushing her friends away. But could they handle the truth? Sweet and a little sad. With some more chapters and a better editor, I think this could be a big book. 

Baseball in the Roaring Twenties

I am not much of a baseball fan. And by not much I mean I've been to less than five MLB games and a handful of minor league games. I never watch baseball on TV and I certainly don't listen to it. That being said, this book was interesting, although I don't think I'll ever re-read it or retain any of the knowledge I learned (other than Babe Ruth was a brothel man, who knew?!). Going into this book, I thought it would only be covering the Cardinals and the Yankees and their race for the pennant, but it really included a lot of other info about teams, management, owners, fans, training camps, and the Black leagues. It mostly focused on 1926 but sometimes it went really into depth about a player or owner and then there would be a pretty detailed backstory going back years or even decades. Well written and with a decent amount of photos, this book will appeal to fans of history and baseball. 

Amina Banana and the Formula for Friendship

Charming and inspiring, this middle grade book introduces readers to Amina, an immigrant from Syria who has just arrived to Indianapolis. Desperate to fit and try to make American friends, Amina decides to write a formula to help her make friends. Back in Syria she loved science and STEM and she is convinced that with the right formula, she'll be able to fit in. Relatable and cute; this is a great chapter book for kids in elementary school to learn about fitting in, making friends, and being open to those from other cultures. The illustrations are a nice touch as well. I definitely plan on getting the rest of the series for my daughter to read some day!  

Don't Bounce Back, Rebuild Forward

An absolutely inspiring read! This book blends personal experiences with actionable steps to help readers flip the script when life gets challenging. Andrea Gash is a speaker, facilitator, and career coach who helps people rebuild their lives after unexpected change or loss and I am lucky enough to call her my friend. In her debut book, Andrea discusses dealing with loss of both her biological and adopted parents, the loss of her in-laws, grief, infertility, and caregiving; and how she coped when the weight of it all caught up to her. Using her life experiences as examples, Andrea introduces the Momentum Method, a five-stage framework designed to help readers rebuild their identity, purpose, and direction after a major life change. Don’t Bounce Back — Rebuild Forward is perfect for readers who enjoy stories of reinvention and growth after loss. This book is full of tools that will help readers navigate grief, identity shifts, exhaustion, and burnout. It’s also a roadmap to rebuild confidence, clarity, and figure out what the next chapter has in store. I usually read self-help books in a day or two and then not do any of the action steps or really ingest what I've read. I took a good week to savor this book and really work on the steps and the guided questions at the end of each chapter. It made a big difference. This is definitely a book I plan to refer back to, to try and keep my life on track. Very inspiring and impactful!

The Thirteenth Crime

A young girl by the name of, Lillie Field was, brutally murdered in Otter Tail County, Minnesota in 1887. The author speculates that justice was being served, because prior to Lillie's murderer being punished for his crimes (by hanging) many others before had not served time for murder. In fact, the little county was getting a reputation for letting murderers walk free. The author sensationalizes the many instances (twelve to be exact) of murderers walking free in part one and then in part two she goes into the death of Lillie Fields and talks about how justice was finally served. I liked the concept of this book, but the execution left a lot to be desired. I loved that maps were included but I would have liked to have seen photos an newspaper clippings as well. My biggest beef was that nothing was cited; newspapers and dates were referenced but when the book ends there is no works cited. This could easily have read as fiction, especially since so much was embellished (mannerisms, dialogue, etc). A blurb on the back of the book touts "an insightful, creative and well researched account of crime and punishment in 19th century rural Minnesota..." It was creative all right! 

Beer and the Nobel Prize

This was a fun little book that had lots of interesting factoids about people who have won the Nobel prize or circumstances around receiving the award. As the title alludes to, there were a few that centered on beer; whether it be drinking beer when receiving the call, getting free beer for life because of the award, or winning the award because of something scientific discovered using beer as an element of the process. Curious tales about the award included animals that helped scientists win the award (including animals who were nominated for or won the award themselves), lost and stolen medals, items in the Nobel museum and more. There are also lots of pictures to go along with the stories, which is a nice addition. This slim little nonfiction book is only around 100 pages and not too bad for an independently published book.