The Great Fuzz Frenzy by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel (Picture Book)
An outlandish tale involving groundhogs who find a tennis ball and become infatuated with its fuzz. So much fun to read aloud with illustrations that pop with electricity.
The Farmhouse by Sophie Blackall (Picture Book)
A masterpiece. The illustrations just keep on giving, even after reading this through several times. I highly recommend reading the author’s note. It’s only a skeleton of a story without it! I was haunted and gutted by the home’s loss of its family. To be left alone after being filled by such a lively and large family for so many years is almost unbearable. But I was also filled with hope, admiration, and inspiration. Blackall brought the home back to life with illustrations, research, imagination, and her careful observations of the home’s deteriorated contents.
The Littlest Library by Polly Alexander (Adult Fiction)
The Littlest Library is one of the most comforting books I read this year. Jess is an ordinary librarian who has the extraordinary gift to weave community together. When she loses both her grandma who raised her and her library job, she stumbles upon a small village that revives her soul and opens her up to relationships she’s never had before. Jess impulsively buys a little cottage and an old phone booth comes with the property. You can rest easy, because the cover of the book does not lie. Jess converts the phone booth into a tiny library with ten boxes of her grandma’s most cherished books. Though there is a hint of romance throughout the book, the primary focus is Jess rooting herself to the village and its community. She doesn’t really have a hobby, but she is clearly into cooking, gardening, and books (though I can’t remember a moment when she paused for some reading). I enjoyed reading the details of the constant upkeep required for her garden and little library. I also appreciated all the incredible details of small village life, fixing up a house during a glorious summer off while she finds work, and the many interesting characters she befriends.
Happy Days by Gabrielle Bernstein (Adult Nonfiction)
Chapter seven was my favorite chapter. It was my first experience with Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, and it’s really been spinning around in my brain. I like the idea of thinking about strong, defensive emotions as our protectors and using our regulated selves to kindly talk to both the protectors and the exiled feelings they’re protecting. Bernstein also encourages readers to name our protectors, think about why these emotions are protecting us, and rely on our regulated self to take charge whenever the protectors go into protect mode.
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