Good Morning Baby!

by Sabine Kraushaar

This board book is shaped like a flower. The pages are round and the petals make tabs, two or three per page, sticking out at different angles. It's really the only thing going for it, the curious shape. The gist of the content is just toys: each page shows a toy and names it while a sparkly butterfly appears alongside. That's it. I don't even know why it's called Good Morning, it could just be called My Toys or Let's Play or something else entirely and still work. I find it rather inane. But the flower shape is just so charming and original I forgive the book its otherwise silliness.

Rating: 2/5 ......... 8 pages, 2006

Do You Want to Be My Friend?

by Eric Carle

A book without pictures, this one shows a little mouse on each page greeting other animals. On each spread the next creature's tail is showing, letting you guess who the mouse will meet next. Mousie encounters a lion, elephant, peacock, seal, horse, giraffe and myriad other creatures before he finally finds another little mouse and together they find shelter in the hole of a tree. Just in time, as a thick green line that has been present on all the pages reveals itself at the end to be a very long snake! Lovely textures make the pictures enjoyable to look at and it's pretty easy to come up with some narration for the book, whether pretending to have the mouse talk to each animal, or just name the animals for your little one.

Rating: 3/5 ........ 30 pages, 1971

Baby Animals

In the Jungle
by Kingfisher Books

Beautiful clear photographs of cute baby animals introduce toddlers to creatures that inhabit the jungle. The book features an orangutan, frogs, tapir, gorilla, elephant, tiger and lemur (is that a jungle animal?) There's a little description telling something about each animal and a feature of its behavior: the tapir's spots help it hide in the foliage, a lemur likes to sunbathe, elephants cool off in the mud, etc. The text has some fun variations going on, with letters bending, changing shape and doing other irregular things to help emphasize the action or characteristic described. It's quite fun, very attractive and a bit educational all at the same time.

Rating: 3/5 ........ 14 pages, 2011

What Are You Doing, Maisy?

by Lucy Cousins

I remember reading Maisy books with my older daughter when she was small, and now I'm discovering them all over again for her little sister. Maisy is a little mouse with animal friends. She's featured in board books, often with lift-the-flaps (which is always fun but I have to guard against enthusiastic little hands tearing them!) The pictures are simple and bold with bright, clean colors. This one shows Maisy in each picture getting ready to do something, and the text on the facing page has little pictures of the objects involved. When you lift the flap it shows what Maisy does with all those things. For example, on one page it shows eggs, butter, flour and candles, Maisy on the facing page is stirring in a bowl. What is she doing? Lift the flap, and there she is looking proud with a finished cake! The teaching moment of deducing what activity might use each group of objects is only enhanced by the progression of all the pictures- it turns out that Maisy is doing things specifically to get ready for a big event at the end. My little girl loves these books so much that she even says the name; she'll bring me a book repeating "May-sie, May-sie" insistently until I read it. We're going to have to find more than just the three I've currently borrowed from the library.

Rating: 4/5 ....... 14 pages, 2003

Thumper Counts to Ten

by Kitty Richards

Cute little counting book full of adorable furry bunnies and other forest animal friends. The details of the background foliage, flowers and textures of grass, pebbles, water ripples etc really make it lovely. What is a very simple concept ends up being a book full of detailed pictures that give the young reader a lot to look at beyond just counting how many butterflies or ducklings are on the page. I'm not terribly fond of books that capitalize on popular films or tv characters, but this one has a nice quality that readily overcomes my reluctance to appreciate it.

Rating: 4/5 ........ 16  pages, 2007

My Very First Book of Motion

by Eric Carle

You must know that Eric Carle is something of a classic illustrator when it comes to picture books. At least, I think so. He's the one who did The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Well, this board book has the same lively, bright cut-paper collage illustrations. Each one simply shows an animal. The textures and patterns in the paper pieces that make up each picture are wonderful, but what makes this book really fun is that it has a double set of pages, top and bottom, so you can leave an animal page in place on the top and turn through all the words that describe actions on the bottom, until you find the one that matches. It's quite fun, especially as some can be ambiguous- does the caterpillar match with climb or crawl? which animal goes with strut? And you'll never guess which one performs the action flip- a creature I hadn't encountered in a kid's book before!

rating: 4/5 ........ pages, 1986

A Good Day

by Kevin Henkes

This cute little book shows four creatures, each with a simple problem: a bird has lost its feather, a puppy got his leash tangled up, the baby fox is missing his mother and little squirrel has dropped his nut. Each animal looks sad at his predicament but then a bad day turns around as they each find a solution or overcome their disappointment. At the very end there's a nice closing touch where a little girl finds the feather the bird had lost and runs with it to her mom in delight: what so dismayed the bird turned out to be a highlight of her day!

 Rating: 3/5 ........ 32 pages, 2007

more opinions:
Kate's Bookery
What Adrienne Thinks About That
readertotz
The Brimbank Book Shelf

Beach Day!

by Kristin Sorra

Cute little board book shows a redhead toddler enjoying a visit to the beach with her family. Each page simply has the words of her greeting a new activity or person: the lifeguard, the waves of the ocean, a seagull, a sandcastle. Hello, umbrella. Hello, towel. Hello, shells etc etc. Can be quite repetitive. But kids like that. One of my toddler's favorite words (at least it gets a lot of use) right now is simply "HI!" (she practically yells it at everyone we meet on walks) so she quite enjoys this book.

rating: 3/5 ........ 22 pages, 2009

Four Tenths of an Acre

by Laurie Lisle

I don't know why this book didn't sit well with me, but I just couldn't focus on it. And normally I like reading memoirs about gardening. Hers includes a lot about the history of her new town, and quotes from other writers (most famous names) about gardening. If I had been in the right frame of mind I could have enjoyed learning how a little town changed its face over the generations, and compiled another large list of books related to gardening and plants to read. The book is peppered with their titles. As it was I often found my attention wandering, or bored. Perhaps it's because my own focus has shifted; the challenges of creating a nice garden design in her oddly shaped narrow yard failed to capture my interest.  I suppose I relate more to the growing of houseplants now; I did find myself curiously attentive to the pages about her indoor plants, particularly a large jade which she tried unsuccessfully to coax into flowering. I actually thumbed eagerly through the pages to see if she ever managed that; having read on another blog last year about someone who did I wanted to say aloud to her: it's not just the dryness, it's temperature, too! Let it go dry and cold, and see if that works! But of course the author can't hear me talking aloud to her book.

So I really only skimmed the second half of this book, but perhaps you would like it better.

Abandoned ........ 219 pages, 2005

Picking Your Battles

by Bonnie Maslin

I find it difficult to write about self-help books without feeling like I'm exposing something of my flaws and failures. I also find it hard to know which books in this area are more credible than others. What makes one author's advice more solid than another's? And I often wonder if I am just liking a self-help book because its views already agree with my own; but what if my views are wrong? maybe a book that I didn't agree with but that taught me to do different would be more useful...

Anyway, I found this book helpful enough that right after finishing I wanted to turn to the front page and read it all over again, but I've already renewed it twice from the library. So I bought myself a copy. That in itself says a lot. I feel like the real test of the book's veracity will be how well its suggestions work when put into practice. I am trying, but still fall far short of where I should be as a parent. Here's some of the things that really stuck with me from Picking Your Battles.

The book describes methods of implementing discipline, being firm and sticking to the rules and standards you have made for your family, without caving into arguments. It helps you discern between what kinds of infractions are merely irritating to you and better ignored, which are impolite misconduct that should be corrected, and which are serious infractions that need to be acted on immediately. It tells you how to teach your child to be responsible, to recognize consequences, to understand the impact of their actions on others. Shows you strategies for managing anger, whether it be at your children, or anger they feel towards you. Points out that anger can be useful, as long as it is not expressed with aggression. Helps you recognize your own discipline strategy and realize if it is effective or not. And so on. Grounded in an understanding of child psychology, the author also tells you how to recognize when your kid is acting the way he does because of a developmental stage, not just because they're trying to be difficult or get under your skin. This is another thing I often need to remember. There's a lot more that I'm not even touching on here, but I don't really know how to describe it properly.

Well, I'm trying to implement some of the ideas from the book: to listen more, guide and direct more than demand and punish, give positive reinforcement instead of negative reprimands, and stem my irritation (I tend to nag a lot). But I think I'm going to read this book over again many times before I am done.

rating: 4/5 ......... 352 pages, 2004

more opinions:
Jesse's Girl

Busy Gorillas

by John Schindel

Guess what, I'm still reading the parenting book. And have a handful of gardening books I foolishly checked out from the library but have found no time to read. Life is busy now, hours always occupied. But I do happen to read lots of kid's books. So they're going to be the main feature here for a while! I have some catching up to do . . .

Busy Gorillas is in the same little series as Busy Kitties, one of my daughter's favorites that must be popular with other kids as well because I have never been able to find it again at the library. The board book shows gorillas doing various things: climbing, swinging, gnawing on plants, slapping their chest, pushing each other, napping, dashing about (blurry photo here- nice effect!) cuddling an infant, and my favorite, a big frowning face. That picture is just great! Each photo is paired with simply rhyming text. Sturdy little book illustrating to small readers activities that gorillas do- many of which are just like things we do ourselves.

rating: 3/5 ....... 20 pages, 2010

more opinions:
The Brainpan
the Well-Read Child

-ahem- more aquisitions

I just can't seem to help myself. When the books are free, I grab everything that looks interesting. Regardless of whether I've ever heard of it before. And I hadn't been to the Book Thing in several years, so I was extra-excited about the prospects. So... I brought seventy-two new-to-me books home this weekend. I won't make notes on them all, because I know so little about most of them- but really, how can you pass up titles like Wooden Fish Songs or The Grasshopper King? And things like Through the Eyes of a Young Naturalist look like they were written just for me.

Well, here they are! Some brief mentions about each stack just below it. You can click on any image to see the titles larger. If you recognize some of these books, please do tell me how wonderful (or awful) they are! I'd love to know.

Those three little black books on the top seem to be humorous accounts of a young physician's first years of practice. They look entertaining.
Lad: A Dog by Albert Payson Terhune. I read this wayyy back in the days when I was also going through all the Jim Kjelgaard books I could get my hands on. Like Lassie, it's about a remarkably intelligent hero-dog man's best friend yadda yadda. But I might still like it and get some nostalgia out of reading it again.
Snake by somebody Gody seems to be about a black mamba that terrorizes New York City. I probably won't be frightened but might get some good chuckles out of it.
The Kitchen Madonna and The Diddakoi by Rumer Godden- always anxious to read more Godden but I'm hoping Diddakoi isn't the one that I recall Jenny decrying as the worst Godden book ever....  !
The Mimosa Tree by Vera and Bill Cleaver- I picked this one up just because I am so delighted in the little mimosa tree in my windowsill, not that I have any clue what the book is about!
Love, Let Me Not Hunger by Paul Gallico- another author I've loved but read very few of his works. Never heard of this one before and curiously turning some pages it seems to be about a little circus that falls on hard times.

Un Lun Dun by China Miéville- I picked this up because I read some reviews about it who-knows-when and thought it looked interesting.

Egret by Helen Collins- is not about a bird, but about a young artist in New York City. I'm really curious about that one.
The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera- remember the movie of same title, that was out some years ago? This seems to be the original story.
The Midwife's Tale by Gretchen Moras Laskas- when I got home I realized not only did I already have this book, but I tried to read it and didn't finish it. Oops! Anyone want a copy?
Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx- I saw all the hype about this when it was a new film. I didn't realize it was at first a short story. I was surprised the book was so little. I'm hoping since it's so short there's not too many -ahem- explicit scenes so I might read it.
I'm Not Scared by Niccolo Ammaniti- I still recall the moment when a roommate's friend in college recommended this book to me. And I put it on my list but never read it. That was roughly fifteen years ago. Yet when I saw it on the shelf I immediately recoginzed it and remembered who told me about it. How's that for memory!

A Zoo for All Seasons- published by the Smithsonian Institute, this book is about the National Zoo. I like books about zoos. And not only does it have photographs (a bit old fashioned, but still good!) but also some lovely drawings.
How I Photograph Wildlife and Nature by Leonard Lee Rue- I don't know who this guy is, and I don't know if his photography advice is still pertinent (maybe outdated, at least as far as equipment recommendations go) but just from thumbing through I saw that he had a lot of notes about animal behaviour, because he tells you how to get close enough to wildlife to get good pictures. That alone interests me.

The rest of this stack is mostly National Geographic books focused on various places in the world- mostly about nature, as you can see. I hope they're good reading! If not, the pictures will still be appreciated.

The Maine Woods by Henry Thoreau- I didn't know he wrote about the woods in Maine. Perhaps this one will be a bit more accessible to me than Walden, which I've tried a few times but made little headway...
Bodach the Badger- I'm stoked about this book! It wasn't until I got home and looked inside the cover more that I realized it was by the same author who wrote String Lug the Fox, an old favorite of mine that I found by chance at a used bookstore one day ages ago. Delighted!
The Searching Spirit by Joy Adamson- I did so like her books about Elsa the lioness, the cheetahs and leopard she also raised. Curious to read what else she has to say, although I think from what other sources tell me I should temper this by reading George's words as well (that's always been a goal of mine anyways).
Animal Liberations by Peter Singer- I think this is a classic in the animal-rights world.
Rosy is My Relative by Gerald Durrell- all the books I've come across by Gerald Durrell were about his forays around the world animal-collecting: I didn't know he wrote fiction. But of course, even his fiction features animals- at a glance this one seems to be about an elephant.
Donkeys Galore by Averil Swinfen- a book about a stud donkey farm. How fun is that?

The Giraffe by Marie Nimier- apparently a little fable about a zookeeper who falls in love with a giraffe. Sounds a bit bizarre.
Lie Down in Darkness by Williem Styron- this is one of those titles I have always recognized, it sticks in my mind for some reason. Now perhaps I'll finally learn what it's about.
Birds of America by Lorrie Moore- I assumed, as did the people who shelved this book in the natural history section, that it was about birds. But it's actually a short story collection. Hm.
Portrait of Jennie by Robert Nathan- this is an old favorite of mine but I got a second copy on purpose so I can give it to one of you when I finally write about this dear book!

African Violets by Helen van Pelt Wilson- mine aren't flowering. Maybe this book will tell me why!
In and Out of the Garden by Sara Midda- this book looks absolutely lovely. It's little notes and tidbits about gardening all with the most wonderful handdrawn lettering and illustrations. Here's a few samples I pulled offline.

the rest of that stack is mostly books about birds, especially birds of prey. I've always had a minor fascination with falconry. Picking up on that once again...

see anything you recognize? What should I read soonest?

Working

People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do
by Studs Terkel

I can't remember the last time it took me so long to read a book. The length alone is not the cause. This book is an oral history, a compilation of essays, so it was easy to dip in and out of it without loosing focus. It's made up of interviews, where people from all across the nation, from all walks of life and all types of occupations, discuss what they do for a living. Some are proud of their work, others feel it's a meaningless grind. Their words express sorrow, longing, frustration, hope, contentment, even on occasion irresponsibility and there was one guy who sounded downright crazy. He was very much the square peg in a round hole. Working was published in the early seventies and this one essay I'm thinking of was a young hippy-type guy talking about how he'd do things at the office that others perceived as subversive. From simply wearing his hair long and ignoring the dress code to meditating in the middle of an office floor, just sitting there would work other people up into a fit! It was very amusing to read his words but also a bit alarming- for someone who professed to be a pacifist he sure did talk about violence a lot.

Anyway, you'll find here the words of firemen, chefs, doctors, store clerks, truck drivers, family farmers, business executives, waitresses, traveling salesmen, nurses, miners and factory workers, just about anything you can imagine people doing. Mechanics. Housewives. Hotel owners. Cabdrivers. Stockbrokers. Insurance and car salesmen. Doormen, policemen, mail carriers, meter readers, barbers, even a prostitute. And more. I think my favorite was the segment about the work of a bookbinder! Very interesting. Some interviews pair the voices of fathers and sons next to each other, or of husband and wife. People who have their dream job, a position they've worked hard for. Others who don't quite know how they ended up in that occupation but are stuck with it. People new to the country and those who had been here for generations. Old people looking back at the end of a lifelong career, young people talking about change and the future. Some get into discussing unions, organization and workers rights and strikes; others discuss prejudice and how the way people treat you or perceive your job can make it feel demeaning; yet others talk about the satisfaction of physical labor, of creating a well-made product, of serving people the best way they can.

Particularly interesting was to read the book with an attention to its time frame; a lot of the older generation in it talk about how things have changed since the Depression era, or since the thirties when they were young; but their description of how things were in their now (the seventies) compared to my now (the 21st century) gave it another perspective altogether. It is a fascinating book, a lively tome full of rich, varied voices. Recommended.

rating: 4/5 ........ 589 pages, 1972

Chick

by DK Publishing

This is one of my toddler's favorite board books right now. We got it from a library sale. I think she likes it so much because it's very small, so fits well in her hands and just by its size alone is charming. Plus, she loves chicks! Next to cats, I think they're her favorite animal. She learned to say "bock, bwak" before any other animal sound and when we go to the petting zoo she laughs and wiggles at the baby chicks. No other critter there gets the same reaction of delight.

The little book shows the mother hen sitting on eggs, then the baby chicks hatching. After that each spread shows the chicks doing something- pecking at seeds, sipping water, finding things (a seed and a nasturtium flower), or just standing around in groups looking cute. The text is very simple descriptions of what is going on for each page. It's a darling little book.

rating: 3/5 ....... 20 pages, 2003

Animals/ Animales

by Milet Publishing

This book is full of illustrations of animals with their names in both english and spanish. Each spread has a few animals in groups more or less according to their habitat; pets are grouped together, as are arctic animals, jungle animals, a fish with a crab, livestock animals, etc. The one odd grouping is of a zebra and giraffe with a kangaroo on the same page. A minor quibble, but it stood out to me particularly because the bottom edge of each spread has a graphic illustration showing the habitat: water, lawn, fenced pasture, etc. It's a nice little touch. But kangaroos don't live in the same place as giraffes. Neither do lions and tigers for that matter (except for the introduced ones!) but that doesn't bother me as much. Although they really should have put the lion on the page with the giraffe...

Anways. The book also is a curious mix of both photographs and illustrations. All the insects are illustrations, for example, as are the habitats. It works, though.

A bigger issue with this one is simply that my kid doesn't seem to like it! Maybe I need to talk up its charms  and say more about each picture ("look at the kitty! what is that kitty doing? does he want his tummy petted?  meow!") but for whatever reason after just a few pages of naming animals she's ready to move on to another book.

rating: 2/5 ....... 24 pages, 2011

Colors

by Michael Blake 

Another board book we picked up at the public library. Delightfully simple, each page or spread has a photograph from nature with a certain color prominent. Red shows some poppy flowers, green a frog on a leaf, pink a vivid flamingo, gray some seals snuggled in a pile, etc. All close-ups, beautiful photography. The final spread is of a mix of autumn leaves with many colors.

But what I really like about this book is something that puzzled me at first. The page edges don't line up. They're not all smooth in a block, but each gets an eighth of an inch shorter towards the center spread, then they each get a bit wider again to the final page. I thought it was an error or the book's spine had just got incredibly worn and loose, but then I noticed a label on the back said "easy-open, specially designed for little hands." And it is easier to turn the pages like this. I thought of how many times I've seen my toddler sitting there fumbling on the edge of a smooth, tight page block trying to get her little finger to hook the next page, and understood. Great idea for a little book!

rating: 4/5 .......16 pages, 2006

Stripes + Arrows

by Jill Hartley

I picked up this little square book because I so much liked another one by the same author, Circle + Square. For some reason this one didn't quite have the same appeal, though. There are twice as many pictures featuring stripes than arrows for one thing, so it feels rather unbalanced. The pictures aren't quite as colorful, at least not all of them. I do find it interesting how many different objects present stripes: cloth, shadows, patterned socks, candy, stairs, a zebra's hide. Whereas the arrows are almost all from signs and drawings. One stands out, it is a sign of a hand shape pointing. Regardless, my toddler doesn't find this book very interesting, at least not the two times I've picked it up to show her yet. So I think this one is going back to the library soon. The kid on the cover is really cute, though!

rating: 2/5 ........ 12 pages, 2008

Where is My Friend?

by Simms Taback

Wow, this blog is really languishing. I've just been very slow at reading Working. In the meantime, however, I've made the happy discovery that the new-to-me public library branch has a huge selection of board books, so we've been bringing them home in piles. The little one will run over when I say "let's read a story. Go get a book!" and pull one out of her bottom shelf. This is one of her favorites lately.

Where is My Friend? has, like most baby books, a simple premise. On each spread an animal (usually looking dejected) asks where is my friend? then you turn a flap, his face becomes a smile or surprised expression, and a second animal is revealed standing next to him. I like that the animal pairings match their environments: the zebra has an ostrich friend, the hippo a flamingo, the seal is with a penguin, kangaroo with a koala, moose with a turkey (who looks cross for some reason). As a final pair we meet a little boy who has a dog friend, and at the very end all the animals march across the page together. It's cute, but I don't really care for the artwork. It just doesn't appeal to me. However, my daughter really likes turning those flaps to find all the different animals, so for her it's a good book.

Rating: 3/5 ........ 16 pages, 1984

The Unfinished Garden

by Barbara Claypole White

I have finally finished a book! It was a good read. The story is about a recently widowed mother who immersed herself in her gardening business (a wholesale nursery) in order to escape her grief and guilt. Her husband died in a hospital, under circumstances which aren't revealed until much later, as the main character Tilly is having trouble facing them herself. She soon meets James Nealy, a very successful man with his own inner battles. He suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder (and a myriad of other troubles, it seems) and has determined to finally overcome some of his deepest fears by creating a garden. He finds Tilly's nursery and is immediately affected by her garden; demands that she help him make one. Tilly refuses; she doesn't do landscape design. She thinks that's the end of it and moves back to England to confront a family emergency- her mother is ailing. Once there she feels immediately back at home, but is confronted by a host of new troubles- namely that her ex-boyfriend of many years is suddenly hanging around. And before long the unexpected happens when James shows up as well. It makes for a very interesting triangle as the three try to work out their feelings.

And that's what most of this story was about. James struggling to put aside his compulsions, and win Tilly's heart. Tilly trying to figure out what she wants, still grieving her husband and now faced with two very different men both of whom she finds attractive. There are other little dynamics in the form of her mother who seems to know everything that's going on, her best friend who is acting surprisingly chummy with both James and the ex-boyfriend, and her son who was one of my favorite characters- a very likable boy and surprisingly even-tempered considering all that he's going through. There wasn't nearly enough about gardening itself to suit me, but I did find the descriptions of life with OCD interesting. And the storyline had enough unexpected turns (in the relationship dynamics) to keep me curious about what would happen at the end. It was a light, satisfying read.

For once this was a review copy I accepted from the publisher, Harlequin. I was interested because this book dovetailed two of my reading interests- gardening and mental illness. I wasn't much disappointed in that, but I should have paid more attention to the publisher name and realized what I was really getting into was a romance! No real complaints there, it was light for a romance (in my opinion). That means no explicit scenes, just suggestions of what happens behind the closed doors...

I have two copies of this book available to give away! If you'd like to receive one, just let me know in the comments. Sorry, shipping to the US and Canada only. Giveaway ends 10/17/12.

rating: 3/5 ........ 364 pages, 2012

more opinions:
Good Girl Gone Redneck
Book Journey
Steph the Bookworm
Library of Clean Reads

aquisitions

There is something really dumb about buying more books when you're about to pack up over 600 of them into boxes for a move (and that's not counting the two-hundred-odd children's books, either!) But I just can't resist the annual library sale. Here's what I came home with:

A few board books for the little one- I like Maisy (and she enjoys lift-the-flaps right now), she likes chickens (says "bawk-bawk") and the numbers one is cute.

My stack. A few notes on them.

Rivethead by Ben Hamper- I swear this book used to be in my house, but I let it go for some reason. Finding another copy made me intrigued to try reading it again, dunno if that will be fruitful or not.

Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist- I liked the film (and I don't usually care for vampire stories); have heard the book is good too.

The Devious Book for Cats and The Dangerous Book for Dogs by Joe Gardner et al- these look like fun, and I was tickled to find them as a pair. Remind me of Paul Gallico's book The Silent Miaow- instruction manuals for pets. Looks very humorous.

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman- I think this one was on my tbr already, seen it on a blog somewhere. It's about how the earth might change if humans disappeared.

Herbal Medicine by Dian Dincin Buchman and The Honest Herbal by Varro Tyler- as my garden is getting reduced to a patio collection mostly of herbs, I thought I might learn a bit more about their uses.

Seasonal Guide to the Natural Year- this looks good! A book about my region- the mid-atlantic- telling you what to expect/observe at different times of the year in nature.

The Nature Notes of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden- another book I'm suspicious is on my tbr list, its title looks so familiar. It's handwritten notes with beautiful sketches of plants, birds and other small wildlife. I can't wait to peruse this one.

Minerals: Gifts from the Earth by Julie Kerr Casper-  okay, not really sure why I picked up this one. I guess I was amused to see a book about my friend's hobby, written by someone who has his name as their last name. I might even read it- it's a junior non-fiction book so can't be too difficult on a possibly boring subject. Hm.

The final book at the bottom of the stack was turned sideways to make a nice base and I forgot you wouldn't be able to see the spine. Perspective Sketches. It's an art book of drawings by Theodore Walker. I was interested in them because of the different styles of buildings, trees, linework and materials. I'm not too good at drawing architecture or trees but would like to expand my skills, so it's nice to have something inspiring to look at.

That's it! As usual most of these books will probably sit on my shelves for weeks, months, perhaps even years before I read their pages. But they have a home with me now.