While the book content on this blog tends towards my own reading life, I do also read a LOT of children’s books. I love using books to teach Jamie more about his interests. Since Jamie and I both love gardening, it’s one of our favorite book subjects! It was surprisingly hard for us to find a good roundup of books on this topic, so I wanted to share some of our favorite gardening books for kids. Whether your child is a baby, a preschooler, or school-age, there is something here for everyone! I’ve included the suggested reading ages for each book, but I’ve read all of these successfully with my two year old, and most of them will work well for older kids, too. Gardening season is right around the corner, so add these to your shopping cart or your library list and get reading!
Read More »The Best Books I Read in 2021
It’s one of my favorite times of year – when I get to round up all my favorite reads from the past year! Reading is one of my favorite pastimes, and I consider it a large personal goal of mine to convince everyone I know to read more. I have a lot to cover, so let’s get into it!
Summary
My total for this year was 76 books – while I didn’t cross the 100 book mark this year, I just barely surpassed my 75-book goal. I love rounding up my favorite reads at the end of each year – I try to really reserve my 5-star ratings for books that deserve it. This is my third year-end summary: see my favorite reads from 2020 here and 2019 here!
Some thoughts on what I like to read:
- My favorite genres are fantasy, YA, mystery/thriller, and sci-fi, and I also like a good romance every so often.
- I love a book with beautiful imagery, lots of action, and strong/interesting relationships between characters. (I love to cheer for a friendship or romance.)
- Unlikable protagonists don’t bother me, but I hate unrealistic ones. I want characters who make decisions that are consistent with their personalities.
- I love a good plot twist (or betrayal), especially when I totally don’t see it coming but feel like I should have.
Some thoughts on how I like to read:
- Almost every single book I read, I checked out through my local library (using the Libby app) for free. Occasionally, I read ARCs through Netgalley. I usually only buy books that I’ve already read and loved.
- I read primarily using my Kindle paperwhite, but also through the Kindle app on my phone. It’s nice to have a device that’s only for reading, since I get easily sidetracked on my phone.
A few quick takeaways from my 5-star reads:
- Apparently, fantasy and sci-fi are my favorite favorites because all my 5-star reads fall into those genres. (If that isn’t your speed, I have a few other genres featured in my honorable mentions! You can also check out all of my other book-related blog posts here.)
- I ended up with 16 5-star ratings out of 76 books read. That means just over 20% of the books I read this year were 5-star reads!
- That being said, 10/16 of my 5-star reads were second/third/fourth books in a series, so I think that finishing up series was a big reason that average is higher than normal. (For reference, last year I had 13 5-star reads out of 110 books – so just over 10%). 3 were first books in a series, and 3 were stand-alones.
- I liked new releases this year! 9/16 were 2020 or 2021 releases.
Welcoming Clara: Our Natural Birth Story
It’s hard to believe that this already happened five months ago. Time has gone so much more quickly this second time around! My labor with Clara was SO different than with Jamie (read his birth story here!), and I love having a record of the whole experience. I used mainly hypnobirthing techniques and put in a lot of work beforehand, and I really believe that it allowed me to have a smooth and peaceful delivery.
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