Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
Sorted by date Results 26 - 36 of 36
Do you have any candy left from Halloween? My neighbor made my kids freeze dried candy and I can’t.stop.eating.it. There are these malted chocolate ones that are just unreal. Thank goodness each holiday only comes once a year…. These below freezing temperatures have made for excellent reading weather, and I hope you’ve been able to take advantage of it. I was able to read 11 books in October, of which eight were four stars or better. Here they are, in no particular order: The Last Green Valley and Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T Sullivan are h...
Do y’all realize this is the twelfth Whatcha Readin’ article? Crazy! That means one full year of you sitting down with me once a month to email me a picture of your bookshelf (yes, I really do get those emails and I LOVE them!) or what you just finished that you couldn’t put down. That’s so exciting! I sincerely hope you’ve gotten some good recommendations from this column, and that you keep expanding my to be read (TBR) pile. Still, in September I read 11 books, five of which were four stars or better. Here they are, in no particula...
Fall is in the air and so are soccer balls. I don’t know about your house, but ours is currently overrun with shin guards, socks and jerseys. The temperatures have finally cooled enough to make life outdoors tolerable again and if I’m not on a writing deadline inside, I want to be outside bucking wood with my husband or practicing soccer with my kiddos. In August I read 15 books, of which 11 were four stars or better. Here they are, in no particular order: Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro is medium-paced literary fiction that’s emotional and refle...
Anytime we go anywhere my husband laughs at me and asks how many books I’m bringing. It doesn’t matter where we’re going, I always have a minimum of two physical books and one e-book with me. Always. The one time I forgot a book I ended up taking a much needed and very unexpected nap…but I’d rather be reading. People always talk about their summer vacations and all I want to know is if they read any good books. I may have a problem…. I read nine books in July, six of which were four stars or better, and (sadly?) none of which I’d consider a “su...
It can be hard to read in summer with all the visitors, vacations, and the phenomenal weather begging you to be out enjoying it. Thank goodness for these amazing summer storms we’ve been having that force a brief break and encourage a bit of reading. Montana booksellers have started a new program called The Montana Bookstore Trail where you stop into any participating bookstore, pick up your passport and get stamps at each bookstore you visit. It’s a great way to combine your summer trips with reading and pick up some fantastic new reads. The...
It’s officially summer! Who’s excited for beach reads on the river and library summer reading programs? Count my kiddos in. They saw the door o’ prizes pictures at the library and are beyond excited about winning a Kindle Fire or a slime kit or (oh, please no) a karaoke microphone. I was amazed at how many awesome prizes they have for older kids, too: remote control cars, artist kits, wireless earphones and speakers! It’s all so exciting, which gets them even more eager to read, and it’s free, which is a win-win for all. I slacked off in my...
Have you ever had to stop reading for an extended period of time? Have you ever read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron? I started this book in April and it’s one where you read a chapter a week and there are all sorts of tasks for you to complete and challenges. Last week was Reading Deprivation Week and I thought I was going to die. Life went into a massive tail spin in general with a new puppy in the house and all was calamity. Despite not being able to read for an entire week, I managed to read 15 books in April and I thought 11 of tho...
I’m writing this on April 1 which is difficult in a house of young boys who think April Fool’s Day is an excuse to be extremely loud, place whoopee cushions under everyone the moment they turn around, and generally make it impossible to do any reading. Bless their beautiful hearts. In March I read 25 books, 16 of which were four stars or better: Someone Else’s Shoes by Jodi Moyes is a medium-paced contemporary fiction that’s not as romance-y (it’s a word) as many of her books but just as funny and emotional as she’s known for being. This...
Whatcha Readin’? Reading resolutions Every year my husband and I set our reading goals and then track them using apps like StoryGraph or Goodreads. And thanks to apps like Libby where I can read library books for free from anywhere, I’ve been able to keep to or even exceed my goals. For 2023 I’m aiming to read 150 books, but then I count everything: poetry, young adult, self-help… everything. Of the 17books I read in December, seven were four stars or better. Here they are in no particular order: My favorite book this month is an older book by...
How much are we loving this cold and snow?!?! If you’re not a reader, you probably hate it. This is my happy weather: grab a mug of tea and a book, huzzah! Thanks to the weather I was able to read three more books than last month. Of the 16 books I read in November, 10 were four stars or better, which is a fantastically high ratio and definitely not the norm. Here are those 10, in no particular order: It’s Ok That You’re Not Ok: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn’t Understand by Megan Devine is a non-fiction, very emotion...
When we look outside and see snow on the surrounding mountains, my husband’s first thought is, “did we buck enough wood?” while my first thought is, “do we have enough books?” Out of the 13 books I finished in October, I only gave six of them four stars or better. Here they are, in no particular order. The Surgeon’s Daughter by Audrey Blake is the second book in her series, the first being The Girl in His Shadow. These are historical fiction, fast paced, and roughly 390 pages apiece. They tell of a time when very few women were doctors, an...
