THE DARKEST EVENING by Anne Cleeves But I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep. And miles to go before I sleep.                                                             -Robert Frost You may be enjoying our current weather too much to sink yourself into a mystery set in the dead of winter in Northumberland, England. If that is the case, save this one for the middle of our winter with a cup of hot beverage of your choice, a comfy chair, a fleecy blanket, and if possible a crackling fire. Then hold on tight as you step through the door into Vera Stanhope's world. DI (Detective Inspector) Vera Stanhope is driving back to her home in rural Northumberland after a long day of work in the middle of a snowstorm when she makes a wrong turn. After going just a little ways she finds a car that has slid off the road with the driver door wide open. Stopping to check to make sure everyone is alright, Vera approaches the vehicle and hears the cry of a young child but no parent in sight. Taking the child to the nearest home, which happens to be an estate owned by her relatives where she is considered an outcast, she begins the process of trying to locate the missing parent. A local farmer driving his tractor to pick up his daughters, who work at the estate, stumbles across the body of a young lady half buried in the snow and the mystery takes off. Vera and her team have their hands full as they sort through the secrets and rumors that abound in small village life about the past and the present. They must try and navigate the line between the upper class of the estate and the lower class of the tenants and village residents to solve this mystery that has ties to both. I'm going to make a general statement about murder mysteries. They are the result of stepping out of God's plan for life. Some are super heavy, leaving the reader to digest situation after situation where the reader can feel bogged down. This one allows breathing room! HEADS UP - A handful of words including approx. 4 F-bombs. Alongside Activity- BBC has made Vera into several TV episodes. I love them!! Check out your local PBS or BBC listing or find them at the library!

GO ASK OZZIE: A ROTTEN RICHIE STORY by Patricia Polacco Patricia Polacco is back again with another heart touching story from her life in Go Ask Ozzie. When her grandmother passes away Patricia, her mother, and Richie (her rotten older brother) move from Michigan to California. There they find the local hangout is a pharmacy with a soda counter run by Ozzie who always has an answer for life's problems. When the problem turns out to be Patricia's brother, Ozzie comes through with an answer that turns Patricia's dislike of her brother around. This is a precious story that shows it is possible for siblings to appreciate each other! Polacco brings her traditional style of art to this book which is always colorful and fun. She uses pencil and acetone markers. The pictures in this book are a hoot as she portrays her brother! I love the dance scenes as well!

THE LAST BOOKSHOP IN LONDON by Madeline Martin The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin is a breath of fresh air in the world of new releases! After dropping my daughter off for college, the trip home I needed something warm and comforting. Last Bookshop definitely fit the bill! Grace Bennett has wanted to live in London. When her life circumstances make it impossible to stay in her current home, she makes the big move. After finding employment at a local run down bookshop, Grace is determined to help make the bookshop a more welcoming place to customers. Then World War II begins, and London's world is turned upside down. Even though Grace is experiencing loss herself, she helps the bookshop become a beacon of comfort and care for the people in the community. One of the great things about Last Bookshop is the mention of so many classic book titles that Grace is using to pour into people. There are several that I will be adding to my "to read" pile! And guess what? Last Bookshop is S Q U E A K Y clean!!

PRESIDENTS RESOURCES I will share from time to time items (they will be book based) I am using in our personal homeschool. I do a simple morning time where we get together and learn about a specific topic. Last year, in February, I put presidents in our line up. (We don't do the same topic every day. I put in hymn studies, poetry, holidays, etc) We are almost through the study, so we kicked our year off with it. I have 4 resources we are using. -Grover Cleveland, Again! - Love this book! The only reason I have a second book as a resource is because this book only goes through Obama. -National Geographic's Our Country's Presidents -Classical Historian's U.S. Presidents Go Fish Game - not your traditional Go Fish. Presidents are grouped in 4's by a time period. -Presdential Flashcards - any will do

FOREVER HOME by Henry Cole I am a huge fan of author/illustrator Henry Cole, so I was ecstatic to find out that he had a new book out! After seeing it, however, it didn't come home with me. See HEADS UP section to learn why. Forever Home is the sweet story of a boy who wants a dog. Before that can happen there is some responsibility learning that needs to happen in the boy's life. Not too far away is a dog that lives on the street that is looking for a home. I think you can take it from here! Cole illustrates this book in his usual marvelous style, pen with a single color to highlight important items! Sweet story as always, beautifully illustrated, but... HEADS UP - The boy's parents are two dads.

GOD COUNTS: NUMBERS IN HIS WORD AND HIS WORLD by Irene Sun Counting books are normally directed towards the younger members of our families, but God Counts by Irene Sun reminds us of truths that apply to all of us no matter our age! The book starts out with a simple quote, "In the beginning, God created numbers. Numbers declare the glory of God." Each page shares a number found in the Bible through either a parable, a physical description (like 12 gates), or an amount of an item that is found in the Bible (fruits of the spirit). The book ends up with 2 topics that are not normally addressed in counting books, infinity and the value of you to God. God counts the hairs of our head, every tear we cry, and our days until we are one day with Him. This book is a beautiful reminder to share with our families and ourselves!

ANY SIGN OF LIFE by Rae Carson After going through the 2020 pandemic, Any Sign of Life by Rae Carson looks like a good read, but it's not without some concerning problems. Paige Miller wakes up post-COVID one morning to find herself attached to a chain of IVs at home and her whole family dead. In fact, not only is her whole family dead, but what appears to be her whole town and possibly the whole world. It doesn't take long for Rae to figure out that people were infected with some type of sickness that wiped out almost the entire planet in a few days' time. So why would an entire planet be wiped out? Because we are dealing with...drum roll here...aliens. Through her journey of trying to find supplies and shelter, she does discover a small number of people who survived due to an injection they received. What follows is the story of the struggle to survive and to regain control of the world. HEADS UP - There is a lengthy Heads Up section! - Quite a bit of language including 6-8 F-bombs - The first theory for the disappearance is Fox News reporting that a Texas minister says the deaths are God's judgement for homosexuality. - Cops vs. Blacks - Teenage drinking - Teenage sex talk including sexual preferences - Rae's biological father who she only refers to as the Sperm Donor made them attend church every Sunday but didn't live it throughout the week -When people were chosen for the injection they prioritized Indigenous people -Trump reference by saying the president didn't know about the random people chosen for the injection because he messed up the handling of the pandemic. - Racism even among the few remaining people - Life motto of the book is "Life is just a series of battles fought " - Two teens develop a relationship and grab a handful of condoms for future possibilities By the time I was done reading this book I felt like we had covered every political topic except the wall and global warming. There are certainly times where it feels like there is less of a story and more of an author's agenda. So after everything, for the Killiany house, this book will not have a place on our bookshelf.

THE BAD GUYS by Aaron Blabey In light of the recent release of the movie, here's a look at the first book, The Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey. When the Wolf, the head of a group of stereo-typical bad guys, decides he wants to turn over a new leaf and start doing good guy things, his buddies think he's gone crazy! He convinces the rest of the gang, a shark, piranha, and a snake, to give it a go by helping a cat out of the tree versus eating it. Things don't go exactly as planned. They are successful, but it comes at a price. The book introduces some good, but a little tricky, conversation starters. 1- Everyone who we would normally stereo-type as bad in a certain group, isn't always bad. 2- It is possible to change your ways and turn from doing bad to good. 3- People don't always stop to say thank you. In fact, they may be afraid of you, but that's not a reason to stop doing good. I'm going to just throw in a momma moment here and say though that we shouldn't just trust everyone all the time. God gave us instincts for a reason, and we need to be careful how we use them, but still use them! The Bad Guys is an easy read written in a semi-comic form. It has chapters, but is divided into multi-sized boxes with text. Pictures are black and white. HEADS UP - There is some crude humor as the piranha has gas issues.

GOODBYE SUMMER, HELLO AUTUMN by Kenard Pak It's so hard to believe that summer is winding down and hints of fall are in the air. With this in mind it's time to start sharing some fall-oriented books! Leading our group will be Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn by Kenard Pak. A girl and her dog go around and say hello to different things they encounter in the day. The things reply back with how they are changing for the fall season. The book begins with very green and summery pictures and progressively adds in oranges, yellows, and browns the closer to the end the reader gets. Be sure and compare the first page and the last page as to how the landscape has changed!

INSECT RESOURCES This will be my last post about bugs! I couldn't resist sharing a couple of books from the Usborne Beginners line. Callie has loved this series since Kindergarten and will still grab them and sit down to read them! I am not an Usborne rep, but I will give a shout out about what a wonderful job they do in their books with pictures and information. In this series, every couple of pages deals with a topic. The pictures are bright and captivating. The text is simple and straight forward. Enjoyable reads!

BUGS: BIG AND SMALL GOD MADE THEM ALL by Will Zinke If you are looking for a book that talks about bugs from a Christian perspective, Bugs: Big and Small God Made Them All by Will Zinke is a great resource! This book shares bugs with amazing features and sizes from all over the world. Filled with beautiful photographs, Bugs is a lot of fun to look at it if you have a love for bugs or even if you are a little bit squeamish!

TIGER, TIGER by Lynne Reid Banks My son has loved the Indian in the Cupboard Series by Lynne Reid Banks, so when I discovered that she had written other books, I grabbed one. Tiger, Tiger is a wonderful story set during the time of Caesar's Coliseum. Male twin tigers are captured and taken to Rome. One is headed for the coliseum. The other is to be a pet for Caesar's daughter, Aurelia. Even though the two tigers live in completely different worlds, through a series of events, those two worlds are about to collide in a deadly way. HEADS UP - Tiger, Tiger is a very engaging and well written book. It does deal with scenes from the coliseum. It is a middle grade book, but this one you would want to lean toward the older end.