Book Recommendations with Ellen Fannon
What was your favorite picture book as a kid? I don’t remember having picture books as a kid, but I did have a lot of Little Golden Books. My mother bought me one every week at the grocery store for twenty-five cents. I memorized most of them, even though I [...]
The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal (book review)
Two sisters, one farm. A family is split when their father leaves their shared inheritance entirely to Helen, his younger daughter. Despite baking award-winning pies at the local nursing home, her older sister, Edith, struggles to make what most people would call a living. So she can't help wondering what [...]
The Make-Up Test by Jenny L. Howe (book review)
Allison Avery loves to win. After acing every academic challenge she’s come up against, she’s finally been accepted into her dream Ph.D. program at Claymore University, studying medieval literature under a professor she’s admired for years. Sure, grad school isn’t easy—the classes are intense, her best friend is drifting away, [...]
Book Recommendations with Mabel Ninan
What was your favorite picture book as a kid? I loved Winnie the Pooh books. What was the first “real” book (with chapters and without pictures) you remember reading? I don’t remember my first real book, but when I was around nine or ten years old, I loved Enid Blyton’s [...]
Aunt Crystal & The Vowel Towel (book review)
The eight-year-old life is looking easy-peasy until Todd's quirky Aunt Crystal gives him a birthday present way blander than plain six vowel-themed bath towels. Who wants to think about spelling in the shower? But when elf-sized elephants, umbrella-carrying unicorns, and a host of other vowel-inspired guests join him each time [...]