A Summer Weekend of Good Book Deals

Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon
This one is described as “Gilmore Girls, but with murder” as a grandmother, mother, and daughter trio try to solve the murder next door. This is our October book for Everyday Reading Book Club, so grab it now!

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson
My husband and now my two oldest daughters are HUGE Brandon Sanderson fans and this was the first book I’ve read by him! This one takes place in the future where pilots are the heroes of the human race and Spensa dreams of becoming one like her father. But her father’s actions years earlier look like they’ll keep her from recognizing her dream.

Rebel Summer by Cindy Steel
I listened to this one this summer after I had already read The One With the Kiss Cam by Cindy Steel. It was delightful and a perfect summer read. I haven’t read any of the others in the Falling for Summer series, but would love to, especially after how much I liked this one!

Salamandastron by Brian Jacques
This is book #5 in the Redwall series, one of my very favorite series as a child – I’m pretty sure I read a couple of the books at least five or six times. All the books in the series can be read as standalone books. They are perfect for fantasy and animal lovers.

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
This was the first book I finished in 2024 and it started out with an absolute bang! Meryl Streep is the narrator and was phenomenal, to no one’s surprise. This one is full of fabulous family relationships and a lovely marriage. I loved every minute of it.

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr
Get ready to have a box of tissues handy for this middle grade read! Sadako is the star of her school’s running team and then she begins having dizzy spells which are eventually diagnosed as due to leukemia. Leukemia caused by the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan before she was born.

Happier Hour: How to Beat Distraction, Expand Your Time, and Focus on What Matters Most by Cassie Holmes
This was the January book for 2023 Everyday Reading Book Club and I couldn’t stop talking about it. I love a self-help book and this one has so many good practical tips for making your life happier, no matter what your current life looks like. I especially love implementing ideas about having better weekends!

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
For those who love fairy tales and fairy tale retellings, the Books of Bayern series is a slam-dunk winner. It follows four strong young heroines in magical lands as they fight to save their kingdoms and loved ones from dark forces. Goose Girl, the first book in the series was one of the very first books I ever wrote about on Everyday Reading and it’s still one of my all-time favorites. The plot is certainly basic enough fairy-tale material, but Hale makes it something really wonderful. (Full review here)

Click, Clack, Boo! by Doreen Cronin
Can you believe we are pretty much at the 100 days till Halloween mark!? I’ve loved the Click Clack Moo books since I was first introduced to them in grad school and this Halloween board book version is just exactly what you’d expect – charming and funny. (Plus, this one is a Libro.FM deal so you can use it to make a Yoto card!)

Lucky in Love by Kasie West
I’ve read almost all of Kasie West’s books and always really enjoyed them, but this one, about an 18-year-old who wins the lottery but tries to keep it from the boy she likes so he won’t only like her for her money like everyone else is the perfect YA read.

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Carson Ellis & Trenton Lee Stewart
I read this book back when I was a school librarian and have been a fan ever since. We listened to the whole 13+ hour audiobook in the car and my two older girls both LOVED it. As soon as we finished, Ella checked out the rest of the series and listened to them in a week (oh, to have that much listening time. . . ). The book begins with a strange ad in the newspaper asking super smart children to apply and when four children pass the test put before them. Now their job is to go on a secret mission at a mysterious school called the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, and puzzles, tests, and riddles will be everywhere they turn.