By Marci Tate
Can you feel it? Spring is in the air! There’s nothing better than sitting on the deck with a good book. Here are few suggestions for light spring reading.
Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you could have a do-over? In Time of My Life, author Allison Winn Scotch gives us Jillian Westfield who will get to try a do-over when she wakes up seven years in the past. Jillian has what would appear to be an idyllic life in the suburbs with a husband and new baby. However, Jillian is bored and frustrated with this life. After her masseuse adjusts her chi she finds herself waking up to her life seven years ago with her former live-in boyfriend and former advertising career. She begins to live that life, but is missing her daughter Katie and unexpectedly running into her future husband Henry. Jillian starts to realize that her past may not have been as rosy as she liked to believe. Every change she makes alters her future and those around her. The author makes you wait until the very end to discover whether Jillian chooses her past over her future. This book certainly leaves you wondering about your own life choices and the little things that can alter your entire future.
Some books just stick with you. This one is a favorite from a few years ago. The Ocean Between Us by Susan Wiggs was a book I picked up at the public library on a whim and it turned out to be of the “hard to put down” variety. The characters are so well drawn that it is easy to be pulled into all of their plotlines. At the center is Grace Bennett, a Navy captain’s wife raising three teenagers while her husband is mostly away. Grace comes to a realization that she is tired of constantly moving and wants to settle down with a career and make some choices of her own. Her teenagers are all dealing with their own separate issues (that only add to the drama of the story). When a secret from her husband’s past is revealed, the bonds that hold the family together begin to unravel until a tragedy forces them to re-examine their expectations and assumptions. This is one book that I am ready to read again!
Can you sum up your life in six words? An entire story can be told in just six words! Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure (edited by Larry Smith) is the type of book you want to enjoy and pass along to your friends. The editors of SMITH online magazine invited readers to contribute life stories in six words or less. Some are painful. Some are hilarious. This is a book you could browse through in one day, but you will want to go back and take another look. This is fun book to share with friends or co-workers after you have marked your favorites with post-it notes. You might even be inspired to try writing your own six-word memoir (and is not easy!).
If you are going to be entertaining your children during spring break, don’t forget to visit your local library. Kids of all ages really seem to enjoy looking at Ripley’s Believe It or Not. We can’t keep them on the shelf in our school library and the more disgusting the cover, the more loved it is! You can’t go wrong with jokes and riddles. Just be prepared to listen to every single one of them! Kids also love cookbooks that are meant for them. Recent favorites at our school library are the cookbooks featuring kid-friendly snacks and desserts. Boys and girls of all ages check out cookbooks on a regular basis and some even try out the recipes. If you are looking for an afternoon of entertainment, then let your child choose a favorite recipe (lots of pictures in the cookbook help) to prepare!
Submitted by Marci Tate of Fayetteville – busy wife and mom of two, avid reader (when time allows) and Library Media Specialist at Vandergriff Elementary School.
