The RAHM Report for 4/16/18

What My Kids Are Reading

This week's Read-at-Home Kids Report includes picture books by Ezra Jack Keats, Anne Rockwell, and Margot Zemach.

What I Finished Reading

 

• Color Me Murder by Krista Davis, audiobook read by
  I borrowed this book in audio format via Hoopla, and zipped right through it. I especially liked the setting (Georgetown in Washington, DC) and the interesting cast of characters. Though I am not into adult coloring books, I did like the way they were incorporated into the main character's life and into her brainstorming about who may have committed the murder. I'm looking forward to the second book of the series.
• 206 Bones by Kathy Reichs
  This was one of the best books of this series. The writing is excellent, and the tension between Tempe and Ryan is at its best. I read about a third of the book, and then listened to the rest, and I really enjoyed the audiobook narration, and the fact that I didn't have to try to pronounce all the French words! 
• A Minute On the Lips by Cheryl Harper
  It took me forever to read this ebook, which I also borrowed via Hoopla, and it wasn't even that good. I liked a lot of the elements of the story - the mystery, the fact that the heroine is running for reelection as sheriff, and the tension between law enforcement and the press that is brought out by her relationship with a newspaper reporter - but I didn't feel like this story put them together in a very interesting way. I probably should have DNFed this one, and I will be more diligent about choosing Harlequin Heartwarming titles in the future.

What I'm Currently Reading

 

• Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton
  I like so much of what Chesterton has to say about life, and society, and the cosmos. So much of it is as relevant to our times as it was to his. Book club meets on Thursday, so I need to pick up the pace, but I've been enjoying slowly digesting each chapter.
• Dandelion Cottage by Carroll Watson Rankin
  So far, I'm enjoying this old-fashioned tale of four girls who fix up an abandoned cottage to be like a real house. It has a Betsy-Tacy vibe to it that especially appeals to me. 
• Wilde Lake by Laura Lippman, audiobook read by Kathleen McInerney and Nicole Poole
  After much searching for another audiobook to follow the two I finished this week, I decided to try a stand-alone novel by an author I'd never read before. I'm still settling into the fact that there are two narrators - one for the main character's first-person reflections on her childhood, and the other for the limited third-person narration of present-day events in her career as a state's attorney - but otherwise, I am totally hooked on this book. It has been compared to To Kill a Mockingbird and recommended as a good book for teens, and both of those factors add to its appeal for me. 

I'll be linking up today with Unleashing Readers/Teach Mentor Texts and Book Date for It's Monday! What Are You Reading?