Hello readers! Today’s newsletter brings to you the playlist you never knew you needed and the titles I read for a mini spring reading challenge. Let’s dive in!
Today the oldest and I are on a trip across to the other side of Wisconsin (west to east!) to visit a favorite coffee shop, two bookstores, and attend my Oma’s 89th birthday party. What a TREAT!! I adore traveling with this kid (wait, adult!) and am sure to return with lots of stories and bookstore pics for you ~ stay tuned for those soon! I promise we’ll be giddily listening to The Tortured Poets Department on repeat for our 8 hours in the car. My 20-something cousin who is riding along with us has been fully warned!
In the meantime, may I present the 6th grader’s Mom Bop playlist? This is in existence because I refer to some of the oldest’s music as “mumblecore” and most of the middle’s as “sad rap for midwestern white boys” and lots of the youngest’s as “it makes me feel like I’m inside your iPad”. I insist on having music playing in the car that I actually want to sing along to, given that I’m almost always driving the youngest kid around when I’m tired and would kind of rather be on the couch with a book or on a walk or eating popcorn ~ I need to stay awake! The older two getting licenses and us now owning four ancient cars has been a GODSEND! But because I love her and want her involved in things, I drive.
I actually do love our time in the car together, and we have our anthems that we scream-sing to because of this playlist that she created (unprompted!) after me saying, “this isn’t a bop ~ you know I need a bop” so many times. You may very well detest every song on this playlist, but if you have a kid with different music tastes than your own, you will know how important it is to find some common music ground to enjoy together (besides Taylor, of course!). Do I know who all of the artists are? Nope! I just appreciate the beat and have learned the words so I can bond with my kid. I’m just so grateful she’s not hiding behind headphones with a sneer on her face like one of the other kids did at her age!
Here you go ~ you’re welcome!
A Little Spring Reading
I was so excited when I got the email from The Book Girls’ Guide about a mini spring reading challenge ~ just what I needed to get me ready for my favorite time of year! I adored the cute coloring sheet and had so much fun picking out books for each of the prompts ~ I am so happy that I found so many great books to fit them.
These are the original titles I chose for the challenge, the first two via audio and the third in print from the library. Definitely check out the original challenge article because they offer extensive lists for all of these prompts!
A BOOK FEATURING A GARDEN: Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings ~ this new release is a slightly chaotic but fun steamy sapphic romance set on a flower farm in North Carolina. The plot leaned a little young for me, but the setting was gorgeous and I so appreciated the neurodiversity of the characters.
A BOOK WITH SPRING VIBES: The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim ~ how had I never heard of von Arnim until encountering her in this list from Bibliolifestyle? I’m now determined to get my hands on more of her titles! Published in 1922, this is a frothy story of a group of women who rent an Italian castle together for the month of April. I read some of it on paper and listened to the rest and enjoyed both formats. Apparently there is a 1991 movie based on this book that I was also oblivious to!
A BOOK ABOUT BEES: The Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin ~ FUNNY STORY, I thought this sounded familiar, but Goodreads told me I hadn’t read it, so I requested it from the library. I fell in absolute love with this story about a widowed beekeeper and two young men who she hires to work on her property. The Oregon setting is lush and the story is so nature-driven and atmospheric and the story won my heart. It’s a new favorite and I told my sister she needs to get it from the library ASAP ……. and then I actually LOOKED at one of my bookshelves and I realized I own a finished hardcover copy that the publisher must have sent me in 2021 when it released? Now I own (well, now I KNOW I own!) a copy for my forever shelf and can loan it to my sister ~ what a fun surprise, ha!
I ended up not being able to stop, and kept listening to seasonal reads! Here are the two additional books I listened to that fit the prompts:
Scent of a Garden by Namrata Patel is about a perfumer living in Paris who comes home to her family’s business in California when she loses her sense of smell. I really appreciated how COVID was thoughtfully woven into the story without overwhelming it, as well as the history of Indian ownership of hotels in America. There wasn’t quite enough garden in it for me, though, for it to take top billing for that prompt in the challenge. This was available via Kindle Unlimited Read & Listen.
The Sweetest Thing by Sasha Summers is a sweet small town romance set on a Texas honey farm. I found it on Hoopla and definitely will listen to the next in the series, but overall it’s a little too twee for me to completely fall in love with. The focus is more on the romance rather than the bees, so The Music of Bees got to keep that challenge spot.
I would love to hear your recommendations for these spring reading categories! Also, what do you call YOUR kids’ music taste??
That’s all for this edition, my friends!
Thanks for reading,
I love to hear from readers, so please do reach out to me with questions or feedback at mindfullibrarian@substack.com . If we aren’t already connected on Goodreads, I would love to see you there as well!
What a fun mini challenge! Also, I love that your youngest made you a bop playlist. So fun 🎶
Have fun on your road trip!