Operation TBR Reduction update

This challenge is from Once Upon a Chapter.

Monthly stats for May:

Beginning number of TBR books = 151

Books Added +

• One Summer by David Baldacci
• Dewey by Vicki Myron
• Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
• Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Books I Read -

• Wine to Water by Doc Hendley
• Inspiring Experiences by Thomas Monson
• Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
• Ronald Reagan's Leadership Lessons by New World City
• A Grand and Bold Thing by Ann Finkbeiner

Ending number of TBR books = 151

Well, at least I broke even!

Happy reading, everyone :)

Bean

Piling Up on Friday 6/1

This weekly meme is hosted here at Finding Your Gibbee. Feel free to play along, and post a link to your blog in the comments below. List all the books you have added to your To Be Read wishlist this week. (These don't have to be titles you have actually purchased.)

Here at my house, school is out and summer vacation has officially begun! This year I am trying to have my kids participate in as many summer reading programs as I can find. The little ones are excited to earn free book, t-shirts and food, but my 12 yr old says no thanks to it all. Despite turning up her nose at these incentives, she is (thankfully) devouring books as fast as we can get them from the library. 

Every morning we have personal study time. I pull out a stack of school workbooks and math worksheets and the kids work on these for 30 minutes. Then we have reading time for 30 minutes. I encourage my kids to spend their time reading books to their 4 yr old brother, but whether they do or not, it's so wonderful to see all of them curled up in a chair, a bed, or laying on the floor, enjoying a new title. It brings back fond memories of summer vacations at my grandma's house, curled up on the couch with Nancy Drew.

Here is a fun title I added to my TBR wishlist this week:

The Midwife of Venice by Roberta Rich

Hannah Levi is known throughout sixteenth-century Venice for her skill in midwifery. When a Christian count appears at Hannah's door in the Jewish ghetto imploring her to attend his labouring wife, who is nearing death, Hannah is forced to make a dangerous decision. Not only is it illegal for Jews to render medical treatment to Christians, it's also punishable by torture and death. Moreover, as her Rabbi angrily points out, if the mother or child should die, the entire ghetto population will be in peril.

My current read is:

They Almost Always Come Home by Cynthia Ruchti

When Libby's husband fails to return from a solo canoe trip, Libby enlists the aid of her father-in-law and her best friend to help her search for clues to her husband's disappearance. What they discover upends Libby's presumptions about her husband and rearranges her faith.

Death on the Nile book review

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
My rating = 5 stars (Gibbee!!)

Goodreads:
Poirot, on vacation in Africa, meets the rich, beautiful Linnet Doyle and her new husband, Simon. As usual, all is not as it seems between the newlyweds, and when Linnet is found murdered, Poirot must sort through a boatload of suspects to find the killer before he (or she) strikes again.

My review:
I love reading Agatha Christie. The mysteries are full of drama and suspense. It's always so hard for me to figure out whodunit, but it's always so much fun! This story had so many twists and turns. I thought I had figured out who the murderer was, but of course I was wrong. This book had not only a murderer, but a jewel thief, a crooked lawyer, a love triangle, an international criminal in disguise, a drunken romance author, and a royal lord in disguise as well. So much drama jampacked into one story. It was terrific!

Ronald Reagan's Leadership Lessons book review

Ronald Reagan's Leadership Lessons by New World City
My rating = 3 stars

Goodreads:

Ronald Reagan was a product of America's heartland, a kid who had a Huck Finn childhood and never lost his aw-shucks, all-American optimism. He moved to Hollywood, became a minor film star, and got involved in politics-at first on the left. But in the shadow of the 1950s anti-Communism furor, he moved to the right and began a steady rise to the pinnacle of power. Initially derided as a lightweight, a none-too-bright actor incapable of leading a nation, he proved his detractors wrong. Using extraordinary charm, conviction, communication skills, and stagecraft, Reagan became one of the most beloved, admired, and influential presidents in American history.

My review:

This is a brief discourse on Reagan's life and political career. It touches on his successes and failures during his presidency. There is a discussion section at the end called "What You Can Learn From Ronald Reagan." It focuses on different leadership aspects Reagan possessed, such as developing a vision for your team, and knowing your strengths and limitations. This short work would be a good study companion for a lengthier biography of the president.