Dancing with Mr. Darcy

Paperback

240+ pages

This is a collection of Austen inspired short stories that I finished this morning. Sometimes it's nice to be able to pick something up, read a very short story, then put it down again. 

It's quite a varied selection - some loosely inspired by author or novels, some which draw more directly.  

It was fine, but not amazing.

Summer read #4 the Lace Makers of Glenmara

By Heather Barbieri

Paperback
268 pages
Adult realistic fiction
Scholastic Build a Box purchase

This book was way more compelling than I expected.
Kind of a classic plot: woman has some drama, goes on walkabout, finds a cute town that is suffering economically, but people do cool crafts, and the woman helps them monetize it and saves the town.
It is very much about family and relationships.
It brought me to tears a couple of times.

I might keep this one.

Summer read #2 The Mountain Between Us

By Charles Martin

Paperback
326 pages
Adult fiction
Scholastic book fair purchase

So, I thought I knew what was going to happen in the end. And I was kind of right. But I feel like the author was dishonest about how we got there, so I don't like that. But overall it was a good book, so I'll probably hang onto this one and put it on my classroom bookshelf.

Knights of the Hill Country

By Tim Tharp
Hardback
233 pages

So it's a football book. I don't sport. But I enjoyed the book - I even set aside my delicious homemade cheesy ham his cute because I was so close to finishing it and wanted to focus.

There is a lot of football in the book, but it's not really a book about football.

The protagonist is a high school senior. He plays defense for the football team - which has been undefeated for 4 straight seasons.

His home life is a bit of a mess, and so is his best friend.

It was a surprisingly engaging book!

I picked it up to vet for lit circle choices in my classroom, and it doesn't quite meet what I want for that, but I am glad that I read it.