Books Added to My Shelves in April 2025

This is my monthly roundup of books that I added to my shelves in April 2025. Some of the books came directly from authors or publishers, others were purchased or were gifts. You’ll find books from all kinds of genres, including adult and children’s books. I’ll even share a few updates from our family’s life in the last month as well.

Family and Life Update

April was the month of Family Time. I spent a fun day with my mom and aunts at the beginning of the month, then spent three of the four weekends with our kids, including attending the Night Ranger concert in Des Moines. We are big fans, and it was so much fun to see them with our adult kids!

Was Brad Gillis looking at me???

We spent Easter weekend in Pella, and the tulips were beautiful.

We also celebrated our oldest’s 25th(?!?!) birthday! It was also special to see him direct the choir at church on Sunday morning.

I also took my annual trip to Minneapolis with my mom, aunt, and cousin. We had loads of ice cream (our favorite is Grand Ole Creamery), visited Como Conservatory and saw their Spring Flowers in the Sunken Gardens, shopped and thrifted (check out some of my thrifted items below), and completed 5(!) puzzles! So. Much. Fun.

Now, on to the books! 

April was such a full month, and it was hard to find time to read and/or post reviews. I tend to use weekends to catch up on reading and writing, but every weekend I had plans, so I didn’t have as much free reading time as I normally do. That is why every pocket of time you read makes a difference.

I finished 4 books in April, and I started several. I’m in the stage where not every book is meeting my needs. It’s rare for me to DNF a book, but I have set several aside this month. A few I likely won’t go back to, and others I’ll probably try again later, but as of right now, they just aren’t interesting to me. I hope this encourages you to read what interests you, and if, after a couple of chapters or pages, you aren’t interested, it is okay to move on to something that might just be your next great read. Be sure to follow me on Instagram, HERE, to see snippets of what I’m reading or what’s going on in my daily life.

This month’s list includes historical fiction, women’s fiction, memoirs, a cookbook, and more nonfiction. Of course, I’m also sharing some great children’s picture books, a board book, and a middle-grade fiction book. My current reads include THE GOD OF THE WOODS for book club, CREATURE NEEDS, and THE WORLD’S FAIR QUILT for review, and I’m listening to THE MANY LIVES OF MAMA LOVE.

If you have missed any of my recent book reviews, you can see all of them by clicking HERE.  Or you can stay up to date with my monthly Quick Lit Roundup.

Clicking the photos of each book will take you to a link to purchase. If you choose to purchase through any of the links, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase.

ADULT FICTION AND NON-FICTION

THE MIDNIGHT ESTATE
By: Kelly Rimmer
Published: July 21, 2026
Publisher: MIRA
Historical Fiction
Format: eBook for Review

I read and loved Rimmer’s THE THINGS WE CANNOT SAY, but I guess I never shared it here on the website. I was thrilled to get the chance to review her upcoming book, but I didn’t realize until doing this post that it won’t be published until July 2026! I don’t think I have ever gotten a book that early! This one sounds a bit different for Rimmer and has a unique book-within-a-book storyline.

In the aftermath of a tumultuous year, Fiona Winslow finds solace in the decaying grandeur of Wurimbirra, the rambling family estate on the east coast of Australia she once called home. Intent on restoring it, she discovers the keys to more than just the dilapidated mansion—beneath the crumbling plaster and dust are secrets that have been buried for a generation.

When a misshelved book, The Midnight Estate, catches her attention in her late uncle’s library, Fiona is plunged into a tale that mirrors her own—a story of love, loss and betrayal. But as the lines between fiction and reality blur, Fiona must ask herself: Is the true mystery the one hidden within the walls of her ancestral home, or is it within the pages of a book that chose her as much as she chose it?

FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY
By: Jennifer E. Smith
Published: April 8, 2025
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Fiction
Format: eBook for Review

I really loved Smith’s THE UNSINKABLE GRETA JAMES from 2022, so I was thrilled to see she had a new book out this month. Plus, it’s a sibling story, so I’m all in!

The four Endicott siblings—Gemma, Connor, Roddy, and Jude—were once inseparable, a bond created by the absence of their dazzling, mercurial mother, who would return for a few weeks each summer to whisk them off on sprawling road trips around the country.

Decades later, the unthinkable has happened: the Endicotts haven’t spoken in years . . . until an out-of-the-blue text arrives from Jude, now a famous actress, summoning them to a small town in North Dakota. They’re each at a crossroads: Gemma, who put her own ambitions aside to raise the others, now isn’t sure if she wants to be a mother herself; Connor, a celebrated novelist, is floundering after his recent divorce and suffering from an epic case of writer’s block; and Roddy, at the tail end of a professional soccer career, is dangerously close to losing his future husband for the chance at one last season.

Jude is the only Endicott who seems to have it all together—but appearances can be deceiving. As the weekend unfolds, and the siblings wrestle with their shared past and uncertain futures, they’ll discover that Jude has been keeping three secrets . . . each of which could change everything.

A captivating journey and an ode to forgiveness that takes readers across all fifty states, Fun for the Whole Family brims with heart and resonates long after the final page.

BAYLIE: A Life Shattered. A Promise Kept. A Secret Revealed.
By: Shawnee Baker
Published: April 11, 2025
Publisher: BRG Press
Non-Fiction
Format: eBook for Review

As the mom of a daughter in college, I felt compelled to read this one after the author contacted me.

Bad things happen to good people…but not to us.

College wasn’t supposed to be dangerous. Ride-shares were meant to be safe, and trauma centers met standards of excellence, didn’t they?

On a sailboat far from shore, life was perfect. Then suddenly, it wasn’t. This wasn’t just a tragedy; it was the tragedy everyone feared most. For Baylie’s family, the nightmare brought unbearable pain, while igniting an unrelenting search for justice. In their darkest moments, when the world felt silent, Baylie found a way to speak – without words – guiding them toward truths they never expected.

Gripped by terror and overwhelmed by grief, they faced an impossible journey, intensified by the laws that failed to protect them.Yet, within the chaos, a secret is revealed. It wasn’t what they prayed for, but a promise that would change everything.

Miracles do happen. Just not the way you think they will.

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY
A Short Story
By: Mike Gayle
Published: May 1, 2025
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories
Fiction – Short Story
Format: eBook through First Reads

I’ve read and loved Gayle’s ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE and THE MUSEUM OF ORDINARY PEOPLE. This short story was one of Amazon’s FREE April First Reads choices.

Reuben thought he’d spend the rest of his life with Beth, until she broke his heart six months ago. He’s not even remotely over her, so he’s devastated to hear she’s getting married—this weekend.

Now he’s faced with the ultimate what should he do on the day of the wedding? Grieve? Disrupt the ceremony? Or do everything in his power to pretend it’s not happening?

Enlisting the help of his friends, Reuben is all set to mark the occasion with distraction on a grand Ferraris, champagne, and a VIP box at the races.

But on the morning of the Big Day, Reuben gets a phone call that not only derails his elaborate it may well change his life completely…

PACHINKO
By: Min Jin Lee
Narrated by: Sandra Oh
Published: February 7, 2017
Publisher: Grand Central
Historical Fiction
Format: Audiobook through Audible

When trying to choose how to spend my Audible credit this month, I decided to look at the books on my Libby wish list and choose which one was the longest and that I would be less likely to finish in my allotted 14 days on Libby. Pachinko is an 18-hour listen, and I wanted to listen to it because Sandra Oh is the narrator.

In the early 1900s, teenaged Sunja, the adored daughter of a crippled fisherman, falls for a wealthy stranger at the seashore near her home in Korea. He promises her the world, but when she discovers she is pregnant—and that her lover is married—she refuses to be bought. Instead, she accepts an offer of marriage from a gentle, sickly minister passing through on his way to Japan. But her decision to abandon her home, and to reject her son’s powerful father, sets off a dramatic saga that will echo down through the generations.

Richly told and profoundly moving, Pachinko is a story of love, sacrifice, ambition, and loyalty. From bustling street markets to the halls of Japan’s finest universities to the pachinko parlors of the criminal underworld, Lee’s complex and passionate characters—strong, stubborn women, devoted sisters and sons, fathers shaken by moral crisis—survive and thrive against the indifferent arc of history.

A REAL EMERGENCY
Stories from the Ambulance
By: Joanna Sokol
Published: June 3, 2025
Publisher: Strange Light/Penguin Random House
Medical Memoir
Format: Paperback for Review

I’ve always been a fan of medical memoirs and have shared several here on the website. This one sounds particularly interesting to me, especially because it is from a woman’s perspective. It reminds me of A THOUSAND NAKED STRANGERS by Kevin Hazzard, another EMT/Paramedic memoir I read in 2018.

For fifteen years, Joanna Sokol filled private notebooks with her confusion, humor, and anger about the strange world of American street medicine. As her career progressed, she found herself taking notes on scraps of paper, backs of gloves, and margins of EKG printouts. She read about the history that brought ambulances into their current role as the caretakers of society’s forgotten, and spoke to her colleagues about their own experiences and perspectives.

Those reflections are collected here, in a series of raw, powerful essays about the state of American medicine.

Sokol’s life as a paramedic took her to three different the casinos and trailer parks of the Nevada desert, the cozy beach town of Santa Cruz, and eventually the crowded tenements of San Francisco’s Tenderloin district. There are no clear villains or heroes in Sokol’s world, only a group of patients and medics who are doing their best in a deeply broken system. Sokol combines impactful research and the strong voices of her fellow paramedics to take the reader deep into the crumbling reality of the modern American ambulance.

BECAUSE I KNEW YOU
How Some Remarkable Sick Kids Healed a Doctor’s Soul
By: Robert Macauley
Published: June 3, 2025
Publisher: Chehalem Press
Non-Fiction/Memoir
Format: Paperback for Review

As I have mentioned here before, I used to work in Hospice, so books like this always interest me. This one sounds especially special.

As one of the few pediatric palliative care doctors in the United States, Bob Macauley was used to people saying, “I’m so glad I don’t have your job.” To which he would explain that palliative care is more about living than dying, then offer to share some of the inspiring stories he witnessed on a daily basis. He might mention that also being an Episcopal priest helped him console people in the hardest situations. But he never revealed the true reason for his career choice: he didn’t want anyone else to hurt the way he had when he was a kid.

THE MARRIAGE SABBATICAL
By: Lian Dolan
Published: Paperback Release April 15, 2025 – Hardcover Release April 2, 2024
Publisher: William Morrow
Women’s Fiction
Format: Hardcover for Review

I really enjoyed THE SWEENEY SISTERS by Dolan back in 2020. This one has been republished in paperback after being published last year.

What if you could take a vacation from your marriage? A couple decides to give it a shot in this fun, adventurous novel by Lian Dolan, the popular author of The Sweeney Sisters and Lost and Found in Paris.

After twenty-three years of building careers and raising kids together, Jason and Nicole Elswick are ready for a break from their daily lives. Jason has spent years planning his dream sabbatical—ditching work for a nine-month-long motorcycle trip through South America. Problem is, that’s Jason’s dream, not Nicole’s. After years working retail and parenting in Portland, Nicole craves the sun of the Southwest and the artistic community in Santa Fe, where she wants to learn jewelry design.

A chance encounter at a dinner party presents a surprising—and intriguing—way out of their dilemma. Over a little too much wine, Jason and Nicole’s married neighbors sing the praises of the 500 Mile Rule: their policy of enjoying themselves however they wish—and with whomever they wish—when they’re temporarily far apart. It seems like the perfect solution: nine months pursuing their own adventures—with a bit of don’t-ask-don’t-tell—and then a return to their shared lives. It’ll be a sabbatical from their marriage as well as their day jobs. As Jason bikes his way across a continent and Nicole reclaims the art she’s long neglected, they discover the pleasures and pitfalls of the 500 Mile Rule, confronting temptations of all kinds, uncomfortable truths about themselves, and gaining new perspective on their partnership. But all sabbaticals come to an end…then what?

ABIGAIL AND ALEXA SAVE THE WEDDING
By: Lian Dolan
Published: May 20, 2025
Publisher: William Morrow
Women’s Fiction
Format: Paperback for Review

Dolan’s newest book will be available later this month.

Penelope and Chase make a lovely couple. She’s a bubbly Southern Californian with a killer work ethic. He is smart and charming, with political aspirations. They are planning a spectacular California wedding, wrapped in peonies and thousands of little white lights. Everyone is excited about it­­­­­­—except their mothers.

The mother of the bride, suave, Greek-born Alexa Diamandis, was a single mother by choice and does not understand why any woman would ever get married. The mother of the groom, Abigail Blakeman, is a garden-club stalwart firmly planted in coastal Connecticut. She thinks the whole enterprise would be so much easier if the wedding were at the golf club. When a sudden twist of fate calls them into action, these two very different women are forced to take over the wedding planning.

THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS
By: Elizabeth Gilbert
Published: October 1, 2013
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Fiction
Format: Paperback, thrifted

While on my trip to Minnesota, I was talking books with my friend, Jen, and she suggested this book as one I should read. I had never even heard of it. Then, the VERY NEXT DAY, I spotted this on a shelf at Goodwill. It was serendipitous! I had to get it.

In The Signature of All Things, Elizabeth Gilbert returns to fiction, inserting her inimitable voice into an enthralling story of love, adventure and discovery. Spanning much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the novel follows the fortunes of the extraordinary Whittaker family as led by the enterprising Henry Whittaker—a poor-born Englishman who makes a great fortune in the South American quinine trade, eventually becoming the richest man in Philadelphia. Born in 1800, Henry’s brilliant daughter, Alma (who inherits both her father’s money and his mind), ultimately becomes a botanist of considerable gifts herself. As Alma’s research takes her deeper into the mysteries of evolution, she falls in love with a man named Ambrose Pike who makes incomparable paintings of orchids and who draws her in the exact opposite direction — into the realm of the spiritual, the divine, and the magical. Alma is a clear-minded scientist; Ambrose a utopian artist — but what unites this unlikely couple is a desperate need to understand the workings of this world and the mechanisms behind all life.

Exquisitely researched and told at a galloping pace, The Signature of All Things soars across the globe—from London to Peru to Philadelphia to Tahiti to Amsterdam, and beyond. Along the way, the story is peopled with unforgettable characters: missionaries, abolitionists, adventurers, astronomers, sea captains, geniuses, and the quite mad. But most memorable of all, it is the story of Alma Whittaker, who — born in the Age of Enlightenment, but living well into the Industrial Revolution — bears witness to that extraordinary moment in human history when all the old assumptions about science, religion, commerce, and class were exploding into dangerous new ideas. Written in the bold, questing spirit of that singular time, Gilbert’s wise, deep, and spellbinding tale is certain to capture the hearts and minds of readers.

NEW MOON RISING
St. Simon’s Trilogy #2
By: Eugenia Price
Published: May 29, 2012
Publisher: Turner
Historical Fiction
Format: Paperback purchase

This is the second in the series, and I just recently finished LIGHTHOUSE. My cousin, who lives in St. Simons Island, really wants me to finish the series, so I grabbed the next one in the series.

Second Novel in the St. Simons Trilogy. A rich and riveting tale of love, hardship, and the journey for happiness in the war-torn South.

In New Moon Rising , Eugenia Price gives us a story of faith and courage that follows the struggle of James Gould’s son Horace to find his own place in life. Reaching manhood in the tumultuous years before the Civil War, Horace returns to St. Simons and finds himself disheartened by the intolerance on his beloved island. However, he wins the heart of lovely neighbor Deborah Abbott, who adores her “Mr. Gould” and becomes his wife, despite the difference in their years. She is not concerned with his rumored past, but she is saddened by his lack of faith. Filled with romance, hardship, and adventure, this sequel to Lighthouse vividly portrays the antebellum South while revealing an independent man’s search for happiness.

THE DUCHESS OF BLOOMSBURY STREET
By: Helene Hanff
Published: July 12, 2016
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Non-Fiction
Format: Paperback, thrifted

I recently found out there was a follow-up to 84 CHARING CROSS ROAD. So, I immediately added it to my books to hunt for, and I found a copy!

When she’s invited to London for the English publication of her wildly successful book, 84 Charing Cross Road—in which she shares two decades of correspondence with Frank Doel, a British bookseller who became a dear friend—New York writer Helene Hanff is thrilled to realize a lifelong dream. The trip will be bittersweet, because she can’t help wishing Frank was still alive, but she’s determined to capture every moment of the journey.

Helene’s time in London exceeds her wildest expectations. She visits landmarks like Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle; explores Shakespeare’s favorite pub, Dickens’s house, and the Oxford University courtyard where John Donne used to walk; and makes a host of new friends from all walks of life, who take her to the theater, introduce her to institutions like Harrod’s, and share with her their favorite corners of countryside.

A love letter to England and its literary heritage, written by a Manhattanite who isn’t afraid to speak her mind (or tell a British barman how to make a real American martini), The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street is an endearing account of two wildly different worlds colliding; it’s an outsider’s witty, vibrant portrait of idiosyncratic British culture at its best, as well as a profound commentary about the written word’s power to sustain us, transport us, and unite us.

SECRETS OF ADULTHOOD
Simple Truths for our Complex Lives
By: Gretchen Rubin
Published: April 1, 2025
Publisher: Crown
Non-Fiction
Format: Hardcover purchase

I’m a huge fan of Gretchen Rubin and pre-ordered her newest book.

The right idea, invoked at the right time, can change our lives. Drawing from her long studies of happiness, and also from the challenges she’s faced herself, writer Gretchen Rubin has discovered the “Secrets of Adulthood” that can help us manage the complexities of life. To convey her conclusions, she turned to the aphorism—the ancient literary discipline that demands that a writer convey a large truth in a few words.

Perhaps you’re paralyzed by indecision, struggling to navigate a big change, fighting a temptation, or puzzled by the behavior of someone you love; whatever you face, the right aphorism can help. From procrastination to the pursuit of happiness, Secrets of Adulthood is filled with witty and thought-provoking reflections such as:

• “Recognize that, like sleeping with a big dog in a small bed, things that are uncomfortable can also be comforting”
• “Accept yourself, and expect more from yourself”
• “Easy children raise good parents”
• “What can be done at any time is often done at no time”

For anyone undergoing a major life transition, such as graduation, career switch, marriage, or moving, or for those just encountering everyday dilemmas, these disarming aphorisms will inspire you by articulating truths that you may never have noticed but instantly recognize.

THE SOUL OF AN OCTOPUS
A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Conscioousness
By: Sy Montgomery
Published: May 12, 2015
Publisher: Atria Books
Non-Fiction
Format: Paperback, thrifted

I first read Montgomery’s WHAT THE CHICKEN KNOWS early this year, and then found out she has also written other animal-related books, including this one. I find the octopus fascinating, so I added this to my list of books to find, and I spotted it on a Goodwill shelf this month.

In pursuit of the wild, solitary, predatory octopus, popular naturalist Sy Montgomery has practiced true immersion journalism. From New England aquarium tanks to the reefs of French Polynesia and the Gulf of Mexico, she has befriended octopuses with strikingly different personalities—gentle Athena, assertive Octavia, curious Kali, and joyful Karma. Each creature shows her cleverness in myriad ways: escaping enclosures like an orangutan; jetting water to bounce balls; and endlessly tricking companions with multiple “sleights of hand” to get food.

Scientists have only recently accepted the intelligence of dogs, birds, and chimpanzees but now are watching octopuses solve problems and are trying to decipher the meaning of the animal’s color-changing techniques. With her “joyful passion for these intelligent and fascinating creatures” (Library Journal Editors’ Spring Pick), Montgomery chronicles the growing appreciation of this mollusk as she tells a unique love story. By turns funny, entertaining, touching, and profound, The Soul of an Octopus reveals what octopuses can teach us about the meeting of two very different minds.

TRUTH & BEAUTY
A Friendship
By: Ann Patchett
Published: May 11, 2004
Publisher: Harper
Memoir
Format: Paperback, thrifted

I first heard about this book and her friendship with Lucy while reading Patchett’s memoir, THESE PRECIOUS DAYS. I was thrilled to spot this on a Goodwill shelf this month.

Ann Patchett and the late Lucy Grealy met in college in 1981, and, after enrolling in the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, began a friendship that would be as defining to both of their lives as their work. In Grealy’s critically acclaimed memoir Autobiography of a Face, she wrote about losing part of her jaw to childhood cancer, years of chemotherapy and radiation, and endless reconstructive surgeries. In Truth and Beauty, the story isn’t Lucy’s life or Ann’s life but the parts of their lives they shared. This is a portrait of unwavering commitment that spans twenty years, from the long winters of the Midwest to surgical wards to book parties in New York. Through love, fame, drugs, and despair, this is what it means to be part of two lives that are intertwined–and what happens when one is left behind.

I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE BETTER THAN THIS
Rise From Disappointment, Regain Control, and Rebuild a Life You Love
By: Jessica N. Turner
Published: April 8, 2025
Publisher: Worthy Books
Memoir
Format: Hardcover purchase

I have followed Jessica Turner on social media for a long time and witnessed her journey since the end of her marriage. I think her book can help many women who have felt loss and disappointment in their lives.

What happens when you look at your life and think, I thought it would be better than this? You know you can’t stay where you are, but have no idea what to do next. 

When Jessica N. Turner, a mom of three, lost her 16-year-marriage after her husband came out as gay, her life shattered. With grit and determination, she picked up the pieces, chose hope and courageously rebuilt a beautiful next chapter.  

During this process, Jessica discovered universal tools that can support you, no matter what you’re facing. Using thoughtful reflections and exercises, vulnerable storytelling, and practical takeaways, Jessica will help  

Evaluate your disappointments, heartaches, and unmet expectations so that you can move forward in healing. Talk candidly about your feelings to forge healthier and more meaningful relationships. Practice forgiveness and empathy for yourself and others so that you live with more love and less pain. Regain control over the parts of life where you have agency instead of passively waiting for things to happen to you. Discover creative practices to cultivate daily satisfaction and contentment.  Learn to love yourself and the characteristics that make you unique so that you can be more confident and content. I Thought It Would Be Better Than This is a manifesto of hope that will empower you to transform your circumstances and move forward with intention and purpose. 

DEAR HIGHLIGHTS
What Adults Can Learn from 75 Years of Letters and Conversations with Kids
By: Christine French Cully
Published: August 10, 2021
Publisher: Highlights Press
Non-Fiction
Format: Hardcover, thrifted

Again, this is my push for you to add books you want to read to your thrifting list. You never know what you will find while you are looking at the shelves, usually for less than $3. I was a Highlights Magazine kid growing up. I also sent in letters, drawings, etc, to the magazine editors and did every puzzle in every magazine. I expect this to be a great nostalgic read for me.

A unique, inside look at American childhood through the conversations between Highlights magazine and its young readers and a call to grown-ups to make time to actively listen to the children in their lives.

Every year, tens of thousands of children write to Highlights magazine, sharing their hopes and dreams, worries and concerns, as if they were writing to a trusted friend. From the beginning, the editors at Highlights have answered every child individually. Longtime editor in chief Christine French Cully has curated a collection of this remarkable correspondence (letters, emails, drawings, and poems) in Dear Highlights–revealing an intimate and inspiring 75-year conversation between America’s children and its leading children’s magazine. From the timeless, everyday concerns of friendship, family, and school, to the deeper issues of identity, sexuality, divorce, and grief, here is a unique time capsule of American childhood in the voices–and the very handwriting–of children themselves. The book captures a child’s-eye view of some of the most important events of the past 75 years: the COVID-19 pandemic, 9/11, the Challenger Disaster, and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Cully’s insightful narrative becomes a call to action for adults to lean in and listen to children, to make sure our kids know that they matter and what they think matters, and to assure them that they have the power to become people who change the world.

By turns funny, heartbreaking, moving, and enlightening, Dear Highlights will cause readers to reflect, to listen, and to embrace the children in their lives.

EVERY DAY WITH BABS
101 Family-Friendly Dinners for Every Day of the Week
By: Barbara Costello
Published: April 8, 2025
Publisher: Clarkson Potter
Cookbook
Format: Hardcover purchase

I’m a huge fan of Babs and pre-ordered her newest cookbook.

From her years of experience feeding her family as a mother of four and now a grandmother of nine, Barbara Costello has perfected her roster of comforting and delicious family-approved meals. Now all the mealtime ingenuity that has been passed down to her, or that she’s earned through trial and error, is here in this book, for you! Every Day with Babs will be your go-to dinner resource, with Babs as your surrogate mom or grandma helping to get delicious meals organized, prepped, and on the table in no time, every night of the week.

In the pages of Every Day, Babs has done all the thinking for you because with so much on your plate already, you shouldn’t have to stress about dinner! The chapters are organized by day of the week, each with a particular theme or cooking method that keeps in mind the rhythm of the week. We all know making dinner on a Monday feels very different than a Sunday, so there are recipes to suit everyone’s mood, schedule, and cooking style:

• Get Your “Sheet” (Pan) Together Monday: Sheet-pan recipes such as Roasted Sausage, Peppers & Gnocchi, Maple-Lime Salmon with Coconut Rice, Lemon Basil Chicken & Couscous, and Family Fajita Night
• Eat Twice Twosday: Batch cooking at its best, with Grammie’s Chicken Cutlets, I Nailed Falafel with Tzatziki Slaw, Sesame Chicken Noodle Salad, and Minnie’s Meatballs
• One and Only Wednesday: One-pot meals such as Warm Hug Bacon Pasta, Salsa Verde Fish Tostadas, Mini-Van Pepperoni Pizza Chicken, and Spinach-Artichoke Rice & Bean Bake
• Thrifty Thursday: Dinners that use pantry staples, like Cook’s Secret Weeknight Beef Stew, Chicken & Rice Casserole for the Soul, Beth’s Sloppy Joe Casserole, and Clean Your Fridge Frittata
• Fri-Yay: Fun crowd-pleasers like Spicy Tuna Sushi Bake, Pimento Cheese Patty Melts, The BEST Fish & Chips, and Reuben Pastry Pockets

• Low and Slow Saturday: Hands-off slow cooker recipes such as French Onion Soup Pot Roast, Finger Lickin’ Good Sweet & Sour Ribs, and Not to Be Missed Moroccan Chickpea Apricot Stew
• Sunday Supper: Special meals to share, including Lobster Roll Cobb Salad, Pesto Rack of Lamb with Tomato-Mozzarella Salad, and Aunt Louise’s Eggplant Parmesan
• Sweet Tooth: Easy and nostalgic desserts like Babs’ Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies, Key Lime Icebox Cake, Caramel Apple Crisp, and Scotcheroos

No matter how you’re feeling by dinner, there is a recipe in here that will fit the bill. Your family will soon be part of the clean plate club and you will be considered a virtual magician in the kitchen, too! Don’t panic, it’s easier than you think. Babs has you covered!

CHILDREN’S FICTION AND NON-FICTION

I’M A BABY
By: Terry Pierce
Illustrated by: Volha Kaliaha
Published: May 6, 2025
Publisher: Familius
Fiction
Format: Boardbook for Review

I’ve shared several books by Terry Pierce. This one is a day in the life of a baby from the perspective of a baby.

An adorable baby explains what it’s like to live a day as a baby, from morning diaper change to afternoon walk to bathtime and bedtime. With a hilarious cat to find on each spread, rhyming text by Terry Pierce, and illustrations by Volha Kaliaha, I’m a Baby is the perfect board book to help soon-to-be older siblings adjust to life with a baby.

WHERE ARE YOU, BRONTË?
By: Tomie dePaola
Illustrated by: Barbara McClintock
Published: May 6, 2025
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Fiction
Format: Hardcover Picture Book for Review

From the beloved author, Tomie dePaola!

Children’s book legend Tomie dePaola tells the emotional and deeply personal story about overcoming his grief after the loss of his beloved dog, Brönte.

SEVEN: A MOST REMARKABLE PIGEON
By: Sandra Nickel
Illustrated by: Aimée Sicuro
Published: May 6, 2025
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Fiction
Format: Hardcover Picture Book for Review

This might be a great book for an only child or those who feel different from others. I’ve shared other books by Sandra Nickel, HERE.

A pigeon named Seven is born alone, instead of in the usual pair, and it soon becomes clear that he’s not like the rest of his flock. While pigeons always build their nests from straw and twigs, Seven lines his with rose petals (their scent is dreamy!). While the rest of the pigeons gobble crumbs in the park, Seven can’t help but follow the nutty aroma of rice, even if it means drifting away from the flock. What’s more, although pigeons are expected to home—to find their way home from wherever they may be by following landmarks—Seven gets too distracted by the tangy scent of peaches, the earthy smell of evergreens, and the honey of a butterfly bush to make a mental map the way his father wants him to. But when his flock takes a long trip to the countryside and the fog rolls in on their way home, Seven’s keen sense of smell might just be what leads them all back safely. Sandra Nickel’s charming tale, paired with Aimée Sicuro’s endearing illustrations, celebrates the different ways that folks of all feathers navigate the world.

NEARLY EXACTLY ALMOST LIKE ME
By: Jennifer Bradbury
Illustrated by: Pearl AuYeung
Published: February 11, 2025
Publisher: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
Fiction
Format: Hardcover Picture Book for Review

Great for blended, mixed-race, and adopted families.

When they hear the singsong tune of an ice cream truck, two brothers race to get in line! Big brother beats little brother and holds their spot. But when little brother catches up, another kid challenges him joining his brother in no cutting! Everyone knows that cutting doesn’t count when you’re siblings, but the kid doesn’t believe they can be brothers when they don’t look anything alike.

The brothers may not be biologically related, but they’re still brothers, and they have so much else in common! They both like candy way too much, love swimming but hate baths, and know their parents love them. Big brother knows that differences on the surface don’t matter when in his heart, his little brother is just like him.

BITSY BAT, TEAM STAR
By: Kaz Windness
Published: February 4, 2025
Publisher: Beach Lane Books
Fiction
Format: Hardcover Picture Book for Review

The sequel to BITSY BAT, SCHOOL STAR, features a nonverbal, autistic character.

Bitsy Bat is a star student and the only fantastic flier at Crittercrawl Elementary…until a new nonspeaking student named Enzo Owl arrives and outflies her during recess. Bitsy worries her friends won’t think she’s special anymore, so she’s determined to beat Enzo in the upcoming Critter Games and prove she’s the better flier.

But when her friend Mo needs help during the race, Bitsy must choose between winning and being a star teammate. And while she’s at it, she just might discover that making a new friend is more special than any trophy.

This sequel to Bitsy Bat, School Star is told from an autistic perspective and celebrates how our differences make each of us shine brightly on our own and as part of a team.

THE ZOMBEES
By: Justin Colón
Illustrated by: Kaly Quarles
Published: July 15, 2025
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Fiction
Format: Hardcover Picture Book for Review

Plan early for your children’s next Halloween read!

What’s that creepy buzzing sound coming from the graveyard ground?

ZOMBEES!

When these undead insects invade, they send everyone fleeing in fright.

Are they hunting for a snack?
Do they like the taste of veins?
Have they come to eat your brains?!

Find out in this rhyming Halloween tale with an unexpected twist!

THE GREAT POLLINATOR COUNT
By: Susan Edwards Richmond
Illustrated by: Stephanie Fizer Coleman
Published: April 15, 2025
Publisher: Margaret Quinlin Books
Fiction
Format: Hardcover Picture Book for Review

Pair this one with COUNTING BIRDS about the history of the annual Bird Count.

Today Mellie and her friends are excited to participate in The Great Pollinator Count. Everyone is hoping that the school garden will attract even more pollinators than they counted last year. Mellie and her friend Sylvie invite Jason, a new kid in their class, to come along. When Jason surprises them by showing up for the count, they find out that he is not at all interested in counting icky bugs.

Mellie is unprepared when Ms. Bombus, their teacher, assigns her to be Jason’s partner. Making the best of an awkward situation, Mellie tries to show Jason how to look for honeybees, butterflies, and other insect pollinators among the lantana and bee balm plants. He hangs back at first, still not convinced he wants to be that close to these buzzy insects, but it isn’t long before he is looking for pollinators on his own.

By the time the whistle blows to end the count, both kids have learned
a lot about pollinators and discovered the rewards of teamwork in community science. 

Young readers can count along with Mellie and Jason as they record each insect that lands on a flower and list them on the sidebar tally sheets. When Ms. Bombus finally calls “Time’s up,” readers will be ready to join a pollinator count in their own community!

Stephanie Fizer Coleman’s charming illustrations give readers a “bug’s eye” view of the pollination counting process. In the back matter, the author provides a detailed glossary, resources, and information about America’s largest regional pollinator count.

ARE YOU A FRIEND OF DOROTHY?
The True Story of an Imaginary Woman and the Real People She Helped
By: Kyle Lukoff
Illustrated by: Levi Hastings
Published: April 29, 2025
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Historical Non-Fiction
Format: Hardcover Picture Book for Review

How did an imaginary woman help people find connection and community?

In a time when the LGBTQ+ community was forced to hide in the shadows, a woman named Dorothy helped her people find each other in the dark and celebrate themselves in the light.

But who was Dorothy? Was she from the neighborhood, someone’s wife, mother, or sister? Was she that clever writer, who threw parties where there were no rules about who you could and couldn’t dance with? Or was she a girl from Kansas, who dreamed of leaving her black-and-white, small-town life and finding a vibrant, colorful world that loved her?

Dorothy might have been all these things—because Dorothy, as known by the post-WWII queer community, wasn’t real. Still, she helped a community find connection and care amidst adversity.

CAITLIN CLARK: A Little Golden Book Biography
By: Marisa DiNovis
Illustrated by: Joanie Stone
Published: April 15, 2025
Publisher: Golden Books
Non-Fiction/Biography
Format: Hardcover Picture Book for Review

I’ve already shared about this book, HERE.

THE GLASS PYRAMID
A Story of the Louvre Museum and Architect I. M. Pei
By: Jeanne Walker Harvey
Illustrated by: Khoa Le
Published: May 27, 2025
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Non-Fiction/Biography
Format: Hardcover Picture Book for Review

I’ve shared other biographies by Jeanne Walker Harvey that were quite wonderful.

In 1981, I. M. Pei was on a mission. A successful architect known for his modern designs, Pei was asked by the French president to redesign the Louvre Museum in Paris, home to the Mona Lisa and now famous for the glass pyramid at its center. At the time, the Louvre had many problems and no pyramid.

Pei faced many obstacles, including discrimination because he was Chinese American. Determined to succeed and make the Louvre a welcome place for all, Pei worked hard—and sometimes in secret. This is the story of a visionary who worked patiently and persistently to solve problems and achieve his to plant and grow a glass pyramid.

INSECTARIUM
Welcome to the Museum
By: Dave Goulson
Illustrated by: Emily Carter
Published: May 6, 2025
Publisher: Big Picture Press
Non-Fiction
Format: Oversized Hardcover Picture Book for Review

For kids who love bugs, this book is so awesome. It’s oversized and full of illustrations and interesting insects.

This gorgeous new offering from the Welcome to the Museum series introduces readers to some of the most essential creatures in the natural world: insects. Making up over 80 percent of living species on Earth, at least one million insect species dwell and thrive in a world right below our feet. In the galleries of Insectarium, readers will meet creatures such as the beautiful demoiselle and the gigantic goliath beetle, learning why and how these small creatures have such a huge impact on the world around us.

ZOOMI & ZOE AND THE TRICKY TURNAROUND
By: Corey Ann Haydu
Illustrated by: Anne Appert
Published: June 3, 2025
Publisher: Quirk Books
Middle-Grade Fiction
Format: Paperback Chapter Book for Review

A witty, fun new series for early chapter book readers!

Zoe loves routine, her stuffed rhino Zoomi, and her best friend Kyla. When Kyla moves away, Zoe feels alone. Until somehow, she’s transported to a magical new world with just one sort-of-familiar Zoomi, who is suddenly very much real.

Zoomi loves adventure, zooming, and her best friend Moo. In her world, life is full of happy surprises, but one ritual is when something hard happens, she’ll have Tricky Turnaround. And when she does, a Happy Helpful Human from the “real” world will arrive to help her through it.

But when Zoe arrives, she doesn’t seem very happy. Or helpful. Or interested in the party Zoomi threw for her—complete with toothbrushes and a rainbow mud slide. In fact, Zoe may be navigating a Tricky Turnaround of her own. Can Zoomi and Zoe come together to help each other with the trickier parts of growing up, like saying goodbye to friends and making new ones?

Keep an eye out for book two, The Sibling Situation, launching in August 2025!

Which books are you adding to your reading list?

Click HERE to see all the posts featuring new books on my shelves.

So many books, so little time!