Books - Pocketful of Joules

Loving Right Now: Amazon First Reads & an Awesome Book

I’ve been an Amazon Prime member for years and I just found out about Amazon First Reads!

Each month, they release a list of editors picks and Amazon Prime members get to choose one FREE Kindle book each month! If you’re not a Kindle person, you can get a discounted rate to shop the hardcover version for $9.99 or less.

I somehow stumbled on the May First Reads list and downloaded The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms.

Synopsis: Overworked and underappreciated, single mom Amy Byler needs a break. So when the guilt-ridden husband who abandoned her shows up and offers to take care of their kids for the summer, she accepts his offer and escapes rural Pennsylvania for New York City.

Usually grounded and mild mannered, Amy finally lets her hair down in the city that never sleeps. She discovers a life filled with culture, sophistication, and—with a little encouragement from her friends—a few blind dates. When one man in particular makes quick work of Amy’s heart, she risks losing herself completely in the unexpected escape, and as the summer comes to an end, Amy realizes too late that she must make an impossible decision: stay in this exciting new chapter of her life, or return to the life she left behind.

But before she can choose, a crisis forces the two worlds together, and Amy must stare down a future where she could lose both sides of herself, and every dream she’s ever nurtured, in the beat of a heart.

You guys, I COULD NOT put this book down. I loved Amy so much and I was cheering for her the entire way of the book.

If you have Kindle Unlimited, this book is free. If you don’t the cost is $4.99 for a Kindle download, $10.37 for a paperback or $15.99 for a hardcover. There is also a chance you can reserve it at your local library. Any which way, READ IT!

Here is a link to the Kindle version: https://amzn.to/2PXPYz6

Here is a link to the Paperback version: https://amzn.to/2HinTQt

Here is a link to the Hardcover version: https://amzn.to/2LDttB3

Have you read a great book lately that you want to share?

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Favorite Books for a 7-Year-Old

I mentioned that I picked up a bunch of books for Jack at the thrift store recently, which made me think that it would be fun to share some of his current favorite books. He is in the ‘early reader’ stage where he is getting better and better at reading on his own each week, so by picking books he can read himself with little help it helps raise his confidence.

For the past 7 years, I’ve been reading him a book before bed each night. But for the past month or so, he ALSO reads me a book before bed. It’s enough to make my little bookworm heart grow three sizes!

Here are our current favs:

For Jack to Read To Me

At this point we probably own over a dozen Pete the Cat books (easily), but Jack LOVES them… so if I ever see one we don’t have I tend to snap it up. They range in skill level though, so some of them are ‘mommy read’ books and some are ‘Jack read’ books. All these are books that Jack can read to me with little to no help:

Pete the Cat and the Lost Tooth: https://amzn.to/2DEFOi1
Pete the Cat and the Bad Banana https://amzn.to/2GRJXkA
Pete the Cat Pete’s Big Lunch https://amzn.to/2GQHAON
Pete the Cat and the Surprise Teacher https://amzn.to/2UJxF1n

For Me to Read to Jack

What Should Danny Do (The Power to Choose) https://amzn.to/2J2ZOOG

My friend Lindsey sent this book over to Jack and he LOVES it and has made me read it to him probably 20 times so far. It is a choose your own adventure book with a twist… Danny can either choose good choices (such as share with his brother) or bad choices (such as destroy his brother’s game) and then you get to see the consequences. When pulling up this book, I saw that there is a second book in the series, What Should Danny Do? School Day, so I immediately ordered it.

Dog Man https://amzn.to/2IOZkMY

Dog Man Lord of the Fleas https://amzn.to/2IYDAxk

If you have a first grader, you MUST check out the Dog Man books. Jack is obsessed with them! They are in comic book format, so most of the scenes are easy to understand even without knowing the big words. We currently own 5 out of 6 Dog Man books and each night will read 2 – 3 chapters. Jack loves them so much that he begs for additional chapters every single night!

Now it’s your turn to share, do you have kid book recommendations?

Disclosure: Pocketful of Joules is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Loving Right Now: Book Recommendations

I’ve been on a bit of a reading kick lately and have read some really fabulous books lately! I know a bunch of you are big readers as well, so I wanted to pass on my recommendations. As always, be sure to check your library first to save yourself some moolah.

Roomies by Christina Lauren

Paperback version on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Ev0JF0

Kindle version on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2NsufOD

Holland Bakker has been obsessed with her subway musician crush for months, so when an opportunity arises to connect, she goes for it. There is job craziness, romance, family issues and more. This was one of the books recommended to me previously when I asked for your recommendations.

I downloaded it on my kindle and LOVED it. Sure, some parts are a little predictable, but the love story is sweet and awfully hot in places. I thought this one was great and will be keeping a look out for more books by Christina Lauren.

The Bucket List: A Novel by Georgia Clark

Hardcover version on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2tAYIAD

Kindle version on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Ew8HgX

Not to be confused with The Bucket List movie with two old guys, this novel is more of a bucket list for boobies. The main character of this book is Lacey Whitman, who is blindsided when she is diagnosed with the BRACA1 gene mutation that can be an early indicator of breast cancer. Before deciding whether to get a preventative double mastectomy, she decides to write a sassy bucket list for everything she wants to do before saying goodbye to her boobs.

This book was hilarious and sexy and sad all at once and I loved it. I was able to check it out from my local library, so be sure to check yours ASAP to read this one!

Hungry Heart: Adventures in Life, Love and Writing by Jennifer Weiner

Paperback version on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2VhABmv

Kindle version on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2XkXmaY

Jennifer Weiner is one of the queens of ‘chick lit’ and I’ve loved her writing ever since I read Good in Bed. This non-fiction book is a collection of her essays on everything from weight, her career, money, her mother’s coming out of the closet and her relationship with her father.

From her stories of her lonely adolescence to getting published for the very first time, I was entranced by every single chapter in the book. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this book and immediately went and followed Jennifer Weiner on Instagram.

Now it’s your turn to share, what books are you totally loving right now?