The Family Handyman

The Family Handyman Refresh Your Home and 100 Weekend Projects Anyone Can Do
Refresh Your Home has many tips and techniques to save you money, energy, and frustration. There is a lot of useful information for the seasoned DIYer to the beginner. The book includes pro’s favorite shortcuts, info on which products work best and some funny stories of other homeowner’s bloopers.

100 Weekend Projects has some great ideas with all color photos and easy step by step instructions. (I’ve already arranged to have one project built for me!) I liked the book so much I bought one for a Christmas gift.

Both books would be great to have in your home library.

~ Dixie

Today Will Be Different

By Maria Semple
Audiobook format

Did you, like me, enjoy 'Where'd You Go, Bernadette?' also by Maria Semple? There are some definite similarities between Bernadette and Eleanor Flood. Each, a middle-aged woman living with her husband and child in Seattle; stay-at-home Moms who previously had prestigious careers; quirky and neurotic people with a dry wit and a hilarious take on everyday life.

In 'Today Will Be Different', Eleanor is the wife to Joe, a hand surgeon who’s a team doctor for the Seattle Seahawks, and mother to young Timby.

Overcoming buried family secrets & painful memories, this is a funny and smart book that made me laugh out loud and the audiobook narrator is the best!

~ Paula

What We Find

By Robyn Carr

I will try any book written by Robyn Carr but I almost didn’t try this book because I thought what was written on the book jacket sounded like something that would not interest me.  I’m glad I didn’t listen to myself; I have thoroughly enjoyed this book.  Fans of Robyn Carr and folks new to this author, give this book a try, you will enjoy how she represents powerful women and their interactions with other women and men in stressful situations as well as everyday life.  I appreciate how Robyn Carr always leaves you feeling good about the characters and the lives they “live”.

~ Beckie

The Lake House

By Kate Morton

Every family has secrets and the Edevane family is no different. It is 1933 and the Edevane family is hosting their Midsummer party. This all night party is a huge event for hundreds of people and looked forward to with great anticipation. Before the night is over, a great tragedy strikes and life is never the same for this family.

Theo Edevane, the much loved only son, has vanished from his crib. The happiness of this party night has vanished also. The long investigation that ensues turns up nothing and the Edevane family leaves their beloved summer estate for London, never to return.

Seventy years later, Sadie, a young detective stumbles upon the run down mansion and learns of the baby boy who disappeared so long ago. What Sadie uncovers is an astonishing tale of secrets, suspicions and regret. I loved this book, it kept me guessing until the end.

~ Dixie

The Great Shelby Holmes

by Elizabeth Eulberg

This is a fun middle grade mystery. Shelby Holmes is not your ordinary nine year old. She is in sixth grade, barely four feet tall and has bright red hair. What makes Shelby really stand out is her skill as a detective in her Harlem neighborhood. Shelby studies people: what they say, how they act, and what they wear. What Shelby doesn’t understand is friendship. She has never had a good friend and her blunt behavior probably has a lot to do with that.  When John Watson moves into the Harlem neighborhood with his Mom, he wants to find a friend. John is patient with Shelby’s unusual personality so he can figure out how she does the detective work. As Watson learns about sleuthing, Holmes learns about friendship and together they solve a missing dog mystery. Told from Watson’s perspective, the story also touches on Watson struggling with moving often and his parents’ divorce.

~Dixie