Happy Wednesday!! Yesterday was a day full of my favorites: sunshine and books!! We kicked off our school wide book club by distributing over 350 copies of Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein to every single family in the school. It was so much fun to hand out the books and see the excitement on the students’ faces when the book was finally revealed!

Those carts are double sided and pretty full!! We’ll be reading for the next two months and discussing everything that happens at school! This is a great book for elementary and middle school aged kids if you haven’t read it yet!

And, the sun was shining for my run this afternoon! It was wonderful!

I also wanted to share my Jolabokaflod books this year. I really think I nailed it!!

To recap, Jolabokaflod is an Icelandic tradition of exchanging books on Christmas Eve and then taking some time to enjoy your books. You pronounce it yo-la-bok-a-flot. It’s pretty fun to say and celebrate! What could be better than giving the people you love books?? Last year, I had a couple of misses but not this year! These books are good!!

Jeff: This year was a little cheat for Jeff. He told me he wanted this book. I had another one in mind but I’ll save it for next year. Jeff’s a HUGE Beastie Boys fan. We’ve seen them in concert a bunch of times. He listens to their music all the time. One of the first songs Jack recognized was Paul Revere by The Beastie Boys because Jeff played it for him so much. 😊

My Dad: I was so excited about my dad’s book this year. My dad is a huge golfer and Pinehurst holds a special spot in all of our hearts. My grandparents retired there and we have so many great memories there. Willie McRae is a famous caddy from Pinehurst and this is his story. I can’t wait to hear what he thinks of the book!

Jack and Luke: The boys got the same book. Dog Man #6 came out on Christmas Eve so it was a no brained to pick this one. Jack and Luke love the Dog Man books and they devoured this one.

My Mom: My mom is a tricky one because we talk so much about books and she usually reads everything I do. She reads a bunch and is a critical reader. I usually like everything I read, but Mom is a little tougher on books. That means if she recommends something, I run out to read it immediately! I found a book that was booktalked as “like JoJo Moyes, but better and set in the French countryside. The cover is beautiful and I can’t wait to hear what she thinks.

My Sister: This book came to mind as soon as I started thinking of books for Annie. She loves chic lit and from what I’ve heard this is right up her alley. I haven’t read it yet, so I am hoping she reads it before I see her again so I can borrow it back. 😉

Me: Jeff picked out two books for me. He decided to go outside of my normal reading genres and I can’t wait to read them. I am over 2 years into a run streak and am always looking for ways to become a better runner. These look funny and interesting!

📚 Jolabokaflod Book Clubs 📚

I decided to try something new this year. I picked two books that I would read with the recipients.

I gave my mom and sister Seven Days of Us. I thought it was soooo good. My mom just finished it and we’ve been texting about it. I can’t wait to talk to her about it face to face on Friday! It’ll be the first annual meeting of a Jolabokaflod Book Club!! Annie hasn’t finished it yet but I think a triple FaceTime will be in order when she does!

I gave Jeff’s mom, Karen, The Glass Ocean for another Jolabokaflod Book Club. I have been wanting to read it since I met Beatriz Williams last summer. I am going to start that one as soon as Karen is ready.

I can’t wait to hear what everyone thinks of their books! We’ve got some good reading to do! Happy reading to everyone, everywhere!!

Linking up with Lindsay and the Welcome Wednesday girls.