The Children of Noisy Village

The Children of Noisy Village, by Astrid Lindgren

19/60 | Started 03.07.25 • Finished 04.07.25 | 5 stars

"This book is about a girl named Lisa and all of her friends. They live in Noisy Village and have all kinds of adventures. My favorite funny story is “Anna and I go shopping.” They go to the store to get some things and then walk back to the fork in the road, where they remember that they forgot to buy some things. This happens several times, then they finally get home, and Anna remembers that they forgot the main thing they went for, bologna sausage! This story was sooo hilarious."

Carolyn, age 8

The Sixteen Trees of the Somme

The Sixteen Trees of the Somme, by Lars Mytting

18/60 | Started 03.19.25 • Finished 04.06.25 | 4 stars

[Excuse the mock up - the book has since disappeared from all of my Libby accounts and is not carried at my local library.]

This one felt like a beast of a tale, though it wasn't much over 400 pages. It had a slew of different interpersonal connections that required paying careful attention. It all centers around a certain set of trees, sixteen in number, in the Somme region of France during World War I. It's also about family secrets, tragedy, and how wood grows and ages. It felt like quite an intricate puzzle, but was a great read.

Encouragement for the Depressed

Encouragement for the Depressed, by Charles H. Spurgeon

17/60 | Started 03.07.25 • Finished 04.05.25 | 4.5 stars

This short little book was almost perfect. Spurgeon is wonderful on mental health and the spiritual life as he himself was often afflicted with depression. I found the first part of the book extremely beneficial; the last part, less so. Took me a while to read it because I took it in bite sizes, but you could easily read through this in one sitting.