Quarantine 15: Books for the Whole Fam

With the coronavirus keeping us all at home, the joke is that people are gaining the “quarantine 15” ala the freshman 15. Since my scale broke and pajama pants are my new work uniform, there’s no way to know if it’s actually the “pandemic 25-pounder” (yeah, not the same ring) so instead I’m doing the book edition. And since there are five members of our crew, we each get three book recommendations. I’ll start with me since I’m the coolest.

FYI, this post contains affiliate links beneath each image. On the off chance you take my lovely recommendations and decide to purchase one of these books, I’ll make approximately two cents. Look. Out.

Untamed
This might just be one of the best books/memoirs I’ve read all year. I keep thinking of women I know who should own this book as I read further into it. There’s so much wisdom packed into each short chapter about how to live life to the fullest. I’ve dog eared at least a dozen pages with passages that spoke to me. Moms with daughters should especially consider putting this in their cart!

There There
This book had so many outstanding reviews and I would recommend it as well though it’s certainly not light reading. It’s includes a cast of a dozen Native Americans who are intertwined (though some don’t know it) and all headed to the same Pow Wow event. I liked the story format and even though it was fiction, it was educational and eye-opening.

Summer of 69
Elin Hilderbrand is my go-to author! I love everything she writes. The stories flow so well and she creates multiple characters in each book whom all have a believable voice in different chapters. Bonus: her books are set in extremely vacationable places like Nantucket and the USVI, both of which I want to visit now! Whenever anyone asks for a “beach read,” she is the one I recommend!

Rob’s books

We Say Never Again 
I can’t say as much about Rob’s books since I haven’t read them yet, but I plan to. This one is authored by the Parkland student journalists from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High where a school shooter killed 17. Rob said that he has had to stop several times when the book became too much, but I truly hope that doesn’t scare you off because it’s so important that we not forget what happened and hear the voices of these courageous students.

If We Were Giants
No, this is not listed under the wrong person. This is a YA book, but it is authored by Dave Matthews, therefore we own it. While he’s only a few chapters in, Rob said it’s not just getting good reviews because it’s DMB, but the storyline is intriguing and features a young female as the lead character. Excited to read it when my other family members are done with it.

Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
This is somewhat facetious because Rob’s never really read this book. It’s an ongoing joke in our family because he won a quiz my dad gave about this book to myself and my sisters about 10 years ago. I was giving Rob a synopsis of the 7 baby steps to living debt free on the way to my Dad’s house for Christmas and he ended up using this info against me to beat me at the quiz! Damnit Janet! Regardless, this book offers simple financial advice that I constantly come back to, hence why we’ve kept it so long. It’s guided our monetary decision making, and something I wish I would’ve read a lot sooner than 27 years old.

Faith’s Books

The Magic Misfits

This is a series by Neil Patrick Harris aka Doogie Howser, and while the picture shows the 3rd book in the series, the text links to the first one. Truth be told, I struggle to get Faith to read anything but graphic novels. While of course I want her to enjoy her books, her teacher suggested she continue to challenge herself with more difficult chapter books and we couldn’t agree more. Once she finally got started on this, she couldn’t put it down and read the next two from the library within the week. There are four total, and these are definitely ones I want to read as well.

Restart

This is a YA book that I did read. It’s about a boy that gets a concussion, which also happened to Faith, though the main character’s head injury was much more severe. He doesn’t remember who he was before the accident, so the plot drew me in right away. The lessons about kindness and compassion in middle school are powerful and told at a level even elementary kids can understand.

Nicola Berry
Liane Moriarty is one of my favorite authors (Big Little Lies, The Husband’s Secret, Nine Perfect Strangers). So when she came out with this children’s book series (3 total), I was all in. Faith and I read these together. It’s science fiction-y yet not overly so for a children’s book. The heroine’s humbleness and the quirks about other planets throughout the book make it fun for the imagination.

Gabby’s Books

Timmy Failure
This is a book series that was turned into a cute Disney movie: Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made. I’m always a big fan of reading the book, then watching the movie but Gabby did the opposite with this one. They aren’t graphic novels but have lots of illustrations throughout so a great in-between option as young readers progress. I’ve heard her laughing out loud several times while reading these which always makes me smile.

Knock Knock Jokes for Kids

This was an airport impulse buy to entertain the girls on our trip back from Florida (a lifetime ago) and it did not disappoint. Be prepared for lots of “Mom, listen to this one.” If your little ones are into jokes, I’d highly recommend these by Rob Elliott.

Anything by Mo Willems
Mo Willems is the new and improved Dr. Seuss! The books feature Gerald the Elephant and Piggy the Pig on their friendship adventures. The stories are just the right length without too many words on each page (Green Eggs and Ham, I’m looking at you), and the ideas are simple, yet fun and funny for all ages. We basically own every book he’s written. I’ve posted this one because I’m trying to live out the title.

Calvin’s Books

5-minute Spiderman Stories

Cal will sit and read this book by himself, which is the first thing that makes it a winner. The second is that it includes multiple stories that –you guessed it– take 5 minutes or less to read. Though sometimes it takes us longer because he asks “Why Piderman happy?” or “Why Piderman sad?” on every other page. There are 5-minute stories on basically every character you can think of if you’re looking for a good gift idea for a kiddo.

Goodnight, Baby

Little man is almost getting too big for this book, but he still really enjoys tucking each baby animal in with its mommy/daddy on the different pages. The ribbons pictured can get a bit tangled, but having an interactive book makes it worth it. Would highly recommend this for anyone between 1-2.

There’s a Mouse about the House

These books were both purchased through Usborne, but it looks like you can also buy them on Amazon. Cal loves pushing and pulling the squirrel and mouse through the book over and over again. In the event you lose the mouse or squirrel, the back of the hardcover shows you how to make a new one, so that’s another plus.

Hope you enjoyed our Quarantine 15! Shout out to the chair in our living room for serving as a backdrop for the books. (I think I’ve lost my mind typing that last sentence but oh well.) Let us know your favorites in the comments!