by Phoebe Guinn
Bedtime can be…a struggle. At the end of the day for any parent with young children, the idea of putting your children to sleep is almost bliss. Peace, quiet, and time for yourself. Bedtime books can be lifesavers in these situations, where kids can settle down, snuggle up, and get some much needed sleep. All of which makes finding books that you and your children enjoy even more important than one may think. It can be easy as a parent to look at the cover of a book and pick it up without knowing the impending doom of night after night of reading the same…not-so-good book. With this list, find the perfect bedtime books that won’t put you to sleep, too.
No, David! by David Shannon
With a Caldecott Honor under its belt, No, David! has become a fixture in households around the country for its quick and funky drawing style and light-hearted humor. Meet David, a typical young boy who just can not seem to keep out of trouble. This treasure is based on author David Shannon’s first autobiography that he wrote at just five years old. Delve into the sometimes chaotic world of No, David! with a little bit of humor and get ready for trouble!
Pirates Don’t Change Diapers by Melinda Long
In the sequel to How I Became a Pirate (which is arguably better than the original), David Shannon arrives again on this list for even more fantastic illustrations and with Melinda Long’s funny storytelling, this duo is bound to hit it out of the park. With a title that good, how can you pass it up? Jeremy and the crew are back at it again in the quest of babysitting his baby sister and (somehow) also finding treasure!
Grumpy Monkey by Suzanne Lang
Has your toddler ever been grumpy over absolutely nothing? This book is for you. Jim Panzee, the title monkey, is just having a grumpy day and can’t seem to get out of his sour mood. Follow this adorable character and his equally charming friends in the quest of not being so grumpy.
the Olivia series by Ian Falconer
Ian Falconer’s series of books details the life of Olivia, a young pig with a sassy attitude who might not be so different from most young human girls. Girls can relate to her and parents can laugh a all of her shenanigans and wild stories that seem oh-so-familiar. In the books, Olivia strives to be different and stand out against the crowd, her dreams filled with applause and encores from a packed audience. The Olivia books are charming, entertaining, and a joy to read with young girls.
the How Do Dinosaurs series by Jane Yolen
How Do Dinosaurs is great for young boys and girls who love dinosaurs and parents who want books in a series that have concepts such as love, friends, pets, school, bedtime, etc. With funny and beautiful illustrations, one can’t help but be sucked into this fun, not so imaginary world where dinosaurs rule.
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Any explanation needed? Where The Wild Things Are is the PERFECT book for any child. It’s a classic, wonderful for both girls and boys, and a way for parents to reminisce about their own childhood. The story is magical, enjoyable, and has an ending to warm anyone’s heart. The art paired with the spectacular writing allows the reader (or readers) to be fully immersed in the story as if they are walking beside its main character, Max, all along. Let yourself go wild with this spectacular classic, bound to keep moving down throughout the generations.
Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty
I’ll end this list with one of my favorite children’s books I have read this summer, focusing on the best book of the series. Ada Twist, Scientist along with Iggy Peck, Architect and Rosie Revere, Engineer are possibly the cutest children books I have ever had the privilege to read, and that is a lot coming from me, a person who probably says the word “cute” more times a day than I would like to admit. There is just something about these books that I cant help but adore–the way the rhyming in the books flows and creates such an amazing voice in the books is almost magical. The illustrations are unique and creative, and seem to have been done with care. I also love the adding of a main character of color in the series with Ada Twist, Scientist. The book seems to be the most “polished” book of the series, the story engages the reader, the colors in the illustrations are vibrant, and every child I have read it to adore it.
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As my sixteenth birthday has been quickly approaching, I have been really thinking about my childhood and what has made me who I am. To this day, some of the best memories I have with my parents are reading books and singing bedtime songs with them before I went to bed when I was younger. It meant so much to me to just have some time with my mom or dad, even if it was just for a few minutes, and I want every child to have that special experience with their parent or parents, too. So, take some time tonight with your kids and let the know how much you love them with a warm blanket, lots of kisses, and a really good book.
God Country has one of the most fascinating concepts I have seen in a while. It tells the story of Roy Quinlan and his family, particularly his father Emmett, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s. However, everything changes for the Quinlans when a magic sword falls from the sky in West Texas, and comes into Emmett’s possession. As long as Emmett is holding the sword, his Alzheimer’s is cured and all of his memories of his family return. However, the godlike beings to whom the sword belongs are coming for what is rightfully theirs, and Emmett is forced to fight for his memories. The story is fresh and interesting; it provides plenty of fun fantasy and action without giving up the soul at the center: the story of a family and a man who is struggling with the reality of his illness. The art style in God Country reflects the duality of the plot perfectly. The bleak, open landscapes of Texas contrast with Shaw’s fantastical concepts of the realms of the gods. Overall, God Country delivers emotion and spectacle in the five parts contained in this single volume.
The tagline of this volume, printed in large letters on the back cover, is quite unusual for a Superman comic:
The Doom Patrol is a classic superhero team that first debuted in 1963, and has had numerous iterations over the years. However, this new version of the team, created by Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance fame for his DC Comics imprint Young Animal, breathes new life into the characters. Doom Patrol Vol. 1 is a surrealist, bizarre take on the team. It brings a fantastic strangeness that doesn’t overtake a surprisingly solid plot. In its pages, you’ll find delightful weirdness, unique and fascinating characters, and wonderfully apt cartoon-esque art from Nick Derington that only further accentuates the sheer peculiarity of the whole book. Doom Patrol is a lot of fun and is great read whether you are an old-school comics fan or a new reader
Because I believe in desserts first to be sure I’m not too full for the sweets, I’ll begin with Ladurée: The Sweet Recipes, a collection from the famous Paris (now worldwide) pâtisserie. Baking isn’t my strength in the kitchen, but my sweet tooth makes this little book one of my favorites to flip through and recall the beautiful windows full of small cakes and tarts found all around Paris. The instructions are clearly written and shortcomings in my attempts with the recipes have more to do with a lack of patience on my part; everything always tastes great and as it should, but just isn’t put together in picture-perfect form. The Sweet Recipes features not only the macarons that 
Julia Child’s objective in writing 
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
The Hazel Wood
Turtles All the Way Down tells the story of Aza Holmes as she hangs out with her over-the-top friend Daisy, is awkwardly romanced bt her childhood friend Davis Pickett, and searches for clues as to what happened to the missing, 
Speaking of madcap hi-jinks, John Grisham released his second mystery novel for adults this year (
I’ve lived in the Jackson area all my life, and I love this city. I’ve spent a lot of time in Belhaven, Fondren, Downtown, the Interstate corridor, and parts all over. I find something new to love all the time, or I rediscover a spot once visited that tugs me back into the past. Although the Jackson this book captures is frozen in the specific period of 2013-14 (here’s a neat trick: compare the Lemuria cover to the view from a half-flight up Banner Hall’s staircase and see what noticeable feature is flipped), there’s a timeless quality to the sense of place the photographs capture. Murphy’s beautiful, mostly depopulated photos allow us to imagine ourselves among the beautiful scenes of the city we share, in both memory and possibility. If you haven’t already checked out one of Jackson books, a Lemuria exclusive, I highly encourage you to do so.
The first book on my list is the new novel from Alissa Nutting, 
Her only option is to seek refuge in her father’s home that is in a retirement trailer park. Did I mention that her widower father has just purchased a brand new lifelike sex doll named Diane? Hazel’s father’s hope is that in his last years he will die doing something that he loves; obviously, that thing is having sex with Diane. “Hazel began to look at the five-foot four-inch silicone princess a little differently now: Penthouse pet from waist up, Dr. Kevorkian from the waste down.” If this little bit I’ve just shared does not convince you to buy this book, then we do not share the same sick sense of humor…and that is totally your choice. Albeit the wrong one, but I digress.
Number two is 
Watch Me Disappear
Number four is 
Last but not least is number five on the list, 
To those who have heard his name, Arthur C. Clarke is most well-known as the co-creator of the book and subsequent film 2001: A Space Odyssey. However, his influence does not stop at cinema. Clarke’s theories in his books about satellites and orbits actually came to fruition in reality, so much so that a geosynchronous orbit used by telecommunications satellites is named after him (
There has been a lot of debate as to which author is truly the quintessential sci-fiauthor, and nearly every one comes to the same conclusion. Philip K. Dick made massive contributions to the entire genre of Science-Fiction, molding it into what it is today. Many of PKD’s works have been adapted to film and television, though few know it. Total Recall, The Adjustment Bureau, Minority Report, The Man in the High Castle, and Blade Runner are all based on his works. Because of this, many people are more familiar with his stories than they realize. My favorite work of his is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which was the basis for the film Blade Runner. It is a detective story at it’s heart, the story of Rick Deckard, a “Blade Runner,” a detective who specializes in identifying and decommissioning rogue androids. It’s an interesting take on the classic mystery novel, and I love it.
Douglas Adams was, for the most part, a humorist in the vein of Mark Twain, but his genre of choice was science fiction. His masterpiece, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and its sequels, now published together as The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, are the best example of his sharp wit and absurdist style of Adams’ work. The opening of the book features (spoiler alert, although it is the beginning of the book) the destruction of Earth, after which Adams writes “This planet has—or rather had—a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much all of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movement of small green pieces of paper, which was odd because on the whole, it wasn’t the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.” The book is likely the one that I have reread the most, and in my mind, it is, not only one of the funniest novels, but one of the best ever written at all.
There aren’t many YA romance novels that compel me to go through them with a pen and a highlighter. 
It’s such a cliche to say that I couldn’t put this book down, but trust me when I say that I really do mean it when it comes to 
Who knew that a retelling of The Canterbury Tales could feel so modern and authentic? Emulating Chaucer is a tall order by any standard, but Kim Zarins delivers. The story takes place on a bus headed to Washington D.C. filled with rambunctious teens stuck together on a six-hour bus ride. Their civics teacher and supervisor’s solution is to come up with a story-telling competition: best story gets the winner an A in the class. The stories range from hilarious to raunchy to deadly serious, but all of them teach us something valuable about the characters. The cast is diverse and compelling, as one would have to be to make a reader relate to a 24-person cast! The story is tried and true, but Kim Zarins puts an amazing, modern spin on things to make an unforgettable read.