Completely Full Bookshelf

This past Sunday, I was visiting a friend who's an artist, and she was saying that she was going to give one of her paintings to Goodwill, so I asked her if I could have it instead—and the result is that I now have a hauntingly beautiful, perfectly moody painting by a friend hanging on my bedroom wall! Pro tip: art is way easier to appreciate when you know the person who made it! But seriously, I'm very grateful. Now for the books! I've got 4 picture books to tell you all about, so let's dive in! ***** What book is it?   Off-Limits  by Helen Yoon (Here's a link to preview the illustrations.) Who recommended it?   Beth Shaum at A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust , and Michele Knott at Mrs. Knott's Book Nook ! What does the publisher say?  " Dad's office is off-limits--which only makes it more intriguing to his curious young daughter. As soon as she sees an opening, she sneaks in to have a look around. After all, there's no harm in just looking, right

I had a wonderfully relaxing spring break this past week, during which I also got to visit a few friends, which was wonderful! Now it's back to college classes once again, but I feel like my priorities were reset a little bit—I'm hoping I'll be able to remember that my free time matters too! (He says, right before totally going back to his frantic, exhausting, boundary-free lifestyle...) I'm writing this post much later at night than I would like, so perhaps we're back to the same chaos. But at least I finished reading a book—that's a win in and of itself! Anyway, before I get on with the post, I do want to mention that the winner of last week's giveaway of The Genius Under the Table  by Eugene Yelchin is... Donna ( who is also a fellow blogger )! Congratulations! And thanks so much to everyone who entered—I hope you all get a chance to try this wonderful book regardless! Now for the post! Today, I'm recommending a wonderful YA novel: The Gentleman'

Before I go any further, I do want to mention that I just saw the latest Pixar movie, Turning Red , which came out Friday on Disney+, and it was so good!  It's not quite as good as Encanto  (which is technically Disney, not Pixar), but it's still insightful, entertaining, and definitely a departure from some of Pixar's usual norms. (And it's only an hour and a half, so it's a quick watch!) For Domee Shi's first chance in the director's chair, it's very impressive. Now for the post! Precisely one month after the Cybils winners were announced, I'm returning with the second half of the books I read while I was a Cybils judge for the first time—we tackled Elementary Nonfiction two weeks ago, and now we're on to Middle Grade Nonfiction!  And not only do I have reviews for you all, but I also  have a giveaway of one of the finalists, The Genius Under the Table  by Eugene Yelchin!  Read on for everything! Reviews I'm going to paste some disclaimer

First of all, things are still hectic, but spring break is almost here— so close ! Second of all, my mom, who is always— always —right, told me to take some breaks and work on my blog, and that is probably the reason I actually have a post for you all this week! Third of all, I know this is not the Cybils follow-up post I was planning to put up, and that may not be up until a week or two from now, due to the slightly inconvenient fact that it doesn't exist yet. Fourth of all, there's still reason to celebrate, because this post is the first chance I have had in weeks  to read books on my own, for fun! (And my mom was right—it was so healing.)  AND —this is the first chance I have had ever  to check out physical  picture books from my local library, meaning I got to track down some obscure but delightful stories that I cannot  wait to discuss today! Fifth of all, this post will be very short, so please just trust that all of these stories are delightful, even if I can't do m