While researching and writing my post about the Hello Girls, I ran across some interesting information about area codes in America. Some of the tidbits I found were surprising! First things first… Have you ever dialed a rotary phone? If so, then you know that it’s faster to dial smaller numbers than larger numbers. Here’s…
In 1903, Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson made the first cross-country trip across the United States in an automobile. I wrote about this Road Trip Pioneer in 2020. In 2025, Stacy McAnulty published Are We There Yet, The First Road Trip Across the USA, a delightful picture book (illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley) depicting this journey. As…
I have read multiple books about the women, known as the Hello Girls, who served as telephone switchboard operators in the US Army during World War I. I am enamored of their story and yet cannot seem to find the words to talk about them and explain why exactly this story has such a hold…
This summer brought sunshine, fireworks, and a few dog-eared pages as we soaked up every bit of summer reading. In June, we kicked off the season with beach reads, road trip adventures, and stories set by the Water, celebrating everything that makes summer sparkle. July turned up the heat with red, white & blue covers,…
Once upon a time, there was a young girl who loved giraffes so much she went to college to study biology and then moved to Africa to study them in the wild. At a time when few scientists had ever studied wild animals in their natural habitats — and even fewer women were allowed to…
Have you ever heard the term book desert? Do you know what it means? A book desert is a place that essentially doesn’t have books. It’s heartbreaking, for me, to imagine a place without books. I grew up surrounded by books. We had them in our home, and we visited the library regularly. If you…
May brought blooming covers, twisty plots, and a fresh dose of books to choose from! The (optional) themes offered a choice between flowers, nature, and growth or suspenseful page-turners. 🌸 Books in Bloom – Floral covers, nature themes, or stories of personal growth took center stage.🕵️♀️ Spring Into Mystery – We cracked open the mysteries,…
The politics surrounding immigration and refugees are complicated. But the effect this issue has on humanity is very real. The power of books is that they allow you to glimpse inside the experiences of other people and experience things you might otherwise never know anything about. I just finished reading North to Paradise by Ousman…
April may have brought the rain, but it also brought a fresh batch of books for the No Chapter Left Behind Book Club! Whether you dove into a stormy story or picked up something soft and sweet with a pastel cover, our shelves (and TBR piles) got some much-needed attention. Each month, members read from…
March might be known for madness, but around here it brought motivation! Our No Chapter Left Behind crew kept the pages turning and made serious progress on those many books adorning our shelves. Each month, members select books they already own (because let’s face it, those TBR piles aren’t shrinking themselves). Optional themes add a…
February might be the shortest month but it’s not too short to make progress on our overflowing book shelves! Here’s a roundup of what we read in the No Chapter Left Behind Book Club in February. Each month, members choose books from their own shelves—no pressure, just progress—and have the option to follow a fun…
The first month of the year is the perfect time to dive into the books we’ve been meaning to read, and the No Chapter Left Behind Book Club kicked off the year with an inspiring selection! Each month, members choose books from their own shelves—no pressure, just progress—and have the option to follow a fun…