Swim For Your Life

Today (August 7th 2026) is National Sea Serpent Day.  Today is the perfect day to take a boat ride on Loch Ness and look for Nessie.  But if you do not happen to be in Inverness, maybe you could just read about Nessie, or one of the other sea serpents out there.  Or if you are really ambitious you can bake some blue cupcakes and put little frosting sea serpents on top or knit a sea serpent sweater.  Or maybe you are not as interested in sea serpents as I am.  But that just makes no sense.  Sea serpents are awesome.

The Loch by Steve Alten

Marine biologist Zachary Wallace almost drown in Loch Ness as a child.  As an adult he still has night terrors about it.  When his father is on trial for murder he sends for Zachary to come back to Scotland.  Now Zachary will have to face his fears and figure out what really happened all those years ago.

I like stories about Nessie and sea monsters in general so I was drawn to this.  And I think this is a nice twist on an age old tale.  It seems very well researched.  There is a lot of history and science woven into the story.  Sometimes not as well woven as I would liked.  For the most part this is a well paced plot, but when you get several pages of Scottish history it does tend to drag a bit.   There is a lot going on here.  You have romance, monsters, Knights Templar, secret plots, generations long oaths, life long traumas, reconciliations with family, and more, but it doesn't end up convoluted.  Everything fits into the story well.  There is an interesting collection of characters for the reader to love and hate.  I like the quotes in the beginnings of the chapters from people who say they saw the Loch Ness Monster,  they were a nice touch.  The ending was satisfying.  It was a fun read for me.  If you are interested in Nessie, or just like a good sea (well, water) monster story I think it will be a fun read for you too.

Go Hug a Friend

National Friendship Day is celebrated on the first Sunday of August.  Which is today, August 2, 2026.  So go out there and catch up with some friends.  

I'm Sticking with You by Smriti Prasadam-Halls, illustrated by Steve Small

Bear and Squirrel do everything together, they are together all the time.  Until Squirrel decides he wants some time on his own.

I love the illustrations.  The look on Squirrel's face when his teacup breaks is priceless, among others.  And the story is sweet.  Everything doesn't always go right in the friendship of Bear and Squirrel, but they stick together anyway.  And when Squirrel decides he needs some space he realizes he likes doing things on his own but misses Bear.  And Bear (although angry at first) is happy to have him back.  It is a story of friendship surviving hardship, but also learning it is okay to have some time for yourself because friendship will survive that too.