Ultimate Summer Reading List for Kids

Are you looking for some outstanding books for your nine and older children to enjoy throughout the summer? How about a great read-aloud book to help settle kids of all ages down for the warm summer nights? This list of new books (that includes historical fiction, fantasy, humor, science fiction and mystery) will fit your hot summer nights and days. So enjoy!

The Vine Basket

by Josanne La Valley

This book is a look inside East Turkestan that has recently been taken over by Chinese rule. A young Uyghur girl is dealing with the oppression that is taking over,  and her family fears they may lose their farm. She sets out for the market where she hopes to sell enough peaches to help her family, but a tourist sees her unusual vine basket. And this stranger brings hope to her little life. The story is written so well that you are constantly pulling and hoping for the best for this girl – and her people!

SPONSORED: The Piano Guys Announce New Album + Video

Learn more about the Piano Guys' new album and watch their hit video "Berlin," written for 12 cellos.

The Piano Guys are back with a new album, The Piano Guys - Volume 2, with their unique take on music from Pachelbel to The Turtles to Bruno Mars, available for the first time on CD on May 7, 2013 from Portrait, Sony Masterworks’ new adult contemporary imprint.  Also available is the Deluxe version which includes the CD plus the 12 corresponding music videos – available for the first time on DVD!

The recording features imaginative mash-ups and arrangements that made their last album so successful, plus a few original recordings including the previously unreleased song “Berlin” as well as “Waterfall,” creating an incomparable style that appeals to audiences from all walks of life and across generations.

The Piano Guys just released a music video for “Berlin” on YouTube. Inspired by a recent trip to Germany, the song combines both picturesque classical vibes and a pop/dubsteb feel creating an abstract depiction of how the group felt while travelling and performing in Berlin.

Volume 2 also includes violin sensation Lindsey Stirling on the iconic movie theme “Mission Impossible.” Of the collaboration with Stirling, Steve Sharp Nelson says "This has been on The Piano Guys' list for a long time -- and many fans have been clamoring for the combo too. On the video we had to pull out all the stops -- special effects, stunts, and a little slapstick! Working with Lindsey was so much fun. She is super talented and enjoys what she does just like we do!”

Fab 5: Best Apps for Your Family

Now that games, scriptures and grocery lists can all fit in one device in our pockets, we've tracked down the very best apps to help your kids, your spouse and your whole family get more in synch--and have more fun!

There are tons of great apps out there that can enhance your life—by providing inspiration or entertainment or by helping you live more efficiently. Here are a few of my top recommendations. If you have apps that have changed your life for the better, let us know about them! Email schristley@ldsliving.com to share how you use them.

1. For everyone:  LDS Temple Passport App

The app allows you to collect "passport stamps" for temples you've visited, keep track of temple attendance and journal about experiences there, learn cool temple facts, and access temple schedules and directions. Automatically updates as new temples are completed or announced. Available for $1.99.

2. For Women: Wunderlist

Three Degrees of Donny Osmond

Mormondom can be pretty small, but just how small is it? How many links does it take to connect yourself with beloved LDS celebrity Donny Osmond?
                                       Donny Osmond, photo from IMDb

This game might sound familiar to some. Does Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon ring a bell? For those of you who aren't familiar with it, in 1994 actor Kevin Bacon gave an interview in which he said he had worked with everyone in Hollywood or someone who's worked with them. Soon afterward, the game of connecting various people to Kevin Bacon in as few links as possible became something of a cultural phenomenon. Bacon even appeared in a Visa commercial that parodied the game. In the commercial, Bacon wants to write a check, but the clerk asks for his ID, which he does not have. Bacon leaves and returns with a group of people, then says to the clerk, "Okay, I was in a movie with an extra, Eunice, whose hairdresser, Wayne, attended Sunday school with Father O'Neill, who plays racquetball with Dr. Sanjay, who recently removed the appendix of Kim, who dumped you sophomore year. So you see, we're practically brothers." (If you want to check it out for yourself, search the name of any actor in Hollywood with "Bacon number" after on Google and you'll find out how they're connected.)