Two Books You Might Like to Read this Summer

I distinctly remember being a girl fresh out of school for the summer and being able to spend my time any way I wanted.  What I wanted was to curl up the on the couch with a good book to read.  I loved the luxury of being able to read to my heart's content. 

I still do. 

I don't get hour upon hour of reading time anymore, but libraries and bookstores are some of my favorite places, I have stacks of books everywhere in my home and always by my bed, and I'm usually in the middle of at least one book.  I  also love to pass along good book recommendations.  So, here are two for your summer reading pleasure:

First up: Wolf Hollow, by Lauren Wolk. 

I spotted this book on a library display last week while I was there with my kids, perused it briefly-- which means reading the back, the inside flap, and at least the first few sentences.  (Sometimes I'll also flip halfway through the book and read a few lines, to see if it catches my interest.)  It did.  I brought it home and finished it in a matter of hours.  I could not put it down.  Then I immediately wondered how I hadn't read this yet?  (Am I the very last person to hear about this book?!?) 

I loved this story, and the characters within it.  This is considered a middle-grade reader, so it's an easy read, but the content is rich and the writing truly beautiful.

Our narrator is an almost-twelve-year-old girl named Annabelle, and you will love her.  She is courageous, kind and compassionate.  I don't want to give anything away, so I will say only this:
Do not miss this story.

I am scrapping all other read-aloud plans for the immediate future and reading this, all over again, to Mark and the three older kids.  (My two youngest (8 & 9) will not be joining us for this one, due to a mean classmate who is frighteningly cruel and I just think their hearts are still too tender for that.)

~

Secondly: The Secrets of Wishtide, by Kate Saunders.  This is told first-person by an older widowed woman named Laetitia Rodd, "Letty".  Letty's brother Fred is a criminal lawyer, and turns to Letty for her help in solving his case.  Letty is such a likeable character, and I really enjoyed this story, and think you will, too.

Are there any books you've read recently that you'd like to recommend?  Do tell. 

Favorite books of 2016: Non-fiction

In no particular order, here are three of my favorite (non-fiction) books I read this year:


Mere Motherhood | Cindy Rollins

If you're a homeschooling mother, this will be your new favorite book.  I think I read this book in one day, and I LOVED it.  Cindy Rollins chronicles her homeschooling adventures in a warm, personal, authentic and sometimes hilarious style.  Though this is not a homeschooling how-to book, it is packed with wisdom and practical ideas, and you will find refreshment and encouragement within these pages.

 Just Mercy | Bryan Stevenson

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.  Bryan Stevenson is a lawyer whose passion and life's work is to defend the poor and the most desperate in our society.  Stevenson gives the reader not only an analysis of court rulings, cases, and injustices within our court system, but he invites us to come along with him as he meets with the men and women whom he's defending.  He doggedly and compassionately reveals the person behind each case detailed in this book.  

These men and women's stories stayed with me long after I put this book down.  It was at times difficult to read.  It was infuriating, shocking, and often heart-wrenching, but it was hopeful, too.  Stevenson is truly a modern-day hero, and this book is a powerful book and important book.  

George Müller of Bristol: His Life of Prayer and Faith | A.T. Pierson

This isn't the first biography I've read on George Müller, and it likely won't be the last.  George Müller is one of my heroes.  His faith and dependence upon God and his life of prayer have inspired me from the first time I heard of him.

For anyone unfamiliar with George Müller, he cared for thousands of orphans in England in the mid-1800's.  Perhaps the most stunning part of his ministry is that he never ONCE asked for financial assistance from anyone but God.

Müller's position before God was this (in his own words): "By the help of God, this shall be my argument before Him, respecting the orphans, in the hour of need.  He is their Father, and therefore has pledged Himself, as it were, to provide for them; and I have only to remind Him of the need of these poor children in order to have it supplied."

When people would wonder how one man could possibly carry the needs of so many orphans (thousands upon thousands, over the course of his life) he would say, "By the grace of God, this is no cause of anxiety to me.  These children I have years ago cast upon the Lord.  The whole work is His, and it becomes me to be without carefulness.  In whatever points I am lacking, in this point I am able by the grace of God to roll the burden upon my heavenly Father."

What an incredible testimony of God's loving faithfulness and provision, that He met every single need that was spoken only in His presence.  The (unsolicited) funds poured in or trickled in, but God faithfully provided for His own, and strengthened the faith of Müller and so many more as they saw Him daily providing for the needs that only He knew of. 

Choosing good books for your pre-teen or teen daughter to read

A reader once asked me (Hi Henna-Maria!) about choosing good books for our pre-teen or teen daughters.  This is such an important question.  
   
I have a lot to say about this topic, actually, so bear with me.  Just a caveat, here, too: I try to be really selective, but what I think is appropriate or wholesome may be different than what you find to be so.  So please use your best judgment, not mine.  ;)

Also, I haven't done this perfectly, by any means.  In fact, there were two books Ella read recently that had parts in them that I did not remember or anticipate that I wished she hadn't read.  Ugh.  (More on that later.)
Ella (14) has always loved to read, and she reads quickly.  I am thankful she doesn't mind reading books over again!  When she wants a new book to read, she peruses her shelves and finds a favorite and reads it all over again.  :)  I'm also very fortunate because she likes the same type of books I do (classics and historical fiction), so that makes it easier because she can select from my library or from those I have read and remember.  That has given her many books to choose from, and they took us a long way into her life  (just off the top of my head— beginning with Little House on the Prairie and the rest of that series, Anne of Green Gables, and many others by L.M. Montgomery, Little Women and others by Louisa May Alcott.)  

However, she has more time to read than I do and because she reads so quickly, I cannot keep up with her. So I do not pre-read every book she reads.  However, (and this is probably the most significant part of this whole post:) I trust her judgment and I trust our relationship. 

We have a spent years being selective about books.  And by now I trust her taste in books.  We have read primarily whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,... (Philippians 4:8) in our home for so many years that her appetite has been developed for such and she naturally seeks those books. 
 
For the most part I know what she’s reading.  She may choose a book from the library shelf, but if I am unfamiliar with the author or title I will try to look it up and read some reviews— (check for the low reviews; they will often alert you to something you will want to avoid).

In general, I also tend to avoid newer books.  I’m always looking at the publication date and generally am on alert if it's a book published within the past decade or so.  I am MUCH more prone to pick up something that is older.

If I am unfamiliar with a book and Ella is interested enough to take it home and read it, I will say something like, “Okay, hon.  But I don’t know anything about that book so if there’s anything in it that is questionable, please come and tell me or set it aside.”  She will.  And she has done so.  Also, if it’s something I remember reading and it’s been YEARS since I read it, I will say something along the lines of, “I can’t remember everything about this book, so let me know if something comes up that concerns you.”  And then I ask her about what she’s reading…. “How is it?  What is the story?  Who are your favorite characters?  Is there anything in there I wouldn’t like?  What other book does it remind you of?”

Now. To the two books I mentioned earlier that I wish she hadn’t read.  Or at least I wish I had been able to tell her to skip a couple of pages within the story.  BOTH of these books were recommended by me. (*cringe*)  One was Christy, by Catherine Marshall.  I remember reading it when I was younger and I had loved it.  So I handed it to her without another thought, trusting it was wholesome. And it is a good story.  She was reading it and enjoying it and then I asked her one day, “How is it?  What do you think about it?” etc, and she mentioned that there was a “bad part” and my heart sort of fell and I’m scrambling to think “What?!?  What was in there?” and then she explained that one of the characters had been assaulted (this is a nice way of saying that there was an older man in her life that had taken advantage of her) and was telling Christy about it in the book.  I had Ella bring me the book so that I could read exactly what she had read, and as I read it, I felt ill because it was awful; and there was such a dark feeling with the telling by this older woman of when she was a vulnerable child being preyed upon, really.  I felt so responsible that I had handed her this book.  I said I was sorry, and that had I remembered that part was in there I would have had her skip at least that portion (if not the entire book for the time being).  But it gave us the opportunity to talk about it, and I was able to answer her questions, talk through the reality of this and to pray with her. 

The second book- more recently- was a book by Brock and Bodie Thoene.  I haven’t read all their books but I remember enjoying the Zion Covenant and Zion Chronicle series when I was about her age, as well as a few other titles of theirs.  She first read Shiloh Autumn, which is a story about some families struggling through the Great Depression, and she enjoyed that, so I encouraged her to check out some of their other books at the library.  And she began reading (and enjoying) their Jerusalem series.  She approached me, part way through one of the final books in that series, to tell me that there was something in that particular book that was inappropriate.  Again, that unsettled feeling in my stomach of, “OH NO.  What have I done?” Especially because in this case, I hadn’t read this particular book/series.  She told me about the part that had made her uncomfortable (and for good reason, poor girl), and then later I read *exactly* the scene she was referring to—which involved a husband and wife in the bathtub that was not at all appropriate for a fourteen-year-old.  (I actually don't think it's prudent to have such a scene in a book for any age.)  Sigh.  I was so disappointed. Again, though, we were able to talk about God-given intimacy between a husband and wife and the beauty of that (but that we don't really want to READ about that, thank you very much, Brock and Bodie Thoene) and I answered questions she had and we prayed together and it ended well.  But still.  (Just learn from my mistakes, okay?)

Henna-Maria, I know you asked specifically about Francine Rivers' Mark of the Lion series, which I loved when I read them, but I was also much older when I read those books, and I forget the details.  (You've read it much more recently so you will know so much better than I will how your daughter would receive them.)  I plan to re-read those again sometime within the next year and then hand them on to Ella if I think she's ready.

***

Here is the most recent book list I've posted with a list of wholesome books:
Book list for a 13-year old girl. 

(Since then she's read several other good books, too-- most recently Pride and Prejudice and Emma, both by Jane Austen.)  She's still keeping track of everything she's reading so I'll post a 14-year old list when we get to the end of her fourteenth year. 

Favorite BOOKS, movies and songs of 2015 (Part 1)

I'm staring at that title and wondering if it's even possible to fit that all into one post.  Perhaps this will have a part 2?  And 3?  We'll see how far we get.

I document most of my reading over at Goodreads, and recently when I logged in, I was able to see all the covers of the books I'd read this year, which is one of the things that gave me the idea for this post/series. That, and a conversation we had around our dinner table when I mentioned we'd watched some good movies this year for Family Movie Nights.  We all talked about our favorites and I listed them on the dry erase board.... then we moved to our favorite songs. 

But before we get to those, first up: books.
I've narrowed it down to the top five books I read this past year:

The Lake House: A Novel by Kate Morton
This is the one I most recently finished, so I'll begin with this one.  I *really* like Kate Morton's writing. I've read all of her novels. This is one of those can't-put-it-down stories.  Morton begins with telling of a tragedy that happened on a large family estate in Cornwall.  Her story unfolds in two different time periods: the one in 1933 when the tragedy occurred, and one in 2003 as a detective stumbles across the unsolved mystery from 1933 and tries to figure it out.  Morton is an excellent writer, and she masterfully unravels the mystery by offering one clue at a time.
 
Own Your Life: Living with Deep Intention, Bold Faith, and Generous Love by Sally Clarkson
It's been several months since I read this book.  I love all of Sally's books.  All of them inspire me and encourage me to live intentionally- in marriage, in parenting, in my relationship with Jesus and with others.  Sally has been a steady mentor-from-afar for me through her books, blog and podcasts, and I am truly thankful for her ministry.  As I read Own Your Life, I took lots of notes and prayed through different areas of my life that I wanted to be more intentional in.

The Hardest Peace: Expecting Grace in the Midst of Life's Hard by Kara Tippets
Over the past several years, I have enjoyed stopping by Kara's blog Mundane Faithfulness.  Kara Tippets: wife to her pastor-husband, and mama to her four children, battling the stage-four cancer that ended up taking her life.  This book tells her story of faith in the midst of those years of struggle, trying to live life fully while her body deteriorated.  This is such a beautiful story.  So tender.  Heart-wrenching and encouraging all at the same time.  One of Kara's gifts was kindness, and she models this in relationship with those around her, specifically her husband and children.  I wrote down all sorts of Kara Tippets quotes in my journal, and have gone back to them several times since.

For the Love: Fighting for Grace in a World of Impossible Standards by Jen Hatmaker
Jen Hatmaker is hilarious.  Period.  This book made me laugh.  My memories of this book include lying in bed next to Mark trying to read portions of it aloud to him, but unable to do so because I was laughing that hard.  I took this with us on our family vacation and read it on the beach while Mark and the kids dug their fingers into the wet sand for hours on end, which is not my favorite activity.  Laughing out loud with a good book in hand?  Absolutely one of my favorite activities.  I love Jen, and this book was refreshing and so funny and wise all at the same time. 

Swallows & Amazons by Arthur Ransome
I already rambled on and on about this book in a previous post (click here if you want to read that), but in short: this was our favorite family read-aloud this year, so it must go on the list.  We spent hours with these characters (and my kids spent hours acting out the stories from this book) and those are always the best kind of books to read-aloud, aren't they?


Do leave a comment and tell me your favorite books of the year.  It's one of the ways I get good recommendations!  ;)

*For Part 2, with emphasis on family movies, go here: Favorite books, MOVIES and songs of 2015

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Book Review: The Waiting

 

I just finished reading The Waiting (Cathy LaGrow, Cindy Coloma).  This is a beautifully rendered story that is a true one, and aren't those always the best types of stories?

In this book we meet Minka, a hard-working young Dutch girl belonging to a family who owns a dairy farm.  On a rare day off at the lake with friends from church, Minka is raped.  She becomes pregnant, and Minka makes the heart-breaking decision to give her baby up for adoption.  The rest of the book details the remarkable story of her life and the way God worked beauty and redemption through that difficult decision.

I loved this book, and highly recommend it.



This post contains affiliate links.

Picture Books We've Loved in July

The library has beckoned us several times over the course of the summer.  Here are three of our favorite picture books:

The King of Little Things | Bil Lepp, illustrated by David T. Wenzel

I wish I could remember who recommended this book, because I'd like to thank them!  The first page reads: Long ago, on the far side of a mountain, lived the King of Little Things.  While other kings busied themselves with the big things of this world, he happily ruled over all things small.  The story goes on to tell of all the little things the king has charge of and affection for: things like ants and buttons and petals and bees.

Can you imagine what might happen when another king wants to destroy all the other kings so that he can be king of the whole world?   Read this one to find out!  This is a captivating story for children, complete with beautiful illustrations, some rhymes, and all sorts of little things throughout the pages of this book to peer at.

* * *

My Name Is Sangoel | Karen Lynn Williams with Khadra Mohammed, illustrated by Catherine Stock

Sangoel has come with his mother and sister from the country of Sudan. 
His father was killed in the war, and he holds the name given him by his father with pride.  When he arrives in America, everyone pronounces his name wrong and it is suggested that he choose a American name.  This is especially frustrating when he goes to school, until Sangoel thinks of a clever way to teach his classmates his name.

I love stories like this that open my kids' eyes to the difficulties and challenges others might face.  This story has a delightful ending and it's been a pleasure to read aloud, over and over again.

* * *

The Circus Ship | Chris Van Dusen

What happens when a ship carrying circus animals crashes into a rock?  The animals swim to shore, surprising an entire village.  The villagers are all quite alarmed at the bother of all these circus animals until something happens to win their affections.

When the villagers discover that the circus boss is on his way to find his animals, they rally around their newfound friends and hide them.

With lively, rhyming cadence, Van Dusen tells and illustrates a delightful story.  This one makes a perfect read-aloud.  Guaranteed giggles.  

June & July Book List

I am ever-so-happily reading again, after a 6-month hiatus!  And I am so enraptured with words (how I love them!) and sentences and thoughts and descriptions and characters and stories and good writing all over again.  I love to read.

So.  Let's start with July, shall we?  The photo above shows the books I discovered in my room today that I've been reading.  We'll work from the top down, and then I'll get to any others I've read that aren't pictured here, then we'll move on to the books I read in June.

Daily Light on the Daily Path - I struggled early in the summer to find a Bible study and selected this off our shelf "in the meantime", until I settled on a study.  But this treasure has remained by my bedside.  It is a collection of daily readings: one for each morning and one for each evening, so each morning before I get out of bed I read the morning entry, and each evening before I turn out the light I try to read the evening entry.  This is purely Scripture and I am loving it.

(The Bible study I settled on is Stone Soup for Five's Colossians study.  I am writing all of Colossians out in my journal and slowly making my way through it, also using commentaries found here and studying key words and all of that fun study business.  I love it.)

Anne of Avonlea -  {happy sigh}  Ella began and finished the whole delightful Anne series a couple of months ago, and as she was reading, she often mentioned characters or places that I had entirely forgotten. (*gasp*)  I am usually not fond of reading books over again-- or, at least not until it's been a good long time, so that the story still feels somewhat fresh to me.  But last week I picked up this second book in the series and plan to read my whole way through.  Dear friends, I am enchanted all over again with L.M. Montgomery's characters, words and descriptions.  I just love her.  I have always said she is my all-time favorite author and she is reminding me why.

Own Your Life - Sally Clarkson's newest book.  I admire Sally, and consider her a mentor of sorts as I have read and gleaned from her books and blog over the past several years.  This may be my favorite book yet. The copy I have is a library copy, and I keep on renewing it so that I can slowly read through it and glean all I can, copying down portions into my journal, thoughtfully journaling through the questions she provides at the end of each chapter, thinking and dreaming and reflecting on how I can be intentional in the life God has given me.  An excellent read.

The Help - This book by Kathryn Stockett is a re-read for me, and this time I am reading it aloud to my Ella, so we have a little Thursday date set aside where we will settle somewhere together-- out in the yard in the sunshine, or on my bed.  I put on my best Southern drawl, and read aloud a couple of chapters, editing as I go.  We plan to have a movie night when we get to the end of the book and watch the movie together! 

Water from My Heart - This is Charles Martin's newest book, and while it wasn't my favorite book of his, I love the way he tells a story, and I will read every single thing he writes.  This is a story about Charlie Finn, a man who has an isolated existence, working in the dangerous and very lucrative field of drug running.  He has very few attachments and even fewer regrets in life, no matter his line of work.  When he travels to Nicaragua and witnesses the fall-out of one of his early business deals,   Charlie is for the first time affected by the choices he has made and the devastation he has helped to cause in the lives of others.  Read it to find out how it changes him.

What Katie Ate -I found this one as I perused the cookbook shelf at our local library.  I love cookbooks and find great inspiration from them in my own meal-planning and meal-making endeavors.  Although I was not familiar with Katie or her blog, her photographs of food wooed me, as well as the fact that she's Irish-born and lives in Australia and was formerly a graphic designer.  That all makes for a fine looking cookbook complete with good recipes of good comfort food.

Another book I read this month that is not in the above photo:

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet -by Jamie Ford.  From my Goodreads review:

"A very good novel about Japanese families from the Seattle area who were sent to internment camps during World War II.

The story centers around a Chinese boy named Henry and Keiko, his Japanese friend. Both children were sent to school by their parents and subsequently treated poorly by their peers, so a unique friendship is forged. Henry proves to be a loyal friend to Keiko, even though Henry's father is particularly hateful towards the Japanese."  

*This is a good living history book for an older child studying this time period.  It's very clean.

For the month of June, these are the books I read:

The Secret of Pembrooke Park -by Julie Klassen, another author whose books I usually read.  This was a satisfying summer read. 

Wonder - by  R. J. Palacio.  I forget where I saw this book recommended, and then again.  Then again. So I decided I would check it out at the library and see what all the fuss was about.  This is not really my genre, but I did enjoy this story of a boy growing up with a severely disfigured face and how he and his family copes with that.  I think stories like this have the opportunity to grow compassion in us for those who have been created differently than we are.  As I was reading it, one of Ella's friends recommended it to her, so I passed it on to her when I was finished with it. 

And.  I doggedly worked my way through this book:

The Sword in the Stone - by T.E. White.  That's some sort of classic, apparently, and is on the Ambleside Year 7 list for two of my kids for next year, so I wanted to pre-read it.  Let me just say that I am genuinely proud of myself for finishing this book. It is very well written and imaginative and descriptive, it's just not at all my genre. ;) So there were some days I had to tell myself, "Okay, 10 minutes of this book and then you can read whatever you want to read." 

That said, I loved the character of Wart, and Merlyn is a kind and lovable old wizard. The last several pages were excellent.

***

Do tell: what are you reading?


This post contains affiliate links.  (Which basically means that I've linked these book titles to Amazon, and if you happen to click on those links, I get some sort of a kickback, as in approximately four cents each click ;), that all adds up to about eight or eleven dollars once per year or something, truly.  While it's not much, I'll take it to support my love of reading.) 

Best Books of 2014

I read a lot.  (In 2014 I read over seventy books.)  I've selected one book (well, okay... sometimes two.  *ahem*  ...or three) from each category that I generally read from, and have listed them for you (with affiliate links) below.

Parenting
A Mother's Heart: A Look at Values, Vision, and Character for the Christian Mother by Jean Fleming
This was my second time reading this book, and it was encouraging and vision-building and affirming of my calling as a mother.  I am thankful there are mothers out there with grown children that write these kind of books which hearten and encourage me as a mother.

Homeschooling
The Living Page: Keeping Notebooks with Charlotte Mason by Laurie Bestvater
I reviewed this book here, but I will say that several months later, I am still inspired by the ideas Bestvater laid out in this book, and this is a book I hope to return to again and again for a refresher on the habit and art of keeping.
Fiction
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman 
Emma by Jane Austen

A Life Intercepted: A Novel by Charles Martin
I chose The Light Between Oceans because when I finished it, I immediately got online to see what else this author had written.  It was that good.  [I reviewed it here.]

I chose Emma because I love Mr. Darcy's discussion of duty and the wittiness Austen gave to so many characters in this book.
I chose A Life Intercepted because the way Martin unfolds a story- any story- even a story about a football player- is magical.

Memoir/Biography
The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers by Harry Bernstein
The Invisible Girls: A Memoir by Sarah Thebarge


The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers is an incredibly well-written story of a family struggling to make ends meet in a mill town in England in the early 1900's.  One side of their street housed Jewish families, the other side, Christian families.  When I finished this one, Ella read it.  Then Mark read it.  They both thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Invisible Girls: A Memoir is about a girl in her late twenties who randomly meets an African mother with her daughters on a bus.  Rather than minding her own business, she minds theirs, and meets some very practical and relational needs of this struggling family. 

 Non-Fiction
The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs
Jacobs, a professor of literature, is a kindred because he loves books.  I appreciated his thoughts on reading at whim and on all sorts of other things bookish.


Read-aloud

The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
Mary Emma & Company by Ralph Moody 
Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth  *some editing required for language

I couldn't choose just one!  All of these we loved.  Cheaper by the Dozen is our current read-aloud, and it is laugh-out-loud funny. 

* * *

As I've pondered the hundreds of pages that I've read over this last year, I came up with a radical idea: to read only God's Word for 2015.  That every time I have a hankering to read, I will pick up my Bible and do just that.  Of course, just as soon as I thought it, I wavered.  One year seems so.long.  I read every single day.  I contemplated three months or even six... and yet eventually settled upon a year.  Will I not sacrifice a year of good books for more of THE Good Book; the living, God-breathed Word?  I am hungry for more of Jesus in my life, and I am excited about this venture.  The one exception to this rule is that I will still read books aloud to my kids, and I can consult books I own for homeschooling ideas/plans.

Books and Podcasts: What we're Reading and Listening to

Little boy Isaias (from the archives)

Isaias, now 9, just finished reading:
Mattimeo (Brian Jacques)

He is currently reading: 
Farmer Boy (Laura Ingalls Wilder) 
Young Music Makers (Ireene Wicker)

Little boy Isaac~ in his dressing-up-like-a-cowboy phase

Isaac, now 10, just finished reading:

Wild Trek (Jim Kjelgaard)

He is currently reading:

Red Cap (G. Clifton Wisler)

Cute little Ella-girl (with bangs!)

Ella, now 12, just finished reading:
The Princess and Curdie (George MacDonald) 

She is currently reading:
Betsy-Tacy (Maud Hart Lovelace, on audio)
A Wind in the Door (Madeleine L'Engle, on audio)
The Savage My Kinsman (Elisabeth Elliot) 
{my reads}
I just finished reading:
A Praying Life (Paul Miller)
I am currently reading:
A Mother's Heart (Jean Fleming) 
How Should We Then Live? (Francis A. Schaeffer)
Teaching the Right Brain Child (Dianne Craft)

{reading aloud}
We are working our way through The Bronze Bow (Elizabeth George Speare), which is excellent.  We all love it.  We're also reading The Story Book of Science (Jean-Henri Fabre) and The Heroes, or Greek Fairy Tales (Charles Kingsley).  In the evenings, Mark is reading aloud Mary Emma & Company (Ralph Moody), as we work our way through the Little Britches series. 

{podcasts}
Occasionally Mark and I will work on a puzzle while listening to a podcast together, which has been so enjoyable.  Other times I've snuck in a listen while I've been cooking or on the treadmill.  Here's the list of what I've listened to:

from Sarah's inspiring Read-Aloud Revival podcasts:
Episode 1: Reading Aloud to Older Kids
Episode 2: Engaging Conversations- How to Talk to Your Kids About Books
Episode 8: Every Book is a Mystery
Episode 10: The Art of Choosing Books

Andrew Pudewa: Nurturing Competent Communicators
Andrew Kern: Teaching Literature Without Killing the Book or Student

Many thanks to Sarah at Amongst Lovely Things for this post of her favorite podcasts.  :)

Okay, now tell me.  What have you been reading or listening to?

Good books for boys (aged 10)

*There are affiliate links in this post.  

The following quotes are by my Isaac (10).  I have not edited them.

The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling

"It was weird because in a book it's usually one big long story about one thing, but this book was all different books about different things.  The chapter about Mowgli is the longest one, but there are other stories, too."

"It wasn't interesting at the first part because it was just Shere Khan the tiger talking to the wolves.  That whole first chapter is just him talking about wanting Mowgli when he was a baby.  But the rest of it got really interesting when he grew older."

"I liked the book much better than the movie.  The movie added a LOT, and also in the book Kaa the snake was helping the good side, and in the movie he was helping Shere Khan and just wanted to eat Mowgli, which wasn't how it was at all in the book."

The Mad Scientists' Club, Bertrand R. Brindley

"This book is a bunch of stories.  What I liked about it is that the boys had these ideas of doing things to different people or to the town and their ideas were kind of funny.  They ended with funny results.  Sometimes they were mischievous or naughty and other times they were helping someone."

"My favorite character is a boy named Henry Mulligan.  He was kind of scientific and he would be the one to figure out different functions on something or figure something out.  He kind of reminded me of myself, because I'm kind of like that in a way, so I liked him."

The Big Kerplop!: The Original Adventure of the Mad Scientists' Club, Bertrand R. Brindley

"This is the book that came before the Mad Scientists Club.  The main character of this book is the boy I liked, Henry Mulligan.  It also was funny, but in this one the boys were never mischievous.  They were trying to help someone."

The Tower Treasure (The Hardy Boys No. 1), Franklin W. Dixon

"I like it because when they have all the clues, the author doesn't make them just find it and solve it right away.  They have to keep searching for it, so it doesn't just end."

"It's kind of different because I wouldn't usually really read a book like that, because one of the boys' friends was going to high school, so they're older.  Usually I like to read books about people my age, but I liked it."

And he's since read two more Hardy Boys books.

What are your boys reading?

This and that

A couple of changes on the sidebar of the blog:

>There is now a section on the right with links to every book lists I've posted.  I think that will make it easier for all of us to access them now.  The lists for girls start at age six and go right on up through eleven.  And there's a list for boys up there, too.  (I will keep adding lists as long as my kids continue to read, so keep checking back.)

>Every single year I read a passel of books but never keep track of them.  This year I am attempting to keep track of what I read through Goodreads.  In order to do so, I've joined their 2014 Reading Challenge.  There's a widget on my sidebar for that.  I really have no idea how many books I generally read in a year, so I picked a random number of 75 as my goal for the year and we'll see how I do.  If you click "view books" at the bottom of that widget, it will take you to a list of the books I have read.  (I'm also trying to review them as I go.)

***

Audra and Ella play so well together.  They rotate between playing dollhouse and playing babies together.  Lately, it's babies.  So I have two little mommies toting their babies around and acting out all these little story lines.  It's very sweet.  Usually one or both of them are pregnant, too- with pillows or blankets stuffed into their shirts and a dolly on their hip.

A few times over the past week, I found them bickering over the one doll quilt that we have- one I made for Ella years ago.  Audra wanted it for her baby but it belongs to Ella, so while Ella was very generous to share it, she wanted it sometimes, too.  So I offered to make a quilt for Audra's baby.  She looked through all my fabric and chose these two and told me she wanted "little squares" and this is what we ended up with:

***

A friend gave me a sourdough starter, and I am tentatively excited.  Tentative because I don't know what I'm doing and I don't want to screw it up.  Excited because I love bread- especially sourdough, and I think it would be amazing to have the ability to make some. 

So I have this little jar that I'm "feeding" daily and then I don't really know what to do after it's fully fed, but I'm researching it.  I'll let you know how it goes.  It's sort of my own little experiment.  

 ***

We finally started school again today.  After TWO full months off.  (The first month was planned, the second was not.)  We had influenza at the start of this month, then the miscarriage, and then we ended the month with a round of the stomach flu.  Serious.  I.cannot.wait.for.spring.  Even though we're smack in the middle of winter, we do see tulips poking their heads up in our flower garden and little buds on my hydrangea bushes.  So it's coming.  Really.

***

I'm memorizing some Psalms for the year.  I love the Psalms.  I casually decided I'd pick 3-5 of my favorites and memorize them, so I pulled out my Bible one evening to find my favorites, and I ended up with a list of seven.  So we'll see.  Maybe I'll end the year with only three memorized, and that will be fine.  Or maybe I'll be able to take on all seven and that would be great, too.  I've already memorized Psalm 1 (but then again it's only six verses, so it was an easy start.)  The ones I'm working on are: Psalm 1, 19, 27, 34, 71, 103, and 145.

***

The women's Bible study at my church just recently started studying the book of Colossians, so I've joined that and am working my way through each word of Colossians, and loving it.  If you've never done a Precept study, I recommend it.

***

Recently we watched North & South on Netflix, and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  And now we're watching Season 4 of Downton Abbey.   I always look forward to Parenthood, too.

It's quiet time at our house and I have already eaten some chocolate, but I have some reading to do in Ruth, some Colossians homework, and I'd love to journal if there's still time.

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

How to find quality books to read to your children

Ramona recently asked a question in the comments about how we find quality books, whether we're at the library or in a thrift store.  My approach depends on where I'm at, so I'll break it down:

 In the library:
When I'm in the library, I sit cross-legged on the floor and pull books off the shelves until I find a book that appeals to me.  (Notice I said me, not my children).  The reason for this is two-fold:

1.  I will have to read that book over and over and over and over again in the course of that two-week period we will have it at home, so I'd best like it and not be annoyed with it.  :)
2.  Part of my role as a parent is to shape what my children like, so I am intentional when they're young about presenting them with beautiful illustrations and meaningful stories.  I want them to grow an appreciation for the beauty of both quality artistry and a good story.  (This doesn't mean that I never choose books just for the sake of silliness.  I do.  Just not as often as I choose other books.)  And as the kids get older, we do check out books based on their interests.

from Emily and Daisy, Elsa Beskow

Another library note:  When my young children bring me random books off the shelf I always read them first, and many times I will say "No, we're not bringing this one home." It's very helpful now that my older kids will bring me books they've found, because they'll often act as a filter for me. 

My system for finding good books has morphed a little over the years.  I used to rely primarily on book lists.  I own some books that are essentially bound book lists.  I've mentioned my favorites here in an older post.  (And you are welcome to borrow them, Ramona!)  Here is another online book list that I've visited over the years: 1000 Good Books List.  Or you could check the titles from the Caldecott Medal list.  My friend Elise used to do a series on her blog called Children's Book Mondays, where she reviewed picture books, so there are some great picture book recommendations if you follow that link.

Some of our favorite books for little ones:

Sandra Boynton books
Dr. Seuss books
Richard Scarry books
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Gossie & Gertie books, by Olivier Dunrea
Beatrix Potter books
Robert McCloskey books (Make Way for Ducklings, One Morning in Maine, Blueberries for Sal)
Sarah Stewart/David Small books (The Gardener is our favorite; I love Small's illustrations)
Winnie the Pooh
Robert Louis Stevenson (poems)
Obadiah stories by Brinton Turkle
Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall

(And, oh!  There are SO MANY more.  There are so many wonderful books and this is just a small sampling of the ones that are most familiar to me only because we own them.)  

classic Garth Williams

Some favorite illustrators: Garth Williams (probably my all-time favorite illustrator), Tasha Tudor, Gyo Fujikawa, Barbara McClintock, Barbara Clooney, Elsa Beskow, Lois Lenski (she has many books for older children, but the Small series is for the younger crowd), David Small, Lisbeth Zwerger, Freya Blackwood, Tricia Tusa, Diane Goode.  (I'm sure there are some I'm forgetting, but those are just off the top of my head.)

And that brings me to how I FIND books.  If we discover a book that we like, I hunt down what else they've written. Same for illustrators: I find out what other books they've illustrated.  This takes some time, but the internet makes it easy to do a quick search, and then I can put them on hold at the library and pick them up to peruse them.

After a few years of doing that, you'll build up a pretty good list in your own head of the authors and illustrators you like (they may not be the same as mine), and then when you go to the thrift store or library book sales, you look for those names.  :)

In a thrift store:
This is pretty simple, really.  I look for older, hardcover books almost exclusively.  I skip right on over the newer paperbacks and just look for the gems mixed in with all the other stuff.  Or, I'll scan the spines for authors or illustrators that I recognize.

***

I think it's great to start with what you remember enjoying as a child.  That's why we have Dr. Seuss in the house.  I don't remember enjoying those books at all as a child (the illustrations don't exactly appeal to me), but Mark liked them, so they became a fixture in our library.  Your kids will usually like what YOU like, so that's a good start. 

I hope this helps.  This is sort of a scattered post of thoughts and ideas so I hope it's not too all-over-the-place.

I know there are so many more books I'm missing (feel free to comment with your favorites!)

Book list for an eight or nine-year-old boy

I pulled Isaac's "Books I've Read" binder in order to post this reading list, and I had to chuckle when I looked at his entries.  You can easily see what he was into this year as you glance at the list below.  I asked him, "Bud- is this all you read?  Did you forget to write down some other titles?"  He says he probably did, and I think that's true. Oh well.  Here's what we do have:

[Again, these are the books he chose to read this year, in addition to what I assigned for him.  (His Assigned Reading list is posted here.)]

Ben and Me, Robert Lawson
Redwall, Brian Jacques
Mossflower, Brian Jacques
Mattimeo, Brian Jacques
Mariel of Redwall, Brian Jacques
Salamandastron, Brian Jacques
Martin the Warrior, Brian Jacques
The Bellmaker, Brian Jacques
Outcast of Redwall, Brian Jacques
Pearls of Lutra, Brian Jacques
The Long Patrol, Brian Jacques
(oh, look!  something different!)  The Mystery at the Alamo, Gertrude Chandler Warner (Boxcar)
The Silver Sword, Ian Serraillier
Frederick Douglass Fights for Freedom, Margaret Davidson
Friday the Arapaho Indian, A.M. Anderson
Marlfox, Brian Jacques
Bull Run, Paul Fleischman
The Legend of Luke, Brian Jacques

I have not read a single Brian Jacques title (nor do I particularly desire to), but Mark did read the first book to proof it before Isaac read it, and we've had several friends (and my two brothers) recommend them to us.   My personal favorite from his list is The Silver Sword- one we've read before as a read-aloud but one he decided to read on his own, too.  It has been republished with the new title Escape from Warsaw if you're unable to track it down by the original title.

I asked Isaac which Redwall book was his favorite and he said: "the two that are really my favorites are The Pearls of Lutra and Salamandastron."  The reason he likes The Pearls of Lutra is that "there are a lot of riddles in the story to figure out."  Salamanastron was a favorite because he really liked some of the characters.  I asked him to describe what the books are about for boys (or parents) who may not be familiar with them.  He said, "Redwall is an abbey that has squirrels and mice and voles and shrews and otters and hedgehogs and there is usually a badger or two.  Usually in the book there's a bad guy (usually a rat, ferret, stote, weasel or wildcat) and he attacks the abbey or sometimes he (Brian Jacques) makes it far away and the "people" of Redwall have to travel to get there and defeat the bad guy."  So, sort of a good versus evil, animals-that-talk type of book, from what I gather.  Lots of adventure and suspense. 

Book list for an 11-year-old girl

As promised, here are the books Ella has read so far this year.  None of these books have been assigned to her; they've been chosen by her at the library or from our home library. (Note: some of these she's read before and have shown up on other book lists I've posted.)

The Good Master by Kate Seredy

Will Clark, Boy Adventurer* by Katherine E. Wilkie
Ruby Throat: Story of a Hummingbird by Robert M. McClung
Rachel and the Riot by Susan Martins Miller
Casey the Utterly Impossible Horse by Anita Feagles
Abandoned on the Wild Frontier by Dave & Neta Jackson
The Tinker's Daughter by Wendy Lawton

Labrador on the Lawn by Lucy Daniels
The Striped Ships by Eloise McGraw
Pup at the Palace by Ben M. Baglio
Heidi's Children by Charlies Tritten
Annie Henry: Adventures in the American Revolution by Susan Olasky
Two Dogs and a Horse by Jim Kjelgaard
West Against the Wind by Liza Ketchum Murrow
George Washington: Our First Leader* by Augusta Stevenson
The Wind Blows Free by Loula Grace Erdman
The Boxcar Children Beginning: The Aldens of Fair Meadow Farm by Patricia MacLachlan
Helen Keller: From Tragedy to Triumph* by Katharine E. Wilkie

Neil Armstrong: Young Flyer* by Montrew Dunham
Louis Braille by Margaret Davidson
The Happy Orpheline by Natalie Savage Carlson
The Children Who Stayed Alone by Bonnie Bess Worline  [Ella's note on this one: "a great book"]

The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years, and The First Four Years, all by Laura Ingalls Wilder  (I wonder how many times Ella has read this series?  ~smile~)
Clara Barton* by Augusta Stevenson
Emily Makes a Difference by JoAnn A. Grote
Five Smooth Stones (My America) by Kristiana Gregory
Betsy-Tacy, Besty-Tacy and Tib, Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown, all by Maud Hart Lovelace
In the Land of the Big Red Apple, On the Other Side of the Hill, and New Dawn on Rocky Ridge, all by Roger Lea MacBride
Little House in Brookfield, Little Town at the Crossroads, Little Clearing in the Woods, and On Top of Concord Hill, all by Maria D. Wilkes
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Martha Washington* by Jean Brown Wagoner

* * *

*the starred books are all from the Childhood of Famous American series, which Ella really enjoys. 

Her filler books, when she doesn't have a book to read and wants to grab *something* at the library are The Boxcar Children books and some from the American Girl Collection.  I haven't listed those here.

Previous book lists I've posted:
Book list for a seven-year-old girl
Book list for a nine-year-old girl
Book list for a ten-year-old girl