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November - December Titles // 2023

  a December sunrise in Fort Langley  A final nod to the books I read in 2023! Just squeezing by on Jan 1, 2024.  For how busy the last six weeks before Christmas break were, I sure was able to read a lot! A few of these were poetry or comics, which do go faster than a memoir or novel, but the four read-alouds done for homeschool with the kids were NOT easy reads (well, aside from Little Women ), and one was incredibly long and bleak...! What Kind of Woman? by Kate Baer - This poetry collection was probably my favorite of the year. It had poems that made me go "YESSSS" by the end of it; mostly they were about motherhood and how society views women, hilarious and honest and just the right amount of description/editing.  All My Knotted - Up Life by Beth Moore - One of the best memoirs I read this year, I've been an avid fan-girl of Moore's for over a decade. I love her bible studies, her humor, and her integrity, and in this story of her life she reveals some things th
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September - October // 2023

  a gorgeous early sunrise in Fort Langley As noted earlier, this list is compact and July - Dec titles' posts are being completed (finally. Hallelujah!) over my Christmas break. Onto the Fall! The kids and I have read some excellent classics this year so far, with more on the Winter/Spring horizon.  Revenge of the Librarians: Cartoons by Tom Gauld - This was a silly little comic book that was almost like the Far Side but with Librarian/book people humor. Read it in one sitting, laughed a lot. LOTS of book references; for the literati that's enticing.  Hidden Systems by Dan Nott - Ok. Another comic book (non-fiction) that was SO fascinating I actually made Ani read it for part of her Science work. This book describes in words AND helpful drawn pictures how the internet, electricity, and water systems are all around us and yet I knew next to NONE of this information. When any of these systems don't work, our lives basically come to a standstill, so I'd guess that most pe

July - August Titles // 2023

                                                summer's evening scene on the Glen Valley dyke trail  I've prepped this months ago, but I'm writing this post (and sharing it on it's proper share date, ahem ) on December 29, 2023. I just can't seem to get these posts up on time, at any time, during my very active life. I have a good life, but those who warned me the teen years are just a different kind of busy (mostly driving) were telling the truth. These two weeks of school break I decidedly am doing only about 3 things, and outside of that, have 16 days of REST. Reading, catching up on my computer tabs (I think the highest point was over 60 (!!), cue embarrassmen t), and getting these forsaken book posts out.  I like to record my reading, and I like sharing it with others, I just have to have time, and BRAINSPACE to do it. Here we are. Enjoy! Garvey's Choice by Nikki Grimes - I've read a ton of comic book books (?) this year and this was another middle-gra

May - June Titles // 2023

                                                              view from the Pitt River dyke trail  Well. It is now October and I am just getting these up because ...who knows why?! My summer wasn't extremely busy, but I never had time that I wanted to commit to doing some of these 'old' blog posts. I really write them for myself, to remember the books I read and what I thought/felt about them.  This is turning into my 'poetry and comic book' year, as I've read more poetry books and a brand new genre to my reading - comic books, than I ever have before. My kids have always loved comic books but when I found out about Drawn and Quarterly , I immediately put a whole bunch of holds in at the library. One of them even won a nomination on Canada Reads 2023 ! (That one was excellent...for a later month.) Time is a Mother by Ocean Vuong - Honestly, it's been a very long time since I read this one. I think I found most of these poets on Padraig O' Tuama's p

Lukka's Birthday Interview // 16

 In my haste to get this published quickly, I totally forgot an intro paragraph! You have been waiting for what feels like half of your life to learn and drive a car, and here we are. You spent weeks reading the actual Learning manual from the DMV (!) and you quickly aced the test. Reading the manuals has never let you down in the past, and it shows how dedicated you are when you are motivated to learn and do the thing you want to go after!  You are a bright young man who has a tender side (but only a few get to see it!) and you've learned so much about communication, hard work, integrity and more all while keeping a very full course load at school and finding time to hang out with friends. I am the real winner since I get to see nearly every bit of it up close, day-in and day-out. Happy Birthday, Lukka! We love you.                                                                                 Aced his "L" test! What is your favorite color?  blue Who are some of your f

March - April Titles // 2023

                                                   a little pond near our house in early light                   Again, I don't remember what order these were in, so here it goes!  The Open-Air Life by Linda Aekson Mcgurk - I really enjoyed Mcgurk's " There's No Such Thing As Good Weather " and although I enjoyed this one, I already knew quite a bit of the practical suggestions because I'm an avid nature person already. I think the suggestions in this book for year-round nature immersion are good ones if one doesn't know where to start! And long-live the cold dips! Canadian Geographic (Mar-April) - I read and enjoy this bi-monthly magazine and am reminded of some of the stories about changing land formations by water erosion, and also learning about the North Atlantic fishing industry (something that is completely out of my wheel-house and experience).  Accidental Czar by Andrew S Weiss - This is perhaps the first of my COMIC BOOK YEAR. I never imagined

January - February Titles // 2023

  Whistler snow peaks I am so woefully behind in my Titles posts that I will (mostly) just be getting right to it. This past school year was an intense literary one, and while I read aloud some amazing novels, most of them classics or Canadian historical novels, I didn't have much time for things like documenting and writing about found authors, etc. Thankfully, I kept my Pinterest board alive and documented everything completed in my Leuchtturm notebook that I keep religiously for a few years before its completely done.  That, and finally, my third check - my two libraries' borrowing history section! Reading Black Books by Claude Atcho - Not to start off with a bang, but this I knew when I completed this book it'd easily be one of my top 10 of the year. I found this book via a webinar by the Trinity Forum with the author and had the library purchase it. It is one of the best literary criticism anthologies I've ever read, and not only that, the writing itself is aca