Lukka heading down the hill at Cypress during sunset
The book reading was light this month as our local homeschool support group started up our ski + snowboarding lesson group which I am in charge of and that took a lot of my free time and energy. Also, two of my favorite shows started up again and with three episodes each under my belt, that's a solid 6 hours I would have spent reading, watching online! I rarely watch TV and tell most people "I'm not currently accepting applications for new shows" when someone tells me about a show I have to watch, but my favorites often come up with new season in the winter which is pretty much the perfect season for me to tune in. Anyway, onto the sparse list!
*A Light So Lovely by Sarah Arthur - The first book I finished in 2019, appropriately, was another Madeleine L'Engle biograhy, this one specifically about how she defyied all categories of Christianity, motherhood, writing, and imagination. I loved this one. I might buy it (that's high praise for someone with very little real estate, even for books). When a biography comes edorsed by ones family-those who know them best and outside of their 'fame' status, you know a writer has done something well. The writing itself was very interesting, anecdotal, and I loved how she broke the chapters down--each with what appears to be a juxtaposition of two things that Madeleine did really well. If you like L'Engle, you'll like this one.
*Louisiana's Way Home by Kate DiCamillo - The second in the DiCamillo 'trilogy' (loose), after Raymie Nightengale, is Louisiana and her story of her crazy tooth-aching and curse-sodden grandmother. It's a bit bizarre at first but then we realize the depths of Louisiana's neglect and a childhood secret that will nearly destroy her. I've said it before but I will say it again-I will read DiCamillo's version of the phone book if I have to, I love her that much. For all other children's and YA novels that you will love and/or bawl your eyes out, see here.
*A Light So Lovely by Sarah Arthur - The first book I finished in 2019, appropriately, was another Madeleine L'Engle biograhy, this one specifically about how she defyied all categories of Christianity, motherhood, writing, and imagination. I loved this one. I might buy it (that's high praise for someone with very little real estate, even for books). When a biography comes edorsed by ones family-those who know them best and outside of their 'fame' status, you know a writer has done something well. The writing itself was very interesting, anecdotal, and I loved how she broke the chapters down--each with what appears to be a juxtaposition of two things that Madeleine did really well. If you like L'Engle, you'll like this one.
*Louisiana's Way Home by Kate DiCamillo - The second in the DiCamillo 'trilogy' (loose), after Raymie Nightengale, is Louisiana and her story of her crazy tooth-aching and curse-sodden grandmother. It's a bit bizarre at first but then we realize the depths of Louisiana's neglect and a childhood secret that will nearly destroy her. I've said it before but I will say it again-I will read DiCamillo's version of the phone book if I have to, I love her that much. For all other children's and YA novels that you will love and/or bawl your eyes out, see here.
*Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson - This was my book club's Februrary pick, and I was really glad someone chose it because it's been on my list since last year. It's a very heavy book, about a heavy topic, but accessible to people who aren't lawyers and understand all the nuance and policy around the US criminal justice system. There are chapters that had me in tears
*I'd Rather Be Reading by Anne Bogel - This is a tiny little book that I checked out from the library about reading secrets, library love, and other snippet essays about the books we love. How very sweetly meta. I needed something light and fluffy after Just Mercy and this did the trick. If you're a fellow bibliophile and library nerd, you'll enjoy it, but just check it out at your local library.
Read Alouds with Kids
*The Illustrated Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling - Reading this after our huge year-long Harry Potter binge was so fun, as the tales all show up in one way or another throughout the series, with the final fairy tale being a big portion of the final (7th) book. There is a commentary by Albus Dumbledore (as if he were teaching a class!) after each tale and that just enriched the experience. My kids loved both the stories, seeing how they fit into the themes of the series, and also digging deeper with each tale about the magical law that was brought up, the people who showed up in the story, etc. I might have to buy this one...
*From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg - This is one of those books that it seems like every single kid has read from the 70s onward once they hit about the 4th grade, and I never had. I got it free from a relative and vowed to read it to my kids this year as a read-aloud, and it did not disappoint but gosh did we find the first half slow. It's another 'game'-type story (similar to The Westing Game) where the last chapter makes up for the rest of the mystery of the first portion of the book, and now that I've read two like this in a row, I have to say I'm ready to move on. I don't want to avoid reading a book to my kids but these last two just didn't do it for me. I didn't find it particularly well-written; I guess a solid 3. Just wondering what the big fuss is about!
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