Eek! That photo above is terrible lighting, but taken in haste as I wrap up another month of book titles to be added to the 2019 completed list. Two of these books were daily devotionals-one for an entire year and one for Advent, which was quite small, so if we're really comparing, I completed 4 books in December; one of them being read aloud to the kids. Soon I'll have a Top 10 list of my favorites.
*The Wealthy Barber Returns by Dave Chilton - I didn't complete the first Wealthy Barber before I had to give it back to the library, and this one was very different. Whereas the first was practical financial advice in story form, this one reads more like a manul or self-help guide in finances. I still gained a lot of knowledge, but I think for this topic, I need the story format. I plan on returning to the original in the new year.
*Hallelujah: A Journey Through Handel's Messiah by Cindy Rollins - This was a small Advent devotional broken up into essays and daily scripture readings and parts to listen to from Handel's Messiah (2 hours and 25 minutes, approx.) that can be completed from days 1-24 of December. I really, really enjoyed this practice of daily reading, listening, and a few of the odds and ends thoughts by various members of Circe Institute. I 'topped it off' with an in-person concert of the Messiah at a small church in Langley in the middle of December. I had never heard it played fully before and it was beautiful! I might do this devotional again next year. Highly recommend if you're into that sort of thing.
*Glimpses of Grace by Madeleine L'Engle - This was a book of short readings by Madeleine L'Engle that totals 1 year. It's not overtly spiritual in any sense but because her writing is infused with faith, doubt, questions, awe and wonder at the universe, they add up to a lovely little devotional book, though 'devotional' implies something else...having a hard time articulating it but I did enjoy this.
*The Girl Who Smiled Beads by Clementine Wamariya - This was a memoir of a girl who fled from her home with her sister from the Rwandan genocide when she was very young. It is heartbreaking. As a reader, it felt very jarring at the end. This woman is still working through this trauma and there isn't a happy 'bow' at the end. The culture of multiple countries, the constant fleeing, the famine; it's a lot. I didn't love reading this in December because it was so heavy, but it was a book club pick for January and I had the time. It almost feels awful to write this because of the forced experiences of the author, but I've read a handful of the memoirs form Rwanda and this...wasn't my favorite.
*A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier - This was a nice little fictional work by the same author who wrote Girl with the Pearl Earring. I love historical fiction and especially Chevalier's process: she (generally) picks a piece of art, brings in TONS of research into her novels, and creates a story around the piece. You can see the inspiration and read an interview HERE about the embroidery that began this story. It wasn't my favorite of hers, but it was certainly a solid good.
Read Aloud with the Kids
*The White Stallion of Lipizza by Marguerite Henry - Henry is known for all her stories about horses, and this one was so fun to read. As we're basing our socials and literature homeschool picks on our Germany/Austria/Switzerland trip next year, this was our first book about Austria and was about a boy who wants to become a riding master at the Spanish Riding School located in Vienna. It's a historical book so although it's fiction, the places, the detail from daily life, baked goods, and horse care and lessons from the Lipizanners is accurate, which made this a great pick for homeschool. We hope to visit this 'horse ballet' when we're in Vienna in 2020.
*ASK magazine- Spying on Saturn by Cricket Media - My kids love Cricket Media magazines, plain and simple. This magazine (and every issue, to be honest) was read front to back to a rapt audience. We all learned so much about Saturn because the entire issue was dedicated to it. Highly recommend for gifts! We love every magazine we've encountered at every age category.
*The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski - Ok, so I know this (and the next) are picture books and I've never included those in this monthly list (it would just be too long!) but I can't let this December post go live without mentioning one of my favorite Christmas stories-so much so that I even purchased it this year for my 10 and 12 year old, who seem to be 90% of the time, on the cusp of not letting me read them picture books anymore (the horror!). If you're ever going to spend money on a Christmas themed picture book, let it be this one. I have read hundreds in my kids' 12 years, and this is the cream of the crop. It has everything: story, writing, and gorgeous illustrations. Just trust me.
* The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by Frank L. Baum - If you recognize the name, you're right, this IS the Baum that wrote The Wizard of Oz. Though this is a picture book, it is a long one, so you could read it over the course of a few days if you had really young children. Each year I like to read my kids a Christmas story and although it seems a bit backward that we've mostly switched to Christmas novels, to now revert to a picture book, I just didn't know about this one until this year!
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