Never the greatest light in the basement suite, but a good stack of books!
March was an good reading month for me. I finished a lot of books, and I started a lot of books I'm still currently enjoying. Just this week I started a 400 page book that I have to lead a book club with on Friday evening, and I couldn't believe that just doing nothing in my free time except reading, I'll easily finish it. I've missed that-the full attention, relaxed-into-a-story feeling that I haven't felt during the last year. I was so optimistic! (groan)
From the stack above, I'm still currently reading quite a few of them, so only two will be on March's completed list, but that's okay. I'm almost finished with one, and halfway through 3 others!
Dusk, Night, Dawn by Anne Lamott - This is the newest Lamott book and every single word she publishes I read. I read her books for her candor, her wit, her judgy-ness (it's a thing), and her self-depreciating humor, but mostly because she reflects the God of peace, and finds Him in the most unexpected places, like bored teenagers who just want snacks.
The Cold War by Kathleen Ossip - This was a book of poetry that I believe I saw a review of on NPR (her newest, July, I'm still waiting for!). I have to be honest, at times I maybe understood 1-3 lines per poem in this book. I could tell that it was going over my head, as it was flying up above my hairline. LOL It's possible I was just not able to focus on this and dig deep with it because of where I'm at in life, or it's just too riddled with context that I didn't live through or know about enough of. Either way, it was a bit of a miss for me, but only because -timing.
The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni - This was a book that I would have never picked up off the shelf if I didn't have to read it as homework for my Zoe Women's Leadership homework. You can read more about Zoe here. This class, Together, was all about team-building and the juxtaposition of great vs. toxic teams. It's told in a narrative way, so it was a bit easier to digest than just a straight-up business book (which, honestly, I didn't mind in Crucial Conversations...). It was definitely a great book to pair with this class, and our group project that we got to 'practice' these ideas on went so well we made the paper!
Wind Rider by Susan Williams - This was a book that I read 'back and forth' with Anikka as part of her first independent reading assignment. I'm trying to slowly acclimating the kids to read things independently (we do *so many* read alouds together), but as they get closer to high school, they will need to pick up the pace with independent reading. This was a fun book to practice on, because I knew she would love it.
It's about a girl named Fern and it's set in Ancient Asia (likely, Mongolia), and it's about how she is the first person to tame a wild horse, and how her community is at first fearful, but learn to use the animals to better their way of life. It's my second Williams' book, and we both really liked the story, the clever uses of historical fact woven in, and of course, the antics of the horses!
Read-Aloud with the Kids
The Thrifty Guide to Ancient Greece by Jonathan W. Stokes - This book is hands-down hilarious. It's a nonfiction book made for middle-schoolers and is told as if you're buying a ticket (and signing so many waivers for loss of life!) to time-travel back to Ancient Greece. My kids kept asking me to read more, laughed out loud the entire book, and asked if "they have any others in the series"? Why yes, they have Rome, and that's next! Middle Ages next year!
Thanks to my good friend Maria, who finds the best stuff (and makes the coolest Harry Potter props and games on the planet) for finding us this one.
Lysis Goes to the Play by Caroline Dale Snedeker - This was a short little read-aloud (we finished it in two days) about a boy and his sister going to the play in ancient Athens around the festival of Dionysus during the time of Euripides.
I thought it was cute, but it was just a bit young for my two. They enjoyed it well enough, but it would be better suited for kids gr. 3-5, not 6-8.
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