Only half of these were completed, while the bottom two played the game Library Chicken
November and especially December were probably two of my best reading months since the entire pandemic started! Why is this of note? Because I thought the lock down would mean so much more time and reading, it actually dramatically cut my attention span and I couldn't finish paragraphs, let alone books, without falling asleep or becoming distracted!
I have lots of little books (under 300 pages) on this list that were certainly easier to get through than say, a 500 page tome, but every little bit helps, and I'm taking the win. I can't particularly remember which books were completed in November and which in December, so I'm plugging them in together, in no particular order.
All books with the (*) beside the author name can be found at the little bookshop I work at, Classical Education Books. It's a great way to support a local (BC) "mom and pop" shop that I love!
30 Poems to Memorize Before Its Too Late edited by David Kern* - I saw this book come through the Circe publishing house and read a poet per day: in each of the 30 days there is a poem, a short biography of the poet, and a brief essay on the poem in the form of literary critique. I thoroughly enjoyed this little book and always love reading new (and old!) poetry that I haven't come across before.
November/December issue of Canadian Geographic - I read these issues front to back-and always learn something. A few of the articles in this issue were about BC, one including kelp forests for future food production and an article on the horrific heat dome that killed over a billion sea animals in Vancouver this past summer.
A Rhythm of Prayer by Sarah Bessey - This was a little book that I found out about via the author's instagram feed and picked up at my local library. It is a quick little read full of meditations, prayers, and poems from various authors.
The Vanderbeekers Make A Wish by Karina Yan Glaser* - This is the newest YA book about the 5 Vanderbeeker kids and it was very cute. I enjoy Glaser's writing style, the kids' personalities, and the "problem" is always solved by the end. Satisfactory and sweet middle grade books right here.
Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis* - I read this book (first of The Space Trilogy) and went through it with our middle and high school aged kids in our co-op. Sadly, because not many students had read science fiction (and the book is 80 years old--older than most of the scifi genre), this was a bit of a miss with the group, but I had wanted to read it for a long time, and I promptly bought the next in the series and Square Halo's "A Compass for Deep Heaven" to go through simultaneously. Not as great as his fantasy, but valuable.
Bright Evening Star by Madeleine L'engle - I read a Madeleine L'Engle book every winter and her book about the Incarnation was a lovely book to read through part of Advent. It is compiled essays on different topics around the vast mystery of Christ becoming human.
The Word of the Lord by Nancy Guthrie - This was a book that I only completed in December, but read and worked through most of the year. Guthrie's book is an intro bible study and introduction to 10 of the prophetic books of the bible. I wanted to understand the prophetic books and read through them while having some guidance understanding the cultural context and historic timelines. This book was a great introduction, but next I'll be looking for something a bit meatier.
The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo - Here's another middle-grade novel from one of my all-time favorite authors, Kate DiCamillo. I would read her version of the phone book. This is an odd little story that starts with a mean goat, a young girl who has run away, and a monk. The story unravels like a kitten playing with a ball of yarn: unpredictable, charming, and ends in the most unlikely of places!
Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry* - This was a book I read along with bookvclub hosted by Gracy Olmstead of the Granola Newsletter. I love Olmstead's newsletter that comes on the first of every month and knew she'd have great questions and thoughts after each section of reading. This was my first Berry novel but it definitely won't be my last. This book is so calming and soothing; it was a great book to get me back on the reading wagon.
Martita, I Remember You / Martita, te recuerdo by Sandra Cisneros - Again, another writer who I will read anything she writes. This was a sweet little 50+ page novella written in letters and memories of a brief time between three friends in their early twenties in Paris. I read it in one sitting and was fully immersed in the Paris city-scape along with Martita, Poala, and Puffina (not her real name)!
I have lots of little books (under 300 pages) on this list that were certainly easier to get through than say, a 500 page tome, but every little bit helps, and I'm taking the win. I can't particularly remember which books were completed in November and which in December, so I'm plugging them in together, in no particular order.
All books with the (*) beside the author name can be found at the little bookshop I work at, Classical Education Books. It's a great way to support a local (BC) "mom and pop" shop that I love!
30 Poems to Memorize Before Its Too Late edited by David Kern* - I saw this book come through the Circe publishing house and read a poet per day: in each of the 30 days there is a poem, a short biography of the poet, and a brief essay on the poem in the form of literary critique. I thoroughly enjoyed this little book and always love reading new (and old!) poetry that I haven't come across before.
November/December issue of Canadian Geographic - I read these issues front to back-and always learn something. A few of the articles in this issue were about BC, one including kelp forests for future food production and an article on the horrific heat dome that killed over a billion sea animals in Vancouver this past summer.
A Rhythm of Prayer by Sarah Bessey - This was a little book that I found out about via the author's instagram feed and picked up at my local library. It is a quick little read full of meditations, prayers, and poems from various authors.
The Vanderbeekers Make A Wish by Karina Yan Glaser* - This is the newest YA book about the 5 Vanderbeeker kids and it was very cute. I enjoy Glaser's writing style, the kids' personalities, and the "problem" is always solved by the end. Satisfactory and sweet middle grade books right here.
Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis* - I read this book (first of The Space Trilogy) and went through it with our middle and high school aged kids in our co-op. Sadly, because not many students had read science fiction (and the book is 80 years old--older than most of the scifi genre), this was a bit of a miss with the group, but I had wanted to read it for a long time, and I promptly bought the next in the series and Square Halo's "A Compass for Deep Heaven" to go through simultaneously. Not as great as his fantasy, but valuable.
Bright Evening Star by Madeleine L'engle - I read a Madeleine L'Engle book every winter and her book about the Incarnation was a lovely book to read through part of Advent. It is compiled essays on different topics around the vast mystery of Christ becoming human.
The Word of the Lord by Nancy Guthrie - This was a book that I only completed in December, but read and worked through most of the year. Guthrie's book is an intro bible study and introduction to 10 of the prophetic books of the bible. I wanted to understand the prophetic books and read through them while having some guidance understanding the cultural context and historic timelines. This book was a great introduction, but next I'll be looking for something a bit meatier.
The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo - Here's another middle-grade novel from one of my all-time favorite authors, Kate DiCamillo. I would read her version of the phone book. This is an odd little story that starts with a mean goat, a young girl who has run away, and a monk. The story unravels like a kitten playing with a ball of yarn: unpredictable, charming, and ends in the most unlikely of places!
Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry* - This was a book I read along with bookvclub hosted by Gracy Olmstead of the Granola Newsletter. I love Olmstead's newsletter that comes on the first of every month and knew she'd have great questions and thoughts after each section of reading. This was my first Berry novel but it definitely won't be my last. This book is so calming and soothing; it was a great book to get me back on the reading wagon.
Martita, I Remember You / Martita, te recuerdo by Sandra Cisneros - Again, another writer who I will read anything she writes. This was a sweet little 50+ page novella written in letters and memories of a brief time between three friends in their early twenties in Paris. I read it in one sitting and was fully immersed in the Paris city-scape along with Martita, Poala, and Puffina (not her real name)!
Christina Rossetti (Great English Poets) by Christina Rossetti - This was a 60 page, hand-held book of poems that I found at my local library after listening to the most beautiful and bittersweet Christmas carol sung by King's College Choir, "In the Bleak Mid-Winter". Rossetti wrote that originally as a poem, and although most of her poems were not quite that caliber, it was fun to jump into Victorian language and sentimentality for an afternoon.
Read-Alouds
Queen Eleanor by Polly Schoyer Brooks* - This was the last full book I read to the kids before we ended read-alouds for Christmas break and it was SO GOOD! It's a biography on the woman who was responsible for wars, chivalry, the literature, music, and poetry of the medieval times, and her spirited story of her long-lived life. Highly recommend if you or your kids are into the Middle Ages!
Read-Alouds
Queen Eleanor by Polly Schoyer Brooks* - This was the last full book I read to the kids before we ended read-alouds for Christmas break and it was SO GOOD! It's a biography on the woman who was responsible for wars, chivalry, the literature, music, and poetry of the medieval times, and her spirited story of her long-lived life. Highly recommend if you or your kids are into the Middle Ages!
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