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Wednesday, March 22, 2017

What We're Reading :: March


It has been a long while since I shared What We're Reading!  Here's a peek at the books on our desks and nightstands this month...

Me:
Rolvaag's Giants in the Earth (just finished for my local book club)
Evelyn Waugh's Helena (on its way to me via Amazon right now)
Hicks' Norms and Nobility (trying to keep up with the read-along on the AO forums)
Charlotte Mason's Volume 3 (for a local study group) and Volume 2 (for an online study group)
Bestvater's The Living Page (dipping back in here and there after writing this post)

As a Family:
Collodi's Pinocchio (from the Year 1 free read list -- we have one chapter left!)
Ransome's Peter Duck (from the Swallows and Amazons series on audio -- delightful)

Vincent, age 10:
Rifles for Watie (from the Year 5 free read list)
Stratemeyer's The Minute Boys of Bunker Hill (he goes back to these again and again)
Spalding's The Cave by the Beech Fork and The Sheriff of the Beech Fork (fun Civil War era reading!)

Gianna, age 10:
Fleischmann's Bull Run (she's on a historical fiction kick)
Enright's The Saturdays (revisiting this free read series from Year 4)
Dodge's Hans Brinker (from the Year 5 free read list -- just started and already engaged!)

Cate, age 8:
Giggling over Amelia Bedelia (again and again)
Milly-Molly-Mandy and More Milly Molly Mandy (she switches between the two, chapter by chapter)
Ichikawa's Nora's Duck (one of her birthday books that she adores for the sweet story and illustrations)

Unshelved by the Littles (ages 6, 5, 4, 2, 1) just this morning:

In the Mail:


Spryi's Mazli (by the author of Heidi -- out of print but easy to find used or on Kindle)
Saint Francis of the Seven Seas (for our Vision books collection -- in print in paperback)
The Harvest Feast (a Thanksgiving collection that we'll try out next year)
The Swiss Family Robinson (a prettier version that what we already have -- ready for Year 6!)
Chute's Shakespeare of London (I already have Stories from Shakespeare so am happy to add this one too)
Newman's Stories of the Great Operas and Their Composers and Cross' The New Complete Stories of the Great Operas (looking forward to adding these to Morning Basket at some point)


Wallace Stegner's Angle of Repose (a gift from a friend)
Windham's Saints Upon a Time (a gift from another friend -- out of print, but re-published in various volumes)


A pretty harcover copy of Hawthorne's Tanglewood Tales (one of our favorite Year 2 free reads!)



The Treasury of Saints and Martyrs (I love the pairing of summaries with classic works of art!)


Not my usual: 1001 Things to Spot Around Town (I bought it for $1 to use for Italian lessons!)



Burns' Bird Watching (another for our bulging non-fiction shelves)
Lubell's The Tall Grass Zoo (this is going to be a fun one for summer!)
O'Dell's Island of the Blue Dolphins (oversized hardcover to replace the paperback we have)
Mickelthwait's I Spy Two Eyes: Numbers in Art (I like this series for littles)
Pick, Pull, Snap! (a great first nature study book)
Hoss' The How and Why Wonder Book of Stars (another for my collection of this series)

What are you reading lately?  I have so many TBRs on my list, but I'd still love to hear what you and your kids are enjoying this month.

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13 comments:

  1. Do you use Trial and Triumph in your curriculum? Or a different book?

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    1. No, we don't. I find it to be historically inaccurate, and it doesn't represent the heroes of our faith tradition. We use various saints' lives depending on the time period covered. I have lists of what we have used for each AO Year in the "My School Plans tab" at the top. :)

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  2. Thank you so much for sharing your current reading, Celeste. Your lists often introduce me to new authors and get us out of our book-ruts in our trips to the library.

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    1. I get most of my reading ideas from other bloggers, so I'm always happy to share! :)

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  3. Oh my word. My eyes are popping out of my head! SO many lovely things! :D There's a Marchette Chute that I've wanted for a long time and I can't remember if that's the one. I'm looking for a nice Swiss Family Robinson also - which one did you get?

    I commented back on your comment ;) and wanted you to know that you super encourage me. <3

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    1. Thanks, Amy. <3

      I got the Illustrated Junior Library version. I love the feel of those editions -- they are so substantial feeling in the hand, and the text is nice and readable. :)

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  4. We haven't read Milly Molly Mandy yet but I actually told a friend just yesterday that I need to see if our library has it and check it out. :)

    I, too, pulled out The Living Page recently to look through it. Your post on map-keeping and also reading a previous post where you noted that you all do a poetry notebook spurred me to pull out the book again and get ideas for more notebook keeping...including for myself. ;) And then I read your wonderful post over at Charlotte Mason Living which was so inspirational!

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    1. Thanks, Karen. :) And Milly Molly Mandy is so charming. It really is a fun read for little girls.

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  5. Have you read Kristin Lavranstadder? It's the most incredible 1100 page page-turner. I thought it would take me months to finish but I was so into it. Amazing, amazing book. Right now I am reading essays on Catholic theology by Bishop Robert Barron. A few fascinating non-fiction selections: Do No Harm by Henry Marsh and Ghettoside by Jill Leovy. I'm looking for something to further develop my confessions as I feel in a way like I'm still a 12 year old when it comes to that. Suggestions welcome!

    My 7 yo is looking foward to some Amazing Grace stories and just finished Pippi Longstocking on audio, she loved it. She loved it so much that she made a list of books that she wants to check out at the library and said, "I don't think I'll check out a Disney book this time, there are just too many other good books to read." I let that one Disney book in here and there rather than shutting it down, hoping this day would come!!! I'm going to buy her a new book on the Fatima apparition for Easter.

    Youngers are into Little Blue Engine, Frog and Toad, and Tootle.

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    1. I actually haven't, though my Catholic friends number it in their top five pretty much across the board. :) I actually started the first volume, but then I saw it coming up on the future book list for our local book club, so I figured I'd wait until we get to it. I'm looking forward to it!

      I really like St. Francis de Sales' Introduction to the Devout Life for confession -- at least it helped me with my own examinations of conscience. The books you are reading sound meaty and great!

      Aw, love your daughter's interest in living books! That is so heartening to see, isn't it?

      Frog and Toad is always a favorite here. :)

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  6. I recently finished a rather obscure piece of 19th century English lit called New Grub Street and I can't stop thinking about it. Emma's reading it now, which is great because then I'll have someone to talk to about it. LOL

    I don't tend to jump right into another fiction book right away, especially if the previous one was really good, so right now I'm reading an autobiography by Rumer Godden, a biography of Wade Hampton (do you have Johnny Reb? We read that out loud and really enjoyed it - it sparked my interest in Hampton) and Belloc's My Path to Rome. Rather heavy on the biographical, but oh well. Oh, and Crossing the Threshold of Hope, which is a re-read and was really meaningful for me when I was journeying into the Church. As I approach the 10 year anniversary of my reception into the Church, I wanted to re-read a few of the books that were really important in that journey.

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    1. Johnny Reb is by Merritt Parmelee Allen, btw. I realized after posting that the title is not distinct enough to be easily found, in case you were trying to look it up! He also wrote another Civil War book called Blow, Bugles, Blow, but we all thought Johnny Reb was better.

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    2. Good to know about Johnny Reb -- thanks for the suggestion. The kids are really eating up Civil War era stuff so that will be a great one to hunt down for the summer shelves.

      New Grub Street, huh? Obscure indeed. You have my interest piqued!

      Congrats on 10 years. It has been 15 years for me! :)

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