Sneaking in a post before the month ends to catch up on what we have been reading lately...
Me
Stegner's Angle of Repose (just finished -- wow, what a book!)
Goudge's Bird in the Tree (the first of the Eliot trilogy)
In Memoriam, Norms and Nobility, and Formation of Character for various study groups
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (read the first half last year with the kids thanks to AO Year 6-- finally finishing the rest on my own)
As a Family
Secret Water from the Swallows and Amazon series, on audio
Vincent, age 12
His birthday books...
Marguerite Henry's Black Gold and San Domingo
Garnett's Blood-Red Crescent (historical fiction about the Battle of Lepanto)
and two books from the Catholic Tom Playfair series: Tom Playfair and Harry Dee
(He also got his first wrist watch -- which has been a HUGE hit. He times himself for everything now. LOL)
Gianna, age just-turned-12
Her birthday books...
Guerber's Myths of Greece and Rome (a vintage hardcover)
Natalie Babbit's Goody Hall (trying to find good middle-grade mysteries -- I will have to give Gianna's review once she has read it!)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again (super light reading, but Gianna read the original to Cate last month so I thought she would appreciate the sequel)
(We decided 12th birthdays are the time for watches -- so she got one too! :))
Cate, age 9
Spyri's Heidi (she looooves it, and I haven't told her I have some more Spyri books for her waiting on the shelf!)
de Jong's Along Came a Dog (also from the AmblesideOnline list)
Cole's A Nest for Celeste (such a lovely book)
de Jong's Along Came a Dog (also from the AmblesideOnline list)
Cole's A Nest for Celeste (such a lovely book)
Xavier, age 8
Men of Iron, on audio
Little Folks of Many Lands (a Riverbend reprint -- I love that is has the Philippines!)
Happy Times in Noisy Village (a many-times-reread)
Bridget, age just-turned-7
Her birthday books...
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (beautiful illustrations)
Favorite Fairy Tales (my girls just don't tire of fairy tales!)
Favorite Stories and Songs (she loves these compilation books)
Clara, age just-turned-6
Aaaand HER birthday books!
Rumplestiltskin and The Magic Porridge Pot (to round out the Galdone folk tale collection!)
The Golden Book of Fairy Tales
To the Baby Boys
Ed Emberley's Yankee Doodle and London Bridge is Falling Down (4yo Drew's current favorites)
The Farmer in the Dell and The Glorious American Songbook (2yo Justin's current favorites)
Can you tell they are into singalong books right now? :)
...and Damien's favorite is whichever he can swipe from a sibling and gnaw on before anyone catches him! ;)
In the Mail...
Obviously our mail for weeks was overflowing with book boxes as we began the new year. Most of those hopped right on our shelves, but I corraled a few piles to share here. Did your mail look kinda similar in August?
That new May Mallam brush drawing book reprinted by Riverbend Press at the bottom of that pile is gorgeous, by the way!
Edwin Way Teale's A Walk Through the Year (planning to put this into our Morning Basket at some point!)
Rumer Godden's In This House of Brede (a hardcover to add to my collection)
And then I got this reference book series from my friend Virginia Lee's bookshop that I think will be useful: The Golden Book History of the United States.
And some special book mail: some borrowed Gouin books from a friend that came with a gift: Flowers of Coast and Sierra. If you are in California, check out this book! The writing is top notch and the illustrations are lovely.
What are you reading? I did a fair amount of reading over the summer but have slowed down on fiction now that school has begun. But the pre-reading I am doing weekly now DEFINITELY counts! :)
I'm currently reading In this house of Brede and it isn't quite what I expected but I'm slowly getting into it. Almost finished with the biography by Margaret Coombs on Charlotte Mason and it has been very eye opening and thoroughly worthwhile! I had no idea that CM's mother was a Catholic! Also enjoying Gentian Hill, The Death of Christian Culture, The Biography of a Cathedral (which is going to take me the rest of the year to read!), The Planets by Dava Sobel, and Around the Year with the Trapp Family which is such a joy to read. Being a convert I feel like I need to play catch up and since we started going to the Latin Mass this one has been particularly helpful.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know you started going to the TLM! That's great! Being a convert myself, I certainly know that catch-up feeling. My husband grew up Catholic but with no celebration of the liturgical year outside of Mass each week, so we have had to consciously build what we do. The Von Trapps are such a great read in that vein!
DeleteI have heard such mixed reviews of the Coombs book! :) Would love to hear your further thoughts. But I was certainly intrigued by Mason's Catholic connection when I heard about it.
Your stack sounds pretty fantastic. I saw The Biography of a Cathedral recommended somewhere but haven't read it yet. My reading-all-year book is the Brothers K. Actually I am still reading that one from last year! LOL
I can definitely understand the mixed reviews on the Coombs biography. There are a couple of sentences where I have had to disagree with her plain and simple and the book is a little choppy as far as reading goes. That said, it goes deep into Charlotte Mason's ancestry which has been quite interesting and the later part of the book has given me better insight into CM's thinking as I work to implement the philosophy at home. I feel like I *know* CM better after reading it if that is possible.
DeleteAnd yes.. the TLM has been such a game changer for me. Nine months now. The prayers are truly transformative! One day when we have to move again I will miss our little community here.
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ReplyDeleteI recently started a blog where I often cover books I'm reading. https://thisismycalcutta.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteBooks I am reading are under "currently reading" https://thisismycalcutta.blogspot.com/search/label/Currently%20Reading
Feel free to give it all a read! Of course this doesn't cover even half of the reading I do, but some. ;)
Will do! Thank you for sharing!
DeleteSigh. :)
ReplyDeleteWow- what an incredible list and awesome source. Delightful reading!
ReplyDeleteI get all of my best book recommendations from online friends! :)
DeleteThe brush drawing book looks very interesting! (Esp. the fact that it's in colour!)
ReplyDeleteI just finished reading "Marguerite de la Roque" by Elizabeth Boyer. It tells the true story (it still boggles my mind that this actually happened!) of a 19-year old French noblewoman whose uncle left her on an island off the coast of Labrador, Canada, in the early 1500s. She was actually supposed to be part of one of the first colonies in New France, but her uncle was incensed that she'd fallen in love with a man on board the ship. Her nurse and that young man were left there with her, along with some basic supplies (a handful of guns, some powder, her trunk of clothes, etc). It was just them against the wilderness - polar bears, wolverines, etc. It's written by a historian, so the story-telling is rather clunky at times, but it's an incredible tale!
Yes, it is a beautiful oversized book! We are using the 20/20 Press brush drawing course and the Mallam book together.
DeleteThat book sounds fascinating! I saw that you were recapping a bunch of Canadian history books recently. This sounds like a winner!