One of the really enjoyable books that I have read this year is Lydia Bennet's Story by Jane Odiwe. I found out today that the author has another book coming out November 1, Willoughby's Return. The first was a sequel, of sorts, to Pride and Prejudice and the new one is a sequel to Sense and Sensibility. I tend to be hard to please when it comes to books that are companions to Jane Austen's novels, but I found Ms. Odiwe's first book delightful, and look forward to reading this one.
For more about the new book, and all kinds of Austenalia visit the author's blog.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Quick Book Review: Their Eyes Were Watching God
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston has been in my TBR pile for over a year. With nothing lined up to read, and having just read an article about Hurston, I grabbed it and started reading. I was quickly pulled in by the character Janie. This was a wonderful book. It takes a bit of work to read the parts that are in dialect, but it is worth it. Her writing is poetic and the book tells very vividly of a time and place previously unknown to many of us.
Monday, October 12, 2009
My favorite books on learning and homeschooling
I have received several requests over the years for a list of must-read books on homeschooling. Last week a friend suggested that this would make a great blog post. So here it is. There may be some newer books that are missing. Since we've been at this for fourteen years, some of these may not be the most current books. I'm sure there are other worthwhile books that I haven't seen, but each of these is a gem.
You'll notice that many of these books tend toward learning theory and the unschooly. Well, that's me. I would argue that it would be good for anyone, homeschooler or not, to read the Gatto books. And any parent would be well-served by reading the Moores, John Holt, and Cindy Tobias.
Better Late Than Early by Raymond and Dorothy Moore
This is a book that I wish every parent and teacher of young children would read. I read this as the stressed out mother of a non-reading seven year old and it probably saved my sons academic life and my sanity.
The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn
This book isn't perfect, but as a homeschooling mom it really helped me to free myself from some of the school baggage I was carrying, and to free my children in turn.
Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto
Weapon's of Mass Instruction by John Taylor Gatto
I consider these the "why to" books of homeschooling. Dumbing Us Down helped to bolster my flagging courage early on by reminding me that what my kids were missing wasn't all that great. These books are especially helpful when you are having to deal with critical and skeptical family members or if you--like me--spend lots of time asking yourself if you are ruining your kids' lives.
How Children Learn
How Children Fail
Learning All the Time all by Jon Holt (You can find all three on this page.)
I didn't always agree with Holt, but overall found his writing about learning to make so much sense.
The Unschooling Handbook by Mary Griffith
The closest thing to a how-to book on this list. So many people want to know HOW to unschool. Mary Griffith gives lots of ideas and helps to paint some pictures of what unschooling looks like.
The Way They Learn
Every Child Can Succeed by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias
Both of these books are easy, quick, straight forward looks at learning styles and how to work with your child's strengths.
Homeschooling: A Family's Journey by Martine & Gregory Millman
This is the story of one family's homeschooling journey. Here is the review I wrote when I read it.
This is not an exhaustive list. I have enjoyed other homeschooling books over the years, but these are those that I believe are the most important and have contributed the most to our success and enjoyment of this journey. What are some of your favorites?
You'll notice that many of these books tend toward learning theory and the unschooly. Well, that's me. I would argue that it would be good for anyone, homeschooler or not, to read the Gatto books. And any parent would be well-served by reading the Moores, John Holt, and Cindy Tobias.
Better Late Than Early by Raymond and Dorothy Moore
This is a book that I wish every parent and teacher of young children would read. I read this as the stressed out mother of a non-reading seven year old and it probably saved my sons academic life and my sanity.
The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn
This book isn't perfect, but as a homeschooling mom it really helped me to free myself from some of the school baggage I was carrying, and to free my children in turn.
Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto
Weapon's of Mass Instruction by John Taylor Gatto
I consider these the "why to" books of homeschooling. Dumbing Us Down helped to bolster my flagging courage early on by reminding me that what my kids were missing wasn't all that great. These books are especially helpful when you are having to deal with critical and skeptical family members or if you--like me--spend lots of time asking yourself if you are ruining your kids' lives.
How Children Learn
How Children Fail
Learning All the Time all by Jon Holt (You can find all three on this page.)
I didn't always agree with Holt, but overall found his writing about learning to make so much sense.
The Unschooling Handbook by Mary Griffith
The closest thing to a how-to book on this list. So many people want to know HOW to unschool. Mary Griffith gives lots of ideas and helps to paint some pictures of what unschooling looks like.
The Way They Learn
Every Child Can Succeed by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias
Both of these books are easy, quick, straight forward looks at learning styles and how to work with your child's strengths.
Homeschooling: A Family's Journey by Martine & Gregory Millman
This is the story of one family's homeschooling journey. Here is the review I wrote when I read it.
This is not an exhaustive list. I have enjoyed other homeschooling books over the years, but these are those that I believe are the most important and have contributed the most to our success and enjoyment of this journey. What are some of your favorites?
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Book Review: Little Heathens
I just finished Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish.
This book is the conversation I wish I'd had with my own grandmothers.
Mildred Armstrong Kalish fills us in on the daily life of a child on an Iowa farm during the Great Depression. This book left me with a nostalgic yearning for the simpler life they had, in spite of the fact that their lives were also far more difficult. There is much to be learned from their thrift and capacity for hard work.
A few of the reviews I've read didn't appreciate the recipes for things that they ate that were included. Maybe it's because I'm a housewife, mother, from-scratch cook, and lover of all things food, but I enjoyed the recipes. In fact, the apple cream pie will be on our table this Sunday
This book is the conversation I wish I'd had with my own grandmothers.
Mildred Armstrong Kalish fills us in on the daily life of a child on an Iowa farm during the Great Depression. This book left me with a nostalgic yearning for the simpler life they had, in spite of the fact that their lives were also far more difficult. There is much to be learned from their thrift and capacity for hard work.
A few of the reviews I've read didn't appreciate the recipes for things that they ate that were included. Maybe it's because I'm a housewife, mother, from-scratch cook, and lover of all things food, but I enjoyed the recipes. In fact, the apple cream pie will be on our table this Sunday
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Book Review: The Red Leather Diary
I finished The Red Leather Diary by Lily Koppel last night and, for the most part, I liked it. It was a very interesting look at life in New York as a brilliant, rather privileged teen-aged girl named Florence in the period from 1929-1934. It is also the story of how the author found her diary and then her, a ninety year old woman.
I loved the glimpses of old New York and the artistic circles Florence moved in. Her personal story was interesting. However, I found myself not liking her very much. I grew impatient with her self-centeredness and lack of morals. However, I didn't dislike her enough to make me dislike the book.
I loved the glimpses of old New York and the artistic circles Florence moved in. Her personal story was interesting. However, I found myself not liking her very much. I grew impatient with her self-centeredness and lack of morals. However, I didn't dislike her enough to make me dislike the book.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Progress report
I am now 3/4 of the way done with the 100 Book Challenge. I only read seven books in June and eight in May, which is definitely off my pace, but this has been SUCH a busy summer!
I have also finished the Suspense and Thriller Challenge. So I have finished two of my four challenges. I am still way behind on the World Citizen Challenge. I think that the all of the heaviness I feel about what is happening to our country is making it hard for me to read about world affairs. I am enjoying my reading as an escape. I need to work on it, though.
I read my first re-read book this year. I just finished the first Harry Potter book for the third time. I needed something easy this week and didn't have anything from the library that fit the bill. I've been wanting to work my way back through the series before the movie version of #7 comes out next year, so now seemed like a good time to start.
I'm still loving Georgette Heyer. The Grand Sophy is one of my favorites so far. I have a big pile from the library, but I picked up a book at B&N today on our way to the movie theater and started reading it while we waited. The Red Leather Diary by Lily Koppel sucked me right in, so I'll be finishing it before I get to the library books, unles something changes..
I have also finished the Suspense and Thriller Challenge. So I have finished two of my four challenges. I am still way behind on the World Citizen Challenge. I think that the all of the heaviness I feel about what is happening to our country is making it hard for me to read about world affairs. I am enjoying my reading as an escape. I need to work on it, though.
I read my first re-read book this year. I just finished the first Harry Potter book for the third time. I needed something easy this week and didn't have anything from the library that fit the bill. I've been wanting to work my way back through the series before the movie version of #7 comes out next year, so now seemed like a good time to start.
I'm still loving Georgette Heyer. The Grand Sophy is one of my favorites so far. I have a big pile from the library, but I picked up a book at B&N today on our way to the movie theater and started reading it while we waited. The Red Leather Diary by Lily Koppel sucked me right in, so I'll be finishing it before I get to the library books, unles something changes..
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Update on challenges
I decided to look at my progress so far with my reading challenges. As of Monday, I was halfway through the 100 book reading challenge. The books in orange are completed. For reasons of my own insanity, I moved number one down to where it was actually completed. I've stopped adding "to read" books to the list, because I may not get them read this year and they make it too confusing.
So at this point in the year I have read 51 books. Sixteen of them are non-fiction. A number of those are memoirs. The largest number, seventeen are mysteries, thrillers, cop, spy, or something else of that sort. There's way more Chick Lit than I should read in a year, if ever, but it got me through February and March.
2. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
3. The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper (finished 2/20/2009)
4. Albion's Seed by David Hackett Fisher
5. A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffery Archer (finished 1/27/2009)
6. A Door Into Summer by Robert Heinlein (finished 1/3/2009
7. The Reagan I Knew by William F. Buckley, Jr. (finished 2/12/2009)
8. Grace Upon Grace by John W. Kleinig
9. Cruel and Usual Punishment: The terrifying global implications of Islamic Law by Nonie Darwish (finished 1/15/2009)
10. Bones by Jonathan Kellerman (finished 1/7/2009)
11. Archy and Mehitabel by Don Marquis (finished 1/7/2009)
12. Homeschooling: A Family's Journey by Gregory and Martine Millman (finished 1/8/2009)
13. Heat Lightning by John Sandford (finished 1/12/2009)
14. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling (finished 1/12/2009)
15. American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld (finished 1/17/2009)
16. Cross Country by James Patterson (finished 1/19/2009)
17. Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly (finished 1/22/2009)
18. Good Luck by Whitney Gaskell (finished 1/23/2009)
19. How the Missouri Synod Was Born by Rev Dr. William Gustave Polack (finished 1/23/2009)
20. King's Blood Four by Sherri Tepper (finished 1/25/2009)
21. Terrorist by John Updike (finished 2/2/2009)
22. Die in Plain Sight by Elizabeth Lowell (finished 2/4/2009)
23. Naked in Death by J.D. Robb (finished 2/7/2009)
24. Lydia Bennet's Story by Jane Odiwe (finished 2/8/2009)
25. Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich (finished 2/10/2009)
26. Red River by Lalita Tademy (finished 2/15/2009)
27. Run for Your Life by James Patterson (finished 2/18/2009)
28. A Red State of Mind by Nancy French (finished 2/23/2009)
29. I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron (finished 2/24/2009)
30. The Survivor's Club by Ben Sherwood (finished 2/28/2009)
31. Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger (finished 3/2/2009)
32. The Next Big Thing by Johanna Edwards (finished 3/4/2009)
33. Glory in Death by J.D. Robb (finished 3/11/2009)
34. Class Matters by Correspondents of the New York Times (finished 3/12/2009)
35. Holly Would Dream by Karen Quinn (finished 3/13/2009)
36. Sullivan's Law by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg (finished 3/15/2009)
37. Weapons of Mass Instruction by John Taylor Gatto (finished 3/19/2009)
38. Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult (finished 3/21/2009)
39. Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger (finished 3/26/2009)
40. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (finished 4/1/2009)
41. The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution by Kevin R.C. Gutzman, Ph.D., J.D. (4/7/2009)
42. The Sharper Your Knife the Less You Cry by Kathleen Flinn (4/8/2009)
43. True Detectives by Jonathan Kellerman (4/13/20089)
45. Immortal in Death by J.D. Robb (4/17/2009)
46. Food Matters by Mark Bittman (4/19/2009)
47. Certain Jeopardy by Jeff Struecker and Alton Gansky (4/22/2009)
48. Divine Justice by David Baldacci (4/27/2009)
49. Rapture in Death by J.D. Robb (4/30/2009)
50. The 8th Confession by James Patterson (5/2/2009)
51. A Dream Deferred: The Second Betrayal of Black Freedom in America by Shelby Steele (5/4/2009)
52. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (5/7/2009)
53. The Mephisto Club by Tess Gerritsen (5/9/2009)
1. Pretty in Plaid by Jen Lancaster (5/11/2009)
54. The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer (5/13/2009)
I have completed my Support Your Local Library Challenge and have three more books to read for my Suspense and Thriller Challenge. I need to get back to work on my World Citizen Challenge. I have some books picked out for this one. I just need to read them. Right now I have read two of seven, so I am behind.
So at this point in the year I have read 51 books. Sixteen of them are non-fiction. A number of those are memoirs. The largest number, seventeen are mysteries, thrillers, cop, spy, or something else of that sort. There's way more Chick Lit than I should read in a year, if ever, but it got me through February and March.
2. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
3. The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper (finished 2/20/2009)
4. Albion's Seed by David Hackett Fisher
5. A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffery Archer (finished 1/27/2009)
6. A Door Into Summer by Robert Heinlein (finished 1/3/2009
7. The Reagan I Knew by William F. Buckley, Jr. (finished 2/12/2009)
8. Grace Upon Grace by John W. Kleinig
9. Cruel and Usual Punishment: The terrifying global implications of Islamic Law by Nonie Darwish (finished 1/15/2009)
10. Bones by Jonathan Kellerman (finished 1/7/2009)
11. Archy and Mehitabel by Don Marquis (finished 1/7/2009)
12. Homeschooling: A Family's Journey by Gregory and Martine Millman (finished 1/8/2009)
13. Heat Lightning by John Sandford (finished 1/12/2009)
14. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling (finished 1/12/2009)
15. American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld (finished 1/17/2009)
16. Cross Country by James Patterson (finished 1/19/2009)
17. Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly (finished 1/22/2009)
18. Good Luck by Whitney Gaskell (finished 1/23/2009)
19. How the Missouri Synod Was Born by Rev Dr. William Gustave Polack (finished 1/23/2009)
20. King's Blood Four by Sherri Tepper (finished 1/25/2009)
21. Terrorist by John Updike (finished 2/2/2009)
22. Die in Plain Sight by Elizabeth Lowell (finished 2/4/2009)
23. Naked in Death by J.D. Robb (finished 2/7/2009)
24. Lydia Bennet's Story by Jane Odiwe (finished 2/8/2009)
25. Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich (finished 2/10/2009)
26. Red River by Lalita Tademy (finished 2/15/2009)
27. Run for Your Life by James Patterson (finished 2/18/2009)
28. A Red State of Mind by Nancy French (finished 2/23/2009)
29. I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron (finished 2/24/2009)
30. The Survivor's Club by Ben Sherwood (finished 2/28/2009)
31. Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger (finished 3/2/2009)
32. The Next Big Thing by Johanna Edwards (finished 3/4/2009)
33. Glory in Death by J.D. Robb (finished 3/11/2009)
34. Class Matters by Correspondents of the New York Times (finished 3/12/2009)
35. Holly Would Dream by Karen Quinn (finished 3/13/2009)
36. Sullivan's Law by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg (finished 3/15/2009)
37. Weapons of Mass Instruction by John Taylor Gatto (finished 3/19/2009)
38. Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult (finished 3/21/2009)
39. Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger (finished 3/26/2009)
40. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (finished 4/1/2009)
41. The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution by Kevin R.C. Gutzman, Ph.D., J.D. (4/7/2009)
42. The Sharper Your Knife the Less You Cry by Kathleen Flinn (4/8/2009)
43. True Detectives by Jonathan Kellerman (4/13/20089)
45. Immortal in Death by J.D. Robb (4/17/2009)
46. Food Matters by Mark Bittman (4/19/2009)
47. Certain Jeopardy by Jeff Struecker and Alton Gansky (4/22/2009)
48. Divine Justice by David Baldacci (4/27/2009)
49. Rapture in Death by J.D. Robb (4/30/2009)
50. The 8th Confession by James Patterson (5/2/2009)
51. A Dream Deferred: The Second Betrayal of Black Freedom in America by Shelby Steele (5/4/2009)
52. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (5/7/2009)
53. The Mephisto Club by Tess Gerritsen (5/9/2009)
1. Pretty in Plaid by Jen Lancaster (5/11/2009)
54. The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer (5/13/2009)
I have completed my Support Your Local Library Challenge and have three more books to read for my Suspense and Thriller Challenge. I need to get back to work on my World Citizen Challenge. I have some books picked out for this one. I just need to read them. Right now I have read two of seven, so I am behind.
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