Book Talk

Sorry to have been MIA so much the past two weeks. The stomach flu hit us hard this week, and I am offically done being sick. For the next year or two.

Anyone have their wheat grass planted? In a unique container? I do! We'll have to share pictures next week. I'm still open to title suggestions for the project/decorating series coming up. Donna is the winner so far with Project Heidi. Caralyn gets the 'um, maybe not' award for My House is Nicer Than Yours and This Is Why. Grin.

How is everyone doing on Project 2008? I need to post a routine update and project word for February. Soon.

With the stomach bug still lingering, I was forced to miss my book club meeting last evening. The only other book club meeting I have missed was four years ago when I had a sick two-year-old and Russ didn't get home from work on time. Even with two pregnancies, births, and infant-hoods, I have not missed a meeting since! I'm going to blame it on the biography. We've only read biographies twice. Sounds fishy, doesn't it?

When a friend and I started our book club just over four years ago, I had no idea that it would last this long, or what it would mean to me. Incredible. We've read some great stuff over the years! The friendships have been life-affirming. The dessert~ well, let me tell you! Our book club, ChocLit Guild, enjoys a fabulous chocolate dessert at each meeting. More than four years of chocolate desserts. Books and chocolate. It doesn't get any better than that!

So, desperately missing the book talk, you will get it here instead! I'm loving my 888 book list. I'm loving having time set aside in the evening for reading. I have thoroughly enjoyed the books completed and started this past month. [I just happened to glance at the calender and realized that it is February 1st today. How did that happen? I guess I've been really out of it this week!]

Reading-aloud, as always, is an absolute joy. I'm not saying that the boys are perfect, attentive, enthusiastic listeners (actually, Levi is most of the time, but Leif and Luke not so much), but I love well-written children's literature. I would read it even if I had no children. It is nice to have an excuse, though!

Little Pear is a hilarious, joyful story of a little boy living in China a century ago. Little Pear is always getting into mischief. I appreciated the peek into life in a small Chinese village. The story is simply written and the illustrations full of personality.

Owls in the Family is a perfect 'boy story.' Told in first person, the adventures truly come from a young boy's point of view. Not content with the veritable zoo of animals he has collected at his home, Billy is determined to add an owl to the fray. You will have to read this book to find out how the owls, Wol and Weeps, become part of the family. I enjoyed the descriptions of nature in Saskatchewan.

The Story of the World: Ancient Times is part of our history curriculum this year, but so far Levi and I are fascinated by this story as much as any of our other read-alouds! The author manages to keep the writing simple and clear enough for an elementary student without sacrificing content or talking down to the reader. We are reading just a chapter a week so that we will have time for additional reading, mapwork, and activities. I'm happy to savor The Story of the World all year long. After four years and four volumes, I'll finally feel like I have a basic grasp of the flow of history! You can be sure to see many more posts about our history reading and activities in the future.

We've just begun Emily's Runaway Imagination. Beverly Cleary was born in Oregon, and this book is set in Pitchfork, Oregon, at a time when many small towns were without a library. Levi has perked up at the mention of familiar cities, such as Portland and Salem, and I think that he will feel a great kinship with Emily and her runaway imagination.

Levi is listening to The Cat of Bubastes on audio CD. The story fits in beautifully with our study of Ancient Egypt. I hope to find time to listen to the story myself, but I find that I have a very tough time following stories on CD. Most of the day I am wandering from room to room, and even if my body stays in one spot, my mind does not! For those of you who listen to audio books successfully, what is your secret?

I had fully intended to review the books that I've read on my own this past month, but the house and children are calling. I'll get around to it in the next few days (along with everything else...).

Happy Reading!