Summer Reading Wrap-Up

It slays me that summer is coming to a close. Truly. But it makes sense to wrap up our August reading lists in preparation for a new focus in the next few weeks. (You can read July’s book post at this link.)

Let’s start with Levi.

[He reads so many shorter books, and re-reads so many, that I only get a smattering of the new ones on his list. I’ve never known a kid to inhale books like this.]

Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald (I also read this one and enjoyed it. This novel blends Renaissance Art/Raphael, WWII, and Monuments Men, which is a great combination, but there are a couple little objectionable things that I didn’t care for so I didn’t have Luke read it. I think I prefer Blue Balliett’s books.)

[This article at Story Warren reminded me of Chasing Vermeer, which Levi, Luke, and I all enjoyed. So I picked up the other four books by Blue Balliett.]

The Wright 3, The Calder Game, Hold Fast, and The Danger Box by Blue Balliett

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins [I was trying to get Levi to branch out a bit.]

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens [I proposed this one as a challenge. He made it about a third of the way through and was floundering, so I told him to set it aside. No reason to slog through it. He’ll enjoy it in a few years.]

The Hunger Games Trilogy [He had been begging to read this trilogy, and I finally caved. But I’m holding out on the movies for, like, forever.]

The Warden and the Wolf King (The Wingfeather Saga Book 4) by Andrew Peterson [The boys have been waiting and waiting for this final book in the Wingfeather Saga!]

The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge [Also our current read-aloud, so he’s getting this one twice—not that he minds.]

[He’s currently working his way through the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz. I think we’ll have to re-watch the movie version, Alex Rider - Operation Stormbreaker.]

Stormbreaker, Point Blank, and Skeleton Key

Series Levi has re-read. Seriously:

The Ranger's Apprentice

Swallows and Amazons (so lovely)

Harry Potter

He also re-read The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham from his upcoming CC Challenge A literature list.

 

Luke:

[This son has inhaled series like never before—ever since finishing off Harry Potter this summer.]

He finished up the three books in the Seven Wonders series.

The Ruins of Gorlan and the next FIVE books in the Ranger’s Apprentice series by John Flanagan

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness and the following THREE books in the Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson [That’s some heavy-duty reading!]

Peter and the Starcatchers and the following THREE books in the series by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson [More LONG books!]

Currently Reading:

The Danger Box by Blue Balliett and Stormbreaker (Alex Rider) by Anthony Horowitz

[If you’re counting, and I am, that makes well over 40 chapter books—many 300-800 pages long—just this summer. Whew!!!]

 

Leif:

Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, and The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White

Mystery of the Missing Necklace by Enid Blyton 

Ben and Me: An Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin by His Good Mouse Amos and Mr. Revere and I: Being an Account of certain Episodes in the Career of Paul Revere,Esq. as Revealed by his Horse by Robert Lawson

Three new Imagination Station books

A couple more Treasure Chest books by Ann Hood

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and he’ll be working on the rest of the Narnia series by C. S. Lewis

[As usual, he has read and re-read a ton of shorter books, non-fiction, and comics.]

 

Me:

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson [This one reminds me a little of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.]

Working on Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald [middle grade novel as mentioned above; enjoyable but with a smidgen of annoying questionable content]

Son by Lois Lowry [I loved this conclusion to The Giver Quartet! Now I’m really looking forward to seeing The Giver in the theaters.]

Working on The Wright 3 by Blue Balliett

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott [This one is from my original to-read in 2014 book list. While and after reading this book, half of me desperately wanted to write a book and the other half of me didn’t want to become so neurotic.]

Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott

Working on A Million Little Ways: Uncover the Art You Were Made to Live by Emily Freeman [Another book from my to-read in 2014 book list. I’m really enjoying this one.]

I finished watching William Shakespeare's Hamlet with my Hamlet ladies, and now we are starting in on the reading.

 

Reading Aloud:

The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge [We’ll be re-watching the movie version, The Secret of Moonacre, when we finish.]

Book Detectives read and discussed The Boy Who Held Back the Sea this month. I’ll try to share details in a separate post.

 

Listening:

We’ve been listening often to poetry songs by Ted Jacobs. A Child's Garden of Songs and Back to the Garden are all Robert Louis Stevenson poems and The Days Gone By: Songs of the American Poets features poetry by Edgar Allan Poe (my two favorite songs in the collection), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Emily Dickinson, and more. Don’t tell my boys that it isn’t cool to sing along to these…

 

 

I think that about wraps up our summer reading! What was your favorite book of the summer?