Highlights of the Week We had a lovely get together with my parents celebrating their 53rd wedding anniversary and my Dad’s 75th birthday.
I signed up for Book Riot’s TBR: Tailored Book Recommendations and these 3 beautiful hardcover books arrived on my doorstep with a letter from Rey telling me why she chose each one. I started the first already.
Gage went to the dentist and had no cavities.
Go Bengals! They might be out in-state rivals but they’re representing Ohio so I hope they can pull it off!
Could’ve been better The dentist said Gage needed braces by summer. I had to make yet another trip to the school that Gage doesn’t attend to fill out more paperwork for his ETR/IEP meeting next week. If you don’t know what those letters mean consider yourself blessed. Started the process of getting Gage officially diagnosed with ADHD. It’s a ridiculous process considering, but I’m finally ready to try medication and we’ve got to jump through a bunch of hoops yet. We put off of February trip and now I wish we’d just taken off for a few weeks.
Currently reading
Abandoned
I tried, I really did, but it just wasn’t working for me 1/4 of the way through. I rarely give up on books but have resolved to do better. Too many great books to take up valuable reading time on something that isn’t speaking to you.
Books finished this year – 59.
On TV
We breezed right through this first season on Amazon Prime. It’s the Jack Reacher series done right.
Movies
Puzzles completed
Plans for the weekend Watch the Super Bowl and try to sneak in some reading! Are you planning to watch the Super Bowl?
It’s been another great week for picture books! I’ll list them in the order I liked them best and give you a few thoughts. In the morning as we start our day I read a picture book (I sometimes make him read, but the morning goes a lot better for everyone if I don’t make him ‘work’ first thing, lol). Sometimes we just talk about the story or the time in history and sometimes we explore more with writing or videos. He always has to sum it up or include important points in his journal. All in all, most days it takes 10-25 minutes.
I love this writing/illustrating duo. Their books are timeless even if they seem like a quaint story of a time gone by. Clover is told that she has to stay on her side of the fence because white people lived on the other side and blacks stayed on their side. But one summer she always saw a girl sitting ON the fence and in time made her way to the top of the fence too. I adored this book and the hope it gives for the children of today paving the way to a better future.
Trombone Shorty by Troy “Trombone Shorty”Andrews and Bryan Collier, 40 pages, pub. 2015
It didn’t take us long to realize that this book overlapped with The 5 O’Clock Band that we read last year. This was more about a moment with Bo Diddley that Andrews had when he was just a young boy with a beat up trombone he found on the street. Gage loved this true moment in time and we had fun with the photos in the back. Loved it. As always, Collier sparkles as an illustrator.
This eye-catching book is a great starting point for a discussion about race. It starts with the story everyone has and how it’s impossible to know the whole of anyone if we just look at the outside. He uses the example of shedding our skin as we move through life and how preferable that would be. Wouldn’t that be lovely? Unfortunately, that isn’t the world we live in so a real conversation must happen after the book is done. But it was visually appealing and a conversation starter.
Ellen’s Broom by Kelly Starling Lyons and Daniel Minter, 32 pages, pub. 2012
Ellen’s parents and others celebrate when it becomes legal for them to be married in the eyes of the government. Until then, jumping the broom was the way slaves married. I loved the celebration of new beginnings and progress being made. It didn’t have as much detail about the tradition as I would have liked, but it was a good starting point and I loved the illustrations.
This inspiring story of a boy finding the courage to do something unexpected is gorgeously illustrated. Langston was good at basketball, but he ADORED dancing. A sweet story sure to appeal to younger kids.
I liked the idea of this book based on the few details about the man that we know. Stephen was of several slaves who gave tours of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. The cave is the biggest in the world and he made a few discoveries during his 20 years. The story was a little to little for me to really love it, but the history at the back was interesting.
The first black woman to get her pilot’s license in 1921 had to go to France to learn to fly. I loved the additional pages with timelines and photos in the back It was also fun to read about this period because of how it relates to Jason’s great grandfather who learned to fly in this era.
Fave pic We went for a walk at the park today. It was a short, cold one (20 degrees), but lovely to be out in the sun for a bit.
Highlights of the week The snow was beautiful? How much did you get where you are? We ended up with about a foot, but the drift in our yard has made it more like a few feet. Tomorrow will be about freezing and sunny so hopefully some of it will melt.
We finished up Ozark season 4, part 1. Looking forward to seeing how they wrap this series up. We watched the first episode of Reacher based on the Lee Child series and are happy with the new Reacher.
Puzzles finished
Do you have a favorite Jane Austen couple?
The World of Jane Austen 1,000 piece puzzle has 60 characters hidden in plain sight. It comes with a poster and instructions on who they all are and how to find them.
This was a fun treat.
Plans for the weekend Tomorrow we’re headed to a neighbor’s house for sledding. Jason and Gage went yesterday and the pictures looked like so much fun I invited us back so I could go 😉
What does Black History Month look like for our homeschooling? I checked out 28 picture books. We are using two for month long lessons so they’ll show up later and we’re reading, watching, writing, talking about one book a day. Yes, this means even weekends we’ll have books to read. Our first three have been terrific.
My Name is James Madison Hemings is for older kids who you can have deeper conversations with. Thomas Jefferson had 4 children with his slave Sally Hemings and this is their story from the perspective of one of the sons. How would you feel if you lived in one room under the terraces built in the hillside with your three siblings and mother while your father had his other family in the palatial Monticello? What if your father listed you as property, next to the sheep and hogs in the farm book?
There was so much to unpack and it led to great discussions about how people who do great good can also do bad things. By focusing only on the good doesn’t that show an incomplete picture of history? I could go on, but you get the idea 😁. We also watched a video that I’ll try to link to below. Such an important story.
Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave was a real man who made approximately 40,000 pots with poetry sometimes carved in. Some of these pots are still around today, 200 years later. We paired this with videos of current potters and learned more about the process.
Freedom in Congo Square is about a real place in New Orleans where black people could meet once a week (it became the only place they could congregate on their one day off a week) and keep their African traditions alive. The pictures are colorful and the reading easy for younger kids.
We’re going chronologically through a history book, so not all the books will be about slavery.
I’ll keep our picture books to a once a week recap, but want to make sure I highlight the really good ones – like these!
Technically, I’ve read 13 more for Cybils Award judging, but since I can’t talk about them until judging is done and winners are announced, I’ll count them next month 🙂
My favorites
The Comfort Book by Mark Haig. I talked about it here.The Siren of Sussex by Mimi Matthews. I talked about it here.Kelley Armstong’s Darkness Rising trilogy. I talked about it here.Just Haven’t Met You Yet by Sophie Cousens. I haven’t even done any kind of review and to preserve my sanity this will have to serve as a recommendation. It’s a quirky, modern British romcom. I listened to this one and thought the meet cute aspect of it really worked. It delved into serious parent issues without ever feeling weighed down or losing its spark.Of Thee I Sing by Barack Obama. Since I read so many picture books I should share my favorite one! I talked about it here. Last February I read a book by an African American author every day for Black History Month. I found new authors I fell in love with, Jesmyn Ward, August Wilson, Beverly Jenkins, Octavia Butler…the list goes on.
So, I chose books from last year discoveries, plus a Toni Morrison, that I’m going to try and get to this month. In January I read 6 of the 8 I selected at the beginning of the month so we’ll see how I do with this 9.
I started by reading Jesmyn Ward’s Tulane graduation speech turned into the book Navigate Your Stars. It’s an inspirational story of her growing up believing that college meant success. What she found was that hard work and persistence led to success and that a college degree was no golden ticket. There was also personal reflection on how we often judge people and the circumstances they find themselves in and how this view can change over time if we make the effort to continue to grow. The illustrations were gorgeous. A great gift for graduates at any level.
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Fave pic – Yesterday was National Puzzle Day and we started this Jane Austen puzzle. When finished we’ll be able to find 60 Austen characters. It’s a fun one for Austen fans.
Highlights of the Week – Rafael Nadal won the Australian Open. Love watching Rafa play! The rest of this week is not worth talking about. Let’s just say that I’m happy a new week is before me.
On TV – We finished Archive 81 on Netflix and are 4 episodes into season 4 of Ozark.
A few weeks ago I mentioned my love for the Netflix show Emily in Paris. I LOVED this on SNL last night! Must watch for Emily fans.
Puzzles finished
This was a puzzle from Completing the Puzzle, my puzzle subscription. They send a puzzle, we do it, send it back and they send us another one. I choose the number of pieces and there’s even a wish list of puzzles I can choose from. I went through the selection several months ago and chose 40 or so puzzles so now I can wait and still be surprised when the next one comes. The surprise is my favorite part!This one paired nicely with BOSH! How to Live Vegan that I finished this week. I think Gage put in the majority of pieces in this 500 piecer.
Plans for the weekend – Keep my nose to the grindstone planning-wise and hope this week brings some sunshine. What’s up with you?
PBS did a short story on the author and the making of the book and I highly recommend watching it online. Gage and I watched it and even if some of it went over his head it let us start from a meaningful place before we even opened the book.
In 1938 Nicholas Winton was supposed to go on a ski vacation, but instead went to Prague, where the people were scared of a Nazi invasion. He set up shop and managed to evacuate 669 children to England. Once the war started he became an ambulance driver for the war effort and never told anyone about the children. Only after his wife found his notes tucked away in the attic many years later did the world find out what he’d done.
This book is fantastic, but be prepared if reading with younger kids that when Vera went home after the war her parents and cousins had died in concentration camps. This month we’ve been spending a few minutes in the morning talking about whatever national day it is, National Learn Your Name in Morse Code Day, National Popcorn Day, National Thesaurus Day…and when I can I get a related picture book, like these!
The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus is a great book. The illustrations are fabulous and the story of how Roget wrote the original thesaurus. A fun book for list makers like me!
Samuel Morse That’s Who was great too, but not quite as beautiful and Pop, Pop, Popcorn was a fun, easy book explaining corn from when it gets planted all the way to when you eat a piece of popcorn.Gage’s weekend homework this year has been reading me books from the Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol series. These are 3-5. I admit that I’m looking forward to #6 this weekend 👻
This fun series is told is first person by Andres, the newish kid in Kersville, who is afraid of many, many things. His next door neighbor turned best friend, Desmond, loves all things otherworldly. I love the relationship between these two elementary aged boys.
The mysteries are cute and the illustrations are fantastic. Perfect for early chapter book reading. Always 10 chapters, 122 pages with pictures on every page. Prepare to be spooked 💀
So, I needed an audio book for puzzling and decided to check my Goodreads list of over 1800 ‘want to read’ titles 😂. I looked at the oldest page of the list and found Kelley Armstrong’s The Gathering, the first of a YA supernatural trilogy that I added to my wish list in 2012. Yep, 10 years ago. I started listening last Wednesday, then listened to the next one, and then read 406 pages of The Rising over the last two days. So, I finished the trilogy in less than a week. Take that for the recommendation it is. If you like skin walkers and other supernatural creatures that would be a bonus.
Maya just turned 16 and lives in a small community nearish Vancouver. She has friends and is popular. But she’s about to have her world come crashing down when she finds out that she is special and so are her friends thanks to the gene testing by the cabal that runs their whole lives. There’s danger, friendship, love, death, and decisions no one should have to make.
I was looking for something completely different than my usual read and this trilogy fit the bill nicely. I’ll have to check out more of Armstrong’s books.
Evelyn Maltravers understands exactly how little she’s worth on the marriage mart. As an incurable bluestocking from a family tumbling swiftly toward ruin, she knows she’ll never make a match in a ballroom. Her only hope is to distinguish herself by making the biggest splash in the one sphere she excels: on horseback. In haute couture. But to truly capture London’s attention she’ll need a habit-maker who’s not afraid to take risks with his designs—and with his heart.
Half-Indian tailor Ahmad Malik has always had a talent for making women beautiful, inching his way toward recognition by designing riding habits for Rotten Row’s infamous Pretty Horsebreakers—but no one compares to Evelyn. Her unbridled spirit enchants him, awakening a depth of feeling he never thought possible.
But pushing boundaries comes at a cost and not everyone is pleased to welcome Evelyn and Ahmad into fashionable society. With obstacles spanning between them, the indomitable pair must decide which hurdles they can jump and what matters most: making their mark or following their hearts?
I’m so excited to have found a new (to me) historical romance author! I was sent this book as part of book tour and I happily spent a few days transported to Victorian England with charming characters and stories often left out of traditional historicals. Men discriminated against because they are only half English being allowed to touch women intimately (only for measurements and fittings, but still) and a heroine who wore glasses to balls? Shocking! Living with a spiritualist who brought her into the world of crystal balls and seances? Fun! And don’t get me started on how much I want to hire my own designer to come design my wardrobe with unique pieces that transform me.
I loved it! Don’t miss Evelyn and Ahmed’s love story, especially if you want something a little different, but not too different that you worry about a HEA being jeopardy 😁
And I’m eagerly awaiting book 2 in this series, Belles of London. Evelyn has wonderfully oddball friends and I look forward to their stories too.
I want to thank Austenprose for inviting me to be a part of this tour and sending me a copy of the book.
Stacy's Books 