Book Reviews

I thought I would review the books I have finished so far for my 999 challenge.  

The first book was a family read-aloud, The Wheel on the School.  We loved this book!  It was a wonderful story of how a dream can become a reality if we dare to believe in it and are willing to work hard to make it happen.  It illustrates the beauty of human relationships and the fact that we all need each other and everyone has something to give.  It was also just a wonderfully written, fun, and often suspenseful story.  I highly recommend this book.

The next two books were Honey for a Child's Heart, and Honey for a Woman's Heart.  These were both books about books, one of my favorite subjects. =)  The author of these books, Gladys Hunt, shares my heart for reading.  Throughout the books she gives reading recommendations, but she intersperses these suggestions with thoughts about books that capture my feelings for them and the joy they bring to my life perfectly.  Two of my favorite quotes from a Child's Heart were, "Books are no substitute for life, but a keener pleasure comes to life because of books."  So true!  In speaking about the value of good books for children she says, "...by continual exposure to a variety of people and experiences, (in books) the real values of life are taught most profoundly.  What we are doing is helping our children collect "bits of perfection" of ideas and values on which to build their lives."  I couldn't agree more.  Aren't books wonderful!

Just after beginning this post I had a fun experience with books that I just had to share.  G. Diddy was having a rather trying day.  One thing after another was causing him to burst into tears.  I tried sending him to bed for a nap, but that wasn't going to fly, so I had the thought that I should go in and read with him on my bed.  I picked "Where the Wild Things Are", and "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day".  They seemed to fit his mood for the day.  First I read "Where the Wild Things Are".  He enjoyed it and of course, wanted me to read it again.  Then we read "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." He hadn't read this book before and it definitely resonated with him.  We read it twice too and then I asked him if he was having a terrible, horrible, no good very bad day.  He admitted that he was and so I asked him if he was thinking about moving to Australia (if you haven't read the book you need to to understand the question).  He laughed and then squeezed me so tight for about five minutes.  It feels good to think that someone understands us, and that we are not the only one to feel the way we do.  I think this book helped him to feel that way.  Throughout the day, he still struggled with his moods, but whenever he would get upset I would ask him if he was thinking about moving to Australia and he couldn't help but smile.  I love how books help us to communicate and understand each other in new ways.  That little phrase now means so much to us can help conjure up those good feelings of time shared together and a sense of being understood.  The power of books is immeasurable.

999 Reading Challenge

Last year Cellista posted about the 888 challenge (read 8 books in 8 categories in 2008). It looked like just the thing for me, so I decided to take the challenge. I was just browsing her blog today and noticed she has a list for the 999 challenge now (same idea as above, just add one to each of the numbers). I realized that it has been a while since I updated my 888 list, and since 2008 has been over for a month and a half, it would be a good idea to take an inventory of how I did. The final tally was 33 books read. That doesn't count all the ones I read that didn't fit into any of the categories I had chosen, or that I just forgot to record. . . I definitely could have done better, especially in my history and spirituality categories, but it was honestly more than I expected. I have felt like my reading has really taken a back seat to all of the craziness in my life this past year. I miss reading ravenously, but I realize that there is a time and season for everything in life. Acknowledging that I only met 1/3 of this years challenge last time, I am going to give the 999 challenge a try. It helps to have some focus to my reading and a goal to help me reach a little farther and stretch my self in areas I don't naturally gravitate to but know I should pay more attention to.

So here's the official rules: "9 books in 9 categories in 2009, 9 can overlap, 72 books total" We'll see how I do. . . .
Books in blue are ones I am currently reading, books with an * are the "overlapping" books, and the books with a √ are the ones I have completed.

My current choices are:

I. Government/History (We'll give it a try again. I really need to do better in this area)

1. 1776 * √
2. The 5000 Year Leap: A Miracle That Changed the World √
3. The Making of America: The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution
4. An Enemy Hath Done This
5. The Federalist Papers
6. Democracy in America
7. The Law
8.
9. 

II. Education

1. Revealed Educational Principles & the Public Schools: A look at principle-centered education through the prophets and LDS educational history √
2. The Underground History of American Education: A School Teacher's Intimate Investigation Into the Problem of Modern Schooling
3. The One Minute Teacher: How to Teach Others to Teach Themselves
4. When Children Love to Learn: A Practical Application of Charlotte Mason's Philosophy for Today
5. Righteous Influence: What Every Leader Should Know About Drawing on the Powers of Heaven
6. Home Education: Volume I of Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschooling Series
7. In My Father's House: The Years Before the Hiding Place
8. The Latin-Centered Curriculum √
9. Pajama School-Stories from the Life of a Homeschool Graduate √

III. Motherhood

1. Created for Work: Practical Insights for Young Men
2. The Parenting Breakthrough: Real-Life Plan to Teach Kids to Work, Save Money, and Be Truly Independent √
3. So You Want to Raise a Boy? √
4. Raising Your Spirited Child Rev Ed: A Guide for Parents Whose Child Is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent, and Energetic
5. The Organized Homeschooler
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9.

IV. Spirituality

1. The Book of Mormon √
2. The Doctrine and Covenants √
3. Each Ensign from cover to cover this year
4. Holy Temple
5. Hearing the Voice of the Lord
6. The Temple: Where Heaven Meets Earth
7.
8.
9.

V. Book Club Books

1. A Tale of Two Cities *√
2. 1776 * √
3. The Last Lecture √ (My review)
4. I Am David √
5. And Then There Were None √
6. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich *√
7. These is My Words √
8. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency √
9. The School of Essential Ingredients √

VI. Family Read Alouds

1. The Wheel on the School √ (Read the review)
2. A Little Princess √
3. The Secret Garden √
4. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow √
5. The Little Prince √
6. By the Shores of Silver Lake √
7. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
8. A Christmas Carol √
9.

VII. Poetry

1. Now We Are Six √ (If you haven't read A.A. Milne with your kids or just for yourself, you don't know what you're missing. . . )
2. When We Were Very Young √
3. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Selected Poems
4. John Greenleaf Whittier: Selected Poems
5. The Collected Poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar
6. Rhymes and Verses: Collected Poems for Young People
7.
8.
9.

VIII. Classics

1. Persuasion √
2. Les Misérables (I've also read this one before, but it's been at least 15 years and after reading A Tale of Two Cities I had a desire to read this again.)
3. North and South √
4. The Keeper of the Bees
5. The Scarlet Pimpernel √
6. A Tale of Two Cities * √
7. The Taming of the Shrew *
8. A Midsummer Night's Dream *
9. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich *√


IX. Other (I decided to leave this category open so I had somewhere to put all the miscellaneous books I pick up and read on a whim. . . )

1. Honey for a Child's Heart √ (Read the review)
2. Honey for a Woman's Heart √ (Read the review)
3. Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary √
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