Recent Reads

Anna, Grandpa, and the Big Storm… This was a sweet, simple book about a little girl and her grandpa caught in a blizzard. I’ve added it to my personal list of approved books for third-ish grade.

The Delusion… I talked about this book in my Christy post… and I already have goosebumps just typing that. This book! It is CRAZY! Spiritual warfare is not delved into a whole lot but it was here and I thought it was really well-done. I can’t wait to read the second book in September!

Eagle Feather… My five-year-old adores Clyde Robert Bulla books so I read this one to make sure it was suitable for a read-aloud. I liked it just fine and I think we’ll do it as a read-aloud in the next few months, plus I’ve added it to my list for third-ish-grade reading.

Farmer Boy… We finally listened to the last of our Little House books while we drove this week. I do like Farmer Boy but not as much as I like Laura’s stories. My son, however, was a huge fan!

I Survived: TrueStories… I like a lot of Lauren Tarshis’ I Survived series books and was an even bigger fan of this nonfiction version about five different disasters. I am now sufficiently terrified of tsunamis and I can’t believe I’d never heard of the molasses flood!! So fascinating! Added to my list for fifth-ish-grade.

Mercy Watson:Princess in Disguise… Book four in this series. Fun, nothing objectionable, added to my booklist for around second grade. Also, yes, I skipped book three. It’s apparently still in a moving box somewhere!

Pollyanna… I have such fond memories of time spent watching the Haley Mills version of this movie at my grandparents’ house. That was a huge part of my childhood. I finally read the book and I loved it even more than the movie! Such a delight! I’m starting Pollyanna Grows Up soon too <3

Write a Novel in Ten Minutes a Day… I recently listened to Katharine Grubb’s episode on the Writer Mom Life podcast and positively adored it. She’s a homeschool mom of five who founded the popular Facebook group The Ten-Minute Novelist and she had some really wonderful things to say about prioritizing our families and savoring our homeschooling season over even our writing. I pretty quickly dug into her book and I can’t recommend it enough to anyone who has seriously considered fiction writing. Although much of her writing information was repeat of the things we all learned in the English classes of our past, it was great to have it all in one spot and much of it was a great reminder of things I’d long-ago forgotten… plus she dove in much deeper than I ever remember an English or creative writing class diving. Which is kind of sad. Also, unless you happen to have no family, job, or other time commitments, she really has some great little ten-minute exercises that will bring fresh life to your project even if ten minutes is all you can really spare.