Book Selections and Awards

Each year I chronicle the books we've read in the previous school year.  Some books are part of our school curriculum and some are for pure pleasure.  It's fun to look back and see what the kids have enjoyed at different ages.  Last year I noted that Jon read through all of the Burton, Coffman Commentaries (Genesis through Revelation) for pleasure.  I feel the need to share that this year he began reading the first two volumes of Charles Sturgeons Sermons! How great is that! 

So, for posterity's sake here is the list of books for 2015-2016: 

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea;  A Man For All Seasons;  A Raisin in the Sun;  Angel;  Anthem;  Arsenic and Old Lace;  Bible;  Confessions of a Murder Suspect;  Darth Plagueis;  Emma;  Ender's Game;  Fahrenheit 451;  Fairest;  Faith of an American Soldier;  Fallacy Detective;  Frankenstein;  Friendly Persuasion;  Glass Sword;  Graduation Day;  Hamlet;  Happily Ever After;  Henry V;  Independent Study;  Invisible Man;  Letters from a Skeptic;  Little Women;  Magnus Chase;  Michael Vey & Storm of Lightning;  Much Ado About Anne; Much Ado about Nothing;  Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes;  Pride and Prejudice;  Pulse;  Red Queen; Shadow Queen;  Shane;  Shut Up and Sing;  Sir Gawain and the Green Knight;  Stars Above;  Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde;  The Journey of August King;  The Maltese Falcon;  The Music Man;  The Philadelpha Story;  The Quiet Man;  The Revenge of Seven;  The Romance of Tristan and Iseult;  The Testing;  The Wicked Will Rise;  The Young Elites;  To Kill A Mockingbird;  Winter

Book awards for the year by Ms. Abigail would be: 

Most excited for: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two

Would never read again: The Journey of August King

Most Intriguing: Confessions of Being a Murder Suspect

Most Disappointing: Blood of Olympus

Favorite Classic: Much Ado About Nothing

Yawn: The Revenge of Seven

Best Non-fiction: Shut up and Sing

Surprising (in a good way): Red Queen

Better than 'The Hunger Games': The Testing

Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Colossians 3:2

Books We Read for the 2014-2015 School Year

One of the great things about keeping the blog is it serves as a great place to save things I want to remember.  I try to keep up with the major books we've enjoyed through the school year, but I don't always remember to mark everything we read. 

These post serve as a great reminder of books we read, sometimes they are books we want to read again!  Some of our selections are predetermined by our school curriculum and some are books Jon & I chose for them; still others are the kid’s personal sections. 

Anyway, for posterity sake here is the list for our 2014-2015 School Year:

Alive in the Spirit; An Angel Experiment; Angel; Animal Farm; Benjeapes; Bible; Canterbury Tales; Cross My Heart & Hope to Spy; David Copperfield; Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover; Dorothy Must Die; Fountainhead; Gathering Blue; Great Divorce; Hamlett; Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy;  Legend; Max; Maximum Ride Final Warning; Mind Gym; Mysterious Island; Ode to the West Wind;  Our Town; Paradise Lost; Percy Jackson's Greek Gods; Prodigy; Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports; School's Out Forever; Scorch Trials; Screwtape Letters; Selection; The Blood Olympus; The Dragon Book; The Elite; The Gallagher Academy; The Mental ABC's of Pitching; The One;  The Roar; and The Scorpio Races.

Here is a look back at previous school years:

 2008-2009 Book List  

2010-2011 Book List

 2011-2012 Book List

 2012-2013 Book List

2014-2015 Book List 

Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.

Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.

Ecclesiastes 12:12 

Books We've Read for the 2013-2014 School Year

 

One of the great things about keeping the blog is it serves as a great place to save things I want to remember.  I try to keep up with the major books we've enjoyed through the school year, but I don't always remember to mark everything we read. 

 

These post serve as a great reminder of books we read, sometimes they are books we want to read again!  Some of our selections are predetermined by our school curriculum and some are books Jon & I chose for them; still others are the kids personal sections. 

 

Abigail was drawn to the Grimm Tales.  Caleb loved Jon's selection of 1984 and the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.  Frankie was a fan of Huck Finn. My Monday night ladies book club took on Adrift and Muscle and a Shovel.  I didn't list Jon's books from the year because he is currently reading Burton Coffman's New Testament Commentaries, for fun.  So far he has finished Matthew through Romans!

 

Anyway, for posterities sake here is the list for our 2013-2014 School Year:

1984; A Grimm Conclusion; A Hiding Place; A Tale Dark and Grimm; Adrift; Allegiant; Battle of the Ampere; Behold the Pattern; Bible; Books of Umber; Cress; Dracula; Frankenstein; Grapes of Wrath; Gulliver's Travels; Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; House of Hades; Huckleberry Finn; Last Disciple; Last Sacrifice; Liberty for All; Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe; Lost Hero; Men of Iron; Mother Daughter Book Club; Muscle and a Shovel; Orthodoxy; Our Town; Power of Six; Pride and Prejudice; Rob Roy; Scarlet; Scarlett Letter; Sense and   Sensibility; Seraphini; Sherlock Holmes; The Blue Cross; The Fall of Five; The Magicians Nephew; The Scorpio Races; To Kill a Mockingbird; and Uncle Tom's Cabin.

 

Here is a look back at previous school years:
 2008-2009 Book List  2010-2011 Book List
 2011-2012 Book List
 2012-2013 Book List

 

give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer,
“I can’t; it is sealed.” Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say,
“Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”  Isaiah 29:11-12

 

Resolved for the New Year

Since our blog is mainly written to those friends and family who aren't in Texas and able to share the daily musing of our family, most of the posts are about the simple day to day happenings of our family.  But today I wanted to post something that I hope will inspire friends and family.  For sixteen years our family has read the chronological Bible every morning.  

In years past, Jon has read to us or we would pass the Bible around and take turns.  This year we purchased a chronological Bible for each of the kids so they could read along and in the future would have a Bible to take with them to college to carry on this habit.  It was a great addition!  It still amazes me how many 'new' things we learn each time we read through!  There are so many stories that are like visiting an old friend! 

The first years of reading were tough, the kids were small and sometimes restless.  This is the first year that we missed only a few days and quickly caught back up.  If you are not in the habit, try it!  If you have read through a chronological Bible before, do it again!  It is my favorite time of day with my family, we are together, Jon usually begins the reading and the kids take turns reading.   I love listening to them read scripture! 

Here are posts I've written in the past on this subject:  

2010 Resolution

2012 Resolution

to teach you that man does not live on bread alone
but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 8:3

The Desolation of Smaug

Guess what movie came out at midnight last night?  We hit the 10:00 am showing along with several friends from our home school group.  Our Classical Book Club read the book a couple of years ago. Last year we went as a group to see the first Hobbit movie.

Like last year we headed to iHop after the movie for their Hobbit breakfast.  iHop had menu items to satisfy Bilbo Baggin's six-meal-a-day habit, with options such as Shire Sausage, Bard's Brew Pumpkin Coffee, and Radagast's Red Velvet Pancake Puppies. 

Last year  we were fortunate to head to Glenn Beck's studios to hear Dr. Paul Kerry an associate professor of history at Brigham Young University for a discussion on J.R.R. Tolkien's writings and Christianity.  Click HERE to view that post.

Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him.

II Samuel 12:4

Classical Book Club - Huckleberry Finn

Ms. Kathy does a great job of organizing and facilitating our home school Classical Book Club each month.  She has so many plates spinning at one time, I have no idea how she keeps them all going!  I do know that my kids love the investment Ms. Kathy has made in their lives.  

This month the kids read The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, and tonight they got together to discuss the book.  Imagine twenty-some kids getting together to discuss classical literature that won't be a part of their grade or show up on any transcript.  They do it because they enjoy each others company and because Ms. Kathy has shared her passion for great literature with them and it doesn't hurt that she always has great snacks! 

Last year we were blessed to see Casa Manana's production of Tom Sawyer.

whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  Philippians 4:8

Public Speaker's Club

Here is a 'grandparent' post!  Today was Abigail's third presentation for Speaker's Club.  She performed a recitation of poetry by American poet and author, Shel Silverstein.  She combined three of his pieces from Where the Sidewalk Ends:  Sick, the Battle, and True Story.   

Their sponsor for Speaker's Club was out of town today so Caleb served as Master of Ceremonies.  

“Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

Exodus 4:10

Books We Read During the 2012-2013 School Year

On the side bar of the blog I try to keep track of what books the kids are reading.  Now granted, they read faster than I remember to post so there are always a few books each year that I miss.  It is somewhat sad to remove their book list of the blog each year, so a few years ago I started doing a post with just a listing of the books for that school year. This is mostly the just for fun books, the ones they read as part of their school work I usually do not include in this list.  Honestly, what 10th grade boy wants his friends to know he read Pride and Prejudice, right!

 

These are the books they picked out and read for fun or as part of their book club, some were at the suggestion of their friends and others at the suggestion of their Dad!  And yes, these are books they read, not some CliffsNotes version, or audio cheat but black and white page turners they enjoyed during the past school year.

 

Aida; All-American Girl; Animal Farm; Anthem; Artemis Fowl; Bible; Being George Washington; Ben Hur; Black Sails Before Troy; Catching Fire; Cave of Treasures; Cinder; Confessions of St. Augustine; Death Cure; Deeper; Denominational Doctrines; Divergent; Dragons of the Watch; Endangered; Ender's Game; Figs and Phantoms; Forever Princess; Fyre; Gregor the Overlander; Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane; Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods; Hamlet; Hobbitt; Holes; Howling Sphinx; Hunger Games; I Am Number Four; Infinity Ring; Inheritance; Insurgent; Islam vs. Christianity; Jefferson Lies; Killing Kennedy; Killing Lincoln; King Lear; Legend; Lionclaw; Lost Hero; Mark of Athena; Maximum Ride; Maze Runner; Michael Vey: Prisoner of Cell 25; Michael Vey: Rise of the Elgen; Mockingjay; Mysterious Island; Nation; Party Princess; ; Princess in Training; Princess Mia; Princess on the Brink; Princess Present; Prodigy; Rise of the Nine; Scorch Trials; So Long Insecurity; Son of Neptune; Spy School; Taming of the Shrew; The Dead of the Night; The Kill Order; The Land of Oz; The Outlaw Princess of Sherwood Forrest; The Power of Six; The Princess Diaries; Tunnels; Where the Sidewalk Ends; and Wolf Boy

If you are curious that is over 26,000 pages of just for fun reading!  I mentioned audio books earlier, please don't get me wrong, I LOVE audio books.  My son Caleb is dyslexic and reading has been a huge challenge!  I even had a parent at church ask me one time when Caleb was in third grade why I didn't just stop homeschooling him and put him in public school so he could finally learn to read.  But I also had a friend at church come to me privately to say she suspected that Caleb was dyslexic and led us in the right direction. 

 

Everything he did in school I read to him up through about fifth grade. All of his just for fun books, school books, I read it all.  When he found a book series he was interested in that I couldn't read fast enough for him, his reading took off!  It is with great joy and thankfulness that I post none of these are audio books!  To mom's of dyslexic children take heart, it may not always be the struggle you are currently experiencing. 

 

His dyslexia is still there, he can flip numbers, letters, even ABC choices on test, but it is so much better, praise God!!!

It is always fun to look back and see what we've read like our 2008-2009 Book List or 2010-2011 Book List or our 2011-2012 Book List. 

 

It is to be with him, and he is to read it

all the days of his life so that he may learn

to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully

all the words of this law and these decrees

Deuteronomy 17:19

Christopher Paolini at the Dallas Museum of Art



Mr. Paolini signing Caleb's book

 

 

Today the Inheritance Deluxe Hardcover book was released and author Christopher Paolini kick-off a book lecture, Q and A at the Dallas Museum of Art.  Christopher Paolini is the best-selling author of the Inheritance Cycle the popular young adult fantasy series telling the adventures of a teenage boy named Eragon and his dragon.  Paolini was home schooled and at fifteen began writing this hugely popular book series.  So far he has sold over 33 million books over the last ten years. 



Paolini's Books

 

Caleb has read this series multiple times and loves the imagination and mythical lands of Alagaesia.  Tonight Paolini was at the Dallas Museum of Art for their BooksmART event discussing the final book in this series, Inheritance.  Paolini was charming and engaging, great stories about how he graduated at 15 because his mom didn't let them take summers off from school.  Lot of relateable home school stories, along with his love for the Tolkien-style fantasy books. 

 

Caleb really enjoyed the talk and question and answer session.  Of course when they went off in elf-language and old Norse it might as well have been Middle Earth to me!

 

Caleb did get one of his books signed and judging by the line Mr. Paolini may still be there signing books.  At the end of the day Caleb kissed me good night and said, "thanks Mom for taking me to see Christopher Paolini."  It's all good!

 

 an enormous red dragon with seven heads
and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads.
Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.

Revelation 12:3-4

2011-2012 Books We Read

Summer is coming to a close so it is time to wind up the book list for the 2011-2012 School Year.  Some of the books we read together as a family, some were school book and some were just for fun!  Favorites would include the Hunger Games and the girls loved Inkheart series and Caleb had fun with Arguing with Idiots!   It is always fun to look back and see what we've read like our 2008-2009 Book List or our 2010-2011 Book List. 

This year we enjoyed 39 Clues 1-4, 7 Miracles that Saved America, 7 Tipping Points, 7 Wonders that will Change Your Life, Abigail, Across Five Aprils, An Acceptable Time, Arguing with Idiots, Being George Washington, Catching Fire, Catechism of the US Constitution, Celebrate Liberty!, Darke, Do Hard Things, Dragon Fire, Dragon Knight, Dragon Light, Dragon Spell, Dragons of the Valley, Dragon Quest, Ender Games, Fablehaven, Fantastical Beasts, Flyte, Holy War, How Things are Made, Hunger Games, Inheritance, Inkheart, Inkspell, Magyk, Miracle Worker, Mocking Jay, Oliver Twist, Original Argument, Physik, Queste, Quidditch thru the Ages, Rich Dad - Poor Dad, Separation of Church & State, Stone of Destiny, Syren, Theodore Bones: Abduction, Theodore Bones: Kid Lawyer, Treasure Island, Unofficial Guide to HP, Vanishing Sculpter, Winners Never Cheat, Wizard of Oz, and Wolfblade.

It's always fun to see what the next school year brings! 

And you, my son, acknowledge the God of your father,
and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind,
for the Lord searches every heart and understands
every motive behind the thoughts.
If you seek him, he will be found by you.

I Chronicles 28:9

Books We Read the 2010-2011 School Year

To begin with, I'm pretty sure this is really the list for 2009-2010 plus 2010-2011 school year. I forgot to clear the book list for the new school year!

These are books we read for fun, many are books Jon read to the kids at bed time each night and some were part of our school work. It is fun to have a listing to look back and what we've read. This is one of Abigail's favorite posts because a lot of times she wants to re-read a book and she can look here to find the title!

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea; A Horse and His Boy; A Midsummer's Night Dream; A Swiftly Tilting Planet; Anne of Green Gables; Battle of the Labyrinth; Ben-Hur; Bible; Billy Budd, Sailor; Brisinger; Dragon Rider; Eldest; Eragon; Ginger Pye; Guardians of Ga'Hoole; Heart of Darkness; Hobbit; How to Train Your Dragon; HP & the Chamber of Secrets; HP & the Deathly Hallows; HP & the Goblet of Fire; HP & the Half Blood Prince; HP & the Order of the Phoenix; HP & the Prisoner of Azkaban; HP & the Sorcerer's Stone; Jane Eyre; Last Olympian; Les Miserables; Lighting Thief; Lion of the North; Lion, Witch & the Wardrobe; Little Mermaid & other Tales; Little Women; Lord of the Rings; Lost Hero; Magician's Nephew; Maniac Magee; Moby Dick; Mysterious Benedict Society; Nancy Drew Vol. 1-27; Return of the King; Screwtape Letters; Sea of Monsters; Sherlock Holmes; Silas Marner; Skull Kings Tomb; The Fire Cat; The Hiding Place; The Journey; The Odyssey; The Secret Sharer; The Silver Chair; The Three Musketeers; Titan's Curse; Two Towers; Voyage of the Dawn Treader; Wind in the Door; Wrinkle in Time

Books for the 2008-2009 School Year

Last school year I began posting the books we read as a family. These don't count the library books the kids have read on their own. Since a new school year is beginning I need to clean of the list to begin this year's list. So before I delete this fun list, here is a final archive of what we read for the 2008-2009 school year:

A Christmas Carol; Anne of Green Gables; Arabian Nights; Around the World in 80 Days; Belle Prater's Boy; Black Beauty; Call of the Wild; Charolette's Web; Detectives in Togas; Doctor Doolittle; Double Fudge; Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde; Dracula; Ella Enchanted; Encyclopedia Brown; Encyclopedia Brown II; Frindle; Fudge-a-mania; God King; Gulliver's Travels; Henry and Beezus; Holes; Maniac Magee; Mara, Daughter of the Nile; Megan Rose on Stage; Mystery of the Roman Ransom; Number the Stars; Pilgrim's Progress; Pippi Lonstocking; Pretty Please; Ralph S. Mouse; Ramona the Brave; Ramona's World; Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm; Ribsy; Runaway Ralph; Shadow Hawk; Sheila the Great; Shiloh; Strange Museum; Stuart Little; Super Fudge; Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing; The Boxcar Children; The Courage of Sarah Noble; The Giver; The Golden Fleece; The Mouse & the Motorcycle; Tuck Everlasting; Two Times the Fun