Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss
I read this/listened to this with the boys, and I have the feeling that I’ve already written about it on here, so I’ll just say again that I was very surprised that different copies of this book have very different endings!
The Spirit of Covington by Joan Medlicott
I found one last book out of the stack that I borrowed from a teacher friend and had never finished. Always nice to have a hard copy of a book to read.
The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict by T. L. Stewart
The boys begged me to read this (to myself) because it’s part of a series they enjoy. It was okay.
The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht
This was on the verge of being a great book, but instead was just a trifle odd and unsatisfying in the end (in my very humble opinion).
Dog Friday by Hilary McKay
We found this in my classroom and the boys and I all enjoyed reading it separately. I like having a little book like this to read during my lunch breaks at school.
Christy by Catherine Marshall
Still one of my very favorite books of all time. Read it today! (You might just become a teacher.)
Anson’s Way by Gary Schmidt
A historical fiction book found in my classroom. Sad but good! Another perfect lunch-time read.
Meet Kirsten
An American Girl book which really shouldn’t make this list, but Eleonora and I enjoyed this together.
A Simple Gift by Nancy Ruth Patterson
Had to Google this to remember it, but this was another sweet kids’ book found in my classroom that I read during lunch. If you’re wondering how chapter books just appear in my classroom, I believe that often it’s because our librarian lets students take the books she is culling from the school’s library collection, and my boys are scavengers! Ha!
Raisins and Almonds by Kerry Greenwood
This is part of a series of Phryne Fisher Mysteries set mostly in Australia round about 1920 or so, I would guess without googling it. I found them in my local library and read quite a few, and they were okay, but not my fav. It’s just so nice to have a book in your hand, you know?
A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter
I have a 100 year old copy of this book with my Grandmother’s name written in it, so it was super fun to read. I thought I had read this before, but maybe I had never finished it because I didn’t remember lots of parts. Old books are just so interesting. More interesting than books written now that are trying to write about the olden days.
Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood
Another Phryne Fisher Mystery, about the lady-detective in Australia.
Flying Too High by Kerry Greenwood
And another.
Murder on the Ballarat Train by Kerry Greenwood
And another. Don’t worry, I think that’s all my library has of them.
Hitty Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field
Oh, I just loved this book as a kid, and it was a quite enjoyable lunchtime read as an adult, too. (I have to admit I’m glad I’m not part of a grade-level team at my school because they all seem to eat lunch as a group, and it’s so much more fun and relaxing to read by myself! Are you shocked? Very.)
Pollyanna Grows Up by Eleanor H. Porter
I had never read this sequel to Pollyanna before and it cracked me right up! Have I mentioned I love old books!?
Letters to the Lost by Iona Grey
Oh my goodness, my only page-turner of the season and I almost forgot it. I took this one outside on one sunny Sunday afternoon and devoured it! This was a while back if it was warm and sunny outside, so I can’t remember if I can recommend it with a clear conscience, but I do know I enjoyed it. It’s partly a WW2 story, but it’s told in a different way.
Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Frances wrote The Secret Garden, but I would have guessed that LLF was written by Eleanor H. Porter because this kid was just the male version of Pollyanna. I had never read this before, but I’d heard it referenced so many times, I thought I’d dig it up. Worth my while. Good times. (If you are amused by funny old kids’ books that aren’t trying to be funny.)
The boys and I tried listening to The Pickwick Society because it’s mentioned in so many other books, most notably Little Women, perhaps, but it was as dull as tombs. Couldn’t even begin to get through it. Pity.
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
I read this to the boys, or maybe all three kids, and it was very sweet. We grew up watching the movie and it is incredibly similar.
Murder in Montparnasse by Kerry Greenwood
Oops! I was wrong. Found another Phryne Fisher after all.
Skylark by Patricia MacLachlan
Now I definitely read this to all three kids. Very sweet.
Do you know I haven’t finished a single book that I was reading to myself during the month of December? No wonder it wasn’t a very satisfying quarantine experience! I am hoping to rectify the situation for January though. I’ve got lots of books checked out on my library app on my phone and even more on hold. Our library is closed down, but you can get curbside service and they’ll bring books out to your car. We are going to have to look into that.
I’m currently reading the first James Herriot book to the boys and Chris just started The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe with Eleonora. Our kids are at such fun ages!
I had the boys work on their AR quizzes today. Josiah’s to 3 million words read for the school year and Caleb is trying to get to 5 million by the end of the month. (That’s tomorrow, and it’s not looking promising!) He was the school champion last year by getting to 6 million by when school shut down in March, but there’s at least one girl giving the boys a run for their money this year!
I’ll tell you what I did during my quarantine instead of reading, just for posterity’s sake. Well, I was looking for a series to watch on my phone in Spanish, back before I got sick. I needed something simple and amusing to fall asleep to, that might make Spanish start to be a little more understandable to by brain. So none of the shows I was trying had Spanish, so I ended up settling on Gilmore Girls, which I had never watched before. And I was going along listening to it on Spanish and falling asleep to it every night, til one day, Josiah came along and turned on my English subtitles and suddenly I could understand what was happening and I was hooked, and then another unfortunate day, the Spanish got changed to English and their English voices sounded so funny to me, that I listened a while, and the next thing I knew I was really, truly hooked, and then I was quarantined, and I just watched the whole thing. And I didn’t learn any more Spanish and it didn’t help me fall asleep at a reasonable hour. But I did enjoy it. Accidentally. The end.
Here’s to more and better reading in 2021!!!
Oh, just remembered that round about November, the boys and I listened to Redwall by Brian Jacques. I had read it before and found it fairly enjoyable. This time around, I thought it would never end, so I sped it up to 1.25% and even still, I dozed off a few times, but if we will allow that one, I made it to approximately 72 books this year.
Okay, while I’m sitting here with my 2020 goals sitting in front of me in my planner right beside my list of books, I might as well tell you how I did on those, too. I mean, one of my favorite bloggers reports on her goals weekly, so maybe annually isn’t too weird. I made it on the 50 books read, as long as we don’t get too picky about not counting children’s literature. (Went back and counted and if you take out the kids’ books I am 47! So close, and yet so far away! Ha!) The next goal was to get rid of 1,000 items. I recorded 580 in my planner, but that happened pretty quickly so I quit writing it down, but I’m quite sure I made it on that one. The next was to do daily Bible reading. I have this Bible app on my phone and I love picking different reading challenges with friends. In past years, Jennifer and I did a Read-through-the-Bible one, and another of just the New Testament. Anyways, this year even more friends joined us, and we did Psalms and Proverbs, Ruth, the Letters of Paul, and a good one leading up to Thanksgiving and then another for Christmas. My favorite part is that everyone in the group can choose a verse or passage or a thought to share at the end and the whole group sees it. My app says I did that 254 days. Wouldn’t call that daily, but on the right track, perhaps. This wasn’t a goal, but speaking of apps, I am up to a 296 day streak on Duolingo where I am working on learning Spanish. The next goal was daily exercise. Ha. Good one. I did get third place in a walking contest at my school (most miles walked in a month) recently and get lunch of my choice delivered to my classroom. That was a little thrill. And the last goal was turning on my daily sleeping show by 9:30. Another big ha. But I didn’t have to set my alarm for 6 from March-August, and then again for 2/3 of December, so maybe that goal ended up being less important than I would have imagined.
Now to make up some new goals for 2021!
This is the post that does not end. I also read Charlotte’s Web to my 3rd graders and Little House Christmas Stories and Felicity’s Surprise to Eleonora.
