A busy summer Tuesday at the Lake and with friends!
Our family has 6 members: Teacher Daddy, Dr. Mama, Big B, Little L, Super J & Sister CC.
Wednesday, July 27, 2022
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
2022 Reading Log, Quarter 2 (Apr-Jun)
My 2022 goal is to read 65 books. At the end of Quarter 1, I had finished 15 books. Here's Quarter 2!
Actual books:
15. Infidel, Ayaan Hirsan Ali; memoir of growing up in an African Islamic family
16. The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler's Ghettos, Judy Batalion; narrative non-fiction of Jewish women resistance fighters who lived, worked, and fought back in various WW2 ghettos in Poland. Some survived, most did not.
17. Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens; This one is being made into a movie, thought I'd get a head start on reading it. Decent murder mystery.
18. The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah; Another WW2 women resistance story, this one fiction and set in France.
19. Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith, Jon Krakauer; Another one to read in advance of a Netflix series dropping. I generally enjoy Krakauer's work and have read several of his books. This one did a little more historical referencing to the origins of the Mormon faith and mythology before analyzing how the Lafferty brothers went off the deep end into cultism.
20. The Girl with the Louding Voice, Abi Dare; a girl in Nigeria who is married off by her father, escapes into working as a housemaid, only to break free of that and pursue her own education.
21. Sassinak, Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Moon; a re-read picked up from my parent's house during a visit. Still just as good decades later.
Books read to the kids:
None. Super J had his own reading that he needed to do aloud each night, and those stories were generally pretty short.
E-books:
22. The Millennium Trilogy (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl who Played with Fire, The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest), Steig Larsson. A re-read and still just as good.
23. The Witch's Kind, Louisa Morgan; Post-WW2 Pacific Northwest, a woman and her aunt who have magical blood adopt a half-mer baby; also some domestic violence woven in
24.The Widow of Pale Harbor, Hester Fox; a woman recluse suspected of murdering her husband (spoiler: she is partially responsible) and an actual murderer setting up victims in line with Edgar Allen Poe poems and short stories
25. Of Blood and Bone, Nora Roberts; 2nd in the pandemic-magic trilogy, this one is about the mythically foretold "the One" growing up and beginning training in both the martial and magical arts.
26. Duke of Midnight, Elizabeth Hoyt; finished last night so just in time. Romance with some smut set in 1700s England with all the class restrictions and lack of women's ability to do anything on their own. *yawn*
I currently have 2 books in progress (and didn't include 2 here because I'd rather list them as a trilogy as above), so I'm making decent headway toward my yearly goal. Once my summer course is finished (looking forward to Friday!), I should have more time in the hottest parts of the day to lazily read and get caught up. Also starting to read aloud to the kids again at night, so am excited for those books to join this list!
To compare, at the end of Quarter 2 in:
2016-- I had finished 17 books
2017-- I had finished 25 books
2018-- I had finished 37 books
2019-- I had finished 28 books
2020-- I had finished 27 books
2021-- I had finished 38 books
Monday, June 27, 2022
Friday, May 27, 2022
2022 May DITL: Summer Course and 5th Grade Fine Arts Night
It is the end of May... time for final concerts and summer term classes!
Thursday, April 28, 2022
2022 April DITL: Half of a Thursday during Spring Break
A Sunny Thursday during Spring Break where I forget the camera half the day.
Sunday, April 3, 2022
2022 Reading Log, Quarter 1 (Jan-Mar)
My 2022 goal for books is 65... just over 5 per month. Let's see how things stacked up.
Thursday, March 31, 2022
Saturday, March 5, 2022
2022 February DITL: Last Day of Florida Vacation
Day in The Life in Florida during Mid-Winter Vacation
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
Sunday, January 9, 2022
2021 Reading Log, Quarter 4 (Oct-Dec)
At the end of Quarter 3, I had finished 55 books (wow!). Starting Quarter 4 off with...
Actual books:
56. Bellwether, Connie Willis. Also wrote The Domesday Book. I didn't like Bellwether quite as well as that one, but an interesting premise for analysis of statistics.
57. Dracula, Bram Stoker. What can I say? It was Halloween...
58. Crooked Hallelujah, Kelli Jo Ford. Three generations of Native American women and their struggles. Interesting read.
59. The Night Watchman, Louise Erdich. Loosely based on her own grandfather's experience fighting against Congressional action to get rid of Indian reservations in the 1960s.
60. The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Jonathan Stroud (The Amulet of Samarkand, The Golem's Eye, The Gate of Ptolemy). Recommended these to Ben and of course had to read them again myself! Jake is working his way through them now for a second time.
61. The Harper Hall of Pern trilogy, Anne McCaffrey (Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, Dragondrums). Because I had a little extra time in December.
62. Stranger in the Village of the Sick: A Memoir of Cancer, Sorcery, and Healing, Paul Stoller. Borrowed from the Pharm Sci department library. Didn't like as much as other ones I've borrowed but an interesting premise on mind set and experience of chronic disease.
Books read to kids:
63. Farmer Boy, Laura Ingalls Wilder. I may also have promised them a trip to Malone NY to visit the Wilder homestead, but this never manifested in the fall. Perhaps a spring or summer trip?
64. The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story, Rudyard Kipling. Felt that this would be age-appropriate and Jamie would enjoy.
65. Disney Classic Storybook: A Treasury of Tales. The kids also needed to be introduced to some fairy tales. Next up-- The Grimm brothers! (Actually next is Charlotte's Web simply because we have it handy around the house).
E-books:
66. The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry, CM Waggoner. Interesting premise, queer romance, magic, drug addiction, monsters... This book had it all.
67. The Age of Witches, Louisa Morgan. Generational magic practice in Victorian England with all of its rigid gender rules.
68. Down Comes the Night, Allison Saft. Meh magical fantasy with standard tropes of not fitting in, redemption, and love.
69. Bone Crier's Moon, Kathryn Purdie. Much the same as above with a French-based mythology about souls needing to be shepherded (ferried) to the afterworld and star-crossed lovers.
How did I stack up in 2021? I had set a goal of 65 books on Goodreads, and I met that (with several trilogies thrown in to boot!).
In 2017, I read 55 books through the year.
In 2018, I read 70 books through the year.
In 2019, I read 57 books through the year.
In 2020, I read 61 books through the year.
In 2021, I read 69 books through the year (almost met the 2018 peak!).
Monday, December 27, 2021
2021 December: A Very Merry Christmas Day!
It was a whirlwind of a very busy, very merry, very happy Christmas Day!
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
2021 November DITL: Beauty & the Beast, Jr.!
It was the Middle School Musical this weekend and what a great show the kids put on!
Saturday, October 30, 2021
2021 October DITL: A Harvest Wedding Shower Day
The family had a wedding shower/harvest party at Bluebird Hill Farm to celebrate Dave & Des!
Saturday, October 2, 2021
2021 Reading Log, Quarter 3 (July-Sept)
At the end of quarter 2, I had finished 38 books. Starting Quarter 3 at 39...
Tuesday, September 28, 2021
Tuesday, August 17, 2021
2021 August DITL: A Day at Acadia National Park
Jake and I took an adult-only vacation in Maine to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. Since we were so close, we decided to make a day trip to Acadia National Park.
Monday, June 28, 2021
2021 Reading Log, Quarter 2 (April-June)
During Quarter 1, I had finished 18 books. Starting off Quarter 3 with...
Tuesday, June 22, 2021
2021 June DITL: Father's Day Fun!
We had a great day filled with love and fun at the Lake House to celebrate Father's Day!
Friday, May 28, 2021
2021 May DITL: A "normal" Tuesday in Spring
This day represents as close to "normal" as it gets in our house! It's an extra-special day too, because Daddy took the day off and got to hang out with me.
Saturday, May 1, 2021
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