Book reviews! Book reviews! Need something to read??

On my recent vacation with my mom, I finished two books.  Both were EXCELLENT.  You know the kind when you finish, you just want to flip to the front and start again?  And I'm so lame, I actually did that with one of them, (but no, I didn't finish the whole thing that time.)  And the other, I started reading to my kids as soon as I could.

The first great book is:

I don't want to go into a big, detailed review, but I'll just tell you, I was riveted.  And I will never look at American history the same way again.  I recommend this book to you!  (I admit I didn't like it at first.  If you don't get into it right away, hang in there.  It gets better!)

I also read:

Okay.  This lady's story is absolutely amazing.  As I read I kept thinking, someone couldn't possibly even write fiction as exciting and unpredictable as this.  God's fingerprints are all over every instance in Gladys Aylward's life.  I challenge a non-believer to read these Christian heroes of the faith biographies and still not believe that God is real and Christianity is true!  This whole series of books is excellent, and I intend to collect them all.  That is if my hubby will let me get more shelves.  : )  I am reading this to the boys right now, and they are loving every minute as much as I did.  When I stop for the night they groan, and sometimes get downright angry at me.  Hee Hee Hee...It's fun to be a mom.

Before the Gladys book, I read to the boys:



I am always on the lookout for novels that boys will find exciting.  This one came highly recommended, and I was not disappointed.  It is a really great story of a family working to succeed on a Colorado farm.  I thought it was very good.  It teaches a hard work ethic and gives a wonderful example of a father/son relationship that ought to be sought after.  I admit I found a lot of the cowboy and farming blah blah blah boring.  But the boys loved it.    Lots of cowboy stuff.   Lots. 

Alert:  There is swearing in this book.  I'm not sure why an author would put swearing in a book written for children.  It is a true story, and I suppose he wanted to be make the story as accurate as possible, but frankly, I was annoyed and thought it completely unneccesary.  Since I read it aloud, I of course skipped right over it.  You might want to do that too.

Happy reading!! 

So many books...So little time...

I do not profess to be really great at many things.  Truly I am not, although my mother, I know, would disagree.  But the facts are, I am not a great cook or housekeeper. I am not crafty or super creative.  I am not very organized, I can't sew, drive a stick shift, fix anything that breaks unless duct tape counts, I do not like to bake.  Hmmm...I forget to send thank you cards.  How horrible is that??  I am hoping I am making you feel better about yourself.  Is it working? ; ) 

Really, I'm not the greatest at much of anything!  BUT...I do really, really, really love God and my family, and if they go through life and to the grave knowing that, then I will feel like I succeeded! 

However, in spite of the things I haven't done very well, there are a few that I am really happy I've done.  And one of those is, I read to the kids.  Just about every night.  Since the kids have been very little, I have chosen a book and read it to them, and for a long time now, we have been reading through children's novels.  It is one of my (and their) favorite times of the day.

I thought I would share some of our favorites with you, to give you some ideas about where to start in case you would like to start this tradition, or if you already read, to add to your list.  I am going to list them from memory, so in most cases I do not remember the author right off the top of my head.  I don't have time to go hunting on my shelves for the books right now, and some were from the library.

So, here you go for a start:

Mr Pudgins  This was one of my absolute favorites when I was a kid!  I highly recommend you find this, although it is difficult to find.  Full of zany adventures of a family of children and their eccentric babysitter, Mr. Pudgins.  I know you will be glad you got it.

Pinnochio  I do not mean the Disney version.  There really is a classic book with this title, and it is such a good story about making right choices.  We read it years ago, and I am going to check it out from the library again.

The Trumpet of the Swan  Some of the books I've picked, I've chosen because they stand out in my mind from when I was a kid.  I remember our librarian at school read this to us, and it was a fun story to read to my boys.

Sideways Stories from Wayside School  Some books we read are just plain  fun and silly.  This is the first book in a series like that.  I loved them when I was little, and I still do, and so do my kids. 

The Indian in the Cupboard  This was a great book, well written and interesting.  However, I was annoyed that there was a bad word in it!  So I was glad I was reading it TO the kids, and I could edit that out, and that I hadn't just handed it to them to read. 

The Boxcar Children Series  I loved the first one in the series.  After that, I could have taken or left these, but my boys liked them, and one of them really LOVED them.  So, give them a try.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn  I don't remember the exact titles, but these two books were excellent.  We read the real ones, and not any watered down kids' versions.  They use more difficult language, but the kids got used to the writing style, and I felt it was really good for them to stretch their brains a bit. 

The Littles  Cute series.  So far we have just read one of these

Lemony Snicket--a Series of Unfortunate Events  We love these books!  Enough said.

The Wizard of Oz  We just got finished reading this oldy but goody for the second time.  Much better than the movie!

Eric Liddell  I want to read more biographies to the kids, but so far I have had trouble finding ones that hold their interest that well.  Eric Liddell (and I might have that spelling wrong) is a great hero of the faith, and just happens to be the main character in "Chariots of Fire." 

The Chronicles of Narnia  Please read these books if you haven't already.  They are excellent literature for children (and I loved them too!) and they present truths of Scripture in such a compelling way. 

Stories of the Pilgrims  by Margaret B. Pumphrey I often try to read something that goes along with what we are studying.  When we were learning early American history, I pulled this out, and I thought it was just excellent.  It tells the Pilgrims' story in much more detail than is normally told, from their beginnings in England until their days in the new colony.

Scout  Forgive me if this is not the entire title, but I think this is it.  It's a riveting tale of a boy and his dog during the Nazi era in Europe.  A great book for boys!

I am sure there have been many more, but these are the ones that are coming to mind right now, so that's a good start for you!  I must confess that one of my favorite parts about being a mom is that I get to enjoy all these great children's books again without feeling silly.  It's a great excuse to read them!  : )   I will probably write another post someday as I think of more great books we have read, and by all means, if you have favorites you've read, please leave a comment and share!