January 2010
Archimedes and the Door of Science, by Jeanne Bendick. 135 pgs. Amazing book. Great Math Classic!
Parenting the Ephraim's Child,
by Talmadge and Theler: 237 pages. Great book, but I skimmed through
most of it (repetitive of other books I've read like “Raising your
Spirited Child”, and “Parenting with Love and Logic”.) It has some good
concepts but I don't always liked their application. It was too much
of “this”
is the right way to do something with your child, and I don't believe
in universal specifics, other than the 10 commandments, and even then
God has had instances of times where we are asked to act outside of
those parameters.
Just my Nature. Wonderful personality book.
Three Cups of Tea, wordy...didn't finish it. Many others have found it amazing.
February 2010
Left to Tell. Amazing book about a Rwandanese woman's story of survival from the Holocaust.
March 2010
Mrs. Mike
a silly romance with very little meaning. A woman leaves her home in
Boston to the rugged Canadian frontier, marries a “manly man”, and has
all sort of interesting experiences. However, most of the situations
seemed unrealistic and the character development shallow for the most
part.
April 2010
The Help,
started out great, with a little swearing. However, the language and
the content (at times) was horrific, so I stopped. It was about “the
help”, or the African-American people who worked for pittance right
before the time of the Civil Rights Movement. It was interesting to get
it from their perspective (at least according to this historical
fiction). Decent book without that, interesting, but not worth
finishing with the garbage in it.
The Kidnapped Prince,
by Olaudah Equiano (adapted by Ann Cameron). Wonderful young adult
work about this man, taken from his home in Africa, and the life he
leads as a slave seeking to be honorable.
1984,
by George Orwell. Amazing and thought-provoking broken book. I will
definitely have to read it again someday, skimming over the sensual
parts, although I think that even that played a part in stressing the
importance of human relationships, even those based upon physical
feelings at first, when allowed to develop into feelings of deeper
attachment.
Freakanomics,
by Stephen B. Leavitt, approx. 250 pages. Interesting, albeit random
information that he is trying to connect through studies and
observation. His observations are also merely opinion seeking to
displace “conventional wisdom”, but it does help you to think outside
the box and look for alternate connections besides the one in front of
you.
May 2010
The Element- A wonderful book about “how finding your passion makes a difference”
Christlike Parenting-
I didn't finish this book but loved some of the practical advice and
perspective on more agency-based, liberating parenting by calmly and
lovingly stating rules and expectations without threats and bullying.
June 2010
The Lost Prince
by Frances Hodgenson Burnett. A wonderful book about service-oriented
leadership, true nobility, with some great characters with strong
values.
The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster, a fable-like story with so many applications on different levels.
July 2010
The Book Thief,
by Markus Zusak. A book about WWII Germany from more of a German
perspective. It was fiction, and while it was an interesting perspective
with “Death” as the narrator and the writing style was very visual and
metaphoric, the crass words and treatment of people in the book was too
crude. I stopped before the end, with the swearing getting worse and
worse.
Les Miserables
A Single Shard,
a neat book about a Korean young man who becomes apprentice to a
potter...a coming of age book with good moralistic messages about
integrity, hard work, apprentice-ship, and trust.
August 2010
The Last Waltz, an alright historical romance...not worth reading again, but clean.
Weight of Glory,
C.S. Lewis. Wonderful, as all Lewis's are, but some of the lectures
were dry and non-applicable. There were a few that were amazing.
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch,
Leetham. Wonderful book with many great lessons. A good young adult
read about the value of self-driven education and it's benefit on the
world around them.
Charlie's Monument, by Blaine Jorgenson. Awesome book.
September and October 2010
Across Five Aprils,
Irene Hunt. Wonderful!!! I loved it. She is great storyteller, and
it touches on principles of responsibility, hard work, family loyalty,
political issues around the time of the Civil War, covers simply an
outline of the progression of the war and the mood of the populace,
love, and is beautiful to read.
Christlike Parenting
by Dr. Glenn Latham (I believe). Amazing, life-changing book. Now if I
could only parent without thinking about how much I am probably not
doing right it would be even better :). However, the main line of
“parent as Christ would parent” is a powerful and simple message that is
surprisingly easy to apply. Also, his advice about preparing for
situations by role-playing or rehearsing ahead of time what you can do
and say is remarkably powerful.
The Mysterious Benedict Society
, a fun read about kids with talents who use them together to make a
difference. The kids actually treat each other respectfully and pass
that along to other people.
The Nazi Officer's Wife,
by Helen Beer?. A decent book about an Austrian Jewish woman who lives
during the holocaust partly on a farm in Germany and partly as the wife
of a Nazi officer who is aware of who she is. It is a decent story, but
I am not sure what the point is, other than to uncover a part in
history where people allowed themselves and others to be dehumanized.
It is amazing how when you allow yourself to dehumanize someone, you
become dehumanized.
Driven,
by Larry H. Miller, an autobiography. Really a pretty engaging, and
remarkable book about how he came to be where he is at. While I don't
agree with his “abandon the family to provide for them” philosophy, he
has a lot of great messages about determination, philosophy, hard work,
etc.
The Crucible,
by Arthur Miller: disturbing how people can let their prejudices run
away with them, not to mention superstition. The Salem Witch trials was
surely a refining process...to see who would act according to natural
laws and who would act like the natural man :).
Miracles on Maple Hill, nice youth book about how living on the land can heal a family.
The Kidnapped Prince, by Olaudah Equiano. Wonderful book about the value of freedom and the horror of the slave trade.
November 2010
The Alchemist, by Paulo Couhlo
Flatland, a great read, even the second time, about dimensions, not to mention a great political satire—one of the best I've read!
All Mimzy were the Borrogoves (a short story)
Three against Hitler,
an interesting true story about some LDS youth in Nazi Germany, their
resistance to Hitler, and the consequences of that...definitely an
“older than 12” kind of book, but not graphic at all.
Papa's Wife, a charming book about a Swedish couple, a minister and his wife, that come to America with their eight children.
January 2011
Poisonwood Bible, by Kingsolver. Interesting perspective on Africa and foreign involvement.
The Lost Prince, by Frances Hodges Burnett. Amazing book about the characteristics of a true leader.
February 2011
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,
by Frank Baum. Each of the characters is insistent of what they need
from the Wizard, but each already has those characteristics to a degree
and demonstrates them: our greatest strength is our greatest weakness,
perhaps? They each express fear at not having something particular that
they feel keeps them from succeeding...perhaps they have compared
themselves to what they think others possess, and find themselves
lacking. Yet each has what it takes to work together to create a team.
The
lesson from the “great” Oz: sometimes leaders deliberately deceive
those they lead and create laws to perpetuate it (the green glasses).
They also distance themselves from the people by perpetuating their
appearance of great knowledge and wisdom.
Elantris, by Brandon Sanderson. Excellent book about government and different forms of leadership. Older youth.
Angel on the Square, by Gloria Whelan. A great book about the time of the transition from the tsars of Russia to Lenin/Stalin. Young adult.
Spring/Summer 2011
The Princess Academy
Trails to Testimony
The Evolution of Culpernia Tate:
too many taking of the Lord's name in vain, cool mentor/child
relationship with Grandfather and granddaughter, neat teaching how to be
a naturalist and the concept of evolution (minimally)
Everyone Communicates, few connect- very effective and worth the read once
The Silence of God: wonderful
Norms and Nobility: hard to read, but incredible dissertation on classical education
The Power of Intention: Powerful and life-defining for me
The Story Teller's Daughter Quick read, but very good!
The Yearling (Quinn read aloud) wonderful, with many great lessons; childhood classic
Snow Treasure (Quinn read aloud) great story
The Great Turkey Walk (Quinn read aloud) funny, but not very deep. Quick read, youthful story
Summer of the Monkeys (Quinn read aloud) childhood classic
The Goose Girl wonderful!
Winter's Child- alright, but not much character development. Interesting retelling of “The Snow Queen”.
The Boy Knight-
great book about the Crusades; I felt it was very historically accurate
and well told, if hard to understand due to the archaic-type language.
Winter/Spring 2012
Lord of the Rings- Tolkein. Amazing. Great leadership concepts, good and noble characters, a great triumphant book about good conquering evil
The Year of Impossible Goodbyes-Touching,
real-life account of people in North Korea transitioning from Japanese
control to communism and some people's valiant endeavor to have
integrity to their convictions. A little heavy reading for young teens,
but my 14 year olds have been mature enough to read it...not due to
inappropriate content, thankfully.
Homeless Bird-a
wonderful book, young adult, that gives insight to the whole child
bride, parent/child relationship in India, the plight of the many
widows, and a glimpse of their culture.
Animal Farm-George
Orwell; very interesting book that makes me think about propaganda,
"freedom," and what a good leader does and things to watch for in
leaders (or people). I think it was interesting to see a lot of good
intentions go bad, and deeper motivations revealed. A good "book" to
read this with would be Bastiat's "What is seen and what is not seen."
Fish-
by Matthews: a short, young adult book that was interesting. More a
symbolic tale, dragged on a little for my smaller kids (Quinn read it
aloud to us), but we had meaningful discussions afterward about what
responsibilities or "fish" we could each take care of, no matter how
small. A young man I discussed it with compared the journey of the
family to Lehi's dream and holding to the rod of iron to get to the tree
of life...they had to follow the guide, who knew the way, to keep safe
and to make it.
Circle of Quiet-by
Madeline L'Engle. An interesting book, probably because I can relate to
her writing style--it's how I talk and think. Even though I don't
agree with all the assumptions and conclusions she made, she made me
evaluate thoughts on parenting, old age, society, writing, and so many
other things :). It took me a while because I wanted to keep writing
down my thoughts in response to what she wrote.
The Alliance-by
Lund--Excellent! Couldn't put it down! Clean and well-written
(although some of the character relationships were typical Lund,
reminding me of the Steeds and their strong women :)...) While I didn't
really care for the "Work and the Glory" series, this is an excellent
novel looking at a futuristic scenario, post-global war and people
trying to set up the "ideal" society. Incredible themes of freedom and
government. Made me mad about freedom...and I like that :)...
A Long Walk to Water-Park.
Short, young adult, older child book about a real-life account of one
of the "lost boys" of Sudan. Humanitarian themes, gives an excellent
look into Africa and the issues facing it with war, drought, and
starvation. Completely clean, and nothing objectionable for my 10 year
old, in my mind. Worth it for all ages. (Only 115 pages and compelling
read.)
---fast forward :)...oops!
Winter/Spring 2013
The Real George Washington-challenging in it's length, but fabulous for reawakening an appreciation for this man, the founders, and our God-given liberty. A great work about faith and endurance as well, about committing our lives to God's will.
Pollyanna- beautiful and worth reading again and again...very fast read.
COFA George Washington (Childhood of Famous Americans) Surprisingly (to me), this one and the following are two of my parenting classics now!
COFA Martha Washington
COFA Paul Revere
Ivanhoe-amazingly read-able and enjoyable.
5 Love Languages for Teens-incredible.
TJEd for Teens-a good re-read! Wonderful, life-changing questions
The Lost Prince- Quinn read this aloud to us...loved it, (especially with "Marco the Unic-urn" being the main character.
Leadership Education, by Rachel and Oliver DeMille. Amazing, again.
COFA Thomas Jefferson
Fall/Winter 2014
The Alliance
A Long Walk to Water
Watership Down-great leadership book, society book
Screwtape letters-
The Rent Collector, Amazing book. Cultural, brings out virtues of education and literature, setting in dump of Cambodia, post-Khmer Rouge dictatorship.
The Endless Steppe, by Esther Hautzig. Long, kind of dry look at the Polish Jew expulsion to Siberia. Interesting cultural look though. True Story.
Spring 2014
Palace of Stone by Hale: amazing! clean, great about government and relationships
The Virginian by Wister: awesome: government, leadership, marriage. Powerful quotes here:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/98909.Owen_Wister
Robinson Crusoe a little more challenging than I imagined, but great about original settlement, industry, ingenuity, government, leadership, science
Charlie's Monument: could read it again and again
Star Girl: powerful young adult book about being yourself for the right reasons, celebrating diversity
Gladys Aylward: Little Woman amazing true book about service missionary in China!
Summer 2014
One minute manager: fantastic quick read on enabling others you work with and your self to be more self-governing and efficient as a team, enabling everyone to do their part! Fabulous!
Teach the Children: An Agency Approach to Education: by Neil Flinders. Only read parts and skimmed through a lot, but an amazing collection of true principles for effective, life-long teaching and learning
Increase In Learning: by David Bednar. Fantastic! Just read the second chapter and parts of the first again, but well-worth it!
2105
Little Britches
The Inheritance: first Louise May Alcott novel, simple yet pointed story teaching about pride/humility and contrasts healthy and unhealthy motivations in romantic relationships
Eight Cousins:
Henry V:
Li Lun, Lad of Courage
Steelheart: by Brandon Sanderson
Strawberry Girl:
Mystery of the Periodic Table
Fearless
Unbroken
The Pearl, by Steinbeck
The Storyteller's Daughter
---fast forward :)...oops!
Winter/Spring 2013
The Real George Washington-challenging in it's length, but fabulous for reawakening an appreciation for this man, the founders, and our God-given liberty. A great work about faith and endurance as well, about committing our lives to God's will.
Pollyanna- beautiful and worth reading again and again...very fast read.
COFA George Washington (Childhood of Famous Americans) Surprisingly (to me), this one and the following are two of my parenting classics now!
COFA Martha Washington
COFA Paul Revere
Ivanhoe-amazingly read-able and enjoyable.
5 Love Languages for Teens-incredible.
TJEd for Teens-a good re-read! Wonderful, life-changing questions
The Lost Prince- Quinn read this aloud to us...loved it, (especially with "Marco the Unic-urn" being the main character.
Leadership Education, by Rachel and Oliver DeMille. Amazing, again.
COFA Thomas Jefferson
Fall/Winter 2014
The Alliance
A Long Walk to Water
Watership Down-great leadership book, society book
Screwtape letters-
The Rent Collector, Amazing book. Cultural, brings out virtues of education and literature, setting in dump of Cambodia, post-Khmer Rouge dictatorship.
The Endless Steppe, by Esther Hautzig. Long, kind of dry look at the Polish Jew expulsion to Siberia. Interesting cultural look though. True Story.
Spring 2014
Palace of Stone by Hale: amazing! clean, great about government and relationships
The Virginian by Wister: awesome: government, leadership, marriage. Powerful quotes here:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/98909.Owen_Wister
Robinson Crusoe a little more challenging than I imagined, but great about original settlement, industry, ingenuity, government, leadership, science
Charlie's Monument: could read it again and again
Star Girl: powerful young adult book about being yourself for the right reasons, celebrating diversity
Gladys Aylward: Little Woman amazing true book about service missionary in China!
Summer 2014
One minute manager: fantastic quick read on enabling others you work with and your self to be more self-governing and efficient as a team, enabling everyone to do their part! Fabulous!
Teach the Children: An Agency Approach to Education: by Neil Flinders. Only read parts and skimmed through a lot, but an amazing collection of true principles for effective, life-long teaching and learning
Increase In Learning: by David Bednar. Fantastic! Just read the second chapter and parts of the first again, but well-worth it!
2105
Little Britches
The Inheritance: first Louise May Alcott novel, simple yet pointed story teaching about pride/humility and contrasts healthy and unhealthy motivations in romantic relationships
Eight Cousins:
Henry V:
Li Lun, Lad of Courage
Steelheart: by Brandon Sanderson
Strawberry Girl:
Mystery of the Periodic Table
Fearless
Unbroken
The Pearl, by Steinbeck
The Storyteller's Daughter
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