August 2024 Wrap-up

August TBR Pile (18/19):

1. Bookworms BC: I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue ✓

2. Friend BC: The Six by Loren Grush ✓

3. Nerdy Bookish Friends BC: The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (DNF)

4. Kid Book Club: Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia (already read)

5. Kid Read Aloud: Gargantis by Thomas Taylor ✓

6. Kid Read Aloud: Endling The First by Katherine Applegate ✓

7. Kid Read Aloud: Endling The Only by Katherine Applegate ✓

8. Kid Read Aloud: Over the Moon by Natalie Lloyd ✓

9. Romance: Beautiful Vengeance by Katee Robert ✓

10. Romance: Lovely Corruption by Katee Robert ✓

11. Romance: Ruthless Redemption by Katee Robert ✓

12. Romance: Dark Restraint by Katee Robert ✓

13. Romance: The Idea of You by Robinne Lee ✓

14. Fantasy: Temptation by R.L. Stine ✓

15. Fantasy: A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid ✓

16. Comic: The Nice House on the Lake Vol. 1 ✓

17. Comic: The Nice House on the Lake Vol. 2 ✓

18. Horror: The Deading by Nicholas Belardes ✓

19. Nonfiction: Four Lost Cities by Annalee Newitz ✓

20. Historical Fiction: The Briar Club by Kate Quinn ✓

1,000,000 Page Goal:

Monthly Total: 6030 pages
Pages Remaining: 217,059 pages

Current Read - The Succubus’s Prize by Katee Robert

Books I Gave Up On (1) - Nerdy Bookish Friends was reading The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Applegate. I tried three times this month to get into it and it just didn’t happen. The book was very character focused and I just couldn’t. I may pick it up later this year, but now is definitely not the time.

Books Bought/Received (2) - During our travels, I bought a whole stack of homeschool books that I’m not including in this total. For me, I only bought two books. I grabbed The Oregon Trail by Rinker Buck from Nevermore Used Books in Toledo OH. I also preordered Dark Restraint by Katee Robert.

UnRead Shelf Progress

• Starting Number: 310

• Books Read: 2

• Books Acquired: 2

• Books Unshelved: 0

• Finishing Number: 310

September TBR Pile:

1. Bookworms BC: None (already read)

2. Friend BC: The 22 Murders of Madison May by Max Barry

3. Nerdy Bookish Friends BC: The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz

4. Kid Book Club: I Can Make This Promise by Christina Day

5. Kid Read Aloud: The Long-Lost Secret Diary of the World’s Worst Knight by Tim Collins

6. Kid Read Aloud: Mars One by Jonathan Maberry

7. Romance: The Succubus’s Prize by Katee Robert

Movies Watched

• Twisters

TV Shows Watched

• The Umbrella Academy

• Cafe Minamdang

• Last Week Tonight

• Game Changer

• Breaking News

• Star Trek: Discovery S1-S2

• Below Deck: Med

• My Lady Jane

Comments -

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn

Title: The Briar Club

Author: Kate Quinn

Publisher: William Morrow 2024

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 432

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Lifetime - 60s; Library Love

Where I Got It: Library

Washington, DC, 1950. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, a down-at-the-heels all-female boardinghouse in the heart of the nation’s capital where secrets hide behind white picket fences. But when the lovely, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic room, she draws her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendship: poised English beauty Fliss, whose facade of perfect wife and mother covers gaping inner wounds; policeman’s daughter Nora, who finds herself entangled with a shadowy gangster; frustrated baseball star Beatrice, whose career has come to an end along with the women’s baseball league of WWII; and poisonous, gung-ho Arlene, who has thrown herself into McCarthy’s Red Scare.

Grace’s weekly attic-room dinner parties and window-brewed sun tea become a healing balm on all their lives, but she hides a terrible secret of her own. When a shocking act of violence tears the house apart, the Briar Club women must decide once and for all: who is the true enemy in their midst?

I snagged a copy of Kate Quinn’s newest book and immediately started reading it. I always enjoy her books that expand on women’s stories from history. In this one, Quinn takes a slightly different tactic. Instead of one woman or a few women, we get many different stories based in history but not exact women. I loved the collection of characters that we meet in each chapter. The murder mystery slowly unfolds as we learn about the backgrounds of a variety of people. I loved how Quinn weaves in a variety of topics: McCarthyism, racism, workplace misogyny, parenting, romantic relationships, growing up, etc. We get a rounded picture of life in the United States in the early 1950s. I didn’t emotionally connect with the characters, but I really enjoyed following them along in life.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Nice House on the Lake Vol. 2

Title: The Nice House on the Lake Vol. 2

Author: James Tynion, Alvaro Martinez Bueno, Jordie Bellaire

Publisher: DC Comics 2023

Genre: Comics

Pages: 176

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: None

Where I Got It: Library

One of the most critically acclaimed and bestselling horror books of 2021 returns for its shocking second act—and now is the perfect time to enter the house! The 10 hardy survivors gathered in the house by their mutual friend Walter thought they’d finally cracked the code on his plans…and now everything they thought they knew has literally changed. Can they free themselves from their patterns? Or are they all just determined to build a prison of their very own?

I finally grabbed the second trade in this series and goodness, it was a journey. The first couple of pages really threw me. The reader has to orient themselves to the story being told. Once I got my bearings, I sped through the next chapters of this story. I loved the interplay of the different personalities and their reactions to the events. I do wish that the story would have a progressed a bit more before we got to the end. Now I just have to wait I guess. No idea when the next chapters will be released.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #15

Reading: I’m deep into Kate Quinn’s new book The Briar Club. This is a different type of book for her. Still historical fiction, but this time we have a murder mystery that folds in an episodic way by exploring each character’s story.

Watching: We’re deep into S2 of Star Trek: Discovery. It’s so dramatic and good.

Listening: We’re loving our music study this year. This week we covered Johnny Cash. The boys liked him more than Elvis, but not as much as Fats Domino.

Making: This past week has been about trying new-to-us dinner recipes. I made a good spring green spaghetti carbonara, Mexican street corn totchos, and buffalo chicken chili. Two of those were hits. The chili was a bit disappointing.

Feeling: The temperatures spiked again this week and it’s terrible. I hate the heat.

Planning: I’m now teaching the last four weeks of enrichment co-op. Our theme is art + mathematics. I’m leaning on the math side to teach geometry puzzles to the Running Rhinos and then probability and cryptography to the Buff Gorillas.

Loving: We broke open the package of Key Lime Oreos (off brand from Aldis) and they were delicious. Now I have to wait another year to get another package.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W2: Activities Took Over!

A’s science and ELA

What We Studied

All my big talk of balance the first week went out the window last week. Except for Monday, we had activities that took up most of our time. They were worthwhile activities, but it meant that we only did schoolwork two days in the week.

Q’s ELA and Math

Pond Study

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. Our read aloud has continue along with poetry and grammar. Our spelling list 2 will be stretched to two weeks to accommodate.

• Over the Moon by Natalie Lloyd

• Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg

Quentin is primarily using Blossom & Root G1 for his language arts this year. We will pull some elements from Build Your Library Level 2 and random books that we have around the house. It took us all week, but we finished our very short read aloud. Q also read two chapter books independently in that time. I think he’s finally caught the reading bug.

• Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman

• Song of the Water Boatman by Joyce Kidman (poetry)

• Write Shop B

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. We covered the another lesson and did some practice. We will also be working through Evan Moor’s Financial Literacy G5 book and random math packets.

• Math in Focus Court 1 Book A

• EM Financial Literacy G5

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. He started with the lessons in 2B. I imagine that we will be slowing working through that this semester. He also started his next logic book and did some math packets for practice and review.

• Primarily Logic

• Singapore Primary Common Core 2B

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. We skipped history this week due to time constraints.

• Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• DK A Child Through Time

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 supporting. We skipped history this week due to time constraints.

• History Quest Middle Times

• DK When on Earth?

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• DK A Child Through Time

Science

Arthur is using RSO Biology 1 this year has the main science text. Our coverage will be spotty until October. Our academic coop will also be using RSO Biology 1 as a basis for the fall semester course, so we will be just supplementing at home. We will also be doing some of Blossom & Root’s Book Seeds and various other small units in between. We did read three more chapters in the Story of Science. Right now, the book is setting the stage for Einstein’s Miracle Year.

• RSO Biology 1

• Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim

Quentin is using RSO Earth & Environment and RSO Astronomy 1 as a base. Of course, we have a ton of extra science resources laying around the house. And I will be hosting some one-off science exploration days that align with the units. We covered the first lesson and pivoted to B&R’s Book Seed: Over and the Under the Pond. I rearranged some of the RSO units to make sense for our weather. We are staring with water. To learn more, we covered some readings and videos about ponds before spending most of Friday doing an exploration and experiments day with friends.

• RSO Earth and Environment

• Earth by the Numbers by Steve Jenkins

• DK First Earth Encyclopedia

• Beyond the Pond by Joseph Kuefler

• On Duck Pond by Jane Yolen

• Tadpoles by Matt James

• Pond Circle by Betsy Franco

• Over and Under the Pond by Kate Messner

• Life in a Pond by Craig Hammersmith

• Life in a Pond by Allan Fowler

• Look Inside a Pond by Louise Spilsbury

Water testing at the pond

Enrichment STEAM Co-op

Enrichment co-op has shifted from warm months only (April to October). We are in the middle of our transitionary “Summer Session.” This week both Arthur and Quentin’s class covered engineering. Q’s class focused on simple machines while Arthur’s class made balloon powered cars.

Art and Music

Art will be very sporadic this year, but we do have some fun excursions planned. (The Joslyn Art Museum is reopening in September after being closed for two years!) And I will incorporate art projects into a lot of other subjects and unit studies. We did some art-related activities while at the pond on Friday. Arthur made an amazing clay rendition of the pond. I snapped a picture before he destroyed it.

For music, we are using Music Lab: We Rock! as our spine. Each week we will be learning about a different rock musician and focus on a particular song. I have also created Spotify playlists so we can listen on the go. This week was all about Chuck Berry and Fats Domino. I’m a Chuck Berry fan; the boys preferred Fats Domino.

• Music Lab: We Rock!

• DK Music and How it Works

• DK The Arts

Field Trip/Activities

Not a guided field trip, but we did have a lovely day at the zoo on Tuesday. It rained, but lightly, which meant that many of the animals were very active!

On Friday, I hosted a pond exploration day at Platte River State Park. They have a set of cascading shallow ponds called Crawdad Creek that you can actually wade into and explore. We caught (and released) some critters, learned about ponds, tested the water, and engaged in some free art. Afterward, we had to have a picnic and playtime at the playground. It has ziplines!

High

Wednesday we spent all day at the park with the No (we’re not supposed to be in) School Picnic with many of our homeschool friends. It was a nice way for some new families to join and make some connections. The boys’ favorite part was the axe throwing.

Low

Not getting to a ton of schoolwork? Nah, that’s not. a low, just a reality.

Next Week

• Finishing his read aloud and starting a new one (A)

• Starting a new read aloud (Q)

• Learning about the Spanish Empire (A) and Byzantine Empire (Q)

• Listening to Johnny Cash

• Exploring the local science museum and another state park

• Covering engineering for co-op, last week for this cycle

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - Bailey Zimmerman "Hell or High Water"

I’m totally digging the Twisters soundtrack right now. A bit of departure from my usual music, but I’m loving it.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Deading by Nicholas Belardes

Title: The Deading

Author: Nicholas Belardes

Publisher: Erewhon Books 2024

Genre: Horror

Pages: 304

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Where I Got It: Library

If you want to stay, you have to die.

In a small fishing town known for its aging birding community and the local oyster farm, a hidden evil emerges from the depths of the ocean. It begins with sea snails washing ashore, attacking whatever they cling to. This mysterious infection starts transforming the wildlife, the seascapes, and finally, the people.

Once infected, residents of Baywood start “deading”: collapsing and dying, only to rise again, changed in ways both fanatical and physical. As the government cuts the town off from the rest of the world, the uninfected, including the introverted bird-loving Blas and his jaded older brother Chango, realize their town could be ground zero for a fundamental shift in all living things.

Soon, disturbing beliefs and autocratic rituals emerge, overseen by the death-worshiping Risers. People must choose how to survive, how to find home, and whether or not to betray those closest to them. Stoked by paranoia and isolation, tensions escalate until Blas, Chango, and the survivors of Baywood must make their escape or become subsumed by this terrifying new normal.

Such a disappointing read! I was hoping for some great cli-fi horror involving snails and an otherworldly presence. I was hoping for something like Annihlation. Instead, this is a disjointed (not in a good way) mess of random characters and about fifty (it feels like) plots. We never really focus on any one thing. Instead, every chapter is jumping around characters, time, space, and plot lines. I grew very frustrated that we never knew who was speaking until almost halfway through each chapter. It wasn’t mysterious, it was just confusing. That choice made it very hard to connect to the story in any meaningful way. The horror involving the snails was interesting, but never fully explored. The story keeps turning to the deading and a semi religious cult that spring up. Pretty boring. And I really didn’t need almost a 100 pages of random birdwatching. Seriously, I started skimming those sections. Too detailed and very off-putting for the reader. This has not been a good week for my reading…

Next up on the TBR pile:

Life Right Now #20

Right now I am: Heading out to the last academic co-op working meeting before we start in October. We still need to make a decision on location and some smaller items. Beyond that, every needs to submit their lesson plans by Labor Day. This meeting is all about getting those done.

On my bedside table: I don’t quite know. I have.a stack of library books that I need to decide on. Which ones do I really want to read? I might start with The Succubus’s Prize by Katee Robert. I’m also really looking forward to spooky reading season and trying to not jump the gun, but I really want to lean into the spooky.

On my tv this week: We’ve continued with Star Trek: Discovery as well as Game Changer, Breaking News, and Um Actually. I also managed to watch The Bachelorette and Below Deck in between all the activities.

Listening to: Just a huge music mix at the moment

On the menu for this week:

• Monday - Out at book club

• Tuesday - Out at book club

• Wednesday - Loaded sweet potato nachos

• Thursday - Spring green spaghetti carbonara

• Friday - Out?

• Saturday - Mexican street corn totchos

• Sunday - Ginger glazed pork chops with Brussels sprout

On my to do list: I need to finish my Civics lesson plans for academic co-op. I also want to start planning my October rock, minerals, and fossils exploration day. I need to finish prepping discussion questions for Tuesday’s book club. And I need to work on enrichment co-op lesson plans for September.

Happening this week:

• Monday - Home Day

• Tuesday - Lewis and Clark Landing; Luminarium

• Wednesday - Pokemon Club

• Thursday - Co-op

• Friday - Hike at Schramm; Luminarium evening with J

• Saturday - Home

• Sunday - Home

What I am creating: Um…. I guess some to-do lists. Not feeling very creative right now.

My simple pleasures: Cooler weather (not happening this weekend but last weekdays), girls’ night on a friend’s deck, students engaged in the lesson being presented

Looking around the house: I put away all the pond exploration tools and supplies, but I still need to do a general sweep of the main floor. We have random things laying around that need to be put in their homes.

From the camera: Absolutely love this picture of the boys a friend snapped at pond exploration on Friday.

The Idea of You by Robinne Lee

Title: The Idea of You

Author: Robinne Lee

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin 2017

Genre: Romance (not really)

Pages: 372

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library Love

Where I Got It: Library

Solène Marchand, the thirty-nine-year-old owner of an art gallery in Los Angeles, is reluctant to take her daughter, Isabelle, to meet her favorite boy band. But since her divorce, she’s more eager than ever to be close to Isabelle. The last thing Solène expects is to make a connection with one of the members of the world-famous August Moon. But Hayes Campbell is clever, winning, confident, and posh, and the attraction is immediate. That he is all of twenty years old further complicates things.

What begins as a series of clandestine trysts quickly evolves into a passionate and genuine relationship. It is a journey that spans continents as Solène and Hayes navigate each other’s worlds: from stadium tours to international art fairs to secluded hideaways in Paris and Miami. For Solène, it is a reclaiming of self, as well as a rediscovery of happiness and love. When Solène and Hayes’ romance becomes a viral sensation, and both she and her daughter become the target of rabid fans and an insatiable media, Solène must face how her romantic life has impacted the lives of those she cares about most.

Labeled as romance. Let me tell you that this is not romance. There is no HEA here. There is not mutually respectful relationship between adults. There is a depiction of an extremely flawed woman in a “relationship” with a manipulative and controlling younger man. The age gap was not the problem for me. I don’t really care. I do care that these two characters were terrible. Everything started out fairly nice, but then we see how Solene is lying to and neglecting her daughter to go off and have sex filled weekends with her boybander. That was bad. Even worse was her interactions with his one bandmate. Creepy Creepy Creepy. Then we get to the second half of the book where we see these two characters become even more toxic. Hayes become an absolute nightmare. Solene should have jumped ship so fast, but no, the sex was too good. Honestly the sex scenes were terribly written; I got so confused about what exactly was happening half the time. This is a terrible book featuring terrible characters masquerading as a “romance.” Stay far away.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Dark Restraint by Katee Robert

Title: Dark Restraint (Dark Olympus #7)

Author: Katee Robert

Publisher: Sourcebooks 2024

Genre: Romance

Pages: 320

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; She Reads Romance - Male Virgin Hero

Spice Rating: 6

Ariadne Vitalis is in trouble. She's betrayed her father—and his dangerous benefactor—and now she's left to rely on Olympus' questionable mercy. But in this city, mercy comes with a price. For Ariadne, that means a sham marriage to Dionysus. She has no choice but to agree, even if there's only one man she's ever wanted—a man she fears just as much as she desires.

The Minotaur never had any illusions about Minos's plans. He was willing to get his hands dirty as long as the old man kept his word—at the end of their bloody work, the Minotaur would be given Ariadne as a reward. She's meant for him, and he intends to have her, no matter the cost.

Ariadne knows better than to encourage the Minotaur—she's all too aware of how hot a passion like theirs can burn. Besides, she can never forgive him for the terrible things he's done, and he can never change. But when his hands are on her body and his wicked words are whispered in her ear, she might just be willing to let all of Olympus burn…

I’m really not have any luck with my reads this week. I adore Katee Robert and usually find her books, even the ones I don’t absolutely love, to be engaging and interesting. I appreciate how she explores different types of people and relationships. But this one really missed the mark for me. I just couldn’t get over how incredibly controlling and “alpha” The Minotaur was throughout. The sex scenes didn’t demonstrate enthusiastic consent or even mutual respect. I never did buy Asterion and Ariadne as a couple. Really, I kept reading this one for the background storyline about the coming war between Circe and Olympus. Those sections kept me from putting this one down and walking.

Dark Olympus

• #0.5 Stone Heart

• #1 Neon Gods

• #1.5 Hades and Hades

• #2 Electric Idol

• #2.5 Zeus and Hera

• #3 Wicked Beauty

• #4 Radiant Sun

• #5 Cruel Seduction

• #6 Midnight Ruin

• #7 Dark Restraint

• #8 Sweet Obsession

• #9 Untitled

• #10 Untitled

Next up on the TBR pile:

I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue

Title: I Hope This Finds You Well

Author: Natalie Sue

Publisher: William Morrow 2024

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 352

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Where I Got It: 52 Book Club - Author Debut in 2024; Library

As far as Jolene is concerned, her interactions with her colleagues should start and end with her official duties as an admin for Supershops, Inc. Unfortunately, her irritating, incompetent coworkers don’t seem to understand the importance of boundaries. Her secret to survival? She vents her grievances in petty email postscripts, then changes the text color to white so no one can see. That is until one of her secret messages is exposed. Her punishment: sensitivity training (led by the suspiciously friendly HR guy, Cliff) and rigorous email restrictions.

When an IT mix-up grants her access to her entire department’s private emails and DMs, Jolene knows she should report it, but who could resist reading what their coworkers are really saying? And when she discovers layoffs are coming, she realizes this might just be the key to saving her job. The plan is simple: gain her boss’s favor, convince HR she’s Supershops material, and beat out the competition.

But as Jolene is drawn further into her coworkers' private worlds and realizes they are each keeping secrets, her carefully constructed walls begin to crumble—especially around Cliff, who she definitely cannot have feelings for. Eventually she will need to decide if she’s ready to leave the comfort of her cubicle, even if that means coming clean to her colleagues.

I was very intrigued by the summary of the book. I was thinking that we were going to get a decent speculative fiction take on the workplace akin to Several People are Typing by Calvin Kasulke. I was hoping… But instead, we get a sad-sack main character that never really breaks out of her sad-sackness. I think I really dislike books that make me feel sad and depressed for most of them. I don’t want or need all happy scenes, but I would like to see characters grow and change. In this book, Jolene just sits in the awkward and uncomfortable space throughout the entire book. I kept forcing myself to pick it up every time to actually get through the book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• The weather has taken a turn for the windy, cloudy, and cooler. Thank goodness! I am going to enjoy it for the next few days because next week it’s going to be back into the 90s.

• Tomorrow I’m leading a pond exploration for 23 kiddos ages 4 to 12. I foresee so much chaos!

• A friend asked some of us if an adult’s night at Vala’s would be something interesting. Oh hell yeah! My favorite place during my favorite time of the year and no kids with me. Sign me up! (I’m hosting a family campfire night there in October, but this is completely different!)

• One of my co-op supply bags has acquired multiple holes in the bottom. Duct tape to the rescue, but I’m sad. I may need to watch the website for sales and buy some new ones.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #14

Reading: After social media pressure, I started reading The Idea of You by Robinne Lee. I’m not quite sure what I think about the book so far, but I will say that it’s an easy read.

Watching: J convinced me to jump back into Star Trek: Discovery. We sped through the second half of the first season and are ready to start the second season this week.

Listening: The boys and I are embarking on a great music curriculum this year based on Music Lab: We Rock! This wee we covered Chuck Berry and Fats Domino. The boys decided that they love Fats Domino. I’m more of a Chuck Berry fan myself.

Making: I’ve been working on creating academic co-op lessons for the civics course I’m teaching. I’ve got about half of them done completely. The rest have basic outlines and brainstormed ideas.

Feeling: We finished our first week of school strong. I’m feeling very accomplished with what we have done and the balance between school and activities that we created.

Planning: We’re going full force into fall with lots of social co-op activities. I’m very excited about the reopening of the Joslyn Art Museum in September. We are going to do a monthly art exploration meetup there.

Loving: Every time we go to Aldis, I have to get the kitchen sink cookies if they have any. I absolutely love them!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W1: Year 5 has begun!

What We Studied

We hit the ground running on Monday with a full week of curriculum and activities. My focus word for the year is balance. Last year, I felt like we let activities take over our life at many points throughout the year and then never really recovered. I felt very rushed and behind. I don’t want to feel that way. One thing that I pinpointed was the fact that we didn’t have a dedicated home day. Every week was different in terms of flow. This year I am reserving Mondays for home. If something amazing comes up, we will jump on it. But otherwise, we will stay home and be chill on Mondays. I like to get that big jump on our curriculum after our weekend breaks. This should help.

Music

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We started all the components on Monday and we’re really enjoying it so far. We read about half of our literature selection, analyzed a poem, learned a spelling list, covered some grammar, and wrote a sample essay. We made a ton of progress in just one week!

• Over the Moon by Natalie Lloyd

• Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg

Quentin is primarily using Blossom & Root G1 for his language arts this year. We will pull some elements from Build Your Library Level 2 and random books that we have around the house. He bean his B&R study with a unit about American tall tales. Arthur really enjoyed starting the year with those tales and I think Quentin agrees. We learned about tall tales, imagery, exaggeration, and descriptive language.

• Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss (Q reads)

• Song of the Water Boatman by Joyce Kidman (poetry)

• American Tall Tales by Mary Pope Osborne

• Thunder Rose by Jerdine Nolen

• Write Shop B

Elizabethan England

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. We covered the first lesson and did some practice. We will also be working through Evan Moor’s Financial Literacy G5 book and random math packets.

• Math in Focus Court 1 Book A

• EM Financial Literacy G5

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. He started with the lessons in 2B. I imagine that we will be slowing working through that this semester. He also stated his next logic book and did some math packets for practice and review.

• Primarily Logic

• Singapore Primary Common Core 2B

Q's ELA (Monday)

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. We started the year with the first section all about Elizabethan England. I’m very excited that his history has a ton of extras and projects associated with it. For the culture corner, he learned about Hans Holbein and anamorphosis. He even tried his hand at the technique with a drawing.

• Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• DK A Child Through Time

• Lives of Extraordinary Women by Kathleen Krull

• Frenemy in the Family by Kathleen Krull

• The Tudors: Kings, Queens, Scribes, and Ferrets by Marcia Williams

• 100 Facts You Should Know: Kings and Queens

• Mary Tudor: Bloody Mary by Gretchen Maurer

• You Wouldn’t Want to Sail in the Spanish Armada by John Malam

• You Wouldn’t Want to be Mary, Queen of Scots by Fiona Macdonald

• Corpse Talk: Groundbreaking Rebels by Adam & Lisa Murphy

• What was Queen Elizabeth I?

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 supporting. We started with the first chapter about Islamic Innovations.

• History Quest Middle Times

• DK When on Earth?

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• DK A Child Through Time

• About Time: A First Look at Time and Clocks by Bruce Koschielniak

• Mosque by David Macaulay

A's ELA

Science

Arthur is using RSO Biology 1 this year has the main science text. We did cover the first lesson this week, but our coverage will be spotty until October. Our academic coop will also be using RSO Biology 1 as a basis for the fall semester course, so we will be just supplementing at home. We will also be doing some of Blossom & Root’s Book Seeds and various other small units in between. We did started Volume 3 of The Story of Science and will be working through that this year.

• RSO Biology 1

• Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim

• Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes by Nicola Davies

• The Universe in You: A Microscopic Journey by Jason Chin

• The Three Little Tardigrades by Sandra Fay

Quentin is using RSO Earth & Environment and RSO Astronomy 1 as a base. Of course, we have a ton of extra science resources laying around the house. And I will be hosting some one-off science exploration days that align with the units. For our first week, we didn’t have any formal science.

• None

Q's History

Q's Math and ELA

Enrichment STEAM Co-op

Enrichment co-op has shifted from warm months only (April to October). We are in the middle of our transitionary “Summer Session.” This week both Arthur and Quentin’s class covered engineering by talking about gravity and building egg drop units. It was nice to get back to co-op after two weeks away while traveling.

A's Science

A's ELA and Math

Art and Music

Art will be very sporadic this year, but we do have some fun excursions planned. (The Joslyn Art Museum is reopening in September after being closed for two years!) And I incorporate art projects into a lot of other subjects and unit studies.

For music, we are using Music Lab: We Rock! as our spine. Each week we will be learning about a different rock musician and focus on a particular song. I have also created Spotify playlists so we can listen on the go. For the first week, we covered Elvis Presley. The boys likes the rhythm and beat of the music, but not so much Elvis as a singer.

• Music Lab: We Rock!

• DK Music and How it Works

• DK The Arts

• Elvis: The Story of the Rock and Roll King by Bonnie Christensen

• Elvis is King by Jonah Winter

A's ELA and Science

Q's ELA and Math

Field Trip/Activities

On Monday, Arthur had a dentist appointment to take care of a baby tooth that wouldn’t come out. Not fun, but necessary appointment.

Wednesday we were supposed to have a splash pad birthday party for a friend, but weather cancelled it. We did get to have Pokemon club that afternoon.

Thursday after co-op will always be errands and/or extra activities. This week we used out Get Out pass with friends to visit Papio Fun Park. Quentin is finally tall enough to drive the go-karts by himself. The boys enjoyed go-karts and laser tag while there. We stayed for almost five hours!

Friday morning we had our biweekly nature walk. This time one other friend joined us at Fontennelle Forest for a “board hike” as our friend called it. A hike on the boardwalk. We also ran into two other families that we knew. They were there for a blood drive.

High

Despite coming off of traveling the week before, we accomplished a ton for our first week. I always like to dive straight in and see what happens. We covered almost everything I had on the schedule and spent a ton of time with friends and outside in nature. I’d say that we had a great first week!

Q's roly poly friend

Low

The changing weather interrupted our plans for one last water park day. Oh well. We did spent a ton of time in pools this summer.

Tree at Fontenelle - most likely broke and twisted in the last storm

Next Week

• Finishing his read aloud (A)

• Starting Fortunately, the Milk (Q)

• Learning about the Spanish Empire (A) and Byzantine Empire (Q)

• Listening to Chuck Berry and Fats Domino

• Exploring ponds and hydrology

• Covering engineering for co-op

• Celebrating the year at the homeschool picnic

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - Lainey Wilson "Out of Oklahoma"

Not usually a huge fan of country, but I do love Lainey Wilson’s sound. Very old-school country.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

Title: A Study in Drowning

Author: Ava Reid

Publisher: HarperTeen 2023

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 378

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - About finding identity; Library Love

Where I Got It: Library

Effy Sayre has always believed in fairy tales. Haunted by visions of the Fairy King since childhood, she’s had no choice. Her tattered copy of Angharad—Emrys Myrddin’s epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King, then destroys him—is the only thing keeping her afloat. So when Myrddin’s family announces a contest to redesign the late author’s estate, Effy feels certain it’s her destiny.

But musty, decrepit Hiraeth Manor is an impossible task, and its residents are far from welcoming. Including Preston Héloury, a stodgy young literature scholar determined to expose Myrddin as a fraud. As the two rivals piece together clues about Myrddin’s legacy, dark forces, both mortal and magical, conspire against them—and the truth may bring them both to ruin.

Make no mistake, this is a very slow-moving atmospheric gothic novel featuring characters that annoyed me at times. But the underlying mystery kept me moving through to the end. And I ultimately enjoyed this novel. Effy can be very obtuse and so very young at many points through this story. I realize that this is young adult and so I gave her a pass. I did want to see Effy grow and stand up to those around her. I wanted to see her take control of her life. Thankfully she does that, even though there are many obstacles in her way. I loved the setting and the underlying magic system that runs throughout the story. I could feel the damp and the cold while reading. Just how I like my atmospheric novels. My only real issue with this book was the romance with Preston. It felt a bit forced and very very immature. I would have liked to see those two create a great academic collaboration and friendship. But this is YA fantasy, we have to have romance involved somehow. Not my favorite part.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Four Lost Cities by Annalee Newitz

Title: Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age

Author: Annalee Newitz

Publisher: WW Norton 2021

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 320

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Nonfiction Reader

Where I Got It: Afterword in Kansas City June 2024

In Four Lost Cities, acclaimed science journalist Annalee Newitz takes readers on an entertaining and mind-bending adventure into the deep history of urban life. Investigating across the centuries and around the world, Newitz explores the rise and fall of four ancient cities, each the center of a sophisticated civilization: the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük in Central Turkey, the Roman vacation town of Pompeii on Italy’s southern coast, the medieval megacity of Angkor in Cambodia, and the indigenous metropolis Cahokia, which stood beside the Mississippi River where East St. Louis is today.

Newitz travels to all four sites and investigates the cutting-edge research in archaeology, revealing the mix of environmental changes and political turmoil that doomed these ancient settlements. Tracing the early development of urban planning, Newitz also introduces us to the often anonymous workers—slaves, women, immigrants, and manual laborers—who built these cities and created monuments that lasted millennia.

Four Lost Cities is a journey into the forgotten past, but, foreseeing a future in which the majority of people on Earth will be living in cities, it may also reveal something of our own fate.

Usually history books annoy me as they are so incredibly surface level. I get bored as I know the surface level facts about a ton of history. Thankfully, this one was focused enough to deep dive into four “lost” cities highlighting a ton of new information and discoveries. We get sections on Angkor War, Catalhoyuk, Cahokia, and Pompeii. I found each section to be very interesting and full of information that I was excited to learn. Newitz takes a much more nuanced approach to teaching about each civilization. The author focuses on a different aspect of the civilization. I was extra fascinated by the section on Cahokia. The shift in understanding from trade center to center for religious and spiritual gatherings was eye opening for me. I took my time through this book, but enjoyed every page of it.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• Back to leading co-op. It went well today, but my goodness, it was humid.

• I’m a bit out of sorts today we we we out of the house from 9am to 6pm. That’s a long day away for us.

• Looking forward to our walk in the woods tomorrow morning.

• Longing for fall weather….

Next up on the TBR pile:

Temptation by R.L. Stine

Title: Temptation

Author: R.L. Stine

Publisher: Simon Pulse 2008

Genre: YA Horror

Pages: 407

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library

Where I Got It: Library

In this collection of three fan-favorite stories, the vampires of Sandy Hollow crave the summer months. Summer means plenty of beach tourists…and plenty of fresh blood after months of deprivation. But this year the Eternal Ones have decided to spice things up with a little bet: The first to seduce a hot date of the human variety, and then turn him into a fellow creature of the night, wins.
The catch? In order to successfully turn their prey, they must take only three small sips of blood on three different nights. If they take too much blood on any night, the human will die and the bet will be lost.
The setup sounds simple enough, but things quickly get complicated—especially since each vampire is just dying to quench her thirst...

I saw this book featured on an episode of The Big Door Prize and of course I had to grab it. I knew that it was going to be some cheesy young adult vampire stories. It did deliver on that. But I must say that it also didn’t have enough at all. The dialogue was terrible and kept pulling me out of the story. It really felt that these teenagers were living int he 70s, not now. I wanted to see a bit more modern language and interactions. This book was good for just some silly stories.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Ruthless Redemption by Katee Robert

Title: Ruthless Redemption (previously published as The Bastard’s Bargain) (The O’Malleys #6)

Author: Katee Robert

Publisher: Forever 2018

Genre: Romance

Pages: 352

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: None

Where I Got It: Library ebook

Spice Rating: 5

Married to the enemy.

When Keira O'Malley was a child, she used to picture her perfect wedding. The flowers. The dress. Her husband. But nothing could have prepared her for saying "I do" to Dmitri Romanov-cold, domineering, and always one step ahead of everyone else in the ever-shifting power plays of New York City. She agreed to his bargain to secure peace for her family, and she may want the bastard more than she'd ever admit, but she'll be damned if she'll make this marriage easy for him.

Dmitri knows better than to underestimate Keira for one second. Molten desire smolders between them, a dangerous addiction neither can resist. But his enemies are already on the move, and he needs every ounce of his legendary focus and control to keep them alive. Keira could just be his secret weapon-if she doesn't bring him to his knees first.

We finally get to really meet Dmitri! This was the perfect story to end the series. Once again, I was completely taken in by the MMC and his entire backstory. I really wanted him to find somebody to connect with and develop a relationship. I loved seeing Dmitri in his element and navigating the treacherous waters of his business. I loved how the Romanovs finally made peace with the O’Malleys. What I did love was Keira. She was just so so young. I wanted to see her have more identity and agency before she was married to Dmitri. Not a fan of the age and experience gap. Still a solid book to finish off the series.

The O’Malleys

• #1 The Marriage Contract / Dark Succession

• #2 The Wedding Pact / Heated Rivals

• #3 An Indecent Proposal / Twisted Secrets

• #4 Forbidden Promises / Beautiful Vengeance

• #5 Undercover Attraction / Lovely Corruption

• #6 The Bastard’s Bargain / Ruthless Redemption

Next up on the TBR pile: