April 2024 Wrap-up

April TBR Pile (19/21):

1. Bookworms BC: The Housemaid by Freida McFadden ✓

2. Friend BC: Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave ✓

3. Friend BC: The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon ✓

4. Nerdy Bookish Friends BC: NONE

5. Kid Read Aloud: Amari and the Night Brothers by BB Alston ✓

6. Kid Read Aloud: Men at Arms by Terry Prachett ✓

7. Kid Read Aloud: Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White ✓

8. Kid Read Aloud: Much Ado About Baseball by Rajani LaRocca

9. Kid Book Club: Nim’s Island by Wendy Orr ✓

10. Fantasy: A Tale Dark and Grim by Adam Gidwitz ✓

11. Fantasy: The Eye of the Bedlam Bride by Matt Dinniman ✓

12. Horror: The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White ✓

13. Horror: Empty Smiles by Katherine Arden ✓

14. Horror: Winterset Hollow by Jonathan Edward Durham ✓

15. Comics: Lore Olympus Vol. 5 ✓

16. Romance: To Taste Temptation by Elizabeth Hoyt ✓

17. Romance: The Takeover by TL Swan ✓

18. Romance: To Seduce a Sinner by Elizabeth Hoyt ✓

19. SciFi: Three Eight One by Aliya Whiteley ✓

20. SciFi: The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler ✓

21. Nonfiction: The Brave Learner by Julie Bogart ✓

1,000,000 Page Goal:

Monthly Total: 6360 pages
Pages Remaining: 242,952 pages

Current Read - Unmasking Autism by Devon Price: To Beguile a Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt

Books I Gave Up On (0)

Books Bought/Received (2): I grabbed two selections from Book of the Month, Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez and A Short Walk Through a Wild World by Douglas Westerbeke.

UnRead Shelf Progress

• Starting Number: 330

• Books Read: 3

• Books Acquired: 2

• Books Unshelved: 0

• Finishing Number: 229

May TBR Pile: Starting with a small TBR for this coming month. I’m certain it will explode soon…

1. Bookworms BC: Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

2. Friend BC: The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger

3. Nerdy Bookish Friends BC: The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders

4. Kid Read Aloud: Much Ado About Baseball by Rajani LaRocca

5. Kid Read Aloud: Homer Price by Robert McCloskey

6. Kid Book Club: We Dream of Space by Erin Estrada Kelly

7. Fantasy: A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall

8. Romance: To Beguile a Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt

9. Nonfiction: Unmasking Autism by Devon Price

Movies Watched

• Steve! (Martin)

• How I Became a Superheo

• Baby Assasins 2

• Hundreds of Beavers

• Dune Part 2

TV Shows Watched

• Shögun

• Below Deck

• A Gentleman in Moscow

• Loot S2

• Twisted Metal S1

• Fallout S1

• The Great Pottery Throw Down S2

• Dinner with the Parents S1

• Dead Boy Detectives S1

Comments - A slightly slower reading month like I predicted. With all the school activities and home chores, my reading was going to slow down no matter what I did. But I still have a very strong reading month. We also watched a few good movies/documentaries and started some new television series. Great month overall!

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Eye of the Bedlam Bride by Matt Dinniman

Title: The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Dungeon Crawler Carl #6)

Author: Matt Dinniman

Publisher: Dandy House 2023

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 694

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

A pantheon of forgotten gods. An old grudge between a talk show host, an heiress, and the man they shattered along the way. A rapidly deteriorating AI system. An inconvenient tiara upon the head of a friend.

It is bedlam on the eighth floor.

As management reels from the unexpected conclusion of the seventh level, the surviving crawlers stumble onto the eighth and find themselves scattered. It’s a map based on Earth’s final days before the collapse, where ethereal, intangible ghosts of humanity go about their lives, oblivious of the impending doom. Living amongst these ghosts are monsters based in Earth lore. “Legendary” creatures tied to the geographical location they inhabit.

Each team of crawlers is given a task: find and capture six of these beasts. The captured monsters will be turned into cards. Cards that can be summoned into battle again and again. The stronger, the deadlier, the better.

At the end of the floor, the bad guys will also have decks, and they will have some of the most powerful cards available. So it’s crucial to assemble the toughest squad possible.

But, like always, there is a catch. There’s always a catch.

As Carl and Donut know all too well, just because someone is captured, it doesn’t mean they have been tamed.

Her name is Shi Maria. She’s easily the most powerful monster in their area. If they want to survive, they must capture her. But she is no ordinary beast. She’s intelligent. She was once married to a god, a god who is now missing. Her special attack is known to drive one insane. They call her the Bedlam Bride.

“Beware, beware. Beware the Eye of the Bedlam Bride”

Holy cow! I knew this one was going to knock me back and it certainly did. We see Carl, Donut, and all our favorite crawlers navigate the very puzzle laden 8th floor. After the events at the end of the last floor, I was hoping for a bit of a quiet moment. No such luck. We jump into this floor and don’t stop until the end. My favorite part is always the crazy plans that Carl comes up with. This book highlighted some of his crazier plans. Loved it so much! I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Dungeon Crawler Carl

• #1 Dungeon Crawler Carl

• #2 Carl’s Doomsday Scenario

• #3 The Dungeon' Anarchist’s Cookbook

• #4 The Gate of the Feral Gods

• #5 The Butcher’s Masquerade

• #6 The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

Next up on the TBR pile:

To Seduce a Sinner by Elizabeth Hoyt

Title: To Seduce a Sinner (Legend of the Four Soldiers #2)

Author: Elizabeth Hoyt

Publisher: Forever 2008

Genre: Historical Romance

Pages: 359

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf Project

Spice Rating: 5

THE ONE THING HE CANNOT REVEAL

For years, Melisande Fleming has loved Lord Vale from afar . . . watching him seduce a succession of lovers, and once catching a glimpse of heartbreaking depths beneath his roguish veneer. When he's jilted on his wedding day, she boldly offers to be his.

TO THE ONE WOMAN HE MOST DESIRES

Vale gladly weds Melisande, if only to produce an heir. But he's pleasantly surprised: A shy and proper Lady by day, she's a wanton at night, giving him her body-though not her heart.

IS HIS DEEPEST NEED . . .

Determined to learn her secrets, this sinner starts to woo his seductive new wife-while hiding the nightmares from his soldiering days in the Colonies that still haunt him. Yet when a deadly betrayal from the past threatens to tear them apart, Lord Vale must bare his soul to the woman he married . . . or risk losing her forever.

I actually enjoyed this volume much more than the first one in the series. I think I really latched onto Melisandre and her entire plan for life. While being hesitant in many areas of her life, she makes a plan and started to initiate it. We see her pursue her dreams and her husband in equal fashion. I loved seeing a much more confident heroine to balance out our rake hero. While I wasn’t very excited about Jasper in the first book, he really shines here. While not every action is laudable, by the end of the book we really understand him and his actions. There’s a great romance at the heart of this book. But we also get more pieces to the mystery of what happened at Spinner’s Falls. I’m still very into this series and wanting to learn more. I’m extra excited to read Helen and Allistair’s story in the next book.

Legend of the Four Soldiers

• #1 To Taste Temptation

• #2 To Seduce a Sinner

• #3 To Beguile a Beast

• #4 To Desire a Devil

Next up on the TBR pile:

Witnerset Hollow by Jonathan Edward Durham

Title: Winterset Hollow

Author: Jonathan Edward Durham

Publisher: Credo House 2021

Genre: Horror

Pages: 274

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: In Case You Missed It - 2021; Library Love

Everyone has wanted their favorite book to be real, if only for a moment. Everyone has wished to meet their favorite characters, if only for a day. But be careful in that wish, for even a history laid in ink can be repaid in flesh and blood, and reality is far deadlier than fiction . . . especially on Addington Isle.

Winterset Hollow follows a group of friends to the place that inspired their favorite book—a timeless tale about a tribe of animals preparing for their yearly end-of-summer festival. But after a series of shocking discoveries, they find that much of what the world believes to be fiction is actually fact, and that the truth behind their beloved story is darker and more dangerous than they ever imagined. It’s Barley Day . . . and you’re invited to the hunt.

Winterset Hollow is as thrilling as it is terrifying and as smart as it is surprising. A uniquely original story filled with properly unexpected twists and turns, Winterset Hollow delivers complex, indelible characters and pulse- pounding action as it storms toward an unforgettable climax that will leave you reeling. How do you celebrate Barley Day? You run, friend. You run.

Someone (I truly cannot remember who now) said that this was one of the scariest books that they have ever read. Of course, I had to pick this one up and read it immediately. While the book doesn’t live up to the hype, I still enjoyed this horror novel. I got a lot of reminders of The Magicians and Narnia with a splash of The Wind in the Willows and Watership Down. Once the second part started, I knew exactly what was going to happen in the storyline, but I was still interested in reading the rest of the novel. We follow our main trio as they explore a childhood inspiration from a favorite book. Of course, things are not all that they seem. We know that things are much more dire and dangerous than should be. Once the story truly gets going, it doesn’t let up until the end. Fascinating look at the nature of humanity and conquest. A solid horror book to pick up.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Takeover by TL Swan

Title: The Takeover (Miles High Club #2)

Author: TL Swan

Publisher: Montlake 2020

Genre: Romance

Pages: 450

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: She Reads Romance - Cute Nicknames; Lifetime - Characters in Their 30s

Spice Rating: 5

I first met Tristan Miles at a meeting where he was trying to take over my late husband’s company. He was powerful, arrogant, and infuriatingly gorgeous, and I hated him with every cell in my body. In the shock of the century, he called me three days later and asked me on a date. I would rather die than date a man like him—though I do have to admit it was good for the ego. Turning him down was the highlight of my year. Six months later, he was the guest speaker at a conference I attended in France. Still arrogant and infuriating—but this time, surprisingly charming and witty. When he looked at me, I got butterflies. But I can’t go there. He’s just a player in a hot suit, and I’m just a widow with three unruly sons. I just need this conference to be over. Because everybody knows that Tristan Miles always gets what he wants…and what he wants is me.

Somehow I keep falling back into the contemporary romance genre as my comfort reads. I get pulled into the drama and the intrigue but end up being able to just put it to the side when I’m done. For this one, I wasn’t a fan of the first book in the series, but this one was much better. I really really loved Tristan. He’s so incredibly great. And while I know that Claire had her issues, I couldn’t understand most of her life. I did want her to gain a bit more confidence when it came to tackling her children. Thankfully Tristan was the perfect compliment to her brand of chaos. I think that I’m back into this series.

Miles High Club

• #1 The Stopover

• #2 The Takeover

• #3 The Casanova

• #4 The Do-Over

• #5 Miles Ever After

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W29: Rain Rain Go Away

What We Studied

We had a week of schedule changes and weather issues. We rescheduled the park playdate for the next day. Unfortunately coop could not be rescheduled and we had to cancel. Hopefully the weather will cooperate next week.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur started reading a modern book playing off of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. We finished the first Reading Explorer book which focuses on reading comprehension. We’ll hold off book two for next August. He also continued his Super Secret Notebook from Blossom & Root.

• My America poem collection

• Reading Explorer 1

• Much Ado About Baseball by Rajani LaRocca

Quentin finished his read aloud. He also worked on his reading and comprehension skills.

• Sing a Song of Seasons

• Charlotte’s Web by EB White

Math

Arthur moved into a unit about angles. We will definitely be finishing 5B by the end of this “school year.”

• Singapore Common Core 5B

• Orbiting with Logic

Quentin finished his volume of Singapore Math with more about multiplication and division and a review. We’ll be switched gears to a financial literacy unit.

• Singapore Common Core 2A

Social Studies

Arthur continued with the Cold War Era by moving into the 1960s. We covered Kennedy’s administration and broached Civil Rights.

• DK American History

• We were There Too! Young People in US History

• Words that Build a Nation

• Heart and Soul

• Nat Geo Our Country’s Presidents

• An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States

• A Different Mirror for Young People

• This is Our Land: A History of American Immigration

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK History

• A Time to Act: John F. Kennedy's Big Speech by Shana Corey

Quentin covered the chapter about the Byzantine Empire. We’re so close to finishing this year’s history curriculum.

• History Quest Early Times

• DK When on Earth?

• Human Wold

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK A Child Through Time

• A History of Western Art

• DK Science Year by Year

• DK Myths, Legends, and Sacred Stories

• Find the Journeys Around the World by David Long

• Ancient Worlds

• A Journey Through Art by Aaron Rosen

• DK Eyewitness Wonders of the World

Science

We had a break week from chemistry class. Only three more Chemistry weeks to go for the year! We made sure to read more chapters in our Story of Science book.

• RSO Chemistry

• DK Super Simple Chemistry

• Story of Science Vol. 2: Newton at the Center by Joy Hakim

• DK The Elements

Quentin continued the Plant Kingdom section of his curriculum. We talked about leaves.

• RSO Life

• DK Trees, Leaves, Flowers & Seeds

• What Do Roots, Stems, Leaves, and Flowers Do? by Ruth Owen

• From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons

• Plants on the Move by Emilie Vast

• Before We Stood Tall by Jessica Kulekjian

• Seeds and Trees by Brandon Walden

• What Kinds of Seeds are These? by Heidi Bee Roemer

• Little Dandelion Seeds the World by Julia Richardson

• Every Little Seed by Cynthia Schumerth

STEAM Coop

Coop was cancelled due to the weather

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

We snuck in a mini lesson about cutouts and learned about the compositions about Franz Schubert. And we slipped in some documentaries. Quentin watched one about the Hagia Sophia to go with our history chapter about the Byzantine Empire.

• DK Music and How it Works

• DK The Arts

• DK Art and How It Works

• Modern Art Adventures by Maja Pitamic and Jill Laidlaw

• 13 American Artists Children Should Know

• A Child's Introduction to Art

• Women in Art by Rachel Ignotofsky

• Iconic Composers by Nicholas Csicsko & Emi Ferguson

• 13 Art Movements Children Should Know

• 13 Artists Children Should Know

• 13 Modern Artists Children Should Know

• The Story of Paintings by Mick Manning & Brita Granström

• Why is Art Full of Naked People? by Susie Hodge

Field Trip

With coop being cancelled, I grabbed a library pass for the Durham Museum. We really wanted to visit the Toytopia exhibit. The boys had fun playing all the classic games.

High

Thankfully our park playdate was able to rescheduled to the next door. The boys needed some running time with friends. And I need to just relax a bit.

Low

My body was very angry and created some issues for me. I am thankful for the flexibility of homeschooling to work around these issues.

Next Week

• Stating a new read aloud for Quentin

• Reading a Shakespeare-inspired story for Arthur

• Moving through the Civil Rights Movement

• Continuing learned about angles

• Switching to a financial literacy unit

• Covering more chapters in the Story of Science

• Learning more about the Arabian Peninsula

• Exploring more parts of the plant kingdom

• Bringing back some art and music

Next up on the TBR pile:

Life Right Now #11

On my bedside table: Winterset Hollow by Jonathan Edward Durham; Unmasking Autism by Devon Price

On my tv this week: J and I started multiple new series for us. We have been loving Dinner with the Parents, Fallout, and Twisted Metal.

Listening to: Slowly, slowly working my way through the 6th book of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I still have like 6 hours left, but considering that it was 24 hours, I’ve made a ton of progress.

On the menu for this week:

• Monday - Mongolian Beef

• Tuesday - Chicken and Corn Soup

• Wednesday - Lemon Butter Shrimp and Asparagus

• Thursday - Honey and Lime Jalapeño Chicken

• Friday - Out

• Saturday - Out

• Sunday - Out

Happening this week:

• Monday - Chemistry Class

• Tuesday - Morrill Hall and Lincoln Day

• Wednesday - The Brave Learner Discussion

• Thursday - Coop

• Friday - Trip to Ashfall Fossil Beds

• Saturday - Niobrara State Park

• Sunday - Yankton and Sioux City; Travel to home

What I am creating: I’m hoping to finish my March Memory Planner today along with the rest of the retreat crafts.

From the camera: Lots of cleaning to do today.

The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler

Title: The Tusks of Extinction

Author: Ray Nayler

Publisher: Tordotcom 2024

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 101

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Women in STEM; Library Love

Moscow has resurrected the mammoth. But someone must teach them how to be mammoths, or they are doomed to die out again.

Dr. Damira Khismatullina, an expert in elephant behavior, was brutally murdered trying to defend the world's last elephants from the brutal ivory trade. Now, her digitized consciousness has been downloaded into the mind of a mammoth.

As the herd's new matriarch, can Damira help fend off poachers long enough for the species to take hold? Or will her own ghosts, and Moscow's real reason for bringing the mammoth back, doom them to a new extinction?

"We come from our own pasts. We rise up out of our memories, and once there are enough of those memories to stand upon, we move forward with their support beneath us, drawn toward the future they allow us to conceive. We are continually shaped by our past, and we continually reshape it.” pg. 80

A beautiful heart wrenching story of loss and identity. We get the human side of the story featuring an activist desperately trying to save the elephants and a young man desperately trying to save himself. And we get the mammoth story about learning to survive in a new world and time. I absolutely love how Nayler takes an issue and illustrates it through science fictions settings. We get fantastical premises, but at the heart of his story is a struggle that everyone can relate to. So many times I was stopped by the beautiful prose and stunning revelations. I found myself rooting for the mammoths and humanity throughout the story. It’s short, very short, but it packs a punch. Nayler is most definitely going on my must read author list.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Three Eight One by Aliya Whiteley

Title: Three Eight One

Author: Aliya Whiteley

Publisher: Solaris 2024

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 269

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Has futuristic technology; Clock

In January 2314, Rowena Savalas – a curator of the vast archive of the twenty-first century’s primitive internet – stumbles upon a story posted in the summer of 2024. She’s quickly drawn into the mystery of the text: Is it autobiography, fantasy or fraud? What’s the significance of the recurring number 381?

In the story, the protagonist Fairly walks the Horned Road – a quest undertaken by youngsters in her village when they come of age. She is followed by the “breathing man,” a looming presence, dogging her heels every step of the way. Everything she was taught about her world is overturned.

Following Fairly’s quest, Rowena comes to question her own choices, and a predictable life of curation becomes one of exploration, adventure and love. As both women’s stories draw to a close, she realises it doesn’t matter whether the story is true or not: as with the quest itself, it’s the journey that matters.

A bit of a random find at the library. Someone had recommended it for people who were interested in strange speculative fiction with a focus on storytelling. Of course I grabbed it off the new release shelf. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite live up to the premise. I was very interested in the story within the story. I wanted to tease out the meaning of Fairly’s story alongside Rowena. As the story starts spiraling, it felt like it just started to get more and more confused instead of revealing. By the end of the book, I didn’t have any revelations or insights into the nature of humans. Not my favorite.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• After going on a big side quest, my office is so clean and pretty! You can actually walk all around without stepping over things.

• I started buying the nonperishables for the retreat. Aldi’s had a great deal on some dried fruit and I had to take advantage.

• Speaking of, I need to make a grocery list for our Ashfall trip next week. I’m in charge of part of our charcuterie board night and my family’s breakfast and lunch.

• Diving into a horror book this week and loving it. Just what I needed!

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

Title: The Frozen River

Author: Ariel Lawhon

Publisher: Doubleday 2023

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 432

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Character-Driven Novel; Lifetime - Character in Their 50s

Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen—one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own.

Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie.

Loved loved loved this reimagining of Martha Ballard’s story. (After reading, you must read the author’s note where she details the places she took liberties and changed history.) I often don’t love when authors take a real story and change things to make an exciting book. In Lawhon’s case, I always buy her story. She stays true to the real life characters and their imagined motivations. I completely bought this story. In looking at the story itself, we get a fascinating look at the intricacies of life in early America along with gender politics and business. I loved seeing Martha navigate her world with precision but also passion. I loved seeing her support the women of her village while holding various people accountable for their bad deeds. I felt her heartbreak at misfortunes and bad actions. I felt her joy. Lawhon is most definitely one of my go to writers.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W28: We Took It Easy

What We Studied

We ended up taking it a bit easy this week. My body was in a lot of pain, so I eased off our workload. Instead, we spent more time with some easy activities.

Q’s ELA and Math

A’s ELA and Math

Literature and Poetry

Arthur covered another of Shakespeare’s play. We are continuing with a light study of the actual play with focus on the story and a good short experience with the language of the 17th century. We continued the first Reading Explorer book which focuses on reading comprehension. He also continued his Super Secret Notebook from Blossom & Root.

• My America poem collection

• Reading Explorer 1

• Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare

Quentin started the next read aloud. He also worked on his reading and comprehension skills.

• Sing a Song of Seasons

• Charlotte’s Web by EB White

Q’s History Unit

Q’s Science Unit

Math

Arthur moved into looking at averages, line graphs, and plotting. We will definitely be finishing 5B by the end of this “school year.”

• Singapore Common Core 5B

• Orbiting with Logic

Quentin got back into Singapore with a unit on multiplication and division concepts. He then started on 2 and 3s.

• Singapore Common Core 2A

Another park explored

Social Studies

Arthur stared on the Cold War with a large scale overview. We then moved onto the politics and Korean War.

• DK American History

• We were There Too! Young People in US History

• Words that Build a Nation

• Heart and Soul

• Nat Geo Our Country’s Presidents

• An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States

• A Different Mirror for Young People

• This is Our Land: A History of American Immigration

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK History

• Dwight D. Eisenhower by Mirella S. Miller

• The Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi

• The Korean War by Andrew Santella

Quentin covered the second chapter about Ancient China. And we even watched a documentary. We’re still moving through our Ancient Times curriculum.

• History Quest Early Times

• DK When on Earth?

• Human Wold

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK A Child Through Time

• A History of Western Art

• DK Science Year by Year

• DK Myths, Legends, and Sacred Stories

• Find the Journeys Around the World by David Long

• Ancient Worlds

• A Journey Through Art by Aaron Rosen

• Ancient China by Dale Anderson

• D is for Dragon Dance by Ying Chang Compestine

• 20 Fun Facts About the Great Wall of China by Therese Shea

• Great Wall of China by Kristine Spanier

• DK Eyewitness Wonders of the World

Science

We had a break week from chemistry class. Only three more Chemistry weeks to go for the year! We made sure to read more chapters in our Story of Science book.

• RSO Chemistry

• DK Super Simple Chemistry

• Story of Science Vol. 2: Newton at the Center by Joy Hakim

• DK The Elements

Quentin continued the Plant Kingdom section of his curriculum. We talked about seeds.

• RSO Life

• DK Trees, Leaves, Flowers & Seeds

• A Seed Grows by Antoinette Portis

• Seeds and Fruit by Melanie Waldron

• Seeds We Eat by Katherine Rawson

• Seeds by John Wood

• Seeds by Carme Lemniscates

• A Seed is the Start by Melissa Stewart

• Seeds Move by Robin Page

• Seeds by Grace Hansen

• The Journey of Seeds by Soo-bok Choi

• Sprout, Seed Sprout! by Annika Dunklee

• A Seed in Need by Sam Godwin

• Spring is Here! A Story About Seeds by Joan Holub

STEAM Coop

We had coop outdoors. Unfortunately the wind was incredibly high. It made things a bit complicated. Oh well, we survived. Arthur and Quentin both covered conservation.

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

No formal music or art this week. But we did slip in some documentaries. Arthur watched on about D-Day and underwater archaeology. Quentin watched one about Ancient Chinese chariots.

• DK Music and How it Works

• DK The Arts

• DK Art and How It Works

• Modern Art Adventures by Maja Pitamic and Jill Laidlaw

• 13 American Artists Children Should Know

• A Child's Introduction to Art

• Women in Art by Rachel Ignotofsky

• Iconic Composers by Nicholas Csicsko & Emi Ferguson

• 13 Art Movements Children Should Know

• 13 Artists Children Should Know

• 13 Modern Artists Children Should Know

• The Story of Paintings by Mick Manning & Brita Granström

• Why is Art Full of Naked People? by Susie Hodge

Field Trip

We took Wednesday off to hit up a park for the Omaha Parks Challenge. We spent some time there with friends. Afterwards, we moved over the Omaha Children’s Museum to use one of our GetOut Passes. The kids enjoyed their time, but I was reminded why we don’t go there often. I was very overstimulated by the time we left. We also got in a nature walk on Friday morning with some friends that we haven’t seen for awhile.

Moping (I think) and the newest baby elephant Hondo

Elephant baby backsides: Eugenia, Hondo, and Moping (I think)

High

After coop on Thursday, I didn’t feel like going home and doing schoolwork. So we decided to go to the zoo. I finally got to see the new baby elephant! We also visited the jungle, aquarium, and kingdoms of the night.

Low

My body was very angry and created some issues for me. I am thankful for the flexibility of homeschooling to work around these issues.

Next Week

• Continue Quentin’s read aloud

• Reading a Shakespeare-inspired story for Arthur

• Moving through the early Cold War years

• Continuing our math units

• Covering more chapters in the Story of Science

• Learning more about the Byzantine Empire

• Exploring more parts of the plant kingdom

• Bringing back some art and music

Heron Haven exploration

Next up on the TBR pile:

Life Right Now #10

Right now I am: Prepping for brunch. I’m think about making Pecan Pie Pound Cake with eggs and bacon.

On my bedside table: The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler; Die Vol. 1 by Kieron Gillen

On my tv this week: We started a few currently airing shows including Twisted Metal, Fallout, and A Gentleman in Moscow.

Listening to: I’ve been listening to the sixth Dungeon Crawler Carl book and various podcasts that I enjoy.

On the menu for this week:

• Monday - Honey Lime Jalapeño Chicken

• Tuesday - Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Grilled Cheese

• Wednesday - Blackened Salmon

• Thursday - Out at Chinese Buffet

• Friday - BBQ Cheddar Meatloaf

• Saturday - Avocado, Bruschetta Chicken

• Sunday - Mongolian Beef

On my to do list: I need to redo my big to-do list and get all the tasks out my head and on paper. My bees have been a bit agitated this week. I think a brain dump is really in order.

Happening this week:

• Monday - Home Day

• Tuesday - Park Playdate (if it doesn’t rain)

• Wednesday - Home Day

• Thursday - Coop; Durham Museum Visit

• Friday - Urban Farm Field Trip; Earth Day Celebration

• Saturday - Friends’ Birthday Party

• Sunday - Breakfast Club

What I am creating: I’m hoping to get my Memory Planner today… But first, I need to finish cleaning.

My simple pleasures: Gummy bears, clean floors, iced tea

Looking around the house: I wanted to start working on my March Memory Planner, but got very distracted by the state of my office. And so instead, I decided to completely clean out my office. It turned into a very large job, but I’m so glad that I at least started it yesterday. My angry bees have calmed.

From the camera: I spent some time crafting yesterday. Finished the retreat name tags. They are so pretty!

Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave

Title: Everyone Brave is Forgiven

Author: Chris Cleave

Publisher: Simon & Schuster 2016

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 418

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Decades - 1940s; In Case You Missed It - 2016

London, 1939. The day war is declared, Mary North leaves finishing school unfinished, goes straight to the War Office, and signs up. Tom Shaw decides to ignore the war—until he learns his roommate Alistair Heath has unexpectedly enlisted. Then the conflict can no longer be avoided. Young, bright, and brave, Mary is certain she’d be a marvelous spy. When she is—bewilderingly—made a teacher, she finds herself defying prejudice to protect the children her country would rather forget. Tom, meanwhile, finds that he will do anything for Mary.

And when Mary and Alistair meet, it is love, as well as war, that will test them in ways they could not have imagined, entangling three lives in violence and passion, friendship, and deception, inexorably shaping their hopes and dreams. The three are drawn into a tragic love triangle and—as war escalates and bombs begin falling—further into a grim world of survival and desperation.

Set in London during the years of 1939–1942, when citizens had slim hope of survival, much less victory; and on the strategic island of Malta, which was daily devastated by the Axis barrage, Everyone Brave is Forgiven features little-known history and a perfect wartime love story inspired by the real-life love letters between Chris Cleave’s grandparents. This dazzling novel dares us to understand that, against the great theater of world events, it is the intimate losses, the small battles, the daily human triumphs that change us most.

A book club selection this month. I was pulled in by the summary. It’s been awhile since I have read a good World War II novel and I had hoped that this would be it. Unfortunately, this one really missed the mark. As a point of mark, the writing style is just not that good. It’s weird and choppy with terrible dialogue. There’s an attempt at witty dialogue and sentence construction, but it just becomes much too clever and silly at times. Even when he storyline is focused on very serious events and consequences, the writing style continues. And then we turn tot he characters. I could never understand why Mary was so desirable. It was complete milquetoast to me. Tom was even worse. It was the blandest of the bland. At least Alistair had a bit of personality and metal to him. But it wasn’t enough to actually redeem the book for me. Not the book for me.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Empty Smiles by Katherine Arden

Title: Empty Smiles (Small Spaces #4)

Author: Katherine Arden

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons 2022

Genre: MG Horror

Pages: 208

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Includes a Personal Phobia (can you guess?); Library Love

It’s been three months since Ollie made a daring deal with the smiling man to save those she loved, and then vanished without a trace. The smiling man promised Coco, Brian and Phil, that they’d have a chance to save her, but as time goes by, they begin to worry that the smiling man has lied to them and Ollie is gone forever. But then a terrified and rambling boy who went missing at a nearby traveling carnival appears with a message for the trio from the mysterious man who took him: Play if you dare.

Game on! The smiling man has finally made his move. Now it’s Coco, Brian, and Phil’s turn to make theirs. And they know just where to start. The traveling carnival is coming to Evansburg.

Meanwhile, Ollie is trapped in the world behind the mist, learning the horrifying secrets of the smiling man's carnival, and trying everything to help her friends find her. Brian, Coco and Phil will risk everything to rescue Ollie—but they all soon realize this game is much more dangerous than the ones before. This time the smiling man is playing for keeps.

And the end of this fun and spooky series! I have really enjoyed the fun creepy bits here and there and this one really amped up the spook factor. I was all for the carnival setting and the return of the smiling man. Plus we get some very creepy minions. The mystery of how Olivia and friends can ge3t out of the situation was extra fun. The storyline kept moving and progressing quickly just how I liked. My biggest problem was how quickly the ending happened. We don’t get to see Brian and Coco get through the carnival to save Olivia. They just show up and everything happens super quickly. I wanted to see more. sStill, it was a great ending to the series.

Small Spaces

• #1 Small Spaces

• #2 Dead Voices

• #3 Dark Waters

• #4 Empty Smiles

Next up on the TBR pile:

To Taste Temptation by Elizabeth Hoyt

Title: To Taste Temptation (Legend of the Four Soldiers #1)

Author: Elizabeth Hoyt

Publisher: Forever 2008

Genre: Historical Romance

Pages: 362

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf Project

Spice Rating:

EVEN THE MOST REFINED LADY

Lady Emeline Gordon is the model of sophistication in London's elite social circles, always fashionable and flawlessly appropriate. As such, she is the perfect chaperone for Rebecca, the young sister of a successful Boston businessman and former Colonial soldier.

CRAVES AN UNTAMED MAN

Samuel Hartley may be wealthy, but his manners are as uncivilized as the American wilderness he was raised in. Who wears moccasins to a grand ball? His arrogant disregard for propriety infuriates Emeline, even as his boldness excites her.

TO RELEASE HER PASSION . . .

But beneath Samuel's rakish manner, he is haunted by tragedy. He has come to London to settle a score, not to fall in love. And as desperately as Emeline longs to feel this shameless man's hands upon her, to taste those same lips he uses to tease her, she must restrain herself. She is not free. But some things are beyond a lady's control . . .

I really really enjoyed Hoyt’s Maiden Lane series and was hoping that this one would also be a winner. And for the most part, I really enjoyed this book. Emeline and Samuel have great banter. I loved seeing how Samuel slide into Emeline’s life and reawakened her to joy and romance. The thing that I really appreciate about Hoyt’s books is the inclusion of a mystery or an action plot that keeps the book moving. In this one, we get an intriguing past mystery of betrayal that led to tragic consequences. I would have liked Samuel to be a bit more open about his actual intents, but he got there in the end. My biggest complaint is actually the sex scenes. Some of theme were just a little too awkward and full of dominance that I’m not really into. Still, I own most of the rest of this series and will be reading more soon.

Legend of the Four Soldiers

• #1 To Taste Temptation

• #2 To Seduce a Sinner

• #3 To Beguile a Beast

• #4 To Desire a Devil

Next up on the TBR pile:

Lore Olympus Vol. 5 by Rachel Smythe

Title: Lore Olympus Volume 5

Author: Rachel Smythe

Publisher: Del Rey 2023

Genre: Fantasy Comic

Pages: 400

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

“You want to know about The Bringer of Death.”
 
It is Persephone’s birthday, and she receives the ultimate gift: Hades confesses his desire for her, leading to their first kiss. But that doesn’t necessarily make things easier for the goddess of spring, who is still in over her head in gossip-driven Olympus. Persephone feels intense guilt over the official breakup between Hades and Minthe, she is struggling to find her footing in her fast-paced job, and—worst of all—the shades of her past are slowly coming to light.
 
After an unexpected encounter with Apollo, Persephone flees into the depths of the Underworld. Concerned for her safety and determined to find her, Hades must team up with Artemis, Eros, and Hera, but they’re working against a ticking clock. Zeus knows about the bloody secret in Persephone’s past, and now the furious king of the gods will stop at nothing to bring her to justice.
 
This edition of Smythe’s original Eisner Award–winning webcomic Lore Olympus features exclusive behind-the-scenes content and brings the Greek pantheon into the modern age in a sharply perceptive and romantic graphic novel.

I still really love this series, but it’s hitting a bit of a low point I think. The will-they-won’t-they portion is feeling a bit tired. And I’m not very happy with just how naive Persephone is. Her keeping secrets is starting to annoy me. I really want to see where this story goes, but things better get moving a bit in the next volume.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W27: Two Weeks of Relaxed Yet Productive School

A’s ELA, Math, and Science

What We Studied

This post actually contains a Flex Week and a regular week. We’re definitely getting to the point in the year when our schooling rhythm changes once again. We took advantage of some outside exploration and fun with friends. We also didn’t stress about the curriculum, but made sure that we were plugging away.

Q’s Math and ELA

A’s WWII Unit

Literature and Poetry

Arthur continued and then finished our current read aloud. I absolutely loved it. He was a much harsher critic. For this one, I bought a new-to-me ELA curriculum unit and tried it out. The unit focused on paragraph writing and analysis of text. I’m really liking it. It’s not fancy or colorful, but has worthwhile activities. I think I’m going to pick up a few more lit studies for other books we are going to read. We continued the first Reading Explorer book which focuses on reading comprehension. He also continued his Super Secret Notebook from Blossom & Root.

• My America poem collection

• Reading Explorer 1

• Amari and the Night Brothers by BB Alston

Checking out the Dinos at Lauritzen Gardens

Quentin finished two read aloud this past two weeks. We covered a bunch of short stories with Frog and Toad. I even added on some language arts activities to expand. From there, we started and finished a short read aloud. Bonus points as it’s our next coop book club selection.

• Sing a Song of Seasons

• Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel

• Days with Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel

• Frog and Toad All Year by Arnold Lobel

• Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel

• Nim’s Island by Wendy Orr

Math

Arthur moved into looking at averages, line graphs, and plotting. We will definitely be finishing 5B by the end of this “school year.”

• Singapore Common Core 5B

• Orbiting with Logic

Quentin got back into Singapore with a unit on multiplication and division concepts. He then started on 2 and 3s.

• Singapore Common Core 2A

Park Exploration - Levi Carter

Social Studies

Arthur wrapped his study of World War II. We also snuck in a documentary about The Manhattan Project. I’m super excited to get into the Cold War era this week.

• DK American History

• We were There Too! Young People in US History

• Words that Build a Nation

• Heart and Soul

• Nat Geo Our Country’s Presidents

• An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States

• A Different Mirror for Young People

• This is Our Land: A History of American Immigration

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK History

• DK Eyewitness World War II

• The US Navy in World War II by Peter Benoit

• The US Army is World War II by Peter Benoit

• Big Battles of World War II by Peter Benoit

• The Great Depression and World War II by Susan E. Hamen

• Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm

Park Exploration - Elmwood

Quentin covered the African kingdoms of Aksum and Kush. He then started his two-part unit on Ancient China. We’re still moving through our Ancient Times curriculum.

• History Quest Early Times

• DK When on Earth?

• Human Wold

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK A Child Through Time

• A History of Western Art

• DK Science Year by Year

• DK Myths, Legends, and Sacred Stories

• Find the Journeys Around the World by David Long

• Ancient Worlds

• A Journey Through Art by Aaron Rosen

• Ancient China by Dale Anderson

Q’s ELA

A’s ELA and Math

Science

I taught our chemistry lesson about acids and bases. I even created my own homemade indicator paper for the experiments. And then we had a break week. Only three more Chemistry weeks to go for the year! We made sure to read more chapters in our Story of Science book.

• RSO Chemistry

• DK Super Simple Chemistry

• Story of Science Vol. 2: Newton at the Center by Joy Hakim

• DK The Elements

Quentin started the Plant Kingdom section of his curriculum. We talked about the basics of plant life and flowers.

• RSO Life

• An ABC of Flowers by Jutta Hilpuesch

• Flowers by Gail Gibbons

• Flowers by Grace Hansen

• Flowers by Jennifer Colby

• Fantastic Flowers by Susan Stockdale

• Have You Ever Seen a Flower by Shawn Harris

• The Flower by John Light

• Bloom Boom by April Pulley Sayre

• Flowers by Elaine Pascoe

• What are Flowers by Kelley MacAulay

• Tell Me Why Flowers Bloom by Nancy Robinson Masters

• Flowers We Eat by Katherine Rawson

Park Exploration - Flannagan Lake

STEAM Coop

We had one coop meeting inside at one of the local libraries and one outside at a park (finally!). For Arthur covered the last two weeks of Spring Growth by creating a composter and sun prints. Quentin focused on botany with a seed planting and flowers.

Q’s ELA

A’s History Unit

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

We covered oil painting the Frederic Chopin this week.

• DK Music and How it Works

• DK The Arts

• DK Art and How It Works

• Modern Art Adventures by Maja Pitamic and Jill Laidlaw

• 13 American Artists Children Should Know

• A Child's Introduction to Art

• Women in Art by Rachel Ignotofsky

• Iconic Composers by Nicholas Csicsko & Emi Ferguson

• 13 Art Movements Children Should Know

• 13 Artists Children Should Know

• 13 Modern Artists Children Should Know

• The Story of Paintings by Mick Manning & Brita Granström

• Why is Art Full of Naked People? by Susie Hodge

Q’s Math and ELA

A’s Math and ELA

Field Trip

We had a lovely field trip to Lauritzen Gardens (our local botanical garden and conservatory). I got to hang out with the littles class where we did a lot of plant observation as well as enjoyed the dinosaurs models made out of Lego. Arthur’s class got to learn about the evolution of plants from prehistoric times until now. This past Friday, we had a free explore day at Arbor Day Farm with lots of coop friends. When we go, you better believe that we spend all day there! It’s great. I even convinced the boys to do the trail around the back when their friends left.

Q’s Science Unit

High

We are trying to complete the Omaha Parks Challenge. They give us 10 parks to visit and take pictures. Completing a certain number gets you a goody bag and another number gets you entered into a drawing for pool passes. We have until May 12th to complete our visits. So far, we’ve hit three parks, but we have two more parks this week on our schedule. Some of these parks I didn’t even know existed! It’s a great way to explore.

Fun at Arbor Day Farm

Low

The wind and cold temps made coop (and then book club on Saturday) not a hugely pleasant experiences. In particular, we attempted a new-to-us park and had to leave after 15 minutes. The 30mph wind gusts on top of low 40s temps pushed us back into our cars and home. Oh well. We do live in the Midwest!

Next Week

• Starting a new read aloud for Quentin

• Beginning our yearly Shakespeare unit for Arthur

• Moving through the early Cold War years

• Continuing our math units

• Expanding upon chemical reactions and acids and bases

• Learning more Ancient China

• Exploring more parts of the plant kingdom

• Bringing back some art and music

Next up on the TBR pile:

Life Right Now #9

As I look outside my window: It’s windy but at least the sun has come back out.

Right now I am: Organizing my side table so I can work on all my random projects. It’s a bit of a chore.

On my bedside table: Everyone Braves is Forgiven by Chris Cleave; Empty Smiles by Katherine Arden

On my tv this week: We started watched A Gentleman in Moscow and I’m already in love with it. So good!

Listening to: I finally started listening to the next Dungeon Crawler Carl book. 26 hours and I’m only about 4 hours into it. I can only listen in about one hour increments before it overloads my brain.

On the menu for this week:

• Monday - Chicken Pad Thai

• Tuesday - Chicken, Bacon, Broccoli Alfredo

• Wednesday - Italian Noodle Soup

• Thursday - Leftovers

• Friday - Chicken with Black Beans and Cream Cheese

• Saturday - Parmesan Tilapia

• Sunday - Honey and Lime Jalapeño Chicken

On my to do list: I need to carve out a few hours today to work on lesson plans for coop. I’m emergency teaching the oldest class on April 18th and then the middle class on April 25th and May 2nd.

Happening this week:

• Monday - Home Day

• Tuesday - Home Day

• Wednesday - Park; Children’s Museum

• Thursday - Coop; Possibly Zoo

• Friday - Nature Hike; Park

• Saturday - Drop Off Chicks

• Sunday - Home Day

What I am creating: Nothing at the moment, although I have a few projects on tap. I need to clean off my desk and gather my ideas.

My simple pleasures: Throwing out my property list for my TBR to choose books I wanted to read.

Looking around the house: It’s definitely laundry day. I need to finish doing the loads and then putting it all away. J has begun working on the foyer and there’s drywall dust all over the place. I see vacuum and Swiffering in my future.

From the camera: We got ice cream after book club yesterday. I got Black Raspberry and Honeycomb. The Honeycomb was amazing.

A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz

Title: A Tale Dark & Grimm (A Tale Dark & Grimm #1)

Author: Adam Gidwitz

Publisher: Dutton Books 2010

Genre: MG Fantasy Horror

Pages: 256

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fairy Tales; 52 Book Club - Author Self-Insert

In this mischievous and utterly original debut, Hansel and Gretel walk out of their own story and into eight other classic Grimm-inspired tales. As readers follow the siblings through a forest brimming with menacing foes, they learn the true story behind (and beyond) the bread crumbs, edible houses, and outwitted witches.

Fairy tales have never been more irreverent or subversive as Hansel and Gretel learn to take charge of their destinies and become the clever architects of their own happily ever after.

A lovely horrifying spin on the Hansel and Gretel stories. I love how Gidwitz mixes up the classic stories into one large narrative. With every story, the situation becomes even more horrifying and my love for this book grew. But I think my favorite story was the story were Hansel tricked the devil. The narrative voice with the author inserts was an added bonus to the book. I will most definitely have to continue reading the series.

A Tale Dark & Grimm

• #1 A Tale Dark & Grimm

• #2 In a Glass Grimmly

• #3 The Grimm Conclusion

Next up on the TBR pile: