Lumberjanes Vol. 17

Title: Lumberjanes Vol. 17: Smitten in the Stars

Author: Shannon Watters; Kat Leyh

Publisher: BOOM! 2021

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 112

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

STOLEN KITTIES, SECRET CRUSHES & A NIGHT TO REMEMBER! Jen and Rosie plan to take the Lumberjane scouts to see an amazing astronomical event. But their night of star-gazing is thrown off course when half of the Roanoke and Zodiac cabins sneak away into the night in search of aliens, leaving everyone else to deal with a gatecrashing goddess who throws the entire camp into a tizzy. Not to mention there’s a nefarious kitten-napping and a super-secret crush to contend with!

Oh yay! We get another story featuring Diane and the various gods and goddesses that seem to pop into camp now and again. I loved the reveal our the new visitor and her “mission” on Earth. Plus we get a big mystical fight with Diane, appearances from the other members of Zodiac cabin, and Marigold (my favorite kitty!). Such a fun volume.

Lumberjanes Vol. 16

Title: Lumberjanes Vol. 16: Mind Over Mettle

Author: Shannon Watters; Kat Leyh

Publisher: BOOM! 2020

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 112

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

DINOSAURS, DANGER & DIMENSION-HOPPING AND ...OH MY!

Mal wants to learn to be braver, but when she recruits Ripley to help her face her fears, she ends up somewhere she really should be afraid of--the Land of Lost Things, a pocket universe where dinosaurs still roam the earth, and time doesn’t work the way it should. Stranded on her own in an alternate dimension, will Mal be able to find her way back home to camp? And back on the other side of the portal, will Molly, April, Jo, and Ripley be able to find Mal again and save her? Or are they about to get stuck, too?

Yes! This is the kind of volume that I’m always up for. We get a fun and dangerous adventure in the Land of Lost Things. I love that we get to revisit some great settings and see how things have changed. Plus we get some great character development for Mal. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Cursed Objects by J.W. Ocker

Title: Cursed Objects: Strange But True Stories of the World’s Most Infamous Items

Author: J.W. Ocker

Publisher: Quirk Books 2020

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 272

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

They’re lurking in museums, graveyards, and private homes. Their often tragic and always bizarre stories have inspired countless horror movies, reality TV shows, novels, and campfire tales. They’re cursed objects, and all they need to unleash a wave of misfortune is . . . you.

Many of these unfortunate items have intersected with some of the most notable events and people in history, leaving death and destruction in their wake. But never before have the true stories of these eerie oddities been compiled into a fascinating and chilling volume.

I needed something a little light-hearted to read while tackling Asimov and Four Hundred Souls. This pick off the library new book shelf was just the thing that I needed to sprinkle in. Many of these stories were ones that I already knew, but they were still very entertaining. The chapters were quick and to the point. We get the myths and urban legends and enough actual history to satisfy my skeptic heart. I love a good collection of these “scary” stories.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon

Title: Ice Planet Barbarians (Ice Planet Barbarians #1)

Author: Ruby Dixon

Publisher: Ruby Dixon 2015

Genre: Explicit Scifi Romance

Pages: 188

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

You'd think being abducted by aliens would be the worst thing that could happen to me. And you'd be wrong. Because now, the aliens are having ship trouble, and they've left their cargo of human women - including me - on an ice planet.

And the only native inhabitant I've met? He's big, horned, blue, and really, really has a thing for me...

CW: Rape

The hype around this series really blew up in the last few months. One of the book bloggers I follow has read this entire series and loved every minute. And then I saw it mentioned in news articles and other blogs. A friend sent me the links as a bit of a joke and I took up the challenge fo reading the first book. I sped through it (it’s not that long), and really did enjoy it. This definitely a NSFW book. The sex is explicit and often. The book opens with a pretty explicit rape scene. But once you get past the first section, the tone lightens up a bit and we get moving with the main romance. Georgie and Vektal are fun characters and a lot of action and movement is packed into their short story. This was a nice break from my more serious hard science fiction. I might actually keep reading this series.

Ice Planet Barbarians

• #1 Ice Planet Barbarians (Georgie/Vektal)

• #2 Barbarian Alien (Liz/Raahosh)

• #3 Barbarian Lover (Kira/Aehako)

• #4 Barbarian Mine (Harlow/Rukh)

• #4.5 Ice Planet Holiday (novella)

• #5 Barbarian's Prize (Tiffany/Salukh)

• #6 Barbarian's Mate (Josie/Haeden)

• #6.5 Having the Barbarian's Baby (short story)

• #6.75 Ice Ice Babies (short story)

• #7 Barbarian's Touch (Lila/Rokan)

• #7.5 Calm(short story)

• #8 Barbarian's Taming (Maddie/Hassen)

• #8.5 Aftershocks (short story)

• #9 Barbarian's Heart (Stacy/Pashov)

• #10 Barbarian's Hope (Asha/Hemalo)

• #11 Barbarian's Choice (Farli/Mardok)

• #12 Barbarian's Redemption (Elly/Bek)

• #13 Barbarian's Lady (Kate/Harrec)

• #14 Barbarian's Rescue (Summer/Warrek)

• #15 Barbarian's Tease (Brooke/Taushen)

• #15.5 The Barbarian Before Christmas (novella)

• #16 Barbarian's Beloved (Ariana/Zolaya)

• #16.5 Barbarian's Valentine (novella)

• #17 Barbarian's Seduction (Marlene/Zennek)

Next up on the TBR pile:

Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan

Title: Surviving Savannah

Author: Patti Callahan

Publisher: Berkley 2021

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 431

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

When Savannah history professor Everly Winthrop is asked to guest-curate a new museum collection focusing on artifacts recovered from the steamship Pulaski, she's shocked. The ship sank after a boiler explosion in 1838, and the wreckage was just discovered, 180 years later. Everly can't resist the opportunity to try to solve some of the mysteries and myths surrounding the devastating night of its sinking.

Everly's research leads her to the astounding history of a family of eleven who boarded the Pulaski together, and the extraordinary stories of two women from this family: a known survivor, Augusta Longstreet, and her niece, Lilly Forsyth, who was never found, along with her child. These aristocratic women were part of Savannah's society, but when the ship exploded, each was faced with difficult and heartbreaking decisions. This is a moving and powerful exploration of what women will do to endure in the face of tragedy, the role fate plays, and the myriad ways we survive the surviving.

I have a history of not liking historical fiction that employs a historical and a modern timeline. I usually find the modern timeline lacking greatly. In this volume, the modern storyline is not perfect, but I mostly enjoyed Everly’s story of finding herself after grief. I was drawn to the book because it is based on a real life maritime disaster and I definitely have a thing for maritime disasters. We drive right into the story of the travelers aboard the doomed Pulaski. And right away, I was loving the character of Augusta. Thankfully we get to see more of her throughout the story. Turning to the modern storyline, I did love the mystery of finding the wreckage and piecing together the story of some of the people. The drama kept me engaged with the storyline and characters until the end. There are a few parts that dragged a bit (obsessing about the Noble Boy/Red Devil for example) but it’s still a solid historical fiction. Don’t skip the notes at the end that dive into the actual history of the Pulaski.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W1: A Return to Routine

What We Studied

We have officially started our second year of homeschooling. This year, I have added Quentin into the mix. We’re still trying to find a balance of together and separate subjects while adding in our STEAM coop, field trips and the usual errands.

Literature and Poetry

We started reading The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum in alignment the Blossom and Root 2nd Grade Language Arts curriculum. The curriculum doesn’t actual start with The Wizard of Oz, but I reordered everything to align closer to our history this year. We also started a new book of poems, a spelling curriculum, and some random grammar pages.

• The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

• I Invited a Dragon to Dinner

Math

We spent the week doing a bit of math review and math games. Monday was all about shapes and playing with tangrams. On Wednesday, we focused on time. Quentin joined us for part of the big math review. He especially loved playing with tangrams.

• Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh

• If You were a Quadrilateral by Molly Blaisdell

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

Social Studies

Instead of starting our big history curriculum, we focused on a review of map skills and talks about where we live this week. We also dove into the concept of a city and did some city planning projects.

• Got Geography! poems

• Follow that Map by Sheri Tan (Arthur read)

• Cities: Discover How They Work by Kathleen M. Reilly

Arthur Independent Time

To allow for one-on-one time with Quentin, I have added an hour of independent work time for Arthur. Each week, he will have a mix of packet work (mostly grammar and math review), independent reading time, and special projects. Many of his projects will be aligned with our literature selections (some taken from B&R Language Arts curriculum) and history. This week, he focused on some packet work and a creative project. He made shadow puppets for The Wizard of Oz. Hopefully we can use those next week to act out various scenes from the book.

Science and STEAM Coop

We officially started our STEAM coop this week with a theme of Math in Nature! Definitely a learning curve, but I think we had a great first meeting. The older kid group had five kids and the younger kid group had five kids. I taught the little kids and we focused on spirals and the Fibonacci sequence. We made spirals on our boards and in the grass using found objects. We used Fibonacci boxes to make an art project. The kids lasted about an hour before they were done. The older kids did a more in depth exploration of Fibonacci and his sequence. Arthur joined the big kids and loved the lesson! According to the teacher, he was a great student and asked some great questions. I think it went really well! Afterward, the kids played at the playground until it go too hot. We will be continuing the theme into next week and I will once again be teaching the younger group.

• Nature Math by Penny Dowdy

• Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature by Sarah C. Campbell

• Math Art + Drawing Games for Kids by Karyn Tripp

• STEM Quest: Fabulous Figure and Cool Calculations by Colin Stuart

• Shapes in Math, Science, and Nature by Catherine Sheldrick Ross

• Math Lab for Kids by Rebecca Rapoprt and J.A. Yoder

• Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature by Joyce Sidman

• Math Everywhere Get in Shape: Two-Dimensional and Three-Dimensional Shapes by Rob Colson

Art/Music

None this week

Quentin

I have scheduled at least four 1-hour time blocks for one-on-one time with Quentin. I bought Blossom and Root’s Early Years Volume 2 curriculum to use as our base. I love the variety of activities and some of the bigger projects included. After giving Q a PreK assessment, I am going to have to accelerate the curriculum. He only missed a few questions and is probably closer to a Kindergarten curriculum than PreK. We are going to condense the letter work to one semester instead of one year and add in phonics. I’m debating about how to accelerate the math portion. He might start Singapore Math 1 in October or so. For this week, I focused on getting him used to the idea of school time. We review the alphabet and counting while also playing some games and working on map skills.

ELA

• R is for Rocket by Tad Hills

• Those Darn Squirrels by Adam Rubin

• Alphamals by Graham Carter

• I Spy Letters by Jean Marzollo

• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault

Math

• Richard Scarry’s Best Counting Book Ever

• Counting by Joanna Brundle

• It’s About Time by Stuart J. Murphy

Other

• High Five magazine volume

• August by K.C. Kelley and Bob Ostrom

Field Trip

Our field trip this week was another visit to the zoo. We got to visit the newly opened aviary as well as stopping at the splash pad. Before leaving, we stopped into the theater and the boys got to participate in the lesson about how the zoo trains animals. Q was super excited to see the dog they used. It got really hot so we didn’t stay super late, but it was fun.

Documentary Selection

I have carved out a one hour time block each week to watch a documentary related to our studies. This week, we picked a seemingly random NOVA episode about the alphabet, but in reality, I thought it would be a good starting point as we are reviewing the alphabet with Quentin and it connects to a lot of ancient history Arthur studied last year.

• NOVA S47 E11: A to Z The First Alphabet

Misc. - Random picture books read

• 1001 Creatures by Laura Merz translated by Emily Jeremiah

• Numbers Everywhere by Linda Leopold Strauss

• Old MacDonald Had a Boat by Steve Goetz

• Pajama Pirates by Andrew Kramer

• 10 Reasons to Love an Elephant by Catherine Barr

• Iguanodon by Lucia Raatma

• Giant Pandas by Jill Anderson

• The Z was Zapped by Chris Van Allsburg

Highs

• We loved our first STEAM coop meeting! Hoping to keep up the excitement and momentum.

• We skipped out on Friday morning and did a splash pad visit. We had a friend join us and it was nice for the boys to have some socialization time.

Lows

• Both boys had a few meltdowns throughout the week. Our break (most of July) was probably a bit too long and the boys had trouble making the transition. Hopefully we get over this small hiccup.

Next Week

We’re still going to take it a bit easier next week. I’ve decided to plan for half weeks through the month of August. I want to get in as much outdoor time while the weather holds. We’re just going to keep plugging along and see where we get next week. I am hoping to take a bit more of a relaxed and flexible approach this semester.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - Machine Gun Kelly feat. Kellin Quinn "love race"

Digging this song so much right now. And the video is pretty fun.

Life Right Now #24

As I look outside my window: The storm from last night has moved on (leaving parts of downtown flooded, but clear in my part of the city) but left some clouds and the humidity. It’s still supposed to get in the high 90s. Not a fan.

Right now I am: making (not from scratch, thanks Trader Joe’s) chocolate croissants and quiche (thanks Imperfect Produce) for brunch.

On my bedside table: I’m slowly but steadily reading Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain and Cursed Objects: Strange but True Stories of the World’s Most Infamous Items by J.W. Ocker. In addition, I have more of Asimov’s Foundation series on tap to dive into.

On my tv this week: In addition to a few movies (Jolt - terrible; The Suicide Squad - stupid but pretty fun), we have been watching two music documentary series: American Epic (origins of American music) and Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson (various aspects of modern music). Both have been really really good! We’ve also been watching S2 of Ted Lasso and Schmigadoon.

Listening to: I’ve fallen behind on many podcasts that I love. I’m going to take some time today to catch up on a few while doing other tasks.

On the menu for this week: My meal plan is a giant mess right now. I guess that will be my task this morning. I do want to do a pantry and freezer inventory/cleanout to get things back into shipshape. Maybe I will tackle that this morning and then make the meal plan using ingredients I’ve cataloged…

On my to do list: I need to make some appointments for everyone (eye and well-check) as well do a check-in with the twins. I’ve got my various projects (retreat, coop, road trip) to continue working on in between. And I really want to organize a bit in my library/craft room.

Happening this week: Trying for a slightly lighter week

• Monday - Grocery day

• Tuesday - Field trip to OPPD Arboretum for nature exploration

• Wednesday - Home day

• Thursday - Coop Day!

• Friday - Possible Park Morning

• Saturday - Home Day

• Sunday - Home Day

What I am creating: Mostly just lesson plans and coop plans. I really want to made some kind of book retreat craft this week, but we’ll see how busy I get.

My simple pleasures: Listening to the rain. New friends. Securing our lodgings for the retreat.

Looking around the house: Meh. It is what it is right now. I should probably vacuum today, but it might get put off until Tuesday.

From the camera: I made pudding cups for a first week of school treat.

The Currents of Space by Isaac Asimov

Title: The Currents of Space (Galactic Empire #2)

Author: Isaac Asimov

Publisher:

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 242

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual

Trantor had extended its rule over half the Galaxy, but the other half defied its authority, defending their corrupt fiefdoms with violence and repression. On the planet Florina, the natives labored as slaves for their arrogant masters on nearby Sark. But now both worlds were hurtling toward a cataclysmic doom, and only one man knew the truth--a slave unaware of the secret knowledge locked inside his own brain.

Rik had once been a prominent scientist until a psychic probe erased all memories of his past. Now he was a humble laborer in the kyrt mills of Florina. Then the memories began to return, bringing with them the terrible truth about the future--a truth that his masters on Sark would kill to keep secret . . . even at the cost of their own survival.

I was concerned after the last book (seriously the point in the giant series so far). I had hoped we would get something with more likable characters and a better pacing. Thankfully, this book delivers. The plot is fast-paced involving a mysterious person and a bunch of politicians and ambassadors. Sounds dull, but in reality it’s like one big action movie. We have to figure out the mystery of who Rik really is and what is means to the ruling parties of Sark/Florina and Trantor. We get some information about the galaxy at large and the specifically the growth of the Trantorian Empire. I loved playing along trying to figure out who all the different parties really worked for or at least what their motivations were. I was in this story right until the very end. Now I have the motivation to dive into the next book and continue to see how Trantor creates a Galactic Empire.

Galactic Empire:

• #1 The Stars, Like Dust

• #2 The Currents of Space

• #3 Pebble in the Sky

Next up on the TBR pile:

Lumberjanes Vol. 15

Title: Lumberjanes Vol. 15: Birthday Smarty

Author: Shannon Watters; Kat Leyh

Publisher: BOOM! 2020

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 112

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

BIRTHDAYS TO THE MAX!

Jo’s birthday is coming up, and April is determined to pull out all the stops for her best friend! But when her elaborate plans for a huge, over-the-top celebration fall through, April recruits the yetis and some fellow ‘Janes to put on a play for Jo, instead.

Meanwhile, Mal has been tasked with keeping Jo busy to protect the surprise, but she might’ve done TOO good a job. Will the birthday girl make it back in time for her own party? And does she even want to?

Cute story focused on Jo and April. I was very excited to to see the story focus on some of the other Lumberjanes. We get appearances by some many fun previous characters I can see that the series is starting to build to an ending and I’m not ready for it to be over. But it’s been a super fun ride so far.

Lumberjanes Vol. 14

Title: Lumberjanes Vol. 14: X Marks the Spot

Author: Kat Leyh

Publisher: BOOM! 2020

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 112

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

X MARKS THE SPOT...FOR TROUBLE!

Ripley found a treasure map! The Roanoke scouts are eager to hunt down what they hope might be some kind of mystical hoard of gems and jewels, rad dinosaur bones, or maybe even more treasure maps (that you have to piece together to find an EVEN BIGGER prize, obviously)! What they end up finding is scattered pieces of an ancient Greek statue of a woman, who, when assembled, comes back to life as a vindictive ex-goddess!n. And she's looking to satisfy her hunger after thousands of years frozen in stone by draining any nearby magical resource...starting with the ‘Janes!

So much fun! We get an adventure involving a treasure map and a mysterious statue. I loved the callbacks to the Diane and Apollo storyline as well as the time Ripley was a god and created so many cats! Seriously, Marigold is the best kitty. I love picking up a Lumebrjanes volume for some strange fun involving a great group of friends.

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• Our first STEAM coop is today! I’m so excited, but a little worried. Hope everything goes well.

• After one night of beautiful, cool, open window weather, we are back to very warm temperatures. I’m not loving this at all.

• I need to bake more, but the heat is really impeding my motivation…

• Joined a literary society and it’s been lovely talking books with other like-minded folks every few weeks.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Marriage of Inconvenience by Penny Reid

Title: Marriage of Inconvenience (Knitting in the City #7)

Author: Penny Reid

Publisher: Cipher-Naught 2018

Genre: Romance

Pages: 498

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

There are three things you need to know about Kat Tanner (aka Kathleen Tyson. . . and yes, she is *that* Kathleen Tyson):
1) She’s determined to make good decisions,
2) She must get married ASAP, and
3) She knows how to knit.

Being a billionaire heiress isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Determined to live a quiet life, Kat Tanner changed her identity years ago and eschewed her family’s legacy. But now, Kat’s silver spoon past has finally caught up with her, and so have her youthful mistakes. To avoid imminent disaster, she must marry immediately; it is essential that the person she chooses have no romantic feelings for her whatsoever and be completely trustworthy. Fortunately, she knows exactly who to ask. Dan O’Malley checks all the boxes: single, romantically indifferent to her, completely trustworthy. Sure, she might have a wee little crush on Dan the Security Man, but with clear rules, expectations, and a legally binding contract, Kat is certain she can make it through this debacle with her sanity—and heart—all in one piece. Except, what happens when Dan O’Malley isn’t as indifferent—or as trustworthy—as she thought?

I absolutely love Dan! He is hands-down the absolute best character in this entire series. I have been waiting many many books to see more of Dan and get his love story. Finally we get there. Overall, I absolute loved his story. But I really don’t love Kat as a separate character. Some of her choices really made me angry. Thankfully. Dan really saved this story for me. Plus it was a nice wrap-up to the entire series. Now I have to contemplate reading Reid’s other series…

Knitting in the City

• #1 Neanderthal Seeks Human

• #1.5 Neanderthal Marries Human

• #2 Friends Without Benefits

• #3 Love Hacked

• #4 Beauty and the Mustache

• #4.75 Ninja at First Sight

• #5 Happily Ever Ninja

• #6 Dating-ish

• #7 Marriage of Inconvenience

Next up on the TBR pile:

Dating-ish by Penny Reid

Title: Dating-ish (Knitting in the City #6)

Author: Penny Reid

Publisher: Cipher-Naught 2017

Genre: Romance

Pages: 356

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

There are three things you need to know about Marie Harris:
1) She’s fed up with online dating,
2) She’s so fed up, she’s willing to forego the annoyance and consider more creative alternatives, and
3) She knows how to knit.

After the most bizarre first date in the history of dating, Marie is looking for an alternative to men. With the help of her friends, she quickly identifies a few possibilities: Need a cuddle? Use a professional cuddler. Need affirmation? Get yourself a life coach. Need an orgasm? Try orgasm meditation! Why does she need the hassle of a romantic partner when she can meet all her needs with paid services? But then her irritating date resurfaces. And he’s not at all the person she thought he was. And he suggests a different—and crazier—solution to her dilemma...

Not my absolute favorite, but I really did enjoy Marie and Matt’s love story. I really loved the sorta “meet-cute” they experience and ensuing reveal. Seriously made me laugh out loud. Once the story really gets going, I was a bit impatient for them to actually get together. Thankfully we get a good story and actually see two characters connect and explore their relationship. And then we get to the sexy times and they were surprisingly dirty. These sexy scenes were much better written than previous ones in the series. Lots of fun! And I loved the little glimpses into the other Knitting Circle’s members.

Knitting in the City

• #1 Neanderthal Seeks Human

• #1.5 Neanderthal Marries Human

• #2 Friends Without Benefits

• #3 Love Hacked

• #4 Beauty and the Mustache

• #4.75 Ninja at First Sight

• #5 Happily Ever Ninja

• #6 Dating-ish

• #7 Marriage of Inconvenience

• #8 Neanderthal Seeks Extra Yarns

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - Beartooth "The Past is Dead"

Very very hard rock for today’s song.

August 2021 Life Goals

Let’s check in on July’s goals and my progress.

• Read 15 Books ✓

• Plan August Homeschooling Lessons and Coop ✓

• Stick to My Time Blocking ✓

• Weekly Field Trips ✓

• Cross Off 7 Items on Our Summer Bucket List - Eh. Close, but not quite.

• Get My Email Inbox to 0 ✓

August’s Goals:

• Read 15 books

• Kick off our 2nd year of homeschooling!

• Kick off our STEAM coop

• Make 3-4 desserts for our food project

Next up on the TBR pile: