Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon

Title: Code Name Hélène

Author: Ariel Lawhon

Publisher: Anchor 2021

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 496

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Seasonal TBR; Modern Mrs. Darcy

In 1936 Nancy Wake is an intrepid Australian expat living in Marseille who has bluffed her way into a reporting job for Hearst newspaper when she meets the wealthy French industrialist Henri Fiocca. No sooner does Henri sweep Nancy off her feet and convince her to become Mrs. Fiocca than the Germans invade France and she takes yet another name: a code name.

Told in interweaving timelines organized around the four code names Nancy used during the war, Code Name Hélène follows Nancy's transformation from journalist into one of the most powerful leaders in the French Resistance, known for her ferocious wit, her signature red lipstick, and her ability to summon weapons straight from the Allied Forces. But with power comes notoriety, and no matter how careful Nancy is to protect her identity, the risk of exposure is great—for herself and for those she loves.

Our book club selection for November and a return to WWII historical fiction. Overall, I am burnt out on the subgenere, but this volume was a good addition. We get a semi-biographical story of Nancy Wake and her adventures within the French Resistance. We jump back and forth through her timeline understanding where she is now (the present) and how she got there (the past). We see her navigate tough positions and become a very independent thinker. We see she make friends and lose friends. Unlike many other books, the dual timeline was done well and did not annoy me. It probably helped that it’s one person’s timeline and not a modern and historical split like usual. Nancy is such a strong character that she carries the book for me. I was constantly intrigued by how she got into the position that she’s in in 1944. The pacing is a bit uneven. I sped through the first 60 pages and then it lagged for awhile. The book is almost 500 pages long.  There are two very graphic scenes fairly close together that caused me to put the book down for a few days. I definitely could not power through the graphic torture scenes without a bit of a breather. But once I moved past that section, I was back into the story until the end. 

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• I had not made a single Christmas card. I am so behind this year!

• My November reading is going to be much lower than usual I think. Too many other projects.

• Debating about taking a “sick” day from homeschool next week… maybe I can get some things done around here.

• Changes are coming to my homeschool coop and I’m very optimistic about them.

• But… it would really be nice if the current families could fill out the survey. Seriously, I gave them two weeks and have reminded them every three days. I still have 5 families outstanding. Very annoying.

• Getting excited about my cheesy Christmas-themed romances for December’s TBR.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren

Title: Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating

Author: Christina Lauren

Publisher: Gallery Books 2018

Genre: Romance

Pages: 318

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Hazel Camille Bradford knows she’s a lot to take—and frankly, most men aren’t up to the challenge. If her army of pets and thrill for the absurd don’t send them running, her lack of filter means she’ll say exactly the wrong thing in a delicate moment. Their loss. She’s a good soul in search of honest fun.

Josh Im has known Hazel since college, where her zany playfulness proved completely incompatible with his mellow restraint. From the first night they met—when she gracelessly threw up on his shoes—to when she sent him an unintelligible email while in a post-surgical haze, Josh has always thought of Hazel more as a spectacle than a peer. But now, ten years later, after a cheating girlfriend has turned his life upside down, going out with Hazel is a breath of fresh air.

Not that Josh and Hazel date. At least, not each other. Because setting each other up on progressively terrible double blind dates means there’s nothing between them...right?

I went back and forth about what to rate this book. I wanted to give it four stars all the way until the last 25 pages. Then, I wanted to give it 3 stars. But… after more consideration, I decided to bump it back up to 4 stars. I do love the progression of Hazel and Josh’s relationship throughout the book. They are a great non-couple and then sorta-couple. We get some fun will they, won’t they moments throughout. I do love that Hazel was unwilling to compromise her entire identity for a man and that Josh was very much accepting of her. My issue came with the ending. It included a trope that I am really not a fan of and then was very rushed. I wanted to spend more time with Josh and Hazel as a couple. I wanted to see them worked through the big event at the end instead of just rushing through to the epilogue. Le sigh.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #9

Reading: Code Name Hèléne by Ariel Lawhon - I had to take a little break after a very graphic section, but I’m back into the book. About 50% of the way through so far. I’m liking it, but it’s a heavy book.

Watching: J and have caught up with Foundation and it’s oh so good! They changed a lot from the books, but kept most of the philosophy and some of the big plot points. I’m so excited to see where the show is going.

Listening: I finally downloaded the new Black Veil Brides album and it’s been on repeat. I really love “Blackbird” and “Torch.”

Making: I had to completely dissemble my homeschool bookshelf to put in a printer station. So now I’m slowly making piles for December and then all the months for the spring semester. So many piles, but I didn’t want to just dump stuff back onto the bookshelf.

Feeling: We are finally into fall around here and all I want to do is wear my snuggliest sweaters. Nothing super heavy (I still like to feel my fingers), but a brisk temperature and a light sweater are my favorites.

Planning: With the kids getting vaccinated by early December, we have decided to go to Indiana for Christmas. Now I need to plan out all the logistics and start making plans.

Loving: During my break from Code Name Hèléne , I picked up Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas. It’s not October anymore, but I’m still loving the gothic horror in this book. Not much has happened plot wise, but I am so invested in the atmosphere.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W12: All About the Dinosaurs!

What We Studied

We are back to our originally schedule curriculum plan and managed to have two outings plus coop. It was a full week, but I feel really good about our routine and what we covered.

Literature and Poetry

We finished with our reading of Race to the Sun early in the week. I loved the story and it definitely held Arthur’s attention throughout. We will be reading more from that imprint soon. After Race to the Sun, we started reading Japanese folktales in anticipation of next week’s history curriculum. We also covered a few picture book studies for our fall theme.

• Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

• K is for Kabuki by Gloria Whelan and Jenny Nolan

• The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks by Katherine Paterson

• The Boy Who Drew Cats by Margaret Hodges

• The Boy from the Dragon Palace by Margaret Read MacDonald

• Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano

Math

We’re still working through Unit 3 about multiplication and division. I think we have one more week with Unit 3-4 before we move on to measurement.

• Singapore Math Common Core Edition 3A

• Primarily Logic

Social Studies

This week was all about the Mongols. Crash Course and John Green have been teasing the Mongols for the entirety of their World History series. We finally got to that episode! Arthur is loving going around dramatically pausing and then saying “The Mongols.” We also went a bit past Genghis Kahn to talk about Kublai Khan and Marco Polo.

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• DK Timelines of Everything

• When on Earth

• DK History

• Explorers

• The Mongol Empire from Britannica

• Genghis Khan by Li Jian

• Marco Polo by Demi

• Kublai Khan: The Emperor of Everything by Kathleen Krull

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 packet work and some independent reading.

Science and STEAM Coop

We’re still covering the dinosaurs! This week was all about the Triassic Period. We have about three weeks left in our personal coverage. But this was the last week that coop was covering the dinosaurs. Next week, we move on to Health.

• Everything Awesome About Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Beasts by Mike Lowery

• The Story of Life: Evolution by Katie Scott

• Life: The First Four Billion Years by Martin Jenkins

• Prehistoric by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

• DK Where on Earth? Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Life

• Dinosaurium by Chris Wormell and Lily Murray

• In Search of Dinosaurs by Dougal Dixon

• Dinothesaurus by Douglas Florian

• When the Whales Walked by

• National Geographic Kids: Dinosaurs

• DK Dinosaur

• DK Eyewitness Dinosaur

• Sink Your Teeth

Art/Music

Nothing 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. For ELA, we continued our big overview of the alphabet. We had a light week in regards to the other subjects, but still managed to work on some new skills, including cutting!

ELA

• Once Upon an Alphabet by Oliver Jeffers

• My “u” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

• Umma Ungka’s Unusual Umbrella by Barbara deRubertis

• My “v” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

• Victor Vicuna’s Volcano Vacation by Barbara deRubertis

• Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

Math

Other

• Poem-Mobiles by Patrick Lewis and Douglas Florian

Field Trip

We had two outings this week. On Tuesday, we had a good old-fashioned playdate with some our coop friends. Now that the parks are not really a good option, we are hoping to add in a few playdates throughout the winter. Then on Friday, we drove to Lincoln to visit Morrill Hall and see some actual dinosaur fossils. We love that museum so much! We ended up spending almost 4 hours exploring. Extra fun: the discovery room in the basement was finally reopened. Lots of fun was had!

Documentary Selection

I have carved out a one hour time block each week to watch a documentary related to our studies. We didn’t actually watch anything this week, but made up for it by all the PBS Eons videos for our dinosaur unit.

Misc. - Random picture books read

• Busy Builders, Busy Week by Jean Reidy

• Choo Choo Clickety-Clack by Margaret Mayo

• Trash Truck by Max Keane

• Sail Away by Donald Crews

• Five Trucks by Brian Floca

• The Leaves Fall All Around

• Leaf Jumpers by Carole Berger

• Cement Mixer’s ABC by Sherry Duskey Rinker

• Little Excavator by Anna Dewdney

• Go, Girls, Go! by Frances Gilbert

• Flying by Donald Crews

• Keeping the City Going by Brian Floca

• Truck by Donald Crews

• Fall Leaves by Don L. Curry

High

• Field trip to Morrill Hall was definitely a highlight! We could spend all day in that museum, but eventually our parking ran out and we needed food. We’ll be back in a few months for sure.

Low

• Nothing really

Next Week

• Continuing to read Japanese Folktales

• Moving to medieval Japan for history

• Mastering multiplication and division

• Moving forward in time for the Dinosaur Unit to the Jurassic Period!

• Attending coop for our health theme

• Getting vaccinated!!!! Both boys are starting the series on Wednesday. I feel so relieved!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Life Right Now #33

As I look outside my window: The backyard tree is at is most brilliant color of fall, a beautiful red-orange color. It’s my favorite stage of the tree. But it also means that the leaves will be dropping very soon…

Right now I am: Sitting next to a giant stack of dinosaur books. I need to buckle down and plan the next three weeks of homeschool lessons. I always feel better when I have a basic plan for the month ahead. Time to do November and get a jump on December.

Thinking and pondering: Christmas wish lists. I need to update the kids’ lists and get lists for my nephews and niece.

On my bedside table: Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas (for me), Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead (friend book club), Landline by Rainbow Rowell (big book club)

On my tv this week: We caught up with Foundation (so freaking good! even if you haven’t read the books) and have continued with the MCU. We are finishing End Game tonight.

Listening to: Mostly trying to catch up with my favorite podcasts. I did manage to listen to the entirety of the new Black Veil Brides and Asking Alexandria albums.

On the menu for this week:

• Monday - German Potato Soup with Sausage

• Tuesday - Black Bean Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

• Wednesday - Teriyaki Chicken

• Thursday - Chicken and Noodles

• Friday - Leftovers

• Saturday - Sushi and Miso Soup

• Sunday - Parmesan Tilapia

On my to do list: I knocked a fair number of things off my to do list last week. I need to turn toward Christmas and bigger planning tasks.

Happening this week:

• Monday - Home day

• Tuesday - Fire station tour with coop

• Wednesday - Kids get their first vaccine!!!!!

• Thursday - Coop

• Friday - Home day

• Saturday -D&D night

• Sunday - Home day

What I am creating: Plans for Christmas. I really need to get on some things ASAP. I have not made one Christmas card so far this year and I need to make probably 50. I also need to decide on an advent plan for the year. And I need to start thinking about packing and plans for when we are in Indiana.

My simple pleasures: Pumpkin cookies - soaking in the last of fall before we turn to Christmas stuff

Looking around the house: Having coop here the last two weeks really made me step up my cleaning game. The house is in really good shape. Now to fix my disaster of an office. We had to buy a new printer (I killed our old one) and the new one did not fit in the space that I had made for it. So we bought a simple corner desk and put it there along with our big plotter cutter. But that meant that the homeschool bookshelf got pushed out the room. I need to put that back together and clear off the floor. Lots of work to do.

From the camera: We had a great visit to Morrill Hall on Friday with coop friends and really dove into the dinosaurs on display. We finally identified this specimen as a Coelophysis. They really hid that plaque.

Bad Fat Black Girl by Sesali Bowen

Title: Bad Fat Black Girl: Notes from a Trap Feminist

Author: Sesali Bowen

Publisher: Amistad 2021

Genre: Nonfiction - Memoir

Pages: 272

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Growing up on the south side of Chicago, Sesali Bowen learned early on how to hustle, stay on her toes, and champion other Black women and femmes as she navigated Blackness, queerness, fatness, friendship, poverty, sex work, and self-love. 

Her love of trap music led her to the top of hip-hop journalism, profiling game-changing artists like Megan Thee Stallion, Lizzo, and Janelle Monae. But despite all the beauty, complexity, and general badassery she saw, Bowen found none of that nuance represented in mainstream feminism. Thus, she coined Trap Feminism, a contemporary framework that interrogates where feminism meets today's hip-hop.

Bad Fat Black Girl offers a new, inclusive feminism for the modern world. Weaving together searing personal essay and cultural commentary, Bowen interrogates sexism, fatphobia, and capitalism all within the context of race and hip-hop. In the process, she continues a Black feminist legacy of unmatched sheer determination and creative resilience.

Bad bitches: this one’s for you.

I’m not usually one for memoirs as I find them to be too self-absorbed and also generalizing. I appreciated this volume focusing on intersectional feminism because of Bowen voice and experiences. We get something very different from the white lady feminism common on Women’s Studies bookshelves. I really dove into her experience and the ways that her life has informed her view of feminism. This was such a great “window” book for me. I cannot understand Bowen’s experience, but I could learn from her stories and her critiques. Definitely a must read for any feminist.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

Title: Under the Whispering Door

Author: TJ Klune

Publisher: Tor Books 2021

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 390

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Unread Shelf RC - Special Occasion

Welcome to Charon's Crossing.
The tea is hot, the scones are fresh, and the dead are just passing through.
When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, Wallace begins to suspect he might be dead.
And when Hugo, the owner of a peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace decides he’s definitely dead.
But even in death he’s not ready to abandon the life he barely lived, so when Wallace is given one week to cross over, he sets about living a lifetime in seven days.

Another delightful hug of a book from Klune. I was in tears throughout the entire last chapter; happy tears. Klune has this magical way of writing stories and characters that you want to see them have their happily ever after. You want everyone in the books to overcome their obstacles and be happy. You think that you might just be able to do that same for your own life after reading this. Every once in while, I really need a book like this (especially after the last disappointing read). While his previous adult book was about home and family, this one is more about philosophy of life. There is a lot of discussion about how to live your life, your regrets, your dreams. We get some pretty profound conversations between the characters discussing many of these aspects. We get to see a character make a radical change in philosophy. It’s beautiful. The side characters are amazing (seriously wanted to know even more about Mei!) and we get a few twists that I did not see coming. I wanted to savor this book, but ended up speeding through it just loving every page.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Reprieve by James Han Mattson

Title: Reprieve

Author: James Han Mattson

Publisher: William Morrow 2021

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 412

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

On April 27, 1997, four contestants make it to the final cell of the Quigley House, a full-contact haunted escape room in Lincoln, Nebraska, made famous for its monstrosities, booby-traps, and ghoulishly costumed actors. If the group can endure these horrors without shouting the safe word, “reprieve,” they’ll win a substantial cash prize—a startling feat accomplished only by one other group in the house’s long history. But before they can complete the challenge, a man breaks into the cell and kills one of the contestants.

Those who were present on that fateful night lend their points of view: Kendra Brown, a teenager who’s been uprooted from her childhood home after the sudden loss of her father; Leonard Grandton, a desperate and impressionable hotel manager caught in a series of toxic entanglements; and Jaidee Charoensuk, a gay international student who came to the United States in a besotted search for his former English teacher. As each character’s journey unfurls and overlaps, deceit and misunderstandings fueled by obsession and prejudice are revealed, forcing all to reckon with the ways in which their beliefs and actions contributed to a horrifying catastrophe.

Ooof, this was a major miss for me. I picked it up because people were talking about this great new horror novel. It’s not horror in a traditional sense at all (despite what the summary implies). It is horror in that it delves into the dark recesses of human minds. It’s terrifying, but in a way that I don’t enjoy reading. I very much dislike reading books where everyone is being terrible to each other. There’s not hope in this book. It was thoroughly depressing. Beyond the subject matter and plot, the writing was not great. I was not enjoying spending pages upon pages with these characters establishing backstory (sometimes years before the events in the book) just to spend so little time at the house. It was unbalanced and felt very much like a slog through most of the chapters. Oddly, the backstory chapters are written in a young adult style. I understand that the characters are young adults in those chapters, but you don’t have to write like that in an adult book. Very odd choice that really left me feeling cold about this book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

November 2021 Life Goals

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

• Read 15 Books ✓

• Plan a Fall/Halloween Party with Coop People ✓

• October Spooky Movie Month ✓

• Make Tentative Christmas Plans

• Update Christmas Lists

• Week in the Life 2021

Goals:

• Read 15 books, including 5 nonfiction books - Trying to up my nonfiction selections for Nonfiction November

• Make Christmas Plans - Still deciding if we want to go to Indiana

• Update Christmas Lists

• Make 50 Christmas cards - Trying to get back into crafting a bit this season

• Plan out advent activities

• Wrap up Coop Changes

• Make a Homeschool Spring Semester Framework

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W11: A Lovely Week Catching Up

What We Studied

It took a few days, but we caught up with our curriculum. We made a lot of progress in all of our subjects and even had a great field trip with our coop friends.

Literature and Poetry

Continuing with our reading of Race to the Sun. We are about 50 pages from the end, but thankfully I built in a break week from our read aloud. We are going to finish Race to the Sun next week and then move into Japanese Folktales. We also covered a few picture book studies for our fall theme.

• Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

• Plum by Tony Mitton

• Scarecrow by Cynthia Rylant

• Stellaluna by Janell Cannon

• I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll

• Hey, That’s My Monster by Amanda Roll

• Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell

• In November by Cynthia Rylant

• “Robin Hood and His Merry Men” from Favorite Medieval Tales by Mary Pope Osborne

Math

We’re still working through Unit 3 about multiplication and division. We probably have one more week in this unit before we will move on.

• Singapore Math Common Core Edition 3A

• Primarily Logic

Social Studies

This week was all about the Ancient Puebloans and Cahokia. We covered both of these civilizations last year in our first year of U.S. History, but it was nice to cover them again. We found some great videos about each of these groups and the ruins that are left. We hope to visit at least Cahokia in the next few years.

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• When on Earth

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• Journey to Cahokia by Albert Lorenze and Joy Schleh

• Secrets of Mesa Verde by Gail Foy

• Cliff Dwellings: A Hidden World by Kevin Blake

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 packet work and some random building projects.

Science and STEAM Coop

Continuing with our Dinosaur unit from Blossom and Root! We covered the Carboniferous and Permian periods. We also had a great coop meeting where the kids learned about Big Time and the history of life on earth. Afterward, the kids pretended to be paleontologists and worked on their own fossil digs.

• Everything Awesome About Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Beasts by Mike Lowery

• The Story of Life: Evolution by Katie Scott

• Life: The First Four Billion Years by Martin Jenkins

• When the Whales Walked and Other Incredibly Evolutionary Journeys by Dougal Dixon

• Prehistoric: Before the Dinosaurs by David West

• DK Prehistoric

• DK Where on Earth? Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Life

• DK Find Out! Dinosaurs

• DK Eyewitness Dinosaur

• Dinosaurium by Chris Wormed and Lily Murray Preface

• Prehistoric by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

• Dinothesaurus: Prehistoric Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian

• Dinosaur Feathers by Dennis Nolan

• I am NOT a Dinosaur by Will Lach

Art/Music

Nothing 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. For ELA, we continued our big overview of the alphabet. We covered more counting and some basic math concepts as well as simple map skills. And we had some puzzles to round out the week. We also finished big unit on transportation.

ELA

• Once Upon an Alphabet by Oliver Jeffers

• My “s” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

• Sammy Skunk’s Super Sniffer by Barbara deRubertis

• My “t” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

• Tessa Tiger’s Temper Tantrum by Barbara deRubertis

Math

Other

• Let’s Go on a Train by Rosalyn Albert

• Truck and Train by Hannah Stark

• Chugga Chugga Choo Choo by Emma Garcia

• Locomotive by Brian Floca

• Three Grumpy Trucks by Todd Tarpley

• What a Nice Car by Anita Bijsterbosch

• Our Car by J.M. Brum

• Diggersaurus by Michael Whaite

• My Side of the Car by Kate Feiffer

• I Like My Car by Michael Robertson

• Let’s Go on the Plane by Rosalyn Albert

• Let’s Go on a Rocket by Rosalyn Albert

• How Does it Work? Airplanes by Jenny Fretland VanVoorst

• Let’s Go on a Ferry by Rosalyn Albert

• Lightship by Brian Floca

• Boats Speeding! Sailing! Cruising! by Patricia Hubbell

• Let’s Go on a Tractor by Rosalyn Albert

• If I Built a Car by Chris van Dusen

• Red Truck, Yellow Truck by Michelle Robinson

• I Drive a Snowplow by Sarah Bridges

• Race Car Count by Rebecca Kai Dotlich

• Thunder Trucks by Cheryl Klein & Katy Beebe

Field Trip

We headed to Schramm State Park to look for fossils at the geologic site. It was cold and a bit windy, we had a great morning with our friends. We found a ton of crinoids and some coral pieces in the rocks. I love that we we can visit someplace that has exposed rocks from when Nebraska was underwater 350 million years ago.

Documentary Selection

I have carved out a one hour time block each week to watch a documentary related to our studies. We didn’t actually watch anything this week, but made up for it by all the PBS Eons videos for our dinosaur unit.

Misc. - Random picture books read

• What Kind of Car Does a T. rex Drive? by Mark Lee

• Here we Go Digging for Dinosaur Bones by Susan Lendroth

• Ten Timid Ghosts by Jennifer O’Connell

• Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson

• The Girl and the Dinosaur by Hollie Hughes

• The Leaf Thief by Alice Hemming

• Counting on Fall by Lizann Flatt

High

• Looking for fossils was delightful! We will definitely have to revisit Schramm sometime very soon.

Low

• Um… I cannot think of anything right now.

Next Week

• Finishing Race to the Sun and starting Japanese Folktales

• Moving to Asia and the Mongol Empire for history

• Wrapping up multiplication and division

• Finally getting to the Triassic for the Dinosaur Unit

• Covering dinosaurs for coop! (We’re hosting!)

Next up on the TBR pile:

October 2021 Wrap-up

October TBR Pile (19/30):

1. Foundation and Earth by Isaac Asimov ✓

2. The Wallflower Wager by Tessa Dare ✓

3. The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert (reread for book club) ✓

4. Bird Box by Josh Malerman ✓

5. Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo ✓

6. Catherine House by Elizabeth Thomas

7. Sunshine by Robin McKinley (reread)

8. The Guide by Peter Heller ✓

9. The Woods are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins ✓

10. Bloodlust and Bonnets by Emily McGovern ✓

11. The End and Everything After by Matt Fraction

12. The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez

13. Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

14. Lady Killer by Joelle Jones

15. The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter ✓

16. Red Wolf by Rachel Vincent

17. The Tea Dragon Tapestry by Katie O’Neill

18. The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury ✓

19. Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero

20. The Diabolical Miss Hyde by Viola Carr

21. Dr. Mütter’s Marvels by Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz

22. Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn ✓

23. Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie Dunmore ✓

24. The House that Fell from the Sky by Patrick Delaney ✓

25. House of Shadows by Darcy Coates ✓

26. House of Secrets by Darcy Coates ✓

27. The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling ✓

28. In Love with a Haunted House by Kate Goldman ✓

29. Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse ✓

30. A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow ✓

1,000,000 Page Goal:

Monthly Total: 5812 pages
Pages Remaining: 445,962 pages

Current Read - Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune; Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon

Books I Gave Up On (0)

Books Bought/Received (11) - At the beginning of the month, I had my bookish retreat. While I did try to limit myself to just a small stack of books bought at the stores that weekend, I still came away with a few to add to my shelves. And I acquired one during our book exchange. I also picked up two books from Book of the Month. For the first time, I bought books from the Indie Press List from my beloved Currently reading podcast. Their October selections were all spooky and just what I had been wanting! And a friend gifted me a book (TJ Klune) as a thank you for setting up the retreat.

• The Comfort Book by Matt Haig (exchange)

• Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (retreat)

• Reliquary by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (retreat)

• Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow (retreat)

• The City & The City by China Miéville (retreat)

• Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune (gift)

• Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie Dunmore (BOTM)

• The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling (BOTM)

• A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow (Indie Press List)

• Plain Bad Heroines by Emily Danforth (Indie Press List)

• The Night Gardeners by (Indie Press List)

UnRead Shelf Progress

• Starting Number: 283

• Books Read: 3

• Books Acquired: 11

• Books Unshelved: 0

• Finishing Number: 291

November TBR Pile: I often read nonfiction, but I’m going to try to increase my numbers for this Nonfiction November.

1. BOTM: TBD

2. Bookworms BC: Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon

3. Friend BC: Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

4. Nonfiction: The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green

5. Nonfiction: Girl Gurl Grrrl by Kenya Hunt

6. Nonfiction: Dr. Mutter’s Marvels by Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz

7. Nonfiction: The Comfort Book by Matt Haig

8. Nonfiction Bad Fat Black Girl by Sesali Bowen

9. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

10. Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

11. Red Wolf by Rachel Vincent

12. Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren

13. Malorie by Josh Malerman

Movies watched - It was spooky movie month. I usually make a giant list from which we pick a movie most nights. We had quite a mix of movies watched this October.

• Lady of the Manor - A bit uneven

• Free Guy - Of course I loved this one

• Escape from Planet of the Apes - Very decent movie

• The Relic - This one actually holds up well

• The Shadow - Went with a Penelope Ann Miller run and rewatched this one. Very cheesy at parts, but a good adventure movie.

• The Dead Don’t Die - Loved it until the voice over at the end scene. Much too heavy-handed.

• Brazil - It’s been years. Still as weird as I remember. Love the ducts! We also watched the tv edit and the making of documentary.

• Touch of Evil - Somehow I had never seen this. Another amazing Orson Welles picture!

• Detective Pikachu - Arthur’s birthday movie choice. I really enjoyed this one.

• Brotherhood of the Wolf - J’s been trying to get me to watch this one for years. Pretty good supernatural-ish action movie.

• Dune - Oh goodness that was a beautiful movie. So glad that the sequel has been greenlit.

• North by Northwest - Haven’t seen this in years. Love it!

• Sleepaway Camp - Watched the sequel last year,

TV Shows watched 

• Last Week Tonight

• Lower Decks S2

• Archer S12

• Ted Lasso S2

• Foundation S1

Comments - Great reading month for October. I covered a ton of spooky books and really leaned into my moods. We didn’t watch 30 spooky movies, but had a decent showing of 14 movies watched (two versions of Brazil). And we finished a few seasons of television (Lower Decks, Archer, Ted Lasso).

Next up on the TBR pile:

Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

Title: Race to the Sun

Author: Rebecca Roanhorse

Publisher: Disney Hyperion 2020

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

Pages: 298

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Lately, seventh grader Nizhoni Begay has been able to detect monsters, like that man in the fancy suit who was in the bleachers at her basketball game. Turns out he's Mr. Charles, her dad's new boss at the oil and gas company, and he's alarmingly interested in Nizhoni and her brother, Mac, their Navajo heritage, and the legend of the Hero Twins. Nizhoni knows he's a threat, but her father won't believe her. When Dad disappears the next day, leaving behind a message that says "Run!", the siblings and Nizhoni's best friend, Davery, are thrust into a rescue mission that can only be accomplished with the help of Diné Holy People, all disguised as quirky characters. Their aid will come at a price: the kids must pass a series of trials in which it seems like nature itself is out to kill them. If Nizhoni, Mac, and Davery can reach the House of the Sun, they will be outfitted with what they need to defeat the ancient monsters Mr. Charles has unleashed. But it will take more than weapons for Nizhoni to become the hero she was destined to be . . . Timeless themes such as the importance of family and respect for the land resonate in this funny, fast-paced, and exciting quest adventure set in the American Southwest.

This was an addition to our homeschool curriculum. I thought it fit well with the theme of “Fantastic Journeys and Perilous Quests.” We get a great story weaving Navajo myths and stories with a very modern day middle school girl. The writing style is very much like Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series. I wonder if that was the direction given to these various authors. I wanted a bit more of a difference, but the characters and story definitely made up for it. We learned a lot about Navajo culture and had a lot of fun along the way.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Bloodlust & Bonnets by Emily McGovern

Title: Bloodlust & Bonnets

Author: Emily McGovern

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing 2019

Genre: Comics

Pages: 216

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Set in early nineteenth-century Britain, Bloodlust & Bonnets follows Lucy, an unworldly debutante who desires a life of passion and intrigue—qualities which earn her the attention of Lady Violet Travesty, the leader of a local vampire cult.

But before Lucy can embark on her new life of vampiric debauchery, she finds herself unexpectedly thrown together with the flamboyant poet Lord Byron (“from books!”) and a mysterious bounty-hunter named Sham. The unlikely trio lie, flirt, fight, and manipulate each other as they make their way across Britain, disrupting society balls, slaying vampires, and making every effort not to betray their feelings to each other as their personal and romantic lives become increasingly entangled.

What a delightfully funny little graphic novel! I randomly picked this one up from a shelf at the library and let it sit on my floor for weeks. I grabbed it after starting a very disappointing novel. This was just what i needed. Right away, we meet Lucy and then Byron (you know, like in the books) and encounter a cult of vampires. From there we follow a twisty and turny path to reconnect with those vampires to slay them? Questions and declarations and puns and double entendres abound! I was snort laughing throughout most of the book. I especially loved the little interactions with Napoleon the Eagle and Castle. Oh so good! If you need a pick-me-up that actually discussions love and duty and fate, pick this one up!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• Trying desperately to finish a few more spooky books before this month is over…

• I really love learning about dinosaurs. So glad that’s the boys’ current obsession.

• Double book club meetings this week. So much book talk!

• Here’s hoping that we get out to the state parks a few more times before the year ends.

• Oh the tv show Foundation is so good. I don’t want the season to end.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow

Title: A Spindle Splintered (Fractured Fables #1)

Author: Alix E. Harrow

Publisher: Tordotcom 2021

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 126

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Seasonal TBR

It's Zinnia Gray's twenty-first birthday, which is extra-special because it's the last birthday she'll ever have. When she was young, an industrial accident left Zinnia with a rare condition. Not much is known about her illness, just that no-one has lived past twenty-one.

Her best friend Charm is intent on making Zinnia's last birthday special with a full sleeping beauty experience, complete with a tower and a spinning wheel. But when Zinnia pricks her finger, something strange and unexpected happens, and she finds herself falling through worlds, with another sleeping beauty, just as desperate to escape her fate.

Loved this meta fairy tale where Zinnia falls into her favorite story, Sleeping Story. We get multiple pop culture references along Zinnia’s path to her own story. This book is very short, but fast-paced and fun. I loved seeing her interact with the other fairy tale characters. The twist at the end made the book worth it.

Fractured Fables

• #1 A Spindle Splintered

• #2 A Mirror Mended

Next up on the TBR pile:

In Love with a Haunted House by Kate Goldman

Title: In Love with a Haunted House

Author: Kate Goldman

Publisher: 2019

Genre: Romance

Pages: 130

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

The last thing Mallory Clark wants to do is move back home. She has no choice, though, since the company she worked for in Chicago has just downsized her, and everybody else. To make matters worse her fiancé has broken their engagement, and her heart, leaving her hurting and scarred. When her mother tells her that the house she always coveted as a child, the once-famed Gray Oaks Manor, is not only on the market but selling for a song, it seems to Mallory that the best thing she could possibly do would be to put Chicago, and everything and everyone in it, behind her. Arriving back home she runs into gorgeous and mysterious Blake Hunter. Blake is new to town and like her he is interested in buying the crumbling old Victorian on the edge of the historic downtown center, although his reasons are his own. Blake is instantly intrigued by the flame-haired beauty with the fiery temper and the vulnerable expression in her eyes. He can feel the attraction between them and knows it is mutual, but he also knows that the last thing on earth he needs is to get involved with a woman determined to take away a house he has to have.

Big caveat: I realize that this is more like a short story than a novel, so my review might be a bit unfair. But I still stand by my thoughts on this one.

I really really really wanted to love this story. I love the set-up of a woman returning to her hometown and attempting to buy the gothic mansion next door. I love the arrival of a long-lost grandson to stake a claim on the mansion. I love love love the idea of them getting together and working out how to deal with their attraction to each other and the house over the course of the story. I disliked how rushed this all feels. And I really dislike the weird interludes from the ghost. This seems like more of an initial story treatment than something that you actually publish.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

Title: The Ex Hex

Author: Erin Sterling

Publisher: Avon 2021

Genre: Romance

Pages: 318

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Unread Shelf RC - Author You’ve Never Read Before

Nine years ago, Vivienne Jones nursed her broken heart like any young witch would: vodka, weepy music, bubble baths…and a curse on the horrible boyfriend. Sure, Vivi knows she shouldn’t use her magic this way, but with only an “orchard hayride” scented candle on hand, she isn’t worried it will cause him anything more than a bad hair day or two.

That is until Rhys Penhallow, descendent of the town’s ancestors, breaker of hearts, and annoyingly just as gorgeous as he always was, returns to Graves Glen, Georgia. What should be a quick trip to recharge the town’s ley lines and make an appearance at the annual fall festival turns disastrously wrong. With one calamity after another striking Rhys, Vivi realizes her silly little Ex Hex may not have been so harmless after all.

Suddenly, Graves Glen is under attack from murderous wind-up toys, a pissed off ghost, and a talking cat with some interesting things to say. Vivi and Rhys have to ignore their off the charts chemistry to work together to save the town and find a way to break the break-up curse before it’s too late.

I picked this one up and sped through it in about two days. Perfect read for this witchy week. This is a light-hearted mystery and romance set in a small college town. I enjoyed the setting and the atmosphere. I enjoyed the side characters and the general vibe. I really loved all the fun witchy adventures. I could have used more romance inn that it seemed to get the romance started and then speed ahead. I wanted to sit int he romance a bit more before moving to the next scene. I also wanted a bit more of the mystery drawn out. The ending came very abruptly and I just wanted a bit more.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool Fall Break: We Caught Up!

What We Studied

Originally I had scheduled our Fall Break week for this past week. I knew we would get behind on curriculum because of sickness or unexpected disruptions. Thankfully it happened because of the second reason not the first. That meant that we ended up taking this week to catch up on some subjects and do a bit of fill in. The kids had no idea that I scrapped their break week. (To be fair, we have had our share of break days throughout the fall.)

Literature and Poetry

Continuing with our reading of Race to the Sun. We are a bit behind due to lots of random things, but we’re really enjoying the story and will finish soon. We also covered a few picture book studies for our fall theme.

• Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

• Hidden City: Poems of Urban Wildlife by Sarah Grace Tuttle

• I and You and Don’t Forget Who: What is a Pronoun by Brian P. Cleary

• When I was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant

• Piggie Pie by Margie Palatini

• The Adventures of Beekle by Dan Santat

Math

We’re still working through Unit 3 about multiplication and division. We’ll be staying here for another few weeks to gain some mastery. We also read a few math related picture books, including starting the Sir Cumference series.

• Singapore Math Common Core Edition 3A

• The Wing Brothers: Carnival de Math by Ethan Long

• Sir Cumference and the First Round Table by

Social Studies

This week was all about the Magna Carta.

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• When on Earth

• DK History

• A Medieval Feast by Aliki

• A Medieval Cathedral by Fiona MacDonald

• The Magna Carta: Cornerstone of the Constitution by Roberta Baxter

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 packet work and some random building projects.

Science and STEAM Coop

Continuing with our Dinosaur unit from Blossom and Root! We covered the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian and Devonian Periods.

• Everything Awesome About Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Beasts by Mike Lowery

• The Story of Life: Evolution by Katie Scott

• Life: The First Four Billion Years by Martin Jenkins

• When the Whales Walked and Other Incredibly Evolutionary Journeys by Dougal Dixon

• Prehistoric: Before the Dinosaurs by David West

• DK Prehistoric

• Prehistoric by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

Art/Music

Nothing 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. For ELA, we continued our big overview of the alphabet. We covered more counting and some basic math concepts as well as simple map skills. And we had some puzzles to round out the week. We also continued a big unit on transportation.

ELA

• Once Upon an Alphabet by Oliver Jeffers

• My “q” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

• Quentin Quokka’s by Barbara deRubertis

• My “r” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

• Rosie Raccoon’s Rock and Roll Raft by Barbara deRubertis

• The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle

• Quick as a Cricket by Dan and Audrey Woods

Math

Other

• Awesome Ambulances by Tony Mitton

• Flash the Little Fire Engine by Pam Calvert

• Emergency Vehicles by Melissa Abramovitz

• Patrolling Police Cars by Tony Mitton

• Dial 9-1-1! by Charles Ghigna

• A Fire Truck Named Red by Randall de Sève

• Emergency Monster Squad by Dave Horowitz

• Counting Cars

• All Kinds of Cars by Carl Johanson

• The Gingerbread Man Loose on the Fire Truck by Laura Murray

• Bunnies on the Bus by Philip Ardagh

• Let’s Build by Julie M. Fenner

• Diggers by Amy Johnson

• Mighty, Mighty Construction Site by Sherry Dusky Rinker

• Let’s Go on a Digger by Rosalyn Albert

• Trucks Galore by Peter Stein

• The Digger and the Flower by Joseph Kuefler

• The Mixed-Up Truck by Stephen Savage

• Truck, Truck, Goose by Tammi Sauer

Field Trip

One last trip to Vala’s for the season! We arrived right when they opened, met up with friends, and spent 6 1/2 hours there! So much fun. Each of the boys picked one thing that they could not miss (bouncy pillows for Quentin and the corn pit for Arthur). Plus, we grabbed a few pumpkins and some cookies on the way out. Another successful season at one of my favorite places.

Documentary Selection

I have carved out a one hour time block each week to watch a documentary related to our studies. We didn’t actually watch anything this week, but made up for it by all the PBS Eons videos for our dinosaur unit.

Misc. - Random picture books read

• One Leaf, Two Leaves, Count with Me by John Micklos Jr.

• Yellow Time by Lauren Stringer

• Never Ask a Dinosaur to Dinner by Gareth Edwards

• Leaves by David Ezra Stein

Highs and Low

• We loved our fist trip to Vala’s, but were so sad that it was our last one of the season. I might just buy season passes next year. I just love going and that would allow us to do a few mornings instead of three marathon days. And maybe we could go at night with J one time like on a Wednesday or something.

Next Week

• Continuing to read Race to the Sun

• Moving to Cahokia and the Ancient Puebloans for history

• Mastering multiplication and division

• Moving forward in time for the Dinosaur Unit

• Covering dinosaurs for coop! (We’re hosting!)

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - DED "Kill Beautiful Things"

A new find of mine on Octane. I really love this song that’s playing on repeat.