Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

Title: Doomsday Book (Oxford Time Travel #1)

Author: Connie Willis

Publisher: Spectra 1992

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 592

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

For Kivrin, preparing to travel back in time to study one of the deadliest eras in humanity’s history was as simple as receiving inoculations against the diseases of the fourteenth century and inventing an alibi for a woman traveling alone. For her instructors in the twenty-first century, it meant painstaking calculations and careful monitoring of the rendezvous location where Kivrin would be received.

But a crisis strangely linking past and future strands Kivrin in a bygone age as her fellows try desperately to rescue her. In a time of superstition and fear, Kivrin—barely of age herself—finds she has become an unlikely angel of hope during one of history’s darkest hours.

Another decent, but not my favorite book that we’ve read for the Nerdy Bookish Friends book club. I had heard of this book mentioned in sci-fi circles as an example of time travel fiction. I really wanted to love this book but ended up only enjoying it. The book starts out strong with a plot to travel back to the Middle Ages to explore. But, we know that something is going to go wrong. And it quickly goes wrong. I didn’t quite realize that this was going to be a pandemic novel. Those parts didn’t bother me. What did mother me was the parts that seemed to be unclear on what actually happened and the loose ends by the end of the story. I know that it’s the start of a series, but it really flew like Willis didn’t really know where she was going with the story. I found multiple logical inconsistencies that I just couldn’t love.

Oxford Time Travel

#0.5 Fire Watch
#1 Doomsday Book
#2 To Say Nothing of the Dog
#3 Blackout
#4 All Clear

Next up on the TBR pile:

Camp Creepy by Kiersten White

Title: Camp Creepy (The Sinister Summer #3)

Author: Kiersten White

Publisher: Delacorte Press 2023

Genre: Middle Grade Horror

Pages: 288

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

After leaving the Sanguine Spa in pursuit of Edgaren't, the kids find themselves at a mysterious summer camp, Camp Creek. There are lake games and happy counselors, and there's even a tie-dye cabin. It's all very . . . normal.

But if Theo and Alexander know one thing, it's that normal doesn't always mean good. When everyone around her starts acting strange, Theo wonders if maybe the fumes from the tie-dye cabin are seeping into their brains, and she resolves to investigate what's really going on at Camp Creek.

The third book in #1 New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White's Sinister Summer series continues the adventures of the Sinister-Winterbottoms and their aunt, who never saw a discount vacation destination she didn’t love.

If you are looking for a series that dupes A Series of Unfortunate Events is some clever ways, pick this one up! I absolutely adore this creepy mystery series. In this volume, we finally get to visit the summer camp full of strangely perky children and teens. And we get more insight into the larger mystery alongside hooking back up with some favorite characters. I adored seeing Wil being much more open and present with Theo and Alexander. A super fun adventure! I can’t believe that I didn’t catch the twist, but thoroughly enjoyed the reveal. On to the fourth book!

The Sinister Summer

#1 Wretched Waterpark
#2 Vampiric Vacation
#3 Camp Creepy
#4 Menacing Manor

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Next up on the TBR pile:

A Duke in Disguise by Cat Sebastian

Title: A Duke in Disguise (Regency Imposters #2)

Author: Cat Sebastian

Publisher: Avon Impulse 2019

Genre: Romance

Pages: 304

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

Spice Rating: 5

One reluctant heir

If anyone else had asked for his help publishing a naughty novel, Ash would have had the sense to say no. But he’s never been able to deny Verity Plum. Now he has his hands full illustrating a book and trying his damnedest not to fall in love with his best friend. The last thing he needs is to discover he’s a duke’s lost heir. Without a family or a proper education, he’s had to fight for his place in the world, and the idea of it—and Verity—being taken away from him chills him to the bone.

One radical bookseller

All Verity wants is to keep her brother out of prison, her business afloat, and her hands off Ash. Lately it seems she’s not getting anything she wants. She knows from bitter experience that she isn’t cut out for romance, but the more time she spends with Ash, the more she wonders if maybe she’s been wrong about herself.

One disaster waiting to happen

Ash has a month before his identity is exposed, and he plans to spend it with Verity. As they explore their long-buried passion, it becomes harder for Ash to face the music. Can Verity accept who Ash must become or will he turn away the only woman he’s ever loved?

I picked up the series on the recommendation of a ton of internet friends. And while I didn’t absolutely love the first book (didn’t quite buy the romantic connection), thankfully this book more than made up for the shortcomings. I really fell for Ash and Verity. We get to see two people that have created a found family from struggle and are desperate to maintain that family. Usually I am not a huge fan of the friends to lovers trope, but this one worked. It felt authentic to me. At the same time, we get to see two character struggle with their own issues. The biggest point that I really loved was the fact that they communicated with one another! Loved it so much! Now I’m excited to read the conclusion to this trilogy of romances.

Regency Imposters

#1 Unmasked by the Marquess
#2 A Duke in Disguise
#3 A Delicate Deception

Next up on the TBR pile:

The First Bright Thing by JR Dawson

Title: The First Bright Thing

Author: JR Dawson

Publisher: Tor Books 2023

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 336

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Author with Same Name Town as You

Ringmaster — Rin, to those who know her best — can jump to different moments in time as easily as her wife, Odette, soars from bar to bar on the trapeze. And the circus they lead is a rare home and safe haven for magical misfits and outcasts, known as Sparks.

With the world still reeling from World War I, Rin and her troupe — the Circus of the Fantasticals — travel the midwest, offering a single night of enchantment and respite to all who step into their Big Top.

But threats come at Rin from all sides. The future holds an impending war that the Sparks can see barrelling toward their show and everyone in it. And Rin's past creeps closer every day, a malevolent shadow she can’t fully escape.

It takes the form of another circus, with tents as black as midnight and a ringmaster who rules over his troupe with a dangerous power. Rin's circus has something he wants, and he won't stop until it's his.

A friend at the bookish retreat recommended this new novel from an Omaha author. I finally got it from the library and dove straight in. I adored the world created in this fantasy novel. Apparently, I really enjoy fantasy novels set in circuses… This one was populated by an interesting array of circus inhabitants. We get to see how they have all created a family in the midst of a strange and changing world. I loved the idea of the Sparks and their various abilities. We get to see how some have used their powers for good while others have used their powers to hurt others. I loved connecting all the dots between timelines and characters. I wasn’t surprised by the big twist, but felt that it was an earned reveal. The last few chapters are really nonstop action. Thankfully we get a satisfying conclusion to the storyline. Such a great debut! I will have to see what the author writes next.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #16

Reading: I’m continuing with Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress series. I hope to finish it soon-ish. Maybe by October.

Watching: I finally watch the movie adaptation of Red, White, and Royal Blue. I had heard such mixed feelings on this one. After schooling my expectations, I actually found that I enjoyed it. Not as much as the book, but still enjoyed it.

Listening: I’m still binging Hello from the Magic Tavern podcast episodes. Only a few episodes at a time, but still absolutely loving it.

Making: Quentin has requested banana bread. Guess I should make it for him, but definitely need to do it in the morning before the temps get super high.

Feeling: Speaking of, it’s so incredibly hot. I’m beyond hot and irritable this week.

Planning: I need to review our schedule for next week’s activities. Not quite sure what we are going to do.

Loving: With the ridiculous temperatures, I am so thankful and loving of air conditioning. And the fact that we have a basement to hide in when the upstairs get stuffy.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W2: Another Over Scheduled Week

What We Studied

Our second week and I, once again, over scheduled our curriculum. It’s going to take me a few weeks to settle into a good sustainable routine, but we will get there! We did fit in multiple outings and nature walks this week. And we tried to school outside a few times, once at the Gene Leahy Mall and once at the zoo. It went okay. Unfortunately, it started raining at the Gene Leahy Mall, so that cut our school work short that day. We did manage to fit in a bit of school work. I want to try to do this every few weeks, especially as the weather changes. I don’t want to be a house hermit this winter.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur finished reading Mrs. Frisby. It was a good first book to start discussing The Hero’s Journey. Beyond the actual literature, we are working on some basic grammar skills and starting our writing journey. He also started his Super Secret Notebook from Blossom & Root. And finally, we continued reading the coop book club selection.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert O’Brien
Poetry for Young People: American Poetry
Reading Explorer: Intro
Wildoak by CC Harrington

Quentin explored all the books of Mo Willems this week. We all really love his books so much. I read the Piggie sections and Q read the Gerald sections in the Elephant and Piggy collection. We didn’t get to all the theme week books on color, but covered a few throughout the week. (Guess we’ll be continuing that theme into next week.) He also worked on some basic grammar.

Sing a Song of Seasons
Silver Seeds by Paul Paolilli and Dan Brewer
Vivid: Poems and Notes About Color by Julie Paschkis
Color Me a Rhyme by Jane Yolen
All the Mo Willems books
Harold and Hog Pretend for Real! by Dan Santat
My World of Science: Color by Angela Royston
Colors by Shelley Rotner and Anne Woodhull
Summer Color! by Diana Murray
I Spy Colors in Art by Lucy Micklethwait

Math

Arthur continued his math year with some review packets. We will start his next Singapore book next week or the week after. We’ll see how that goes. We also started our next logic book.

Orbiting with Logic

Quentin jumped back into Singapore 1B to tackle multiplication and then division before we move on. Based on his work this week, we might take a small review break after finishing 1B and before beginning 2A. I’m still deciding. We also continued our logic book. While at the zoo, Q and I played a Pirate Place Value game.

Lollipop Logic Book 3
Singapore Common Core 1B

Social Studies

Arthur jumped back into BYL 6 and History Quest: US History starting at the beginning of the Civil War. We’ll be sprinkling in various historical fiction readers to reinforce the time periods.

DK American History
We were There Too! Young People in US History
Two Miserable Presidents by Steve Sheinkin
Abraham Lincoln: Lawyer, President, Emancipator by Pamela Hill Nettleton
Abe Lincoln's Dream by Lane Smith
The Not So Boring Letters of Private Nobody by Matthew Landis

We started Quentin’s formal history curriculum with a basic discussion of the beginnings of the universe and speeding through up to the point that life starts to populate the Earth.

History Quest Introduction
DK When on Earth?
Annabelle and Aiden: Worlds Within Us by JR Becker
Older Than the Stars by Karen C. Fox
Annabelle and Aiden: The Story of Life by JR Becker
Annabelle and Aiden: Sapiens Our Human Evolution by JR Becker

Science

We managed to sneak in a joint nature science lesson while at the zoo on Tuesday. We talked about living and nonliving entities and used the zoo as our plot study.

Nature Connection by Clare Walker Leslie
Backyard by Donald Silver
Let’s Investigate with Nate: The Life Cycle by Nate Ball
Nature is an Artist by Jennifer Lavallee
A Year with Mama Earth by Rebecca Grabill
The Prairie That Nature Built by Marybeth Lorkiecki

Arthur is embarking upon RSO Chemistry this year. But before we officially start the curriculum, we are covering some basic Chemistry and Science lessons. Once we start the actual book, we will be doing the experiment portions with a group of coop friends. This week we focused on the idea of the very small to set up our chemistry study.

RSO Chemistry
DK Super Simple Chemistry
Story of Science Vol. 2: Newton at the Center by Joy Hakim
Nano: The Spectacular Science of the Very (Very) Small by Dr. Jess Wade
What’s Smaller Than a Pygmy Shrew? by Robert E. Wells

Quentin started RSO Life with a basic lesson defining life and thinking about science in a larger sense. He will also be engaging in various nature science lessons and explorations throughout the year.

RSO Life
DK Oversimple Biology

STEAM Coop

Arthur’s class covered more foraging and plant identification. They focused on poisonous plants this week. Q’s class explored leaves and trees and explored the different types. They also made a cute leaf rubbing wreath. I ended up helping Q’s group as a floater.

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

Another week that I actually fit in art and music! I am on a roll! We covered the music of Ali Farka Toure and the art of Frida Kahlo.

The Science of Song: How and Why We Make Music by Alan Cross, Emme Cross, and Nicole Mortillaro
DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts
Why is Art Full of Naked People by Susie Hodge
13 Art Movements Chldren Should Know
The Two Fridas: Memories Written by Frida Kahlo
Women in Art by Rachel Ignotogsky
DK Timelines of Everyone
13 Women Artists Children Should Know
13 Artists Children Should Know
Frida Kahlo: The Artist Who Painted Herself by Margaret Frith
The Story of Paintings: A History of Art for Children by Mick Manning and Brita Granstorm
Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos by Monica Brown
Modern art Adventures by Maja Pitamic and Jill Laidlaw
Portrait of an Artist: Frida Kahlo by Lucy Brownbridge

Field Trip

Beyond our out-school attempts at the Gene Leahy Mall and the zoo on Monday and Tuesday, we did get in a short nature hike on Friday morning. In addition, as a family, we attended a nightfall celebration at the Platte River State Park on Friday night. The kids ate s’mores, learned about fire (the science of), played at the playground, and went on a night hike. The night hike portion was a ton of fun and the boys loved using the small flashlights to spot interesting animals and plants. They even found some glow-in-the-dark moss under the waterfall. We’ll be talking more about this night hike next week during our nature science.

High

Schooling at the zoo actually went really well. Part of our success was not inviting a ton of friends. We explored part of the zoo and then had two school sessions in sparsely populated areas.

Low

(Just repeating what I said last week) I over scheduled our curriculum for the week. Definitely need to reevaluate my plan of next week…

Next Week

Continuing our forest skills unit for coop (A) and starting insects (Q)
Starting a new read aloud for A
Moving forward with our study of the Civil War
Starting Singapore 5A?
Reading a lot Doreen Cronin books
Covering the basics of fractions
Admiring Tyree Guyton’s art
Listening to Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier Saint-Georges’s music

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - Billie Eilish "What Was I Made For"

Seriously, I love her voice…

Next up on the TBR pile:

Summer Bucket List Update #2

I missed making this post last week as I was in the middle of a medical issue. But I’m back and feeling a bit better, so let’s see what we have on our summer bucket list this year…

Complete the Library Reading Program ✓
Ice Cream Tour of Omaha (in progress)
Louisville, Two Rivers, and Fremont SRAs
Trip to Indiana and Ohio ✓
Cookout with Friends ✓
Lincoln Day
5 Splash Pad Visits (4/5)
3 Movies at the Theater (1/3)
3 Omaha Zoo Visits ✓
Read 50 Books (44/50)
August Movie Month - Well, that just didn’t happen. Completely got away from me.
September Game Month

Next up on the TBR pile:

Life Right Now #24

As I look outside my window: It’s bright and sunny and the temperatures are going to be so high today. Hopefully, I can stay cool.

Right now I am: Prepping to leave for The Breakfast Club with some other homeschool parents. I’m finally making it to the meeting! And we will be discussing Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kemmerer.

On my bedside table: One Grave at a Time by Jeaniene Frost; Lore Olympus Vol. 3

On my tv this week: J had me watch Agent Elvis. That show really snuck up on me! Reminds me of Hit-Monkey. We also kept up with some of our currently airing shows and started S2 of Killing It.

Listening to: Mostly just my usual podcasts. Nothing too exciting from this week.

On the menu for this week:

Monday - Crab Coconut Curry
Tuesday - Fancy BLT Grilled Cheese
Wednesday - Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Pesto Pasta with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Asparagus
Saturday - Grill Night
Sunday - Sweet Potato Nachos

On my to do list: I have a list of coop and homeschooling tasks to accomplish this coming week. And I need to make some appointments (doctor, flu shot, eye, etc).

Happening this week: It’s going to be terribly hot this week, so we are going to basically hibernate in our house. Unfortunately, the pools are all closed. We might venture out too a splash pad that’s still open.

Monday - Home day
Tuesday - Home day
Wednesday - Home day
Thursday - Coop
Friday - Nature Explorers (if it’s not too hot…)
Saturday - Home day
Sunday - Nerdy Bookish Friends Book Club

What I am creating: I finally printed my June photos for my Memory Planner. Now I just need to sit down and finish the pages.

My simple pleasures: Popcorn, ice water, fun MG horror books, conversation with other homeschool parents

Looking around the house: J finished cleaning the carpets on the main floor. Now I just have to wait until the floor is dry so we can move everything back. And maybe I can use my living room again by Monday.

From the camera: Hanging at the playground at Platte River State Park.

The Deep by Nick Cutter

Title: The Deep

Author: Nick Cutter

Publisher: Gallery Books 2015

Genre: Horror

Pages: 394

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

A strange plague called the ‘Gets is decimating humanity on a global scale. It causes people to forget—small things at first, like where they left their keys, then the not-so-small things, like how to drive or the letters of the alphabet. Their bodies forget how to function involuntarily. There is no cure.

But now, far below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, deep in the Mariana Trench, a heretofore-unknown substance hailed as “ambrosia”—a universal healer, from initial reports—has been discovered. It may just be the key to eradicating the ‘Gets.

In order to study this phenomenon, a special research lab, the Trieste, has been built eight miles under the sea’s surface. But when the station goes incommunicado, a brave few descend through the lightless fathoms in hopes of unraveling the mysteries lurking at those crushing depths…and perhaps to encounter an evil blacker than anything one could possibly imagine.

Absolutely horrifying! This was a masterpiece is laying out suspense and dread over the course of the entire book while still giving us some extremely creepy moments throughout. This is not the book if you are squeamish at all and/or do not like body horror. We all know that something is seriously wrong on the research station even before Al and Lucas begin their descent. And it just keeps getting worse. The book reminded me a lot of Event Horizon or even Sphere. We have to parse out what is real and what is imagined. But in the end, does it really matter? I absolutely was creeped out by this book (which does not happen very often at all). Definitely going to be having a few nightmares from this one.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker

Title: The Keeper of Night (The Keeper of Night #1)

Author: Kylie Lee Baker

Publisher: Inkyard Press 2021

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 393

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf: BOTM Cleanout

Death is her destiny.

Half British Reaper, half Japanese Shinigami, Ren Scarborough has been collecting souls in the London streets for centuries. Expected to obey the harsh hierarchy of the Reapers who despise her, Ren conceals her emotions and avoids her tormentors as best she can.

When her failure to control her Shinigami abilities drives Ren out of London, she flees to Japan to seek the acceptance she’s never gotten from her fellow Reapers. Accompanied by her younger brother, the only being on earth to care for her, Ren enters the Japanese underworld to serve the Goddess of Death…only to learn that here, too, she must prove herself worthy. Determined to earn respect, Ren accepts an impossible task—find and eliminate three dangerous Yokai demons—and learns how far she’ll go to claim her place at Death’s side.

The premise and start of this book really sucked me in. I wanted a horror-ish telling of Japanese mythology. For the first couple of chapters, I was completely in it. But then, once Red and her brother actually arrive in Japan, the story basically stops. We get huge passages of slow-moving prose with lots of annoying whining. And the romance! Completely ridiculous and so not a romance. I hated it. I tried to look past those issues, but ultimately I just couldn’t find myself enjoying this book.

The Keeper of Night

#1 The Keeper of Night
#2 The Empress of Time

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

Today is our second coop of the semester. Thankfully the temperatures are a bit better this week. It was so hot last week!
I think I need to permanently make Thursday leftover night. Coop really takes it out of me.
I promised Q banana bread this week. Guess I need to add that to my to dos on Friday.
Definitely need to do a library run tomorrow…

Next up on the TBR pile:

Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang

Title: Beautiful Country

Author: Qian Julie Wang

Publisher: Doubleday 2021

Genre: Memoir

Pages: 320

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Refugee

In Chinese, the word for America, Mei Guo, translates directly to “beautiful country.” Yet when seven-year-old Qian arrives in New York City in 1994 full of curiosity, she is overwhelmed by crushing fear and scarcity. In China, Qian’s parents were professors; in America, her family is “illegal” and it will require all the determination and small joys they can muster to survive.

In Chinatown, Qian’s parents labor in sweatshops. Instead of laughing at her jokes, they fight constantly, taking out the stress of their new life on one another. Shunned by her classmates and teachers for her limited English, Qian takes refuge in the library and masters the language through books, coming to think of The Berenstain Bears as her first American friends. And where there is delight to be found, Qian relishes it: her first bite of gloriously greasy pizza, weekly “shopping days,” when Qian finds small treasures in the trash lining Brooklyn’s streets, and a magical Christmas visit to Rockefeller Center—confirmation that the New York City she saw in movies does exist after all.

But then Qian’s headstrong Ma Ma collapses, revealing an illness that she has kept secret for months for fear of the cost and scrutiny of a doctor’s visit. As Ba Ba retreats further inward, Qian has little to hold onto beyond his constant refrain: Whatever happens, say that you were born here, that you’ve always lived here.

Our August choice for book club and it just wasn’t my thing. Very rarely do I really enjoy a memoir/autobiography. They often fall a little flat for me and sometimes become very repetitive. This one started out interesting highlighting a life experience that is very different from my own. But… I found that Wang does not do enough self-reflection and commentary about her early life in America. We see many family members making terrible choices without commentary. Wide swathes of peoples are painted with a large brush, exactly what Wang argues is her own experience. I wanted to see a bit of self-reflection with her own biases and prejudices. We don’t get too much introspection. And then the book just ends. The last chapter does a bit of fast-forwarding to her later life, but it just felt unfinished in my mind.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Break Your Glass Slippers by Amanda Lovelace

Title: Break Your Glass Slippers

Author: Amanda Lovelace

Publisher: Andrews McMeel 2020

Genre: Poetry

Pages: 160

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

amanda lovelace, the bestselling & award-winning author of the “women are some kind of magic” poetry series, presents a new companion series, “you are your own fairy tale” the first installment, break your glass slippers, is about overcoming those who don’t see your worth, even if that person is sometimes yourself. in the epic tale of your life, you are the most important character while everyone is but a forgotten footnote. even the prince.

Friends at the bookish recommendation gave this book title to me as something I would enjoy. And I really did enjoy this! Lovelace’s slim collection of poetry is a mix of fairy tale retellings and autobiographical poems. The style and topics are very much in the same vein as Nikita Gill’s writings. I really love her stuff and Lovelace’s came close to it, but not quite surpassed Gill’s poems. I enjoyed these poems but as a collection, they were very slim. I wanted a bit more depth and reflection. But, I think I do need to read to rest of the volumes in her collection.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W1: Full Force into Another Year!

What We Studied

Arthur started 4th grade and Quentin started 1st grade this Monday. Of course, I over scheduled us and overestimated how much curriculum we would actually get through. But the first week is always a time to learn our limits and our rhythms. We’ll get to a better schedule soon.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur began his literature and language arts journey by reading Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. We should finish next week. So far, we are really enjoying this story. And it’s amazingly easy to read out loud. Beyond the actual literature, we are working on some basic grammar skills and starting our writing journey. He also started his Super Secret Notebook from Blossom & Root. And finally, we started reading the coop book club selection.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Richard O’Brien
Poetry for Young People: American Poetry
Reading Explorer: Intro
Wildoak by CC Harrington

Quentin started with a week of nursery rhymes and poetry. I didn’t want to dump him into a big chapter book, so we started easy. He also worked on some basic grammar.

Mother Goose Collection
Sing a Song of Seasons
Our Big Home by Linda Glaser

Math

Arthur began his math year with some review packets. We will start his next Singapore book next week or the week after. We’ll see how that goes. We also started our next logic book.

Orbiting with Logic

Quentin jumped back into Singapore 1B to tackle multiplication and then division before we move on. Based on his work this week, we might take a small review break after finishing 1B and before beginning 2A. I’m still deciding. We also did start the next logic book. And we even put in a math game, Picnic Party.

Lollipop Logic Book 3
Singapore Common Core 1B

Social Studies

Arthur jumped back into BYL 6 and History Quest: US History starting at the beginning of the Civil War. We’ll be sprinkling in various historical fiction readers to reinforce the time periods.

DK American History
We were There Too! Young People in US History by Phillip Hoose
Two Miserable Presidents by Steve Sheinkin
Bull Run by Paul Fleischman

I held off Quentin’s formal history lessons for an introduction to the world and map skills.

Follow that Map by Scot Ritchie
A Child’s Introduction to the World by Heather Alexander

Science

RSO Chemistry
How to Think Like a Scientist by Stephen Kramer
Notable Notebooks: Scientists and Their Writings by Jessica Fries-Gaither
Story of Science Vol. 2: Newton at the Center by Joy Hakim

RSO Life
Many: The Diversity of Life on Earth by Nicola Davies
A Child’s Introduction to Natural History by Heather Alexander
DK Supersimple Biology

STEAM Coop

We started with a great nature based lesson at Schramm State Recreation Area. We now have four different levels that we teach each week. Quentin is now in the young class, now known as the Running Rhinos. They learned about trees. Arthur is in the oldest class. They learned about foraging and edible plants.

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

We actually started a joint art and music study. Our first week was all about introducing art in a general sense and the orchestra for music. Moving on, we will be choosing one artist and one composter/musician per week to learn a bit about.

The Art Lesson by Tomie dePaola
Why is Art Full of Naked People by
A Child’s Introduction to Art by Heather Alexander
DK Music and How it Works
The Story of the Incredible Orchestra by Bruce Koscielniak
DK The Arts
A Child’s Introduction to the Orchestra by Robert Levine

Field Trip

We had multiple nature excursions and a playground session this week. Two more nature hikes was just what we needed to get our year start right! One was at a favorite, Fontenelle Forest, and another was at the related nature area, Neale Woods. Our playground time was at a favorite close-by park. We’ll be back soon I imagine.

High

Our high was definitely the first week of coop! Except for a few direction hiccups for a few families, we had a very successful and smooth meeting. All the kids seemed to enjoy themselves.

Low

I over scheduled our curriculum for the week. Definitely need to reevaluate my plan of next week…

Next Week

Continuing our plant study for coop
Finishing Mrs. Frisby
Moving forward with our study of the Civil War
Starting Singapore 5A?
Reading a lot Mo Willems books
Covering the basics of division
Admiring Frida Kahlo’s art
Listening to Ali Farka Toure’s music

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - Dua Lipa "Dance the Night"

Sometimes I just really need a good pop song to groove to. And this really hits the spot.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Life Right Now #23

As I look outside my window: It rained again last night. And it’s still pretty wet this morning. Glad it happened on a home day and not a park playdate day.

Right now I am: Making an orange breakfast cake for brunch before clearing our the living room so J can clean the carpets. Busy morning!

On my bedside table: An Immense World by Ed Yong; A Duke in Disguise by Cat Sebastian

On my tv this week: We’ve kept up with our currently airing shows. We also finally started The Beatles documentary Get Back.

Listening to: I downloaded Nita Strauss’s new album and I am obsessed. So good!

On the menu for this week:

Monday - Chicken Shawarma Fries
Tuesday - Ginger Glazed Pork Chops
Wednesday - Leftovers
Thursday - Fancy BLT Grilled Cheese
Friday - Out
Saturday - Buffalo Chicken Nachos
Sunday - Crab Coconut Curry

On my to do list: Lots of things I imagine, but the first thing is fix our curriculum for next week. I over scheduled us for week one so everything is a bit out of sync. Per a big discussion at a coop related birthday party yesterday, I need to make a list of potential spaces to hold winter coop in…

Happening this week:

Monday - Trying something new: Breakfast and School at Gene Leahy Mall
Tuesday - Zoo Day
Wednesday - Home day
Thursday - Coop
Friday - Nature Walk at OPPD Arboretum, Nightfall at Platte River
Saturday - Book Club Pool Party
Sunday - The Breakfast Club

What I am creating:

My simple pleasures:

Looking around the house: We bought a carpet cleaner and J decided that yesterday was the perfect day to clean the dining room and playroom. I must admit that it does look better. Now we need to do the living room.

From the camera: The stack of books that I had put on our schedule for homeschool that we didn’t actually get to… That’s okay, this is why I schedule flex weeks periodically.

Happily Never After by Jeaniene Frost

Title: Happily Never After (Night Huntress #1.5)

Author: Jeaniene Frost

Publisher: Avon 2008

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Pages: 106

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

Spice Meter: 5 (albeit one with a vampire)

Isabella Spaga is about to reluctantly walk down the aisle with Mr. Dangerously Wrong…but not if dashing vampire Chance has anything to say about it. As a favor to Bones, Chance has come to derail this wedding of beauty to the beast. Now if only he can keep his hands off the bride. From New York Times bestselling author Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress world, it’s the wedding of the season…that everyone wants to miss.

I finally tracked down some of the novellas for the Night Huntress series. This one involves a vampire that we briefly met in the first volume of the series. And yea! I was excited to see a little story involving him and his new lady love. We get a fun short story full of action and adventure and some truly terrible villains that were definitely deserving of their fates. Very cute addition to the stories. Now I need to track down some of the later stories…

Night Huntress:

#0.5 Reckoning
#1 Halfway to the Grave
#1.2 The Other Half of the Grave
#1.5 Happily Never After
#2 One Foot in the Grave
#3 At Grave’s End
#3.5 Devil to Pay
#4 Destined for an Early Grave
#4.5 One for the Money
#5 This Side of the Grave
#6 One Grave at a Time
#6.5 Home for the Holidays
#7 Up from the Grave
#7.5 Outtakes from the Grave
#7.6 A Grave Girls’ Getaway
#8 Both Feet in the Grave

Next up on the TBR pile:

Vampiric Vacation by Kiersten White

Title: Vampiric Vacation (The Sinister Summer #2)

Author: Kiersten White

Publisher: Delacorte Press 2022

Genre: Middle Grade Horror

Pages: 320

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

After leaving Fathoms of Fun, the kids are on their way to the next odd summer destination their aunt has chosen for them. This time, they find themselves dropped off at the Sanguine Spa in the “little Transylvania Mountains.” There they meet the owners: Mina, her mysterious little sister, Lucy (who is extremely pale, can’t go in the sunlight, and has an affinity for hanging upside down from the ceiling), and their intimidating guardian, the Count.

When the Count sends all the children in the spa on a scavenger hunt, the Sinister-Winterbottoms use the excuse to snoop around and discover that this spa may be more than just eerie—it might also hold clues to what happened to their parents. When Wil starts to show vampiric symptoms, the twins resolve to investigate what’s really going on at the Sanguine Spa.

The second book in the Sinister Summer series continues the adventures of the Sinister-Winterbottoms and their aunt who never saw a discount vacation destination she didn’t love.

The library finally got the rest of this series for me to enjoy. I loved the first one and couldn’t wait to dive into the rest. The series reminds me a lot of A Series of Unfortunate Events with the mix of spooky and absurd happenings. We get another adventure, this time at a spa that may or may not be inhabited by vampires. We get more of the overall mystery and some clues along the way. And throughout everything, we are delighted to be following Theo and Alexander as they keep each other safe, along with occasionally making sure their sister Wil doesn’t walk off a cliff. I loved the play on the vampire myths and the story of Dracula in particular. There was a line early on about lawyers and suites that made me laugh out loud. I think the boys would really enjoy reading this series after me.

The Sinister Summer

#1 Wretched Waterpark
#2 Vampiric Vacation
#3 Camp Creepy
#4 Menacing Manor

Next up on the TBR pile:

Wrapped Up in You by Jill Shalvis

Title: Playing for Keeps (Heartbreaker Bay #8)

Author: Jill Shalvis

Publisher: Avon 2019

Genre: Romance

Pages: 348

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

Spice Rating: 5

It’s love. Trust me.

After a lifetime on the move, Ivy Snow is an expert in all things temporary—schools, friends, and way too many Mr. Wrongs. Now that she owns a successful taco truck in San Francisco and an apartment to call home, Ivy’s reinvented life is on solid ground. And she’s guarded against anything that can rock it. Like the realities of a past she’s worked hard to cover up. And especially Kel O’Donnell. Too hot not to set off alarms, he screams temporary. If only his whispers weren’t so delightfully naughty and irresistible.

Kel, an Idaho sheriff and ranch owner, is on vacay, but Ivy’s a spicy reason to give his short-term plans a second thought. Best of all, she’s a tonic for his untrusting heart, burned once and still in repair. But when Ivy’s past intrudes on a perfect romance, Kel fears that everything she’s told him has been a perfect lie. Now, if only Ivy’s willing to share, Kel will fight for a true love story.

And we have come to the end of the Heartbreaker Bay series, or at least I assume it’s the end. I can’t actually find the two short stories that I haven’t read and I don’t think Shalvis has written any more with these characters. So we finally get a story featuring Ivy after being name dropped for the last few books. She gets a decent story involving Caleb’s cousin Kel. I did enjoy those two together, figuring out how to deal with their family dramas and learning to open up to each other. The overall action plot line wasn’t my favorite in the series, but it did add to the overall story. I did wish to see a bit more time between Ivy and Kel before they engaged in a relationship. I’m a sucker for tension and this book left me wanting more. But it was a fun breezy read for the week as I finish this series I started at Christmas last year.

Heartbreaker Bay

Next up on the TBR pile: