November 2023 Wrap-up

November TBR Pile (21/27):

Bookworms BC: All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Friend BC: Underground Airlines by Ben Winters ✓
Nerdy Bookish Friends BC: The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers ✓
Kid Read Aloud: Tristan Strong Destroys the World by Kwame Mbalia ✓
Kid Read Aloud: The Wild Robot Protects by Peter Brown
Kid Book Club: From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks ✓
Romance: Brutal Prince by Sophie Lark ✓
Romance: A Delicate Deception by Cat Sebastian ✓
Romance: Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey
Romance: Unfortunately Yours by Tessa Bailey
Romance: Love of My Lives by Yamille Saied Mendez
Romance: The Wake-Up Call by Beth O’Leary ✓
Romance: The Dragon’s Bride by Katee Robert ✓
Romance: Shades of Wicked by Jeaniene Frost ✓
Romance: Wicked All Night by Jeaniene Frost ✓
Romance: Wicked Bite by Jeaniene Frost ✓
Romance: Role Playing by Cathy Yardley ✓
Horror: Find Him Where You Left Him Dead by Kristen Simmons ✓
Horror: The September House by Carissa Orlando ✓
Nonfiction: Unlikeable Female Characters by Anna Bogutskaya ✓
Science Fiction: Starter Villain by John Schalzi ✓
Science Fiction: Ark by Veronica Roth ✓
Science Fiction: Emergency Skin by NK Jemisin ✓
Science Fiction: Summer Frost by Blake Crouch ✓
Science Fiction: Randomize by Andy Weir ✓
Science Fiction: You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles ✓
Science Fiction: The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay ✓

1,000,000 Page Goal:

Monthly Total: 5563 pages
Pages Remaining: 281,238 pages

Current Read - Snowed in for Christmas by Jacqueline Snowe; Whalefall by Daniel Kraus

Books I Gave Up On (0)

Books Bought/Received (0)

UnRead Shelf Progress

Starting Number: 339
Books Read: 1
Books Acquired: 0
Books Unshelved: 1
Finishing Number: 337

December TBR Pile: Not burdening myself with a TBR for this month. Just reading what I feel like.

Bookworms BC: None
Friend BC: None
Nerdy Bookish Friends BC: The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson
Kid Read Aloud: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Kid Read Aloud: The Wild Robot Protects by Peter Brown
Kid Book Club: A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd

Movies Watched - November became Nic Cage November! We began a retrospective of his entire career. Definitely not going to finish this month, but we can get a start. We ended up with 17 Nicolas Cage movies and one docmentary.

In Defense of Nicolas Cage
Rumble Fish (side character)
Valley Girl
Racing with the Moon (side character)
Birdy
The Cotton Club (side character)
Peggy Sue Got Married
The Boy in Blue
Moonstruck
Raising Arizona - Still my favorite Nicolas Cage movie!
Time to Kill - This is terrible. Skip it.
Firebirds
Wild at Heart - Reminds me why I don’t really enjoy Lynch.
Zandalee
Honeymoon in Vegas
Amos & Andrew
Deadfall
Red Rock West
Guarding Tess
Solarbabies - Obviously not a Nic Cage movie. This was for family movie night. Very cheesy 80s scifi movie.
Five Nights at Freddy’s - Kids’ pick for Thanksgiving movie night.
Fantastic Mr. Fox

TV Shows Watched

Loki S2
Lower Decks S3
Ghosts S6
Rick & Morty S7
Bachelor in Paradise
Shoresy S2
Doctor Who

Comments -

Next up on the TBR pile:

Role Playing by Cathy Yardley

Title: Role Playing

Author: Cathy Yardley

Publisher: Montlake 2023

Genre: Romance

Pages: 333

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - Autumn

Spice Rating: 5

Maggie is an unapologetically grumpy forty-eight-year-old hermit. But when her college-aged son makes her a deal—he’ll be more social if she does the same—she can’t refuse. She joins a new online gaming guild led by a friendly healer named Otter. So that nobody gets the wrong idea, she calls herself Bogwitch.

Otter is Aiden, a fifty-year-old optimist using the guild as an emotional outlet from his family drama caring for his aging mother while his brother plays house with Aiden’s ex-fiancée.

Bogwitch and Otter become fast virtual friends, but there’s a catch. Bogwitch thinks Otter is a college student. Otter assumes Bogwitch is an octogenarian.

When they finally meet face to face—after a rocky, shocking start—the unlikely pair of sunshine and stormy personalities grow tentatively closer. But Maggie’s previous relationships have left her bitter, and Aiden’s got a complicated past of his own.

Everything’s easier online. Can they make it work in real life?

Another contender for Dirty Book Month. While I really enjoyed a story featuring older protagonists, I really really wanted a few more spicy scenes. Those few don’t come until about 70% of the way through the book. If I put that complaint to the side, I really loved following Maggie and Aiden as they navigate life online and in person. We get to see two people who are ostracized from being their shelves by those around them. I rooted for them to to at least be comfortable in themselves by the end of the story. The scenes with Maggie’s ex-hsuband really made me so angry. I was so glad to see Maggie continue to be her honest self. Overall, a really good contemporary romance.

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Next up on the TBR pile:

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

Title: Starter Villain

Author: John Scalzi

Publisher: Tor Book 2023

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 264

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan.

Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie.

But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits. Jake had enemies, and now they're coming after Charlie. His uncle might have been a stand-up, old-fashioned kind of villain, but these are the real thing: rich, soulless predators backed by multinational corporations and venture capital.

It's up to Charlie to win the war his uncle started against a league of supervillains. But with unionized dolphins, hyper-intelligent talking spy cats, and a terrifying henchperson at his side, going bad is starting to look pretty good.

In a dog-eat-dog world...be a cat.

Another utterly delightfully entertaining science fiction romp by John Scalzi. I really enjoy his light and fluffy adventure stories every once in awhile between more serious scifi picks. This one drops you, and Charlie, into an unknown world. We have to slowly navigate our way through the villains, supervillains, and common assholes. My favorite parts involved Hera and the dolphins. Seriously, they stole the entire show when they appeared on the pages. There’s not a ton of substance to this book, but it’s one hell of an entertaining ride.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #22

Reading: I’m in between two books at the moment. I picked Whalefall by Daniel Kraus as my lighter thrillers and Bad Bachelor by Stephanie London as a potential dirty book month pick.

Watching: We’re wrapping up our first Nicolas Cage Quarterly. We’ve managed to get to the early 1990s in our first month. I know it’s going to take at least four months to get through all his movies and realistically more like five or six. But we’re doing it.

Listening: What else, I’ve been listening to 99PI and Hello from the Magic Tavern. Slowly, slowly I’m working through the back episodes.

Making: I was going to make coffee cake on Sunday, but just didn’t get around to it. Today is the day!

Feeling: After taking a few days off for Thanksgiving, I’m feel more centered. I took some time and relaxed a bit.

Planning: Just a few weeks until Christmas so I’m deep into travel planning. Trying to decide exactly when I’m going to leave and when I’m going to travel back home. I might just wait until I see the weather report for the week of Christmas before making final plans.

Loving: I had to grab more caramel lava cakes from Aldi’s this week. They are way too delicious!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - The Word Alive "No Way Out"

Another song I can’t get out of my head.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Life Right Now #34

As I look outside my window: Very gray and dark after our snow last night.

Right now I am: Probably going to finish my current read and then maybe my puzzle.

Thinking and pondering: How long can I hold off on going to the grocery story this week?

On my bedside table: Lots of Christmas romances only list.

On my tv this week: We’re continuing our Nic Cage Quarterly. We’ve made it up to the early 1990s.

Listening to: More episodes of 99PI and Hello from the Magic Tavern for my weekend listening.

On the menu for this week:

Monday - Italian Noodle Soup
Tuesday - Ham and Cheese Croissants
Wednesday - Me Out
Thursday - Buffalo Chicken Sliders
Friday - Pizza Night
Saturday - Balsamic Pork Roast
Sunday - Avocado, Mozzarella, Bruschetta Chicken

On my to do list: Lots of Christmas prep this week.

Happening this week:

Monday - Arthur Dentist Appointment
Tuesday - Home Day
Wednesday - Home Day
Thursday - Coop
Friday - Home Day
Saturday - Home Day
Sunday - Coop Book Club

What I am creating: I finished my October Memory Planner pages yesterday. I might just get started on my November pages today.

My simple pleasures: Sleeping without pain (did not happen last night), leftover turkey sandwiches

Looking around the house: Meh. I’m okay with it.

From the camera: Very cold, but enjoyable walk at Heron Haven on Black Friday.

Randomize by Andy Weir

Title: Randomize (Forward #6)

Author: Andy Weir

Publisher: Amazon Original Stories 2019

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 28

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER

In the near future, if Vegas games are ingeniously scam-proof, then the heists have to be too, in this imaginative and whip-smart story by the New York Times bestselling author of The Martian.

An IT whiz at the Babylon Casino is enlisted to upgrade security for the game of keno and its random-number generator. The new quantum computer system is foolproof. But someone on the inside is no fool. For once the odds may not favor the house—unless human ingenuity isn’t entirelya thing of the past.

Decent story that hinges on gambling and quantum computing. Thank goodness I watched a long video explaining quantum computers a few months back. That really helped me understand where Weir was going with this story. The actual plot is pretty predictable, but I enjoyed where we went in just a few pages.

Forward

#1 Ark by Veronica Roth
#2 Summer Frost by Blake Crouch
#3 Emergency Skin by NK Jemisin
#4 You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles
#5 The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay
#6 Randomize by Andy Weir

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay

Title: The Last Conversation (Forward #5)

Author: Paul Tremblay

Publisher: Amazon Original Stories 2019

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 56

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER

What’s more frightening: Not knowing who you are? Or finding out? A Bram Stoker Award–winning author explores the answer in a chilling story about identity and human consciousness.

Imagine you’ve woken up in an unfamiliar room with no memory of who you are, how you got there, or where you were before. All you have is the disconnected voice of an attentive caretaker. Dr. Kuhn is there to help you—physically, emotionally, and psychologically. She’ll help you remember everything. She’ll make sure you reclaim your lost identity. Now answer one question: Are you sure you want to?

Surprisingly, this was my other favorite out of the collection. I have not been a huge fan of Tremblay’s writing, but this story was spot on. We get a bit of horror-tinged science fiction in this short, fairly ambiguous story. I loved how details are slowly revealed through the pages until we get to quite a gasp-inducing ending. So good.

Forward

#1 Ark by Veronica Roth
#2 Summer Frost by Blake Crouch
#3 Emergency Skin by NK Jemisin
#4 You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles
#5 The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay
#6 Randomize by Andy Weir

Next up on the TBR pile:

You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles

Title: You Have Arrived at Your Destination (Forward #4)

Author: Amor Towles

Publisher: Amazon Original Stories 2019

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 54

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER

Nature or nurture? Neither. Discover a bold new way to raise a child in this unsettling story of the near future by the New York Times bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow.

When Sam’s wife first tells him about Vitek, a twenty-first-century fertility lab, he sees it as the natural next step in trying to help their future child get a “leg up” in a competitive world. But the more Sam considers the lives that his child could lead, the more he begins to question his own relationships and the choices he has made in his life.

I absolutely adored A Gentleman in Moscow, but this story just didn’t quite intrigue me enough. There is a beginning of a larger story in here along with some interesting background world building. The problem is that it just doesn’t go anywhere for me. Oh well.

Forward

#1 Ark by Veronica Roth
#2 Summer Frost by Blake Crouch
#3 Emergency Skin by NK Jemisin
#4 You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles
#5 The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay
#6 Randomize by Andy Weir

Next up on the TBR pile:

Emergency Skin by NK Jemisin

Title: Emergency Skin (Forward #3)

Author: NK Jemisin

Publisher: Amazon Original Stories 2019

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 38

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER

What will become of our self-destructed planet? The answer shatters all expectations in this subversive speculation from the Hugo Award–winning author of the Broken Earth trilogy.

An explorer returns to gather information from a climate-ravaged Earth that his ancestors, and others among the planet’s finest, fled centuries ago. The mission comes with a warning: a graveyard world awaits him. But so do those left behind—hopeless and unbeautiful wastes of humanity who should have died out ages ago. After all this time, there’s no telling how they’ve devolved. Steel yourself, soldier. Get in. Get out. And try not to stare.

My favorite story from this collection! Jemisin is a master at dropping the reader into new worlds but not overwhelming you with confusion. We learn about the world as we need to, adding layer and layer to the story being told. In this case, when the characters name the resource the traveler needs to retrieve, I gasped out loud. Jemisin manages to connect this fantastical story directly to our current world with a commentary on social justice and environmental responsibility. She packs a punch in this very short story.

Forward

#1 Ark by Veronica Roth
#2 Summer Frost by Blake Crouch
#3 Emergency Skin by NK Jemisin
#4 You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles
#5 The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay
#6 Randomize by Andy Weir

Next up on the TBR pile:

Summer Frost by Blake Crouch

Title: Summer Frost (Forward #2)

Author: Black Crouch

Publisher: Amazon Original Stories 2019

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 75

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall TBR; COYER

A video game developer becomes obsessed with a willful character in her new project, in a mind-bending exploration of what it means to be human by the New York Times bestselling author of Recursion.

Maxine was made to do one thing: die. Except the minor non-player character in the world Riley is building makes her own impossible decision—veering wildly off course and exploring the boundaries of the map. When the curious Riley extracts her code for closer examination, an emotional relationship develops between them. Soon Riley has all new plans for her spontaneous AI, including bringing Max into the real world. But what if Max has real-world plans of her own?

While the story is fine, it’s one that I have read many times from previous authors. I guessed the ending about one page into the story. From there, it was just pretty boring for me. If I try to step outside of my own experience, the story is good. The progression is nicely paced and the questions raised are interesting. I just have read it before.

Forward

#1 Ark by Veronica Roth
#2 Summer Frost by Blake Crouch
#3 Emergency Skin by NK Jemisin
#4 You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles
#5 The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay
#6 Randomize by Andy Weir

Next up on the TBR pile:

Ark by Veronica Roth

Title: Ark (Forward #1)

Author: Veronica Roth

Publisher: Amazon Original Stories 2019

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 45

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall TBR; COYER

On the eve of Earth’s destruction, a young scientist discovers something too precious to lose, in a story of cataclysm and hope by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Divergent trilogy.

It’s only two weeks before an asteroid turns home to dust. Though most of Earth has already been evacuated, it’s Samantha’s job to catalog plant samples for the survivors’ unknowable journey beyond. Preparing to stay behind and watch the world end, she makes a final human connection.

As certain doom hurtles nearer, the unexpected and beautiful potential for the future begins to flower.

An introspective little story with a science fiction backdrop. This one was less about technology and more about people. While I don’t think it quite fit with most of the other stories in this collection, I enjoyed the quiet story about plants and beauty. This is super quick, but a good story.

Forward

#1 Ark by Veronica Roth
#2 Summer Frost by Blake Crouch
#3 Emergency Skin by NK Jemisin
#4 You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles
#5 The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay
#6 Randomize by Andy Weir

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

It’s friends and food day
I made a mess of next coop semester’s schedule of teachers. Two many changes happening (comings and goings, plus an added class) have caused lots of needed changes. We’ll work it out, but I spent like 20 minutes Tuesday making a list of proposed changes.
Speaking of… I really need to work on the homeschool plan for spring. I’m still really adjusting to Quentin being a first grader along with coop and activities.
Blowing way past my reading goal for the year. I’ll be past 250 when December 31st rolls around. So much reading this year!

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Wake-up Call by Beth O'Leary

Title: The Wake-up Call

Author: Beth O’Leary

Publisher: Berkley 2023

Genre: Romance

Pages: 356

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Spice Rating: 3

It’s the busiest season of the year, and Forest Manor Hotel is quite literally falling apart. So when Izzy and Lucas are given the same shift on the hotel’s front desk, they have no choice but to put their differences aside and see it through.

The hotel won't stay afloat beyond Christmas without some sort of miracle. But when Izzy returns a guest’s lost wedding ring, the reward convinces management that this might be the way to fix everything. With four rings still sitting in the lost & found, the race is on for Izzy and Lucas to save their beloved hotel—and their jobs.

As their bitter rivalry turns into something much more complicated, Izzy and Lucas begin to wonder if there's more at stake here than the hotel's future. Can the two of them make it through the season with their hearts intact?

I have enjoyed Beth O’Leary’s previous romance books for their realistic characters with a focus on communication. I definitely had to grab this one as soon as it was released. This one is much more rom-com than romance with lots of romance tropes thrown in. We get the quintessential miscommunication trope, the forced proximity trope, and the potential new relationship threatening the inevitable romance trope. They are all mashed up in there in not an annoying way but probably an ultimately forgettable way. I just don’t think that this book will be on my end-of-year’s best list. But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy the journey of Lucas and Izzy.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters

Title: Underground Airlines

Author: Ben H. Winters

Publisher: Mulholland Books 2016

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 336

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; 52 Book Club

A young black man calling himself Victor has struck a bargain with federal law enforcement, working as a bounty hunter for the US Marshall Service in exchange for his freedom. He's got plenty of work. In this version of America, slavery continues in four states called "the Hard Four." On the trail of a runaway known as Jackdaw, Victor arrives in Indianapolis knowing that something isn't right -- with the case file, with his work, and with the country itself.

As he works to infiltrate the local cell of a abolitionist movement called the Underground Airlines, tracking Jackdaw through the back rooms of churches, empty parking garages, hotels, and medical offices, Victor believes he's hot on the trail. But his strange, increasingly uncanny pursuit is complicated by a boss who won't reveal the extraordinary stakes of Jackdaw's case, as well as by a heartbreaking young woman and her child -- who may be Victor's salvation.

Victor believes himself to be a good man doing bad work, unwilling to give up the freedom he has worked so hard to earn. But in pursuing Jackdaw, Victor discovers secrets at the core of the country's arrangement with the Hard Four, secrets the government will preserve at any cost.

I was intrigued by this alternative history, but ended up really disappointed in the execution. The main issue is that I am uncertain as to the point of this book. Are we supposed to understand that everyone is terrible? Are we supposed to root for any of the characters? Because I truly don’t. It’s a cluster of unlikeable characters, confusing sequences, and an unsatisfying ending. As an extra note, the narration alternates between straight forward descriptions to a strange bit of stream of consciousness. I did not enjoy the book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W13: Coop Problems are Taking a toll

What We Studied

We love our coop. I love the creation of a community and the opportunities we have with them. But... there have been a few hiccups lately that have really thrown me. Despite delegating and appointing others to certain roles, balls are being dropped and I have to scramble to pick them up. Hopefully a few conversations this week will fix it. On the flip side, the kids are having a ton of fun learning about a variety of topics. Arthur’s group is creating board games this cycle and I cannot wait to see what they come up with!

Literature and Poetry

Arthur finished Tristan Strong Destroys the World. It’s number two in the series. B&R has the first book in its curriculum for grade 4, but we’ve already read it. So I’m just adapting. I have the third one (last in the trilogy) coming and we might read that over Christmas break. I really want to see how the story ends. Beyond the actual literature, we are working on some basic grammar skills and starting our writing journey. He also continued his Super Secret Notebook from Blossom & Root.

Poetry for Young People: American Poetry
Reading Explorer: Intro
Tristan Strong Destroys the World by Kwame Mbalia

Quentin got back into the Blossom & Root curriculum with two tales and their variations. I’m really enjoying the format for this year. He also worked on some basic grammar.

Sing a Song of Seasons
Pumpkin Butterfly: Poems from the Other Side of Nature by Heidi Mordhorst
Fairy Tales Collection
The Other Side of the Story
The Magic Fish by Freya Littledale
Luba and the Wren by Patricia Polacco
The Fisherman and His Wife by Rachel Isadora
Tortoise Races Home by Jill Atkins and Beccy Blake (Q read)
Hare and Tortoise by Alison Murray
The Tortoise and the Hare by Jerry Pinkney
The Fastest Tortoise in Town by Howard Calvert
The Great Race by Kevin O'Malley
When Turtle Grew Feathers by Tim Tangle
The Hare and the Tortoise by Ranjit Bolt
The Tortoise and the Jackrabbit by Susan Lowell

Math

Arthur continued to dive into Singapore 5A. We are definitely going to slow down our math lessons a bit to make sure that Arthur achieves mastery. We’ve moved onto new skills dealing with multiplying and dividing fractions. Time for me to relearn some math! We also continued our next logic book.

Singapore Common Core 5A
Orbiting with Logic

Quentin finished the Tinkeractive Math Book. We’re all about review right now. I don’t anticipate starting Singapore 2A until January. We also continued our logic book.

Lollipop Logic Book 3
Tinkeractive Math Grade 1

Quentin’s Math, ELA, History, and Science

Social Studies

Arthur covered industrialization and more about immigration with an aside about the San Francisco Earthquake. He also finished reading his historical fiction read aloud, Prairie Lotus

DK American History
We were There Too! Young People in US History
Words that Build a Nation
Heart and Soul
Nat Geo Our Country’s Presidents
An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States
A Different Mirror for Young People
This is Our Land: A History of American Immigration
Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
I Survived the San Francisco Earthquake, 1906 by Lauren Tarshis
What was the San Francisco Earthquake by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler

Quentin learned about the Andes Mountain cultures of the Chavin, Moche, and Nazca. Short chapter, but an important one.

History Quest Early Times
DK When on Earth?
Human Wold
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK A Child Through Time
A History of Western Art
DK Science Year by Year
DK Myths, Legends, and Sacred Stories

Science

Arthur review Periodic Groups this week with an experiment featuring the effects of baking powder. We also caught back up with our Story of Science chapters.

RSO Chemistry
DK Super Simple Chemistry
Story of Science Vol. 2: Newton at the Center by Joy Hakim
DK The Elements

Quentin covered the last of the invertebrates with crustaceans.

RSO Life
DK Oversimple Biology
Hermit Crabs by Ellen Lawrence
About Crustaceans by Cathryn Sill
Crayfish by Deborah Coldiron
Mantis Shrimp by Josh Plattner
A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle

STEAM Coop

Arthur continued his exploration of board games. By the end of the six weeks, the kids will have created their own board games. We learned about the various types of games and played some as examples. Quentin’s class started their exploration of Native Americans.

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

We got back into it covering two artists (Leonardo da Vinci and Jan Vermeer) and one composter (Cecile Chaminade). I’m working these subjects in as we can, but proud of our progress so far. They are always the first on the chopping block if we run out of time during the week.

DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts
Modern Art Adventures by Maja Pitamic and Jill Laidlaw
13 American Artists Children Should Know
A Child's Introduction to Art
Women in Art by Rachel Ignotofsky
We are Artists by Kari Herbert
Neo Leo: The Ageless Ideas of Leonardo Da Vinci by Gene Barretta
Steal Back the Mona Lisa by Meghan McCarthy
If da Vinci Painted a Dinosaur by Amy Newbold
Fly, Kite, Fly: A Story of Leonardo and a Bird Catcher by John Winch
Jan Vermeer by Mike Venezia

Field Trip

No field trip this week. The kids had dentist appointments and we did lots of errands.

High

The boys had an old fashioned playmate on Wednesday morning. Every once in a while, it’s great to have some free play with friends. As an added bonus, I got to talk to my friend for a few hours without kids interrupting us.

Low

Coop problems…

Next Week

Starting a new read aloud
Covering more classic tales
Reviewing multiplying and dividing fractions (A)
Lots of math review (Q)
Move to Mesoamerica for Q’s History
More about industrialization for A’s History
Covering specific elements on the Periodic table

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - Awake at Last feat. Spencer Charnas "The Change"

Not exactly sure why, but I can’t get this song out my head lately.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Delicate Deception by Cat Sebastian

Title: A Delicate Deception (Regency Imposters #3)

Author: Cat Sebastian

Publisher: Avon 2019

Genre: Romance

Pages: 275

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

Spice Rating: 5

When Amelia Allenby escaped a stifling London ballroom for the quiet solitude of the Derbyshire countryside, the very last thing she wanted was an extremely large, if—she grudgingly admits—passably attractive man disturbing her daily walks. Lecturing the surveyor about property rights doesn’t work and, somehow, he has soon charmed his way into lemon cakes, long walks, and dangerously heady kisses.

The very last place Sydney wished to be was in the shadow of the ruins of Pelham Hall, the inherited property that stole everything from him. But as he awaits his old friend, the Duke of Hereford, he finds himself increasingly captivated by the maddeningly lovely and exceptionally odd Amelia. He quickly finds that keeping his ownership of Pelham Hall a secret is as impossible as keeping himself from falling in love with her.

But when the Duke of Hereford arrives, Sydney’s ruse is revealed and what started out as a delicate deception has become a love too powerful to ignore. Will they let a lifetime of hurt come between them or can these two lost souls find love and peace in each other?

I finally picked up the final volume in the Regency Imposters series. And while I enjoyed Amelia and her the duke, this wasn’t my favorite. I found the story a little too slow to get moving. Couple that with a decided lack of an ending and I a pretty underwhelmed by this one. I did enjoy the idea of these adults finding a family situation that works for them and pursuing their happiness. I wanted Amelia to keep true to her own boundaries and was very excited to see that she did. But Sydney just didn’t captivate me as a FMC. I much preferred Lex and wanted the story to focus more on him. So decent read, but not one that going to go on my forever shelf.

Regency Imposters

Next up on the TBR pile:

The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers

Title: The City of Dreaming Books

Author: Walter Moers

Publisher: Overlook 2007

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 464

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Optimus Yarnspinner’s search for an author’s identity takes him to Bookholm―the so-called City of Dreaming Books. On entering its streets, our hero feels as if he has opened the door of a gigantic second-hand bookshop. His nostrils are assailed by clouds of book dust, the stimulating scent of ancient leather, and the tang of printer’s ink.

Soon, though, Yarnspinner falls into the clutches of the city’s evil genius, Pfistomel Smyke, who treacherously maroons him in the labyrinthine catacombs underneath the city, where reading books can be genuinely dangerous . . .

In The City of Dreaming Books, Walter Moers transports us to a magical world where reading is a remarkable adventure. Only those intrepid souls who are prepared to join Yarnspinner on his perilous journey should read this book. We wish the rest of you a long, safe, unutterably dull, and boring life!

I don’t quite know how to explain this book and why I enjoyed it. It’s a weird meandering trip through a strange land that reveres books and authors above all else. We follow Optimus Yarnspinner as he falls into a treacherous situation full of shady and shadowy characters. We stumble around in the dark catacombs under Bookholm and begin to uncover its secrets. This book is very descriptive and meandering in its plot. There are portions where not much happens. But I was still intrigued in following Yarnspinner through the dark hoping he can find his way out again. I literally gasped out loud a few times when the twists were revealed. Utterly delightful. I can’t wait to discuss this with my Nerdy Bookish Friends. One final note: this book is meant to be read with your eyes, Moers includes a variety of illustrations that add to the fantastical nature of the book. Without those illustrations, I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much as I have. You must read it on paper or as an ebook.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Wicked All Night by Jeaniene Frost

Title: Wicked All Night (Night Rebel #3)

Author: Jeaniene Frost

Publisher: Avon 2021

Genre: Romance

Pages: 368

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Spice Rating: 5

A gift from the gods...
Veritas and Ian have finally defeated their worst enemy, but the power it took to pierce through to the netherworld has unexpected consequences. Soon, Veritas is forced to rely on the last person she trusts---a golden deity named Phanes, who seeks far more than a temporary alliance with the beautiful vampire.

Can unleash hell...
But a supernatural escape soon pits Veritas and Ian against beings seeking to rule over mortals once again. Now, they must rally friends and foes alike--if the vampire council doesn't execute Veritas first. Plus, a wedge between Veritas and Ian threatens to destroy their love. Can they stand together against the unearthly powers about to be unleashed? Or does their love--and humanity--not stand a chance?

A fitting conclusion to the Night Rebel series and the to my reading of the Frost’s Night Huntress World. I really enjoyed Ian and Veritas’s story and was excited that they got to find their HEA. As all of Frost’s novels, I enjoyed the plot and the pacing, but the endings always feel so rushed. I wanted to sit just a bit with Ian and Veritas after they defeat their enemies and ride off into the night. I did enjoy seeing a variety of character show up for their final battles and acknowledge their unusual but fitting relationship. Overall, I really enjoyed getting to know Ian more and see his story play out.

Night Rebel

Next up on the TBR pile: