The Paleontologist by Luke Dumas

Title: The Paleontologist

Author: Luke Dumas

Publisher: Atria Books 2023

Genre: Thriller

Pages: 356

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf Project; 52 Book Club - Grieving Character

Curator of paleontology Dr. Simon Nealy never expected to return to his Pennsylvania hometown, let alone the Hawthorne Museum of Natural History. He was just a boy when his six-year-old sister, Morgan, was abducted from the museum under his watch, and the guilt has haunted Simon ever since. After a recent breakup and the death of the aunt who raised him, Simon feels drawn back to the place where Morgan vanished, in search of the bones they never found.

But from the moment he arrives, things aren’t what he expected. The Hawthorne is a crumbling ruin, still closed amid the ongoing pandemic, and plummeting toward financial catastrophe. Worse, Simon begins seeing and hearing things he can’t explain. Strange animal sounds. Bloody footprints that no living creature could have left. A prehistoric killer looming in the shadows of the museum. Terrified he’s losing his grasp on reality, Simon turns to the handwritten research diaries of his predecessor and uncovers a blood-soaked mystery 150 million years in the making that could be the answer to everything.

A complete impulse buy around Christmastime. I thought it might be a fun thriller with a focus on dinosaurs. And it mostly is. We get a potentially unreliable narrator who decides that his next step in life is to revisit a place that holds the beginning of his trauma. Seems like a bad idea to me, but Simon does it. From there, the paranormal elements start to occur and we are left to piece out the mystery of just what is happening the museum. My biggest complaints are focused on the side characters. The various employees of the museum are pretty terrible. The board members are extra terrible. Every time I picked up the book, I really did it pretty begrudgingly. By the end of the book I really as pretty tired of every one and the story. A bit of a disappointment, but it was fine.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Life Right Now #4

As I look outside my window:

Right now I am:

Thinking and pondering:

On my bedside table: Midnight Ruin by Katee Robert; Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison

On my tv this week: I watched some random television shows, but did watch much at night. I was so incredibly exhausted most nights that I went to bed early.

Listening to: Dungeon Crawler Carl #5… This audiobook is over 24 hours long and I’m only listening an hour day or so. Hopefully I can finish it sometime this next week.

On the menu for this week:

• Monday - Chicken Schwarma Fries

• Tuesday - Leftovers

• Wednesday - Roast Pork Cubano

• Thursday - Teriyaki Chicken

• Friday - Maafe

• Saturday - Pot Roast

• Sunday - Garlic Shrimp Pasta

On my to do list:

Happening this week:

• Monday - Chemistry Class

• Tuesday - Black Violin Performance @ Steelhouse

• Wednesday - Home Day

• Thursday - Coop; Luninarium

• Friday - Home Day

• Saturday - Home Day

• Sunday - Galentine’s Brunch

What I am creating: I finally got photo paper deliver, so I’m hoping to make some progress on my Memory Planner and/or December Daily.

My simple pleasures: My bed (seriously I missed it when I was away), triple chocolate cookies

Looking around the house: It’s laundry day, including all the sheets. So there are clothes everywhere…

From the camera: My birthday present from J came early! (Usually the presents are months to years late.) I’m definitely a Donut Hole.

Dead Voices by Katherine Arden

Title: Dead Voices (Small Spaces #2)

Author: Katherine Arden

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons 2019

Genre: MG Horror

Pages: 256

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library Love; 52 Book Club - Timeframe of a Week or Less

Having survived sinister scarecrows and the malevolent smiling man in Small Spaces, newly minted best friends Ollie, Coco, and Brian are ready to spend a relaxing winter break skiing together with their parents at Mount Hemlock Resort. But when a snowstorm sets in, causing the power to flicker out and the cold to creep closer and closer, the three are forced to settle for hot chocolate and board games by the fire.

Ollie, Coco, and Brian are determined to make the best of being snowed in, but odd things keep happening. Coco is convinced she has seen a ghost, and Ollie is having nightmares about frostbitten girls pleading for help. Then Mr. Voland, a mysterious ghost hunter, arrives in the midst of the storm to investigate the hauntings at Hemlock Lodge. Ollie, Coco, and Brian want to trust him, but Ollie's watch, which once saved them from the smiling man, has a new cautionary message: BEWARE.

With Mr. Voland's help, Ollie, Coco, and Brian reach out to the dead voices at Mount Hemlock. Maybe the ghosts need their help--or maybe not all ghosts can or should be trusted.

After reading the first book in this series, I was completely hooked. I love a good spooky series and this one has a great premise. This one picks up soon after the first book. I loved the change of scenery and new situation that our kids find themselves in. The hotel in the middle of the snowstorm gave awesome Overlook Hotel in The Shining vibes. From there, we very quickly dive into the main conflict. I love how the mystery unravels. The scary parts are truly terrifying and I loved very single page of it. I’ll definitely be continuing this series soon.

Small Spaces

• #1 Small Spaces

• #2 Dead Voices

• #3 Dark Waters

• #4 Empty Smiles

Next up on the TBR pile:

Haunted Holiday by Kiersten White

Title: Haunted Holiday (The Sinister Summer #5)

Author: Kiersten White

Publisher: Delacorte Press 2024

Genre: Middle Grade Horror

Pages: 272

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Revenge Story; Lifetime - Child Protagonist

Trapped in Aunt Saffronia’s spectral house, Theo and Alexander must work together to escape, stop their newfound nemesis Essa and her henchman Edgaren’t, save Wil and their friends, find their parents, and maybe, just maybe, get things back to normal.

Following the clues left behind, the twins find themselves at Siren’s Song Seaside Amusement Park. Old faces and new surprises await them in a park that was built to lure in visitors…and their secrets.

As they get closer to answers, the twins are left with the biggest question of all: Who is Essa really, and why is she so determined to find their parents?

And we come to the end of the Sinister Summer series! And it was utterly delightful! I loved this play on A Series of Unfortunate Events with references to classic horror stories. In this volume, everything and everybody finally comes together for a happy ending. We get to see the family reunited as they solve the last mystery of the summer. I especially loved the setting of the amusement park in this one. The kraken and robot battle at the end was the cherry on top of the sundae. Definitely a recommendation for most of my friends.

The Sinister Summer

• #1 Wretched Waterpark

• #2 Vampiric Vacation

• #3 Camp Creepy

• #4 Menacing Manor

• #5 Haunted Holiday

Next up on the TBR pile:

Untouchable by Talia Hibbert

Title: Untouchable (Ravenswood #2)

Author: Talia Hibbert

Publisher: Nixon House 2018

Genre: Romance

Pages: 344

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library Love; She Reads Romance - Forbidden Romance

Spice Meter: 5

Sleeping with the staff wasn’t part of the plan.

Sensible, capable, and ruthlessly efficient, Hannah Kabbah is the perfect nanny… until a colossal mistake destroys her career and shatters her reputation. These days, no-one in town will hire her—except Nathaniel Davis, a brooding widower with a smile like sin and two kids he can’t handle.

Prim and proper Hannah is supposed to make Nate’s life easier, but the more time he spends around his live-in nanny, the more she makes things… hard. He can’t take advantage of her vulnerable position, but he can’t deny the truth, either: with every look, every smile, every midnight meeting, Nate’s untouchable employee is stealing his heart.

The trouble is, she doesn’t want to keep it. Forbidden love isn’t high on Hannah’s to-do list, and trust isn’t one of her strengths. When dark secrets threaten to destroy their bond, Nate’s forced to start playing dirty. Because this reformed bad boy will break every rule to finally claim his woman.

I’ll admit that I was skeptical of this book going in. The nanny trope is not one that I enjoy. Usually it involved a pretty big age gap and most definitely a power imbalance. Thankfully this book does not fall into those traps. Hannah is a fun character to follow through from the first book, but it’s Nate that really pulled me into this story. I totally felt for him. The sob story with his wife, the current sob story with this mom, and the beautiful relationship with his kids coupled with the whole vibe (hello tattoos) and I was completely smitten. There were a few decisions that I wasn’t excited about, but it all ended up okay by them last page.

Ravenswood

• #1 A Girl Like Her

• #1.5 Damaged Goods

• #2 Untouchable

• #3 That Kind of Guy

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• Last weekend’s reading weekend was the best idea that I have had in a long while. I completed two books and almost completed two other books.

• Nic Cage Quarterly is back this month! Hoping to watch at least 15 movies this month.

• The weather is holding out this week for more park time after coop.

• It’s looking like February is going to be another big month for reading.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Holly Jolly Ever After by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone

Title: A Holly Jolly Ever After (Christmas Notch #2)

Author: Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone

Publisher: Avon 2023

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 432

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: She Reads Romance - Pregnancy

Spice Rating: 5

Kallum Liebermanis the funny one™. As the arguably lesser of the three former members of the boy band INK, he enjoyed his fifteen minutes of fame and then moved home where he opened a regional pizza chain called Slice, Slice, Baby! He’s living his best dad bod life, hooking up with bridesmaids at all his friends’ weddings. But after an old one-off sex tape is leaked and quickly goes viral, Kallum decides he’s ready to step into the spotlight again, starring in a sexy Santa biopic for the Hope Channel. 

Winnie Baker did everything right. She married her childhood sweetheart, avoided the downfalls of adolescent stardom, and transitioned into a stable adult acting career. Hell, she even waited until marriage to have sex. But after her perfect life falls apart, Winnie is ready to redefine herself—and what better way than a steamier-than-a-steaming-hot-mug-of-cider Christmas movie?

With decade old Hollywood history between them, Winnie and Kallum are both feeling hesitant about their new situation as costars…especially Winnie who can’t seem to fake on screen pleasure she’s never experienced in real life. She’s willing to do the pleasure research—for science and artistic authenticity, of course. And there’s no better research partner than her bridesmaid sex tape hall of fame costar, Kallum. But suddenly, Kallum’s teenage crush on Winnie is bubbling to the surface and Winnie might be catching feelings herself. 

They say opposites attract, but is this holly jolly ever after really ready for its close-up?

Spoilers Below!

Oh this was such a disappointment… After the first book in the series, I was very exacted to read the next book featuring Kallum. And the first half of the book was great. I fell for Winnie and Kallum. I really enjoyed the discussion about purity culture and the after-effects of bad relationships and marriages. I was excited to see Winnie making strides in her own sexual growth and independence. I loved seeing the two main characters begin to open up to each others and their friends and families. It was delightful. And then we get tot he second half of the book and absolutely everything gets destroyed. Instead of continuing Winnie’s journey of growth, she becomes pregnant and everything goes off the rails. She tells everyone but Kallum. She doesn’t communicate or handle anything well. But my biggest complaint is that instead of continuing the journey, Winnie immediately becomes pregnant. In many ways, purity culture warns that having sex leads to degradation and immediate pregnancy. In this case, at least the second part becomes true. And it annoys me so much! This is not a good message.

Christmas Notch

• #1 A Merry Little Meet Cute

• #1.5 Snow Place Like LA

• #2 A Holly Jolly Ever After

Next up on the TBR pile:

System Collapse by Martha Wells

Title: System Collapse (Murderbot Diaries #7)

Author: Martha Wells

Publisher: Tor.com 2023

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 245

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER

Am I making it worse? I think I'm making it worse.

Following the events in Network Effect, the Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet in peril, as well as additional SecUnits. But if there’s an ethical corporation out there, Murderbot has yet to find it, and if Barish-Estranza can’t have the planet, they’re sure as hell not leaving without something. If that something just happens to be an entire colony of humans, well, a free workforce is a decent runner-up prize.

But there’s something wrong with Murderbot; it isn’t running within normal operational parameters. ART’s crew and the humans from Preservation are doing everything they can to protect the colonists, but with Barish-Estranza’s SecUnit-heavy persuasion teams, they’re going to have to hope Murderbot figures out what’s wrong with itself, and fast!

Yeah, this plan is... not going to work.

This definitely should have just been the second half of Network Effect in that it picks up right after that book ends. We finally get to see the end to the story about the alien contamination on the planet. I was intrigued by the back-and-forth between Murderbot’s team and the Barish-Estranza team. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t have the snark and fun side commentary that I really enjoy about the Murderbot stories. I just wasn’t as connected to the story as I wanted to be.

Murderbot Diaries:

• #1 All Systems Red

• #2 Artificial Condition

• #3 Rogue Protocol

• #4 Exit Strategy

• #5 Network Effect

• #6 Fugitive Telemetry

• #7 System Collapse

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - Within Temptation "Bleed Out"

Apparently I’ve really been into women led hard rock bands lately.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Confetti Realms

Title: Confetti Realms

Author: Nadia Shammas, Karnessa

Publisher: Maverick 2023

Genre: YA Graphic Novel

Pages: 196

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library Love

Follow the story of four New Jersey teens who, after breaking into a cemetery on Halloween, get transported to a strange and fantastical world by a mysterious automaton named Tom. When Tom sends them on a quest to gain him entry to a party at the end of the world, our unlikely (and mostly unwilling) heroes will have to navigate murderous frogs, an insect orchestra, and the cracks in their own friendships.

Found this slim graphic novel on a library list for Fairy Tale books. I grabbed it and sped through in an afternoon. This is a beautiful little story about finding your joy and accepting who you are. We get four friends (well, almost friends) who are navigating identity and community. They get thrown into another world which heightens all their feelings. I loved the magical take on finding yourself. And some the side character are utterly delightful.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells

Title: Fugitive Telemetry (Murderbot Diaries #6)

Author: Martha Wells

Publisher: Tor.com 2021

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 172

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER

No, I didn't kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn't dump the body in the station mall.

When Murderbot discovers a dead body on Preservation Station, it knows it is going to have to assist station security to determine who the body is (was), how they were killed (that should be relatively straightforward, at least), and why (because apparently that matters to a lot of people—who knew?)

Yes, the unthinkable is about to happen: Murderbot must voluntarily speak to humans!

Again!

Apparently I did read this one when it came out, but completely forgot the plot. While it is #6 in the series, chronologically the story belongs between Exit Strategy and Network Effect. We are right back on Preservation Station solving a seemingly impossible murder. Of course Murderbot is stuck in the middle making sure the humans don’t die. This felt like a strange little side adventure and didn’t include much snark from Muderbot. The snark is why I read this series. Oh well.

Murderbot Diaries:

• #1 All Systems Red

• #2 Artificial Condition

• #3 Rogue Protocol

• #4 Exit Strategy

• #5 Network Effect

• #6 Fugitive Telemetry

• #7 System Collapse

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Last One by Will Dean

Title: The Last One

Author: Will Dean

Publisher: Emily Bestler Books 2023

Genre: Thriller

Pages: 448

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Clock - One; 52 Book Club - Abrupt Ending

When Caz steps onboard the exclusive cruise liner RMS Atlantica, it’s the start of a vacation of a lifetime with her new love, Pete. On their first night they explore the ship, eat, dance, make friends, but when Caz wakes the next morning, Pete is missing.

And when she walks out into the corridor, all the cabin doors are open. To her horror, she soon realizes that the ship is completely empty. No passengers, no crew, nobody but her. The Atlantica is steaming into the mid-Atlantic and Caz is the only person on board. But that’s just the beginning of the terrifying journey she finds herself trapped on in this white-knuckled mystery.

I’m not usually a thriller person. I find them way too predictable and silly. But I heard good things about this one and was intrigued by the last person on a cruise ship setup. Of course she’s not actually the only person on the ship, that would get old quick, but a great limited people setup is revealed near the beginning. I sped through the pages desperate to see what happened next, wondering what the next challenge or obstacle would be. There was one particular scene near the end that made me gasp out loud. This was the perfect book to spend a few days on the edge of my seat reading.

Next up on the TBR pile:

February 2024 Life Goals

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

• Read 18 Books ✓

• Emails for Retreats (January and June) ✓

• Finalize Coop Plans for Spring ✓

• Get Started on our 52 Hikes for the Year ✓

February Goals:

• Read 18 Books

• Relax During My Reading Weekend

• Finalize Guest List for the Bookish Retreat

• Start the Homeschool Supplies Cleanout

Next up on the TBR pile:

January 2024 Wrap-up

January TBR Pile (31/31):

1. Bookworms BC: Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca ✓

2. Friend BC: The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin ✓

3. Friend BC: The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott ✓

4. Nerdy Bookish Friends BC: The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey ✓

5. Kid Read Aloud: James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl ✓

6. Kid Read Aloud: Just Beyond the Very, Very Far North by Dan Bar-El ✓

7. Kid Read Aloud: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by EL Konigsburg ✓

8. Kid Book Club: A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd ✓

9. Kid Book Club: The Fourteenth Goldfish by Natalie Lloyd ✓

10. Fantasy: Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman ✓

11. Fantasy: Carl’s Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman ✓

12. Fantasy: The Dungeon Anarachist’s Cookbook by Matt Dinniman ✓

13. Fantasy: The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman ✓

14. Fantasy: Timekeeper by Tara Simm ✓

15. Fantasy: Signal Moon ny Kate Quinn ✓

16. Fantasy: The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden ✓

17. Fantasy: Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson ✓

18. Fantasy: The Magician by Rebecca Serle ✓

19. Science Fiction: All Systems Red by Martha Wells (reread) ✓

20. Science Fiction: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells (reread) ✓

21. Science Fiction: Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells (reread) ✓

22. Science Fiction: Exit Strategy by Martha Wells (reread) ✓

23. Science Fiction: Network Effect by Martha Wells (reread) ✓

24. Nonfiction: Share Your Stuff, I’ll Go First by Laura Tremaine ✓

25. Romance: Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan ✓

26. Romance:: A Girl Like Her by Talia Hibbert ✓

27. Romance: Damaged Goods by Talia Hibbert ✓

28. Romance: Under Her Skin by Adriana Anders ✓

29. Romance: Teach Me by Olivia Dade ✓

30. Romance: Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura ✓

31. Romance: Mr. Fixer Upper by Lucy Score ✓

1,000,000 Page Goal:

Monthly Total: 9306 pages
Pages Remaining: 265,682 pages

Current Read - Guards! Guards! by Terry Prachett (kid read aloud); The Last One by Will Dean; Midnight Ruin by Katee Robert

Books I Gave Up On (0)

Books Bought/Received (8):

I grabbed the preorder of Midnight Ruin by Katee Robert.

Half Price Books finds during their after Christmas sale.

• The Electricity of Every Living Thing by Katherine May

• Malamander by Thomas Taylor

• Lockwood & Co.: The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

• The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage

At the Barnes and Noble sale after Christmas, I came away with five books for me:

• A Power Unbound by Freya Marske

• Amari and the Great Game by BB Alston

• The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill

• The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill by Rowenna Miller

• The Paleontologist by Luke Dumas

UnRead Shelf Progress

• Starting Number: 324

• Books Read: 2

• Books Acquired: 8

• Books Unshelved: 0

• Finishing Number: 330

February TBR Pile:

1. Bookworms BC: That Kind of Guy by Talia Hibbert (reread)

2. Friend BC: The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia

3. Nerdy Bookish Friends BC: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

4. Kid Read Aloud: Guards! Guards! by Terry Prachett

5. Kid Read Aloud: Ban This Book by Alan Gratz

6. Kid Book Club: The Boy at the Back of the Class by Anjali Rauf

7. Fantasy: The Butcher’s Masquerade by Matt Dinniman

8. Science Fiction: Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells

9. Science Fiction: System Collapse by Martha Wells

10. Romance: Midnight Ruin by Katee Robert

11. Romance: Untouchable by Talia Hibbert

12. Thriller/Mystery: The Last One by Will Dean

Movies Watched

• Top Secret

• Saltburn

• The Bricklayer

• Self-Reliance

• Chicken Run 2: Dawn of the Nugget

• Oppenheimer

• Relax, I’m from the Future

• Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched

• The Marvels

• Top Gun: Maverick

• Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One

• The Beekeeper

TV Shows Watched

• Letterkenny S12 (the last season!!!!)

• Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist S1

• The White House Plumbers

• Percy Jackson and the Olympians

• Monarch: Legacy of Monsters

• Yonderland S1

• Party Down S3

• The Buccaneers

• Our Flag Means Death S2

• Below Deck: Med

• The Bachelor S28

Comments - Wow! Due to a ton of snow storms, we spent a lot of January in the house. And I read a ton of books and we watched a ton of media. Thankfully, we are able to get out of the house at the end of the month, but it was a very strange month. I only read two books from my Unread Shelf, but I have big plans for February’s reading. Ready for a new month.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #2

Reading: I picked up The Last One by Will Dean for my Clock Reading Challenge. I’m not usually into thrillers, but I was intrigued by this one.

Watching: Weirdly, we fell into a Tom Cruise movie hole this week. We watched Top Gun: Maverick and Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1.

Listening: Finishing out the Murderbot series on audio this week. I don’t usually got for audiobooks, but have been listening to these in the background this month.

Making: Quentin requested banana bread and I made it. So good! I might just have to make another loaf later this week for the weekend.

Feeling: The temperatures finally increased. In fact, the temps increased by almost 70 degrees. Intense! I would have been okay with temps in the 30s. Instead we are not in the 40s and 50s.

Planning: I will be teaching chemistry the next two weeks (with a collaborative teacher). And so, we are planning the experiments and procedures.

Loving: I’m leaving on Friday to spend a quiet weekend reading in a rented house with a few friends. Getting away from the family for a weekend sounds absolutely amazing right now. As such, I have a stack of 10 books that I’m taking. I need a variety of genres, book sizes, and reading levels. Super excited!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W19: Back to Normal Somehow

What We Studied

The snow storms finally calmed down and we got back outside for some activities. Unfortunately, coop was cancelled due to a scheduling issue with the city. But we did see friends at other events and got some school work completed.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur has really gotten into our read aloud. It’s led to questions about censorship and increased interest in the other books the text mentions. In fact, our next read aloud is name dropped in the book. Beyond the actual literature, we are working on some basic grammar skills. We continued the first Reading Explorer book which focuses on reading comprehension. He also continued his Super Secret Notebook from Blossom & Root.

• Ban This Book by Alan Gratz

• Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

• My America poem collection

• Reading Explorer 1

Quentin picked up another Zoey and Sassafras book to read this week instead of the scheduled book. That’s fine by me. I’m still really focused on Quentin’s enjoyment when it comes to literature selections. We are pushing our Blossom and Root lessons out another week. He also worked on some basic grammar.

• Sing a Song of Seasons

• Zoey and Sassafras: Unicorns and Germs by Asia Citro

• Little Penguin's New Friend by Tadgh Bentley

Math

Arthur dove into 5B with a unit on Decimals. Most of it was review, but it was a good review for him. We’re flying through the lessons.

• Singapore Common Core 5B

• Orbiting with Logic

Quentin continued Singapore 2A with a big review of numbers to 1000. We also continued our logic book.

• Lollipop Logic Book 3

• Singapore Common Core 2A

Social Studies

Arthur started learning about World War I this week. We did a big overview of the conflict and talked about Woodrow Wilson. Our curriculum only spends one week on the war, but I’m going to expand it out for 2-3 weeks of topics and coverage.

• 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

Instead of a big chapter on Greece, we started reading the story of The Odyssey to ease into the topic.

• History Quest Early Times

• DK When on Earth?

• Human Wold

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK A Child Through Time

• A History of Western Art

• DK Science Year by Year

• DK Myths, Legends, and Sacred Stories

• Find the Journeys Around the World by David Long

• Tales from the Odyssey Book One by Mary Pope Osborne

Science

We were back at Chemistry class this week. They talked and explored molecules and bonds. Plus we read another chapter in our Story of Science book. This one was about alchemy.

• RSO Chemistry

• DK Super Simple Chemistry

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

• DK The Elements

Quentin got back into the RSO Life curriculum and covered mammals this week.

• RSO Life

• DK Oversimple Biology

• A Mammal is an Animal by Lizzy Rockwell

• Mammals by Ann O. Squire

• About Mammals by Cathryn Sill

STEAM Coop

None this week

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

We didn’t actually cover any art or music this week. But we did manage to watch two documentaries. Arthur and I watched a NOVA episode about aviation during World War I. I learned a ton! Quentin and I were going to watch one about Ancient Greece, but the file was corrupted. Instead, we watched on about The Life of Mammals. The episode focused on marsupials. He actually paid attention to the documentary, so I’m calling it a win!

• DK Music and How it Works

• DK The Arts

• DK Art and How It Works

• Modern Art Adventures by Maja Pitamic and Jill Laidlaw

• 13 American Artists Children Should Know

• A Child's Introduction to Art

• Women in Art by Rachel Ignotofsky

• Iconic Composers by Nicholas Csicsko & Emi Ferguson

• 13 Art Movements Children Should Know

• 13 Artists Children Should Know

• 13 Modern Artists Children Should Know

• The Story of Paintings by Mick Manning & Brita Granström

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

• Andy Warhol: Pop Art Painter by Susan Goldman Rubin

• Andy Warhol Pop Art Painter by Susan Goldman Rubin

• Uncle Andy’s by James Warhola

• Uncle Andy’s Cats by James Warhola

• Fabulous! A Portrait of Andy Warhol by Bonnie Christensen

• Art is Everywhere: A Book About Andy Warhol by Jeff Mack

• Biography Book by Mike Venezia

Field Trip

Not an organized field trip, but we did spend an entire morning at the zoo with some friends. We had actually been since December, and really since October before that, so it was nice to rediscover our favorite displays. Extra fun, there were a ton of docents out and hardly any visitors, so we got to chat with a ton of people about specific animals. The desert dome was a big hit this week. .

High (and Low)

• Coop was cancelled this week due to the city basically overruling our contract and taking the space. Very annoying! We pivoted and spent three hours playing at Backyard Playworld. Sometimes it’s really nice to just let the kids engage in free play while I get to chat with adults.

Next Week

• Finishing our current read aloud

• Continuing our World War I study for history

• Moving forward into new our math units

• Exploring some new concepts about the periodic table

• Easing into Greece with some myths and stories

• Transitioning to human anatomy for science

• Hopefully heading outside for a nature walk and field trip

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - Apocalyptica feat. Elize Ryd "What We're Up Against"

I always love to see the collaborations from Apocalyptica and other artists. This one caught my ear.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Life Right Now #3

As I look outside my window: The sun has finally decided to make a bit of a comeback after multiple days without it.

Right now I am: Heading out to the coop steering committee meeting. I’ve got a whole agenda, but the biggest thing is a the creation of a survey to really get at our needs.

Thinking and pondering: How many books is too many for one weekend? Right now I have a stack of 10 books for next weekend.

On my bedside table: A Holly Jolly Ever After by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone; Midnight Ruin by Katee Robert

On my tv this week: J and I ended up watching a decent amount of television and movies. We finally started S2 of Our Flag Means Death and continued with some random sitcoms we are watching.

Listening to: Mostly audiobooks. I am jumping back into the Murderbot series. Hoping to knock out the last two books this week.

On the menu for this week:

• Monday - Jerk Pork with Caribbean Salsa

• Tuesday - Manicotti

• Wednesday - Chicken Tortilla Soup

• Thursday - Bacon Cheddar Waffles

• Friday - Gone

• Saturday - Gone

• Sunday - Leftovers

On my to do list: Appointments need to be make. I also need to finish packing for my reading weekend.

Happening this week:

• Monday - Chemistry Class

• Tuesday - Hot Shops Pottery Demo; Book Club

• Wednesday - Home Day

• Thursday - Coop; Homeschool Dance (third time’s a charm!)

• Friday - Board Game Hangout; Reading Weekend!!!!

• Saturday - Reading Weekend

• Sunday - Reading Weekend

What I am creating: Nothing much. My photo paper delivery was delayed which means that I can’t do much with my Memory Planner or December Daily this weekend.

My simple pleasures: Getting outside, temperatures above negative numbers, parents’ happy hour for adult conversations

Looking around the house: Meh. I’ll take it. Although I do want to move the bins out of the hallway and back into the garage. Wonder if I can do it with J noticing..

From the camera: Just some elephants in the snow… we got to see all four baby elephants (only one pictured below) during our trip to the zoo. The fifth one is due someone late February-early March.

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Title: The Snow Child

Author: Eowyn Ivey

Publisher: Reagan Arthur 2012

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 423

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Decades - 1920s; In Case You Missed It - 2012

Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart -- he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone -- but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees.

This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them.

Our Nerdy Bookish Friends selection for the month and it’s been on my TBR shelf for years. I’m glad that we decided to read it, but ended up being fairly disappointed in the book. I absolutely loved the writing of this book. Ivey manages to make the bleak landscape and the wilderness sound beautiful. I found myself lost in all nature descriptions. They are gorgeous and kept me engaged in the book. But that’s where my enjoyment ends. I wanted to love the storyline and I did enjoy the Russian fairy tale angle. Unfortunately, the characters and the storyline do not make much sense to me. Mabel and Jack are extremely unlikeable throughout the book and I never truly connected to them. They seemed to show growth and then would lose all growth in the next chapter. I had lots of thoughts about where the plot was going throughout most of the book and then the last section happens and nothing made sense. I don’t want to give it away, but the end of the book makes no sense to me at all. I just couldn’t get over the lack of logic.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Mr. Fixer Upper by Lucy Score

Title: Mr. Fixer Upper (Fixer #1)

Author: Lucy Score

Publisher: Bloom Books 2017

Genre: Romance

Pages: 386

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: She Reads Romance - Reality TV; Library Love

Spice Rating: 5

It’s a constant battle on set between sexy home renovation reality star grumpy Gannon and his no-nonsense field producer. Paige has zero time for temperamental talent, especially one who acts like being in front of the camera is the last thing he wants.

Mr. Sex in a Toolbelt has made it his mission in life to get a rise out of her, but Paige is a master at locking down her temper. They’re on the road together working long hours fixing houses and changing lives. When cracks in her legendary coolness start to show and sparks fly, Gannon is infatuated and the cameras are there to capture it.

But he’s fallen for pretty packages before and Paige won’t be taken seriously if she’s caught sleeping with the star of her show. She also can’t seem to resist those big, rough hands. Those smoldery hazel eyes. The dimples. The toolbelt. That fiercely protective vibe.

Too bad it’s all about to fall apart.
She never should have trusted him.
He never should have let her go.

At Christmas, I actually read the second one last month and really enjoyed it. So, I picked up the first one in the series for this month’s reading. The book had a lot more drama and serious conversations than I was expecting. I really did fall for Gannon and Paige as they navigate their undeniable attraction. The reality TV angle added just the right amount of other characters and background plot to continue the romantic storyline. The steamy scenes are very well done and steamy. I ended dup speeding through this one, but it was a lovely story. I just might have to read more from Lucy Score.

Fixer

• #1 Mr. Fixer Upper

• #2 The Christmas Fix

Next up on the TBR pile: