Shark Heart by Emily Habeck

Title: Shark Heart

Author: Emily Habeck

Publisher: Marysue Rucci Books 2023

Genre: Fantasy?

Pages: 416

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Read Around the USA - Texas

Where I Got It: Book of the Month March 2024

For Lewis and Wren, their first year of marriage is also their last. A few weeks after their wedding, Lewis receives a rare diagnosis. He will retain most of his consciousness, memories, and intellect, but his physical body will gradually turn into a great white shark. As Lewis develops the features and impulses of one of the most predatory creatures in the ocean, his complicated artist’s heart struggles to make peace with his unfulfilled dreams.

At first, Wren internally resists her husband’s fate. Is there a way for them to be together after Lewis changes? Then, a glimpse of Lewis’s developing carnivorous nature activates long-repressed memories for Wren, whose story vacillates between her childhood living on a houseboat in Oklahoma, her time with her college ex-girlfriend, and her unusual friendship with a woman pregnant with twin birds. Woven throughout this “heart-wringing” (Adam Roberts, internationally bestselling author of Salt) novel is the story of Wren’s mother, Angela, who becomes pregnant with Wren at fifteen in an abusive relationship amidst her parents’ crumbling marriage. In the present, all of Wren’s grief eventually collides, and she is forced to make an impossible choice.

I am really not sure how exactly I feel about this book. The writing was beautiful. I was sucked into the story by the prose. I even really loved the different passage structures: short scenes, play scenes, flashbacks, etc. I loved how the mixing up of the plot and timeline really kept me turning the pages to see what happened next. But… and this is a big but, I truly disliked Wren and her entire character. We never really get to truly connect with her and understand her. She is so closed off throughout the book that I don’t even think Lewis understood her. I found her entire story to be so incredibly frustrating. And the entire second section of the book was such a bummer for me. I wanted to spend more time with Lewis and Wren, not her mother. This book is our book discussion fro book club next week. I’m interested to hear what everyone else thought about the book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks by David Gibbins

Title: A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks

Author: David Gibbins

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press 2024

Genre: Nonfiction - History

Pages: 289

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Nonfiction Reader

Where I Got It: Library

The Viking warship of King Cnut the Great. Henry VIII's the Mary Rose. Captain John Franklin's doomed HMS Terror. The SS Gairsoppa, destroyed by a Nazi U-boat in the Atlantic during World War II.

Since we first set sail on the open sea, ships and their wrecks have been an inevitable part of human history. Archaeologists have made spectacular discoveries excavating these sunken ships, their protective underwater cocoon keeping evidence of past civilizations preserved. Now, for the first time, world renowned maritime archeologist David Gibbins ties together the stories of some of the most significant shipwrecks in time to form a single overarching narrative of world history.

Of course I was going to grab the book about shipwrecks. I have a weird obsessions with ghost ships and shipwrecks. Diving into this book, I was hoping for some great shipwrecks stories and information about underwater archaeology. We got some, but then a ton more super detailed history about the time the ships went down. Some of the chapters started to even bore me and I love reading history books. This one would have benefited from a more narrative style than the dry recitation of history with some shipwreck finds thrown in.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

Title: The Kiss Quotient (The Kiss Quotient #1)

Author: Helen Hoang

Publisher: Berkley 2018

Genre: Romance

Pages: 314

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER; Retreat Recommendations

Where I Got It: Kindle

Spice Rating: 5

Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases—a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old.

It doesn't help that Stella has Asperger's and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice—with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can't afford to turn down Stella's offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan—from foreplay to more-than-missionary position...

Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but crave all of the other things he's making her feel. Their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic...

This book has been on my TBR for years and I decided to take the plunge and choose it for my Dirty Book Month selection. Thankfully I ended up really enjoying this reverse Pretty Woman romance. Right away we know that Stella is autistic and struggles with the idea of romantic relationships. From there, she devises a plan involving hiring a male escort to teach her. This male escort has his own issues and struggles. As we learn more about each of the characters, we start to see just how perfect they might be for each other. I really loved seeing Michael interact with his family and attempt to protect them from all struggles. And we get to see Stella interact with them. Overall, this was a very satisfying romance and start of a series. I cannot wait to have our discussion next week and unpack all the aspects of this story.

The Kiss Quotient

• #1 The Kiss Quotient

• #2 The Bride Test

• #3 The Heart Principle

Next up on the TBR pile:

Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire

Title: Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear (Wayward Children #10)

Author: Seanan McGuire

Publisher: Tordotcom 2025

Genre: Fantasy

Pages:160

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Cover Lover - Aquatic Animal

Nadya had three mothers: the one who bore her, the country that poisoned her, and the one who adopted her.

Nadya never considered herself less than whole, not until her adoptive parents fitted her with a prosthetic arm against her will, seeking to replace the one she'd been missing from birth.

It was cumbersome; it was uncomfortable; it was wrong.

It wasn't her.

Frustrated and unable to express why, Nadya began to wander, until the day she fell through a door into Belyrreka, the Land Beneath the Lake--and found herself in a world of water, filled with child-eating amphibians, majestic giant turtles, and impossible ships that sailed as happily beneath the surface as on top. In Belyyreka, she found herself understood for who she was: a Drowned Girl, who had made her way to her real home, accepted by the river and its people.

But even in Belyyreka, there are dangers, and trials, and Nadya would soon find herself fighting to keep hold of everything she had come to treasure.

The last book in the Wayward Children series? Maybe? This volume is really just the story of Nadya and her time in our world and in the Drowned World. We get connections to the rest of the series just in the larger multiverse way. None of the other characters appear in the pages. I did love seeing Nadya find her place in the Drowned World and become something more than she was. I loved exploring a new strange world. But my favorite parts were definitely the conversations with the foxes. I really wanted to spend more time with them. Overall, a very enjoyable small novella.

Wayward Children

• #1 Every Heart a Doorway

• #2 Down Among the Sticks and Bones

• #3 Beneath the Sugar Sky

• #4 In an Absent Dream

• #5 Come Tumbling Down

• #6 Across the Green Grass Fields

• #7 Where the Drowned Girls Go

• #8 Lost in the Moment and Found

• #9 Mislaid in Parts Half-Known

• #10 Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #2

Reading: Finishing reading The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang for Dirty Book Month for book club. I actually have liked it a lot more that I was expecting.

Watching: J got me addicted to Pantheon. I’ve been watching some episodes during lunch, but wasn’t going fast enough. We’re watching the rest of S2 at night to finish before my trip.

Listening: My mom got me addicted to Stray Kids. I am obsessed now…

Making: I made a version of Kimchi Jjigae (just Kimchi stew with tuna and tofu) and we loved it. I think this needs to go into regular rotation.

Feeling: After being sick last week, I haven’t really slept well lately. Consequently I am tired. The cloudy weather is not helping me.

Planning: I’m finalizing the travel plans for the end of the month. I have just a few things to finish before we leave.

Loving: As a result of my Stray Kids obsession, I’ve been listening to more dancing music while making dinner. Makes the tasks a little less annoying.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W21: More Sickness

What We Studied

Another week of winter 2025, another sickness impacting our scheduled activities. I really hope that we can get back to some activities this next week. As a less of an impact, co-op was cancelled due to multiple families being sick.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We finished our read aloud and doc into a short unit involving the stories of Hans Christian Andersen. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

• Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

• The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat

• Hans Christian Andersen storie collection

Quentin is primarily using Blossom & Root G1 for his language arts this year. We will pull some elements from Build Your Library Level 2 and random books that we have around the house. We finished The Hobbit. Q is definitely liking it more than our last one. For Friday movie night, we watched the 1977 animated version of the book.

• Poetry: Out of This World: Poems and Facts About Space by Amy E. Sklansky

• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

• The Tale of Despeareaux by Kate DiCamillo

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. Arthur continued the second book of the course, exploring more about coordinate planes. We finished the chapter and took a short break so Arthur could catch up on some independent work.

• Math in Focus Course 1 Book A

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. We moved onto 3A starting slow to easy back into our lessons. Taking it slow but moving along.

• Singapore Primary 3A

• Primarily Logic

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. Arthur covered the slave revolts in Haiti and other colonies. We then fit in a chapter about the United States expanding.

• Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• DK A Child Through Time

• Blades of Freedom: A Tale of Haiti, Napoleon, and the Louisiana Purchase (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales 10) by Nathan Hale

• Toussaint L’ouvertrue: The Fight for Haiti’s Freedom by Walter Dean Myers

• Haiti: Enchantment of the World by Liz Sonneborn

• Freedom Soup by Tami Charles

• Olaudah Equiano: A Voice for Africa; Nigeria Heritage Series by John Adoga

• No More!: Stories and Songs of Slave Resistance by Doreen Rappaport

• The Kidnapped Prince: The Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano and Ann Cameron

• A New Nation: The United States: 1783–1815, by Betsy Maestro

• Blades of Freedom: A Tale of Haiti, Napoleon, and the Louisiana Purchase (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales 10), by Nathan Hale

• Brick by Brick, by Charles R. Smith Jr.

• Thomas Jefferson Builds a Library, by Barb Rosenstock

• Worst of Friends: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and the True Story of an American Feud, by Suzanne Tripp Jurmain

• Where Is the White House?, by Megan Stine

• Who Was Alexander Hamilton?, by Pam Pollack

• Buffalo Bird Girl: A Hidatsa Story, by S. D. Nelson

• Gift Horse: A Lakota Story, by S.D. Nelson

• Sacagawea: Journey into the West, by Jessica Gunderson

• Star People: A Lakota Story, by S.D. Nelson

• The Lewis and Clark Expedition, by Jessica Gunderson

• Thomas Jefferson and the Mammoth Hunt: The True Story of the Quest for America’s Biggest Bones, by Carrie Clickard

• 50 Fearless Women Who Made American History: An American History Book for Kids, by Jenifer Bazzit

• Lewis and Clark for Kids: Their Journey of Discovery with 21 Activities, by Janis Herbert

• You Wouldn’t Want to Explore with Lewis and Clark!, by Jacqueline Morley

• Sacajawea, by Joseph Bruchac

• What Was the Lewis and Clark Expedition?, by Judith St. George

• Who Was Sacagawea?, by Judith Bloom Fradin

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 as his main history curriculum. We covered the chapter about the Age of Exploration.

• History Quest Middle Times

• DK When on Earth?

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• DK A Child Through Time

• DK Explorers

Science

Arthur is using RSO Biology 1 this year has the main science text. Our academic coop will also be using RSO Biology 1 as a basis for the fall and spring semester courses, so we will be just supplementing at home. We will also be doing some of Blossom & Root’s Book Seeds and various other small units in between. We did read some chapters from our Story of Science to keep up. Added science bonus, we watched more PBS Eons videos.

• RSO Biology 1

• Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim

Quentin is using RSO Earth & Environment and RSO Astronomy 1 as a base. Of course, we have a ton of extra science resources laying around the house. And I will be hosting some one-off science exploration days that align with the units. Lots of science this week! We covered Mercury, Venus, Mars, and the Asteroid Belt. And we started watching the NOVA/BBC series The Planets.

• RSO Earth and Environment

• DK First Earth Encyclopedia

• RSO Asttonomy 1

• DK Eyewitness Astronomy

• DK Space

• DK First Space Encyclopedia

• DK Eyewitness The Planets

• 13 Planets: The Latest View of the Solar System by David A. Aguilar

• Professor Astro Cat's Frontiers of Space by Dominic Walliman and Ben Newman

• Mars: Earthlings Welcome by Stacy McAnulty

• Mousetronaut by Mark Kelly

• Mousetronaut Goes to Mars by Mary Kelly

• Comets by Kristen Rajczak

• Shooting Stars by Kristen Rajczak

• Caroline's Comets by Emily Arnold McCully

• Comet Chaser: The True Cinderella Story of Caroline Herschel, The First Professional Woman Astronomer by Pamela S. Turner

Academic Co-op

Multiple families were sick, so we canceled this week’s meeting. I’m so glad that the remaining families are understanding and flexible while still communicating with each other.

Art and Music

Art will be very sporadic this year, but we do have some fun excursions planned. And I will incorporate art projects into a lot of other subjects and unit studies.

For music, we are using Music Lab: We Rock! as our spine. Each week we will be learning about a different rock musician and focus on a particular song. I have also created Spotify playlists so we can listen on the go. The chapter covered the music of Michael Jackson. We listened to some early songs and then dove into the best of the music videos.

• Music Lab: We Rock!

• DK Music and How it Works

• DK The Arts

Field Trip/Activities

Nothing…

High

It wasn’t the week that I wanted to have, but we managed to finish a ton of school work and get ahead on our lessons. This should mean that the week after our Kansas City trip, we can take a break. The boys are looking forward to that.

Low

Sickness. I really hate having to cancel activities.

Next Week

• Continuing our read alouds

• Moving forward with math lessons

• Traveling to Europe from the Industrial Revolution (A) for history

• Exploring Saturn and Jupiter for Q’s science

• Listening to Earth, Wind, and Fire and Chic

• Hopefully getting back to our activities including a friend’s birthday party

• Starting Opinion Writing for Writer’s Workshop at co-op

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - Stray Kids "Bye Bye Bye / Chk Chk Boom"

Something very different for today… I love this mash up for NSYNC and Stray Kids from the AMA’s last year. Enjoy some fun K-Pop.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Life Right Now #3

As I look outside my window: It’s alternating between cloudy and sunny, but it’s still very cold. Just another February day.

Right now I am: Finishing up some tasks before making brunch. Nothing too exciting.

Thinking and pondering: How exactly should we start our War and Peace podcast?

On my bedside table: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, Alice in Borderland, Shark Heart by Emily Habeck

On my tv this week: J and I are watching our just dropped/currently airing shows along with more Dropout shows from years past.

Listening to: In between all the other things, I’ve been binging the You’re Wrong About mini series about Princess Diana. Also, I just downloaded some new-to-me albums from bands old and new.

On the menu for this week:

• Monday - Sesame Chicken

• Tuesday - Snack Dinner

• Wednesday - Chicken Cordon Bleu Dip (with Buffalo Chicken Strips this time)

• Thursday - Shrimp Lo Mein

• Friday - Spaghetti

• Saturday - Chicken Tagine

• Sunday - Scallops Salad

On my to do list: I’m certain a lot, but right now I’m focused on finishing my Memory Planner for January and prepping for the coming week.

Happening this week:

• Monday - Kid Birthday Party

• Tuesday - Parent Info Meetings (lunch at the food court and evening at home)

• Wednesday - Home Day

• Thursday - Academic Co-op

• Friday - Bowling Party for Valentine’s Day

• Saturday - Home Day

• Sunday - Home Day

What I am creating: J and I had a plan to read War and Peace this year and then decided that we are going to make a podcast out of the project. So, I’m working on creating a background plan about the novel for our first episode and then to put in when relevant.

My simple pleasures: Not being sick, being able to eat on both sides of my mouth, simplified planner decor

Looking around the house: I need to do a bit of light cleaning in the living room and kitchen for this week. Mostly I just need to vacuum and put away some piles.

From the camera: Apparently I am terrible about taking photos this year so far…

Alice in Borderland Vol. 4

Title: Alice in Borderland Vol. 4

Author: Haro Aso

Publisher: VIZ Media 2022

Genre: Comics

Pages: 344

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

Where I Got It: Library

Eighteen-year-old Ryohei Arisu is sick of his life. School sucks, his love life is a joke, and his future weighs on him like impending doom. As he struggles to exist in a world that can’t be bothered with him, Ryohei feels like everything would be better if he were anywhere else. When a strange fireworks show transports him and his friends to a parallel world, Ryohei thinks all his wishes have come true. But this new world isn’t an empty paradise, it’s a vicious game. And the only way to survive is to play.

The Beach has turned into a killing ground as Aguni and his men use the witch-hunt game as an excuse to take out everyone in sight. Arisu and his friends must race to understand the logic behind the game and identify the real witch before they join the growing pile of Aguni’s victims!

Another great volume of this horror show. My favorite part of this one was the Runaway game. I did not see any of that coming at all. (I think I saw this with every volume now, but it’s still true.) I’m interested in seeing how the revelations in this one affect the games in the next volume and the relationships between the characters.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Fae Princes by Nikki St. Crowe

Title: The Fae Princes (Vicious Lost Boys #4)

Author: Nikki St. Crowe

Publisher: Blackwell House 2023

Genre: Romance

Pages: 224

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 8

I thought Peter Pan was a myth and Neverland a fairytale. A story spun by my mother who had lost her mind a long time ago.

But there was no denying the overwhelming shadow cast by Peter Pan when he was standing in my house.

Pan took me captive to Neverland and I somehow found my place among him and the Lost Boys.

I’ve never looked back.

Now I’m entangled right alongside him in a war we can’t seem to escape. We thought we had defeated our enemies.

We thought we could finally have our happily ever after.

But there was one enemy we never saw coming.

A fairy who has nothing to lose and everything to gain.

The fairy with golden wings and a dark, twisted heart.

She wants Neverland and she’ll stop at nothing to have it. Including destroying anyone who stands in her way, even her own flesh and blood.

The cliffhanger at the end of the last book was absolutely bonkers! I didn’t not see that coming, but got very excited to see how they all handled this twist. I really enjoyed all of the characters, except Peter Pan. He was so brooding and unconnected to the other characters in this book that I really got annoyed with him. I wanted to see a really explosive confrontation between him and anyone else. Alas, he just moped along until Roc intercedes at the end. Beyond my quibbles with Pan, I loved seeing Kas and Bash really step up into their own destiny and exert power. I loved seeing the evolving relationships between Winnie and each of the men (except Pan of course). The ending is pretty abrupt, but I wasn’t dissatisfied. The main storyline concludes and we get a sense of the peace in the last chapters. I do want to try and pick up the spin off series featuring Hook and Roc.

Vicious Lost Boys:

• #1 The Never King

• #2 The Dark One

• #3 Their Vicious Darling

• #4 The Fae Princes

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• The kids are sick again. 2025 is really not off to a great start. I really wish that we could move past this.

• On the bright side, we’ve got a ton of school work done while not going anywhere.

• And J and I have watched a ton of great television.

• I think we are going to start a podcast about our reading of War and Peace. Hopefully I can fit some prep work in this weekend.

• Thinking about what I should read next. I have no idea… So many options, but I think I want to lean into whatever mood I am in after finishing my current read.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Temple of Swoon by Jo Segura

Title: Temple of Swoon

Author: Jo Segura

Publisher: Berkley 2025

Genre: Romance

Pages: 355

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - Latinx Author; Cover Lover - Favorite Color

Spice Rating: 5

While her mentor may be the world’s most badass archaeologist, the only thing bad about Dr. Miriam Jacobs are her corny jokes. But when Miri is charged with leading an unmapped expedition through the Amazon for the fabled Lost City of the Moon, she finally has her chance to prove to her colleagues that she’s capable—and hopefully prove it to herself, too.

Journalist Rafael Monfils has joined the archaeological team to chronicle their search for the lost city. Or at least, that’s what they think he’s doing. Rafa’s real goal? Make sure the team does not reach the Cidade da Lua, stopping the desecration of the holy city and protecting his mother’s legacy. All he needs to do is keep them on the wrong path.

If only the endearingly quirky Dr. Jacobs wasn’t so damn tenacious—each of Rafa’s tricks and purposeful wrong turns only seem to fuel her determination. Even worse, he’s charmed by her goofy attempts to channel Lara Croft as they traverse the dangerous Brazilian rainforest. But they’re not the only crew hunting for the lost city, and soon the untamed jungle—and their untamed hearts—might be the least of their worries...

I thoroughly enjoyed Segura’s first book. It was the perfect blend of romance and action/adventure. Romancing the Stone is one of my favorite movies from the 1980s and this one is definitely reminiscent of that movie. We get a fun, perky, slightly clues main female character and a brooding, sexy main male character. We see them come together and attempt to find the Ciudad de Lua (or are they?). Thankfully the book was very propulsive and the action pushed the characters into fun situations and tense situations. By the end of the book, I could actually buy the relationship between Miri and Rafa. I really hope that Segura keeps writing these types of books.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

Title: The Hacienda

Author: Isabel Cañas

Publisher: Berkley 2022

Genre: Horror

Pages: 352

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf Project; I Read Horror - Ghosts

Where I Got It: Book of the Month May 2022

During the overthrow of the Mexican government, Beatriz’s father was executed and her home destroyed. When handsome Don Rodolfo Solórzano proposes, Beatriz ignores the rumors surrounding his first wife’s sudden demise, choosing instead to seize the security that his estate in the countryside provides. She will have her own home again, no matter the cost.

But Hacienda San Isidro is not the sanctuary she imagined.

When Rodolfo returns to work in the capital, visions and voices invade Beatriz’s sleep. The weight of invisible eyes follows her every move. Rodolfo’s sister, Juana, scoffs at Beatriz’s fears—but why does she refuse to enter the house at night? Why does the cook burn copal incense at the edge of the kitchen and mark the doorway with strange symbols? What really happened to the first Doña Solórzano?

Beatriz only knows two things for certain: Something is wrong with the hacienda. And no one there will save her.

Desperate for help, she clings to the young priest, Padre Andrés, as an ally. No ordinary priest, Andrés will have to rely on his skills as a witch to fight off the malevolent presence haunting the hacienda and protect the woman for whom he feels a powerful, forbidden attraction. But even he might not be enough to battle the darkness.

Far from a refuge, San Isidro may be Beatriz’s doom.

A perfect ghost story for this week! I can’t believe I let this book sit on my floor for this long before reading it. This was the perfect blend of atmospheric ghost story featuring a (potentially) unreliable narrator and a beautifully remote setting. I love these types of books and this is no exception. I couldn’t help rooting for Beatriz immediately after meeting her. This entire story including the characters really reminded me of the movie Crimson Peak. Beatriz is swept away to a house that is supposed to be her safe harbor, but quickly becomes something else. I loved the chapters we get from Andrés’s point of view as we learn more about the house and its inhabitants. The last third of this book is really a nonstop ride the I loved. And we get a great conclusion with a fun ambiguous last paragraph. Loved it!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W20: School, Dentist, Car, Co-op, and Play!

What We Studied

I think we are officially back on track for the spring semester. We managed to balance school work, some errands, and a bit of play this week without too much stress. I’m very excited to see how far we got in our curriculum. It will make it easier when we take some days off bookwork to go on our trip at the end of February.

Apparently I was absolutely terrible at taking picture this week. Here’s to doing a better job this week!

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We continued a new read aloud and it’s been much better than the last one. As an added bonus it appears in Hearth and Story G5 and as a Build Your Library Lit Bite. And it’s our co-op book selection for this month. We’ve got just a few more chapters to cover this coming week to finish off the book. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

• Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

• The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat

Quentin is primarily using Blossom & Root G1 for his language arts this year. We will pull some elements from Build Your Library Level 2 and random books that we have around the house. We got deeper into The Hobbit and are really enjoying it. Q is definitely liking it more than our last one.

• Poetry: Out of This World: Poems and Facts About Space by Amy E. Sklansky

• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. Arthur continued the second book of the course, exploring more about coordinate planes. This chapter has been a lot easier for him to conceptualize than the last one.

• Math in Focus Course 1 Book A

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. We moved onto 3A starting slow to easy back into our lessons. Taking it slow but moving along.

• Singapore Primary 3A

• Primarily Logic

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. Arthur covered the French Revolution and Culture Corners on Mozart and Jacques-Louis David. I must say that those French names really throw us off, but we got through it with a little help from some videos.

• Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• DK A Child Through Time

• Who Was Marie Antoinette? by Dana Meachen Rau

• Joseph Bologne Le Chevalier de Saint-George: The First Black Classical Composer by Amelie-Mai Wright

• The Magic Flute: An Opera by Mozart by Kyra Teis

• Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart by Mike Venezia

• Who Was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? by Yona Zeldis McDonough

• You Wouldn’t Want to Be an Aristocrat in the French Revolution!: A Horrible Time in Paris You’d Rather Avoid by Jim Pipe

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 as his main history curriculum. This week we explored Yuan and Ming Dynasties China. He really got into the sections about the Great Wall and the Grand Canal. Plus we watched a NOVA Episode about the construction of the Forbidden City.

• History Quest Middle Times

• DK When on Earth?

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• DK A Child Through Time

• DK Explorers

• Kublai Khan, The Emperor of Everything by Kathleen Krull

• No Year of the Cat by Mary Dodson Wade

Science

Arthur is using RSO Biology 1 this year has the main science text. Our academic coop will also be using RSO Biology 1 as a basis for the fall and spring semester courses, so we will be just supplementing at home. We will also be doing some of Blossom & Root’s Book Seeds and various other small units in between. We did read some chapters from our Story of Science to keep up.

• RSO Biology 1

• Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim

• Amazing Evolution: The Journey of Life by Anna Claybourne

Quentin is using RSO Earth & Environment and RSO Astronomy 1 as a base. Of course, we have a ton of extra science resources laying around the house. And I will be hosting some one-off science exploration days that align with the units. We moved on to lessons about the Earth and our Moon. For documentary time, we started a series on NOVA with BBC Earth titled Universe Revealed. We watched the episodes about the Age of Stars and the Milky Way. We are also still watching the PBS Eons videos here and there.

• RSO Earth and Environment

• DK First Earth Encyclopedia

• RSO Asttonomy 1

• DK Eyewitness Astronomy

• DK Space

• DK First Space Encyclopedia

• DK Eyewitness The Planets

• 13 Planets: The Latest View of the Solar System by David A. Aguilar

• The Planets by Gail Gibbons

• Earth: My First 4.54 Billion Years by Stacy McAnulty

• Our Planet! There's No Place Like Earth by Stacy McAnulty

• Professor Astro Cat's Frontiers of Space by Dominic Walliman and Ben Newman

• Storybots: The Moon's Time to Shine by Scott Emmons

• Moon! Earth's Best Friend by Stacy McAnulty

• The Moon by Gail Gibbons

• Moon's First Friends: One Giant Leap for Friendship by Susanna Leonard Hill

Academic Co-op

Another week of co-op with more changes to our line-up. I really hope that we are done with all this and can focus on the lessons. Quentin decided that he was going to pay attention during lessons and so we participated in homeroom and art and listened during biology. Um. I guess so… But it did mean that the stuff I had planned for him to do during co-op did not get done. Not terrible but definitely a chance in plans. Arthur learned about value in art, biomes in biology, and writing with voice in writer’s workshop. Overall we had a good day. And afterward, I got to solidify our travel plans with the two families joining us for the Kansas City trip.

Art and Music

Art will be very sporadic this year, but we do have some fun excursions planned. And I will incorporate art projects into a lot of other subjects and unit studies.

For music, we are using Music Lab: We Rock! as our spine. Each week we will be learning about a different rock musician and focus on a particular song. I have also created Spotify playlists so we can listen on the go. We covered our last artist in the punk chapter: Talking Heads. I love Talking Heads and the boys seemed to also enjoy them. We watched their famous concert Stop Making Sense. I’m excited that we are in the timeline when we get to watch music videos for some of these songs.

• Music Lab: We Rock!

• DK Music and How it Works

• DK The Arts

Field Trip/Activities

Not a field trip, but we did have an open playdate at Backyard Playworld on Friday afternoon. The boys ran, jumped, and climbed for three hours. I call that a win! Plus they got to hang out with some friends.

High

Not necessarily homeschool related but we did get an estimate to fix the van (late February appointment) and the boys had their dental cleaning. I have literally been in the dentist office every week for an entire month (and I have to go in on Tuesday for my crown). Thankfully the boys had no problems. They even seem to enjoy going to the dentist (weirdos).

Low

Changes in co-op made us recalibrate once again. I am very annoyed with people who try to gaslight me. Some people apparently really want to burn bridges this January.

Next Week

• Finishing our current reads; maybe pivoting to a fun non-study read aloud

• Moving forward with math lessons

• Traveling to Haiti and then the US (A) and all over the oceans (Q) for history

• Exploring the rocky planets for Q’s science

• Listening to Michael Jackson

• Going to the zoo for animal watching, the Luminarium for science play, OPPD Arboretum for a hike, and a friend’s house for a playdate - a busy week ahead!

• Starting Opinion Writing for Writer’s Workshop at co-op

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - Badflower "London"

Almost a stripped down song for Badflower, but I’m digging it.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Life Right Now #2

On my bedside table: I have the next three volumes of Alice and Borderland, a book about shipwrecks, and War and Peace (yes, War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy).

On my tv this week: J and I are in the middle of The Recruit S2, Severance S2, Shoresy S4, The Franchise S1, and Rivals S1. I’m watching Pantheon S1 and am absolutely hooked (J already watched it).

Listening to: I’ve been binging some Stray Kids, Bring Me the Horizon, The Warning, and Dead Poet Society this week

On the menu for this week:

• Monday - Pulled Pork Sandwiches

• Tuesday - Baked Potato Soup

• Wednesday - Kimchi Stew with Tuna

• Thursday - Rueben Pigs in a Blanket

• Friday - Pizza Night

• Saturday - Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese

• Sunday - Leftovers

On my to do list: Mostly I just need to stay on top of the logistical tasks and homeschool planning

Happening this week:

• Monday - Home Day

• Tuesday - Zoo Day; Dentist Appt (my permanent crown)

• Wednesday - Luminarium visit (before our membership expires)

• Thursday - Academic Co-op

• Friday - Nature hike at OPPD Arboretum; playdate at a friend’s house

• Saturday - Parent Info Meeting

• Sunday - Co-op Book Club

What I am creating: Mostly I’m just making plans. I want to get to my Memory Planner for January, but that might wait until next weekend.

My simple pleasures: A good book, time to organize and decorate my planner, no urgent messages

Looking around the house: Things are decent. I should vacuum the playroom today, but that’s the most pressing need.

From the camera: Coffee and a book before my meeting this morning

Their Vicious Darling by Nikki St. Crowe

Title: Their Vicious Darling (Vicious Lost Boys #3)

Author: Nikki St. Crowe

Publisher: Blackwell House LLC 2022

Genre: Romance

Pages: 248

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 8

The Dark One has finally accepted me…just in time for everything to change. Because Vane’s brother, The Crocodile, has just arrived on Neverland soil and he’s not alone. He’s brought with him members of the royal Darkland family and they want Vane’s Death Shadow back at any cost.

Of course, Peter Pan, Vane, Kas and Bash, they’re all familiar with war. But war isn’t easy when love is on the line.

I know those vicious Lost Boys would do anything to protect me. But what if I’m not the one that needs saving?

As power shifts on the island and shadows are claimed, all five of us have to let go of who we were, if we have any chance of becoming who we are destined to be.

Ooohhhh Winnie’s got a shadow! This book has definitely been my favorite so far. We get more development in the overall big plot and the relationships between the characters. Never thought that I would say that Vane may just be my favorite. (I really thought I would gravitate toward Kas.) I loved seeing Winnie really stand up for herself and be confident in her abilities. I loved seeing Roc come into play and add another dynamic to the conflict. And we get to spend time with Hook and Smee. I cannot wait to see how this all ends.

Vicious Lost Boys:

• #1 The Never King

• #2 The Dark One

• #3 Their Vicious Darling

• #4 The Fae Princes

Next up on the TBR pile:

January 2025 Wrap-up

January TBR Pile (19/22):

1. Bookworms BC: Above the Bay of Angels by Rhys Bowen ✓

2. Bookworms BC: The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

3. Friend BC: Small Angels by Lauren Owen ✓

4. Nerdy Bookish Friends BC: A Song for a New Day by Sarah Pinsker ✓

5. Kid Book Club: The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontorvant

6. Kid Read Aloud: The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis ✓

7. Kid Read Aloud: The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder ✓

8. Kid Read Aloud: The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

9. Romance: Blame the Mistletoe by Dani Collins ✓

10. Romance: Hunting Adeline by HD Carlton ✓

11. Romance: Kiss the Girl by Zoraida Cordova ✓

12. Romance: The Never King by Nikki St. Crow ✓

13. Romance: The Roommate by Rosie Danan ✓

14. Romance: The Dark One by Nikki St. Crowe ✓

15. Fantasy: Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer ✓

16. Fantasy: A Ship of Bones and Teeth by Karina Halle ✓

17. Fantasy: The Last Bookstore on Earth by Lily Braun-Arnold ✓

18. Horror: The Gathering by CJ Tudor ✓

19. Scifi: Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow ✓

20. Scifi: Partials by Dan Wells ✓

21. Comic: Alice in Borderland Vol. 2 ✓

22. Comic: Alice in Borderland Vol. 3 ✓

1,000,000 Page Goal:

Monthly Total: 6442 pages
Pages Remaining: 184,896 pages

Current Read - The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

Books I Gave Up On (0)

Books Bought/Received (7)

Half Price Books after Christmas sale!

• Horseman by Christina Henry

• The Albion Initiative by George Mann

• Frogkisser by Garth Nix

• The Swifts by Beth Lincoln

Book of the Month had some good selections for January. I had to get three.

• A Sea of Unspoken Things by Adrienne Young

• The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis

• Babylonia by Costanza Casati

UnRead Shelf Progress

• Starting Number: 308

• Books Read: 3

• Books Acquired: 7

• Books Unshelved: 22

• Finishing Number: 290

February TBR Pile:

1. Bookworms BC: The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

2. Friend BC: Shark Heart by Emily Habeck

3. Nerdy Bookish Friends BC: The Black God’s Drums by P. Djeli Clark

4. Kid Book Club: Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

5. Kid Read Aloud: The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

6. Kid Read Aloud: The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat

7. Romance: Their Vicious Darling by Nikki St. Crowe

8. Romance; The Fae Princes by Nikki St. Crowe

9. Romance: Temple of Swoon by Jo Segura

10. Horror: The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

Movies Watched

• Enemy of the State - rewatch with the kids

• Venom 3

• Wicked

• The Idea of You - So much better than the book (and I hardly ever say that)

• Wallace and Gromit Vengeance Most Fowl

• A Family Affair - Very meh

• The Killer’s Game - So so bad…

• Greedy People

TV Shows Watched

• The Gentlemen S1 - finished

• Bad Monkey S1 - finished

• Wednesday S1 - finished

• SAS Rogue Heroes S2 - finished

• Below Deck Sailing Yacht

• Love Life S2 - finished

• Star Struck S3 - Somehow I left two episodes unwatched in this series…

• Monarch - finished

• The Franchise S1

• Severance S2

• Pantheon S1

• The Bachelor

Comments - A great start to my year. I read a ton of books, including three from my own physical unread shelf. I finished many television shows and J and I started some new ones (or at least new seasons). Hoping to keep all the momentum rolling through the rest of winter.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Last Bookstore on Earth by Lily Braun-Arnold

Title: The Last Bookstore on Earth

Author: Lily Braun-Arnold

Publisher: Delacorte Press 2025

Genre: YA Scifi

Pages: 320

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Cover Lover - Floral Elements

Where I Got It: Library

The world is about to end. Again.

Ever since the first Storm wreaked havoc on civilization as we know it, seventeen-year-old Liz Flannery has been holed up in an abandoned bookstore in suburban New Jersey where she used to work, trading books for supplies with the few remaining survivors. It’s the one place left that feels safe to her.

Until she learns that another earth-shattering Storm is coming . . . and everything changes.

Enter Maeve, a prickly and potentially dangerous out-of-towner who breaks into the bookstore looking for shelter one night. Though the two girls are immediately at odds, Maeve has what Liz needs—the skills to repair the dilapidated store before the next climate disaster strikes—and Liz reluctantly agrees to let her stay.

As the girls grow closer and undeniable feelings spring up between them, they realize that they face greater threats than the impending Storm. And when Maeve’s secrets and Liz’s inner demons come back to haunt them both, they find themselves fighting for their lives as their world crumbles around them.

My last book for January really landed with a thud for me. I was intrigued by this post-apocalyptic story set primarily in a bookstore. I was hoping for a great propulsive story full of great connectable characters. Instead, we get some really boring characters and absolutely no real plot development. I was willing to stick with the book to see where the characters went, but surprise it was nowhere. I was so incredibly bored with the book. As an added annoyance, I could not get over the accident that happens to Liz. There’s absolutely no way that the injury that happened would have seemingly healed on its own very quickly. Ridiculous. There’s also a lot about the storm that bothered me. It really felt like the author had a tiny kernel of an idea and then just smashed it together with an attempt at a character study book. It did not work for me at all.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Dark One by Nikki St. Crowe

Title: The Dark One (Vicious Lost Boys #2)

Author: Nikki St. Crowe

Publisher: Blackwell House 2022

Genre: Romance

Pages: 228

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series; Cover Lover - Skull

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 8

I spent most of my life feeling dead inside — until I met Peter Pan and the Lost Boys.

It wasn't until Pan and Neverland that I finally felt alive.

But things are not all full of magic and sunlight on the island. There's something darker and more sinister haunting the forest.

And worse, the fae queen and Captain Hook are ready to fight for control of Neverland and they will stop at nothing to get what they want.

War is brewing—can the Never King get his shadow back and assume his rightful throne? And if he does, where will I fit?

Or will all of Neverland be in jeopardy right along with my dark, twisted heart?

I wasn’t absolutely sold with the first book in this series, but thankfully the second one pulled me in more. We get more plot and characterization and less erotica scenes. Thank goodness! The first volume felt a bit more like reading a Penthouse letter than a good dark romance. We pivot to more of a focus on the increasing relationships between Winnie and the men and even between the men. We learn more about the islands and the shadows on the loose. I’m invested in this series now and cannot wait to see where it goes.

Vicious Lost Boys:

• #1 The Never King

• #2 The Dark One

• #3 Their Vicious Darling

• #4 The Fae Princes

Next up on the TBR pile: