Here's my randomness for the week:
It’s our last week of Academic Co-op which means I need to transition to heavy planning until January.
Excited about teaching Wonders of the World next semester for Co-op.
Hoping that the weather holds out for my mom’s visit later this month.
Saturday is going to be super busy. Looking forward to it, but also it’s going to be a lot…
Next up on the TBR pile:
Very different vibe than her brother’s music, but I’ve really come to like Hannah Bahng’s music also.
Next up on the TBR pile:
Right now I am: Sitting surrounded by project stacks. I need to get some house organization stuff done this morning and prepare for tonight’s Co-op meeting.
On my bedside table: I have a giant stack of library books that I checked out to find a book for Dirty Book Month. I really need to start previewing them…
On my tv this week: J and I are about halfway through S4 of Babylon 5. We will finish this season by the end of the month. The last season will probably have to wait until January. I am slowly working my way through My Dearest Nemesis, but not as slowly as when I watched The Nice Guy. Hoping to finish by January. Only 8 episodes to go!
Listening to: Stray Kids of course! They were my top artist on Apple Music for 2025 and by a very very large margin. Just how I like it!
On the menu for this week: I need to meal plan for the second half of the week.
Monday - Chicken Shawarma Fries
Tuesday - Cuban Pork Roast
Wednesday - Peanut Chicken Bowls
Thursday - ????
Friday - Friendsmas
Saturday - ????
Sunday - ????
On my to do list: I need to organize my stuff for Friendsmas, make a Santa visit appointment, collect the notes for tonight’s Academic Co-op meeting, organize my library books, hopefully read, organize the last week of materials for Academic Co-op, pay the college for Co-op, find a new eye doctor, make a car appointment — so much this week!
Happening this week:
Monday - Home Day (Laundry)
Tuesday - Home Day
Wednesday - Joslyn Art Explorers
Thursday - Academic Co-op
Friday - Heron Haven Hike; Curriculum Planning
Saturday - SKZ Trading Event; Friendsmas
Sunday - Home Day
What I am creating: Still working through my November Memory Planner pages. Hoping to finish those this afternoon before my meeting.
My simple pleasures: SKZ music and videos, book talk with friends, just relaxing before the crazy
Looking around the house: Q dropped a bag of flour in the kitchen yesterday, leading to him and Nick cleaning the floors. So things are looking pretty nice.
From the camera: Went to the Asian Market for ramen and things and found these babies! Unfortunately they only had the four members. I would have bought all eight if they had had them.
Title: The Compound
Author: Aisling Rawle
Publisher: Random House 2025
Genre: Thriller??
Pages: 292
Rating: 2/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Cover Lover - A sunrise or sunset
Where I Got It: Library
Lily—a bored, beautiful twenty-something—wakes up on a remote desert compound, alongside nineteen other contestants competing on a massively popular reality show. To win, she must outlast her housemates to stay in the Compound the longest, while competing in challenges for luxury rewards like champagne and lipstick, plus communal necessities to outfit their new home, like food, appliances, and a front door.
Cameras are catching all her angles, good and bad, but Lily has no desire to leave: why would she, when the world outside is falling apart? As the competition intensifies, intimacy between the players deepens, and it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between desire and desperation. When the unseen producers raise the stakes, forcing contestants into upsetting, even dangerous situations, the line between playing the game and surviving it begins to blur. If Lily makes it to the end, she’ll receive prizes beyond her wildest dreams—but what will she have to do to win?
Another big disappointment for me. I had picked this up from a recommendation rom a friend. I was thinking it would be a fun thriller with some social commentary. Unfortunately, I found this to be a huge mess. We get a line here or there about the fall of the world outside, but nothing actually comes of it. So why should we care? We are presented with people to explore a character study into motivations and desires, but all of the characters are incredibly unlikable. Plus most of the characters disappear quickly anyway. The pacing is terrible. The first part was pretty interesting, but once we reach the second part, everything slows down and stalls at certain points. I didn’t even want to keep turning the pages at certain parts. And then we get to the end. The book just ends. There’s absolutely no real conclusion and I didn’t even care. Such a miss for me.
Next up on the TBR pile:
Title: The Haunting of H.G. Wells
Author: Robert Masello
Publisher: 47North 2020
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Pages: 393
Rating: 2/5 stars
Reading Challenges: COYER; Cover Lover - Outdated technology (typewriter, film camera, rotary telephone, etc.)
Where I Got It: Kindle Account
It’s 1914. The Great War grips the world—and from the Western Front a strange story emerges…a story of St. George and a brigade of angels descending from heaven to fight beside the beleaguered British troops. But can there be any truth to it?
H. G. Wells, the most celebrated writer of his day—author of The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man—is dispatched to find out. There, he finds an eerie wasteland inhabited by the living, the dead, and those forever stranded somewhere in between…a no-man’s-land whose unhappy souls trail him home to London, where a deadly plot, one that could turn the tide of war, is rapidly unfolding.
In league with his young love, the reporter and suffragette Rebecca West, Wells must do battle with diabolical forces—secret agents and depraved occultists—to save his sanity, his country, and ultimately the world.
I picked this up thinking that it would be a good spooky read set in a time that I don’t often see. Unfortunately, this just really fell so flat for me. The promised spooky content never really materialized. We got a great spooky prologue, but then it’s revealed later that the prologue was completely made up. Instead the spooky content was vague conspiracies and secret societies. It never really delivered on its promise. But my big problem with the book had to do with the character of H.G. Wells and his relationship with Rebecca West. I am not a fan of surprise Jesus and I am really not a fan of surprise infidelity. They were both pretty terrible characters. I just couldn’t get behind either one. I know that the book was trying to play off of the real people behind the characters, but it was still very off-putting. Such a disappointment.
Next up on the TBR pile:
Reading: In the middle of The Compound by Aisling Rawle. I really don’t know what I feel about this book. Definitely have mixed feelings.
Watching: We’ve made it to S4 of Babylon 5. We are completely flying through the seasons. We might actually finish the series by the end of the year.
Listening: Stray Kids’s new album has been on repeat since it dropped on November 21st. But in particular, I’ve been loving “Divine” so much. It’s my current favorite SKZ song.
Making: Feeling so accomplished that I’m currently working on my November Memory Planner Pages. They are already over halfway completed.
Feeling: Trying to plan a debrief and planning meeting for Academic Co-op and it’s very frustrating to find a date that works for most if not all members. At least point, I don’t think 100% attendance will be possible.
Planning: I’m still working on planning our events this Holiday Season. The calendar is starting to fill up.
Loving: J made a chocolate tart for Thanksgiving. It is just so good! We finished out the tart last night with one last slice. So rich, but so good.
Next up on the TBR pile:
Stray Kids dropped their new album and oh my goodness, I love it so much! “Divine” is hands-on my favorite of the tracks. But really the entire thing is a No-Skip album.
Next up on the TBR pile:
November TBR Pile (11/12):
Bookworms BC: None (Lit Society Month)
Friend BC: The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter
Nerdy Bookish Friends: Heartless by HG Parry ✓
Kid Book Club: Granted by John David Anderson ✓
Kid Read Aloud: The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill ✓
Kid Read Aloud: Brothers Grimm Stories ✓
Nonfiction: The Great Mortality by John Kelly ✓
Nonfiction: Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane ✓
Romance: My Funny Demon Valentine by Aurora Ascher ✓
Romance: The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch ✓
Scifi: For We are Many by Dennis E. Taylor ✓
Horror: This House is Haunted by John Boyne ✓
Horror: A Land So Wide by Erin A. Craig ✓
1,000,000 Page Goal
Monthly Total: 3612 pages
Pages Remaining: 122,613 pages
Current Read - The Haunting of H.G. Wells by Robert Masello
Books I Gave Up On (0)
Books Bought/Received (0)
UnRead Shelf Progress
Starting Number: 303
Books Read: 0
Books Acquired: 0
Books Unshelved: 0
Finishing Number: 303
December TBR Pile: My TBR listed is short, but don’t worry, I have a ton of holiday reads and romances just waiting to see which ones I pick.
Bookworms BC: None (Christmas party)
Nerdy Bookish Friends: None (Lit Society Month)
Kid Book Club: The Star-spun Web by Sinead O’Hart
Kid Read Aloud: Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin
Kid Read Aloud: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Horror: The Haunting of H.G. Wells by Robert Masello
Movies Watched
TV Shows Watched
Babylon 5 S2-S3
Only Murders in the Building S5
Slow Horses S5
The Nice Guy S1 — Finally finished! I really enjoyed it, I just don’t have a lot of time for television viewing.
SKZ Code (2023)
SKZ Talker (2023)
SKZ Talker-Go (2023)
Comments - While I read a ton of fan fiction and consumed a lot of new music, my actual book reading was way down… I was also super busy and didn’t do much television or movie viewing this month. All signs of a busy and social November.
Next up on the TBR pile:
Title: Is a River Alive?
Author: Robert Macfarlane
Publisher: WW Norton & Company 2025
Genre: Nonfiction - Science
Pages: 384
Rating: 4/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Nonfiction Reader
Where I Got It: Library
Hailed in the New York Times as “a naturalist who can unfurl a sentence with the breathless ease of a master angler,” Robert Macfarlane brings his glittering style to a profound work of travel writing, reportage, and natural history. Is a River Alive? is a joyful, mind-expanding exploration of an ancient, urgent idea: that rivers are living beings who should be recognized as such in imagination and law.
Macfarlane takes readers on three unforgettable journeys teeming with extraordinary people, stories, and places: to the miraculous cloud-forests and mountain streams of Ecuador, to the wounded creeks and lagoons of India, and to the spectacular wild rivers of Canada―imperiled respectively by mining, pollution, and dams. Braiding these journeys is the life story of the fragile chalk stream a mile from Macfarlane’s house, a stream who flows through his own years and days.
The second Macfarlane book I’ve read, and while it’s not quite as good as Underland, it’s still an engaging piece of nonfiction science writing. This one is about rivers (of course given the title). He visits three river systems to try to understand the importance of rivers and their place in our world. I enjoyed the sections where he dive into the science behind the different rivers. The three chosen are vastly different and it was nice to dive into those differences scientifically. I loved learning about water systems and how they recycle and reuse the material around them. I enjoyed the history of each river system and learning how humans have altered those systems. Where the book started to fall apart were the longer sections at each section’s beginning where he spends more time telling you the history of a specific person. I’m sure they are all lovely people, but I wanted to get to the science and the nature. Overall, it’s a good read connecting humans and nature. I do want to keep picking up books by Macfarlane to sprinkle into my reading.
Next up on the TBR pile:
Here's my randomness for the week:
In the middle of a giant note-taking app transition for planning homeschool lessons and it’s going slow and painfully. I may not recover…
On a brighter note, been loving all the new SKZ content being dropped every single day.
On the other hand, I cannot keep up with all the content.
I might need time to stop for like a week so I can catch up…
Next up on the TBR pile:
Title: The Nightmare Before Kissmas (Royals and Romance #1)
Author: Sara Raasch
Publisher: Bramble 2024
Genre: Romance
Pages: 357
Rating: 4/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Spooky Season; Romanceopoly - The Holiday Spectacle (Holiday Theme)
Where I Got It: Library
Nicholas “Coal” Claus used to love Christmas. Until his father, the reigning Santa, turned the holiday into a PR façade. Coal will do anything to escape the spectacle, including getting tangled in a drunken, supremely hot make-out session with a beautiful man behind a seedy bar one night.
But the heir to Christmas is soon commanded to do his duty: he will marry his best friend, Iris, the Easter Princess and his brother’s not-so-secret crush. A situation that has disaster written all over it.
Things go from bad to worse when a rival arrives to challenge Coal for the princess’s hand…and Coal comes face-to-face with his mysterious behind-the-bar hottie: Hex, the Prince of Halloween.
It’s a fake competition between two holiday princes who can’t keep their hands off each other over a marriage of convenience that no one wants. And it all leads to one of the sweetest, sexiest, messiest, most delightfully unforgettable love stories of the year.
A random library find to bridge Spooky Season and Holiday Reads. Thank goodness it worked out. We get an alternate reality where all the holidays are embodied by ruling families. We meet the Princes of Christmas and Halloween and the Princess of Easter. From there we get some great situational romance opportunities and an underlying conspiracy. I loved the romance aspect. Seeing Coal and Hex get together was oh so cute and delightful. My issue came from the underlying conspiracy. Things just didn’t get revealed or come to a head until the last 20 pages. And then the book left off at a bit of a cliffhanger. I am interested in continuing to read the series with the sequel. Hopefully some of that plot line gets resolved in the next book.
Royals and Romance
#1 The Night Before Kissmas
#2 Go Luck Yourself
Next up on the TBR pile:
Title: For We are Many (We are Bob) (Bobiverse #2)
Author: Dennis E. Taylor
Publisher: Worldbuilder Press 2017
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 311
Rating: 4/5 stars
Reading Challenges: COYER
Where I Got It: Our server
Bob Johansson didn't believe in an afterlife, so waking up after being killed in a car accident was a shock. To add to the surprise, he is now a sentient computer and the controlling intelligence for a Von Neumann probe. Bob and his copies have been spreading out from Earth for 40 years now, looking for habitable planets. But that's the only part of the plan that's still in one piece. A system-wide war has killed off 99.9% of the human race; nuclear winter is slowly making the Earth uninhabitable; a radical group wants to finish the job on the remnants of humanity; the Brazilian space probes are still out there, still trying to blow up the competition; And the Bobs have discovered a spacefaring species that sees all other life as food. Bob left Earth anticipating a life of exploration and blissful solitude. Instead he's become a sky god to a primitive native species, the only hope for getting humanity to a new home, and possibly the only thing that can prevent every living thing in the local sphere from ending up as dinner.
I finally dove into the second book in the series. We jump right in with no hesitation. Immediately I was right back in each of the storylines from the various Bobs. We get to see what happens to the Deltans, people on Earth, and even encounter a newly discovered sentient life on another planet. These books are definitely a high-paced ride. A little less philosophy in this one and more action, but still highly enjoyable.
Bobiverse
#2 For We are Many
#3 All These Worlds
#4 Heaven’s River
#5 Not Till We are Lost
Next up on the TBR pile:
Another two weeks down! We’re getting closer to our Christmas break here. Managing to get a lot of work in during this in-between month.
Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G6 for his language arts this year. While I love H&S, there’s never enough literature in there. Thankfully we have a stack of books just waiting to be picked up and read. Beyond H&S, we are focusing on expanding vocabulary and reading comprehension this year. We continued with our book club selection and I lined up our next read.
Poetry: Hearth & Story G6
Poetry: A Child’s Introduction to Poetry by Michael Driscoll
The Vocabulary Workbook for 6th Grade by Kelly Anne McLellan
Granted by John David Anderson
Quentin is primarily using Blossom & Root G3 for his language arts this year. We will pull some elements from Build Your Library Level 3 and random books that we have around the house. We are also starting the Reading Explorer series to focus on reading comprehension and word choice. We continued with our read aloud, getting very close to finishing. I’ve had to slow down our reading time a bit to accommodate our general pace.
Poetry: National Geography Book of Nature Poetry
In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World by Virginia Hamilton
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 2. Effectively this is Singapore’s 7th grade math text. We finished up our textbook for this semester and spent time catching up. We will be playing a bit of review and catchup until January. We don’t have formal logic book this year, but are focusing on lots of critical thinking and math puzzles.
Math in Focus Course 2 Book A
Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 3B and 4A. We finished up our logic book before moving to more complicated puzzles. We covered a chapter reviewing time. We still have a few short chapters left in this textbook for the semester. Hoping we can get the, finished before Christmas.
Primarily Logic
Singapore Primary Common Core 3B
Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Modern History Vol. 1. Unfortunately CC only has volume 1 published so far. This will take us to Christmas break. If they don’t release volume 2 by then, I’m going to have to do it myself.. The last four chapters of Volume 1 are all about aspects of modern society as opposed to regional history. We covered a chapter about Inventions, one about art.
Curiosity Chronicles Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
A Journey Through Art
DK When on Earth
Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers
Ice! The Amazing History of the Ice Business by Laurence Pringle
The Eiffel Tower by Russell Roberts
Eiffel Tower by Kristine Spanier
Now That's Big: Eiffel Tower by Kate Riggs
Action! How Movies Began by Meghan McCarthy
The Fantastic Ferris Wheel: The Story of Inventor George Ferris by Betsy Harvey Kraft
The Secret Subway by Shana Corey
Lives of the Scientists by Kathleen Krull
Who was Marie Curie? by Megan Stine
No Horses in the House!: The Audacious Life of Artist Rosa Bonheur by Mireille Messier
Paul Cezanne: A Painter’s Journey by Robert Burleigh and the National Gallery of Art
What the Artist Saw: Claude Monet: He Saw the World in Brilliant Light by Amy Guglielmo
What the Artist Saw: Paul Cézanne: He Saw the World in Spectacular Shapes by Amy Guglielmo
Sarah Bernhardt: The Divine and Dazzling Life of the World’s First Superstar by Catherine Reef
Carmen and the House that Gaudí Built by Susan Hughes
Gaudí: Architect of Imagination by Susan B. Katz
The Art and Life of Hilma af Klint by Ylva Hillström
Quentin is using Build Your Library Level 5 to begin our two year exploration of American History. We covered the run-up and beginnings of the American Revolution.
History Quest United States History
DK When on Earth?
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
DK American History
We were There Too
Words that Built a Nation
King George: What was His Problem? by Steve Sheinkin
Arthur is using RSO Earth and Environment 2 and later RSO Astronomy 2 for science. We kept up with our physics prep for co-op. Arthur also covered two chapters about faults and earthquakes. Mostly it was review for him, but we watching some good videos in the process.
RSO Earth and Environment 2 (August-November; March-May)
RSO Astronomy 2 (November-March)
DK Eyewitness Energy
Quentin is using RSO Physics 1. We worked through a chapter about air pressure. Beyond our RSO, we read more chapters in our Story of Science covering Alexander, Euclid, and Archimedes.
RSO Physics 1
The Story of Science Vol. 1 by Joy Hakim
Physics: Investigate the Mechanics of Nature by Jane Gardner
Physics for Curious Kids Introduction
The Way Things Work Now
Oof! These two weeks were a struggle in Academic Co-op. The littles classroom was chaotic and loud. The bigs classroom was full of snark and commentary. Here’s hoping we get back on track with attitudes and behavior.
We are doing something a little different this year. Instead of trying to do music and art every week, we will be trading off. I realized last year these subjects were always the first to be cut when we had time constraints. We spent one of our weeks covering Beethoven for music. The other week was spent covering frames for art.
DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts
Why is Art Full of Naked People? by Susie Hodge
The Story of the Incredible Orchestra by Bruce Koscielniak
DK Art and How it Works
13 Art Techniques Children Should Know
The Story of Paintings
Ludwig van Beethoven by Mike Venezia
Iconic Composers by Nicholas Csicsko and Emi Ferguson
Music is My Life by Myles Tanzer
Welcome to the Symphony by Carolyn Sloan
Arthur wasn’t feeling good the first week so we scrapped our big activity plans.
We are getting very close to finishing all the schoolwork I had planned for the fall semester. I love being on track!
Sickness. Always with the sickness in November.
Finishing our read aloud (Q) and starting a new read aloud (A)
Moving forward with our math chapters - Close to finishing our current textbooks
Learning about the Consumerism (A) and 1775-1776 (Q) for history
Covering volcanoes (A) and how planes fly (Q) for science
Taking a small break for Thanksgiving week
Next up on the TBR pile:
I was listening to a podcast Bang Chan and Felix from Stray Kids created for Apple Music in 2024 and they highlighted this track by CL. I had no knowledge of her before then but now I am obsessed with her. This song is just so great!
Next up on the TBR pile:
Title: A Land So Wide
Author: Erin A. Craig
Publisher: Pantheon 2025
Genre: Horror
Pages: 352
Rating: 4/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Spooky Season; I Read Horror - Cryptid
Where I Got It: Library
Like everyone else in the settlement of Mistaken, Greer Mackenzie is trapped. Founded by an ambitious lumber merchant, the village is blessed with rich natural resources that have made its people prosperous—but at a cost. The same woods that have lined the townsfolks’ pockets harbor dangerous beasts: wolves, bears, and the Bright-Eyeds—monsters beyond description who have rained utter destruction down on nearby settlements. But Mistaken’s founders made a deal with the mysterious Benevolence: the Warding Stones that surround the town will keep the Bright-Eyeds out—and the town’s citizens in. Anyone who spends a night within Mistaken’s borders belongs to it forever.
Greer, a mapmaker and eccentric dreamer, has always ached to explore the world outside, even though she knows she and her longtime love, Ellis Beaufort, will never see it. Until, on the day she and Ellis are meant to finally begin their lives together, Greer watches in horror as her beloved disappears beyond the Warding Stones, pursued by a monstrous creature. Determined to rescue Ellis, she figures out a way to defy Mistaken’s curse and begins a trek through the cold and pitiless wilderness. But there, Greer is hunted, not only by the ruthless Bright-Eyeds but by the secret truths behind Mistaken’s founding and her own origins.
I went into this book completely blind and was so grateful for that fact. I didn’t even read the summary on the back past the first paragraph. Something told me to just wait and dive in! Ultimately, I really enjoyed this creepy adventure tale. We get a strange village in a strange land (it’s never revealed exactly where although I have some suspicions). where “things” lurk outside of the Wandering Stone. What happens outside of those stone? And what does it have to do with Greer? I really enjoyed following the slow reveals of the mysteries of Mistaken. I called a few of the twists, but not all of them. I do enjoy when a book pleasantly surprises me. Be advised that this book does involve death, some gory moments, and body horror aspects.
Next up on the TBR pile:
Reading: Another random library read with A Land So Wide by Erin A. Craig. I went in blind and am so glad that I did.
Watching: I still have three episodes left of The Nice Guy. I don’t know why it’s taking me so long to watch this series I have been really enjoying it. Maybe this week I will finally get through it.
Listening: While waiting for new Stray Kids music, I have been just hitting shuffle on my entire Apple Music library. Sometimes it’s a bit like whiplash when genres change, but I have had fun rediscovering some music in my library.
Making: We’re doing a Friendsgiving next week which means I need to start planning the menu. We have a few food restrictions on tap, but can definitely work around them. Definitely making twice baked sweet potatoes and another vegetable.
Feeling: I don’t really know why, but I am so cold this week. I will admit that this is a nice change from being so hot all the time, but I am very cold.
Planning: A friend and I are making mini travel plans for this Friday to find our preferred Stray Kids album. I cannot wait!
Loving: Stray Kids are dropping their new ep this week and I cannot wait!!! Not so patiently waiting for the music to be released.
Next up on the TBR pile:
Every once in awhile, Apple Music gives me a recommendation that I actually really love. This one definitely peaked my interest.
Next up on the TBR pile:
As I look outside my window: Within two days, all the leaves on the trees fell. We went from beautiful fall colors to nothing. I’m a bit sad that they didn’t hang on for a bit longer.
Right now I am: Heading out to the Enrichment Co-op Steering Meeting at one of my favorite coffee houses.
On my bedside table: I have a few more spooky books hanging around and a large stack of holiday reads. I also have some options to start reading for Dirty Book Month in February.
On my tv this week: Mostly Babylon 5. We’re trucking along in S3 already.
Listening to: A blend of K-Pop and metal tracks. I seem to go back and forth each day.
On the menu for this week:
Monday - Baked Potato Soup
Tuesday - Snack Dinner (Book Club Lit Society)
Wednesday - Cheesy Artichoke Pasta
Thursday - Out/Leftovers
Friday - Teriyaki Salmon
Saturday - Kielbasa and Mustard Potato Salad
Sunday - Moroccan Chicken
On my to do list: I’m certain that I have a ton of little tasks but one of the big tasks is to find a new eye doctor. Beyond that, I need to prep for the Academic Co-op Info Meetings and the Academic Co-op Check In Meeting.
Happening this week:
Monday - Home Day
Tuesday - Academic Co-op Info Meeting; Book Club Lit Society
Wednesday - Home Day
Thursday - Academic Co-op; Homeschool Dance
Friday - Stray Kids Album Drop and Album Hunt!!!
Saturday - Kid Birthday Party
Sunday - Academic Co-op Info Meeting; Murderbot Watch Party
What I am creating: I finished my October Memory Planner pages yesterday. I’m right on track.
My simple pleasures: Incredibly good wine, apple cider, green tea. Apparently I have a trend this past week.
Looking around the house: Because we had Happy Hour on Thursday, the main floor looks great.
From the camera: Q has been enjoying game schooling time at co-op.
Here's my randomness for the week:
Next up on the TBR pile:
Title: This House is Haunted
Author: John Boyne
Publisher: Other Press 2013
Genre: Horror
Pages: 291
Rating: 4/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Spooky Season
Where I Got It: Library
This House Is Haunted is a striking homage to the classic nineteenth-century ghost story. Set in Norfolk in 1867, Eliza Caine responds to an ad for a governess position at Gaudlin Hall. When she arrives at the hall, shaken by an unsettling disturbance that occurred during her travels, she is greeted by the two children now in her care, Isabella and Eustace. There is no adult present to represent her mysterious employer, and the children offer no explanation. Later that night in her room, another terrifying experience further reinforces the sense that something is very wrong.
From the moment Eliza rises the following morning, her every step seems dogged by a malign presence that lives within Gaudlin’s walls. Eliza realizes that if she and the children are to survive its violent attentions, she must first uncover the hall’s long-buried secrets and confront the demons of its past. Clever, captivating, and witty, This House Is Haunted is pure entertainment with a catch.
Another random pick from the library shelves. I’m always up for a good ghost story and this one certainly delivered. We get a first person narration a la an 19th century work. I definitely got shades of Dickens and Poe in this volume. We follow Eliza as she deals with her grief and changes in life, but of course things are not quite as they seem. I loved how the story slowly unfolded with little incidences here and there ramping up the tension and suspense. There are not many creepy scenes, but we get a lot of fun scenes and circumstances. The story finally comes to a head in the last 25 pages. And it’s a doozy.
Next up on the TBR pile: