February Booking It

I read a couple books off my list from the beginning of the year. Here is my update.  Please check out what everyone else is reading at Life as Mom.

My son(10) and I finally finished The Hobbit by J.R. Tolkien.  I had been reading it aloud to him since Christmas.  The print in our Hobbit is itty bitty.  We both enjoyed it and spent most school mornings tackling it.  Now we are working on Lord of the Rings. 

I read the book,  A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg.  I really enjoyed all the stories that went with the recipes included.  I made the Chocolate Banana Bread with Crystalized Ginger.  It was delish.  This reminded how all of us have stories around food.  I hope I am making some memories too.

The Kitchen Counter Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn I read and really enjoyed.  I believe this was a recommendation from Life as Mom. Kathleen Flinn is another Seattle Writer - WAHOO. You can totally "Wahoo" for Pacific Northwest writers. The sub title is , "How a Few Simple Lesson Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks."  Kathleen took 9 volunteers and toured their kitchens and set about to basically teach them some basic cooking skills. I can so relate to the 9 volunteers fears of cooking.  I have to admit my basics aren't that great.  I am consider myself a baker not a cook.  I sadly have really poor knife skills amongst other things.  I often think I am taking the path of least resistance by buying ready made. There is so much food for thought in this book.  It inspired me to really examine how I could become a better cook.  I actually spent an afternoon cleaning out my pantry of all my old spices.

Turn Right at Machu Picchu by Mark Adams was also on my list.  Mark Adams was an adventure/outdoor editor who never really been on an adventure.  He decided to retrace the Yale Adventure Explorer Hiram Bingham III explorations in Peru specifically in regards to the Inca city of Manchu Picchu.  It was an interesting book and Mark Adams exploration of whether or not Hiram Bingham actually discovered Machu Picchu is fascinating. This book also totally makes me want to watch Indian Jones again. I loved the Inca Golden Rule:

Ama sua, ama llula, ama cheklla - Do not steal, do not lie, do not be lazy.

Wrapping Up Booking It 2012

I thought I give you a wrap up of my booking it 2012.  I read an amazing number of books - 51 to be exact. 

My top 5 reads (so difficult to choose)

1. The Night Road by K Hannah
2. Girl in Translation by J Kwok (somehow I didn't review this but a great first book for this author)
3. Kingdom of Strangers by Zoe Ferraris (love the whole series)
4. Heft by Liz Moore
5. The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon

Here is the round of up of the monthly posts and the books that I have reviewed

Jan -  Reversal by Micheal Connelly, The Great Fitness Experiment by C Hilton Andersen, and One Bite at a Time by Trish Oxenreider

Feb -No One You Know by M Richmond and In the Presence of the Enemy by Elizabeth George.

March - Hunger Games Trilogy and Cutting for Stone by A Vergese

April - The Cactus Eaters by Dan White, The Night Road by K Hannah, A Blistered Kind of Love by A & G Ballard, Barnheart by J Woginrich

May - Hope's Boy by Andrew Bridge, The Kitchen House by K Grissom, and Hey American Your Roots are Showing by M Smolenyak

June - Mindblind by J Roy, The Unquenchable Thrist by M Johnson, and Wild by Cheryl Strayed

July - Becoming Odyssa by J Davis, Russian Winter by D Kalotay, Local Treasures: Geocaching Across America by M Kelley, The Voluntourist by K Budd, Hiking Through by Paul Stutzman

September -Borderlands- Riding the Edge of America by Derek Lundy

October -Kisses for Katie by Katie Davis and The Quarter Acre Farm by S Warren

November - My Abandonment by Peter Rock, American Heiress by D Goodwin, Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, War Horse by Micheal Morpurgo, The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon, Await Your Reply by D Chaon, and Ed King by D Guterson.

Dec - Heft by Liz Moore, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, and The Racketeer by J Grisham

31 days of Little Things -Reading Aloud

I still occasionally read aloud to my kids.  Well, lately it has been only my youngest.  He is 10 in the 4th grade but he still enjoys the sound of my voice - lol. We just finished reading War Horse by Micheal Morpurgo.  My youngest is interested in World War II so I thought he might enjoy a read about World War I.  My criteria for a read aloud is that it must be something I enjoy reading too.  This fit that criteria.  I will admit this book does explore death and can be a tear jerker in places. My son is in 4th grade so he was pretty sensitive to some of the scenes. However, these are handled gingerly by the author.  We had some great discussions about this book. This is a great tale about loyalty and friendship between beast and man.

Need some more suggestions for Read Aloud check out Life as Mom post.  She has some great ideas and links.

I am linking up to Nester's 31 days of blogging.  Check out what everyone else is writing about.

Booking It August

Check out what everyone else is reading at Life as MOM.  These ladies have some great reading suggestions. You will be inspired.

I am all about the travel books lately.  Maybe it is because we are having a mainly having a stay at home summer.  Here is a little of what I read this past month.

What would you say to your 80 year old self? This was a quote from the book "Lost Girls: Three Friends. Four Continents. One Unconventional Detour Around the World".  I keep asking myself the same question lately.  Am I playing things too safe?  What is holding me back? Am I passing on an opportunity to grow?  I imagine my 80 year old self as very wise.

The book is about three almost thirty year old girls who set off on around the world trip.  These girls left their high stress jobs in New York City and started an adventure.  Each one of them had to make adjustments to attitudes about travel.  These girls are really brave. I really admire them.  This also a great story about friendship. They were quite honest how 60,000 miles tested their friendship. They just didn't travel for the sake of travel. They also sought out a volunteer opportunity in Kenya.  Each of them took on different roles on their trip such as planner and mediator. This true story makes me want to get out there and explore the world.  Their journey was amazing  with destinations like Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Kenya, India, Laos. I like this quote,  "What if taking the journey is the highest act of faith.?" This book is similar to the book " The Good Girls Guide to Getting Lost,"  by Rachel Friedman (my review). They also broach the subject of why so few young Americans travel and if they do they are women. The Good Girls Guide to Getting Lost also noted this as well. It is a common expectation in other countries that kids will take a gap year. The Lost Girls have their own website Lost Girls World.

I also read another true story called The Big Year - A tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmasick.  The book is about 3 men who would try to set a North American recording for seeing the species of birds in a single year or 365 days.  The lengths these guys will go to see birds is incredible.  I had no idea people did this.  It is really a fascinating read.  I found out about this book from Almost Unschoolers. It really inspired me to start birdwatching more.  Chuckles has been keeping our bird feeder full.  You never know what we will see.

Chuckles and I did a read aloud this summer and it was Mr Popper's Penguins.  Our review is here. Unfortunately we didn't finish the book in time to see the movie. I look forward to watching this when it comes out on DVD. This was a great read aloud for summer.  I had never read this before.  It is a classic and we both enjoyed it.

Mr Popper's Penguins

Chuckles and I have been reading Mr Popper Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater this summer.  Unfortunately we missed seeing the movie. We plan to catch it later on DVD.  I used the reading guide/journal questions found at ReadWriteThink.  It just helped to keep us on track. Classroom Jr had a nice vocab list. I had never read this before.  It is a cute and funny story. This was the 1939 Newberry Honor Winner, too. I downloaded it to my Kindle as there was a long wait list at the library for this.  I see now that Walmart carries it for cheaper than the download. We did a great penguin project earlier in the year. (pictured above) Chuckles also did an animal report in 2nd Grade on Penguins so this book was right up his alley. Librarianism Chronicles also has some great extension activities on Penguins.

Origami Yoda

Yesterday, we went to the newly opened Library at its temporary location in Pioneer Park. It was closed for 10 days. The library is right behind donuts for me. I love books and I really love the library. The Pioneer Park location is very nice and large. Probably not as cozy as our old little library but it is a good space. The parking is amazing if you know what I mean. If your a local yocal check it out.

So to honor the reopening of the library I thought I would do a little book review. Chuck and I have been reading The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger. From the back of the book:

"... Dwight does one cool thing. He makes origami. One day he makes a origami finger puppet of Yoda. And that's when things get mysterious. Origami Yoda can predict the future and suggest the best way to deal with a tricky situation. His advice actually works, and soon most of the sixth grade is lining up with questions."

It is really cute probably not totally appropriate for a 2nd grader but Chuck is older than the average 2nd grader. The book on Amazon says best for 3rd graders through 6th. This book has been hit. In the words of Yoda, " LOVE THIS BOOK, YOU WILL."The Giant Man Child even attempted the Origami Yoda.The origami fish came out a little better. We will have practice more making the Yoda. Almost Unschoolers had a good review on this book and their Origami Yoda was terrific.

Read Aloud

Today is Read Across America Day.(lots of reading suggestions at the link too) It is not only the Diva's Birthday but Dr Seuss too. MSN had a list of 10 best children books.

I thought I would share what Chuckles and I have been reading together. We have been really enjoying reading Roscoe Riley Rules book series by Katherine Applegate. Here is a review on the Roscoe Riley series. So far, there are 7 books in the series. I love that each book ends with a list of things Roscoe has learned from his adventure. Here are a few from Roscoe Riley Rules #7 - Never Race a Runaway Pumpkin.

Useful Things I learned at the Bookstore

1. Do not ask the bookstore lady to come to your house and read you a bedtime story. She has other plans.

2. There will never be enough books about dinosaurs, pirates, or boogers.

3. First graders are not Young Adults

4. Say "Store manager." Not Boss of the Books."

AND the last one number 10

There is a rule called Do Not Write in the Book unless you are pretty sure your Mom is going to buy it.

Monday with a Mad Genuis

This is actually a title to a Magic Tree House book I am reading with Chuckles. Though some Monday's I feel like I have a bunch of Mad Geniuses running around in my house as I do before school care on Monday's. The book is a fictional account of two young kids that are transported back into time. They meet Leonardo Da Vinci and help solve a clue. On Sunday in the newspaper there was a huge article about Leonardo and whether he painted himself as " Mona Lisa". The gist of the article is they are asking to exhume his body in France if they can get permission and then do a facial reconstruction on the skull. I shared it with the boys. Chuckles couldn't quite wrap his head around the idea that Leonardo may have painted himself as a woman.. I explained that Leonardo was a trickster. That just didn't quite satisfy him. Anyhow, the article and the magic tree house book generated a lot discussion about Leonardo Da Vinci. This included Chuckles explaining to Big E that he was going to create a notebook just like Leonardo Da Vinci.

Cat Read Aloud

Our latest read aloud was "A Diary of Killer of Cat". I thought this was a really funny book. The cat, Tuffy, has the perfect sarcastic voice.Tuffy is just a misunderstood cat according to him. It is a fast read. Chuckles kept wanting me to read it to him again. The picture below is of Chuckles and Boots.