Unbroken

This book was so inspiring. I can't believe what these soldiers had to endure. It seems humanly impossible. It really makes me think twice about judging those vets on the side of the road. Also, if I could just remember this book, I will never feel like I have problems in my life. Because of this book, I have started recording my own trials (not that they compare) and my road to overcome them hoping that some day my stories could help someone else like this story helped me. Although this is non-fiction, it is very riveting and kept me interested from page 1 to the end. I have recommended this book to many and find myself referring to it often.

The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle

It was fun. I mean, what kid doesn't love a man who can talk with animals, traveling to an island, volcanoes, pink snails...what's not to love. My favorite part of it though is what it tells about the world at the time it was written, a time when British domination was the norm, a time when cannibalism was not unheard of and most of all, it reminds me of stories of my great grandfather living in the British East Indies. Fun stuff!

The Door in the Wall

It was okay.  A little slow to get through, but some good values are taught and it opens a little window into what Medieval life may have been like.

The Book Thief

I think from now on if anyone ever asks me what kind of books I like to read, I will answer, "Books like The Book Thief." It was perfect. My friend who lent it to me said, "You have to read about 50 pages in before it gets really good." Dear friend, I totally disagree, I was hooked at word one. The narrator - Brilliant. The imagery - amazing! I love words, I love to write with them, play with them, dream about them and this book did more with words than I could ever imagine. Plus, I love historical fiction and have always been a sucker for books set in Nazi Germany. For some strange reason, when I am reading, I love to have my heart ripped out and trampled on and this book did that. Interestingly enough, I did not cry like a baby, just a few well placed tears is all. It probably has a lot to do with the narrator's nasty habit of telling you the end of the story before it actually gets there. But, as one friend observed, that leaves you open to truly experience what Liesel is going through rather than wondering what is going to happen next. Now that I am done reading, I really miss Liesel and Rudy, Hans and Rosa and the rest of the family of Himmel Street.

Dear Mr. Henshaw

Not my favorite book group book, but it was set in California and I found myself telling the kids about this or that detail from my life that the book would bring to memory.  Divorce, low income, family disappointments, I guess it's good for kids to understand these parts of life, just not my cup of tea. But it does encourage them to write, although I don't think I've seen much of an improvement in that in our household.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

This was a sweet book. It took me a while to get into it, but sticking it out was worth it. I loved that it was about relationships, both romantic and family. It made me have an interest into studying some more about WWII from the perspective of the Japanese Americans. Also, I craved Chinese/Japanese food the whole time while I was reading it. Funny side note.

Trumpet of the Swan

We figured since we loved Charlotte's Web that E.B. White's The Trumpet of the Swan might be just as good...and it was!  Again, every chapter has some lesson or activity that we could do to reinforce the learning. I think my favorite was teaching the kids about N,S,E,W etc. on a compass.  We love our family read alouds. Jared was so interested in the book that he did a whole research unit on swans and made a book of swans with beautiful drawings on each different kind with all their characteristics. I love homeschooling!