Summer!

        Ah, summer! I'm not going to lie, this was a really hard school year for me and I am desperately in need of a mental break. I've been off since last Thursday and still don't quite feel like myself. My children get out of school tomorrow, so I'm hoping to feel like a human again by then. ;) Despite the fact that MANY people seem to think that teachers do nothing over the summer, I have quite a few things to do to wrap up this year and prepare for the next year. I plan to gradually do both of those over the course of the summer- except clean my classroom. I really need to get into school to do that this week.

       Here are some good things going on:

1. Timmy made the All-Star team again. He's been working hard during 2 hour practices every day. He has scrimmaged 3 teams and their team has won all of them. The reason that this year is so important is that if they win, they can possibly compete in the Little League World Series in PA. That would be quite an accomplishment. He's worked hard for years to make this team.  In addition to this, it's his last year of little league. There is an award given out for good sportsmanship. His first year of baseball he told me that he really wanted that award. He has mentioned it every year since. I hope he's considered for it. Honestly, I know that winning that award would mean more to him than even getting chosen for the All-Star team.

2. David and I got to spend some time at school together. Normally, as a teacher, I lose out on the opportunities to chaperone field trips, volunteer in class and sometimes I even miss important school events since I'm teaching at the same time. On Friday we went to the Boston Tea Party museum. Maybe I will add a post about the museum another day this week. Monday I helped with a clean water presentation. My job was to show the kids a map of our watershed and help them to see where our water that is not processed ends up flowing. In other news, I was not designed to teach 4th grade. lol.

3.   I'm slowly catching up on life. I spent a little time this morning getting some chores done.  I still have lots of stuff to do, but I see progress and that feels great. I've sent a few Postcrossing cards. I am 2 pages into a letter. I have read a few books!I'm currently 6 books behind on my Goodreads challenge. I'm hoping to break even by August!  My last book was:

 

 This is the 3rd book in the Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series. Based on the Goodreads reviews, I wasn't sure that I would. This book follows Jacob Portman on his quest to free the peculiars who had been captured in the second book. I will say that, if it is possible, reading the third book shortly after the second book probably would've been helpful to me. It took me a little time to remember exactly what had happened in the last story. I was not as excited about some of the photographs in this book as I was in the past two, but I think that's just because they aren't as "new and different" as they seemed when the first book came out. I was excited to hear that Ransom Riggs will be coming out with a fourth book, Map of Days. I will definitely check it out. Does anybody know when Map of Days is coming out?

        Next on my to read schedule is: 

 

 I have heard lots of buzz about this book. Luckily, I scored an e-galley on NetGalley. Have any of you read it yet? 
         I also read a lot with the kids over the summer. David plans on reading some of the Massachusetts Children's Book Award Books. This is a list of the nominees. I'll be curious to see which ones David picks. I haven't heard anything about most of these books. Hopefully they are as enjoyable as last year's books. Timothy would like to read Les Miserables. Seriously. Our high school will be performing a "school appropriate version" of the musical in the fall. The directors sent someone to the middle school explaining that there were a few parts for younger kids. Tim immediately decided that he wanted to try out. As soon as he told me, I secretly geeked out because I love that musical and Tim could make a perfect Gavroche. He has never acted before so who knows if he will even get a part but... cool. Little did he know, Les Miserables is also my favorite book. Although Tim is an incredibly smart kid and an avid reader, I don't think he's ready for Les Miserables without a little bit of adult supervision. We're pretty strict about what kind of media our kids "consume" so there will be a lot of things in this book he hasn't really been exposed to before. I will not let him read it on his own but if he wants to read it together, I'm all in. It will be interesting. 

         What are you currently reading?

Reading Challenges update- May

Keyword Reading Challenge: 5/12

I don't know how I never read this classic in my adolescence.  It was written in 1959.  It was a nice story about a 12 year old boy, Sam Gribley,  who leaves home to live in the wilderness- and actually does for months. He hollows out an old tree and builds himself a nice dwelling. He trains a falcon named Frightful and meets a few other friends in his adventures. I am looking forward to sharing this book with my 10 year old. I'm wondering what other classics I've missed

Mount TBR- Mt. Vancouver-  9/36

The last book I read for this is the same book for the keyword reading challenge. I'd like to say that my NetGalley experiences are slowing down my Mount TBR challenge, but I'm really happy to be reading all kinds of advanced reader copies, so I'll live. (My last one was Tiny Infinities by J.H. Diehl) 25% there!

Goodreads 14/60 

   I'm not going to lie guys, 2018 is kicking my butt. Personally and professionally I have had a bad year. (Remember how I said I'd miss last year's 8th graders? I was right. Seeing those kids constantly reminded me of why I teach. I think I have received one genuine thank you all year... and a whole lot of negative things.)  This has been almost half a year of getting up, putting one foot in front of the other, aiming for the end of the day and repeating. Today was my first "day off" from having things to do since mid-November. (And that's only because both boys had their baseball games canceled.) I did go out to eat with my family, but that was something I was really looking forward to.  I could really use a weekend away- or something nice and unexpected. I would like to catch up on letters and reading but my mind has been racing too much for a lot of either.

Reading Challenges 2018

     I finished all of my reading goals in 2017! Unfortunately, I got absolutely no input on my reading challenges for 2018. So, I'm playing it safe and just going with what I enjoyed. I have other goals for myself in 2018 but might take it month by month instead of making crazy year long lists for myself. Here are the 3 reading challenges I would like to complete in 2018.

Mount TBR Challenge:


   Last year, I challenged myself to get to the top of Mount Blanc- reading 24 books from my TBR pile. This year I will attempt to climb Vancouver, which has 36 books.

The Monthly Keyword Challenge:

   You may remember that I attempted this challenge last year, but the person who hosted the challenge gave up her blog. (Thank Claudia for all the hard work you did if you are reading this.) Luckily, Bev at My Reader's Block decided to host this challenge this year. So, I'm in again. Here's the list of words I have to work around.
 
You'd be surprised how difficult this is sometimes, especially if I'm trying to pick from my TBR pile.

I'm upping my Goodreads challenge by 10 books this year. So, in 2018, I'd like to read a minimum of 60 books. I would also love to make some new friends on Goodreads, so if you are a member and would like to meet some new people, send me a message and I will add you as a friend.

   How did you do on your 2017 goals? Do you have any books that you've recently read that you are excited about? How about any book releases coming up that you can't wait for? 

My Brilliant Idea (and How it Caused my Downfall)

 

     This is another book that has been on my TBR shelf for too long. I'm reading it for my Mount TBR challenge as well as my Keyword Reading Challenge (My).  I actually felt badly when I picked it up to read because I saw that Goodreads had sent it to me as an advanced reader copy, but the book was published June 2016. So, I apologize for the delay.    This book is about a boy named Jack Dawson, nicknamed Jackdaw, who comes up with an idea to create an app that would prevent you from getting in trouble for daydreaming at school. The only problem is that he doesn't know how to program an app, and the only person who knows at his school is a strange girl named Elsie. In order to get what he wants, Jackdaw makes a series of deals and comes up with schemes to get each deal to work. Unfortunately, many of his plans are hindered by outside forces and don't go exactly how he planned. 

      I gave this book 3/5 stars on Goodreads. This book is geared towards teens but I could tell right away that it was not written by an American author, so I'm not sure if teens here would immediately connect with the book. I think if my son read this book, he wouldn't know what some of the slang meant.  Also, one of the ideas that Jack has is to trick a boy into getting naked in front of a girl, which isn't the most edifying thing for me to pass on to my kids. It fits in with Elsie's weirdness, but wasn't an idea I liked in a book younger kids might be reading. There were some sections that were pretty humorous. As a person who works with teens, I liked Jackdaw's convictions that his "good ideas" are brilliant and his sense of humor.

None Wounded, None Missing, All Dead- The Story of Elizabeth Bacon Custer

 

      I received this book from GoodReads in exchange for an honest review.  (Thank you!) It's not often that I really struggle to get through a book, but this one was one of those times. This book is about the life of Elizabeth Bacon Custer and her marriage to General George Custer. It is a short read and the author's research is well-documented. (In fact, about 1/3 of the book is a the citations of the research, which is okay with me since I would totally read that closely if I wanted to do more investigating.)   There are 10 chapters in this book and I thought I would read a chapter a day. I found that I struggled with that. I was bothered that I couldn't figure out why this book was so hard for me. Here are a few of my thoughts:

1) I was not as interested in the subject as I thought I might be. I did learn a few things from this book and I was able to see the life of George Custer from some perspectives that I hadn't known about before, but there was nothing that made me curious as to what would come next for the couple.

2) (Hold on to your hats for this one) The book often quotes letters and journals, but I think that was distracting to me.  It would be talking specifically about Elizabeth and then mention what was going on with her husband and then include a letter about her husband or relating to another thing and I just felt that the transitions were strange? Maybe the writing style of the author just doesn't appeal to me.  There was also a lot about 2 other men, who were important in the lives of the Custers but I either wanted them mentioned in the book, or wanted more information about their background too.

3) George took such and such position- Elizabeth went with him. Then George had to move here. Elizabeth didn't. Repeat. A lot.

4) I think the real reason I didn't enjoy the book is that I didn't get emotionally attached to either Custer. I know it is not the authors intention in a non-fiction work to convince a reader to like or dislike a main character and it is their intention to portray them as they actually were, but sometimes I felt that the author was a bit biased. (Sometimes I felt he liked the Custers and other times, not so much.) 

      If anything related to this book is interesting to you- life on the plains, military history, Native American relations in the West, etc- perhaps this book might be a good read, but I found it dry.

 Reading Challenges Stats:
Goodreads Challenge:  15/75 (2 behind schedule)
Monthly Keyword Challenge: 5/12 (on track)
Mount TBR 11/24- (Ahead of schedule)

Mount TBR- book 10 The Letterbox by Layton Green

    

     I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway.  Layton Green also signed it and wrote me a note. Thanks! This book is about a box that is found buried in the English moors.  It is procured by a man in New Orleans who then hires a team of people to go searching for answers regarding its origin and purpose. The team visits ancient sites across Europe in their quest to find "the pathway to God." I always looked forward to reading the book and seeing what was next but there were a few parts of the book that I found a little predictable. With that being said, the book kept me guessing at other points and still left me with some questions at the end of the story. There was also a theme of religion running through the book. The 4 person team looking for answers were all at different points in their faith (or lack thereof) and I enjoyed thinking about some of the questions that some of the characters were concerned with or motivated by.  I would recommend it to friends who I know enjoy this type of book. I would also be interested in reading more from Layton Green.

Intentions... and some good books.

Well, I thought I would be writing a lot this weekend. I have been able to read a lot lately. Here are my latest 3 books.

 

I really enjoyed this book.  Set at the beginning of World War II, it follows the story of a village whose choir needs to dismantle because the men have gone to war. One of the women in town, Primrose Trent, decides that the choir can continue, just including the women. This is a bit of a new concept, but the women agree. This book follows the individual lives of most of the women in the choir. Being a person who often expressed myself through writing with my penpals or with my music, this book really appealed to me. 

  

  I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway. (Thank you) I am reading this as part of my Monthly Keyword Challenge and Mount TBR Challenge. The keyword for April was his. (From, Trigger, Crown, Tale, Mist and His. Can you believe I only had 1 book with ANY of those words?)  Though I do not have much personal experience with the state of Florida- and therefore, do not know it's "weirdness quota," this book made me laugh quite a bit. If you like Dave Barry, you will probably enjoy this book.The chapters were `the introduction, a brief history of Florida, The Skunk Ape, Weeki Wachee and Spongeorama, Cassadaga, The Villages, Gatorland, Lock & Load Miami, LIV and Key West- most of which I had not heard much about before. Fun read. I will be passing this on to a friend of mine. 

 

 This is another book I read through NetGalley.  (I would also like to thank Brianna and Jabberwocky Publishing because when I first my digital copy, my Nook would not open it. Brianna contacted Jabberwocky and they fixed the issue. Thanks. It's a book I was really looking forward to it.)

        The concept of this book really interested me. After global warming has created a flood that has wiped out much of civilization John Noa helped founded the city of Ark. (I know, Noah's Ark.. that's the one thing that kind of annoyed me about the book.) There are 3 groups of people who live in or around Ark- the citizens of Ark, the Desecrators  who live in the forest and the Wordless, who have lost the power to communicate through spoken or written language. Fearing that words help to incite people, Noa has limited language to a list of 500 words- with some specialty words thrown in for specific occupations.  A teenager named Letta becomes the official wordsmith of Ark when her master, Benjamin,  is thought to be dead.

      After meeting some Desecrators, mostly artists, musicians, scientists (All creative types), Letta learns of a plot that Noa has for the citizens of Ark. She has to decide her between her loyalty to Noa or the possibility of living without language.  Great book. Interesting. I loved being able to relate the emotions that music brings up to as well.

Sparks and Shadows by Kendrick von Schiller

 

     I won this autographed book from Goodreads a while back.(In addition to that, the author was super sweet and included a little note to me in the package.) This beautiful cover has been calling to me from my "to be read" shelf for a while. I wasn't sure what I would think of the book since I don't really read too much fantasy. I really enjoyed it.

    Sparks and Shadows is about a girl, Fura Feier, who finds herself homeless after an explosion takes the life of her family. She is taken in by Apallo and a group of people she works with at a local Renaissance festival, she finds herself in a whole new world- literally.  She finds herself questioning where she belongs and who she really is as she finds herself on the run with Kiyani, a man who is many ways her opposite, but seemingly her only "friend." She discovers that the tale of the Sect of Seven, telling of 7 lords of elemental magic who rule the world together in harmony, has been thrown out of balance when the Nyte Fyre prophecy, declaring that one will rule over all seems to be beginning.

     I liked this book a lot. I really enjoyed the world of Izandüre. As a person who doesn't read a lot of fantasy, I enjoyed the creativity of each realm and letting my imagination picture each place.  There were a few interactions between Kiyani and Fura that got a little repetitive, but I think that those recurrences helped develop some character traits of both.  There were also a few characters I would've liked to learn more about, like Rhyne, but I'm wondering if I will see more of him in book 2.  I would like to read the second book of this series when it comes out. Thanks for the giveaway.

Reading Challenge Updates:

Keyword Reading Challenge: 2/12

Mount TBR: 5/24

Goodreads Challenge: 7/50

    

Resolved by Lina Abujamra

 

     I just finished reading Resolved by Lina Abujamra.I received a copy of this book through Goodreads via Baker Publishing Group.  This book asks readers to examine their resolve in living out their faith. Abujamra challenges Christians to resolve to 10 things in order to grow closer in their relationship with Jesus.  These include: Believe Then It Looks Ridiculous, Love When It's Inconvenient, Obey When It's Not Popular, Yield When It's My Right, Speak Up When It's Easier Not To, Give When I Barely Have Enough, Be in Community When I'd Rather Be Alone, have Joy When Life is Depressing, Hope When it Hurts, and Rest in the Midst of Chaos.

     There were some things in this book that I thought were really simply said but there were also some good reminders, thinking points and nice challenges.  I thought it might be a great book for new believers, but I wonder if they might feel a little lost with some of the Bible references. 

     One thing I appreciated about this book was Abujamra's application of living her faith. As an ER doctor, she often relates some of these points to her job. It is nice to see some real world application of her points and examples. There are many times where I have learned about my faith through interactions with people in my profession, so I appreciated hearing her experiences. 

Reading Challenge Updates:

Keyword Reading Challenge: 1/12 (2 books in the first month, but 1 out of 12 months is completed)

Mount TBR: 4/24

Goodreads Challenge: 6/50

January Keyword Challenge Book Review- The Death of Sweet Mister

    In January, the keywords for the 2017 Keyword Reading Challenge were: Court, Fall, Of, Way Deep, and Thousand. I took all books with any of those words out of my "to read" pile" and ended up reading The Death of Sweet Mister by Daniel Woodrell.

  

 The Death of Sweet Mister is about a 13 year old boy named Morris Akins, nicknamed Shug by his mother and names like "Fat boy" by his mother's boyfriend.  It tells what life was like for Shug, growing up in the Ozarks surrounded by adults who are bad moral influences on him. Glenda, his mother, is an alcoholic who is in an abusive relationship with a man named Red,  who may or may not be Shug's father. Red is a career criminal with an addiction to anything that can seem to give him a high- booze, prescription pills, gambling, drugs, etc.    Shug is often brought along on these criminal escapades and witness to many events that he shouldn't have been, "Men stuff."  Life is bad, but changes when a man named Jimmy Vin Pearce shows up in a green Thunderbird and develops an interest in Glenda. 

     This book is hard to say that I "liked" because of the subject matter. I thought the writing was good and I know that it has been read in many book clubs. I just found it to be bleak and depressing. I Not the cheeriest way to start 2017. I gave it 3/5 stars on Goodreads because I thought it was written well, despite the story.  I'm not sure I would recommend it to anyone.   American author, Dennis Lehane, wrote a foreword in this edition of the book and he says:

     "Most of us remember parts of ourselves that didn't survive adolescence. At some point, to make our way in the world, we did as the Good Book suggested and put away childish things. And so it is in   The Death of Sweet Mister, where the death in question is not physical. In some ways, though, it's worse. It's the death of the "sweet," the death of the soul, the end of anything approximating childhood or innocence." (xi) 

Progress in The Monthly Keyword Reading Challenge: 1/12 months completed 

Progress in MOUNT TBR Challenge 1/24 books

    

2017 Reading Challenges

     I have decided on the reading challenges that I'm going to take part in next year. I'm going to do a few of them.


1. Keyword Reading Challenge hosted by My Soul Called Life     

 

 For this challenge, I need to read at least 1 book per month with the following words in the title:

---

Here Are Your 2017 Keywords 

JAN- Court, Fall, Of, Way, Deep, Thousand
FEB- And, Rose, Promise, Every, Deception, Blazing
MAR- Shall, Go, By, Silence, Her, Saga
APR- From, Trigger, Tale, His, Crown, Mist

MAY- Four, Wind, All, Fury, Days, Shade
JUN- Without, Know, Good, Watch, One, Have
JUL- Before, Final, All, Freedom, Life, Dream
AUG- Sun, Infinite, Big, My, Wherever, Most

SEP- Sand, From, Between, Ever, Reasons, Clash
OCT- Darker, You, Ashes, Out, House, Sea
NOV- Place, War, Heart, Why, Give, Meet
DEC- Forget, Twilight, Only, Crystal, On, Will

---

    This will definitely make me choose my books from my to-be-read pile rather than randomly pick one. (I'm a little OCD about this. I have my quirky methods, which is why my books are always so random. Matt has made fun of me for years about this.)

2. Mount TBR Reading Challenge hosted by MY READER'S BLOCK

My personal goal is: Mount Blanc: Read 24 books from your TBR pile/s

   In this challenge, I am supposed to choose books from my "To be read" pile, which is currently a bookshelf... plus a really tall pile on my bedroom floor. I would estimate that I have 100 books in there currently. I think 24 is a noble number considering I'm going to be tackling a few challenges at once. 

 

3. My personal Goodreads challenge will be to read 50 books over the course of the year.  

Reading Challenges

   I'm coming up with some of my goals for the New Year this week. I am considering trying some reading challenges. The only challenge I've ever done was my Goodreads reading challenge to read at least 1 book every month. This was way too easy for me so I kept increasing my number until I thought I wouldn't reach it without trying, which is why I'll probably fail my goal of 50 books this year. I'll probably finish 45.  Maybe if I go for 50 next year, and have that goal in mind, I will reach it in 2017.
      One of the challenges I'm considering is the Keyword Reading Challenge hosted by my friend, Claudia at My Soul Called Life.  It sounds really interesting and different from my normal way of  choosing my books.
   Are there any other challenges that I should be checking out? What are your reading goals for 2017?

Reading

    How many of you love to read? I have been reading a lot of book blogs lately and daydreaming about spending more time reading.  (I have also daydreamed about letter writing, but have been unmotivated to pull everything out since my house is really clean right now.. ha ha. Anyone want to come over?)  I will often talk to people who tell me that they really dislike reading and I don't understand that at all. Reading relaxes me and exercises my brain. Being the nerd that I am, I often will read things that I will learn something from- memoirs, biographies, non-fiction, a text book here and there, historical fiction, etc. I also enjoy a good novel.  I have a whole bookshelf dedicated to my "to read" list.  Currently it is overflowing and there is a large stack of books next to it as well. In addition to loving books, I find that I often connect really well with other people who like to read.  So, I think I'm going to include a bit more about the books I read here on my blog.   I will not claim to have any great insight, but I often don't talk about my opinions of books so I figured I'd stretch myself a bit. I might also write about some of my other hobbies as well. I'd like to connect with more people this year.

Just Read: The Greatest Knight by Thomas Asbridge

 

      William Marshal is a man who has always piqued my interest.  I was first introduced to William Marshal in Elizabeth Chadwick's book, also called A Place Beyond Courage. Chadwick has a series of books about William Marshal, and I have read all 3 of them. Knowing that the series written by Chadwick were classified as historical fiction, I didn't know how much about Marshal was true and how many of the stories were exaggerated or just good for entertainment. When I saw an unedited proof of the Asbridge book, I knew I had to read it.
    This book follows Marshal  through the reign of the 5 English kings he served- Henry II, The Young King Henry, Richard I, John and John's son, Henry III.  Surprisingly, many of the events and people in Asbridge's book had been mentioned in Chadwick's book so I was delighted to see how closely she followed his life.  The contrast between what we think of as knightly chivalry and common practices of that time period (like the punishment of prisoners in battles or what would happen to someone who went against the baron in charge of a certain area) was pretty eye opening. It examines chivalry and daily life during this period of history.  
     I was excited to learn more about this knight who seemed very influential in the lives of the kings he served as well as many of the noblemen of the area. The copy I read was an unedited proof so there were supplemental materials that would be included in the final book that were not in mine.  These include various maps and a "Who's Who" section, which would have been helpful since so many men named their heirs after themselves or other important people of that time.   One thing that I got slightly aggravated with was the constant mention of a biography of William Marshal which his eldest son, William II, commissioned to be  written less than a year after William's death in 1219. On one hand, I love knowing that the information that I'm reading is accurate and knowing the original source material something was taken from. On the other hand, it was mentioned so many times that it made me wonder if I should have been reading that instead. Then I realized that the original title of The History is "L'Historie de Guillaume de Marechal"  and was grateful that I now had access to this source since I don't speak French. 
     I would be very interested to read more from Thomas Asbridge. I found this book to be very interesting and I liked his style of writing. I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads.

NetGalley

     As I was reading some blogs this week, many people mentioned NetGalley. Have any of you used it before? If so, what are your experiences?  Thanks!

 
    
    

Books this week

Goodreads Goal

    Last week I received an e-mail telling me my progress on my 2016 Goodreads Reading Challenge.  Reading is one of my favorite hobbies. Ironically, 2 of my favorite pastimes can completely take time away from each other. Both reading and penpalling takes some effort and time for me to fully pay attention. Because of this, I had decided early on that I wanted to make sure that I read at least 1 book a month. After my first few books I realized that that was a pathetic "goal" for me and there was no way I was going to read less than 12 books in one year. I chose to aim for 50 books, knowing that most of my reading would be done during school vacations and the summer.  As of last week I was at 48% of my reading goal.
     Due to Timmy's crazy baseball schedule (and the request by the coaches to "stay out of the sun"), I had a lot of time to relax read last week. In addition to having time, the weather here in MA was humid and disgusting. I'm a pale Irish girl who feels like my skin is being fried whenever I walk in full sunlight- never mind when it's hot and humid with no breeze. I also browsed some book blogs and decided to give myself the luxury to enjoy my leisure time.

Books last week: 

 

    I heard that this book had been read in many book clubs and I found it in the book swap in our teachers' room at school.    This book is about a girl named Dolores Price. It tells about the relationship with her father and the consequences of her life when he leaves the family to be with another woman. At first I liked this book because the characters just seemed (very dysfunctional but) real. They had problems that people have and some of them reacted to those problems in common ways- denial, gratification in some other way, escape, etc. Maybe it was the narrative style of the book that I appreciated at first- or the sarcasm.  Unfortunately, I never found any edification for any of the characters. I wanted to like somebody in the book but it just kept getting more depressing. I finished it, in hopes of something good, but was left feeling just kind of gross. I thought I read somewhere that this was going to be made into a movie at some point. I would not watch it.

 

   I have read the previous two William Marshall books (A Place Beyond Courage and The Greatest Knight.) and enjoyed them so when I saw this on the same teacher swap shelf as the book above, I snagged it. I was concerned that I wouldn't remember the story or the characters since it has been a while since I've read the first 2 books. Since this book continues chronologically from the other 2, this was not a problem. Chadwick is good about reviewing family relations in the book and I found this book very easy to just settle into.  

     One thing that I enjoyed about the book was also the one thing that kind of aggravated me too. The story, and the relationship between William and his wife, Isabelle, was a little formulaic. On one hand, I appreciated seeing the steadfastness in their marriage and knowing that she would wait for him or support him, regardless of what their family was going through. On the other hand, William is upset- Isabelle comforts- William goes away- William comes back- Isabelle comforts, got a little old to me.

      I do like Chadwick's style of writing. I appreciated all of the research that must've gone into this book. I have always been interested in Medieval times so stories set in that time period tend to get my attention.

 

     This was another book I got from a Goodreads giveaway, and another book I probably wouldn't have given a chance if I hadn't gotten it for free. This book is about a woman named Halia, who owns a soul food restaurant named Sweet Tea. After leaving an investor of the restaurant to close up, Halia returns to find Marcus (the investor) murdered in the back room. Fearing that this would look very bad for her restaurant, Halia and her cousin Wavonne, who also works at the restaurant, move the body.  Halia expects that the body will be discovered in the morning but when she doesn't hear anything she makes an excuse to throw some boxes into the dumpster near where the body was dumped. She then realizes that somebody else had taken the body. 

    Marcus ends up being found in a nearby lake. Unsure of what to do, and not wanting to be implicated in any way, she and Wavonne investigate the people they suspect might have been behind the crime. 

     This book was an easy read. The book itself (despite the murder) was a bit lighter than what I usually read, but I enjoyed the characters. Wavonne is one of those people who just speaks her mind, regardless of whether what she is thinking if appropriate or not. There were quite a few characters whom I felt I could associate with people I have come across in my life and Sweet Tea seemed like your average local diner. The book also included a few recipes that I might try. 

  

    This is the final book I completed this week. It was my favorite of the bunch.When I first heard of this series I thought, "Wow, that looks kind of different and interesting." I tend to be a bit of a book hoarder so a few years back I made a "1 book out/ 1 book in" rule, meaning that I was going to add a book to my apartment, another book had to go. This shouldn't have been hard because I don't really re-read books. It's harder than I thought- and then my upstairs neighbor (who is retired and apparently addicted to James Patterson..lol) started getting rid of her hordes of books bringing me books and leaving them outside our apartment. Now I have too many books that have started to become piles on top of my "to read" bookshelf. A few months back I got a gift card to Amazon.com and decided to buy myself this set as a gift.  

     This book is about a boy named Jacob who, after his grandfather's death, feels that he needs to go to a remote island of the coast of Wales to research the stories of his grandfather, which he could never decide were fact or fiction. This research led him to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. The home seems deserted when he first sees it. Throughout the story Jacob uncovers the meaning of his grandfather's last words, discovers the answers to many questions regarding his grandfather and learns a lot about himself.  

     I finished this book in one day. I enjoyed the whole concept of the book and thought it was very creative. The pictures throughout the book are apparently all real pictures that have been obtained from people's collections. The author, Ransom Riggs,  has a penchant for creepy photographs that just seem, "off" in some way or another. As I looked at some of the photos, many gave me a "What the heck?" type feeling. I love the way that he built a story around these photographs. Speaking of the author, as I was reading, I realized that I recognized his name from somewhere other than these books. I read that he is the author of Strange Geographies, some of which I had looked at and read before. I look forward to reading the other 2 books in the series and possibly see the movie when it comes out. I can imagine that it will be very interesting visually. 

Other than reading:

   In other news:

-Timmy's team lost the sectionals, which was kind of a disappointment, but we're proud of his hard work.

- Another baseball tournament starts this weekend. lol

- I might try to take some time this week to catch up with some family. 

- I joined a gym. After I finish this post I'm going to drag myself there since I obviously have gotten no cardiovascular exercise this week! (PS. I'm now at 54% of my Goodreads goal and reading The Altar Ego by Craig Groeschel.)

Currently 6/28

It's been a while! Here's what I've been up to.
Watching: (Movies)

 

Last night my family saw Finding Dory. Here's the review from the kiddos:

David: Dory was so forgetful. You should really see the movie because it was fun, adventurous and funny at some parts. 

Tim: Finding Dory was really good, but it got really boring when good stuff happened then bad stuff happened again and again and again. Also, some of the voices they used and Dory's forgetting things got old very quickly. 

Me: I had higher hopes for Finding Dory. If you liked Finding Nemo, you will enjoy the movie but it was a little slow. A lot of the things that made Finding Nemo funny were also in this movie, but there wasn't anything really mind-blowing. I agree with Timmy that some things got old quick. I enjoyed Hank, the septapus.  

(Live)

 

Yes, I know, I've already seen this- but my "kids" haven't... and by kids I mean my own children and many of my students. We visited the Boston Opera House to see the National Tour on Matilda last week. There were 35 of us in all. For a few students, it was their first time in the opera house or seeing a musical. If you've never seen the inside of the Boston Opera House, it's pretty cool.

Not too shabby, eh? 

 

It was a great show and we had a blast. David was a little tired by the end of it, but it was about 10:30 so I was expecting that. 

    We're also watching LOTS of baseball. The regular season is over. David's team came in 3rd but Tim's team won the Major Division. Both boys had wonderful coaches and they both learned a lot. Timmy is playing All-Stars now. So, more baseball :) I'm really enjoying watching him grow. 

Reading:

     I'm currently reading Dandelion Fire by N.D. Wilson. It is the 2nd book of the 100 Cupboards series. I liked the first book but I'm finding the second book a lot more dark and less interesting. Maybe it is because it has been a while since I read the 1st one? Here's hoping I get more involved with the story as the book goes on. 

 

   I would like to tell you a little about the book I read before this though. It is called Guardian of the Gold Breathers by Elise Stephens.  This book is about a boy named Liam, who moves into his new step-father's house and learns that he might be the person to fulfill an ancient prophecy after discovering a dragon's egg. I liked this story a lot. (It reminded me of the first time I read The Secret Garden.)  Tim says "It is an intriguing book. I literally can't put it down." I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway and the author wrote me a really sweet note in addition to signing my copy. Have I ever mentioned I love Goodreads giveaways? I probably would've never bought this book before reading, but I would definitely get something else by this author.

 

Listening:

     Tim has been into dubstep lately. I usually turn it off because it's a bit too repetitive for me, but I found myself really fascinated by some of the hip-hop dancers at Tim's recital so I've let him listen a bit more.  Speaking of the tap recital. Timmy did well.  It turns out that he is the only boy in his class that is new to dance and not on the competition team. So, all things considered, I was really impressed by his progress. 

Making:

      Food! Both Matt and I enjoy cooking but he usually cooks during the school year since we used to have opposite schedules until recently. Summer break started this week so I've gotten more time to cook. The boys asked to prepare meals today. So, for lunch we had ham and cheese omelettes made by David. (Tim suggested a side of tortilla chips with guacamole... ok- anything to try to squeeze veggies in.) Timmy made Farfalle with zucchini and sweet Italian sausage for dinner. It was a modification of a Rachael Ray recipe. It was pretty tasty. It was also fascinating to see how differently the boys work while doing similar tasks. 

Feeling:

    I feel great. First of all, some of you may know I was dealing with some weird hives issue for over a month. We have figured it out and I've been hives free for a month. So, physically I fell 1000% better. Summer vacation has started. I have made progress on  some tasks I've been trying to get done. Other than our scheduled events, I'm trying to relax and not worry about a schedule. We go to bed when we're tired, eat when we're hungry, etc. It's kind of refreshing. I am appreciating the extra family time and the opportunity to be home more. Maybe it's just that I'm fully home. Many people think that being a teacher is easy and that we leave at 2. I am usually not home until at least 4 and, even then, there are many times where my mind is still at work or I have to finish things at home.  

Planning:

      Over the next few days I would like to write a few letters, continue my progress around the house and come up with a "to do" list for the summer. 

Loving:

     Feeling relaxed and balanced. There is very little that I "have to" do right now and that is quite nice. I'm not used to it. Don't get me wrong, I love working hard and I feel that I have great purpose but it's nice to recharge completely.

 

God bless! 

 

 

Beautiful children's book and postcards

     Yesterday was a great mail day. I got to my mailbox to 3 postcards and no bills. Then, on my porch, I tripped over a package that I hadn't noticed before. It was another Goodreads win. This is a children's book but I entered  to win it because I thought the boys might like it and the art was nice.
   

Gnoman's  Land is a book by Mark Forker and Shannon Kachline. It is about a young girl named Mya who is looking for an adventure. So, she dresses up as a butterfly fairy and goes to seek her adventure in the backyard. She is sent from one character to another.  If you are a teacher, this would be a cute book to read out loud to the class. The text alternates between poetry and prose and has a few lines that are repeated enough that all of the kids would know what the sentence said. In addition to this, the illustrations were beautiful. (My boys were a little freaked out by the dragonfly but every other page was a hit.) There were many little details in the book that the boys pointed out to each other. Here are a few illustrations. (I took these from the Gnoman's Land website, with permission)

   Shannon's drawing's remind me a little of the artwork of a friend of mine. I would love to be able to draw like that (or even color like that!) Shannon, if you're reading. I love the smiley clouds. David liked the rocks the best. Thank you again for the book. (Mark and Shannon also signed the book and wrote a little note, which I thought was very sweet. So, if you know someone looking for a nice, new children's book, pass along the recommendation or buy one for your school. I might actually buy one for our school's library. 

     I mentioned postcards too. Here are the received cards:

   This one is a postcard I received for the Penpalling &Letters Surprise swap. It is from Heike in Germany. This castle was used in a Cinderella movie that she saw as a child. How beautiful is that place?

 This is a Postcrossing card from Germany. I would love to just stand on that bridge nd look out over the fountain. I would love to visit Germany again. I went a long time ago; in high school when I sang in a tour of Europe. We traveled to so many places that it became a blur, Germany made a great impression and I would love to go back someday.

   This is another card received through the Penpalling &Letters event. It is from Essex, England. Thanks! 

    In other news, I've sent a few penpal letters, a few ChemoAngels letters and a few Postcrossing cards. I'm looking forward to our upcoming vacation. I've put my mail on hold while we're away. I'm hoping to come home to a humongous pile of mail love. :) 

Postcards and GoodRead wins

   This past week I took part in the Penpalling& Letters (Penpal Group on Facebook) Surprise Postcard Event. I have a ton of cards and my mailbox was slow so I decided to send a card to almost everybody who signed up. (Rather, I sent a card to everybody who was signed up by the time I printed the address list.)  I realized as I was logging things that I have sent over 125 postcards this year! I wish I could say the same about letters.
    I got some good mail over the past few days too. Here are the books and postcards that have come in!

 This is my first received card from the P&L Postcard event. This is the Trifels (3 rocks) Castle in the Palatine Forest. It is sent by Melanie, who spent time as an au pair fairly close to where I grew up.

      I loved the title of this book when I saw it on the GoodReads giveaway page. As part of my job, I'm used to talking to 150 different personalities a day. (Sometimes all in 1 kid! Just kidding!) I don't struggle to converse with people I don't know well but sometimes I, honestly, have a hard time if conversations I have with people are shallow all of the time. I also have a hard time "loving" or being around annoying people. Ha ha... because I'm NEVER annoying, sigh. In all seriousness, sometimes I can be judgmental or have a tendency to not give people a chance if they have made mistakes. Honestly, I am glad that I recognize this in myself because it helps me to be open to people that I might not feel that I fit in with. It also makes me notice if I'm sounding a little "holier than thou."
    On the other hand, I'm friendly and I genuinely like spending time with people. So, sometimes when I see an acquaintance and speak with them for a while, I actually remember their name or say hello if I see them again. Sometimes, especially being a New Englander. people look at me like I'm really weird for being friendly. (This is why I married Matt.. he's super anti-social.. again, just kidding.) I actually had a conversation with a few moms at a birthday party yesterday. They were trying to figure out how long we've known each other and both said that I am "a person you feel like you've known for years." My insecurities yelled- "yeah, because you talk so much" or "it's only been 1 year? Gah!" but they said it was a good thing and that I was personable and they felt like they could talk to me on a "real" level. I laughed when I got home and saw this in my mailbox right after that conversation.

 This is a postcrossing card from a grade 10 student in China. "My love, you are like a flower"is printed on the back. I don't know what is written under the heart on the front.

    Another Goodreads win. I am not a huge mystery reader but this seems a little different. I look forward to trying the recipes. The author also signed it and wrote me a small note on the inside of the book. Thanks!

   In other news, I still haven't shared too much about our upcoming road trip but let me tell you right now that I have been worrying endlessly for at least a week. I have also discovered a few things about myself this week. Some of these things I already had glimpses of but many things have been put into a different perspective this week.

Great mail day!

    I was excited to see my mailbox full of personal mail today. (Plus one of my favorite magazines) No bill either. Score.

      I got 4 Postcrossing cards:

    This is a picture from the historic village of Shirakawa-go in Japan. It is located in a mounrainous region of Japan and was said to be cut off from the rest of the world for a long time. These villages subsisted on the cultivation of mulberry trees and the rearing of silkworms. Check out the thatched roofs. I think this is located in the Chubu region of Japan. The village is a UNESCO world heritage site- and I collect UNESCO cards. :) Thanks Yuki! As a huge bonus, her stamp was the Kanazawa-jo Castle, which is also a UNESCO site. Awesome. 

    Yuki also wrote about the Yoshida brothers, who are shamisen players. Here is a video of them from YouTube. I love all the music samples that Postcrossers send me. The Yoshida brothers are Yuki's favorite musicians. I have heard lots of shamisen music, but have never heard the shamisen play music that is not traditional music. Very cool.

Speaking of Japan:

    Welcome to the Tanabata Festival, which will take place in Miyagi August 6-8. It looks so colorful! Check this page out. Akko, if you're reading, have you ever been to this festival? Apparently it is tradition to write wished on paper strips and hang them from the bamboo. Maybe I'm nosy, but I would love to wander around and read the wishes. :) Thank you for the beautiful card Mimiko!

Off to the Philippines!

  In addition to the cool panda card (I've never seen a panda that was not black and white), Mao told me about El Gamma Penumbra. They performed on Asia's Got Talent and Mao says that they show a lot about Philippine culture. Watch this performance. It is beautiful!

     The last card I got was from the UK:

    One more musician for you to check out! Will Pound. He's on the harmonica. I loved this band and this set. Timmy has done some folk dancing in music this year and he loves it. He was excited to hear this too. 

   Another Goodreads win:

    Another nerd alert. This book is called "Thinking About Video Games" by David S. Heineman. This book includes interviews with people across the gaming industry about various topics. It includes information on game development, game studies, and the past, present and future of video games. I'm often the mom that doesn't let my kids play games that other kids their age are playing. I've read some fascinating/horrifying neuroscience about how the brain (especially in young men) processes certain types of games so I'm curious to read the perspectives of and studies done by more people. Gaming is not a topic I usually read about so I suspect I will learn a lot.

Quick mail catchup

     I have not sent any good mail lately. I have been buried in work for a few weeks. This is my last insanely crazy week. (5 performances/field trips in a 2 week span) I sent out a quick letter to my 2 ChemoBuddies. (If you're reading, I'm so sorry it has been so long) I took a few minutes out of my night last night to get a few postcrossing cards ready to be mailed.

 This card that I made from Washi tape is headed to Poland.

     This card is on its way to Russia.

As for incoming mail, I have gotten a few cool things recently.

 As I've mentioned before, I'm a big fan of the GoodReads giveaways. I entered for this book of short stories but I didn't win. Then I got a nice e-mail from Jacob M Appel, the author, asking if I would still like a copy. I received it a few days later. I'm not a huge short story fan but this seemed kind of different. I'm willing to give most books a shot. So, thanks Mr. Appel!

Postcrossing card from China.

     I have not been great about updating the project log. I will try to catch up when life slows down a bit. I will try to blog more then too. The Daisy Yellow Index Card a Day challenge starts again soon so I will be adding some art here too if I'm brave :)

Quick mail catchup

   The mailbox has been quite dismal lately. I have gotten a few good things but the package from Finland got lost and I'm still waiting for other things. I have also been a bit behind on my writing. I'm hoping that this post will be a kick in the pants for me.
     These 2 were outgoing cards. 1 was for a woman in Germany and the 2nd was to a student of mine who just participated in a fencing competition. I also sent a letter out to both Chemobuddies.

    I have had a few interesting pieces of incoming mail. I won another cool book from Goodreads. This one is called "The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook" edited by Kate White. In addition to having some yummy recipes (I tried Louise Penny's Madame Benoit's Tourtiere tonight.), it has some beautiful pictures and the book is textured in a cool way.

    Another great letter and stationary from Neil in the UK!

 A letter from Tseganesh, my sponsor child in Ethiopia. I also tried to get a nice picture of a letter from Angie but I couldn't seem to get a picture that didn't show at least part of our addresses.

      I was doing pretty well with my mail log but I have fallen a bit behind. I will try to catch up tonight.
      Have you been getting anything good in the mail lately?