Tag: Fall Reading

Children's Books, Three Book Thursday

Fall And Poems: Three Book Thursday, The Poem Edition

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Welcome to Three Book Thursday! Three Book Thursday is a feature that’s all about sharing the joy of books with children. To read more posts like this one, go here!

Autumn is so lovely.  I always find myself saying this with surprise, because I am decidedly not an “I love all things fall!” type of person. I despise pumpkin spice lattes. I could not care less for sweaters and boots. Layering clothes for myself and three little one is just frustrating, and coats make me straight up angry. I am a throw on a tank top and shorts and call it done type of girl. But when Fall actually comes, I taste its delights. An October sky is the deepest blue imaginable. A chill in the air makes eyes twinkle with the sheer delight of change and the whisper of holidays ahead. The warm blankets and the early darkness draw us into a more restful time.

And then there is the poetry. Fall always calls me to read poetry. (It also screams “Fantasy” at me, but that’s another post). This year, I followed the lead of so many wise Wings from the Wind: An Anthology of Poemsmothers and educators, and sought out some poetry to share with my children. The book I’m using to do this right now is Wings from the Wind: An Anthology of Poems Selected and Illustrated by Tasha Tudor.  I have always loved Tasha Tudor’s illustrations. We just read Pumpkin Moonshine for school this week, too. I usually find that her illustrations are what I love about her books the most. The actual text isn’t usually as enthralling or entertaining as I hope it will be.  This anthology is the perfect marriage! She includes poems from Robert Louis Stevenson, Emily Dickinson, and Rachel Field, among many others, with illustrations on every page to make the poems come alive to little ones. For whatever reason, I get a deep level of comfort from reading this book, by myself or with my littles.

I haven’t had a chance to dive further into poetry books yet this week, but I plan to in the coming months of Fall. What are your favorite children’s poetry books, or grown up poetry that the whole family can enjoy? I’d love to hear from you!

Reading, Reviews

September Reading

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When I look back on the month of September, I think of many wonderful days, several very hard days, and the shock of how fast my children are growing. What doesn’t come to mind is the books I’ve read. August was definitely a month full of good reads, but September dried up a bit. Still, there have been some good ones. Here’s a review of what I’ve read:

Orphan TrainOrphan Train – Loved it!  Read my review

Rules of Civility -Liked the first half, hated the second. Review

Me Before You – Not my kind of book – Read my review.

7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess – This one was a real life changer! Here’s the review.

The Book of James (Bible)

The Princess and the Goblin

Hearing God – Dallas Willard – Still in the middle of this one.

The Lost Art of MixingThe Lost Art of Mixing – I love this author, Erica Bauermeister. I am almost done with this one and will review it here in the coming days.

I still don’t have a Fall reading list. I can’t summon up enough books that I’m sure I want to read. It’s funny how good books come in droves and then hide for a while.

What have you read in September?

 

Everyday Life, Reading, Reviews, Young Adult

August Reading, Part 2, and A Tiny Rant Against Autumn

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There’s a crispness in the air that I despise. Yes, I said despise. Sorry, Fall and Football lovers. I love summer and I cannot lie. I do not like cold days. I do not like the mess of leaves all over the back yard, and all the raking…raking…raking. I don’t like watching the summer flowers die. I don’t like heavy clothing and jeans every day.  But really, the biggest problem of all is that my family is not taking our one and only beach vacation until mid-September. Summer, please stay until then!

However! I am trying to conjure up happy memories of hot chocolate and books by a warm fire. Maybe if I start a Fall reading list, I’ll let go of my morbidity towards Autumn. If I can keep finding as many good books in the Autumn months as I’ve found in August, the coming season will be pretty swell.

Here are the books I finished this month.:

1. Cybele’s Secret by Juliet Marillier

Cybele's Secret (Wildwood, #2) The sequel to Wildwood Dancing, but not nearly as great. Still, a pretty good read, especially if you’re a fan of the genre. Marillier is one of  my new favorite YA authors.

2. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Read my reviews (yes, there are two of them) here and here

3. The Artist’s Daughter

I really liked this memoir. Read my review here

4.  Slash Your Grocery Budget & Eat a Whole Foods Diet With Aldi by Carrie Willard

I read a slew of nonfiction this month. I consider it a slew, anyway. The main reason was that Ella came down with a stomach bug on Sunday afternoon and I couldn’t leave her side without her getting upset. So while she dozed, I read all the free e-books I’ve been downloading to the Kindle app on my phone. I find these free books on moneysavingmom.com, but I usually download them and then forget about them. I was grateful to have them this weekend, though.

Slash Your Grocery Budget was a great book for people who shop at Aldi or are considering shopping at Aldi. It includes menus and recipes—features that equal awesomeness in any nonfiction book. I haven’t actually tried any of the recipes yet, but I plan to. Look for this book to show up in my next Saturday Cooking feature.

5. A Simpler Season by Jessica Fisher

With the chill in the air and the impending hours watching football, I’m feeling like now is a good time to start planning some projects for Christmas. Last Christmas I had all kinds of ideas and hardly any of them got done. I’m okay with that; my kids were 3 and 1, we had a nice holiday season that was not as stressful as usual, we celebrated what mattered. Still, I’d like to be a little more involved in the details this year. A Simpler Season was a good starting point for me to think through those some of those details. Will you still find me in Target two days before Christmas? Probably. But hope springs eternal.

6. How to Eat A Cupcake by Meg Donahue

A departure from the norm for me, but in a fun, not-too-terrible, romantic comedy kind of way. Read my review here.

Now I’m working on East of the Sun by Julia Gregson. For school with Ella, we’re reading In Grandma’s Attic. I can’t tell you how much I am loving re-reading my favorite children’s chapter books with Ella. We tried The Bobbsey Twins, but it was a little wordy for now. Maybe in a year or two. I actually never liked those books much, but they seem cute to me now.

Tell me what should go on my Fall reading list! I need a long, cheering list to console me over being robbed (robbed!) of summer.