Last week I finished:
The Penderwicks in Spring is the fourth of the five books in The Penderwicks series. Each book has focused a bit more on certain members of the Penderwick family--book one was about all of the sisters with an emphasis on the oldest, Rosalind; book two was about preventing the father from remarrying; book three focused on the second and third of the sisters, Skye and Jane and didn't have the parents in it at all; and book four focused on two of the younger Penderwicks, Batty, now in fifth grade, and Ben, in first grade. Plus, we're introduced to the littlest Penderwick, Lydia, age two. In this book, Batty discovers that she has a beautiful singing voice, Skye is spurning Jeffrey's advances which upsets Batty, and Batty thinks she's uncovered a horrible secret about her birth and her mother's death. I liked to see the parents back in the picture (I didn't care as much for book three with the absent parents). It was also fun, though oddly disorienting, seeing Batty growing up. She was four in the first book, I think, the youngest of the Penderwicks. Now, she's a good big sister to Ben and Lydia and has interests of her own, namely music. I enjoyed this one as much as the second book, which might still be my favorite, and I can't wait to read the final book, The Penderwicks at Last. If you're looking for a good series for a young girl (or boy, I guess) or like children's literature yourself, try this series. I don't think you'll be disappointed. My rating: 4 stars.
Because I never spend more than $3.99 on Kindle books, I allow myself to try all kinds of titles I might not buy in book form. I recently downloaded Give Your Child the World for 99 cents, so how can one go wrong? The book is written by a woman with a biological son and two adopted kids, a daughter from India and a son from Liberia. All of the kids are within three years of each other in age. With the diversity in her household and traditional Christian values, Jamie Martin wants to be sure her children have a heart for the world, and one of the ways she does this is through reading. The great majority of the book is a list of titles and book synopses for books about every corner of the earth. It's split into regions of the world, and then by age group within those regions. There are dozens and dozens of suggestions, some you've likely heard of if you have young readers, but most will probably be new to you. There is a lot of nonfiction, and she always gives warnings if religion or war is discussed, so you can monitor what you expose your kids to. I enjoyed the book, but I did get weary reading synopsis after synopsis (there are no book covers), and it became a bit tedious reading it cover to cover. I was hoping to get ideas for our children's book collection in the library, but I ended up being too overwhelmed for it to help much. Perhaps this is a better resource if your family is wanting to learn about a specific part of the world. My greatest disappointment is that Martin did not read all of the books herself before suggesting them. Still, overall, exhaustive and quite well done. My rating: 3 stars.
Here's a dark secret about me: I have a three-foot tall pile of yet unread decorating magazines in my study. I've finally started to attack the pile, which has been growing for a couple of years, and I'm finding wonderful gems. I love decorating magazines with an unnatural passion. House Beautiful is one of my favorites (Traditional Home might be my absolute favorite), and whenever they come out with a compellation book, I am sure to read it. House Beautiful released House Beautiful Style Secrets last fall, and I loved it. The book explores eight style secrets and presents photos from homes featured in their magazines to highlight them. A sampling of the style secrets include: "Every room needs a grand gesture" and "Every room needs something that speaks only to you."* There was very little text in the whole book, just a caption for each photo. The book really made me think about what my style secrets would be. Here are a few of the secrets I came up with: "Every room needs a traditional element," "Every room needs a face in it," and "Every room needs to make its own statement in just one sentence." I devoured this book, and I think I might have to buy a copy for my shelves. It was just so much fun, and a number of the rooms really fit with my decorating tastes. If you're looking for specific design help, this may not be the right choice for you, but if you're looking for beautiful eye candy and inspiration, give this one a shot. My rating: 4 stars.
*Note: the Amazon description includes chapter titles and information not found in the book.
This week I'll finish:
I cannot tell you how much I'm loving this book.
Last week I began:
Another 99 cent Kindle find! I had no idea Lynne Cheney had written a memoir, but Blue Skies, No Fences, about her life in Wyoming, is proving to be a fun read.
I continue with:
Ditto on this one. Wonderful.
My audiobook:
Although I was a bit nervous about Christopher Andersen's work being too sensational, I'm loving listening to The Good Son: JFK Jr. and the Mother He Loved. It's a little gossipy, but it's well done nonetheless.
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