Book Nerd: Library Chicken Weekly Scoreboard (9.5.17)
Suzanne breaks out the laminating machine but still finds time to dive into some Edwardian lit and a little American history in this week's Library Chicken.
Welcome to the weekly round-up of what the BookNerd is reading and how many points I scored (or lost) in Library Chicken. To recap, you get a point for returning a library book that you’ve read, you lose a point for returning a book unread, and while returning a book past the due date is technically legal, you do lose half a point. If you want to play along, leave your score in the comments!
Why aren't there more wine commercials about laminating things?
PHOTO COURTESY OF SUZANNE REZELMAN
Lamination success!
PHOTO COURTESY OF SUZANNE REZELMAN
NON-BOOK-RELATED CONTENT: I don’t know if I’ve told you how terrible my kitchen is. The kitchen cabinets are cheap and awful-looking and original to the house (1970s). They’ve been painted a dirty cream that has chipped off in several places. Plus I never clean them, so that doesn’t help. When the kids were younger, we turned the kitchen into an art gallery and covered as much of the cabinets as possible with their creations, but over the years their artwork had become faded and ripped and stained and it was time <sniff> for it to come down. So I’ve been removing artwork and scraping tape and scrubbing the heck out of 40-year-old cabinets. As they still look awful, I pulled out the shoeboxes of family snapshots that I had stacked away in the closet (because, my children, there was once a time when cameras held something called FILM, which we then had to pay to get DEVELOPED even before we knew whether or not the pictures were any good, and some of us would always order DUPLICATE PRINTS in the vain hope that we would then remember to buy STAMPS and ENVELOPES to send them off in the ACTUAL MAIL to family members who probably weren’t all that interested in seeing them in the first place), and I got down the laminator that I bought a few years ago but never used, and I spent several days laminating ALL THE PICTURES. (It was great fun. Also a nice soothing meditative sort of activity, which I need in these troubled times. I had to stop because I ran out of laminating envelopes, but I’m going to lay in a new supply so I can go laminate things whenever I’ve accidentally listened to the news or seen a picture of the President or something.) Those are now covering my still-ugly but now less visible kitchen cabinets — all of which is to say: it’s a very short update this week, folks.
The Edwardians by Vita Sackville-West
Scandalous doings of the aristocracy set at a vast English country estate: I’m all in. I’ve been meaning to read this for a while, but finally picked it up after reading A House Full of Daughters, Juliet Nicolson’s family history, including her paternal grandmother Vita. It did not disappoint and now I’ve got more Sackville-West novels to put on the to-read list.
(LC Score: +1)
The Kelloggs: The Battling Brothers of Battle Creek by Howard Markel
I heard about this on Fresh Air and then picked it up off the new release section at the library. Markel’s history of the two Kellogg brothers, John Harvey (famous physician and originator of the modern concept of “wellness”) and Will Keith (famous businessman and originator of Kellogg’s Cornflakes), is interesting and entertaining, but drove me a little bit crazy by ignoring chronological order and jumping from subject to subject. It’s a good read — now I want to see a complete (and chronological!) joint biography of the brothers.
(LC Score: +1)
Library Chicken Score for 9/5/17: 2
Running Score: 98
On the TBR List for Next Week
- The Essex Serpent by Sara Perry (a sea monster threatens 1893 Essex)
- The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak (nerds come of age in the 1980s)
- Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller (a long-missing wife leaves behind letters hidden in her husband’s books)
- Behind the Mask: The Life of Vita Sackville-West by Matthew Dennison (because she’s very cool)
Readaloud of the Week: The Lotterys Plus One
In this middle grades novel, a diverse family finds its values shaken when their traditional grandfather moves into their home.
THE LOTTERYS PLUS ONE by Emma Donoghue
In brief: The Lotterys are not your typical family: When two gay couples (who also happen to be best buds) win the lottery, they change their last names to Lottery, buy a huge house they call Camelottery, and raise a big family of seven adopted and biological kids there in a little urban oasis of sustainability, homeschooling, and community service. When one of their grandfathers comes to live with them because of health issues, he’s decidedly put off by the Lotterys’ unconventional lifestyle, and the Lotterys test the limits of their family’s tolerance to find a place for this intolerant member.
What makes it a great readaloud: This is a classic family story with a modern cast of characters—it’s great to see so much diversity in a children’s book and to see a kids’ book tackle a question that feels really relevant these days: How can families with totally different values find common ground? It’s a little like All-Of-a-Kind Family or Cheaper by the Dozen recast for the modern world—lots of kids having all kinds of adventures and experiences and always returning to their warm, supportive home.
But be aware: The wordplay can get a little twee—they call their back porch the Derriere, and that’s just for starters—and some readers felt like there was almost too much diversity among the characters so that it ended up feeling a little forced. (Also, I’m not clear on why the characters continue to use other-gender pronouns for their trans child/sibling, even though they’re very accepting of his identity otherwise.)
Stuff We Like :: 9.1.17
Using gender-neutral pronouns without stressing over grammar, complexity is what makes the humanities so great, birthday parties, and more stuff we like.
Hoping all of our Houston area readers are safe, dry, and dealing with kind, capable insurance companies and other agencies.
around the web
This is a great guide for navigating the new world of gender neutral pronouns. (Teen Vogue for the win!)
This is a really interesting read about the prison abolition movement.
This seems like a really fun job.
And this: “In the humanities, we do not pretend that there is a singular answer or indivisible truth. Instead, we must embrace complexity – and all the discomfort and disorientation that this approach entails – in an attempt to move towards a truth that is more inclusive, more nuanced, and richer for the struggle. There are answers and truths, but they are found in the dynamic interplay between context and evidence and theory. Since these conditions are always changing, the answers must also always evolve.”
at home/school/life
in the magazine: SEA has a great discount on HSL subscriptions this fall! If you aren’t a member of SEA, it’s easy to join, and the more secular homeschooler resources, the better, right?
on the blog: I can’t be the only person who can’t stop reading about the construction of the Panama Canal
one year ago: 5 things I do in August to get ready for a new homeschool year
two years ago: 4 easy ways to homeschool lunch
reading list
I’m reading a few books with the kids this week, probably because I was so jealous of their awesome reading stacks last week: Ottoline and the Purple Fox, Linnets and Valerians, and A Traveller in Time have been our last-of-summer back-porch reading this week. (We officially start 10th grade and 4th grade next week.)
I’m not even trying to Library Chicken right now! But Suzanne recommended Miss Buncle’s Book, and it was just what I needed—sweet and funny, and people bought new hats and drank tea, which is pretty much what I am looking for in soul-soothing literature. Also in comfort reading: An Omelette and a Glass Of Wine (a collection of Elizabeth David’s food writing) and The Mouse That Roared.
at home
This was birthday week for my just-turned-10-year-old son, so there was much fun to be had. I pretty much always make the same birthday cake (this one, but I add 1/2 cup of coffee and 1/2 a cup of boiling water instead of one cup of boiling water, and I make boiled milk frosting instead of buttercream so it’s a little lighter).
I love this time of year so much: We’re still in slowed-down summer mode and most of our neighbors are back in school, so we have the pool and the library and the matinee movie theater and the science museum pretty much all to ourselves. It’s like introvert heaven!
I am coming out on the other side of panicking about everything into being very excited about the great Greek and Roman humanities class I get to teach this fall with my best friend. It's going to be so fun!
Book Nerd: Library Chicken Weekly Scoreboard (8.29.17)
Welcome to the weekly round-up of what the BookNerd is reading and how many points I scored (or lost) in Library Chicken. To recap, you get a point for returning a library book that you’ve read, you lose a point for returning a book unread, and while returning a book past the due date is technically legal, you do lose half a point. If you want to play along, leave your score in the comments!
Lots of good books this week! When people ask how I have the time to read as many books as I do, I tell them the truth: I do as little housework as possible. This gets a polite chuckle, at least until they actually come over to my house, whereupon their eyes get very big and All Becomes Clear. My kitchen has reached a critical level of grime, however, so I’ve begun Taking Steps. SPOILER ALERT: next week’s Library Chicken Update may be considerably shorter.
Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen
Eden’s Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father by John Matteson
Marmee and Louisa: The Untold Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Mother by Eve LaPlante
We’re starting with Little Women in Middle School Lit so I picked up a Louisa May biography which sent me down a rabbit hole of all the Alcott and Alcott-adjacent books I’ve added to my to-read (or reread) list over the years. The Reisen bio is detailed and complete, with new research, and a great read for anyone interested in LMA. I enjoy reading a couple of competing bios when I can: even biographers and historians who work hard to be unbiased necessarily shape their narrative with what they choose to include and exclude, and how they comment on and interpret their materials. In these three books, you can see that in the various treatments of Bronson Alcott, famous friend to Emerson and Thoreau, and famously poor provider for his family. Matteson, while acknowledging Bronson’s flaws, is anxious to present him in the best light possible (as is Reisen, to a somewhat lesser extent). LaPlante, refreshingly, is having None Of That, and while her bio is less detailed than the others, I enjoyed her constant irritation with Bronson (who really needs to be thwacked repeatedly with a large stick) and her shift of focus to Abigail Alcott, Louisa’s mother (and LaPlante’s several-times-great-aunt).
(LC Score: +3)
An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott
I’m slowly rereading my way through my shelves of children’s literature and conveniently, it’s time for some more Alcott (though I don’t think I’ll be revisiting Little Men or Jo’s Boys any time soon). This is one I hadn’t remembered well, perhaps because our heroine, a country girl sent to stay with a friend’s wealthy but discontented family, is a bit irritating, what with being so sweet and good all the time. The narrative perks up when it jumps forward a few years to show her as a young woman attempting to support herself in the city, but my favorite part of the book was an unexpected cameo from America’s Favorite Fighting Frenchman, when the grandmother told a tale of meeting the famous Lafayette in her youth (an anecdote based on LMA’s own family history).
(LC Score: 0, off my own shelves)
Fanshawe by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Did you know that Nathaniel Hawthorne was LMA’s neighbor in Concord? I remember Emerson and Thoreau, but somehow I always forget about Hawthorne. My daughter will be reading The Scarlet Letter this year, so it seemed like a good time to pick up the Library of America edition of Hawthorne’s novels. I hadn’t even heard of Fanshawe, which I guess is unsurprising since Hawthorne himself did everything he could to suppress his first published novel, including destroying all the copies he could get his hands on. It turns out to be a short novel about a Helpless Victim Girl falling prey to a bad guy before being rescued in the nick of time by a Heroic Virtuous Student, who then virtuously turns away from his hopeless love of the girl to succeed in his goal of dying young from too much studying. (I don’t know that it deserved to be wiped off the face of the earth, but I also wouldn’t go around recommending it to people.) Meanwhile, I hadn’t read The Scarlet Letter since 9th grade, when it was the source of much pain and suffering. Several decades later, I was surprised by how dramatic it was and I enjoyed it more than I expected. As a bonus, Hawthorne throws in a totally unnecessary but still awesome dig at Bronson Alcott in the Custom House opening.
(LC Score: 0, still working on the Library of America anthology)
Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan
Time for a cozy mystery set in a bookstore! Except that this novel is most emphatically not that! I’m not sure where I got the idea that this would be a pleasant little murder mystery—perhaps I just associate bookstores with coziness?—but this book, about a bookstore employee who discovers a suicide in the store after closing time, is structured more like a thriller. Our heroine is the deeply damaged survivor of a horrific tragedy and this new death will lead her back to that childhood trauma. (I was reminded a bit of P.J. Tracy’s Monkeewrench.) A good read and books do feature prominently, but perhaps not exactly what I was looking for when I checked it out.
(LC Score: +1)
The Singing Sands by Josephine Tey
Alan Grant #6. I loved the beginning of this mystery, where Grant, suffering from PTSD-induced claustrophobia, goes to Scotland to recover, but I thought things got a bit heavy-handed with Tey’s introduction of an ignorant American who must be lectured at about the awesomeness of the British titled classes and the inherent classlessness of British life—none of which, by the way, has anything to do with the plot. (This novel was discovered in Tey’s papers after her death, leaving me to wonder if that bit would have been edited out had she lived to see it through publication.) Still, we do get a wonderful tale about a lost Arabian city. Overall, a nice send-off for Inspector Grant.
(LC Score: +1)
Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway by Sara Gran
Claire DeWitt #2. I am really enjoying the Zen-like mystery-solving abilities of screwed-up private investigator DeWitt and this mystery, involving the death of her musician ex-boyfriend, is a worthy sequel to the first book. Unfortunately, it ends with a cliffhanger and three years later (Bohemian Highway was published in 2014) there is no follow-up in sight.
(LC Score: +1)
Come Closer by Sara Gran
So if she’s not going to give me a Claire DeWitt, I’ll read another one of Gran’s books! That’ll show her! This one, her second book, is a horror novella about a woman being possessed by a demon. Good but super-creepy.
(LC Score: +1)
Sleep and His Brother by Peter Dickinson
James Pibble #4. Inspector Pibble is now an ex-inspector, having been fired from the force (perhaps as a result of the events of The Sinful Stones, though we don’t learn the details). At loose ends, he starts investigating a home for intellectually and physically disabled children, all suffering from a (fictional) congenital disorder. As with The Glass-Sided Ants’ Nest (though on a different topic), this seems like a scenario fraught with offensive possibilities, and similar to that first book, I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it. That said, the plot quickly takes an unexpected twist into the paranormal, and as usual, Dickinson has created a bizarre but fascinating read.
(LC Score: +1)
Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet, Book One written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, art by Brian Stelfreeze
This Week in Comics: You know I love Coates and Stelfreeze’s artwork here is simply gorgeous, but I think Marvel missed an opportunity with this collection. As a big fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I’m more than ready to read some Black Panther as I eagerly await the movie (have you guys seen the trailer?!? IT LOOKS SO AWESOME), but as a newbie to the comics world, I was totally lost after being dropped right in the middle of a long-term ongoing storyline. I needed an issue #0 with the backstory or something. Despite that, it was well worth reading for the spectacular visuals, and I’ll keep going with the series in the hope that I’ll catch up sooner or later.
(LC Score: +1)
The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher
I was 7 years old when Star Wars came out. I first heard of the movie from an excited friend (also a 7-year-old girl) telling me all about this great princess who was sarcastic and funny (“This is some rescue!”) and strong enough to save the heroes who were trying to save her. I am so grateful that I was able to grow up with Princess Leia as one of my feminist icons—it’s no exaggeration to say that she changed my conception of what women (even princesses!) could be, and thus changed my world. It’s a tragedy that we no longer have Carrie Fisher here with us (goodness knows we need her) but it seems fitting that her final gift to us was this memoir. Now, okay, most of it is taken up with her secret affair with Harrison Ford (speaking of things that would have totally blown my 7-year-old mind) and while I’m as much of a sucker for celebrity gossip as anyone else, honestly, that doesn’t rank very high on my list of things I’d like to know about Carrie Fisher’s Star Wars experience. What I did learn was how talented a writer she was, even at age 19, even in her private I’m-desperately-in-love-and-can’t-think-of-anything-else journal entries. And how brave she was to share her self-absorbed uncertain teenage self with the world. I never dated anyone who looks like Han Solo, but I could relate to that all-encompassing hopeless first love (and believe me, NO ONE is ever going to see those diary entries). This is a must read for all us old-school Leia-wanna-be fangirls, and anyone else who appreciates Fisher’s smart, snarky, don’t-give-a-damn style. General Leia will be missed. Sniff.
(LC Score: +1)
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
This science fiction thriller has gotten great reviews—plus it was personally recommended by one of my best friends—but when it was finally my turn in the hold queue I found that I wasn’t in the mood to be thrilled. I’ll wait a bit and then try again. RETURNED UNREAD.
(LC Score: -1)
Library Chicken Score for 8/29/17: 9
Running Score: 96
On the to-read/still-reading stack for next week:
The Edwardians by Vita Sackville-West (English country house novel: yes, please)
The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism by Megan Marshall (more Alcott-adjacent bios)
The Kelloggs: The Battling Brothers of Battle Creek by Howard Markel (I love it when the book I just heard about on NPR shows up on the new release shelf)
The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland (great authors, great title)
Best of HSL: Best Cities for Homeschool Families: #2: Chicago
[We're gearing up for our updated list of Best Cities for Homeschool Families this fall, so we thought it would be fun to publish the three best of 2014 on the blog—number two on the list is the homeschool friendly city of Chicago.]
“Chicago is the pulse of America,” Sarah Bernhardt famously said, and you can feel the rhythm of the city pumping in your blood as soon as you set foot on the sidewalk.
Chicago feels like a city you’ve imagined, with dramatic architecture mixed in with old-fashioned buildings, crowds of people who smile when they pass you on the street, and the kind of energy that you only get in a center of culture and enterprise.
And for homeschoolers, the magic of this Midwest city is delightfully accessible. The Museum of Science and Industry lets homeschoolers explore its galleries for free every weekday. Homeschool parents can get free admission at the Art Institute of Chicago every time they visit. If you call the Chicago Zoological Society, you can set up a free visit to see the animals. On the University of Chicago campus, you can pick up cheap tickets for cutting-edge art exhibitions, film screenings, and theatrical productions. And you can score day-of tickets to plays and musicals on Chicago’s theater row for as little as $5 per person.
In every season, you’ll find street festivals and block parties going on around the city—the Printers Row Literary Festival is a must for book-lovers, and the golumpkis at the Taste of Polonia festival may just make your kids appreciate cabbage. You can browse for hours in the stacks at the enormous, three-story used bookstore Myopic Books in Wicker Park, or find the next great indie comic or chapbook at hipster hangout Quimby’s. Pick up a slice of Chicago-style pizza and take a Frank Lloyd Wright walking tour. In late spring and early fall, you can have the sprawling beach of Lake Michigan almost completely to yourselves, and there’s plenty of room to play outside in Chicago Athenaeum’s International Sculpture Park (no admission charge) and the Adams Playground Park. The point is, you can have a ton of fun in Chicago without making a dent in your budget.
In fact, Chicago may be the most budget-friendly big city in the United States. In neighborhoods like Edgewater, the median selling price for condominiums is just $150,000—and you’re right by the Red Line for easy access to public transportation. Expect to pay a little more for groceries here than the national average, but less than you’d pay in a city like New York or Los Angeles. Costs for gas and utilities here are right around the national average. Chicago’s a sprawling city, but you can get by with a single car if you get comfortable with the public transportation system and live within walking distance of a transit stop.
IN BRIEF
Homeschool Requirements: None. If you’re withdrawing your child from school, the state recommends notifying the school, but you don’t have to file any paperwork, meet any attendance requirements, or participate in any standardized testing.
Community: The Chicago Homeschool Co-op meets on Wednesdays and is a great place to find out about other Chicagoland homeschool resources from other group members.
Books: Quimby’s is the coolest bookstore in town—and the place to find small-press zines, chapbooks, and comics.
Resources: Admission is free on weekdays for homeschool families at the Museum of Science and Industry, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Chicago Zoological Society; explore the galaxy at the Adler Planetarium; play outside at the Garfield Park Conservancy; build sandcastles at Foster Avenue Beach; get inspired at the Printers Row Literary Festival
Number of Museums: 74, including the Field Museum of Natural History, the Mitchell Museum of the American indian, and the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio
Number of Libraries: 80, with a calendar of regular activities including arts and crafts workshops, gaming sessions, and author events
Median home price: $270,900
Population: 2.71 million
This was originally published in the fall 2014 issue of HSL. Information was correct at time of publication but may have changed since then.
Readaloud of the Week: Return to Sender
In brief: When Tyler’s dad is injured in a tractor accident, his family hires a group of migrant workers to help on the family farm. As Tyler and Mari—the daughter of one of the laborers—form a tentative friendship, they’re forced to confront the differences in their lives, including Mari’s constant fear of being discovered and sent back to Mexico. Half the book is told from Tyler’s perspective by a third-person narrator, and half is through Mari’s letters to her mother.
What makes it a great readaloud: Alvarez really illuminates the problems with immigration, deportation, and what citizenship in the United States actually means through Mari and Tyler’s developing friendship, and she resists the urge to wrap things up with simple answers. You’ll be having great conversations about why people have come to the United States over the course of its history, what it means to be a family and a community, how people from different backgrounds and experiences can forge friendships, and what responsibilities friends have to each other. In today’s political landscape, these seem like especially important things to be talking about with our kids.
But be aware: Sometimes the message of the book takes precedence over the plot, and the story gets a little stilted because of it. (This is especially true in some of Mari’s letters.)
Quotable: “Life is about change, change, and more change. When you're born as a child, you die as a baby. Just like when you're born as a teenager, you die as a child.”
Book Review: Bound by Ice: A True North Pole Survival Story
Bound by Ice: A True North Pole Survival Story
by Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace (Calkins Creek)
Have a kid who enjoys true-life survival stories? Is your family studying polar explorers, post-Civil War America, or the Arctic? This page-turning nonfiction book for ages 10 and up would be a great addition to your reading list.
Award-winning authors Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace tell the story of U.S. naval officer George Washington De Long’s ill-fated 1879 attempt to reach the North Pole on the U.S.S. Jeannette, exploring what went wrong on the voyage and bringing the ship’s crew to vivid, memorable life. Using the extensive records kept by De Long and other crew members as source material, the Wallaces give readers a close-up look as the Jeannette gets locked in by ice and De Long and his men fight for life through one dramatic setback after another.
One of the things that kept me gobbling up this book were its many surprises. One of the first surprises was learning that in the 19th century, many people believed that there might be a tropical sea at the North Pole. The desire to discover and explore this fabled tropical seascape was part of what drove George W. De Long on his journey.
The book also has an interesting connection to today’s debates over fake news and media sensationalism. One of the funders of the voyage was James George Bennett, Jr., owner of the New York Herald and purveyor of outrageous, sometimes completely fabricated news stories, including an account of escaped zoo animals in New York City goring and mauling people—a completely phony tale. The Herald’s fictionalized accounts of the Jeannette’s voyage misled the crew’s loved ones and fanned wild rumors throughout the two years the crew was out of touch with the rest of the world.
“At a time when science is being increasingly disregarded and disrespected by many policymakers, this book feels like a cautionary tale with startling relevance.”
Another interesting aspect of the Wallaces’ account is the way it demonstrates the danger of making important, life-and-death decisions on the basis of junk science. De Long based much of his planning for his polar voyage on the theories of a so-called North Pole authority who argued that explorers could easily reach the North Pole in two months if they followed a warm Pacific current called the Kuro Siwo. This ill-informed “expert” predicted that explorers would find polar regions “more or less free from ice” and theorized that an expedition could safely complete a North Pole expedition in a couple of months.
At a time when science is being increasingly disregarded and disrespected by many policymakers, this book feels like a cautionary tale with startling relevance.
One of the biggest pleasures of Bound by Ice is the way the Wallaces bring the members of the expedition to life with small, vivid details. We learn that Civil War hero and chief engineer George Melville was annoyed by the ship meteorologist’s tendency to burst into snatches of Gilbert and Sullivan songs. We discover that the ship naturalist was tortured by dreams of pumpkin pie, “the particular weakness of a New England Yankee,” as he put it, when the men’s diets had dwindled down to a monotonous round of canned vegetables and seal and polar bear meat.
Another compelling aspect of the book is the tender love story between De Long and his wife Emma. The authors thread excerpts from De Long’s letters to Emma throughout the adventure, reminding readers of the very personal stakes involved in this real-life drama.
The story of the Jeannette definitely has tragic elements. But it’s also a deeply inspiring story of persistence, teamwork, and devotion to making a contribution to science and history. Readers will come away with a new perspective on the North Pole and a fresh appreciation for the sacrifices that explorers have made to expand our knowledge of the world.
Stuff We Like :: 8.25.17
Did you watch the eclipse? It was definitely one of the high points of our summer—it’s inspired a whole lot of astronomy-related construction projects here!
around the web
This list of songs about historical events is so great!
An excellent roundup of reading on the subject of hate in America.
The importance of humanities in tumultuous times
This is a fantastic read: Love, duty, women, caregiving, and Middlemarch
You can donate your eclipse glasses to Astronomers Without Borders — they’re collecting to distribute them to students in Asia and Africa for the 2019 eclipse.
at home/school/life
in the magazine: We’re doing something a little different this fall: Our September group subscription deal is available exclusively through SEA Homeschoolers. SEA is free to join, and you can take advantage of the super-duper group discount (just $15 per subscription) whether you’re buying for yourself or a for a group.
on the blog: I love Maggie’s tips for creating an environment that nurtures readers
on instagram: Old-school eclipse viewing in our backyard
one year ago: A great resource list for studying civil rights with your kids
two years ago: If your math curriculum was on Facebook…
three years ago: Mindful Homeschool: Letting go of fear
reading list
I’m basically only rereading stuff for my upcoming classes right now, so my lists are totally boring this week and I’m jealous of all the cool stuff my kids are reading: the Vesper Holly series (it really stinks that this one is out of print, but if you can find copies, it’s totally worth reading!), The Story of Clocks and Calendars, Catstronauts: Mission Moon, Vegetables in Underwear, The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary, Out of Abaton, American Born Chinese, and The Ruby in the Smoke seem to be at the top of the piles, but I’m not sure who is actually reading what.
at home
We’re celebrating our son’s 10th birthday this weekend. Double digits!
I’ve talked about working and homeschooling before, but with Jason’s school opening up in a couple of weeks, I’m having to find a whole new balance—and honestly, it’s got me a little stressed out. I know I have to trust that I will find a rhythm—and not be afraid to change things that aren’t working—but wrapping my head around a totally different kind of schedule feels really challenging this week.
Mind Your Manners: Tips for Encouraging Good Behavior in Your Homeschool
Over the past eleven years, I've encountered many moments when my kids would not do what I wanted them to do. *insert laugh track* Does that sound familiar? Parenting can be wonderful, but it's also an endlessly bumpy road fraught with wondering and second-guessing.
Fortunately, I've picked up on a few observations about my kids that have helped me. I still face challenges sometimes, but since I have two awesome boys, either these things have helped, or I'm just very lucky.
Every child and family is different, so maybe these tips won't help everybody, but I offer them in case they will. I hope you’ll leave your own tips in the comments area.
I've learned that to get my boys to do the things I would like for them to do, I first need to:
- Examine my agenda. Is this for me and my ego, or is it really necessary for them to live a good life?
- Be explicit. I always have a good reason why I want them to behave a certain way, and I try to explain myself in language they can understand. However, very young kids don’t always understand reason, so I try not to over-explain either. Sometimes I just need to use a firm no. (See last point.)
- If it’s safe, non-destructive, and not bothering other people, let them do what they want to do. Usually, what they want to do is harmless and won't wreck my day. I find that the kids respect my wishes more, if I give them as much freedom as possible.
- Include them in planning. When it comes to the simple daily routine and planning, I seek their input and respect their opinion on what they want to do. This doesn’t mean I’ll always do what they want, but occasionally I’ve been known to go with their ideas instead of mine.
- Keep a regular routine. Until I had kids, I never knew how important a routine could be. My kids know what to expect and when. They complain less about the things they dislike because they know it lasts only so long, and they also know that their “fun time” will be coming regularly. They don’t need to ask for more because their day is filled with a variety of activities, and they always know it’ll be coming around again the next day.
- Do it myself. If it's something like cleaning the house or being polite to other people, then I have to be a role model before I ask them to help or explain why it’s a good idea. If it's something like getting my child to paint, or sew, or learn any new skill, then I should sit down and try doing it myself without worrying about whether they will join me. Kids often want to do what their parents are doing, but if they don't, I know this might not be for them, and that’s okay. They are still benefitting by watching me struggle to improve my skills.
- If it's something like learning math, then again, I should be willing to do it with them, and I need to pay close attention to them. Are they not developmentally ready for it, or are they capable, but they don't like it? Waiting a year or two can make a big difference. And if they don't like it, letting them know that they only have to do, say, 15 minutes a day works wonders.
- If it's something like getting them to take medicine that will save their life, then if I have done all the above, my child will know that when I'm non-negotiating, it's for a good reason, and they better obey me.
- Be firm. Similarly, when I say NO, I should mean no. (This takes practice.) I also need to watch my voice. A deeper, authoritative voice works much better than a soft, sing-songy voice. I can almost always tell when a mom is going to cave in on her “no” by the voice she is using — kids know, too!
What have you learned about your kids that make a big difference in your day?
Book Nerd: Library Chicken Weekly Scoreboard (8.22.17)
Welcome to the weekly round-up of what the BookNerd is reading and how many points I scored (or lost) in Library Chicken. To recap, you get a point for returning a library book that you’ve read, you lose a point for returning a book unread, and while returning a book past the due date is technically legal, you do lose half a point. If you want to play along, leave your score in the comments!
PANIC AT THE LIBRARY. For four long days this week my library’s online systems were down, meaning that I could not check on holds or renew books as they came due. As you might expect, this threatened to throw the entire precarious system at Library Chicken HQ into disarray. Fortunately, I weathered the technological storm better than I would have expected—and in the process, discovered that some time ago the maximum number of checkouts per card had been doubled, from 25 to 50 (!!!). Somehow, I WAS NOT INFORMED of this life-altering event, but I’m doing my best to make up for lost time. Meanwhile, my family members have started gathering in small groups to have hushed conversations, and I may have overheard something about an “intervention”...
Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell
The Demon in the House by Angela Thirkell
August Folly by Angela Thirkell
Summer Half by Angela Thirkell
Pomfret Towers by Angela Thirkell
Now that we’re back from summer vacation and the high school kids have started school, it’s time for me to really dig into all that non-fiction reading and class prep I have on my to-do list for my outside classes this fall. But instead I decided to read the next five Thirkell Barsetshire books. As I’ve said in a previous update, they are charming and delightful (and only very occasionally racist and/or anti-Semitic) and a favorite comfort read of mine. Thirkell published about a book a year (these five take us from 1934 to 1938) set among various families and villages in fictional Barsetshire. There are eccentric but lovable noblewomen, English country house weekends, obnoxious lady novelists, hapless clergymen, public school intrigues, and, in every book, at least one awkward but good-hearted pair of young (and sometimes not so young) people will end up engaged. (NOTE: All of Thirkell’s teenagers and 20-somethings seem five to ten years younger than their supposed ages. This is especially noticeable in The Demon in the House, in which teenage Tony Morland acts about 8 years old throughout, demonstrating either (a) that our modern youth do in fact lose their childhood innocence much earlier than past generations, or (b) that Thirkell never actually hung out with any young people. It’s a little weird, but I try not to let it bother me.)
(LC Score: 0, off my own shelves)
Mother and Son by Ivy Compton-Burnett
After all that sweetness I need some sour. Compton-Burnett, like Thirkell, was a prolific English writer of popular novels during the 1930s and later, but there the resemblance ends. Where Thirkell is warm and gentle, Compton-Burnett is cold and cynical. Her books have a very distinctive style, consisting almost completely of dryly ironic dialogue, forcing a reader to pay close attention since it’s often difficult to tell which character is speaking (they all sound the same) or even which characters are part of the current conversation (since the author rarely deigns to let us know their movements). I think it’s safe to say that she is something of an acquired taste, and when I first read one of her novels, I wasn’t entirely sure I was going to acquire it. But I read another, and then another, and now, every so often, I find myself in a mood for an Ivy—it’s a very particular clear-out-the-cobwebs sort of craving that no other author will satisfy. In Mother and Son, an overbearing matriarch with an overly-attached adult son advertises for a companion, but really, the plot doesn’t matter because I’m in it for all the sharply intelligent, passive-aggressive, calmly hostile conversations that will inevitably ensue.
(LC Score: +1)
The Sinful Stones by Peter Dickinson
Inspector James Pibble #3. In this mystery, Pibble finds himself (for complicated personal reasons) on a remote island with a cult-like group of monks. Unsurprisingly, all is not well. Dickinson’s Pibble mysteries continue to be bizarre and unlike anything I’ve read before (in the best way!).
(LC Score: +1)
The Green Gene by Peter Dickinson
This standalone novel by Dickinson takes place in a world just like our own—except that Celts have bright green skin (and can therefore be easily segregated from right-thinking Saxons). Our protagonist, an Indian researcher and medical statistician, has been hired by the British Race Relations Board to track down the elusive “green gene,” allowing them to identify carriers even if they’re not actually green-tinged. Although he’s a “Saxon” (at least according to his identity papers), he has to deal with other forms of racism and eventually discovers that the embattled and oppressed Celts can be ruthlessly violent towards their own people when dealing with ideological schisms. Published in 1973, it’s not exactly a cheery book, but it is a fascinating (and unfortunately relevant) take on racism from a unique perspective.
(LC Score: +1)
My Real Children by Jo Walton
I never know what I’m getting with a Jo Walton novel but I always enjoy the journey. Here, a grandmother suffering from Alzheimer’s realizes that she seems to be switching back and forth between two distinctly different timelines, each with its own set of memories. In one, she marries the man she shouldn’t have and suffers a great deal of personal sorrow; in the other, she has a lovely and fulfilled life, but the world is going to hell. Which one should she choose to live in? (NOTE: If ambiguous endings drive you crazy, be warned that Walton doesn’t tie everything up neatly here, though I felt fairly satisfied with my own interpretation of events.)
(LC Score: +1)
Frederick Douglass: Autobiographies edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
I’m embarrassed to admit that I haven’t read Frederick Douglass before now, though I’m glad I tackled McFeely’s biography before diving into Douglass’s autobiographies. This Library of America edition collects Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845); My Bondage and Freedom (1855); and Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1881, 1893). Following his first published autobiography, Douglass’s practice was to use the text of the previous book, virtually unchanged, in each subsequent book, updating it with chapters describing the most recent events in his life. Narrative describes his life in slavery and is the emotional core (along with being the shortest and most successful of his works). I’ll be adding it to our own homeschool curriculum. HOMESCHOOL RECOMMENDED.
(LC Score: +1)
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Having read Between the World and Me, I’m already a devotee of Coates, and this memoir of his childhood (his first book) just confirms my admiration. Here we meet Coates’s unconventional family, including the older brother who taught him the Knowledge he needed to survive the streets of Baltimore, and the ex-Black-Panther father who raised him to be a Conscious black man in racist America. In passing, he casually (and constantly) references everything from the pop culture of the time, the fantasy worlds of D&D and superhero comics, and the by-words of Knowledge and Consciousness, leaving me slightly dizzy (since I didn’t understand more than half) but always swept away by his narrative.
(LC Score: +1)
Joe Gould’s Teeth by Jill Lepore
This odd little book (by the always-interesting Lepore) explores the life of Joe Gould, a bizarre little man who was somehow discovered by (and won the patronage of) notable writers and intellectuals of his day, including e.e. cummings and Ezra Pound. He claimed to be writing a massive oral history of the world (though it’s not clear if it ever existed) and became semi-famous after a New Yorker profile by Joseph Mitchell. He was also mentally ill and weirdly obsessed with race, with a history of stalking and harassing women. It’s a fascinating story, though I was left not quite sure what Gould ever did to merit his 15 minutes of fame. I suspect that Lepore was similarly puzzled.
(LC Score: +1)
A House Full of Daughters: A Memoir of Seven Generations by Juliet Nicolson
The Mistresses of Cliveden: Three Centuries of Scandal, Power, and Intrigue in an English Stately Home by Natalie Livingstone
Nicolson’s paternal grandmother was the writer Vita Sackville-West, whom she highlights in her engaging history of her fascinating female ancestors and the well-known English country homes they lived in. Meanwhile, Livingstone is the wife of the current lessee of Cliveden (now run as a five-star hotel), another famous home that played host to Restoration-era scandals, the Cliveden Set, and the 1960s Profumo affair, all explored in her entertaining book. Donations to the Library Chicken travel fund (so I can visit all these places myself) will be happily accepted!
(LC Score: +2)
Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
1980s mixtapes and magic—didn’t get to this one, but I’ll be checking it out again soon. RETURNED UNREAD. (LC Score: -1)
Lincoln and the Abolitionists: John Quincy Adams, Slavery, and the Civil War by Fred Kaplan
I really should know better than to check out nice thick history books from the new releases (due back in two weeks, no renewals) section. RETURNED UNREAD. (LC Score: -1)
Library Chicken Score for 8/22/17: 7
Running Score: 87
On the to-read/still-reading stack for next week:
The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher (PRINCESS LEIA WILL LIVE FOREVER)
The Singing Sands by Josephine Tey (final Alan Grant mystery)
Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan (bookstore in the title = I’m sold)
Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen (both for pleasure and for prep as Middle School Lit approaches)
How to Start a Homeschool Group: Part 2: How to Organize Field Trips, Classes, and Co-Ops
Have you dreamed of building your own homeschool co-op but don’t know where to start? In the second of a three-part series, guest columnist Melissa Robb walks you through the first steps for adding classes and activities to your group.
Previously, I covered the basics of how to start a homeschool group. Once you are established, it’s time to add the fun! Have you decided to keep your group small? Or are you going big? Either way, you can expect to have some or all of these types of activities: field trips, classes, and co-ops. Here are some how-to points that can help you with organizing these activities.
FIELD TRIPS
Field trips are perhaps the simplest activity to arrange. Many venues have information on their websites about school or group visits. Usually, there’s an option will fit the needs of your homeschool group, but sometimes, you’ll need to ask the venue to tailor a program or create something from scratch. Education departments, at museums or elsewhere, may be new to the idea of a homeschool group. They may need encouragement to go outside their usual form—for instance, grade levels. If a site has a menu of field trip offerings arranged by grade, you can ask them to expand that. So if a program is for 3rd and 4th grades, you can ask them to expand that to include 2nd and 5th grades. I have often talked a museum into welcoming all ages, from infants to teens or tailoring a program to meet our group’s needs. It’s worth asking. Follow these steps to set up a successful group field trip:
1 :: Choose your destination. Museums, factory tours, nature centers—the options are plentiful.
2 :: Make arrangements with the venue. Be wary of places that require an upfront deposit; aim for a location that allows you to pay in full about two weeks ahead of time. Gather information from the venue, including:
the name and location (note whether it’s different from the venue’s street address);
contact info for the venue, including your contact’s name, email, and phone;
what forms of payment the venue accepts;
a detailed description of field trip;
cost per student and cost per adult—per person costs are much easier to work with than a group flat fee, which can get messy;
recommended age range (and whether that age range is flexible or set in stone);
any minimum or maximum numbers required for attendance;
expected start and end time; stroller- and carrier- friendliness;
date for final head count (if you can choose, I recommend two weeks before the field trip date);
lunch or snack details;
and parking information.
3 :: Share details with the group, and start collecting payments with a clear due date.
4 :: After your sign-up deadline, contact the venue with the final headcount and pay.
5 :: Final confirmation with venue should be one or two days before the field trip. Be sure you know how the venue will contact you if there they need to make an emergency change the day of the field trip.
CLASSES
Arranging a class is usually going to be more involved than a field trip. To put together a class, you’ll need to add these items to your to-do list, in addition to the field trip steps in the previous section:
1 :: Find and secure a teacher—be sure to get a teacher bio to add to the class description.
2 :: Find and secure a venue—a free venue is best, especially if your group is new.
3 :: Arrange for at least two parents to stay in the classroom with teacher and students.
4 :: If the class is a drop-off, be sure one of the parents staying for the class has all the phone numbers for parents or guardians who will not be sticking around.
CO-OPS
Co-ops (co-operatives) can be big or small. They can be casual or highly organized. A co-op, generally, refers to a set of classes/ activities led by parents who do not get paid. Every adult is expected to do something to participate, though everyone doesn’t necessarily have to teach. A group doesn’t have to have a co-op—and a co-op doesn’t have to be part of a group.
Co-ops should be organized so that the workload is spread out and information is clear and easy to access:
The schedule should reflect who is teaching what, plus any relevant details about the teacher and class.
People should know their roles ahead of time—teacher, hall monitor, second adult in classroom, clean up crew, etc.
Don’t forget behind-the-scenes jobs, like collecting money, posting the schedule, monitoring communications, etc.
Finding a location may be challenging for this many people. Consider
social halls (you’d need some sort of real or imaginary partitions between classes)
church buildings or libraries—many have classrooms available for use or rent
restaurants or supermarkets with community rooms
parks (though you’ll need a bad weather plan in place)
There are two basic co-op models, and each has its pros and cons:
SMALL CO-OP AMONG FRIENDS (2 to 6-ish families)
Location can change week to week or stay in one place
Simple communication (email may be enough)
Share the workload (take turns teaching, cleaning, providing a venue)
Cost of supplies can be easily shared
A strong sense of commitment to the other families will emerge
MEDIUM TO LARGE CO-OP (More than 20 kids)
Can grow to 100+ kids
Lots of different skills and personality types
Need an official central communication (email is not enough)
Insurance may be necessary depending on your venue (more on this in a future column)
You’ll also need to decide whether teachers will get paid for the classes they teach, get reimbursed for supply costs, or simply volunteer their time. Co-ops most commonly don’t pay parent-teachers, but a benefit of a large co-op can be a pool of parents with a wide variety of teaching skills.
TIP: Don't give surveys too much weight. Surveys seem like a good idea but they aren’t as helpful as you’d expect. If you ask homeschoolers what activities they want to do, they will want to do everything. Everything sounds wonderful, and they will tell you so enthusiastically (and mean it).
Based on that enthusiasm you arrange activities, and fewer than expected sign up. When the day of the activity arrives, only a portion of those who signed up will actually attend.
Do not take this personally. Expect it.
MELISSA ROBB has seven years of experience homeschooling her now-12-year-old. Since 2010 she has held a variety of positions in her favorite homeschool group (which has blossomed to 320+ member families).
Readaloud of the Week: Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories
In brief: Isaac Bashevis Singer and Maurice Sendak teamed up on this collection of Yiddish seven short stories about the foolish people who live in the village of Cheim. In the title story, a young boy saves the family goat after the goat saves him during an unexpected snowstorm; in “The Mixed-Up Feet and the Silly Bridegroom,” four sisters who sleep in the same bed wake up unable to tell whose feet belong to whom.
What makes it a great readaloud: Well, for starters, Isaac Bashevis Singer and Maurice Sendak! But it’s also great to find a book that really immerses your family in another time and another culture—these Eastern European folk tales illuminate another world, full of Jewish holidays and unusual humor.
But be aware: Some of the cultural context of the book may be unfamiliar to your family, so you may want to be prepared to Google or read it in advance to check for things you might want to explain as you’re reading.
Quotable: From the Foreword: “I dedicate this book to the many children who had no chance to grow up because of stupid wars and cruel persecutions which devastated cities and destroyed innocent families. I hope that when the readers of these stories become men and women they will love not only their own children but all good children everywhere.”
Stuff We Like :: 8.18.17
There has been a lot NOT to like this week. Can we please just all agree, for the sake of sanity, that Nazis are doubleplusungood?
around the web
Short but helpful: What do you do when you realize your favorite childhood book is actually racist? (Spoiler: You read it, and you talk about it.)
In difficult times, we turn to the real purpose of the internet: cute animal pictures
More reasons James Baldwin will always be cooler than I am (and I am totally OK with that)
If you’re loving the excitement the eclipse has generated in your homeschool, keep up with other big astronomy events all year with this handy calendar.
I love this: reading aloud with others is more important than you think
at home/school/life
on the blog: Someone asked for an eclipse reading list, which made me realize there are a lot of great books about eclipses.
on instagram: It’s planning season!
one year ago: We should all know more about Nellie Bly
two years ago: Rebecca reviews Thames and Kosmos science kits
reading list
It’s another not-so-stellar week of Library Chicken over here as I obsess over planning and re-planning my outside classes, but I always manage to squeeze in a little reading time: No Time Like the Past (+1, actually managed to get this in, read it, and return it on time, which I think deserves a cake and/or parade); The Dire King (+0, advance copy, but it’s the new Jackaby book so I can’t wait to write about it!); The Jumbies (+1, thanks to Suzanne’s fall column for the recommendation); It’s Perfectly Normal (+0, off the shelf, just rereading before I read through it with my almost-10-year-old); Salad Samurai (+0, off my shelf, because I am looking for some lunchbox inspiration); Thorn (+1, I loved this fairy tale reimagining)
at home
I finished my baby knitting projects and cast on for my first pair of socks. Because apparently I don’t have enough to do. Which is also apparently why I’m applying to graduate history programs. What is wrong with me? :)
I have been too busy, but as soon as I have a minute, I have the second season of Mr. Robot all queued up. I’m not sure if I really like this show or just find it interestingly weird, but I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Brace Yourselves: We Are Not Bookworms
If you’re like me, you might feel a little awed, or perhaps a little intimidated, by certain homeschool families who seem to read all the books. I mean, they read so many books that they can constantly generate lists and lists of books to recommend to other readers. Classics. Adventures. Science stories. Biographies. History. Young Adult. Storybooks. (Ahem. Just read this blog and home/school/life magazine to find these lists and the people who write them.)
While I take six months to read, for example, one adult book for myself and one young adult book to my boys for their homeschool “literature” requirement, these people are literally reading stacks and stacks of books.
How fair is that?!
Okay, it’s totally fair. And it’s totally cool. I love that there are avid readers in the world, and I love the book recommendations. I would love to read all the books too, but I realized a long time ago that this was impossible for me, mostly because it takes me so long to finish a book. I also decided I wouldn’t sign up for any program that told me what I should read to my students because I knew I’d never finish them, and even if I could, I knew I wouldn’t agree with all the selections anyway. (For the same reason, I resist the urge to join book clubs.) Instead, I pick one good book that is calling me to read it, and I enjoy it until the end, and I don’t worry about the fact that I’ll never get around to reading all the books. (Even though that’s so, so sad.)
I read so slow that my husband thought it would be funny to start buying me huge books. (So, obviously, this is partly why it takes me a long time to read them.) Fortunately, I love the long classics. In the past couple of years, I’ve read …And Ladies of the Club and Anna Karenina. Yep, just two. I did read a few shorter non-classics and nature books too.
This past year I tried to read to my boys in the mornings before we did our lessons, but we only managed that about three days a week, if that. My literature-readaloud was The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich because not only is Erdrich one of my favorite authors, the subject matter also covered American history. It took us about five months to finish it. Yep, that’s right; it took us five months to finish a 256-page book.
It took that long because, as I said, we didn’t read everyday, and even when we could read, I didn’t always get to it. We had appointments to get to, or sometimes we read our history books, or I felt we needed to spend more time on math. Sometimes I just skipped reading altogether so that the boys could have a shorter lesson time. My boys need short lesson times because they need to move.
When my boys were younger, I imagined us going to the library at least twice a month and coming home with stacks of books to read together on the sofa. I wanted us to become a family of bookworms. But this never happened for several reasons. 1) My boys liked listening to books, but not enough for us to get through stacks and stacks of them before they were due at the library. And I also found out that I didn’t like sitting that much either! 2) We don’t live near a big library. (We live near a very small library, and when my eldest son was three and four-years-old, I did take him there occasionally, and we checked out many storybooks. But everything is easier when you have just one child.)
I would say we are readers, but we aren’t bookworms. Besides the sporadic morning readalouds, I read to my boys most nights before bed, but just for a few minutes each. We finish these books faster because we’re reading them everyday. This past year, I read the My Side of the Mountain trilogy and Redwall to my 10-year-old. Now we’re reading Mossflower.
Even though we only read for a few minutes at any given time, and I don’t have a long list of books to recommend to you, I know my boys are growing up to become readers. This is because our house is full of books, and we read something almost everyday. This past year and a half, as his reading skills have greatly improved, my 10-year-old began reading graphic novels silently to himself – every day! (Yay.) My 7-year-old can’t read yet, but he says he wants to know how to read so that he can read the graphic novels his older brother is reading.
So I’m just saying: You don’t have to read all the books. You just have to read a little bit of something almost everyday.
Library Chicken Update CABIN-EXTRAVAGANZA 2017: THE AFTERMATH
Welcome to the weekly round-up of what the BookNerd is reading and how many points I scored (or lost) in Library Chicken. To recap, you get a point for returning a library book that you’ve read, you lose a point for returning a book unread, and while returning a book past the due date is technically legal, you do lose half a point. If you want to play along, leave your score in the comments!
CABIN-EXTRAVANGANZA, THE AFTERMATH: There’s always a bit of a dip in my Library Chicken score the week after the cabin. After all, once I’m back home I have to (1) return all those library books that I checked out for the cabin (which may take several trips), (2) catch up on TiVo (new episodes of The Great British Baking Show, So You Think You Can Dance, AND Grantchester on Masterpiece!), and finally (3) stare vaguely in the direction of the bags that need to be unpacked and laundry that needs to be done before deciding that “Nah, it can wait 'til next week,” (even though next week is the last week before school starts for the non-homeschoolers in the family, meaning that I’ll be frantically running around getting ready for orientation and there’s no way any laundry will get done). As you can see, with that whirlwind of activity there’s hardly any time at all for reading.
Frederick Douglass by William S. McFeely
I brought several big important biographies to the cabin but didn’t really get around to them. Fortunately, I was able to get to this one before it was due back. A thorough and very readable history of an important American life.
(LC Score: +1)
Passion and Affect by Laurie Colwin
Several years ago I zipped through all of Colwin’s novels, but I haven’t gotten to her short stories before now. I found this collection a bit disappointing—the stories were okay, if faintly depressing and not very memorable—until I read the two linked stories (“The Girl with the Harlequin Glasses” and “Passion and Affect”) about cousins Guido and Vincent and the women they love. Those two stories were fresh and funny and sweet and worth the price of admission all on their own.
(LC Score: 0, off my own shelves)
High Rising by Angela Thirkell
It’s been about three years since my last reread of Angela Thirkell’s Barsetshire series, which means that I’m overdue. (Also, I sometimes need a break from big important Frederick Douglass biographies.) Angela Thirkell wrote 29 books set in Anthony Trollope’s fictional Barsetshire, publishing roughly one a year throughout the 1930s and beyond, taking her characters through WWII and (just barely) into the 1960s. I’ll confess that I haven’t read all 29, but I have a healthy selection on my bookshelves and I turn to them when I am in need of charming delightfulness. Unfortunately, that occasionally comes along with the occasional hint of anti-Semitism (sadly not shocking in a British novel of the 1930s). This first book introduces us to popular author Laura Morland, her precocious young son, Tony, and their old friend George Knox, who in a display of poor judgement has taken on a pushy, bad-tempered, husband-hunting secretary, leaving Laura and co. to set things right.
(LC Score: 0. off my own shelves)
Bone Vol. 2: The Great Cow Race by Jeff Smith
This Week in Comics: As I’ve mentioned before, the Bone series by Jeff Smith has been acclaimed by critics and loved by various children in my own household, but I think I have to reluctantly admit that it’s not for me. There’s a lot here that is clever and charming, but the overall combination of silliness and seriousness doesn’t gel for me the way it seems to for others. That said, I’d still recommend it without hesitation for young readers interested in graphic novels.
(LC Score: +1)
Up From History: The Life of Booker T. Washington by Robert J. Norrell
Yep, this is one of those big important bios I didn’t get to in time. RETURNED UNREAD.
(LC Score: -1)
Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbott
And here’s more interesting history that was due back at the library. RETURNED UNREAD.
(LC Score: -1)
The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
So I was excited to see that my library had this new (2009) translation, complete and unabridged in English for the very first time! But I didn’t realize that it was over 700 pages! And when I tried the first couple of chapters I only understood about 50 percent of what she was saying! I think I’ll have to clear my calendar before my next attempt at this one, and maybe do some background reading about de Beauvoir for context, because I was very seriously lost. RETURNED UNREAD.
(LC Score: -1)
The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith
Smith is an original and compelling YA writer and I’ve been meaning to read this for a while, but I guess it’ll have to wait a little bit longer. RETURNED UNREAD.
(LC Score: -1)
Library Chicken Score for 8/1/17: -2
Running Score: 80
On the to-read/still-reading stack for next week:
Mother and Son by Ivy Compton-Burnett (the queen of acerbic dialogue)
Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente (author of my new all-time favorite fantasy series)
Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey (I’ve been aware of this title for forever but I don’t actually have any idea what it’s about)
The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz (Sherlock fanfic by the author of Magpie Murders)
Readaloud of the Week: Farmer Boy
Laura Ingalls Wilder's book about her husband's childhood in upstate New York is an old-fashioned farm story that reflects the seasonal cycles of a 19th century farm. (Also, the food in this book will make you hungry.)
FARMER BOY by Laura Ingalls Wilder
In brief: This book follows Laura Ingalls Wilder’s future husband Almanzo through a full farming season in upstate New York. Almanzo is just a little boy in love with horses, but he helps with everything from cutting ice to harvesting potatoes on the family farm. His family’s farm is prosperous, especially compared to the Ingalls family, and even though farm life means lots of chores and hard work, Almanzo still has time to squeeze in some fun, including going sledding and raising a pumpkin for the county fair.
What makes it a great readaloud: The rhythms of farm life give this story a gentle natural structure, and it’s interesting to see how much work really goes into living on a self-sustaining farm. (Spoiler: A LOT.) It’s fun to get a peek at another part of the world of Little House on the Prairie and to wonder what might make someone leave a successful farm to strike out for the pioneer west. And the food! A hobbit (well, and possibly Ron Weasley?) is the only other literary character I know who could come close to matching Almanzo’s appetite and appreciation of good food.
Quotable: “A farmer depends on himself, and the land and the weather. If you're a farmer, you raise what you eat, you raise what you wear, and you keep warm with wood out of your own timber. You work hard, but you work as you please, and no man can tell you to go or come. You'll be free and independent, son, on a farm.”
Bespoke Book List: Books about the Solar Eclipse
We’re so excited about the solar eclipse this month! (We’ve even planned a family camping trip to coincide with it so that we can get the best possible view.) I’d love to add some eclipse books to our summer reading list. What do you recommend?
We’re all excited about the eclipse, too! There are a ton of books about the science and history of eclipses, so I’m going to focus the list on ones that we’ve read and enjoyed.
If you're looking for a one-stop-shop-style book focused specifically on the 2017 solar eclipse, check Totality: The Great American Eclipses of 2017 and 2024. It gives a rundown of the science behind the big event, but its focus is on experiencing the eclipse yourself: What should you know to view it safely? What can you expect to see, stage by stage? How can you take the best photographs of the eclipse? There’s tons of practical advice here, which is nice if you’re looking for a way to channel everyone’s eclipse excitement into actual planning. (Similarly, the editor of Astronomy magazine has put together Your Guide to the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse, which includes a mix of science and practical eclipse experiencing tips. If Totality has a wait list at your library, you could try this one instead.)
When the Sun Goes Dark is a quick, picture book read about preparing for a solar eclipse. (The idea of recreating a mini eclipse in your living room with a lamp, balls, and hoops might be fun to try in your tent, too.)
Another nice picture book is The Moon Book by Gail Gibbons—it’s about eclipses but also about the science and folklore of the moon in general, which is fun to dig into. (The sun shouldn’t get all the attention, right?)
We really loved American Eclipse: A Nation's Epic Race to Catch the Shadow of the Moon and Win the Glory of the World, which focuses not on the 2017 eclipse but on the 1878 one, which generated its own, pre-Facebook eclipse fever and marked an important moment in the history of astronomy. This book focuses on three famous eclipse chasers—the astronomer Maria Mitchell (who is one of my childhood heroes), Thomas Edison, and James Craig Watson—who worked to document the event and collect scientific data on the ground right in the middle of Wild West. It’s a great mix of history and science. (If you love this one, follow it up with America's First Great Eclipse: How Scientists, Tourists, and the Rocky Mountain Eclipse of 1878 Changed Astronomy Forever.)
Eclipse: History. Science. Awe. was actually written to coincide with the 1979 solar eclipse in the Pacific Northwest, but it has been updated with information for the 2017 eclipse, too. It’s a beautiful book with scientific details, history, and mythology about the eclipse—think of it as a coffee table book that delivers a glossy, fact-filled overview of eclipses without digging too deep into any particular topic. We loved flipping through this one, but I think it might be harder to pull off as a readaloud.
If you’d like to read more about the history of solar eclipses (and you should because it’s fascinating), pick up a copy of Sun Moon Earth: The History of Solar Eclipses from Omens of Doom to Einstein and Exoplanets. It’s a selective journey through eclipse history, starting with the first hints of scientific understanding in the world and continuing to modern-day eclipse chasers, and you’ll find a lot of cool facts you might not have known—such as the fact that the eclipse was used in 1919 to test Einstein’s theory of general relativity or that scientists today use eclipses to locate distant planets.
Anthony Aveni takes the history of eclipses one step further in In the Shadow of the Moon: The Science, Magic, and Mystery of Solar Eclipses, which considers the sociological and cultural history of eclipses as well as their scientific history. I love that it collects the stories of eclipses through history from oral, pictorial, and written traditions and accounts to create a story of cultural astronomy.
If you want to do a little bonus armchair eclipse chasing, physicist Frank Close writes about his travels and scientific discoveries on the trail of the next big eclipse in Eclipse: Journeys to the Dark Side of the Moon.
Younger readers will appreciate Looking Up! The Science of Stargazing, by Space.com columnist Joe Rao. It’s heavy on the solar eclipse (there's a whole section devoted to the 2017 eclipse) but also contains useful information about the constellations, northern lights, and other astronomical phenomena. (This one is especially handy if you want to do a little stargazing on your camping trip, too.)
If you are looking for activity suggestions to gear up for your eclipse viewing, Solar Science: Exploring Sunspots, Seasons, Eclipses and More breaks down the science behind the eclipse into a series of stand-alone topics, each with hands-on activities. It’s designed for middle school teachers to use in their classrooms, but most of the activities can be adapted pretty easily to suit students of any age. There’s also a lot of good general sun science here.
For a fun, pop culture approach to eclipses and their place in science and history, lunar scientist John Dvorak has written Mask of the Sun: The Science, History and Forgotten Lore of Eclipses. We really enjoyed reading about the superstitions and weird traditions associated with eclipses over the years. (For instance, did you know that pregnant women in Mexico wear safety pins on their underwear during an eclipse? Me neither!)
We’re always happy to help you put together a customized booklist. Email us with the details of what you’re looking for, and we’ll help you strategically raid your library shelves.
Stuff We Like :: 8.11.17
You guys know that I was really hesitant about offering a print subscription, especially at such a high price point (and I totally understand everyone who’s commented that the price is just too high, believe me!), so I just want to say a big, huge, gigantic THANK YOU to everyone who has subscribed to the print edition. I promise that we will pour our hearts and souls into making these the best issues of HSL ever.
around the web
I don’t know, maybe you won’t find this brief (filed by the ACLU on behalf of John Oliver who’s being sued by a coal magnate over one of his shows) as funny as I do, but you should definitely read the table of contents.
Totally relevant to my life: Freelance achievement stickers (Y’all, I did NOT get the Put on Pants sticker today.)
This is the kind of mash-up of journalism and academia that I live for: How the pink plastic flamingo became an icon
Have you heard about this new alternate history show Confederacy that's coming out? I have issues with it for a lot of reasons, but Roxanne Gay explains several of them better than I could.
In case you’re wondering what to get me for Hanukkah: E.B. White’s farm in Maine is for sale
at home/school/life
on the blog: A day in the life of Shelli’s homeschool
in the store: Speaking of Shelli, our awesome senior editor has written a brilliant guide to homeschooling the early elementary years
one year ago: The Girl Who Drank the Moon is one of those gorgeous books that you can’t help falling in love with
two years ago: Great books about the Gold Rush
three years ago: How do you homeschool through a financial crisis?
reading list
This (lackluster) week in Library Chicken: Notes from a Feminist Killjoy: Essays on Everyday Life (+1), What Katy Did (+0, on my shelf), The Power of Myth (again—I had to pick my class readings!—+0, on my shelf), Invisible Cities (+1), All the King's Men (again—also prepping for class!—+0, on my shelf), Mythology (also class prep—0, on my shelf), The Iliad (also class prep—are you noticing a theme?—+0, on my shelf), 4:50 from Paddington (I am watching Miss Marple, which makes me want to reread all the Miss Marple books—+1). Basically, I’m super annoyed at Suzanne because she keeps reading really interesting books that I do not have time to read right now.
at home
We are crazy busy getting all the final stuff organized for Jason’s school—there is a lot of “one more thing”-ing when you are starting a school! (Actually, there is a lot of “one-more-thing”-ing in my life in general these days.)
It’s also a busy planning-for-a-new-grade season here. I’m sure I’ll go on and on about what we’re doing next year, but I’ll give you a brief rundown: Non-Eurocentric World History, Latin, creative nonfiction (reading and writing), Beast Academy, and critical thinking for my soon-to-be-4th-grader, and AP U.S. Government and Politics, World History and Literature (she may end up taking the AP World History test at the end of the year, but I didn’t put in an AP syllabus for this one because I really wanted to focus away from traditional Euro/white/hetero/male-focused history), Introduction to Critical Theory (I wrote the curriculum for this, and I am so excited to get to teach it—like, making-up-little-songs-about-it excited), Japanese, Algebra II, and Biology for my almost-10th-grader.
I am always trying to balance talking about our homeschool with protecting my children’s privacy, so I won’t tell you how my daughter ended up doing on the AP U.S. History exam. But I WILL say that I’m really glad we did it, and if you are thinking of aiming for the AP test, you definitely should — it ended up being a very happy experience for both of us with the class and with the exam.
At Home with the Editors: A Day in the Life of a Homeschool Mom
One time an acquaintance I know (who doesn’t homeschool her kids) told me that she imagined the homeschooling life to be very relaxing, and she thought that we would have lots of time during our days to do whatever we wanted. [Can we add a laugh track here?]
On one hand, I think homeschooling is pretty awesome because we’re in charge of our time, and there is a freedom in this. However, to say it’s always relaxing or that we can do whatever we want is a myth. As my children get older, and as they become more dedicated to certain interests, I have found our free time shrinking. I look back with nostalgia on those days when I had a toddler and 1st grader. We had fun doing easy activities, going on playdates, and exploring nature and storybooks. Although it’s very hard work to take care of small children, the work I did with them wasn’t hard, and I got to pick what we did!
“To say homeschooling always relaxing or that we can do whatever we want is a myth.”
This past year I had a 4th grader and a 1st grader, and it was a great year, but it was different from past years. It felt more academic and regimented. This was mostly because my 4th grader has been devoting himself to learning classical piano in a competitive way. This is his thing, and he wants to do it. It’s been an awesome journey for all of us, but relaxing? With lots of free time? Nope.
With this in mind, I thought I’d write what my daily schedule looked like this year—the whole day. Although, it makes me feel a little exposed to write about this. Parents can be so judgmental, and simply writing a list doesn’t give you the real picture of our daily life.
Keep in mind that no two days are the same. Three days a week I took one of my sons to an appointment or two. Some days we would take a break from something or everything! At least once a month we’d have a play date. Weekends were free. Next year, our schedule may change. Our days are always in flux, but in general, this is our daily routine. It’s a routine that has developed to work around our obligations as well as our personal interests. For the most part, it is fun! But it’s also a lot of work!
The times listed are approximate start times, but we’re often running late on everything!
7:30ish a.m. I wake up. Read news, yoga, check e-mail, sometimes write.
8:30-9:00 a.m. Boys wake up. I fix them breakfast and eat with them. I may put laundry in. Do some dishes. We get dressed. Boys will play before we transition to lesson time.
10:00 a.m. Begin morning lessons. I try to read aloud to both boys for about 30 minutes. Then my 10-year-old works on math, grammar, music theory, etc. My 7-year-old gets to play while 10-year-old does one-on-one lessons with me. We usually do this until lunchtime.
12:00-12:30 p.m. Lunch time. Boys play while I make lunch. My husband joins us while we watch part of a nature, history, or science documentary. (He works from home.)
1:00-1:30 p.m. Clean up dishes. Boys help sweep & clear dishes. More “transitional” play.
1:30 p.m. Husband sits with my 10-year-old while he practices piano for at least an hour, sometimes more. I go upstairs to do one-on-one lessons with my 7-year-old. We do math, reading, handwriting, a science book readaloud, play games, and read about birds.
2:30 or 3:00 p.m. Whew. We’re all tired now. The boys watch a kids’ program and then play games on their digital tablets and/or computer. This is my 1~1.5 hours of free time when I might do any of the following: take a walk, nap, cook, bake, write, check social media, clean, more laundry (always laundry). I tend to rotate these activities and do what seems most pressing at the time.
4:00 p.m. Boys finish playing games and the 10-year-old will go outside to play. 7-year-old either plays inside with his toys or goes outside. If I haven’t already, I need to start thinking about dinner, but I usually put this off. I prefer to sit on the front porch and watch the boys play. Or I putter in the garden.
4:30 p.m. This is the time that my 7-year-old likes to practice piano. I sit and listen and/or run back and forth to kitchen while cooking dinner.
5:00 or 5:30 p.m. Dinner. Lately we’ve been watching Star Trek: The Next Generation together. This show starts lots of great conversations!
6:00 or 6:30 p.m. I do the dishes. Boys help clean up. More play.
6:30 or 7:00 p.m. My 10-year-old practices piano again for another hour. My husband is his audience again, and many times, I am too. But I usually go off with the 7-year-old to either play a game, sketch together or paint…. whatever he wants to do.
7:30 or 8:00p.m. Boys take showers & get ready for bed.
8:30-9:00p.m. Boys watch gaming YouTube videos. Eat snacks. I take my shower and get ready for bed. Then I curl up in bed and watch something on Masterpiece Theatre.
9:30ish p.m. Boys clean up and go upstairs. I read books to them. Daddy talks with them about their day.
10:15 p.m. Lights out for the boys. I retreat to my bed to read a book!
11:00 p.m. Lights out for me!
Does anyone else’s schedule resemble mine? Let’s commiserate/celebrate together!
Library Chicken Update CABIN-EXTRAVAGANZA 2017: THE CABIN-ING
Welcome to the weekly round-up of what the BookNerd is reading and how many points I scored (or lost) in Library Chicken. To recap, you get a point for returning a library book that you’ve read, you lose a point for returning a book unread, and while returning a book past the due date is technically legal, you do lose half a point. If you want to play along, leave your score in the comments!
CABIN-EXTRAVANGANZA: As you might imagine, weeks of prep are required for the Annual Family Trip to the Cabin Where Mom Gets a Glass of Wine, Puts Up Her Feet, and Reads the Entire Time. I have to make a list of all the books I want to bring and then carefully time my library hold requests so that I can pick up the books before we leave. I start working on my list weeks ahead of time: I especially like to get nice thick new releases (that I might not otherwise get to before they’re due back) and I don’t want to bring any potential duds (though of course there are always surprises). Over the years, my cabin memories have gotten mixed up with the books that I’ve read there (Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell, and The Three Weissmans of Westport by Cathleen Schine, to name a few), so it matters to me what I bring, meaning that it’s important to carefully winnow the list. Or not. I’m not so good at the last part. This year was a record: I brought three bags of books, wildly overestimating (as usual) how many I would be able to get to. But as Amy reminded me, that’s the entire point of Library Chicken, right?
Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
This one was a lot of fun. A writer of Agatha Christie-like mysteries finishes his final book and commits suicide--or does he? And what happened to the last chapter of the manuscript? We get two mysteries for the price of one as the tale of the editor investigating the author’s mysterious death bookends the text of his final novel.
(LC Score: +1)
Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple
A semi-famous artist and animator, now a full-time mom, deals with depression and anger during one very long, very bad day. I wasn’t sure how much I’d enjoy this novel given my mixed history with Semple’s other books, but this one is funny and heartfelt and goes in the YES column. NOTE: The main character will be easy to identify with for those of us (I know I’m not the only one!) who are married to super-nice spouses while being not-always-so-nice (even though we try, we do!) ourselves. And if you happen to be the super-nice one in the couple, you could always read this to see what it’s like being the other half.
(LC Score: +1)
Wodehouse: A Life by Robert McCrum
After having completed the Bertie and Jeeves oeuvre I wanted to read a Wodehouse biography. This one is solid and entertaining and deals well with the international scandal at the center of P.G. Wodehouse’s life, when, as an interned Englishman stuck in France during WWII, he agreed to broadcast on Nazi radio, even though he was in no way a Nazi-sympathizer himself. McCrum does a good job of explaining Wodehouse’s behavior (which was seen as providing traitorous propaganda to the enemy) without trying to excuse or defend it.
(LC Score: +1)
The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
Four adult siblings squabble over the disbursement of the family trust, which has been gutted as a result of the eldest’s irresponsible and immoral behavior. (Though maybe not in the way you expect.) At the beginning, the family seems to be made up entirely of mean-spirited jerks and pathetic losers, but new connections are forged and relationships shift, leading to a surprisingly sweet ending.
(LC Score: +1)
Ha’Penny by Jo Walton
Half a Crown by Jo Walton
The second and third books (following Farthing) in the Small Change trilogy, set in an alternate Britain (where the Nazis made an early peace with England and won the war on the continent) circa the 1950s. In Ha’Penny, following closely on the events of Farthing, we see England slip closer to fascism, while in the background a plot is hatched to assassinate the new Prime Minister and his guest, Adolf Hitler, on the opening night of a new London production of Hamlet. I had major issues with one of the relationships in this novel (and if you’ve read it, email me, because I would like to discuss it AT LENGTH), but it won me over in two ways. First, the actress involved in the assassination plot is one of the “famous Larkin sisters”, who are clearly and unashamedly based on the Mitfords, and yes, I’m up for reading anything and everything involving the Mitford sisters. (I may even occasionally cackle with glee while doing so.) Second, the Mitford-I-mean-Larkin actress is playing the title role in the production, a gender-bent Hamlet, and I found the backstage conversations about the motivations of a female Hamlet fascinating. (Also, I would now like to see this production. Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern, could you please make that happen?) Half a Crown jumps the action forward 10 years, to 1960 and an England with its own secret police force and soon-to-be-opened concentration camps. While the depiction of Britain’s fall into fascism felt scarily realistic, I thought the ending of the series was a bit too pat, though overall I enjoyed the trilogy.
(LC Score: +2)
The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore
Secrets and lie detectors! Polygamy and Margaret Sanger! Feminism and bondage fetishes! The creation of Wonder Woman is one of those you-couldn’t-make-this-stuff-up tales, brought to life in this well-researched history by Jill Lepore, who always chooses interesting and unique topics to write about. (I’m also a big fan of her Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin.) It’s a great read, especially if you’ve just enjoyed the new Wonder Woman movie. (And if you haven’t, what are you waiting for?)
(LC Score: +1)
Mister Monkey by Francine Prose
This novel consists of a cleverly linked series of narratives from various people connected with the doomed revival of a popular children’s stage musical, Mister Monkey. Though a very different book with a very different style, I was reminded of The Nest, in that it starts out rather sordid and grim, but ends up with a bit of sweetness and hope.
(LC Score: +1)
A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
Fifteen years ago, a reality show depicting an exorcism performed on a 14-year-old girl became a pop culture phenomenon. Now her younger sister is 23 and is being interviewed for a book on the events of that show and their shocking aftermath, declaring in the process that she believes her sister was actually mentally ill and was denied needed treatment. I don’t want to give too much away, but Tremblay owes a large debt to Shirley Jackson in this creepy and occasionally disturbing novel.
(LC Score: +1)
Swing Time by Zadie Smith
Smith tells the story of two young girls growing up in the housing projects of London, who meet in a dance class and become on-again off-again best friends. One of them becomes a professional dancer and the other, our narrator, becomes the personal assistant to an international pop star. For what it’s worth, this is one of those novels where I felt I missed the point somewhere along the way, but that didn’t actually hamper my enjoyment.
(LC Score: +1)
The Vacationers by Emma Straub
An extended family vacation in Mallorca leads to all sorts of secrets being revealed, with relationships upended and characters having to figure out a way to stay together—or not. This was a quick, entertaining read, but I was a little disappointed by the cliche nature of the family problems. Basically, all the men (with the partial exception of the nice gay couple) are sleeping around, and (DEEP SIGH) the 18-year-old daughter wants to lose her virginity before going home and starting college. (Is that still a thing? Really, is that a thing we’re still talking about as an important life goal? Could we maybe decide not to have it be a thing anymore?)
(LC Score: 0, off my own shelves)
Howards End Is on the Landing by Susan Hill
In this memoir, subtitled A Year of Reading From Home, accomplished author and publisher Susan Hill devotes herself to reading and rereading the books on her own eclectic bookshelves. I’m always in the mood for a book about books, but I found Hill to be a bit of a lit snob, just a smidge smug and condescending. To be fair, I was probably never going to get along with someone who dismisses the Wimsey-Vane romance as ridiculous and has an entire essay on how she finds Jane Austen boring.
(LC Score: 0, off my own shelves)
Library Chicken Score for THE CABIN 2017: 10
Running Score: 82
On the to-read/still-reading stack for next week:
The Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Coates’s memoir of his father)
The Opposite House by Helen Oyeyemi (need to finish reading Oyeyemi’s backlist)
The Sinful Stones by Peter Dickinson (Inspector James Pribble #3)
Postern of Fate by Agatha Christie (the final Tommy and Tuppence)
SUZANNE REZELMAN is home | school | life magazine’s Book Nerd. Subscribe to home/school/life to read her brilliant book recommendations and literary musings every issue. Your library list will thank you.