What We're Reading in October 2014

With a full month of school under our belts, we have officially gotten into the rhythm of a new schedule.  We find freedom in a schedule...freedom and extra time.  Extra time to read. (This post contains affiliate links.)

Here's what's in our book box this month.
(In case you're curious, our reading time typically looks like this>>)

Read Aloud- Everybody

So technically, we haven't started our October read aloud because we just finished our September one, but we've narrowed our search of potentials down to two.  We've checked them both out from the library and will be taking a family vote to see which one makes the cut.

Ragweed- "Early polls" show that my animal loving crew will probably choose this one.

But, I'm kinda hoping I can swing the vote to THIS ONE!!

More Perfect than the Moon- Since I was a little girl, I have always loved the Sarah, Plain and Tall trilogy.  I've shared them with my kids and even our co-op families.  Little did I know, it is NOT a trilogy at all, but a series of FIVE BOOKS!  How could I have missed that? Why didn't anyone tell me? This is the fourth in the series and since it is short, I'm hoping we can somehow...just maybe...read book four AND five this month! (But, if the vote goes the other way, expect to see a 35-year-old woman reading two children's books ALL BY HERSELF.)

Jamie- that's me!

The Best Yes- As a self-proclaimed "Martha", I have struggled with sacrificing THE BEST on the altar of THE GOOD my entire life.  In my late twenties I began to see that saying "yes" to everything meant I had to often times say "no" to the things that really mattered to me.  Little by little, I began to make big changes to the way I prioritized my commitments.  I'm still a work-on-progress when it comes to choosing the BEST yes, but I have come a long way.  When this book, by one of my favorite authors, recently hit the shelves of my library, I was the first to bring it home!

Sweetie Pea- 6th Grade

The Care and Keeping of You- (Mom-assigned book) I'll confess, I picked this book up at a garage sale when my daughter was only about two-years-old.  I had it tucked away ever since, but have finally unearthed it in anticipation of the changes headed her way during these tween years.  

The Ark, the Reed, and the Fire Cloud - (Read-for-fun book) The epic length of this book combined with her school/church/social schedule, pretty much guaranteed that it would take her more than a month to finish it. She started it in September and isn't quite halfway done with it.  It is reeeaaally long.  But, according to her, really good and worth the commitment.

Super Boy- 3rd Grade

The Snow Walker- (Mom-assigned book) This true story of the bravery of 12-year-old Milton Daub during the blizzard of 1888 is the perfect book to inspire courage and selflessness into any young boy

National Geographic Readers: Rocks and Minerals- (Read-for-fun book) My rock-crazed-boy has carried an old black-and-white-barely-any-pictures-lots-of-words rock field guide around for the past three years...pouring over the pages until he has practically rubbed off all the ink.  I was glad when he found this book at the library which is more his reading level and actually has colored pictures in it.  

Blonde Warrior- 2nd Grade

Chester Cricket's Pigeon Ride (Chester Cricket and His Friends)- (Mom-assigned book) This is the sequel to The Cricket in Time Square which we read for a family read-aloud a few years ago.  

Bears Life in the Wild (Step-Into-Reading, Step 3)- (Read-for-fun book)

Greased Lightning- Kindergarten

Step Into Reading Phonics First Steps, set 2- This is a series of graduated phonetical readers that comes in a boxed set. 

Now it's your turn.  Whatcha readin'?