What We're Reading in August 2018

I've been dreading this month's book list for days. In fact, I hesitate to even write these words for fear that you'll think I'm a big fat, phony fraud and that I don't really have the deep, deep feelings for books that I've claimed to have had in these past six years. (Actually, can we scratch that first part and just go with phony fraud instead of big fat, phony fraud? I just spent three days shamelessly eating deep fried food at our county fair and now I'm kinda feeling guilty about the whole thing. But I digress.)

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About this month's list...It is sadly underwhelming, I'm afraid. But not because the book titles themselves are unimpressive, but because our momentum on them has been slow going.

You'll notice, most of the books are just carry-overs from last month. Clearly, our personal reading took a bit of a drastic dive in July. In our defense, we did quite a bit of traveling and hosting in that time. Not to mention, two of my kids worked/volunteered a bunch, thus limiting the amount of time they had to spend reading with the rest of us or on their own.

All that to say...Here's what we will be reading during the month of August. (Feel free to give our efforts a polite golf clap before scrolling on to someone else's more robust list, if you'd prefer.)

Read Aloud- everybody

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness- Yes, you read that correctly. After starting this book in June, we are still slogging through it. In fact, I think we may have only picked it up three or four times in the entire month of July, which stands to prove a little known read aloud theory I've secretly harbored for quite some time: If momma doesn't like the book, the book will never get read aloud.

Please believe me when I say that the book is great. My kids are loving it. I just don't personally care for the fantasy genre. It is a struggle for me to get excited about reading this or any other Narnia-esque book. Therefore, I've just not read it aloud as much as I should or could have. But I will keep chewing off bite-sized pieces as I'm able and I'll eventually finish it. Pinky swear!

Jamie- that's me!

Caroline: Little House, Revisited- When two books that I had previously requested arrived at the library pick-up desk on the same day, I was faced with a real conundrum. I couldn't decide which book to start first. I took to Instastories for some advice. As always, the lovely readers of The Unlikely Homeschool came through and overwhelmingly pointed me towards Caroline. I have since received word that there are a few scandalous parts in the pages. I'm not sure how "scandalous" will actually translate in the life of Caroline Ingalls but I'm willing to risk forward motion, knowing that I have the other book waiting in the wings should the storyline become noticeably inappropriate.

Sweetie Pea- 10th grade

Daring to Hope- My girl has been working at a Bible camp on and off through most of the summer and hasn't been home long enough to finish this book that she started back in June. Not to mention the fact that she's also trying to catch up on the Brio subscription she received for Christmas.

Daring to Hope is the sequel to Kisses for Katie, the memoir of a young lady who left the luxuries of America to spread the hope of Jesus to the frail and orphaned of Uganda.

Super Boy- 7th grade

Big Red- Like my daughter, my oldest son has barely been home this month. He's been volunteering with an organization that makes and serves sack lunches for underprivileged children in our area. He's also spent a great deal of time training with his fellow CAP cadets. I'm not making excuses for his inability to finish this book that he started last month. These are just the facts.

Please note: Kjelgaard wrote in a different era of children's lit and chose to write about an off-the-grid culture that was particularly rugged. Occasionally, you'll find a swear word like he*l or da*n in his stories.

Blonde Warrior- 6th grade

The Horse and His Boy- After finishing The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe last month, my son was eager to move on to the next title in the Narnia Chronicles. He's a super fast reader and can often finish a book in one day. So, I've no doubt he'll be moving on to Book 3 by month's end.

Greased Lightning- 4th grade

Henry Reed's Babysitting Service- We read the original Henry Reed, Inc. together as a family a few years ago and thought it was hilarious. Now, all my boys are slowly taking turns reading this sequel. In the same tone as the first book, it details the misadventures of Henry as he tries to establish a new line of work for himself.

The Dude- 1st grade

Basic Phonics Readers- My youngest son is currently making his way through this set of phonics-based basal readers that correspond with his phonics program. They are eye-catching, simple booklets that focus on the specific sounds he learned last year in kindergarten.

Black Beauty (abridged version)- This is a beautifully illustrated, vintage version of the original Anna Sewell classic. Sadly, it's not broken up into chapters but instead is a lengthy picture book which makes it hard to know where to stop and start our readings each day.

That's what we'll be reading this month. 

How about you?

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