What We're Reading in March 2022

A few months ago, I put in several Requests to Purchase at my local library.* I had heard about many soon-to-hit-shelves books that were coming out from interesting authors and I wanted to read them all. So, I hopped onto my library website, filled out their short RTP form for each title, and waited.

March arrived and so did all the books I had requested. All of them. At the same time. Needless to say, I have a giant stack of just-released books stacked up on my nightstand and spilling over onto the floor.

 
So many books. So little time. Which one do I start with first? Which one do I return to the library knowing that I'll never finish it before the due date? Such is the struggle of the readerly life. 

Here's what we're reading in March.

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Read aloud-everybody

A Horse and His Boy- We've committed to reading through the Chronicles of Narnia this spring and are on book 3. In this installment, two runaways join forces to help defend the land and people of Narnia. To be honest, this is not my favorite of the Narnia series but a necessary reading step to get us to the last few books.

Jamie-that's me!

The Lady's Mine- In her newest release, critically acclaimed Christian fiction writer Francine Rivers returns to her western romance roots. This light fiction was really fun and did not contain the overt and oversimplified messages of many Christian fictions on the market today.

When Kathryn Walsh is banished from Boston by her step-father, she heads to Calvada, California to claim the landholdings of her deceased uncle. Upon arrival, she meets saloon owner Mathias Beck and presumes him to be the town troublemaker. Little does she know that she'll eventually link arms with Mathias in more ways than one and together, they'll save a struggling ex-mining town from extinction.  

Raising Critical Thinkers- While I generally appreciate the homeschool philosophies of Julie Bogart, I don't always align with her worldview. Needless to say, I was a bit skeptical when I requested this book from the library. I'm only halfway through it but have been pleasantly surprised at how much I agree with most of the methods and practical tools she presents within the pages. In fact, the end-of-chapter ideas for cultivating critical thinking at each developmental stage of a child's growth are so great that I'm considering using them as source material for an upcoming homeschool co-op class. 

Super Boy- 10th grade

No Fear Shakespeare: The Comedy of Errors- My son and I have been reading this literature guide together. As with all the Nor Fear Shakespeare titles, the left-hand pages contain the original Shakespearean text, and the right-hand pages give a line-by-line modern language translation. This book has not only given us a great look at one of my favorite Shakespearean plays but has provided fodder for several fascinating discussions about general theatrical verbiage as well as some of the Bard's signature techniques. (Please note: While the sexual innuendos of the original play has been removed, some of the explicit language has not including words like *ss and d*mn.)

Blonde Warrior- 8th grade

Nova- This month's selection for the tween/teen book club that I lead for my son and his friends is the first of the four-book Starlore Legacy series by Christian writer and speaker, Chuck Black. To be honest, I really wasn't sure what my son would think of it since he didn't care for Black's Kingdom series. But, he is loving it!

Loosely based on the early life of Moses in Scripture, this is the story of young Daeson Starlore, nephew of the king...or so he thinks. A chance encounter with a Starcraft mechanic reveals the truth about Daeson's ancestry and forces him to make a decision that will change his world and the lives of his true people--the lower class Rayleans--forever. 

Greased Lightning- 7th grade

The Mysterious Benedict Society- After hearing how much his older brother enjoyed reading this title several months ago, my 7th grader decided to pick it up. As an HSP, there have been a few tense scenes that have had him wondering if he should continue reading, but he's been intrigued enough by the story to power through. 

It's a very clean adventure story about four orphans who save the world from the sinister plans of power-hungry Mr. Curtain.

The Dude- 4th grade

The Lost Heir- This is the second book in the Wings of Fire, a popular dragon series. I agreed to let my son read this book alongside a friend whose parents share similar parenting styles to my husband and me. Unfortunately, in taking the "so-and-so is letting her son read it, so it must be ok" route, I did not vet it properly. 

My son began telling me about certain parts of the story that had my Spidey Senses on high alert. I took to the internet, searched a few of my favorite literary vetting sites, and decided that this was not a series I wanted to promote in my home. The books contain a large amount of gratuitous and graphic violence and promote ungodly themes like post-birth abortion, racial injustice, and genocide. They are filled with crass and cruel language and elevate animals above the human race, completely disregarding God's order of creation. In addition, Book 13 introduces a dragon who has a same-sex attraction to another dragon. 

I had a heart-to-heart with my son explaining why this book did not line up with the Philippians 4:8 mandate that should steer all of our reading decisions and he agreed to let me help him find another dragon series that would satiate his current interest in dragons. We landed on the And They Found Dragons middle-grade series by Ted Decker and are awaiting their arrival. In the meantime, he's thrilled to be reading a few old Charlie Brown comic books and joke books that we own. 

That's what we've been reading this month. How about you? Whatcha reading?

*Most public libraries have a Request to Purchase-type form. They are publicly funded by tax dollars and receive a monthly budget for buying books. Typically, librarians would rather use their book-buying funds to purchase books that people would rather read instead of just eeny-meeny-miny-moeing their way through a book catalog and picking something at random.

The forms can often be found on the library's website (My library system features them on the "contact us" page.) and are easy to fill out. You'll just need to provide a few simple details like your name, your library card number, and the title, publisher, and publication date of the book. It's also helpful if you can provide the ISBN number. If your librarian approves of the purchase, she'll place you at the top of the hold list for that particular book and will notify you when it arrives.

After two decades of putting in Requests to Purchase, I've only been denied a handful of times. And have read dozens and dozens of hot-off-the-presses books for free. 

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