These are the books I’m reading aloud to Caitlyn and Brett.  Alexis is listening in to Understood Betsy as well, as that is a favorite of hers.

Today as we were reading about spiders in the Nature Reader I was amazed at how excited Brett was to tell me all he knew about spiders.  He stopped me frequently to tell me what he knew.  I think that was one of the first times I’ve seen him show a real interest in something “school” related.

Mine:

1. Honeymoon by James Patterson (Jan)
2. Julie and Julia, My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell (Jan)
3. Persuasion by Jane Austen (Jan)
4. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (Jan)
5. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (Jan)
6. The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith (Jan)
7. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares (Jan)

I read aloud the following to the children:

1. Ribsy by Beverly Cleary – Jan.

2. Look What Came From Italy by Miles Harvey – Jan.

3. Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank Gilbreath – Jan.

4. We’re From Greece by Victoria Parker – Jan.

5. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken – Jan.

6. The Berenstain Bears and the Missing Dinosaur Bone by Stan and Jan Berenstain – Jan.

7. The Bike Lesson by Stan and Jan Berenstain – Jan.

8. The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye - Jan.

9. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss - Jan.

Zarek read:

1. Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer -Jan
2. The Field Guide by Holly Black and Tony DeTerlizzi -Jan
3. The Seeing Stone by Holly Black and Tony DeTerlizzi -Jan
4. Lucinda’s Secret by Holly Black and Tony DeTerlizzi -Jan
5. The Ironwood Tree by Holly Black and Tony DeTerlizzi -Jan
6. The Wrath of Mulgarath by Holly Black and Tony DeTerlizzi -Jan
7. Boba Fett, The Fight to Survive by Terry Bisson –Jan
8. The House of Sixty Fathers by M. DeJong -Jan
9. The Mongols by Nicholson -Jan
10. Genghis Khan and the Mongol Horde by Lamb -Jan
11. Homesick by Jean Fritz –Jan
12. Water Sky by Jean Craighead George
13. Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You by T. DeTerlizzi and H. Black –Jan
14. Introduction to Biology by John Holzmann – Jan.
15. Book of Kings, Holy Bible – Jan.

Alexis read:

. The Field Guide by Holly Black and Tony DeTerlizzi – Jan.

2. The Seeing Stone by Holly Black and Tony DeTerlizzi – Jan.

1. Lucinda’s Secret by Holly Black and Tony DeTerlizzi – Jan.
2. The Ironwood Tree by Holly Black and Tony DeTerlizzi – Jan.
3. The Wrath of Mulgarath by Holly Black and Tony DeTerlizzi – Jan.
4. Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You by T. DeTerlizzi and H. Black - Jan
5. Emily’s Runaway Imagination by Beverly Cleary – Jan.
6. Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles, The Nixie’s Song by Holly Black and Tony DeTerlizzi

Caitlyn read: (many picture books while we were at the library weren’t recorded)

. Moonlight, the Halloween Cat by Cynthia Rylant

2. The Shape of Me and Other Stuff by Dr. Seuss

3. The Berenstain Bears Go Up and Down by Stan and Jan Brerenstain

4. Put Me in the Zoo by Robert Lopshire

5. A Cat and a Dog by C. Masurel

6. Bunbun at Bedtime by S. McCullough

7. Woo! The Not-So-Scary Ghost by A. Larranaga

8. I love Cats by B. Saltzburg

9. Love, From Wooly by N. Michaels

Brett read:

Stories from Fun With Pets by A Beka

Here's how I'm doing on my Autumn Reading Challenge. Not too good.  I've also picked up an extra book, Miss Julia Takes Over by Ann. B. Ross.  I've bumped up this post to remind myself to READ.

From bottom to top:

The Well Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer **Done**

Teaching the Trivium by Harvey and Laurie Bluedorn

Girl Meets God by Lauren Winnder

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley  (currently reading)

The Mother At  Home by John S. C. Abbott  (currently reading)

A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel

Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit by Teri Maxwell

Just Around the Corner by Steve and Teri Maxwell

Strange Fits of Passion by Anita Shreve

Swimming by Joanna Hershon

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde**Done**

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Gilgamesh by Stephen Mitchell (not pictured)(currently reading)

Lord, I Need Grace to Make it Today by Kay Arthur (not pictured)(currently reading)

Join the Reading Partners in a reading of Gilgamesh.  Go to ClassicalMamma for more information. 

Check out this blog, She's doing an Autumn Reading Challenge.  Anyone else care to join?

I'll post my book list and picture of my pile later!

Alexis Rae’s 5^th Grade Reading List

1. Mitch and  Amy by Beverly Cleary
2. Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards
3. The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews Edwards
4. Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary
5. Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary
6. Ramona and Her Mother by Beverly  Cleary
7. Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary
8. Sarah, Plain and Tall by P. MacLachlan
9. Skylark by P. MacLachlan
10.   Caleb’s Story by P. MacLachlan
11.   Double Fudge by Judy Blume
12.   Fudge-A-Mania by Judy Blume
13.   A Llama in the Family by Johanna Hurwitz
14.   Follow My Leader by James B. Garfield
15.   Along Came A Dog by M. DeJong
16.   The Toothpaste Millionaire by Jean Merrill
17.   The Last Little Cat by M. DeJong
18.   Elizabeth Blackwell by Joanne Henry
19.   Baby Island by C. Brink
20.   No Flying in the House by B. Brock
21.   The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye
22.   The Search for Delicious by N. Babbitt
23.   Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
24.   Stuart Little by E. B. White
25.   The Trumpet of the Swan by  E. B. White

Zarek is beginning his 7th grade year now, although we are still finishing up curriculum that we started in Feb. of this year.  I wanted to help him increase his reading level by reading some more challenging books and also to make sure he is reading quality literature and not some of the garbage that they have targeted at pre-teen/teen boys these days...well this applies for girls also I suppose!  He started working on this reading list over the summer and has enjoyed each book so far.

Now, I would like to make a list for my daughter, age 10.  The problem is that she does not like reading books that are a challenge.  This girl will dissolve into tears if something is too difficult, but I'd like for her to be reading quality books as well and get away from Magic Tree House and this other fairy series she reads.  I'm open to suggestions.  Does anyone know any great quality books on a 4th/5th grade reading level that a girl would find very interesting?  Thanks for any help!

but the rain is coming, so they say.  I can't totally trust the weatherman here in CT, it seems they're rarely right.  But if they are, the next 4 days will be rain.  :(

At least we'll get school done.  Today Zarek woke up feeling sick, so he went back to bed after his shower.  Alexis and I did her math together, she was getting behind.  I did math with Caitlyn and Brett and Caitlyn did her Explode the Code, she is coming along with her reading.

Today our Amazon and Children's book orders came, this is what we got!

(I LOVE new books!!!!)

Two Little Savages

Swallows and Amazons

The Borrowers

The Voyage of Patience Goodspeed

Gregor and the Marks of Secret (for my son)

The American Girls Handy Book

The American Boys Handy Book (and the children jumped right on these two and took them outside and began making things from them.  I highly recommend these classic, entertaining books)

A Lantern in Her Hand

Where the Red Fern Grows

The Family Nobody Wanted (for me!)

Sarah Whitcher's Story

Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher Preachers

Bully For You, Teddy Roosevelt

How the US Government Works

The Little House Guidebook (for when we do Prairie Primer)

Buddy, the first Seeing Eye Dog

Smoky the Cowhorse

Revolutionary Poet:  Phillis Wheatley

Birdie's Lighthouse

Two books I had ordered didn't come, they're OOP they said.  :(  However they were on the website to order!  I was disapointed.  Oh well...

We read a chapter of All Sail Set, did some of our History Pockets, Moving West, and read the little ones a chapter of Vos' Story Bible.

Now we're taking Daddy to work, coming back home for a quick dinner and then off to Alexis' last Mon. night ballet class.  The rest of the week we have no obligations, I can't wait to stay  home!

1. The Awakening - K. Chopin
2. One Thousand Acres - J. Smiley
3. Frankenstein - Shelley
4. Uncle Tom's Cabin - H. Stowe
5. Out of Africa - I. Dineson
6. Memoirs of a Geisha - A. Golden
7. Emma - J. Austen
8. A Tale of Two Cities - Dickens
9. Little Women - Alcott
10. Sons- P. Buck
11. Villette - Bronte
12. The Scarlet Letter - Hawthorne
13. Heartburn - Ephron
14. I Capture the Castle - D. Smith
15. The Poisonwood Bible - B. Kingsolver
16. Cry, Beloved Country - A. Paton
17. Plain and Simple - S. Bender (already finished 1/2/06)
18. Reading Lolita in Tehran - A. Nafisi
19. My Antonia - W. Cather
20. Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind - A. Ross
21. The Eyre Affair - J. Fforde
22. The Distant Land of My Father - B. Caldwell
23. West with the Night - B. Markham
24. The Princess Bride - W. Goldman
24. The Grapes of Wrath - J. Steinbeck
25. One Hundred Years of Solitude - G. Marquez
26. The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Tough - N. Jackson
27. The Age of Innocence - E. Wharton
28. The House of Mirth - E. Wharton
29. Gulliver's Travels - J. Swift
30. The Portrait of a Lady - H. James (reading now)

My goal is to read 60 books this year, but I'm leaving the other half open to whatever I hear about or borrow from friends.

Here's the list of the books I read in 2005:

Jan:
Jane Eyre-Bronte
Rebecca- Du Maurier
Mere Christianity-C. S. Lewis

April:
Homeschooling: Take a Deep Breath, You Can Do This!-T. Bittner

June:
The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Real- N. Jackson
As I Lay Dying-W. Faulkner

July:
Where the Lillies Bloom-V. Cleaver
Talk Before Sleep-E. Berg
The Reading Group- E. Noble
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince- J. K. Rowling
Love Comes Softly-J. Oke
The Woman Who Walked into Doors-R. Doyle
Durable Goods-E. Berg

August:
Cold Mountain-C. Frazier
Mrs. Kimble-J. Haigh

Wuthering Heights - E. Bronte

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe - F. Flagg

Sept:
We Were the Mulvaneys-J. Oates
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn- B. Smith
Unwise Passions-A. Crawford
Hanging Up-D. Ephron
No Place Like Home- M. Clark

Oct:
Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons- L. Landvik
No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency- A. Smith
Tears of a Giraffe- A. Smith
The Bookseller of Kabul- A. Seierstad
So Many Books, So Little Time-S. Nelson
The Catcher in the Rye- J. D. Salinger
Morality for Beautiful Girls-A. Smith
The Reader- B. Schlink
The Kalahari Typing School For Men-A. Smith

Nov:
The Good Earth- P. Buck
A Redbird Christmas- F. Flagg
I Don't Know How She Does It-A. Pearson
Girl With a Pearl Earing-T. Chevalier

Dec:
Vanity Fair-Thackeray
Bee Season-M. Goldberg
The Outsiders- S. E. Hinton
Terms of Endearment- L. McMurtry
Lolita- V. Nabokov

As you can see I read more in the last half of the year.  I've made a goal to read 60 books in 2006, we'll see if I reach it!

I'd say ages 8 and up.

Nicholas by Goscinny and Sempe, about a naughty French school boy, it's just been printed in English and you can find it in any major bookstore.  I started reading it aloud to my 9 and 11 year olds today and even I was laughing.  Loudly!  My friend Amy (fellow book lover!) and I had seen in in Barnes and Noble a month or so ago and we thought it looked so cute, but it was quite expensive, $19.99 for a hardback childrens book that may or may not be good...well it's good and worth every penny.