7 Quick Takes - The Bookish Edition

When I'm not feeling well, I spend more time {in bed} reading. I love to read, so this is not a hardship. I sometimes feign illness so I can read more. I'm not proud of it. But sometimes I've just got to get my book fix. These past couple of months I've been loading up on books; quotes from books, books about books, making books, and videos of authors reading books. It has been a very bookish spring. Though now that I've been feeling much stronger for a while, I need to put the books down and go outside and enjoy the sunshine.

--- 1 ---

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet. I have not been a regular reader of Sophie's blog, but the subject and the title both sound so appealing to me. And when it started popping up on my Facebook feed from some of my favorite Southern ladies, I knew I had to buy it! I can't wait for it to get here and jump on in. 

I also recently joined a local Catholic Homeschooling Mothers' Book Club. Our first selection is In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden. It is a mighty big book, it makes me feel very literary and collegiate just carrying it around. It's hefty, I tell you. It's going to take me a while to get through a book this big, so I've got to keep at it. Book club is only a month away. I really hope this group discusses the book and doesn't just devolve into a wine and cheese club. (though I love wine and cheese as much as the next gal.) 

The book is about a highly successful, professional woman who leaves her London lifestyle to join a cloistered Benedictine convent. I have always had a romantic notion of life as a religious as a life of great peace and joy and silence. {And some days the thought of running away from my family and joining a convent sounds very appealing.}

But when I'm not reading about convent life, I'm reading Teaching in Your Tiara, a homeschooling book for the rest of us, because I'm schizophrenic that way. Run away to a convent or stay at home all day with my kids and homeschool - these are the options that appeal to me. 

             --- 2 ---

I'm slowly making my way through GK Chesterton's Common Sense 101 - Lessons from G.K. Chesterton

 

It's my bathroom book. (Admit it, you have one too.) Sometimes it's the only private time I get all day. It's the first thing I've read anything by Chesterton and I can't believe it's taken me this long to read his stuff. He is funny and brilliant!

One of my favorite quotes so far explains how our American Democracy is impossible without a belief in God. As Chesterton explains:

"The Declaration of Independence dogmatically

bases all rights on the fact that God created all men

equal; and it is right; for if they were not created equal, they...certainly evolved unequal. There is no basis for democracy except in a dogma about the divine origin of man."

I can read it over and over again; it makes sense of the science and the reason and the why of our government. Indeed, if all men evolved randomly we could *not* have evolved equally. To argue that our founders were not theists, as I have heard many try to do, is simply foolish. 

--- 3 ---

When I need book ideas for the children, or I need encouragement to persevere with the reading aloud, I re-read Jim Trelease's The Read Aloud Handbook. I think I have read this book every.single.summer before we start our homeschooling in the fall. This to me is a "basic text" of homeschooling. Everyone who is even thinking about homeschooling should read this book.

--- 4 ---

Whenever I get desperate for a new list of books for Sweetpea to read I head on over to Melissa Wiley's blog Here in the Bonny Glen to see what her family's been reading. She has it broken down by age and everything. Here is my most recent shopping list for Sweetpea: Melissa Wiley's recommendations for books for ten year olds.

--- 5 ---

Did you know that St. George's Day, April 23rd, is the day Catalonian women traditionally give the men in their lives a gift of a book? {I can't believe Barnes & Noble hasn't picked up on this holiday yet}. I'm putting this on the homeschool calendar for next year right now -  How to make a book for St. George's Day.

And for everyday bookmaking inspiration, no blog beats Susan Gaylord Kapinski's beautiful blog. Click on over to be inspired. Families making books- because one day I will make a book.

--- 6 ---

A plug for my friend Sue's latest children's book coming out from Golden Books in August. Cause I don't know that many authors in real life and I knew her before she was famous. :) It's another cute one from the Little Golden Books series. It's another one that my Cookie is sure to love; he ate right through her last one. :)

--- 7 ---

And just for fun, here is a link to A.A. Milne reading Winnie the Pooh, recorded back in 1929.   Piglet has an English accent. Enjoy!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Disclosure of Material Connection: The links to the books in the post above are “Amazon affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will be able to save up for a grande latte. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and that I believe have value to other homeschooling mothers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”