What We're Reading Wednesday

I think it's been ages since I've joined the WWRW link up, but here I am.  Between not really being able to read while pregnant and then being insanely busy adjusting to life with a new baby while directing VBS for our parish I've been in what I'd call a reading drought.  But this past week or so I've been able to carve out time for books and it's been amazing.

Anthony, like Katie, is content to sit and listen to longer story books.  Yay!  The end of last week and throughout this week we've been pulling out some of our old favorites like Strega Nona, The Clown of God, and Pascual and the Kitchen Angels.  Katie's love of Tomie DePaola is still going strong.

The other day she decided to break out of her usual standbys and give Big Anthony: His Story and Strega Nona's Magic Lessons a try.  Both are nice stories and I like how we get to see more of Big Anthony's antics.  Big Anthony's failure to follow directions keeps us all amused, but I'm finding that Strega Nona is really such an amazing example of patience.  She could so easily tell Big Anthony to hit the road and never come back, but she's exudes a quiet patience with him and just bears his many faults and keeps him around.  I know these books are written for kids, but I'm obviously getting something from the story, too.

Reading these stories around Anthony is funny.  Every time I say Anthony or Big Anthony while reading he looks around and raises his eyebrows.  Evidently he recognizes his name already.  How cool is that?

I wrapped up reading Fearless: Stories of the American Saints this weekend.  I really enjoyed the book and will be reviewing it soon.  I felt like I was reading the backstory of many saints who are mentioned in Madeline's 8th grade Seton History book.  Love that I was able to essentially prepare for her history class and read a book for my own enjoyment at the same time.  This book won't be available until the Fall, but it's worth adding to your reading list.

So for years and years now I've heard people going on about G.K. Chesterton.  I've read quotes here and here and read a few excerpts but nothing has really pulled me in, but still I've wondered what all the fuss was surrounding him.  I've gone down this road with J.K. Rowling, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien and each time I've traveled this road I've been happy that I have.  So last night I started reading G. K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy.  What I've read so far I like but I'm going to wait until I done with the book to say one way or another whether or not I like it.  I approach authors like this with the assumption that I'm not going to like their work, and then, if I do, it's a bonus.

Visit Housewifespice to check out what others are reading this fine Wednesday.

What We're Reading Wednesday...Thursday

It's been a while since I've done a What We're Reading Wednesday post.  I haven't gone illiterate, I promise!  I don't have the easiest time reading while pregnant.  I was far to dizzy to read during my first trimester and most of the second trimester was just so busy that when I did sit down with a book I fell asleep.  Awesome, right?

In the past week or so I've been able to read a lot, I just haven't had the time to sit down and write well thought out reviews.

I read two short biographies from Franciscan Media that will be coming out this spring.  I enjoyed both of them and was able to read them each in a single day filled with all the usual continuous interruptions that come with being the mom of a two year old who's potty obsessed and homeschooling a seventh grader.  Since both books were short with short chapters, they were the perfect books for me to read with numerous interruptions.  The first one was John Paul II (a short biography)  if you didn't know much about JPII this is a great introduction.  It hits all the highlights of what you might find in a more in depth biography of JPII.  It would be an ideal read for a high school student or someone who doesn't have a lot of time to invest in a longer book.  The second one was  John XXIII (a short biography).  I had dismally little knowledge of anything about John XXIII so after reading this book I feel like I know at least enough about him that I can carry on an intelligent conversation about him should the need arise.  This short little biography left me wanting to read more about him in the future.  I just need to find a good book and a bit of time.

On the days when I have to go and pick Ellie up at school I take a book with me.  I need to get there about 25 minutes before school gets out if I want one of the coveted 10 minute parking spots where I don't need to get out of the car to get her.  Yeah, you can say it.  I'm lazy.  I was spoiled by the school bus last year and I'm not willing to get out of the car and stand around in the cold to escort Ellie through the parking lot.  So I leave my house a few minutes after three, and drive the 90 second drive to the school to score a good parking spot.  That leaves me with 25 minutes of peace and quiet where I can sit and read.  Recently I was reading 150 North American Martyrs You Should Know.  I really enjoyed the book.  It gave me some pretty good background to go along with some of the chapters from Madeline's history text.  The book is divided into 29 chapters that categorize the different groupings of North American martyrs.  If you're pressed for time, this is one of those books where you can read a portion of a chapter and not feel like you really need to read the entire chapter at once.  The book's format made it the perfect sit and wait for your kid to come out of school reading.  I'd certainly recommend picking up a copy of this book.  Like other books written on the saints by Brian O'Neel, this one does not disappoint.

In the evenings I have been alternating between reading St. Therese's Story of a Soul and St. Francis de Sales' Consoling Thoughts on God and Providence.  I've read St. Therese's book before but since Madeline is doing a book report on Mary Fabyan Windeatt's The Little Flower (I'm also reading this here and there to make sure Madeline's staying on track.) I felt like picking the book up again and reading through it.  It feels like there's always something new to learn from St. Therese.

For the past year or so I've spent a lot of time reading books written by St. Francis de Sales.  I like how approachable his writing is.  I don't feel like I'm overhwelmed after reading his writings and they resonate with me.  There are bits and pieces of this volume of Consoling Thoughts that I like better than others, but I suppose that has to do with the subject matter and the fact that the book is more or less a compilation of St. Francis' writings and comes from several sources.

Katie has been bringing me the same books over and over.  I'm not even sure I can say that we're reading some of these books since they're the look and find books and I'm apparently not allowed to read the text.  Instead I'm supposed to name the items she points to after she taps me excessively and points at the picture.  I'm ok with the Minnie Mouse Look and Find book, but I despise the Sofia the First Look and Find.  I've tried hiding the book and she always seems to find it.  The book just infuriates me with all of the snooty looking princesses.  But she loves the book so I do my best to go through the book a few times with her before hiding it again.  She has also recently discovered some of my favorite Boynton board books.  Hippos Go Berserk is a new favorite.  But, she's more interested in pointing at the hippos than letting me read the book.  But that's ok, I memorized that book nearly 12 1/2 years ago and could "read" it in pitch black darkness.  She's also interested in Happy Hippo Angry Duck and the Going to Bed Book.

Ellie has been reading up on John Adams for a social studies report she's doing.  She's been reading the Look it Up Book of Presidents (The link is for the updated version but she's using the one I got when I was in 4th grade where *ahem* Ronald Reagan is the most recent President. LOL!  It's all good.  I just told her she needed to pick a President for her report that was before George H.W. Bush.  I'm pretty sure when I got the book that George H.W. Bush was President-elect.)  She's also reading this book on John Adams.  She's doing really well on the report that she's writing.  I'm impressed with how well her report is coming along, and she seems very pleased with it, too.

I think that sums up what we're reading these days.

I was provided with review copies of John Paul II (a short biography), John XXIII (a short biography) and 150 North American Martyrs You Should Know by the publisher, Franciscan Media.  The links in this post are Amazon affiliate links.  Thank you to all who shop through my affiliate links.  It helps to build our children's library.

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What We're Reading Wednesday #3

We had one of those weeks where it became glaringly obvious that the book Madeline selected for her summer reading assignment simply wasn't going to work for her.  So we pulled up the summer reading list and sifted through the dismal books on the list looking for something that I didn't find inappropriate and something she found interesting.  We landed on Chew On This: Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food.  So far, so good.  She's made it a good way through the book in the past couple of days and she's telling us all sorts of things that she learning from the book.  Works for me.

She also started to read Harry Potter in the Sorcerer's Stone.  I suspect it will take her a while to get through this book unless something clicks and she actually gets into the story.  I remember when I picked up that book on afternoon just to peek inside I lost about 17 hours of my life.  Don't ask me who took care of little toddler Madeline while I read that book.

Ellie has been reading a bunch of different books so it's hard to pin point what she's reading at any given moment.  She did start reading a new series of kid's books, Gospel Time Trekkers, from Pauline Kids yesterday.  She zipped through the first few chapters of Shepherds to the Rescue.  So far she likes what she's read.  Once she's done reading the book I'll be posting a review of it.  It looks a bit like the Imagination Stations series.

I've been battling headaches for most of the week so I haven't been reading a lot.  I did start to page through Bl. John Newman's Everyday Meditations the other day.  The meditations are very good.  In a way they sort of remind me of both St. Francis De Sales and St. Ignatius Loyola.  But as I was reading the book I got hit with a headache like I sometimes get when reading St. Augustine and St. Ignatius Loyola so I'm not sure if it's his writings or just the bad bout of headaches that are to blame.  Either way the meditations are very good, I'm just not sure if they're of the spiritual indigestion inducing caliber of Sts. Augustine and Ignatius.  Once I get past these headaches and delve back into the book I'll know for sure.  

I've also continued reading through the Gospels.  Last week I read through Mark and now I'm working through Luke.  I now find myself at Mass saying to myself, "Hey, I read that a few weeks ago!" or "Hmm...this sounds really familiar." and then I realize that it's familiar because I read it quite recently. Have I mentioned how much I love using the USCCB's website for reading the bible?  I just have a window with it up on my browser.  So when I find myself spending way too much time on the computer I just flip over to that window and read so I'm at least doing something more worthwhile than checking out Facebook or browsing Amazon.  I'm working my way through the Gospels at a rate of 2-4 chapters a day.  

Katie is stuck on her favorite books.  But she did humor me and sit through The Holy Twins.  She likes the pictures from her Tomie DePaola, but I don't think she's enamored with the story.

She has been a bit attached to God's Alphabet The ABC's of the Church.  It's a really nice ABC book that was originally printed back in 1938.  Each letter has a little rhyming verse about something that relates to the Catholic faith and there's a lovely blue and white illustration of the sort that you really only find in older books.  Katie happily sits and listens to this book and then pages through it herself.

When I originally ordered this book I thought it was a bit pricey, but it's a very nice quality book.  The pages are nice and thick and it's also printed in the USA.  I don't mind paying a bit more for a book when I know that it's helping to keep jobs in our country.

She's also decided that she'd humor a few of the baby board books the other day.  She had me read Dr. Seuss's ABC a few times.  I used to have to read this book to Madeline all of the time.  Ellie HATED books when she was a toddler with the exception of a few Boynton titles.  I was amused that after all these years I still have that book memorized.  "Big U, little u. What begins with U?  Uncle Ubb's umbrella and his underwear, too! U...u...U."  I have to say it's one of the more amusing ABC books that we own.   

She also humored me reading her some nursery rhymes from The Real Mother Goose.  Honestly, I'm still not sure how I feel about this book.  I brought it back in 1998 when my best friend was expecting her first child.  I got a copy for her baby and one for my future children.  The illustrations are nice, but I take issue with how some of the nursery rhymes are worded.  They're not the same as the book my mother has.  I do wish I could find a copy of the Mother Goose book my mom has.  I always liked the illustrations in that book.  Years ago I searched for a used copy and had no luck.  But back to the copy that I do have.  Of the several Mother Goose books that we own, this one is the one I like the best.  It's a close second to the one I grew up with.  I do have my eye on the Tomie DePaola Mother Goose book.  Maybe Katie will get a copy for her birthday.  It's on her Amazon wish list.

I am happy that she's allowing a bit more variety with her book requests.  I did order her some out of print Tomie DePaola books hoping to add a few new favorites.

Head over to Clan Donaldson for more What We're Reading Wednesday posts.

What We're Reading Wednesday #2

I think I missed a week or two since the first WWRW link up.  But we're still reading!  It's taking me a bit longer to recover from our super busy VBS/Birthday Party week.  I think the heat wave we had last week didn't help matters.  Maybe I just need a nice long vacation.

I took a break from some of the books I was reading and delved into Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle's latest book, The Miraculous Medal.  Honestly, when it arrived at my house I intended only to page through it and put it in the pile with the rest of the review books to wait its turn.  Instead I wound up finding myself needing to read the book now.  I'm just a few pages from the end.  It's not a book I can easily put down.  I'll be writing a review for it very soon, but here's the short and sweet of it:  We get the back story of St. Catherine Laboure and the origins of the miraculous medal.  Then we move into chapters that discuss miracles surrounding the miraculous medal.  Donna-Marie tells us of how she came to be friends with Blessed Mother Theresa and thus became inspired to make giving miraculous medals to those she meets as part of her ministry.  She then tells many stories about how the medals she has distributed to others has made an impact.  The final part, which I haven't yet read contains novenas and prayers.

I'm also slowly making my way through Fr. F. X. Lascance's Our Lady Book.  I really enjoy reading older prayer books, but with so many other things to read I really only find myself able to read bits and pieces of it each day.  It's just not a book I can sit and read for an hour or so, but I am still enjoying it.

Ellie just started reading the Julie books from American Girl.  She finished up Meet Juliethe other day and has just moved on to reading Julie Tells her Story.  She's enjoying the books so I can't complain.  I would have preferred it if she selected one of the other American Girl's.  

Madeline has been avoiding books in favor of distractions like the iPad or the Wii.  But she did just devour A Bundle of Trouble: A Rebecca Mystery.  She's been in this phase where any book Bryan or I suggest to her is THE. WORST. BOOK. EVER.  Sigh.  We had told her that we expected her to start reading either The Hobbit or Harry Potter.  But those are "boring" books according to Madeline.  Those of us who like those books just don't know any better.  Sorry kid, you're going into 7th grade.  It's time to start reading real books.  Save the wailing and gnashing of teeth over the truly horrible book selections for the language arts teacher.

Katie is still on her Tomie DePaola kick.  She's been adding Strega Nona into the mix.  I love how Tomie DePaola weaves our Catholic faith into the stories.  Katie seems to love both the pictures and the stories.  For a while there I thought she was just interested in the pictures but I've noticed that she has little interest in books illustrated by Tomie but not written by him.  She must be a fan of his story telling.

Earlier this week she spent a bit of time brining me some of our (meaning me, Bryan, Madeline and Ellie) favorite Boynton books.  I think she was a bit annoyed at how short the books are.  She's just so used to sitting and listening to longer stories that these short little board books don't impress her.

So what are you reading this week?  Visit Housewifespice for more What We're Reading Wednesday posts.

What We're Reading Wednesday

Here's a new link up that's perfect for me since I seem to always be up to my eyeballs in books when I'm not attached to my laptop.

Since it's "What We're Reading Wednesday" and not what I'm reading, I'll give you the run down on what the girls are reading or trying to avoid reading, too.

I'm reading an advance copy of Lino Rulli's new book, Saint.  It's a funny book that picks up where his other book, Sinner leaves off.  This time, instead of detailing what a sinner he is, he's putting forth his case for why he should be canonized.  I'm throughly enjoying the book.  It's certainly one to add to your Amazon wish list.  You do have an Amazon wish list, don't you?  How else will you remember what you want to read?  Also, if you don't have an Amazon wish list people won't know what to buy you for your birthday or Christmas.  Having the list certainly helps cut down on creative gifts like crocheted toilet paper cozies.  I can tell you that I haven't gotten anything like that since I created a list ages ago.

Katie has been having me read the same two books to her over and over for the past several months.  She's in love with Tomie DePaola's The Clown of God and Pascual and the Kitchen Angels.   Can I tell you that I sobbed as I read The Clown of God to her the first few times.  I thought it was the book version of the movie Up! (Just thinking about that movie can make me cry.)  Anyway, now I'm desensitized to The Clown of God and can read the book without feeling like I need to stop and cry for poor Giovanni.  And when I pick up Pascual and the Kitchen Angels I find myself wondering how I can get God to send me a kitchen angel.  Katie loves both books so much that they're already quite worn after having them for less than 6 months.  I think I'm going to have to order new copies soon.

Last week the price on the Read Aloud Book of Bible Stories dropped down enough on Amazon for me to buy it.  I wanted it so I could read it to my religious ed students during our circle time.  Katie saw the book and kept bringing it to me so I figured I'd read her a story and see if she was interested in it despite there not being many pictures in it.  She liked the book enough to bring it to me four more times for another story.  She happily sits and listens to me read the stories.  I hope the kids in my class like it as much as she does.  I think the stories are nicely done.  I suspect Katie and I will take a couple of weeks to read the whole book since I have to read The Clown of God and Pascual and the Kitchen Angels between each story.  Have I mentioned that I read those two books a lot?  I really need to get hard bound copies of those titles.

Ellie has been reading The Lemonade War for her summer reading.  I started off by having her read the book to me since it was supposed to be at a higher grade level but she had no issues with reading the book so now she's reading it on her own.  She seems to be enjoying the story.  She's also been reading me the stories in the Devotional Stories for Little Folks, Too book.  I love these stories.  They always have such great lessons.

Madeline is doing her best to avoid reading her summer reading book for school.  Together we went over the list of approved books on the summer reading list and we chose The Crossing: How George Washington Saved the American Revolution.  I think the book is pretty dry.  Having read loads of history text books for fun in the past I think I can say with certainty that this is probably one of the least exciting history book I've ever paged through.

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