The Misadventures of Maude March by Audrey Couloumbis

I loved this book. My husband loves historical fiction so I bought this book for him. This book is set in 1869 in Iowa and Missouri. It is almost on the edge of the frontier. The heroines are a couple of orphaned young girls 11 and 15 years old. I just loved their spunky attitude and they never feel sorry for themselves. Everything in the world conspires against them yet they never give up. They just keep going. Loved this book.

Read Alouds

Right now I am reading two books aloud to my family. I am reading mostly to Isaac and Rebekah but everyone likes to listen.

The Fellowship of the Ring- I am reading it to Isaac. My older boys have read this book themselves and they all love it. I only read when Isaac has his homework done so it is slow going. I hope to finish this month. I am over half way. Every time I read these books I fall in love with Tolkien's talent for language. It is also different reading it aloud. The language is so beautiful it begs to be read aloud. I am loving this book-again.

To Rebekah I am reading Paint the Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan. I really like this book too. It hones in on every little girls love of horses and then take a turn for extreme adventure. She also write so well it is fun to read it aloud. This is again one of my favorite author's. She wrote Esperanza Rising. I think everyone should read that book. I have never looked at immigrants the same after that book.

Mormon Scientist

I just finished this book. I loved it. It was one of those book that I had to read slowly so I understood everything. I did not want to miss a thing. I had to look up the theory he came up with. I can not imagine how difficult it was to study chemistry and physics with out knowing all the things we take for granted now. That ART theory is the key to everything. Imagine doing all of that with sliderules. What could he have done with a computer. He was amazing. He was also so caring.

One of my favorite stories was about his son Hal,(Henry B. Eyring). To live at home for college, the price of room and board was a physics major. Since he lived with one of the greatest mathematicians of all times, he often asked his dad for help. When Henry realized he was helping with the same kind of problems over and over he asked him, " When you walk down the street, when you're in the shower, when you don't have to be thinking about anything else, isn't this what you think about?" That just made me laugh. Who thinks about physics that much. That reminded me so much of my dad. He thought about chemistry that way. But then I thought about what I do think about like that. I came to the realization that I think about my family like that. My children-Kaber especially right now-my husband. What they are doing? Where are they? Are they happy? Are they safe? I decided that is ok. It made me think I have my priorities in the right place. This is the guilt of a working mom talking. I don't think about school like that, so I know my real priority is my family.

Enough of that. I really loved this book. I recommend it to everyone that has the least interest in science.

I can't get my picture to post but I will do it later.

Replay by Sharon Creech

Sharon Creech is one of my favorite authors. She writes realistic fiction and her protagonists are usually young adults. This book is really funny and touching. The main character is a 12 year old boy. He is lost in his boisterous Italian family. His name is Leo but everyone calls him "fog boy" or "Sardine" because he one time said he feels like a sardine smashed between his siblings. I could really relate to the big family aspect of the story. One of my biggest fears is that my kids ever feel as lost and overlooked as this boy did. I love the ending that shows just how much his family and extended family love him.

Other books by Sharon Creech I love:
Walk Two Moons-one of my favorite books of all times
Bloomability-very cheerful, what every teenage girl wants her life to be like.
Wanderer-I love the discovery in this book.
Ruby Holler-Great look at the good part of human nature

By Way of Introduction

I love books. I feel that there are so many good books out there and I want to read them all. I do not have lots of time to read. (I teach full time and have eight children the youngest one is only three.) But, I can't imagine not reading at all. I teach third grade. It is the time that kids move from struggling to read to actually enjoying reading. One of my greatest joys is matching students with books that they love, especially for reluctant readers. I know there are books out there for every kid.

That leads me to my taste in books. I do not like most adult literature. I don't need to read about sexual situations or crude language or swearing. I like most children's literature and young adult literature. I like all genre but fantasy is my favorite. Some of my favorite books are the Lord of the Ring trilogy and the Harry Potter series. I really do love them. Lately I have fallen under the spell of vampires. I don't usually read something everyone else really likes. That is the rebel in me. However, when DiAnn and Emily recommended Twilight. I had to read it and I was hooked. I thought they were great.

Why the blog? I really like reading Julie's blog about books. I wont read as much as she does but I love to talk about what I read. I wont be posting pictures of my kids so it does not have to be private. Anyone can read about the books I read.