Have you all discovered Good Reads yet?
If not, let me help correct this oversight on your part because...hello, constant book recommendations that actually fit your personal likes and dislikes with regards to genre...umm, yes please?
I know...book nerd...
if you love me, you will bear with it...
Anyway, so you remember my dilemma with the whole "math thing" from another post?
Crazy thing, they don't JUST learn math in school...
nope, they get all floozy on you and have to go and teach social studies and science and apparently how to run around a gym and stretch (because we all know that's about the only thing goin' for you when you're approaching 40, have birthed 3 children and are up late at night trying to determine how much material Mrs. Winn will need for m shirts and (m+2) dresses)...
Anyway, alongside all this education...they've got to read...and this my friends, is where I am able to swoop in and save the day...this is my specialty...Far be it from me to be slacking on the job when it comes to reading...oh no...I will sacrifice, I will put down that toilet bowl brush and those laundry baskets of clothing...I will put myself on the line as I kick the vacuum to the curb...all in the name of READING! I will forfeit my rights as homemaker for the betterment of my children by forcing myself to sit on the couch and read through books, whilst sipping coffee for nourishment as the hours pass by.
I know...it's tough...but, that's my mom job! I WILL take up that torch!
My children are 6th, 4th and kindergarten grade levels...Some might say that I can be a bit over-protective when it comes to what my kids are exposed to...and though I could get all sarcastic and tell you what I really think about others who think they know better about what is best for my own children, suffice it to say, I just try to be kind and understand that my girls are MY girls and we'll just leave it at that.
My girls tend to be picky when it comes to reading...they are not book mongers like their mother, much to my chagrin, but so be it...they also are a lot more merciful and patient like their father and I wouldn't trade that for the world...so I take them as they are :)
With their "picky" standards, I can often come home from my bi-weekly trips to the library with 20-40 different books from which they choose MAYBE one to read. This can be exhausting and a tad frustrating because if they knew the amount of energy that went into me perusing the shelves after scouring the reviews and reserving books weeks in advance, they'd perhaps have a different approach to their choice of reading material (or maybe not, because let's face it, they are 12, 9 and 6)
That said, with 3 girls, all at different reading levels and all liking different genres, my goal is to expose them to good literature...I know, I know, it's often said, that as long as they are reading, blah blah...and I get that to a point, but I'm going to tell you that I believe there IS a difference between reading a recipe book or a magazine as opposed to a novel by J.R.R. Tolkien or Jane Austen...I want to expose my girls to better literature so that they will have the lifelong desire for the written word.
And so, I spend considerable amounts of late night hours reading a plethora of genres, authors, and reading levels...I'm trying to find books that are not only age appropriate, but at the same time will provide them with a rich development of character and storyline.
Over the years, we've read countless books...classics, historical fiction, realistic fiction, fantasy, mystery...Infact, I've actually listed a few of the books HERE in a past blog post. These are books more for my younger elementary girls.
I was bemoaning to Italian Stallion the fact that kids just aren't into books like Anne of Green Gables anymore ( my all time favorite series..IN. THE. WORLD.). He was clearly disinterested in my summation and perplexed as to why I couldn't just make the girls read it and then they'd love it like I did...to which I explained that the Anne series to them, was like forcing me to read Jane Austen as a 6th grader...the literature is great, but the content gap (at this season of life and generation) is widespread. Just read the very first SENTENCE in Anne of Green Gables and you will understand...(go ahead, I dare you)
Therefore, I spend my time trying to discover more recent books that will maintain that same level of richness, but keep their attention as well...
Here's what I've been reading lately...
side note: some of these are absolutely not age appropriate for even my 6th grader at this time (in my opinion) but I'm reading them so that I have my arsenal ready for when the time comes)
Divergent Series: This series, is that whole Dystopian genre phenomenon...to be flat out honest, it was disturbing...even more so than Hunger Games (and I thoroughly enjoyed the literature of Susanne Collin's stories, although lots of disclaimers there as well, as seen in THIS post awhile back) And spoiler alert: I hated the way they ended it in Allegient...seriously, let's go from depressing to DEPRESSING!
Goose Girl Series: I love me some Shannon Hale books...If you've heard me rave about Princess Academy, then you'll know that I love this gal's writing. Whereas Princess Academy didn't really fit into any genre (it never gave a time period, although I suppose historical might be the closest to compare) Goose Girl definitely fit into more of the medieval realm. And, being the mom of girls, I loved the heroines!
Percy Jackson series: I loved the Harry Potter series...excellent writing, overwhelming imagination and good overturns evil...(however, I have made my girls wait long periods between books because of the "dark" in them and my understanding of their individual emotional maturity...currently, my 4th grader is allowed to finish book 4 and will wait to continue...this is probably worthy of an entirely different blog post but I'll save you and stop here) Percy Jackson is Harry Potter in Greek Mythology. Percy = Harry, and he has a friend that's a girl (aka Hermioine) that's super smart and a guy buddy that's a little dense but loyal (aka Ron) and they all go to Half Blood camp (aka Hogwarts)...It's a fun story line filled with adventure and decision making. I got more hung up on all their "god talk"...and after the 3rd book, I had to put it down because I was tired of them "praying to the gods", "sacrificing to the gods", and all the gods coming down to have sex with all the humans to create "demigods" so much so, that it filled the Half Blood camp...etc etc...it's probably not one I'd recommend for my girls, unless they go wildfire crazy about Harry Potter ...(I have a thing about NOT desensitizing them and I think it's a fine line between informing/living IN this world and just accepting things as they are, especially as it concerns their relationship with Jesus) anyhoo, that's my two cents.
The Book Thief: I'm one of those ridiculous people that upon discovering that a movie is based upon a book, I won't go see the movie until I've actually read the book...therefore, I've had this book on the waiting list for awhile now. I know it's about Nazi Germany and therefore I know it's going to be sad and depressing too. But, I love historical fiction, even if it brings feelings of sadness and outrage. I'm halfway through this right now.
My line up currently in the book basket is Eragon, a plethora of Inspirational fiction reads just for me, a retelling of The Scarlet Letter, and I'm waiting on another teen fantasy series to come in on reserve at the library, again just to see what's out there for my girls. This along side the fun series of Kylie Jean for Little Munchkin and finishing up the Gregor series with Peanut. Peanut is also currently reading Poetry Novel entitled Inside Out and Back Again of which I'm anxious to get my hands on and finish before her just so I have an idea of what's going on before she writes up her response/reaction to that new genre.
Sweetpea is working on the UnWanteds Series by Lisa McMann...and those of you that know my Calculus teacher from good ole FRHS...yep, that's his daughter in law...she's a well known author in the youth fiction department. I was giddy to find this series. I remember Mr. McMann's son Matt (Lisa' husband) and so I scooped up this series as soon as I learned of it. It's basically Harry Potter meets Hunger Games...a much more tame than Hunger Games, but all the excitement and wizardry of J.K. Rowling.
Well..that's my blabbing for today...my blogging is sporadic at best..hope you'll bear with me...
