Recommended Reading: August-September

I know. I know. We are very behind on blogging. Technical difficulties. They have mostly been resolved and we are back on track.

Lots of riding in the car from my brother P's house, where we are staying in his basement during the house sale, to our lessons, old neighborhood etc, means that we have been able to do a lot of reading in the car. I finally received a book that I put on hold months ago: Citizens of London - Americans Who Stood With Britain in its Darkest, Finest Hour.  It was worth the wait. I love a well written story especially when it is all true. The story follows three American men who played crucial roles in Britain during WWII.  I was struck by several things. First, I did not realize that Britains suffered so many shortages during the war and well into the 1950s. While the US was enjoying the economic windfalls of wartime production and the baby boom, the British lost most of their colonial economic advantages and would never again be the world power that they were before the war. Things like clothing were rationed in Britain long after the war.  They did not get to come home and celebrate like the Americans did.  Their towns and cities were the buffer and bore the brunt of bombing, reconstruction, and also civilian casualties. Before the Americans joined in the fight half of the supply ships trying to bring goods to Britain were being sunk by German U-boats. Then American soldiers inundated Britain, taking over whole swathes of the country to make army and airforce bases, particularly during the ramp up to D day. Also, the American soldiers were hugely spoiled compared to all their British and European counterparts. Their ration allotments, pay, and uniforms were all incredibly generous relative to the meager allowances of our allies.  I could go on.  A wonderfully written history - Highly recommended!

We have also done a lot of reading aloud with the kiddos.  Here are the ones that I remember:

All great books. I would say that all except the Spiderwick series are pretty girl focused.  I remember reading King of the Wind when I was a kid and loving it. Glad that A loves horses and reading now too. I had already read the Penderwicks books too and am still loving them the second or third time reading them.