Recommended Reading: January-April

Looks like I am very behind on my recommended reading posts.  I am always tempted to stop doing them, but they are important for tracking our homeschool reading.  And since I have to report on that soon (May 3rd is our homeschool review)... I better get crackin'. I keep adding to this draft post.  Sorry to skip writing much in the way of reviews!

My books:

1. The Mapmakers Children - A beautifully told historical fiction about John Brown's family, the abolitionist movement, and infertility. Grown-ups only.
2. Longing for Home and Longing for Home Hope Springs - Another "Proper Romance" love story. Lots of interesting characters and a nice long plot evolution. It delves into the issues of Irish immigration and the potato famine. 
3. Anthology - spring, summer, fall proper romance
4. My Family and Other Animals - Gerald Durrell
5. The Human Super-organism  This is an awesome read about the different roles that microbes play in human health. I love and am kind of afraid of the thought that my body is made up of different habitats, worlds within worlds, of microbes working along side my cells. 
6. Dangerous by Shannon Hale; lovely author, great grown up read. Totally sucked me in for a day.
7. Brandon Sanderson - Alloy of the Law series- All the Mistborn books are great reads.

Kids:

1. Tuck Everlasting - I was not sure how the kids would like this.  They did not understand the philosophical parts about death and the circle of life, so a lot of the plot was lost on them.  Probably more of a 10 and up book. 
2. The Hobbit - Hubby read this to the kiddos.
3. Bull Run - children's history of the civil war
4. Just So stories by Rudjard Kipling
5. Fairest and Ella Enchanted- Gail Carson Levine
6. Johny Tremain by Esther Forbes - awesome historical fiction that brings the revolutionary war to life. The kids listened with rapt attention to the entire story.
7. Arabian nights as told by Jim Weiss
8. Wrinkle in Time - enjoyable and fairly deep, has levels of meaning for all ages.
9. Rebecca (American Girl) 1914
10. Wondla
11. Judy Moody I hate listening to these books in the car, but the kids love them, so I conceded.
12. River Secrets by Shannon Hale -Book 3 in the Goose Girl series.
13. Goose Girl
14. The War That Saved My Life - by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley; historical fiction set during the start of WWII through the Battle of Britain and ending at the Blitz.  Great for teaching kids about determination and accomplishing goals. Some rough themes about verbal and emotional abuse. 

Abi's Books

1. Harry Potter book 1&2
2. Tin Tin