104:106 The First Americans by Joy Hakim

Book 1 in the History of Us series which we are using for 5th & 8th grade US History.  It's a two year course so I'll be working on these for a while.  Honestly, I'm not overly thrilled with the series.  It's very jumpy in it's telling and the language isn't as engaging as I was hoping for.  Matthew loved it in 5th grade but hates it now.  I can see why.  It's working well for Jonathan tho with the super short chapters.  So long as it's working, we'll stick with it but I was so hoping for something more engaging like the Oxford series we did for middle school Ancient History.

Page count: 165p/31,130p ytd

104:105 Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder

This book tells the story of a year in her husband's childhood.  It was a wonderful insight into a boys' life in a different part of the country and the attitudes of the time.  I'm enjoying reading about the earlier times in our country's past and I really enjoyed sharing it with Jonathan.

Page Count: 357p/30,965p ytd

104:104 The Story of Martha by Dan Abnett

Doctor Who novel.  This tells of Martha's journey during the year of the Master's reign on Earth.  I had hoped for a bit more of her travels but mostly it concentrates on the stories she tells of adventures with the Doctor that we didn't see in the show.  It was interesting but not fabulous.

Page count: 238p/30,608p ytd

And with that I've made my book count for the year with a few weeks to spare.  I've only read 38 new authors tho and just under 31,000 pages so I'll be working on trying to complete those before the end of the year.

104:103 The Good, The Bad, and The Uncanny by Simon Green

The 10th book in the Nightside series.  Walker is dying and has decided that John is the only person who can take over his job.  Larry Oblivion is still upset by the disappearance of his brother, Tommy, who John was supposed to be taking care of during the Lilith War.  Larry and Tommy's brother Hadleigh, Walker's predecessor and now the Detective Inspectre, has been seen around which is never a good thing.  In all, a typical day in John Taylor's life.

Lot's of stuff goes down in this one and it's interesting to finally get a bit more inside Walker's head as he is taking John around trying to convince him to take his place and I think it will be interesting to see where things go from here now that Walker is gone.  John has said he won't step into his shoes but if he doesn't, who will?

Page count: 273p/30,370p ytd

104:102 Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

I really didn't know what to expect from this book.  The cover has a picture of a little girl floating a few inches over the ground and the dust jacket talks about children who may have been more than peculiar, they may be dangerous.  The only other thing I knew is that it was coming highly recommended from the people at my bookstore and a couple of friends.

So what is it about?  Jacob's grandfather has filled Jacob's head with fantastical stories from a young age about monsters and a fairy island and peculiar children with amazing talents.  As with all children tho, Jacob grew up and eventually became disillusioned with his grandfather's tales.  Until the night his grandfather was murdered and Jacob saw something out of a nightmare in the dark.  Now he wants to figure out the meaning of his grandfather's last words and that leads him on an adventure he never could have imagined to find not only his grandfather's past but himself as well.

Incredibly engaging, well written characters.  The black and white photographs woven into the book were a fantastic touch and the whole story was captivating.  A definite must read!

Page count: 348p/30,097p ytd

104:101 If I'm So Smart, Why Can't I Lose Weight? by Brooke Casillo

A friend recommended this one to me and it was eye-opening.  There were some tools (as she calls them) that I found incredibly helpful and have started using already.  There were some that I had only recently figured out in the last year or so before reading this and it was nice to see validation of what I believed from another source.  There are others that I think it will take more time to internalize and I need to do her exercises on them to fully incorporate but they will be helpful in the long-run.  I read through it quickly the first time to get a feel for the information she was presenting and I want to noodle it a bit before diving into it again.  The 100 Days of Weight-Loss that I am doing seems to be very on track with many of the same concepts but I think the next time I feel my program slipping I will be picking this back up and going over it more slowly, taking time to do all the exercises and letting each one sink in more fully before moving on.

Page count: 246p/29,749p ytd

104:100 The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens

I don't know why it took me so long to get around to reading this as it was part of a treasury of classics that I've had since I was little but I always just read A Christmas Carol and never kept going.  It was Matt's bookclub read for December so I decided to go ahead and finally read it.

It was a sweet tale and endearing although I could have wished that John had trusted in Dot enough to speak with her although that wouldn't have given us the scene of hearth and home.  

I did try reading it to Jon and Nick but it was too slow moving to keep their attention.   Pretty sure Matt is going to feel the same way.  It definitely feels more like an adult tale than a children's due to the pacing.

Page count: 90p/29,503p ytd