Book Reports, First Quarter 2010

I've always wanted to keep a list of all the books I read in a year and decided this year I really would, mainly because I found it more and more difficult to remember them. I'm going to try to keep a running list and post it to the blog once a quarter. I'll include a sentence or two about the book or just link to a review, if I write one. I won't include the picture books I'm reading with the kids, but I think I will include the ones I'm previewing for when our children are older.


January

Dune Boy - The Early Years Of A Naturalist by Edwin Way Teale. Oh, how I wish my kids could have a childhood like this!

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. Michael O'Brien would disapprove (A Landscape With Dragons: The Battle for Your Child's Mind, reviewed in Part I and Part II) but Kansas Dad and I both enjoyed the series.

February

Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific by Raft by Thor Heyerdahl - the surprisingly gripping memoir of a trip across the Pacific to prove the possibility of people traveling from South America to the South Pacific by balsa raft.

Young at Art by Susan Striker

The Tombs of Atuan (The Earthsea Cycle, Book 2) by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Great Fire of London by David A. Weiss. I'm sure there are hundreds of books on the
Great Fire, and I couldn't possibly say if this is better than any of the others, not having read any of the others, but it was a nice short history of the fire and the rebuilding of London.

The Farthest Shore (The Earthsea Cycle, Book 3) by Ursula K. Le Guin

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fford

Big Cotton: How a Humble Fiber Created Fortunes, Wrecked Civilizations, and Put America on the Map by Stephen Yafa. This book describes cotton's relationship with humans beginning with pre-industrial civilizations all the way through modern dilemmas like organic farming and global trade. I found it interesting, though I once again feel a great need to purchase only organic cotton products (which we cannot afford). I'm not sure I agree with all the author's assertions, but it was an interesting read.

Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson. A wonderful story for young adults telling of a teenagers life as a homesteader alone in Montana.

Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum by Laura M. Berquist

 March

St. Augustine Answers 101 Questions on Prayer edited by Fr. Cliff Ermatinger, ED (The Catholic Company review) link to review

Books Before Five by Dorothy White


Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. I read this in 9th grade and am quite sure I missed the point entirely. I'm so glad I picked up again. It is much more disturbing than I remember it, but now I'm a mother and reading about all those babies in bottles was unsettling.

Fire Watch by Connie Willis. A collection of twelve short stories, some of which I enjoyed quite a bit.