July 2015 Book Reports

Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives by Gretchen Craft Rubin is a book Kansas Dad brought home from the library and I read because I know habit formation is one of the pillars of Charlotte Mason's philosophy. I was hoping it would give me some new tools in the habit formation of my children. There is not much new in this book for those who have already thought and read much on habit formation. The main addition, I think, is her suggestion to identify the type of person you are in terms of how you decide to change your habits. Using that identification, you can sift through the recommendations for changing habits to choose those that are most likely to work in conjunction with your type. Kansas Dad, for example, is a man of logic. Convince him his life needs to change and he will change it. I'm what she calls an Obliger, which means I'm more likely to start and maintain a new habit if I feel like someone else is depending on me. Unfortunately, the book rambles a lot and the most useful tools for each type are much more difficult to find within the text than I would have liked. It's not a difficult book to read and didn't take very long, but I think it could have been cut to about a third of its length and made more immediately useful. (library copy)

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car by Ian Fleming is a delightful story. I think it's recommended as a read-aloud on one of the Mater Amabilis pages, though I can't find it now. The Pott family adventures are a delight and I look forward to reading this book aloud to my children next year. I think they'll all enjoy it (from 11 down to 5). (library copy)

Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll was a book I read aloud to the children over the summer. In general, I don't think we enjoyed it as much as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but it was worth reading. (library copy)

The Good Galilean by Alban Goodier is not a book on the historical Jesus, but rather one that delves deeply into the Scriptural Jesus, who he was and how he behaved in his time on earth as reported in the Gospels. It would be a good choice for reading before the Blessed Sacrament. (purchased from the publisher during one of their excellent sales)

A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare Made Easy) by William Shakespeare. We memorized pieces from this play last year but I didn't get around to finishing the entire play myself until the summer. I read from this Shakespeare Made Easy version which has a modern English translation alongside the original. I only read the modern version if I'm not sure what's going on but I find it helpful to have alongside. I love to read the plays when we are studying them, even if the children never hear the whole play from beginning to end. (copy requested from PaperBackSwap.com)

The Vile Village (A Series of Unfortunate Events, No. 7) by Lemony Snickett. I might post about this series when we finish it. (audio version from the library)

I'll skip the list of books in progress until I catch up on my book reports

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These reports are my honest opinions.