A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf - Woolf says if you want to write a good book, you need peace, quiet, and security; that makes sense. Many of the statements she makes of women writers in her time apply to those who, of any gender or any race, today suffer from a lack of economic resources. (purchased used at a library book sale)
The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge - link to my post (purchased new)
Caryll Houselander: Essential Writings selected and with commentary by Wendy M. Wright - link to my post (interlibrary loan copy)
The Endless Steppe by Esther Hautzig - This is another possible book listed for further reading in the Level 4 history program at Mater Amabilis™for World War II. Esther was a young child in Poland when she and her parents were forcibly relocated to Siberia. There, they endured hunger, freezing weather, uncertainty, and hard labor. Esther learned Russian and enrolled at an excellent (for Siberia) school, thanks to the patronage of a family friend. As much as she loved her parents, she experiences some trepidation when it is time to return to Poland. This is a lovely story of family and thriving in a harsh environment but there a great shock when they finally learn what has befallen all the family they left behind. This would be an excellent choice for additional reading material. I don't think First Son will bother to read it, but First Daughter certainly will when she's in Level 4. (library copy)
The Shadow of His Wings: The True Story of Fr. Gereon Goldmann by Gereon Goldmann - link to my post (library copy)
If All the Swords in England by Barbara Willard - link to my post (purchased new)
Enemy Brothers by Constance Savery - link to my post (purchased new, probably from the publisher)
D-Day: 24 Hours that Saved the World from the editors of TIME - link to my post (library copy, but I then requested a copy from another member at PaperBackSwap.com)
Escape from Saigon: How a Vietnam War Orphan Became an American Boy by Andrea Warren - link to my post (library copy)
Skellig by David Almond - I picked up this book while perusing the library's new books shelf. It's an almost lyrical book telling a kind of modern-day fairy tale. A family moves, the baby came early and is sick, and the boy discovers a creature. Is it an angel? He and a nonconforming neighbor girl (who is homeschooled) befriend the creature and nurse him back to health. It certainly doesn't reflect strictly Catholic doctrine on angels, but I wouldn't stop my children from reading it. Apparently, it's a kind of sequel to My Name Is Mina, but I haven't read that one. (library copy)
All the Broken Pieces by Ann E. Burg - link to my post (library copy)
Redwall by Brian Jacques is a thrilling tale of a mouse who fulfills his destiny and helps to defend his abbey. The children loved every minute of it. We had to slow the recording down to about 0.85 so we could understand the narrator's accent, but it was worth it. Having multiple readers handling all the characters helped keep them separate for us as we listened. We listened to this in the van when Kansas Dad was with us. There were quite a few humorous parts that appeal to kids and dads. (full-cast production available on Audible)
Books in Progress (and date started)
- Norton Anthology of English Literature Vol. 2 (sixth edition) (August 2014)
- A Century of Sonnets edited by Feldman and Robinson (May 2017)
- The Complete Ramona books by Beverly Cleary (July 2017), listening with the kids
- History's Greatest Voyages of Exploration from The Great Courses (July 2017), listening with the kids
- Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (July 2017), listening on my own
- No Fear Shakespeare: Henry V (July 2017)
- Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing (August 2017)
- The Shepherd Who Didn't Run: Fr. Stanley Rother, Martyr from Oklahoma by Maria Ruiz Scaperlanda (August 2017)
- John Paul II: A Personal Portrait of the Pope and the Man by Ray Flynn (August 2017)
- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again by Frank Cottrell Boyce (August 2017), listening with Kansas Dad and the children
Links to RC History and PaperBackSwap.com are affiliate links. Other links (like those to Bethlehem Books) are not affiliate links.
These reports are my honest opinions.
