September 2022 Book Reports

Talking Leaves by Joseph Bruchac - link to my post (library copy)

The Foundations of Western Civilization by Thomas F. X. Noble (Great Courses audiobook) - This is one of the honors selections for high school history in the Mater Amabilis plans for Level 5 and Level 6. It provides an overview of the history of Europe from the flourishing of Mesopotamia through the beginning of the modern world. (The history plans then introduce a few other audiobooks for more recent history.) I listened to these lectures relatively slowly alongside my student and enjoyed them. (purchased audiobook)

Works of Mercy by Sally Thomas - link to my post (purchased copy)

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe - I didn't assign this book to my older three kids, but decided to assign it to my youngest in Level 3 for one of his classic books. (We recommend three a year in Level 3.) Most of the book was rather slow, compared to more modern books, but there was value in reading it. (copy received from another member of PaperBackSwap.com)

Herodotus and the Road to History by Jeanne Bendick - I read this aloud to my kids back in 2016. I never assigned it for independent reading, so I read it aloud once more for the benefit of my youngers. (purchased copy)

Post Captain by Patrick O'Brien - This is the second in the Captain Aubrey series, which begins with Master and Commander. Sometimes I think I miss half of what goes on in these novels, but I love them. They're exciting and funny, though certainly not for young ears. (copy received from another member of PaperBackSwap.com)

Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment by Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, and Cass R. Sunstein - This book points out all the ways our judgment is flawed, and not just for the kinds of biases you anticipate. Despite finding it a bit repetitive at times, I am glad I listened to it and definitely think about how my current state of mind or circumstances can make a difference in how I'm making decisions. It's a worthwhile book to check out. (purchased audiobook)

The Pink Motel by Carol Ryrie Brink - This book by the author of Caddie Woodlawn was recently republished. I saw it shared on Facebook and asked our local library to buy a copy, which they did! It's a fun little story with a fair bit of excitement and adventure, parents who are a bit flakey, and kids who discover all the answers. There is a black character depicted in a way that is friendly, but not up to modern standards. The publishers have a little explanation and warning in the publisher's note before the story. I enjoyed this little book and encouraged my younger kids to read it on their own. (library copy)

Walking the Nile by Levinson Wood - Mr. Wood wrote this book about his attempt to walk the length of the Nile from its source to the Mediterranean Sea. His struggles with the weather, the terrain, and the people remind the reader that traveling in Africa still presents difficulties to the earliest European explorers. It's riveting. At first I was considering including it in the geography supplemental reading for my high school students, but by the end I decided the violence and griefs were a little too real. There is also a documentary, but I haven't watched it. (library copy)

Two Gentlemen of Verona by William Shakespeare (No Fear Shakespeare edition) - I read this ahead of the school year because I decided to assign it to my younger daughter (eighth grade, Level 4). It was a nice change from our usual selections. (purchased copy)

Grace Can Lead Us Home: A Christian Call to End Homelessness by Kevin Nye - link to my post (library copy)

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Amazon, Bookshop, and PaperBackSwap are affiliate links.

History, Geography, Culture...Life: Food: A Cultural Culinary History

Food: A Cultural Culinary History (The Great Courses)

by Ken Albala

Professor Albala attempts to cover all of human history through food. His focus is Western culture and Europe, but there are survey lectures for areas in Asia and Africa as well. In the later lectures, there is a definite bias toward local food and the kind of farm and table philosophy espoused by Wendell Berry and others, a bias that happens to coincide with my own. The last lecture, where Professor Albala predicts future movements in food, was my least favorite. Perhaps that's just because I don't want all his predictions to come to fruition.

In the video version of this series, he makes a few recipes. These are less interesting on audio, though they tended to be small parts of the lectures. I think all of the recipes are included in the PDF of the course guidebook. (These seem to be available on only some phones or apps, but they should always show up in your library on the actual Audible website.)

As I was listening, I found many connections and relationships with the high school coursework we are using, including that from Mater Amabilis™. I think a high school student (there are some references to mature themes, though none I remember being central to the ideas) could listen to this course from beginning to end as part of a high school course. It's a little short by itself to be an elective, not quite enough hours even for a quarter-credit.

Many of the lectures, however, would be a fun addition or supplement to other courses. Here are some ideas I had while listening.

European History - Many of these would be enjoyable and give a welcome respite from the heavy reading of Europe: A History.

• LECTURE 2: What Early Agriculturalists Ate
• LECTURE 3: Egypt and the Gift of the Nile
• LECTURE 5: Classical Greece—Wine, Olive Oil, and Trade
• LECTURE 6: The Alexandrian Exchange and the Four Humors
• LECTURE 9: Dining in Republican and Imperial Rome
• LECTURE 11: Europe’s Dark Ages and Charlemagne
• LECTURE 13: Carnival in the High Middle Ages
• LECTURE 15: A Renaissance in the Kitchen
• LECTURE 17: 1492—Globalization and Fusion Cuisines
• LECTURE 18: 16th-Century Manners and Reformation Diets
• LECTURE 19: Papal Rome and the Spanish Golden Age
• LECTURE 20: The Birth of French Haute Cuisine
• LECTURE 21: Elizabethan England, Puritans, Country Food
• LECTURE 22: Dutch Treat—Coffee, Tea, Sugar, Tobacco
• LECTURE 26: Eating in the Early Industrial Revolution

British History

• LECTURE 21: Elizabethan England, Puritans, Country Food
• LECTURE 25: Colonial Cookery in North America (or American History)
• LECTURE 26: Eating in the Early Industrial Revolution
• LECTURE 30: Food Imperialism around the World

Geography of Africa

• LECTURE 3: Egypt and the Gift of the Nile
• LECTURE 23: African and Aboriginal Cuisines

Geography of Asia

• LECTURE 4: Ancient Judea—From Eden to Kosher Laws
• LECTURE 7: Ancient India—Sacred Cows and Ayurveda
• LECTURE 8: Yin and Yang of Classical Chinese Cuisine
• LECTURE 12: Islam—A Thousand and One Nights of Cooking
• LECTURE 24: Edo, Japan—Samurai Dining and Zen Aesthetics

Geography of the Americas

• LECTURE 16: Aztecs and the Roots of Mexican Cooking
• LECTURE 25: Colonial Cookery in North America

Geography of Australasia

• LECTURE 23: African and Aboriginal Cuisines

Health

• LECTURE 27: Romantics, Vegetarians, Utopians
• LECTURE 29: Big Business and the Homogenization of Food
• LECTURE 32: War, Nutritionism, and the Great Depression
• LECTURE 33: World War II and the Advent of Fast Food

Economics

• LECTURE 29: Big Business and the Homogenization of Food
• LECTURE 32: War, Nutritionism, and the Great Depression

I have received nothing in exchange for this post of my honest opinions. Links to Amazon are affiliate links. I purchased this audiobook from Audible.

Level 5 European History with Norman Davies

The Mater Amabilis™ beta high school plans (which can be found in the Mater Amabilis™ for High School Facebook group) recommend Europe: A History by Norman Davies for the European History textbook. The book has twelve parts, which divides nicely into three parts each for four years. (Or, for those who want to finish in a shorter time, four parts each for three years.)

This is a dense and meaty text. It begins with a description of Europe's geography and a discussion on how its geographical features lend themselves to the development of a civilization. Part II covers Ancient Greece and Part III is Ancient Rome. These are the three parts we read in ninth grade (Level 5 Year 1).

I have recently prepared a study guide and mapping activities for the second three parts through the Middle Ages and up to 1493 (The Birth of Europe, The Middle Age, and Christendom in Crisis) for Level 5 Year 2.

Sally Thomas, one of the developers of the beta high school plans and a moderator in the Mater Amabilis™ Facebook groups began a study guide to provide definitions and guided questions. I started with her wonderful work and added mapping activities and finished it through Part VI. I will post those in the Facebook group.

The mapping activities ask my student to label a blank map with locations mentioned in the text. Personally I find that kind of preparatory work invaluable as I read a text because I am able to place events within a geographical space. My daughter has been doing these kinds of activities as she reads A Book of Discovery and has mentioned how beneficial she finds them as well.

I originally wrote the ninth grade study guide asking my son only to find the locations in our atlas, but I found throughout the year that he still couldn't remember even the most common locations from the text. So I wrote the tenth grade study guide to be more active as he labels a blank map, using our atlas to guide him. (I also went back and quickly revised the ninth grade one so it's ready for First Daughter.) I'm hopeful this additional engagement will help him form an internal map of Europe he'll be able to use throughout his life.

I have the third edition of the National Geographic Concise Atlas of the World which I have found sufficient though its more manageable size is possible by including fewer features and locations. There were a couple of things I just added myself (Nicaea, Mt. Athos, and Corinth, for example).

There are some maps within the text, but most tables and maps are relegated to the Appendix and most of those present multiple layers of information in a single page. My current high school student is the kind to immediately dismiss any thought of turning to the back of the book for additional information, so if I wanted him to look at something in the Appendix, I specifically required it in the study guide I wrote. I also supplemented the text with just a few maps in the study guide.

Because this text is so very dense, in the first year I often assigned only three or four pages. In the second year, I've increased that to an average of five pages. I think this will be acceptable as even my son agreed Davies was easier to digest after some practice. I also think the first chapter was the most difficult; it was much more abstract than the later ones. Part IV on the Birth of Europe is also more abstract than the following two parts.

While this book is used as a text in some college courses, it is an unusual choice for high school, partly because of its difficulty but also it's not a "textbook." Davies presents his own views alongside what others have said but without always identifying the "right" theory. Because it has only one author, it is easy to begin discussions by asking whether Davies is right: Does he present persuasive arguments? Have you learned something from another course or author that counters what he is saying?

Davies comments on everything. By the end of the book, a student will have encountered innumerable ideas and interrelationships between them. I know some other families in the Facebook group have opted for other history curricula, but I think this is a solid choice and I'm pleased with it.

If you have multiple students who will be using this text, I recommend a hardcover version. It's a large book and I think the hardcover will handle multiple years of use by multiple children better than paperback. It's relatively inexpensive used. (I accidentally ended up with two copies so if you're local and want one, let me know.)

I have receiving nothing in exchange for this post. I purchased this book used (and discovered Kansas Dad had purchased it new decades ago). All opinions are my own. Links above to Amazon are affiliate links.