What we’re reading

This is a kinda/sorta list of books that we’re enjoying. Not counting books read “for school” because that would just be too much work for me. I’m leaving out the self-help books too. I’ll do my best to keep track of what they’re reading, but I have a feeling this list will be kind of spotty. Oh well.

[editor's note: this page is totally out of date. It was way too hard to keep on top of all of the books everyone was reading. I just can't bear to delete it.]

Tee

August

• Star Wars Boba Fett series #1-6
• Any and all comic books
• Animorphs series
• King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table by Antonia Fraser
• My Hero Hercules by Priscilla Galloway

September

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Geronimo Stilton books, gobbled like potato chips
• Erik the Viking by

October

• Beyond the Deepwoods, book 1 of the Edge Chronicle series
• Fattypuffs and Thinifers by ? ……..a highly un-PC book written ages ago about a family with a mum, a dad, and two sons. The mum and one son are plump, the dad and the other son are skinny. The boys fall through a crack in the earth and visit an underground world where one boy ends up with the Fattypuffs and the other with the Thinifers, and there is a war. Sounds dreadful, but is really quite benign. And strangely compelling.
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

November

• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

December

• The Boy With the Bronze Axe by Kathleen Fidler
• The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis

January/February

• Hobby by Jane Yolen
• Passager by Jane Yolen
• Merlin by Jane Yolen
• Horrible History
• Choose Your Own Adventure books
  

Jay

August

• Rainbow Magic series: Jewel Fairies#1-4/Weather Fairies#1-3/Rainbow Fairies#1-7/Summer Vacation Fairy
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

September

• Mrs. Pepperpot Stories by Alf Proysen
• The Strongest Girl in the World/The Invisible Boy by Sally Gardner
• Christopher Mouse by William Wise

October

• having another stab at Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

November

• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

December

• Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder

January/February

• Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
• Frog and Toad series for beginning readers
• Poppleton series for beginning readers
• Run Reddy Run
• Alice in Wonderland
• 
  

Reading Aloud

• James and The Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster….both of the big kids list this one as one of their all time favorites. It’s about a little boy who thinks that everything is boring and a waste of time, until he takes a magical trip to a strange land. The book is full of word plays and double meanings. Tee likes it so much that he’s going to read it to himself right after we’re done.
• Poppy by Avi…..a story told from a deermouse’s point of view. Exciting, full of narrow escapes. Well-drawn characters. Nice little line drawings on almost every page. Explores themes of loyalty, friendship, trust, curiousity and courage.
• Paddle-to-the-Sea by Holling Clancy Holling
• Ereth’s Birthday by Avi…….in the Poppy series. About a porcupine.
• The Kite Rider by Geraldine McCaughrean
• Dragon’s Blood by Jane Yolen (1st in the Pit Dragon Trilogy)
• Heart’s Blood by Jane Yolen….meant for teens, I think, because of the mentioned romance, and a fairly political book, but still much enjoyed by Tee because of the dragons and dragon fighting.
• Half Magic by Edward Eager
• Poppy and Rye by Avi…second book in the Poppy series. In which Poppy, the deermouse goes on an adventure in the forest and meets an orange mouse named Rye.
• My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
  
• Frightful’s Mountain by Jean Craighead George
• The Man Who Made Gold
• Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel
  

El Burro

• The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence
• When Alice Lay Down With Peter by Margaret Sweatman
• A Daytripper’s Guide To Manitoba by Bartley Kives
• Hiking the Heartland by the Prairie Pathfinders
• The White Masai by Corrine Hoffman….I was intrigued by the idea of this white woman living among nomadic black Africans, but then found myself annoyed with the author’s naivety.
• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
• Runaway by Alice Munro
• Why Good People Do Bad Things by James Hollis PhD
• The Happiness Hypothesis..Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom by Jonathan Haidt
• A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon…..he also wrote The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.
• Mothers and Other Monsters by Maureen F. McHugh……a collection of short stories
• okay, I’ll come out of the closet……Oprah magazine
• The New Yorker magazine, when I can get my hands on an issue
• Talking Hands by Margolit Fox…..about a remote village in the Middle East where everyone speaks sign language. Interesting place for linguists because the language was created by the inhabitants, without outside influence.
• Lullabies For Little Criminals by Heather O’Neill
• The Red Shoes..Margaret Atwood Starting Out by Rosemary Sullivan
• Me to We..Finding Meaning in a Material World by Craig and Marc Kielburger
• The Secrets of a Fire King by Kim Edwards……a collection of short stories by the author of The Memory Keepers Daughter
• A Joseph Campbell Companion….Reflections on the Art of Living selected and edited by Diane K. Osbon…..Is it just me, is he a little on the arrogant side?
• The Sea by John Banville
• Struck by Lightning….The Curious World of Probabilities by Jeffrey S. Rosenthal
• The Great Santini by Pat Conroy
• Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert…Being the athiest that I am, I thought this might not be for me, but I’m nothing if not open minded (Ha!) and it was a bday present (thanks, S) and as it turned out, I loved it. Loved the writing style, loved the bit about India so much that I felt tempted to turn my house into an ashram.
• Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides….I’m still plugging away at this thick one. I want to like it, but it’s slow going, and it’s okay, but I can’t say that I love it. A bit too wordy. Finally finished, and it’s not on my top ten list.
• Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress
• kids are worth it! by Barbara Coloroso
• Little Book of Big Ideas….Philosophy by Dr. Jeremy Stangroom The Cole’s Notes version of philosophy. It was on sale. For good reason.
• Life of Pi by Yann Martel
• Life Learning Magazine
• Six Psychological Studies by Jean Piaget
• The Penal Colony by Franz Kafka
• The Developing Mind by Daniel J. Siegel
• The Film Club by David Gilmour
• Welfare Brat by
• The Glass Castle by Jeanette Wall
• The Girl’s Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank
• Graceful Simplicity…The Philosophy and Politics of the Alternative American Dream by J. Segal
• Unconditional Parenting by Alfie Kohn