Best Books I've reviewed this year...

The Best Books I've read this year as a Book Review Blogger...

Most of these books have been from the programs I've been a part of this year. Last week, I realized that I've read and reviewed about 70 books this year. I realized that really has been my hobby this year. =) I wouldn't have read most of them on my own and have been so thankful that I did! I post my reviews on my blogs, but I was talking to my husband about my favorite books from the year and he encouraged me to write a list. So, here it is =)

for me:
Love in The Driest Season by Neely Tucker: Powerful memoir about his life, marriage, interracial marriage, Africa, foreign press reporting... I wish everyone would read it. It was that good and made that big an impact on my view of the world.

Trusting God by Jerry Bridges: Jerry Bridges explains how and why we trust God and what that means to live that out and truly believe God is sovereign. He doesn't use Christianese. He explains the words he uses like God's sovereignty

Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges: What he said about Ungodliness really hit hard and I loved his analogy that a machine can't work without electricity: the Holy Spirit is the electricity and we are the machine.

A Praying Life by Paul Miller: In my busyness with the kids, I have struggled to sit and pray. I haven't been able to quiet myself yet, but I am realizing how much I need to do that. He addresses cynicism in a way that I never expected.

This Momentary Marriage by John Piper: Most of John Piper's books are too thick for me to digest while tackling everything at home. But this is a short one that is wonderful--the best marriage book I've read, ever.

Most Unusual Book: Notes from a Tilt a Whirl--This book was a complete surprise to me and my husband. You can pick it up and set it down after reading just a page--but have completely and thoroughly enjoyed that page. It is part philosophy, part poetry, part theology, part science, part memoir, part art... And the writing is very good. It is an extremely rare book that both my husband and I enjoy, but this was the one for this year.

Favorite Cookbooks: Pie, Soup, and Apple Pie by Ken Haedrichs (3 different cookbooks). I like the way he writes and the stories he tells--but most of all the cookbooks have been great. I happened upon his cookbooks at a book sale and tried them out and loved them!

for the kids:
Read and Share Bible: very Biblical Children's Bible Storybook. And Autumn absolutely loves it! Great for 3-7 yr olds.
The Jesus Book: The Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How about Jesus. We repeated the 5 W questions each night before we read it. I haven't seen another book like it for kids 4-8 yrs.

Favorite Picture Book:
Mortimer's First Garden by Karma Wilson is about Mortimer the mouse planting a seed and watching it grow--and realizing that it is God who makes the plants grow. Such a sweet book.

Favorite Board Book:
Do's and Don'ts by Todd Parr I don't know if I've ever read a funnier board book. This one has been out a while and it wasn't a part of the blog program (all the others except for Momentary Marriage have been), but we just found it this year and laughed for several weeks.

Favorite surprise for the kids:
Hooked on Phonics! I was so cynical and didn't think I'd like it. But, I received the PreK, 1st, and 2nd grade sets from reviewing and loved them! I love the videos (and I'm not a video teaching person) and Autumn looks forward to it every week. It's made her reading stronger eventhough she has a 3rd grade reading level. Sami is looking forward to the K set--I liked them so much, I'm going to purchase that one. It's been a great addition to our homeschooling and Explode the Code and 100 Easy Lessons

Best Listening:
Screwtape Letters by Focus On the Family: They published the radio drama they did. Andy Serkis, the voice of Gollum in the Lord of the Rings was Screwtape--imagine that one. It was very, very good. It challenged me to think about a lot of things, but I had to listen to it in the light and not the dark!

Missing Pieces

The other day I was discussing a book with my mom and explaining to her my concern about how "blame" is cast upon the child in the story. My mom commented about how deeply I read and consider what is written. Sometimes I wonder if I go overboard. Am I questioning too much? Am I overreacting? Why am I reacting this way? I come back to knowing that God wired me this way. But, I also reflect on how God has guided my path through the maze of books I've read over the past few years and what I've learned from the books themselves and from reading them. Recently, I read a book that troubled me. The book I finished reading was Guiltless Living by Ginger Hubbard. When I began reading it, I found myself puzzled and then disconcerted. And in the end, I cried. But, I cried for a different reason than one might suspect. I'd like to explain. I did not read Ms. Hubbard's previous book “ Don't Make Me Count to Three ”, but I knew from f...

listening or rather not listening to directions...

This week has been very eye opening. I am observing and noticing what I need to learn in order to be a better homeschooling mom and teacher and what my daughter needs to learn to be a good homeschooling student. My weakness when I was a teacher in a first grade classroom was not understanding how small concepts had to be broken down--and I lost my patience very quickly. This week, in particular today, I am seeing how detailed my directions need to be. I am going to be working very consciously and deliberately on this. On the other hand, I realized that my daughter does not listen! Wowsers! In a classroom, Autumn listens very well. She is a compliant child and very influenced by peer pressure and conformity. So, she listens along with everyone else and follows directions. But, at home, it's just Autumn and maybe Sami and Mommy. Very, very different! I had forgotten that most of kindergarten in the public schools is not focused on teaching students academic and learning co...

Writing A Homeschool Teacher Resume

I'm helping a friend who's switching jobs write a resume. She hasn't written one in years, so this is something new. I began working on her resume, but then stopped to write my own because I thought it might be helpful. Being a homeschool teacher may not seem to many like an occupation or career, but it is. I used the combined form of resume for myself. I began with the basic information, then moved on to strengths (the combined skills/experience part), education, Occupational Experience, then Related Experience, Certifications, Computer Skills, and mentioned at the end... References Available Upon Request. Sometimes homeschooling parents have to reenter the workplace because of family changes and needs. How could you express what you've been doing in a way that's acceptable for a resume? Well, here's my take on it... Teacher, Homeschool ...

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