What We've Been Reading

1)  We just finished listening to Watership Down by Richard Adams.  This edition was from audible and was read by Ralph Cosham.  The book is simply amazing!  I read it when I was a kid and now my kids have "read" it too.  It's hard to recommend books to the kids.  They always think my choices are dorky.  But if you listen to them on tape together, they don't have any choice!  And my kids have always been good listeners, so they get sucked in very easily.  We usually spend at least half an hour before bed every night listening to a story.  Sometimes I read a book to them, and sometimes we download an audio book.  Watership Down is a beautiful story and I do recommend it for all ages.  Ralph Cosham does a very good job of making the rabbit characters come to life.  Jack said, "That was just a really good story."   

Now we have moved on to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, written by Douglas Adams and read by Stephen Fry.  More classics from my childhood!  The kids are giggling away at this one!

2)  Ginny read Shakespeare's Secret by Elise Broach for her Reading class.  We both really liked this book!  It was well written and had a story that made you want to keep reading. Ginny didn't want to read this book at first, because the cover is creepy looking on this edition.  But she got over that and really enjoyed it!  There's a missing diamond pendant to find, and a mystery about Shakespeare to solve.

3)  Here's a book we just finished for History, D-Day The Invasion of Normandy, 1944 by Rick Atkinson.  This book is packed with wonderful pictures that are very interesting to look at.  I was honestly amazed at how much planning went into this invasion.  Just the sheer amount of stuff that was needed blew my mind.  You think, sure guns and food and medical equipment, but don't forget the maps and carrier pigeons and grave markers.  There's a wonderful photo on page 38 of an inflatable decoy tank.  They used these to try to trick the Germans into thinking they were building up an invasion force in another part of the country.  Wow.  This book is almost 200 pages.  It has enough details to blow a kid's mind, but not too much as to cause any boredom.  It's well worth a read, especially if you are studying World War II.

4)  Jack just finished Space Rocks! 2, For the Love of Gelo by Tom O'Donnell.  He loved book 1 and read book 2 in just a couple days.  He thinks these are really fun!  I have a feeling that most boys would probably like these!

5)  Ginny read The Feral Child by Che Golden.  She said it was a lot like The 13 Curses by Michelle Harrison as they are both about fairies and the fairy world.  She liked this book and would recommend it to others!

Have fun reading!