tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41278432024-03-07T01:08:15.314-07:00The Little BookroomKatyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.comBlogger232125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-37479529459082761972012-02-11T23:31:00.002-07:002012-02-11T23:43:59.355-07:00I've been reading a recent edition of John Holt's book of homeschooling, Teach Your Own, mostly because I think John Holt is brilliant. I don't, of course, need to be convinced that homeschooling is a good idea, but sometimes it is helpful to be reminded why I'm choosing to keep my children at home instead of sending them away and getting a little peace and quiet! In the 1970s, Holt wrote a Katyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-30637559230149330422012-02-05T23:04:00.004-07:002012-02-05T23:20:06.611-07:00A few months ago, my husband and I decided to embark upon a Jane Austen Retrospective, re-reading and discussing each of the novels together. So far we've read Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Emma, and Mansfield Park, and of course I've intended to write down my thoughts about each one as we've finished our discussions! I will try to return to the first three, as we did have some very Katyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-4304628267483862782011-11-24T21:58:00.003-07:002011-11-24T22:52:13.182-07:00Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child, by Anthony Esolen, came highly recommended, so I started reading my library copy with much enthusiasm. My husband stole the book after I'd read the first few chapters, and devoured the whole thing in a day, saying at the end that it was fantastic and we needed to own a copy. For the first few chapters, I agreed with both recommendations and was Katyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-48699240786448122042011-03-06T21:33:00.002-07:002011-03-06T21:53:12.340-07:00Well, I persevered through The Crowded Street, and in the end I suppose it was worthwhile. Perhaps I was in the wrong mood, or the comparison withMiss Buncle's Book was too stark, but I felt somewhat wearied by another story about a young woman whose family, situation, and disposition were all against her. Fortunately it ended well.Then I picked up The New House, by Lettice Cooper--this novel wasKatyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-57652785399352124152011-02-27T21:57:00.002-07:002011-02-27T22:36:19.063-07:00I took this photo because I misread the rules for a photo competition as part of the Persephone Reading Weekend. The competition was for something else, but I liked the picture and decided to post it here. The book (illustrated in the photo by my son's toys!) is The Crowded Street, by Winifred Holtby, my second Persephone of the weekend, and I must say it's rather hard going after the innocent Katyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-78724504385292800552011-02-27T21:08:00.002-07:002011-02-27T21:23:15.132-07:00I'm sliding this post in under the wire for Persephone Reading Weekend, I hope. We spent most of the weekend in town with my parents-in-law, which allowed me to read but not to blog. I had hoped to get through three Persephones, but sadly only managed one and a half; fortunately the one was very much worthwhile. Miss Buncle's Book, by D.E. Stevenson, reminded me a great deal of my first Katyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-45944623879122359482010-08-11T16:56:00.005-06:002010-08-11T20:44:38.645-06:00As we amass an impressive collection of children's literature, and as our book-loving friends begin to have children as well, I have realized what a great opportunity I have for exchanging picture book recommendations. It is, for a number of reasons, difficult to browse the children's sections of bookstores or libraries, so I always like to have an ongoing list of titles and authors to look for. Katyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-31751684238348621422010-06-26T15:39:00.002-06:002010-06-26T15:57:33.660-06:00I love the new Blogger templates! I was never very happy with the last template I had, so I was glad to see some new ones, and had a hard time choosing one. Finally decided to stick with pink...I've been reading a lot of short stories lately--not for any particular reason, just because I keep finding good collections. Here are a few reviews and recommendations.The Montana Stories, by Katherine Katyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-4961616755864697162010-05-12T14:36:00.002-06:002010-05-12T14:54:42.380-06:00I'm finally getting around to this meme, which was picked up by Peculiar through Steve. How could I resist such a list as this? The top ten books which have most influenced my life--a delightful prospect indeed. And then I began listing books, and, not surprisingly, came up with more than ten; so I decided to group them chronologically, according to four stages of my life. Most of them are Katyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-10328103116496316332010-03-16T16:04:00.002-06:002010-03-16T16:32:18.675-06:00Going through our boxes of books has been a delightful experience as we rediscover old friends. I've already pulled out way more books than I'm likely to re-read, and I can't wait to have them all unpacked and displayed again. I'm also using LibraryThing as a reading list for this year, and am trying to post brief reviews of each book as I read it. My plan is to post handfuls of these mini Katyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-57232318505559064572010-02-15T00:06:00.002-07:002010-02-15T00:26:15.398-07:00I have discovered LibraryThing. I am now addicted to cataloguing my books, which may possibly make me the most boring person alive. Nevertheless, this should come as an aid to people who don't give us books as gifts because they don't know what we have! The picture books collection is almost complete, but the rest of it will take a while as I delve through box after box. I've also started a Katyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-90227957448420663232010-01-26T15:59:00.005-07:002010-02-15T00:06:31.679-07:00Since we moved, I've been able to unpack a few more boxes of books, including all my cookbooks. They take up an impressive amount of shelf space in the kitchen, especially because I've realized that I only use a handful of them regularly, and only one or two recipes from another handful. Am I going to purge? Erm... no. Maybe. Probably not. Because, you see, I might use them sometime! Also, I do Katyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-57061116908500125252009-09-01T15:22:00.001-06:002009-09-01T15:23:39.779-06:00Reading Anthony Trollope's Barsetshire novels was a delight. I found each one perfectly charming, an exquisite example of the Victorian novel that ends with a wedding and in which everyone receives exactly what they deserve, and I had to parcel them out to myself, allowing one every few months so that they would last longer. The Palliser novels, on the other hand, were more of a slog. I know thisKatyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-45223769254777701492009-05-15T16:41:00.003-06:002009-05-15T16:54:36.529-06:00We are not unique.I have just discovered that my family's cult movie is also someone else's cult movie. This is very hard to believe.I've been reading a memoir (you will laugh when you learn that it's called Truck: A Love Story) by Michael Perry, about his life in a small Wisconsin town, the rebuilding of a '51 International pickup, planting a vegetable garden, going on book tours, and his Katyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-41622033434901905262009-04-28T15:36:00.003-06:002009-04-28T15:40:47.942-06:00Sam's Wish ListPoinsettia and the Fire Fighters, Felicia BondI Spy seriesThe Lord Is My Shepherd, illustrated by Tasha TudorMy Very First Mother Goose, Iona Opie and Rosemary WellsThe Sleeping Beauty, Trina Schart Hymanany books about diggersKatyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-49413021973961591592008-12-02T16:15:00.002-07:002008-12-02T16:30:21.027-07:00Somebody asked me recently if I still had time to read while raising a toddler and running a farm. My answer was, Yes, and I also find time for breathing. I've been reading a lot of farming/real food/back-to-the-land books lately; it's inspiring to get other perspectives on the lifestyle I've chosen, and fun to compare our progress with that of other folks. Right now I'm enjoying Rural Katyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-29414025480391564882008-09-28T16:43:00.003-06:002008-09-28T17:03:45.200-06:00So my mom comes into the house yesterday morning and hands me a padded envelope. "You got giant microbes in the mail!" she says brightly. I look at the envelope. Sure enough, the return address says "Giant Microbes". Huh. I tear it open and peek inside to see an unidentifiable yellowish lump. I don't really want to touch it, but I pull it out gingerly. Well, would you look at that. It's... a Katyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-85486644366654670922008-08-21T21:02:00.003-06:002008-08-21T21:22:02.249-06:00More on the subject of self-sacrifice--a Methodist song quoted in Robertson Davies's Murther and Walking Spirits:There's an excellent rule I have learned in life's school,And I'm ready to set it before you. When you're heavy at heartAnd your world falls apart, Do not pity yourself, I implore you.No, up with your chin, Meet bad luck with a grin,And try this infallible trick: It never will Katyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-26255282106813618462008-07-30T15:34:00.002-06:002008-07-30T16:10:10.841-06:00There's something about summer that tempts me even more than usual to lounge about all day and immerse myself in reading--something in which I cannot indulge anymore. I've been trying to avoid potato-chip books, like mysteries and fantasy, because once I start I don't want to do anything else, and get very cross when reality (the boy, the farm, etc) intrudes. During our vacation in Minnesota, I Katyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-58007691180278422612008-05-17T12:04:00.006-06:002008-05-17T12:46:39.471-06:00What is it about memes that's so irresistible? And I'm always a sucker for book lists--so fun to check off all the ones I've read... This one's from Voracious Reader.Consider yourself tagged if you are reading this. When you post your list on your blog, please track back to mine (or leave a comment) so that I can read your lists too.The rules:Bold what you have read, italicize books you’ve Katyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-1017341890404676992008-04-18T13:01:00.002-06:002008-05-03T17:19:51.812-06:00Realizing the other day that it's none too soon to start thinking about and planning for homeschooling, I decided to read a book that's been on my list for a while now--The Well-Trained Mind, by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer. It's a guide to classical education at home, and is laid out chronologically, with detailed chapters for each subject. One could follow their program to the letter, as Katyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-7924891990333561082008-03-30T16:22:00.001-06:002008-03-30T16:23:07.508-06:00If Sam turns out like this boy, I will be so happy.Katyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-89048405474782731522008-03-18T12:08:00.002-06:002008-03-18T12:13:01.248-06:00Irresistible indeed, Steve. And so satisfying when the nearest book is an impressive one (AND one that I was reading, not Odious, as is more usually the case by the computer)!Lord. The King and Queen and all are coming down.Hamlet. In happy time.Lord. The Queen desires you to use some gentle entertainment to Laertes before you fall to play.--The Kittredge Shakespeares Hamlet, edited and with Katyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-8475178164997327122008-02-16T16:58:00.002-07:002008-02-16T17:21:45.630-07:00We just spent a lovely sunny week in California visiting relatives, and my dear sister took us to a charming little oldtown shopping area where we went crazy in a couple of antique stores. I found all these delicious old books--so much fun! I was hoping the titles would show up better in the picture, but I guess I'll have to list them. There are only a couple of replacements (Rose In Bloom and Katyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127843.post-79426812327804134592008-01-26T16:42:00.000-07:002008-01-26T17:18:21.449-07:00My latest phase of potato-chip reads is over, and I'm back to Victorian novels as inspired by the wonderful book Inside the Victorian Home, by Judith Flanders. Miss Marjoribanks, Margaret Oliphant: Lucilla Marjoribanks is my hero! She's the Dolly Levi of Victorian novels--I loved her sensible, level-headed approach to life and to arranging everyone in it. So far I haven't had any luck finding Katyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08735700811620271979noreply@blogger.com2