Carved in Ebony: Lessons from the Black Women Who Shape Us, Young Reader’s Edition by Jasmine L Holmes

We finally managed to finish this book as a family. I would probably give it 4 stars because I love the stories told here but the writing was a little bit “academic” for me. I’m really glad that we read this book together and we’ve referenced back to it in several conversations since we finished it. I will probably have the kids read the adult version of the book once they are a bit older.

paperback, owned (we did listen to a couple of chapters on Scribd- I do not recommend the audiobook- the narrator was not great & mispronounced names)

Escape to Freedom (The Secret of the Rose #3) by Michael Phillips

This was the third (of four) in a series I’ve owned for a lot of years and was re-reading to determine if they still deserved a place on my shelf. It was a slow read. Interesting premise fairly well executed. Good before-bed reading. But I decided not to read the fourth one and to give the series away.

paperback, owned

Jack Zulu and the Waylander’s Key by S.D. & J.C. Smith

We have read/listened to all of the Green Ember books by S.D. Smith and love them so much. I knew that Jack Zulu was set more in the “real” world but it was not what I expected. It took me quite a while just to get over that fact. Or the book had a slow start. I’m not sure. Anyway, we did end up enjoying the book and I’m looking forward to the sequel so we can learn what happens next. I probably would not have listened to it with Squeaky and maybe not yet with Smiley if I had realized some of the real-world elements that were touched on (including allusions to the occult). They’re 4 & 8 so not the target audience but we’ve done Wingfeather and Green Ember so I thought it would be similar and it was different. Great character examples and a fun story for the right audience.

audio, Scribd (although we do own a paperback version)

Florence Young: Mission Accomplished (Christian Heroes Then & Now #23) by Geoff & Janet Benge

Stubby and I read a little bit about the First Opium War and the Boxer Rebellion in China during World History and I wanted to read a bit more about it so I looked through our shelves. Florence Young was a missionary in China at the time of the Boxer Rebellion but her main work was actually with Native South Pacific Islanders who were used as indentured servants in Australia. She started with the men who worked at or near her family’s sheep farm in Australia and ended up starting a mission organization that established churches and schools to help workers who were returning to the Solomon Islands. Very interesting story I never knew before. Makes me wonder what I’m really sacrificing to serve the Lord or to support those serving in missions.

paperback, owned

The Return of the God Hypothesis: Three Scientific Discoveries Revealing the Mind Behind the Universe by Stephen C Meyer

Finally finishing this book was one of my main goals for April and I did it! I am not a scientist so a lot of the explanations and theories addressed went right over my head. But I was able to grasp the main point: our universe is so complex, our planet so finely tuned for life, and the appearance of new biological information so sudden that the most reasonable explanation for how it all started is God. I appreciated (again, while not fully understanding) the explanation at the end of the book distinguishing between appealing to a God hypothesis because science hasn’t yet found an explanation (God of the gaps theory) and appealing to a God hypothesis because it’s the most reasonable option given the evidence we do have. A fine shade of difference between arguing from ignorance vs knowledge I guess. I would recommend the book and if you’re a scientist, you’ll probably get a lot more out of it than I did.

audio, Scribd

Bible

We are reading through the Bible this year with a group of people from our church. In April we finished Deuteronomy and read James, Joshua, Matthew, Judges 1-12, and Psalms 48-71.

Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field by Sir Walter Scott

My current poetry read. I think Sir Walter Scott is like the original novel-in-verse author. Probably not actually but it’s humous that it’s a “new” genre that’s really old.

ebook, Scribd, 62% finished

Towards a Philosophy of Education by Charlotte Mason

Charlotte Mason was a British educator in the late 19th and early 20th centuries whose work inspires the educational model I follow in our homeschool. I have a goal this year to read more of her own works (rather than later interpreters). This is the last volume she wrote I believe and it lays out most clearly her educational philosophy (hence, the title). It’s broken into very manageable chunks and I’m trying to read one section each morning. I think I need to get a hard copy so I can take better notes and process the reading more.

ebook, Scribd, 44% finished

Changes that Heal: Four Practical Steps to a Happier, Healthier You by Dr. Henry Cloud

This is a simple and yet profound book. I’ve kind of been thinking through what 5 books I would recommend everyone read and I think this is going to have a spot on the list.

paperback, owned, 48%

Vietnam: A New History by Christopher Goscha

I feel like my knowledge of US and World History largely ends with the Second World War. If we continue to homeschool we’ll be studying the 1900-modern time period for history next year, so I’m trying to read some books this year to broaden my understanding. Vietnam (and really all of SE Asia) is a region I know almost nothing about beyond that there was a Vietnam War and it was a disaster. But I don’t want to reduce my knowledge of Vietnam strictly to a US-involved war. I had seen this book recommended in World magazine several years ago and now seemed like the right time to read it. It’s replaced The Return of the God Hypothesis as my dinner-prep listen (and, thankfully, I’m comprehending more of this one- although still need to reference a map because my knowledge of geography in that region is as rubbish as history).

audio, Scribd, 8%

Triss (Redwall series #15) by Brian Jacques

This is our new family audiobook selection. Redwall is a favorite of Mr. McGoozle’s family and I was introduced to the series through them. It’s actually hard to find pleasing audio recordings but this one is pretty good. We listened to Mossflower as a family last year I think and enjoyed it so when we hit a lull we returned to Redwall. On a side note, Smiley received The Complete Brambly Hedge Collection for Christmas and we have loved it and it reminds me of Redwall in many ways.

audio, Scribd, 21%