Here it is! So many books this year. I attribute this partially to the fact that I got used to listening to audiobooks at 1.75x speed (or sometimes even double speed). The focus is still primarily on middle grade novels, prereading for my precocious fourth grader, but I'm trying to keep up with my 9th grader's American literature list and continue expanding what I know about the world, too. This year for the first time I have a "middle grade nonfiction" section!
As usual, I gave brief explanations when possible. I highlighted in green books that I especially loved, highlighted in blue books that my kids especially enjoyed, and highlighted in red books I do not recommend. Books we (or I) read as part of our history studies have one asterisk (*); books I listened to as audio are marked with two asterisks (**). Feel free to ask if you want more nuanced opinions on anything!
The Bible: the whole thing, twice for the New Testament (still following this reading plan, but with plans to do something different in 2024)
Christian Non-Fiction
The Nature and Work of the Holy Spirit
Chase the Fun: 100 Days to Discover Fun Right Where You Are
A Practical Guide to Culture: Helping the Next Generation Navigate Today's World
Confronting Christianity
Catechizing Our Children
Worship: The Reason We Were Created (by Tozer)
Death By Living: Life is Meant to Be Spent
Prayer in the Night
Adult Nonfiction
Raising Kids to Thrive: Balancing Love with Expectations
Sarah Edwards: Delighting in God
Organizing for the Rest of Us
Silent Spring (ecological classic on the dangers of pesticide use...so not my thing)
Under the Banner of Heaven (history of Mormonism + true crime drama)
**Call the Midwife memoirs (2 books)
The Boy Who Felt Too Much (on autism research)
Adult Fiction
*/**Alex & Eliza (3 book series, I read the first two, not worth finishing)
**Sea of Tranquility
**The Four Winds (I won't make it red, but I don't recommend it if you like to feel happy)
*/**America's First Daughter (on Thomas Jefferson's daughter, but highly fictionalized)
**Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris/Mrs. Harris Goes to New York
The Gilded Years
The Deal of a Lifetime (Fredrik Backman short story)
Miss Buncle's Book and Miss Buncle Married (wholesome, witty, pleasant reads)
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (seemed appropriate for the year I turned 42...IYKYK)
**Three Sisters (The Tattooist of Auschwitz #3)
Piranesi
My Name is Lucy Barton (people love this book, but I hated the writing style)
Remarkably Bright Creatures (solid comfort reading!)
Dickens' Christmas Carol
Middle Grade Nonfiction
What Can I Say? A Kid's Guide to Super-Useful Social Skills (major worldview issues for us)
How to Be a Person: 65 Hugely Useful, Super-Important Skills
smART: Use Your Eyes to Boost Your Brain
*John Winthrop, Oliver Cromwell, and the Land of Promise (for upper middle school+)
*Isaac Newton (by John Hudson Tiner; read aloud to Toby and Calvin)
Code Talker (Navajos in WWII -- super interesting)
*Heretics! The Wondrous (and Dangerous) Beginnings of Modern Philosophy (graphic novel)
*1493 for Young People
*/**The Age of Exploration: Totally Getting Lost
I Laid an Egg on Aunt Ruth's Head (a stupid-funny grammar book!)
The Radical Book for Kids
Books for Tweens/Teens (Levi's read most but not all of these)
Peak series (4 books)
*/**The Notorious Benedict Arnold (nonfiction)
*The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Saving Lucas Biggs
*Last of the Mohicans
Dragons in Our Midst series (4 books)
**Just Like That
**Okay for Now
**The Hungry City Chronicles
Terror at Bottle Creek (survival story)
The Once and Future King (for high school at least)
Homelanders series (4 books, solid lit for teen boys)
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
7 Men: And the Secret of Their Greatness (inspiring nonfiction for teen boys)
Wildfire
In the Hall with the Knife (modern retelling of the CLUE game/movie)
Everything Sad is Untrue
**Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks
*The Kite Rider
*Bound (by Donna Jo Napoli)
*The Ramsay Scallop
Middle Grade Novels (ages 9-12, depending on kid and book)
**Magic Thief series (4 books)
Fablehaven (5 book series, better for the older ages, maybe just because I hate all things "undead")
The Improbable Tales of Baskerville Hall (recommended by Levi)
Vanderbeekers (books 4-7)
*Shakespeare Stealer (3 book series) (recommended by Levi)
Around the World in 100 Days (a sort of "sequel" to Verne's classic)
How to Stay Invisible
On the Blue Comet (low-key time travel for beginners)
*Duncan's War (Levi recommends the trilogy)
*Pocahontas (by Joseph Bruchac)
**Jack Zulu and the Waylander's Key
**The Unexpected Life of Oliver Cromwell Pitts
**The End of the World and Beyond (sequel to the above)
**Horizon series (5 books)
The Book Without Words
Welcome to Wonderland series (I read 2 of them, dumb, potty humor)
*Under Drake's Flag (my favorite Henty so far)
Storm Keeper series (3 books)
**Home of the Brave
*Blood on the River: James Town, 1607
*Fever 1793
Candy Shop War (books 2 and 3 in the trilogy; the first was significantly better)
*The Star that Always Stays
*A Ceiling Made of Eggshells
Tristan Strong series (3 books)
Ruby Lost and Found
Da Vinci's Cat (recommended by Silas, but be aware of worldview issues)
The Islanders (good for the younger ages)
A Rover's Story
Rose Legacy series (3 books, good for tween girls who love horses)
Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians (final book in a series I read last year)
Class Dismissed and Field Tripped (first is okay, second is dumb)
The School for Whatnots
Maximilian Fly
The Ogress and the Orphans (a must-read -- so, so beautiful)
Wake Up Missing
Across the Desert
Enchanter's Child series (2 books)
Princess of the Wild Sea
The Aquanaut (fun graphic novel for younger ages)
Eye of the Storm
Breakout
Not an Easy Win
The Year Money Grew on Trees (recommended by Levi)
Spineless
The Nest (unless you like horror stories)
Snow White (graphic novel by Matt Phelan)
TodHunter Moon series (3 books, sequel to Septimus Heap below)
The Night Gardener (the only thing of Jonathan Auxier's that I haven't liked)
Egg Marks the Spot
*Men of Iron
*The Samurai's Tale
The Voyage of Magical North
Septimus Heap series (7 books) (recommended by everyone, but especially Toby)
*The Second Mrs. Gioconda
The Fog Diver and sequel
**Amari series (2 books)
Time Warp Trio (there are lots; I read 2 of them; good for late-elementary boys)
The Princess and the Goblin
A Single Shard
Li Lun, Lad of Courage
Willodeen
Henry and the Chalk Dragon
The Big Wave
*The Squire's Tales (4 books, for the older ages)
Dog Squad (for younger ages)
*The Red Keep: A Story of Burgundy in 1165
The Smartest Kid in the Universe
*Crispin series by Avi (3 books)
*Calico Captive
Cress Watercress
Born Behind Bars
Liar & Spy
Elementary Chapter Books (for reading independently or read-aloud)
*The Double Life of Pocahontas (read to Calvin)
*The Pilgrims of Plimoth
Time Cat
*Morning Girl
A Boy Called Bat series (3 books)
A Dragon Used to Live Here
*The Courage of Sarah Noble
Tales from Deckawoo Drive
Family Read-Alouds (not including what Isaac reads to the older four)
The Betsy-Tacy series (first three books, read to Calvin and Tessa)
**Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (listened to on a family road trip)
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian
*Blue Birds
**The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
The Secret Garden
At Jerusalem's Gate
Farmer Boy and The Long Winter (read to Calvin and Tessa)
Vanderbeekers (books 2-3)
The Little Pilgrim's Progress (the new one with illustrations by Joe Sutphin)
**The Cricket in Times Square (audio with Tony Shalhoub is excellent)
**Charlotte's Web (listened to on a family road trip)
**Beezus and Ramona (listened to on a family road trip)
*Mystery of the Silver Coins (Viking Quest series #2)
*King Arthur (by Roger Lancelyn Green)
The Family Under the Bridge (read to Calvin and Tessa)
Comments
Post a Comment