Since I saw Kareni's post I thought I would add a bit more info here. Dorothy B. Hughes appears to have written some great books set in the time she wrote them, the 1950's and 1960's. I am waiting for another one to arrive. "The Expendable Man" is not explicit in detail but it is an adult book. That being said Dd15 will probably read it at some point. There are some great reviews on Goodreads which contain all the spoilers which should be read. If you are considering this book know backroom abortion is a major topic in this book, so are equal rights. I would read it before assigning it -- you will want to discuss it.

The dc's and I have had a good chuckle. Now reality has set in and we feel underappreciated (pretty sure not a word) by our librarian!

:grouphug:

So sad. Praying here.

I have also finished a few others while on a long car trip. "Grendel" by John Gardner is done. Not a favorite by any means. I found some interesting study material which would make it more enjoyable in terms of having dd read it. We have awhile to decide fortunately. I sort of liked the first bit but by chapter eight or so it was a total get this thing over with. ;) "No Longer at Ease" is the second book in Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" trilogy. Not as good as Things...but good and very interesting. Quite a sad story. I have the third waiting. "Death at Wentwater Court" by Carola Dunn. The first Daisy Dalrymple Mystery. A fun cozy. Sort of a slightly older version of Nancy Drew from the adult section of the library. I can imagine becoming as obsessive about getting these read in order as I was about Nancy Drew. ;) Dd read and enjoyed it also. An easy read. "Scone Cold Dead" by Kaitlyn Dunner. Anoth cozy. Our second in this series. We plan to keep reading them which says it all.

http://www.nybooks.com/books/imprints/classics/the-expendable-man/ Robin gave a link to this list a few weeks ago. I was immediately intrigued by the cover and description for this book. Dorothy B. Hughes was apparently quite a prolific and talented author who wrote several books with far reaching topics. "The Expendable Man" was great! :) I read it in one sitting. It grabbed me from the first couple of pages and kept building. I hate to be too descriptive because the main theme came as rather a surprise a couple of chapters in. If I had read a review about that element I had forgotten about it completely which was great. Really made me think a bit. This book is classified as being American Noir and it is a great snapshot of life in the 60's for a segment of American society.

There are quite a few great things you can do by train. York is about a 2 hour journey from London by train on the way to Edinburgh. The station is right in the town so easy. One of my favorite places here. Plenty to see and do. Lots of roman and viking artifacts and ruins. The York Minster is really lovely. There is a huge renovation project underway and watching the stone masons at work is fascinating. It would be easy to spend two or three days never leaving the city. Another idea, since you are a Jane Austen fan, would be somewhere in the Hope Valley/Peak district area. They do quite a bit of the filming for the various Austen/Bronte movies on or by the Longshaw Estate near Heathersage. Beautiful area. Lots of gorgeous walking trails. Nice pubs etc. There is a train through many of these villages out of Sheffield so accessible without a car. Depending on how long you want to stay in one spot a Holiday House rental is a good option. Should be plenty of websites. I would do the May or June option if possible. The weather frequently is best then plus school is still in session. Much more peaceful then. Driving here can be stressful. I definately would not try driving a camper trailer. I mean that very literally because I personally wouldn't and I used to in the US. ;) Private hire cars are pretty comman at least where I live. Basically prearranged taxicabs. I have never arranged one anywhere but from my village but flat rate with a predetermined pick up time. The rate has been reasonable. These could be an easy option for a couple of excursions where buses and trains won't work. Gluten Free. I know most bakerys sell really nice gluten free bread. Lol Seriously if no on else answers this one I have a good friend who is so I can find out. They travel for business quite a bit so she should have so good ideas. PM me in a few days if you want me to talk to her.

I am only 3 chapters in but so far it is OK. Although your post made me stop and think for a moment....If dd was in any other school would I be reading and rereading these books? I doubt it would even occur to me. It is fun because she loves having a reading companion and I an enjoying the books. So a lovely experience.

They sell them at craft stores. Giant spool knitters basically. I have seen patterns for them too. Hats worked well.

One option for blankets was sewing pot holders together. We went through bags of loops. :) Since it sounds like she wants to dress her "friends" this book worked wonders for dd http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Mary_Frances_Knitting_Crocheting_Boo.html?id=SjTWM6czkpAC&redir_esc=y She made several outfits for dolls and bears out of it before we left the US so she must have been about 9. Knitting and crocheting had not gone well before this book for us but I hadn't tried for awhile. She might have just been ready. I have seen it used on amazon etc. Appears to be free on internet somehow also. Happy crafting!

Dd reads for an hour in the morning when she wakes up. She also reads when in the car, waiting for things etc. Always carries a book just in case. She reads during the school day occasionally but generally during quiet down time.

I have to say that picture of Italio Calvino is far more handsome then the one dd and I found last night. Just downloaded another of his books. "Numbers in the Dark". I need more time to read! The stack is getting out of control. I finished a couple of library ebooks. "Lost Legacy" by Dana Mentick and "Edge of Black" by JT Ellison. Edge of Black was the superior romance novel in this case. Interesting suspense story in the background concerning a terrorist attack on DC. I am going to give "Grendel" by John Gardner a try next. Mainly as a preread for dd although I really love Beowulf so looking forward to it. We are working on refining her booklist for the AP exam and this looks like it has potential. She is planning to take it in two years so we get to enjoy the process a bit!

Yes, fortunately it is a simple style. It will need to be altered quite a bit for dd if she wants to wear it. She is shorter and her basic body structure is tiny compared to mine!

Welcome to the board! The people here love to answer questions! You probably will have quicker responses if you ask specific questions about rhetoric and writing. There are some great threads already out there so searching may work. I use curriculum for both logic and writing. Memoria Press for logic and Excellence in Literature for my daughter's (age 15) writing and literature studies. My son age 13 loved the Fallacy Detective book which is a great introduction to logic and is using Writing With Skill to improve his writing abilities. There is a sample PDF at the Peace Hill Press website. I hope this helps. :)

http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/bitten/ Stacia, this is one of my favorite series! Notice I may have just linked!!! Ds is teaching me. :lol:

I just finished Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway and found it to be quite fascinating. A really great job of interweaving pretty much every word although I am still trying to figure some (many :lol: ) things out! I am looking forward to Stacia's comments! :) I am planning finish some of the lighter books (romance type novels) that I have started while I contemplate Angelmaker.

I am glad things went well! :)

I am going to answer the abeka consumer math part of you question because we have used it but not with the Dvds. It does a great job of teaching students how to figure out how much an object is actually costing them. We no longer have the text but it was great at breaking financial decisions down to the math. It also did a good job regarding the stewardship portion of your question. It was a good text but I would not do it alongside another math book for a student who doesn't love math. Lots of math problems. If a copy comes your way cheap grab it and supplement with it but I think your other ideas sound more interesting for the student you described. Imo easy and clearly understood might be best!! :)

I haven't read beyond the original post but rent the place accross the street. No reason not to other then a 3 month relationship. It is by far the best place for you.

Chekhov is very handsome. Thanks for the link!

I would use SL however it works best for you and ds. It sounds like you have a good library and enjoy using it. Use SL as an outline and fill in where it works for you. I have never done SL exactly as written bu have done a number of cores. I try to stick to the basic schedule--in this case the Story of the World reading in order to finish in a reasonable period of time. If you haven't read the Well Trained Mind it might be useful. I usually do a combo.

That's the scene. One of my favorite ones in a very long time. You will enjoy the history of Edie Banister when you get to it. I am only up to age 19 or so but great background history. I hope your book arrives soon. :)

I finished the next in the Alpha and Omega series by Patricia Briggs. "Hunting Ground" was a very easy read but I put it aside a couple of months ago after the first chapter. I guess it was fortunate someone else put a hold on it and forced me to finish it! I feel a bit quilty because I am now reading Stacia's find "Angelmaker" by Nick Harkaway. I was waiting for Stacia to get her copy first but the library wants this one back too. It has been interesting so far but the part I just finished (20% in) is so cool. I have to ask if Stacia made it to the part with the Hive?

Praying

I am going to bump this in the hope that someone out there knows what is in this and the other geography courses they are offering at Great books. I also own a set of the National Geographic Dvds and aould love to use them!