No, it is not clear when these new requirements go into effect. And we are still hoping that other political parties will be able to get some requirements modified or dropped. It makes for a very uncertain situation and lots of :willy_nilly: .

I'm happy to say that I just saw a review of Jeanette Winterson's Gap of Time in the newspaper. I had assumed that it would take a couple of years to get to the Netherlands but apparently not :D. And lo and behold, I checked my library and they are buying it! I could not put a hold on it, but I will. I don't have much reading to report. I'm tired, we are in the midst of Sinterklaas crazyness (but I finished wrapping the presents yesterday!) and Dutch homeschoolers are still reeling from the new plans by our Secretary of Education :(. K-6 homeschooling will hopefully be still possible, but only for parents with a Bachelors degree and with home visits and yearly testing. Homeschooling 7-12 will only be allowed to parents who have a teaching degree* for every subject or who hire teachers for each subject. *=That is, a masters degree for each subject *and* a 1-2year teacher training for each subject. Well, I will probably have grandchildren and great-grandchildren before I manage to get a masters degree in Dutch, English, French, German, Latin, Greek, History, Geography, Math, Chemistry, Biology, Economics :lol:. It's good that I already have a masters degree in Physics, now I only need to work at a school for 1-2years to get my teacher training. Sigh. Anyway, I have been reading the second, third and fourth book of Ursula le Guin's Earthsea, which are very good. And I finished my Dutch 18th century history book. Still reading Pamela (still annoying).

I'm in! I have not eaten sugar for three days now. In the last few months, I started drinking one cup of coffee with lots of sugar in the morning. I drank my coffee without sugar this week.....blech....I may need to give up coffee too.

:grouphug: Best wishes on a smooth surgery and full recovery.

If a foreigner owns land in America, can they then stay in America? ...........Probably not. I have to say, I'm feeling tempted to try, at the moment. With the proposed new legislation for homeschooling, which will make homeschooling almost impossible unless I hire certified teachers for each subject for my kids....I'm about ready to move to America. Sigh.

Well, surprisingly....Cassandra, Ransom, War that Killed Achilles and Songs of Kings are in my library :svengo: .

I would love to do this as a theme for my 2016 reading! Not sure if I will be able to get a hold of those books, though.

Oh, do I see something about 18th century and letters :lol:? Sounds interesting, but apparently it hasn't reached the Netherlands yet. Not a copy to be found anywhere. Too bad, I could use an interesting 18th century-themed book, to get me over my annoyance with Pamela :D.

I read chapter 72 & 73 of SWB´s HOMW. I finished Laudato Si, but missed the study evening at our parish (migraine). There are three more study evenings, hopefully I will be able to attend those. I finished Peace, by Gene Wolfe. :blink: That´s one weird book and not at all what I expected. I should really read it again, but not now (I´m tired and not up to following vague clues). I read A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula le Guin instead, which was nice and easy and a dusty, so I feel accomplished now :D. Still reading Pamela :toetap05: . I decided to drop Julia (Dutch) for now, because one 18th century epistolary novel seems to be my max. I´ll pick it up again after finishing Pamela. 107. Ursula le Guin – A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea quartet 1) (Dusty) 106. Gene Wolfe – Peace 105. Pope Francis – Laudato Si

I'm praying for your son and for you, Lori! :grouphug:

That's exactly what I was going to write! (I'm already in a bad mood today, so I'll leave it at that.)

I'm still reading HoMW. I'm slightly ahead of your schedule, because I don't want to rush at the end of the year. I'll finish on time and am looking forward to the Renaissance World, it's already on my shelf. :thumbup:

Move to Europe. Those 'free' books are suddenly not free anymore. Problem solved :D. :glare:

Yes, I'm reading Pamela in English. I'm at 50% (ebook) and.....what?!? WHAT?!? I'm not sure a book this old needs a spoiler alert, but....she is doing....WHAT? :svengo: Talk about Stockholm Sydrome or something? :toetap05: I'm not annoyed. I'm ANNOYED! Now I really need to read Shamela :D (it was already on my list). Based on some Dutch literature guides I made this list of essential 18th century English literature: Defoe - Robinson Crusoe (done) Pope - Rape of the Lock Swift - Gulliver's Travels Gray - Elegy written in a Country Churchyard something by Samuel Johnson, no idea what yet Boswell - Life of Samuel Johnson Richardson - Pamela (in progress) Richardson - Clarissa Fielding - Shamela Fielding - Tom Jones Did I miss essential books? Do I need to add, subtract things? I'm a bit worried about the length of Clarissa. And I'm so annoyed right now by Pamela, that I might skip Clarissa altogether.

I'm pretty sure he would say that if you don't watch TV and don't eat sugar, you will not have learning disabillities. Hmmmmm.

:drool5: I so want Beast Academy!

I have been making my bed everyday, first thing I do in the morning, for years. But the last 6 months I'm having more and more allergy problems, feeling really bad when I get up in the morning, and investigating dust mite allergy I also run into that advice. Now I air the bed out, but I haven't felt any difference yet. The unmade beds bother me to no end :glare: . (Allergy covers did make somewhat of a difference, though.)

I'm still reading SWB's History of the Medieval World: chapter 68 & 69 this week. I'm reading 18th century related books in Dutch and English. Finished: Pieter Langendijk - Wederzyds Huwelyksbedrog (18th century Dutch play) Arthur Japin - Een schitterend gebrek (Dutch high school literature list, setting:18th century, about Lucia, the first love of Casanova, told from her point of view) Working on: Richardson - Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (18th century) Rhijnvis Feith - Julia (Dutch, 18th century, epistolary novel) Other: Pope Francis - Laudato Si Robert Rodi - Bitch in a Bonnet (very funny, makes me want to reread every book by Jane Austen NOW!) Gene Wolfe - Peace, after Kareni's link to this article, I could not resist, although it's obsiously not 18th century lit :D

:grouphug: Heather :grouphug: I hope the new doctor can get you into surgery ASAP!

Woops! It's entirely possible that everybody was talking about Shakespeare while I alone was thinking Helprin, I have used way too much migraine-medication this week, my head is still spinning.

Maybe a negative review of Stoner would be helpful? :DI read it last year because it was a huge hit in the Netherlands at that time. Actually my parents had read it and were wondering what all the fuss was, so they asked me to read it too. We were all 'meh'. Could have been the translation as we read it in Dutch. It could have been too American, I don't know. If you would have asked me then I would probably have told you that I thought I was too young to appreciate it (which doesn't explain my 75+yo parents not liking it :lol:), but I don't think Negin and I are that far apart in age. Maybe I just read to many somber books in a row, I think it was the same month I read The Bell Jar and Herzog. Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale? I actually own that :D, I bought it 1 (2?) years ago for a read along here at BaW, but it arrived too late. Now I'm on time!

Bump :bigear:

I'm praying for your stepfather, your mom and you :grouphug: .

Is it as depressing as The Road? I just finished reading The Road, which wasn't such a good idea to read during my autumn break. I don't think I can handle another book like that.

I like bats :D, we have very cute little ones near the house. For years I thought we had these very quick little birds who only showed themselves at nightfall. Shows what I know :lol:. Yesterday I finished Robinson Crusoe. Turns out I downloaded both Robinson Crusoe *and* Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe in one volume (ebook). No wonder the second part was very unfamiliar to me. That made book 90 and 91 of this year.