Oh my -- this brings back memories. Many if not most of our dates nights found us in Borders (remember them?) killing time before going home so that the kids would definitely be asleep. This was in the dark ages before streaming music and movies, so we not only shopped -- and bought -- books but cds and DVDs, too. All my current reads are audiobooks, and I'm on a good streak at the moment: True Grit, read by Donna Tartt is every bit as wonderful as y'all have said. Great story, the perfect Western, great characters. Loved it! Cutting Back: My Apprenticeship in the Gardens of Kyoto by Leslie Buck, is really fascinating, though getting a bit repetitive and slow. But, it is the kind of book you can just listen to in chunks -- there is no need to remember characters or plot points as it is a memoir of 9 months spent in Japan. Recommended for anyone interested in gardening or Japanese aesthetics or working culture. Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison is one I just started yesterday but I really like it. It is fantasy, but so grounded in realistic characters that it doesn't feel like fantasy. So far no magic. A young man, 4th in line to the throne, is suddenly made emperor, and is struggling to keep his wits about him as he copes with court politics and intrigue. One of these days I'll read print books again. I've not felt like I have the luxury of time to sit and read, and haven't let myself start any mysteries which generally glue me to the couch for hours on end.

Hey there, I never come to this corner of the forums because I've long since graduated my kiddos and retired from homeschooling, but this topic was the on the home page and it drew me in. I just wanted to give some encouragement and offer a glimpse at what worked for us. Of course I only homeschooled 2, though one of them was so much work it felt like more! I think the key to following the WTM, to giving a solid, unique and challenging education to your kids, is to break it all down into 2 categories: skills and content. Skills are the math, the reading and writing. The WTM gives great advice on how to teach writing from copywork, to dictation, to narration which eventually leads to essays. It worked for my kids -- never used a single writing program from k thru 12. I did my best to work on those skills daily, though in reality 4 days a week sounds about right! Grammar was less frequent, and mixed up with games and workbooks and when they were older, learning through editing their writing. Spelling again was a combo of games, workbooks and editing, and generally not daily. The content is the fun part. Kids glean so much from what we read aloud, what they listen to on audio or read independently. There are also many wonderful documentaries and PBS shows like NOVA or Nature. My kids did science kits, built stuff with legos and cardboard following their imagination or projects found in library books. We went to the zoo, to the museums, to plays and movies, and no matter what we did, we talked about it all. I like to think they learned how to make persuasive arguments through these discussions so that writing essays was simply transforming those arguments into nicely written paragraphs. I'd guide some of the content through picking out what to read aloud or what we would watch or where we'd go, but so much of my kid's education, even in high school, was interest led. You will never, ever fit it all in. It is simply impossible. Just do the best you can to give your kids the tools they need to further their education, and nurture their curiosity by exposing them to the wide world. Worry is part of it, and you'll be reinventing how you do things a couple of times a year! I don't think I stopped worrying until they graduated college! But, the best part is that my 2 kids are really interesting young men who appreciate their unique homeschool experience.

My ds is looking towards a science program, at least MA if not PhD. He is looking not at schools but at current research, looking for professors who are doing and publishing research in his area of interest. He is looking for programs where tuition is covered and he can earn a stipend whether in research or being a TA or both. That seems to be standard in the sciences. I think -- I'm much less involved in this -- once he finds and contacts some professors, hopefully with some introductions by his undergrad profs, he will do the GRE and submit applications. My job is to bite my tongue, wait patiently to find out what he decides, or offer advice when asked. But I can't help myself and often browse graduate department websites, lol!

Both of mine were on the other side of the country for college, with a 3 hour time difference. Like Creekland, I loved getting to visit a new area of the country, and both ds's really enjoyed their new environments. Friends usually took them in for Thanksgiving and they made their way home for the Christmas break. Add to the logistics of air travel the logistics of transportation between campus and the nearest airport. One ds was at a college an hour away from the nearest airport, and the school operated shuttles to and from the airport. It wasn't the most convenient option, and there were a couple of Januarys where we were worried that flight delays would mean missing the shuttle entirely, but it was far better than nothing. A cab was close to $100, I believe! Our insurance never worked outside of state (HMOs rarely do, except for emergencies). Student health and those "Doc in a box" storefront facilities were the saving grace the couple of times one of them needed a doctor. Neither of mine were homesick -- they made friends and loved being where they were. Southwest Airlines was the best -- 2 free pieces of checked luggage, a great frequent flier program. I think we got 1 or 2 free flights for each during their college years. Ordering on line and picking up at Walmart, Target or Bed Bath and Beyond is a life saver. And your kid learns to live with the minimum. We couldn't believe the amount of stuff people hauled into the dorms!! The college had a great summer storage option, too. After college one wound up working about 90 minutes away from us but the other is now across the Pacific Ocean in Japan. Talk about time differences!

I'll be starting the Death on the Nile soon but first want to finish the Murakami that I started last spring, Wind Up Bird Chronicles. It's pretty amazing that I could pick it up after several months and start reading without reviewing any of the plot points. Rain has stopped -- don't know why we had to get half of our yearly rainfall in a 24 hour period. Life won't be back to normal for a while up north in Montecito. The major freeway there is covered in mud and closed through tomorrow, and I know they are still rescuing folk who are trapped and are still searching for missing people.

The rain finally came last night, and it is currently dumping outside. We needed it, but the mudslides up near Santa Barbara are just heartbreaking. At the end of the recent Murder on the Orient Express movie, Poirot is called away to another case due to a death on the Nile. So naturally I had to pick up that book as I've never read it. So, sitting here, next to me is Death on the Nile. I really love the Dorothy Sayers mysteries. I think I've read them all. Mumto2 -- did you have a Goodreads page or a link to a page with your British mysteries all mapped out? I feel like there was a link I should have bookmarked... Mothersweets -- I did indeed download True Grit!!

Negin, have you read Wouk's Caine Mutiny? I pulled it off my parents' bookshelves and read it as an older teen, then assigned it to my reluctant reader to read when studying WWII. I thought it stood up well when rereading it along with him. Humphrey Bogart's portrayal in the movie version of Captain Queeg is iconic.

My first finished book of the year was a Christmas gift from my oldest ds who picked one of his favorite Star Trek novels to share with me. Captain to Captain was an entertaining romp through that universe with some very clever winks to details that only fans would get. I hated that the device used to move the plot forward was stupid decisions by a character who was supposed to be extra smart, but darn it if I'm not curious how it all ends as this was the first book in a trilogy. Kareni and Robin, and anyone else who enjoys Star Trek fiction, I think you'd really enjoy this one. My other Christmas book from him was one of my Goodreads TBR books, Cutting Back: My Apprenticeship in the Gardens of Kyoto. It is the memoir of a woman who owned her own tree pruning business in the Bay Area, but took a year off at age 35 to study with a master gardener in Kyoto. I highly recommend this book (after only reading about a 1/3 of it) if you love to garden or have an interest in Japanese gardens or an interest in Japanese business and work culture. Trying to decide which book I want to download for my next audiobook. Do I dive into Kristin Lavransdatter (perhaps too much of a chunkster for now) or True Grit? Or perhaps I should finally listen to West with the Night. Three really good choices, but what to choose?!! Hoping the promised rain materializes in the next few days --- I'd like it to be cozy and wintery (in a SoCal kind of way) so I can sit and read! Murakami's Wind up Bird Chronicles is waiting patiently for me to finish it!

I do and sometimes I don't count books that I didn't finish. I still list them in my notebook, and if I abandoned it I write a big ol' letter A next to the title. I don't necessarily write that "A" in scarlet...but I am happy to mark it as abandoned. I even have a Goodreads shelf devoted to Abandoned titles. It is a shelf of shame -- the book's shame, not mine, lol! But if I made it close to being done, and if it is a book that has stuck with me, I do count it. This scenario is generally for a non-fiction book. With a work of fiction I will still count it if I skipped a bunch just to read the last chapter or two. Most 3 star books get this treatment. If it is fun but poorly written, I'm too impatient to put up with the bad all the way to the end, so skim til I get to the resolution, and call it done. Have I horrified everyone? I like to sew without a pattern, homeschooled without curricula or "programs", so there is that rebellious streak to my personality!

Sorry -- I should have known my audience better and provided the title! :lol: It is Captain to Captain, book 1 of the 50th anniversary Star Trek Legacies trilogy. Have either of you read it? Glad to hear you've enjoyed Qiu Xiaolong's detective series so far -- I'll be looking for them soon.

Happy New Year!! It may be a couple of days before I can indulge in lots of reading time as youngest ds is still here. The first book I plan to finish reading this year is Murakami's Wind up Bird Chronicle. I had started it last year, and was enjoying it but wasn't quite in the mood for it at the time. I also have a couple of audiobook gifts from my oldest ds, one is a Star Trek book which he particularly loved and the other is a memoir of a woman who apprenticed as a gardener in Kyoto, Japan. I like the idea of traveling the world with mysteries. But as I'm not one motivated by challenges, I'll once again be following my own quixotic reading muse, no doubt picking up books to read that y'all have loved. Now, just to be a bit obnoxiously pedantic.... Qiu Xiaolong and Liu Cixin are both Chinese writers. Both books look amazing, though, and I've added them to my "Want to read" list at Goodreads. Fun fact, Qui Xiaolong's given name -- xiao long -- means "small dragon".

Now you all have me curious about Androids -- I suppose I'll need to finally read it. I loved the original Blade Runner movie -- loved the art of it, the look of a future LA, the language, the lighting, the art direction and cinematography. Couldn't tell you much about the plot after seeing it initially as it was total "eye candy"! Wasn't blown away by this year's follow up movie, though again some of the art direction was impressive and much remains in my mind's eye.

I keep coming here to write my wrap up, to say a heartfelt thank you to Robin for the totally unexpected (and unearned -- I didn't do bingo or any challenges!) gift in the mail, but then something distracts me and and I have to walk away. I was reading Foxglove Summer this afternoon, the 5th of the Rivers of London series, which made me think of Mumto2 which reminded me I STILL hadn't done my recap. Then I open the chat board only to see the post that Sue Grafton died, which makes me so very, very sad. It is like losing a long time friend as I've been reading her books since the late 80s. Here is a photo of the title page of G is for Gumshoe, which she signed for me during a book tour. And now I see how VC has organized her year's reading into delightful categories and I now want to play with my list to see how I can rearrange and organize it. But I may never get a recap in if I start down that rabbit trail! Let's just say I've read about 59 good books this year, abandoned 2 or 3, and continue reading lots of genre -- sci-fi, fantasy and mystery. Like others, my favorite books include News of the World and the audio version of Trevor Noah's Born a Crime. My ds is still here til early next week. Once he heads back life should quiet down so I can get back to hanging out here with my friends!

I'm sad, too. Started reading these back in the 80s, in my life before kids, and just read Y right after it came out. I was reminding my dh that I dragged him to a bookstore when she was doing a signing many years ago -- just pulled the book off the shelf. It was G is for Gumshoe back in 1991. We got in just about the time her signing was supposed to end, and she with a wink signed my book as well as a few I'd brought in for friends, telling me the bookstore rule was only 2 books purchased there, but she'd sign what I brought in!

What a great article! This quote especially made my day: :wub: Congratulations, Quark!!

My dh and I are UH alums! Congratulations! Are you on Oahu so your ds will be a commuter student? My dh was, while I was from out of state and my biggest expense and headache was housing. UH, at least back in my day, was very generous with aid. I had tuition waivers for undergrad through the music department even though I wasn't a major. Can't remember how I funded grad school.....

I think he is most looking forward to not having to eat his own cooking, lol! And to have a variety of cheeses and breads and red meat on hand. There is a McDonalds in his small town and the Japanese chain "Mr. Doughnut" so he does get his American fast food fix. I figure we'll either be grilling burgers or pizza the first night he is home, then doing the other the next day. And making french toast for breakfast. Italian and Mexican, as in So Cal fish tacos, will be on the must do list for going out. And yeah, I'm pretty excited!!

Goodness, is it Thursday already?? In book news, I finally finished the epic fantasy tome, Oathbringer! Woohoo -- yet another chunkster in my 2017 booklist. Like other epic fantasies, it got rather silly during the epic final battle, but overall I really enjoyed the book. It took its time with character development, and I love spending time in the worlds Brandon Sanderson creates. He has gotten better in writing female characters, but it is still his weakest point. In real life news, I'm busy getting the house ready -- food, decorations, general cleaning, because my youngest ds, the one living in Japan, is coming home for Christmas!! We pick him up Saturday and he will be here for almost 3 weeks! The oldest will be bringing his girlfriend down to join some family activities, and I've got a niece in town to join us, too, so we'll have a full and busy house! And does one need to be on twitter to do the Dark is Rising reread? (Stupid question, I guess. I don't need twitter in order to enjoy a book, right?!) This youngest ds and I listened to it together back when we was a young teen, and we both really enjoyed it. I'm guessing he won't want to join me, but I'm going to float the idea.

Happiest of birthdays, Amy!! Hope it involved books and chocolate and a festive beverage :party: In case anyone is wondering, we are well south of the big fire in San Diego county, but are ready to evacuate in case something new pops up. The conditions are really bad, with high winds and low humidity expected through Sunday night.

It's as if Disney can't let a marketing opportunity slip by. There was, or so I've heard, even a preview or promo of the short at the live Frozen show at Disneyland. ***************** On the reading front, I'm still on my epic quest to finish the epic fantasy Oathbringer. Don't know if I'll be done by next weekend, but I've got lots of drive time this week, so I'll be enjoying the audiobook rather than stressing out over traffic.

OMG!! Beta!! We had quite a collection of movies on Beta!! It was so sad when we finally had to get rid of them. We nursed our Beta player along for years and years, long after everyone in the US had gone VHS. And now so much is digital that we are reluctant to get a movie on DVD, only to discover that Netflix or Amazon Prime doesn't have what we want when we want it. Like War Games or Jaws. I've added Gone to Dust and the Lucas Davenport books to my "want to read" list. I need you two, Lady Florida and Mumto2, on speed dial when I'm in the library looking for a mystery. :lol:

:iagree: Nancy Drew, who brushed her hair til it snapped with electricity, was (and still is, bless her) a sleuth. That brushing her hair line is one that has stuck with me all these years. Like static cling! I still have my copy of The Secret of the Old Clock, which I got for Christmas waaaaay back in 1970 or 71. Kinsey Milhone, of the A is for Alibi series, is a licensed private detective. I have really enjoyed the series, and have stayed with them since I started reading them before kids. I've really enjoyed the last few, and will be sad to see the series come to an end with Z. Sue Grafton has kept them set in the 80s, and Kinsey is still typing up note cards, flipping through phone directories, making calls at pay phones, and using microfiche at the library. It's like the movie War Games -- I remember it as a recent movie, but when we showed it to our teens 10 years ago we were so shocked at how much has changed sol quickly. Ferris Bueller ( I mean Matthew Broderick) is using library card catalogs, and ancient computer modems where the phone receiver to be put in a special cradle so one computer could dial up another computer. Wow.

Hello friends! It's the craziest time of year in the life of a freelance musician. I have 7 different music gigs, 9 concerts total, between the 1st and 10th of December. Then I have 5 days to clean house, buy groceries and get ready for the Japan boy who is coming home for Christmas. :party: Audiobooks are my friend this time of year. I'm 2/5 of the way through Oathbringer, the Brandon Sanderson epic fantasy. Why 2/5? Because the audible download is broken into 5 parts and I've just finished the 2nd part. My other audiobook is my annual re-listen to Hogfather, which is what I listen to at bedtime to shut down my brain. I will drop in when I can, if only to :seeya:

Goodness -- is it Tuesday already? And I thought it was Halloween just yesterday. How can it be Thanksgiving week already? Today is my first utterly free day in quite a long time. I started reading through the thread but thought I'd better post my recap then catch up with y'all while I eat lunch. I'm really enjoying Brandon Sanderson's Oathbringer, the third book and newest tome in his Stormlight Archive series. I was worried that I would need to read some summaries from the previous 2 books before launching into this one, but he does a terrific job of adding just enough background and exposition. You could start the series here in book 3 and not feel lost. The other thing he does exceptionally well is world building -- I think he is one of the best in the epic fantasy business. You are totally immersed, nothing is explained -- it just exists and it makes sense. It is still full of cliches and some clunky dialog, so not at all great literature, but it is a whole lot of fun. I'm listening to it, though may have to find a print copy to mix it up a bit --- it is 55 hours, I think, about 5 hours shorter than War and Peace! Oh -- wait a minute. ErinE -- did you really make it all the way through Oathbringer already?!! Did you download it straight to your brain or something?!! I sometimes prefer the print versions of Sanderson so I can skim some of that clunky stuff. My ds in Japan is listening to it, too, and it has been fun to shoot him comments on sections I'm reading (listening to) and get his reactions in return. And I like your description of his writing better than what I just wrote. Not reading much of anything else. It's been a hectic music week between church gigs and an opera. And with Christmas around the corner, I'm already working on music for holiday gigs. Mothersweets -- you and I continue to enjoy the same books. I also got a kick out of Agent to the Stars. I don't love all Scalzi books, but I did enjoy that one, Red Shirts and Fuzzy Nation which featured an intelligent race of cats or cat-like creatures (its been awhile since I last listened to it). We are off to the desert with the dog for Thanksgiving, where it is supposed to be over 90!! I'm planning on chilling out, listening to Sanderson, maybe reading a print book, and getting some knitting or other crafty stuff done.

Last Resort Music is what you are looking for. I use it all the time for all kinds of odd music combos. The music isn't necessarily easy, though some of the sets are easier than others. Violin/flute duets can be any duet for 2 C instruments. In other words music for two flutes can be read by a violinist, and music for two violins can be read by a flautist. Folk music -- celtic or bluegrass for instance, will often have the chords written in for the guitarist. Pop songs, too or Christmas songs. That isn't something you'll see in classical music. Lead sheets or vocal sheet music, which has the melody and chords can also be used as often there are harmonies written for the melody. You just have to choose who is playing melody and who is playing harmony. You have to find more specific music for sax or clarinet as those are b-flat or e-flat instruments. There are duets published for "c instrument and b flat instrument". Or you can learn to transpose on the fly!! Sheet Music Plus is another source of ensemble music as well as lead sheets. It has every genre imaginable so can be a challenge to find exactly what you need, but if it exists, they have it. Hope that helps.