I have LDs that I am dealing with so I have been brainstorming on how to rectify some problems. What I have thought of so far is to focus on Language Arts for a bit. We will be focusing on grammar, writing and copywork (for the youngest.) We will still be doing the basics for the other subjects but we will cut out the extras for a month or so, see where we are and then go from there.

I have been stockpiling/hoarding library books because the library will be closed 2 weeks for the holidays. The thought of being without a book during those 2 weeks instills fear so I went to the library again today and took out still more books. I now have 19 library books to do me until Jan. 5th. I think I'm good now.

I like to jump around. If I stay with a series then I get bored with it and don't finish it.

violet, I am glad that Wee Girl has some positive things to look forward to that takes her mind off the unpleasant things. :grouphug: To those who have sick people in their midst, I am sending good thoughts your way. Tress, I am sorry that you have been feeling yucky for such a long time. :grouphug: I hope that you start feeling better soon. I finished 'In the Woods' by Tana French this afternoon and have now started 'The Dante Game by Jane Langton.

:grouphug: Violet, :grouphug: I am truly sorry that your Wee Girl has to deal with this. My heart is hurting for both of you. I hope that the concert will be a help for her.

Happy Birthday, Amy! My fluff-a-thon continues with 'The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen' by Syrie James. This was an enjoyable read. It is a story within a story. The story within is more enjoyable than the outside story but it all evens out in the end. The kids and I finished Watership Down this week. This is my second reading of this book and I think this just may be my favourite book of all time. I loved it even more the second time around. I am now reading "The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith. It's not that bad of a book, for a YA book. I am hoping to finish it tonight or tomorrow. Then I will move on to Tana French's "In the Woods."

They are having a pretty good sale right now--their Christmas sale. They have many DVD lecture sets on for $40. That is the cheapest that I have ever seen them.

Melmichigan, hugs to you. I hope you are feeling better soon. I read The Storied Life of A.J.Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin this week. This was a delightful book. I absolutely loved it! My dd and I finished Evil Under the Sun (she is a huge Agatha "Christie fan..) Continuing on with my year-long stretch of fluff I am now reading "The MIssing Manuscript of Jane Austen by Syrie James.

I was 10 when I had my first migraine. Two of my children were around that age when they received their first as well. We experience visual auras, extreme pain on one side of the head and, for my kids, vomiting. My ds gets them quite often, whereas my oldest has only had about three but those three were quite nasty. I have tried many different kinds of medication but nothing has helped. My migraines are irregular as far as how often them come. I might get four in a week and then might not get one for a year or two. Due to the fact that I have been getting them for over 40 years I have acclimated myself to the initial pain but I still have a hard time dealing with the after-effects like brain fog, sensitivity to noise, nausea, etc. I agree with the PP who said that migraines suck. I am sorry that your ds is experiencing so much pain. I don't think there is much worse in life than seeing your child in pain.

I've been feeling a bit low the last few days and have had energy only to read. In the last few days I finished: Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeymi-- a bizarre story but I enjoyed the writing. Everything You Need to Know by Celeste Ng--this book impacted me deeply. This book means the same to me as The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry did. I totally related to these characters, every one of them. Defending Jacob by William Landay--a fluffy crime drama but was exactly what I needed today. I am now on to Book #68--The Storied Life of A.J.Fikry

I know I should multi-quote but I am just too lazy so I will spit all out as it comes to my brain. I do appreciate writing style over story and characters for the most part. Case in point: I just finished Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeymi. This is the most bizarre book I have ever read. My Winnie the Pooh brain cannot understand what this book is about but I finished it and, yes, I would say I even enjoyed it, because of the beautiful writing. Oyeymi is a gifted writer. I am looking forward to reading her other books. I tried to read The Fault in our Stars but the writing prevented me from doing so. I am not a John Greene fan as a result. But there are times when I just need a good old comfort story (writing be darned) that will take me away from where I find myself at that moment. A comfort story, for me, is one where I can bury myself in a good story and not come up for air until the book is done. I don't read many of them but I do love it when they come upon my path. I, too, have sensory sensitivities to noise, smell and other things but they aren't popping to mind at the moment. My sister has these has well. She cannot abide oranges because of the membranes. If she eats an orange, it takes her more than an hour to ingest it because she has to take off all of the white membrane things off. She cannot sleep in a bed with wrinkled sheets. If there are wrinkles in the sheets, she makes her husband get out of bed so she can smoothe the wrinkles out. She also can't handle it if the seams on the toes of her socks do not match perfectly with her toes. I am not that bad but my sensitivities do put me in the curmudgeon status. There was something else I wanted to comment on but I forget now. Oh, Happy Belated Birthday, Robin! Yay for good genes!

Kareni, I have been waiting for your opinion on this book. I, too, liked this book very much. I love Gilbert's writing style. I don't consider myself conservative but I had some problems, okay, one big problem with the book. I read this book in Jan. so my memory is a bit foggy but I remember close to the end of the book the main character interacted with a minor character in a way that made me feel manipulated. I felt like the interaction was was written in solely for shock value. I truly didn't see the purpose of this interaction. I didn't see that it helped the storyline at all. This is similar to Anne Patchet''s State of Wonder. That book, too, had a scene that did not need to be there. It was only there to shock me. I don't like it when author's do that to me. If the shock has something to do with the story, then, okay, I can handle it but when it comes out of nowhere it taints the story for me. As others have said, Nan, my reading life and the amount that I read changes according to my life season. Right now I am not reading that much, I am lucky if I can get one book done a week but usually it's one book every two or three weeks. Right now my life revolves around chauffeuring so I bring a book with me so I can read in the truck while I wait for kids to come out of youth group, 4H, the movies, etc. I also try to read for an hour or so before bed.

Negin, I read that book earlier this year and quite enjoyed it. I, too, did research on Lindbergh while I was reading the book. It also led me on a rabbit trail of reading Gifts from the Sea and Reeve Lindbergh's (the daughter) memoirs. Stacia, I love your book sets. It sounds like fun. I might think of making my own sets as well for the new year. I only give book presents to my kids (they're the only ones who appreciate books as presents.) My oldest is getting the Maze Runner series and While Beauty Slept by Elizabeth Blackwell. My ds' gift is a wrestlng book (I need to think of some more for him. He's not a real book guy so he's a bit tricky) and my youngest will be receiving a Doodle Art Journal and some Agatha Christie mysteries.

I love that reason, Nan. That would be enough to make me try it again....later, though. I do like The Hobbit. I skip the song lyrics. Michelle, I am sorry that you are having a migraine week. I had one last week...and the two weeks before that. It makes life tricky. I hope that you are feeling better soon. Hyacinth, welcome! Don't wait until the beginning of the year, jump in right now.

Where we live, chicken is quite expensive (I can only handle chicken breasts) so we only buy it when it is on sale. We are lucky if we are able to have it twice a week.

I like that list but I had the same thoughts as Jane. There seemed to be the same authors listed throughout. There were some amazing titles that were omitted. Regardless, I would like to try to read some of them. I'll see what I can do for next year. Chris, I am not a big Austen fan. I have read some of her books but it seems that I like the idea of Jane Austen, rather than her actual books. The same can be said for Tolkien. I love reading about him but I am not a big fan of LotR. I finished Booked by Karen Swallow Prior. it is a book about books and one of the better ones that I have read. I also finished The Headmaster's Wife by Thomas Christopher Greene. This one struck a nerve with me. I liked it a great deal. I am now reading Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeymi and I am liking this more than I thought I would. I am also reading A Jane Austen Education (see I like the idea of her) but the book isn't with me at the moment and I can't remember the author's name. I am also reading The Canterbury Tales with my oldest.

We have had sickness here--migraines for me and the flu for one kid--so I have been able to get lots of reading done. I finished 'Astonish Me' by Maggie Shipstead---meh. It was predictable. I then moved on to 'The Headmaster's Wife' by Thomas Christopher Greene--I loved it, well-written. This was kind of predictable, too, but for some reason it didn't bother me this time. I am now reading Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeymi.

I am not good with series. After about three I start to get tired of them. The series of Flavia de Luce and Harry Potter are exceptions. I couldn't even get to the third book of the Hunger Games or the Divergent trilogy. I am still reading Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead. It's an okay read but the only thing that is going to get me through is determination. I am tired of ditching a book a third of the way through so I am determined to finish this one.

I am readingh Wilkin's book right now. I have seen Lennox on tv a few times this past week and have liked what I've heard. I think I will have to make a purchase this week. I finished While Beauty Slept by Elizabeth Blackwell. It is an interesting re-telling of Sleeping Beauty. I am now reading Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead.

Congratulations, Ali, on #52! I finished While Beauty Slept by Elizabeth Blackwell. I loved this book! I might just put it on my 'best of the year' list. It is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, very well done, imo. I have just started Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner so it is too early to give an opinion but, so far, I am enjoying reading the descriptions. I am also reading To Kill A Mockingbird with my oldest. It is my second time through and, after I finished it the first time I was not impressed with it and wondered why it was considered a classic. Second time around( 5 years later,) I am enjoying it much more. I am enjoying the conversations between Jem and Scout. They are so funny. Interesting how opinions change in such a short amount of time.

I do read blogs. I tend to read them to gain ideas. It was through blogs that I learned about Morning Time, about Circe, about Classical Education, about teaching truth, beauty and goodness, etc. I have no irl support so I get it online. I used to get it through this forum but not so much any more. Now there are a small number of blogs that I gain my support. I don't like the kinds of blogs that are popular now; the blogs that have become a business, offering the latest print-off or giveaway. I like the ones that offer the nitty-gritty of life and there still are some of them out there. I would love to read about someone's struggles with the learning challenges of their children. All of my children are dyslexic but my youngest is giving me a run for my money. Teaching her has caused me pain and doubt. It would be nice to read that I am not alone that there are others who are struggling with similar issues. I understand why people do not air these struggles in public blogs but I am just saying it would be nice to know that I am not here swaying in the wind on my own.

Elaine, I am ever-so-slowly reading through Dante. I am using John Ciardi's translation and I am not having any problems with it. Anthony Esolen also has a translation. I haven't read it so I don't know what it is like but it is Esolen so it should be good. :hurray: Congratulations, Robin! Oh, ick! I am sorry. We have been dealing with a lot of sickness the past two months. For some reason it is only my girls that are getting sick and they keep getting the same bug. We have been 'bug-free' for the last two weeks so I think the yuckiness is officially over. I hope that you can get some sleep tonight and that all of your crew is feeling better soon. Dawn, I hope you are feeling better today.

Well, I was only teacher for an hour yesterday when I was hit with a migraine. From the way that I am feeling now it is looking like not much school will happen today, either. :huh:

Due to a long weekend (Canadian Thanksgiving,) I finished Moonstone. Wahoo! Two months it took for me to read this. Two months to get to page 70 and then I read 400 pages in three days. Again, Wahoo! I am still reading Booked by Karen Swallow Prior (I am loving her writing!) and have just started for my token fluff book, While Beauty Slept by Elizabeth Blackwell.

This is how I do it. I don't always get here every day but I just start where I ended off and go from there. I don't always chime in on the conversations because my thoughts do not translate well in the written word. I have grand conversations in my head, though. The BFG is my youngest's favourite book. I think we have read it 5 times over. I am still slogging through The Moonstone but it is picking up and I have about 100 more pages to go. The end is in sight.