February Reading Wrap-up

February was an improved month for reading - maybe all the snow days helped! We flew through several read alouds this month and I read three books for pleasure / at the request of the girls.

This month (or at the tail end of January) I finished:

• The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #1) by Rick Riordan. Read at the request of N1, this was a Norse knock-off of the Percy Jackson series. Same scenario - underdog human finds out that he is of mythical decent (Norse gods this time v. Greek) and manages to save Earth from destruction. I think I'll stick with Percy. 
• Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare by E. Nesbit. We finished one of our books from our morning circle time / read aloud loop! We definitely loved some of Shakespeare's tales more than others - there is a reason why some of them are obscure I think. : ) That said, as a mama who spent a lot of time in high school with just MacBeth and Romeo and Juliet, I enjoyed the peek at some of the other plays. We are going to give Shakespeare a little rest, and then I think we are going to read through Charles and Mary Lamb's overview of the Bard's work. 
• Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. In January, our main school-day read-aloud was Anne. It took us almost six weeks to finish, but I think I've securely captured their hearts with her. N2 (age 10) went on to start and has almost finished Anne of Avonlea on her own ... we toyed with the idea of going on with Anne as a group, but I just don't think that B (age 8) is ready to appreciate it, nor is the boy. : )
• Roots and Sky: A Journey Home in Four Seasons by Christie Purifoy. This was recommended to me by a friend and was just a beautiful, beautiful book. Christie tells the story of her family's first year at Maplehurst, an old estate house on what used to be a large farm. Her writing is wonderful and I felt like I spent the year with her and her family in this house as they struggled and grew. Loved it, and I predict I will read this one again. (She blogs here).
• Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics by Chris Grabenstein. Another book that N1 handed off to me after she finished and told me to read. I had read the first book in this series, Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, and loved it so she didn't have to twist my arm too hard. Lots of little literary jokes and mentions that I loved.
• The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois. Another read-aloud we flew through in a week. Ten short chapters and an excellent adventure. I foresee reading this again when the boy is older because I think he'll love it.

Currently in process:

• The Life-giving Home and Own Your Life by Sally Clarkson. I'm going back and forth between the two books and enjoying them both though this probably isn't the recommended way of reading them. : ) I need the message of both so I'm sticking with my unorthodox approach right now!
• All of a Kind Family Uptown by Sydney Taylor. Our post-lunch read-aloud.
• Tumtum and Nutmeg by Emily Bearn. Our evening read-aloud, when it fits. Specifically reading this one for the boy since he missed our first go round with this one.
• I'm having a dreadful time getting into anything fiction right now. I read about 1/4-1/3 of the way into The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin, Jr. but it wasn't hitting the spot for me. I'm setting it aside for now. 
• I've recently been added to a group of friends on Facebook that are reading through Modern Mrs. Darcy's yearly reading challenge. Next month (if' I'm correct) I'm supposed to read a book that I own but have never read. I think I'm going to tackle All the Light I Cannot See. My friend Amy recommended this to me last year, and (to my recollection) she's never steered me wrong! 

I think that's it. Anybody else read anything interesting lately? I'm spending most of my online time on Instagram, and posting more current pics and thoughts on what we are reading lately ... I hesitate to say that I'm abandoning this and moving to more microblogging over there, so we shall see. : )

Happy Thursday!