Finished

So, I just finished On the Wings of Heroes and Uprising.  I'll post more when I've had time to process a little bit.  But On the Wings of Heroes is a solid choice for this group.  Good night!

Okay-dokey then

I made the executive decision then and set On the Wings of Heroes by Richard Peck as our first official book to read in almost two years!!  Private Peaceful looked good too, but I'm in a no depressing anything mood.  Seriously, this pregnancy I can't handle anything sad.  And I rearranged our booklist--I didn't add any books, I just rearranged them to be somewhat less intimidating.  Let me know what you think.

Whatev, man.

I don't care what you do!  I'm too busy to do much reading, but I am finalizing my Crazy Book Aunt Summer Reading Program that I put together every year for my nieces and nephews, and I am still picking the last few titles.  Because of that, by the 7th, I want to have read the following:

Richard Peck, On the Wings of Heroes
Michael Morpurgo, Private Peaceful
Margaret Peterson Haddix, Uprising
Jeanette Ingold, The Big Burn

If you want to read any of those, I'd love to chime in.  If not, that's okay too.  If you have already read any of those--what did you think?????

yes, please

Busy or not, I'd like to read and discuss.

Start up again?

Just wondering if anyone is still interested in starting up again?  I'm not taking any more classes right now and we've moved and everything has settled down a lot.  I know Andrea's crazy busy, but maybe she wouldn't mind if we skipped a bunch of those longer books and read some like the Scarlet Pimpernel and Onion John, or Little Britches, something simple to start off again?  Let me know what you guys think and I'll be more than happy to rearrange our list.

New Reading List

Okay, sorry the title is misleading, it's not a new reading list for us.  It's actually a new list for my daughter.  I pay her $2 for any book she reads off of it.  This is her new one for 7th-8th grade.  I thought I'd put it up for any suggestions..... suggestions are always welcome!  Just FYI, I make the list of some harder books to challenge her, and then some books just so she'll branch out and read a wide variety of genres, and some I just put on because I like them. :)  She doesn't read without being required too, and she wouldn't read most of these without the monetary reward.

• The Blue Sword -Robin McKinley
• Kira-Kira -Cynthia Kadohata
• The Hound of the Baskervilles -Arthur Conan Doyle
• Lord of the Flies -William Golding
• Dracula -Bram Stoker
• The Hobbit -J.R.R. Tolkien
• Rebecca -Daphne du Maurier
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin -Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Northanger Abbey -Jane Austin
• Wuthering Heights -Emily Bronte
• Ramona -Helen Hunt Jackson
• Mrs. Mike -Benedict Freedman and Nancy Freedman
• Kidnapped -Robert Louis Stevenson
• Adrift:Seventy-six Days Lost at Sea - Steven Callahan
• Little Women -Louisa May Alcott
• Jurassic Park -Michael Crichton
• Across Five Aprils -Irene Hunt
• The Call of the Wild -Jack London
• Anne of Green Gables -L.M. Montgomery
• Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm -Kate Douglas Wiggen
• The Pearl -John Steinbeck
• My Brother Sam is Dead -James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
• The Outsiders -S.E. Hinton
• The Cay -Theadore Taylor
• A Day No Pigs Would Die -Robert Newton Peck
• Night -Elie Wiesel
• H.M.S. Ulysses -Allistair Maclean
• Goodbye Mr. Chips -James Hilton
• Island of the Blue Dolphins -Scott O’Dell
• The Sea Wolf -Jack London
• Treasure Island -Robert Louis Stevenson
• On Fortune’s Wheel- Cynthia Voigt
• The Forestwife -Theresa Thomlinson
• The Bronze Bow -Elizabeth George Speare
• The House of Seven Gables - Nathaniel Hawthorne
• I Heard the Owl Call My Name -Margaret Craven
• No Promises in the Wind -Irene Hunt
• Obasan-Joy Kogawa
• The River Between Us -Richard Peck
• The Slave Dancer -Paula Fox
• Silas Marner -George Eliot
• Who Has Seen the Wind -W.O. Mitchell
• Anthem -Ayn Rand
• The Time It Never Rained -Elmer Kelton
• All Creatures Great and Small -James Herriot
• Goodnight, Mr. Tom -Michelle Magorian
• The Robe -Lloyd C. Douglas
• Believing Christ -Stephen E. Robinson
• Our Search for Happiness -M. Russell Ballard
• A Marvelous Work and A Wonder - LeGrand Richards
• The Work and the Glory -Gerald N. Lund
• Fishers of Men -Gerald N. Lund
• By These Ten Bones -Claire B. Dunkle
• The House of Many Rooms -Rodella Hunter
• The Prisoner of Zenda -Anthony Hope
• I Capture the Castle -Dodie Smith
•   Juniper -Monica Furlong
• Rifles for Watie -Harold Keith
• Charlie’s Monument -Blaine M. Yorgason
• And Then There Were None-Agatha Christie
• Elantris- Brandon Sanderson
• The Hiding Place - Corrie Ten Boom
• Follow the River - James Thom
• A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
• Billy Budd - Herman Melville
• The Scarlet Pimpernel - Emmuska Orczy
• Something Wicked This Way Comes- Ray Bradbury
• The Maude Reed Tale -Norah Lofts
• The Only Alien on the Planet- Kristen D. Randle
• Freckles- Gene Statton-Porter
• Soul Surfer - Bethany Hamiliton
• Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World- Jennifer Armstrong
• Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science - John Fleischman
• An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy
• Any (1 time only) Tony Hillerman
• Any longer Louis L’Amour (ask me first)

I would LOVE to get back into this as well...the way it was originally set up!  :-) 
Right now I am reading Booker T. Washington's "Up From Slavery."  I understand many of you may have already read this book...but I would enjoy discussing it with other like-minded people. 
What if we each contributed about 5 titles we'd like to see on the list and then put them in order and get started?  Kami - if you are out of control busy, I could set up the list as you've done in the past. ?? 
Anyone else up for it?
JULIA

Are we still here? Or too busy?

Hey guys,
Is anyone interesting in getting back into some reading and discussing?  I really miss having someone to discuss big ideas with.  Plus, I like the motivation of wanting to be able to join in the discussion to encourage me to read something a little harder or out of my comfort zone.  I don't have a lot of time, but I am aiming to give myself 30 minutes a day to read something worthwhile.

Reply to Kelly

I really liked both those posts. I couldn't help but compare the modesty post to Misfit's modesty post and I think I finally get why several of you can't stand Misfit. Both posts were blunt about the importance of modesty, but this lady's blog focused on the doctrine and the heart which made Misfit just seem like a really nit-picky, judgmental person. I had several people read the Misfit article on modesty and they all got hung up on the "no darts" in your shirt and that was it--all other messages failed to transmit. There is a lesson in there for me as a teacher.

Miriam watched the link to the church website for the youth--the video on deep beauty -- and she really picked up on the "queen" idea. I need to internalize that message. It is so hard to not get hung up on the world's view of beauty. I also have committed to not talking about looks/weight/etc. around my children. My mom never talked about that stuff and I never thought about it, and I think that is really healthy. I think me and my sisters chat about it when we get together because we are all reproducing and that wreaks havoc on your weight/self-image, but I've noticed some of my nieces listening a few times and I think we are sending the wrong messages to the young ladies in our family.

I agree with you, Kelly, that we have to step it up in the teaching spiritual things to our children department. What have you done that has been successful? So far I feel like I've done a few (very few) good things. Baptism Prep with Miriam was awesome. She learned how to find scriptures, she memorized most of the Articles of Faith, we talked about faith and repentance, and I was able to bear testimony to her almost every day. I'm excited to start Baptism Prep with Cowen on March 1 (can't believe he's turning 7!!).

This year for devotional (when I manage to have morning devotional with the kids), I've read a few Friend articles but then I also read a story from Inspiring Experiences that Build Faith by President Monson. He wrote about different experiences he has had that taught him something. Each one is about a page. My kids are really getting to know their prophet and they are remembering these stories. So I feel good about that.

I plan on someday doing a Priesthood Prep, but that is intimidating because I don't really know what a boy should study the year prior to getting the priesthood and I don't know that much about it myself. I have a few years to figure this out. I'm also planning on doing a special YW prep with my daughters when they are 11. I figured we'd talk about all the YW values, spend one month on each, and discuss the importance of each. But, I haven't decided for sure. Instead, I might do 1/2 year YW prep and Priesthood Prep and the other 1/2 year as temple prep, since I plan on taking my kids to the temple once a week once they turn 12.

Okay--that is it for me. Anyone else with any thoughts?? I read in the Ensign that the strongest correlation between a behavior and going on a mission was personal scripture study. If you can get your kids to study the scriptures then they are significantly more likely to go on a mission and get married in the temple. What are the best ways to encourage that? Other good ideas?

arm yourselves, ladies

I have a new favorite blog.  Here are two posts that I read recently and REALLY liked.  I don't know about you guys, but I've been feeling this weight on my heart, prompting, personal interest, etc., lately in what I need to do to teach my children.  And not so much for the battle against Satan that they're going to face themselves, but the battle my grandchildren are going to face when my children will be the parents.  It sounds dire when I say it like that, but I really feel like the Adversary is working hard and we've got to kick it up a notch (or more) in our spiritual teaching to our youth.

http://diapersanddivinity.com/2012/02/07/pornography-satans-power-tool/

http://diapersanddivinity.com/2012/01/23/the-beauty-paradox/

Enjoy.