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Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Books I Read in 2019


I finished 60 books in 2019 (not including all of the non-chapter books I read with my kids, which I’m sure numbered well over 100 in their own right).


I also joined a book club this year which had me reading more fiction than in previous years. I listened to several audio books but I think I will always prefer paper books to digital and audio. Books I read in 2019:

1. When Children Love to Learn by Elaine Cooper
2. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
3. The Assassins Blade (Throne of Glass) by Sarah J. Maas
4. Throne of Glass, Book 1 (Throne of Glass) by Sarah J. Maas
5. Crown of Midnight, Book 2 (Throne of Glass) by Sarah J. Maas
6. Heir of Fire, Book 3 (Throne of Glass) by Sarah J. Maas
7. The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
8. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
9. Queen of Shadows, Book 4 (Throne of Glass) by Sarah J. Maas
10. Empire of Storms, Book 5 (Throne of Glass) by Sarah J. Maas
11. Peter Pan by JM Barrie
12. The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser


13. Brave Learner by Julie Bogart
14. Tower of Dawn, Book 6 (Throne of Glass) by Sarah J. Maas
15. Kingdom of Ash, Book 7 (Throne of Glass) by Sarah J. Maas
16. The Wild Robot, Book 1 by Peter Brown
17. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
18. Mary Poppins by PL Travers
19. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillio
20. Teaching from Rest by Sarah Mackenzie
21. Know and Tell, the Art of Narration by Karen Glass
22. Mary Poppins Comes Back by PL Travers
23. Wonder Woman, Warbringer by Sarah J. Maas
24. The Hidden Gallery, Book 2 (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place) by Mary Rosewood
25. Peak, Book 1 (Peak) by Roland Smith
26. The Edge, Book 2 (Peak) by Roland Smith
27. The Trials of Morrigan Crow, Book 1 (Nevermoor) by Jessica Townsend
28. The Meaning of Marriage by Timothy Keller
29. Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes
30. Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham
31. A Jane Austen Education by William Deresiewicz
32. The Read Aloud Family by Sarah Mackenzie
33. What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
34. Unplanned by Abby Johnson
35. Starting Out in the Afternoon by Jill Frayne


36. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
37. When Books Went War by Molly Guptil Manning
38. Unoffendable by Brant Hansen
39. The Core by Leigh A. Bortins
40. The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller
41. The Wild Robot Escapes, Book 2 by Peter Brown
42. The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni
43. The Door in the Wall by Margeurite de Angeli
44. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
45. The Sacred Enneagram by Christopher L. Heuertz


46. Oryx and Crake, Book 1 (MaddAddam) by Margaret Atwood
47. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
48. The Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren
49. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
50. The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
51. The Lost History of Dreams by Kris Waldherr
52. The Year of the Flood, Book 2 (MaddAddam) by Margaret Atwood
53. MaddAddam, Book 3 (MaddAddam) by Margaret Atwood
54. The Grimm Legacy, Book 1 by Polly Shulman
55. The World According to Narnia by Jonathan Rogers
56. The Green Ember, Book 1 by SD Smith
57. Recursion by Blake Crouch
58. Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty
59. At Home in the World by Tsh Oxenreidse
60. The Wondering Years by Knox McCoy




If I had to narrow down my faves, I enjoyed the Throne of Glass series (but each book is almost 1000 pages!), so if you start it it’s a big commitment.

  
Overall I really enjoyed: The Liturgy of an Ordinary Day, Teaching from Rest, Brave Learner, At Home in the World, The Prodigal God, What Alice Forgot, and The Wondering Years

  
On the kids front, I really enjoyed these series with my kids: The Green Ember (we are listening to book 2 now), The Wild Robot (both books), and the Nevermoor series (we are currently on book 2) were my favorites to read with my kids.

Books I've read over the years: 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Canada Bound: Grayson Highlands

Setting up camp and the camp host came by to say a bear was in the campground earlier today. There has been one additional sighting, but we need to be bear aware in case it’s still around. About to cook supper, I hope the bear doesn’t like grilled chicken 🤣 

We tried to go to a ranger talk on the night sky. We were the only ones to arrive and then discovered it got cancelled. Maybe it was too cloudy? Maybe the bear scared everyone off? It was too late for a fire so we hung out in our hammocks for a bit and then consoled ourselves with hot chocolate.

Morning coffee at Grayson Highlands. It was cool enough to sleep with the windows open last night. I’m kind of dreading getting back to the heat in Tennessee on Saturday. Maybe the heat wave will be over before we get home. Adventures are waiting for us today and tomorrow. 

Last night at camp. I grilled bacon and made scrambled eggs with grilled pita for our final dinner on the road. We watched the sunset and the kids helped Daniel build a fire to finish our evening. We haven’t had television in three weeks (except for a couple of days of Netflix with family), but nobody missed it. The kids don’t even bug us anymore to watch movies in the car (we still let them some), but they prefer books, napping or the scenery. I don’t know what kind of trip we will do next year. Where it will be, how long it will be. But I know that these weeks together without distractions make us a better family.

Trip Stats:

Campground: Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia

Highlights: Hearing about a bear sighting, Hiking, Biking the Virginia Creeper

Days on the Road: 20-23