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2012 Book Survey and 2013 Reading Resolutions

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Year’s end is a great time to take stock of the past calendar year and make some new-year resolutions.

Faith at “Strewing”answered a series of book-related questions about the books she read this year, and that inspired me to come up with a quick list of questions related to books and invite you to share your favorites, too.

I want to clarify that I do always recommend all of the books that I review, and you can find them all in the book review tab up at the top of the blog.  (Note:  I need to add the last few months, but I promise to do so as a year’s end housekeeping).

So here is my 2012 Book Survey and Reading Resolutions for 2013.  Please share your answers on your own blog, or here in the comments if you are so inclined. Happy reading!

What was the most important/best book that you read this year?

I’ve got two here, and I reviewed them both in my July column: Adam and Eve After the Pill: Paradoxes of the Sexual Revolution by Mary Eberstadt and My Peace I Give You: Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints by Dawn Eden.  Must reads.

What book was most spiritually fruitful for you this year?

God Will Provide by Patricia Treece is a tremendous book.

What was the most enjoyable read this year?

Two memoirs come to mind.  Amy Welborn’s Wish You Were Here and Colleen Carroll Campbell’s My Sisters the Saints were both great reads.

Actually, I really enjoyed and found lots to ponder from all the memoirs I read this year, from Alberto Salazar’s 14 Minutes to Chris Haw’s From Willow Creek to Sacred Heart.  

What was the favorite book you read (or re-read) this year?

Re-reading (and reading out loud to my children) Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy has been a highlight.

What are your reading resolutions for the new year?

I have three:

Get more organized.  First, just in the last few weeks, I’ve started a list for review books that I add to each time books come in with the title, author and publisher.  If I get a chance to glance through it or even read it, I give it a grade and a couple of notes about the book.

I also hope to get up to speed on GoodReads or one of the other websites to help organize reading with everything I am reading, including with the kids, and books I want to share with my husband.  For many months, I kept a book log on my phone of all the books I read–usually a dozen or more a month, yay me!– but I’ve gotten out of that habit and I need to do so again.  I find it so satisfying to look back at the list of all that I have read.

Get more opinions.  I really enjoy getting to host other bloggers or other people reviewing books, and I want to make that a bigger part of Reading Catholic next year.  I really hope to tap into the local Catholic community for this, and have more voices chime in on all the great books out there.

Share more in real life.  I am determined to start an in-real-life book group again, and this one will not be about Catholic books–there, I said it!  I am definitely up for the fun I had several years back with a now-defunct Jane Austen book group.  I need that kind of talk and enjoyment with fellow readers.

What about you?  What are your favorite reads from 2012, and are you making any reading resolutions for 2013?

10 Great Free or Nearly Free E-Books for Kids

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This post was inspired by two of my (four) sisters.

One sister has a daughter with a Kindle and is always looking for something new to read.

The other sister has two girls who received a Kindle Fire for Christmas, and was looking for ideas of good free or nearly free books for the device.

I wanted to put out a quick list of good reads that would keep a younger reader (I’m thinking middle-grade level on up) busy for a long time.  I’ve chosen books that are classics and ones our family has returned to again and again.

There are so many great books in the public domain that free or nearly free reads are plentiful.  I think there are also some series and books worth spending out for, and having them in your Kindle library for reading anytime.

I can picture that my sisters, and some others, might complain, “oh, my kids have read that,” but honestly, having favorite books around to read “just because” can be a really good thing.  Who said one must not re-read a great book?  Not me!

I’m only providing the Amazon links to this, since Kindle and Kindle Apps are what we use for e-reading.  If you use a Nook or read in iBooks or GoogleBooks, what is your experience with free or near-free books on those platforms?  Please share away with your experiences, and your favorites.

These are in no particular order, by the way:

1. Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher.  I’m pretty sure I got this as a free book several years back, but I can’t find a free edition.   This is 99 cents and well worthwhile

2. The Anne of Green Gables series (11 book set), $1.99 by Lucy Maud Montgomery.  This has all of the Anne books in the public domain, plus a few other LMM titles.  I think it’s well worthwhile, or if you just wanted to go with the 99 cents Anne of Green Gables, you could, but why stop there?

Certain LMM titles are free on the Kindle–I think the first one we got was Rilla of Ingleside, but it shouldn’t be legal to read that one first since it is very last in the series.  So go spend the $1.99 and read through the series and enjoy.

3. Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter.  Finally, a truly free one!  The story itself is beautiful, and after finishing you can watch one of the two really nice movie versions of this old classic, one starring Hayley Mills as Pollyanna, and one newer one that was on PBS some years back.

4. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  Free.

5. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  Free.  I like this one best of all of Burnett’s books.

6. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Free.  Also several good movie versions if you read through this one.

7. Betsy-Tacy Treasury (first 4 books of Betsy-Tacy editions) is $9.78.  This is really worthwhile because it is the first 4 books in the Betsy-Tacy series, at less than $2.50 each.

8. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.  It is $6.38 on Kindle, not a bad price.

9. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy in One Volume by J.R.R. Tolkien.  Only $9, or $3 a book.  A great value.

10.  For splurging:  The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis.  I was shocked that the Narnia series cannot be purchased as a set, and need to be purchased inidividually at about $6.50 each.  Not bad but it does add up.

However, I see that in April Harper Collins will be releasing a complete Kindle “set” of the seven Narnia books for $50 (FIFTY DOLLARS!).  I must confess that my first reaction is WOW, that is steep!!!!!!  I hope there is a lot of great content to justify that kind of purchase, since you can purchase the entire set separately for about $45.

We only have one of the Narnia books on Kindle; when we first got our Kindle one of the kids accidentally purchased Prince Caspian, and since I didn’t realize you can return a book you bought by mistake, we kept it.  We have at least three full “real book” copies of the series (just like with LOTR), and so  we don’t “have to have” the Kindle version.

If a Kindle owner purchased all the books listed above (excluding the pricey Narnia series), you would spend less than $30 for a great collection of classics to enjoy again and again.  Even if you bought the nearly free ones, you would spend $3 to get a ton of classics.

I know I will be adding more books to this list, and I can think of a few right now. Which ones did I leave out?  What are some of your favorites?

Kids Books for Christmas: Focus on Trusted Authors

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Did you know that some families have a tradition of giving books on Epiphany instead of Christmas?

I sincerely hope families still have this tradition, because otherwise I fear this post on great Christmas books will be a little late for giving on Christmas Day itself.  Remember, though, Christmas season goes for much longer, so consider giving books after Christmas for great reading.

My general principle this year: focus on TrustedAuthorsTM.

What is a TrustedAuthorTM? I’m joking (mostly), when I make the phrase a TM. There are some writers, whether Jane Austen, C.S. Lewis, Lucy Maud Montgomery, and J.R.R. Tolkien, who can be trusted for their entire canon.  Certain authors can be relied on to write from a certain worldview that is compatible with a Catholic ethic.  I feel like I wanted to add a Trusted AuthorTM after the author’s name when I write about writers like C.S. Lewis.  You can basically trust everything they have written.

Not surprisingly, most of these are not living authors, but there are a few that are go-to authors at our house, and we anxiously await each new book.  So who are some of our other TrustedAuthorsTM?  John Flanagan (for children; we discovered about a year ago that he has written some grown-up thrillers, but there’s a little too much violence in them for kids), and his  Ranger’s Apprentice and Brotherband series; Regina Doman, who writes excellent and compelling fairy-tale retellings; and of course many more.  Most of these are known as Catholic or Christian authors, or we suspect as much because their work is entertaining and is in line with a Catholic worldview.  And of course Catholic authors writing on Catholic themes (such as saint books) also would be in this category.

Other authors we put in a “good, but be careful” category.  A good example of such an author (and there are plenty, I’m just picking one at random) is Wendy Mass.  She’s written a slew of popular middle-grade novels, most with some great themes about being yourself.  But there are some cautions about her books, and annoying things like having someone “thanking the universe” instead of God.  Since I’ve read a few of her books, I’ve been able to have some discussions with my younger readers about her style and what I don’t like about her style.

Some authors we don’t even consider–Philip Pullman, for example. We just won’t even start a book by this kind of author.

What I want for my own children is for them to love and enjoy TrustedAuthorsTM best of all, but be able to read and enjoy stories by “careful” authors with discernment.

Here are just a few good book gift suggestions that would be for Christmas, Epiphany or any other nearby giving opportunity. Consider them pre-screened for your family as wholesome, enjoyable books:

*Legends of Zita the Spacegirl by TrustedAuthorTM Ben Hatke.  My kids devoured this second in the series about Zita.  Graphic novels can be fun reading, but sometimes the illustrations can be less than appealing.  Not so Ben Hatke’s works–they are delightful to read and enjoy.

*Habemus Papem: Pope Benedict XVI.  Another graphic novel, this one by Trusted AuthorTM Regina Doman, portrays the life of Joseph Ratzinger before he became pope, from his earliest days.  Even though I’m not a huge fan of manga, I really love the books by Manga Hero (Should I make a TrustedPublisherTM?).  We own and love all the Manga Hero titles.  Here’s one small thing we didn’t like about Habemus Papem (that’s new from the prior Manga Hero titles): it’s written in the traditional manga fashion, so you read it from the back to the front.  This takes some getting used to, and I definitely prefer normal way.  It’s still a great story and shouldn’t deter people from reading it.

*The Prairie Thief by TrustedAuthorTM Melissa Wiley. Wiley writes the lovely blog “Bonny Glen” and she’s definitely a kindred spirit when it comes to reading. She loves and blogs about Betsy-Tacy, the Anne of Green Gables books, and many other TrustedAuthorsTM.  She has six children, she’s a homeschooling mom, and in all her free time she writes books, most notably the “Little House” Martha and Charlotte books.  The Prairie Thief is her latest middle-grade novel, and it’s a little silly, a little sweet and all great read about prairie and family life.  Here’s a wonderful review that captures what’s so terrific about this book.

*Wonder by R.J. Palacio.  I can’t say whether or not Palacio is a TrustedAuthorTM, because this is her first book, but what a great beginning.  Palacio writes about Auggie Pullman, who has a facial deformity that prevents him from going to school–until now.  Auggie’s experience of belonging and rejection is beautifully crafted. I must admit that when I started it, I thought it might be depressing or otherwise too realistic and gritty, as these kinds of modern novels for kids can be. But instead, it is a gently realistic and hopeful story.

Here are a few really excellent saint books for younger readers:

My Soul Magnifies the Greatness of the Lord: Saint Kateri Tekakwitha by Bernadette Nippert and Brenda & George Nippert.  This book was very sweet!  I especially liked this for being multifaceted and having a pro-environmental theme that’s not done for PC reasons but just naturally in the story and Kateri’s life.  Best to order this book from Hillside Education (A TrustedVendorTM ? Are you getting annoyed with me yet?)

Juan Diego:  Mary’s Humble Messenger by Barbara Yoffie and also Kateri Tekakwitha: Model of Bravery by the same author.  These are nice little volumes with the saint stories for little ones.

My St. Nicholas Day Present–Radiate by Colleen Swaim

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I was so grateful when Bonnie Engstrom of “A Knotted Life” (as part of her Advent series) asked me to write about Advent traditions in our family.  I must have been feeling a little discouraged when I wrote about not being well-prepared for Advent, because it was very encouraging for me to have the   chance to articulate what we do well this time of year.

I write about “go with your strengths” and our family’s strength, of course, is using books to celebrate Advent and Christmastime.  The one book I featured was The Miracle of St. Nicholas by Gloria Whelan and beautifully illustrated by Judith Brown.  We finally read our copy of The Miracle of St. Nicholas  until after dinner, but it was a nice quiet after-dinner time.  There was a lot of chocolate eaten today (including by me!)

But my St. Nicholas Day present (a surprise, and welcome surprise!) came in the mail this afternoon–when I picked up the mail and saw a copy of Radiate: More Stories of Daring Teen Saints by Colleen Swaim.

I am a huge Colleen Swaim fan since I read her first book Ablaze: Stories of Daring Teen Saints.  It’s a book intended for teen readers, but I loved and all my kids (8-13 at the time) loved it.  I’ve given it as a gift multiple times, and everyone I’ve given it to or recommended it to has loved it, without exception.  I reviewed Ablaze here (calling it a “gem”) and interviewed Colleen here.  I hope to have another Q&A with Colleen again soon, since she is willing. Look for that here soon!

I’ve been anxiously awaiting this book’s release ever since I saw it had a November 1 release date, and actually planned to review it for my November print column in The Catholic Post.  The publisher told me it was a little delayed, so I held off so I could review it for my December gift books column.  Unfortunately, I wanted to be absolutely sure it was officially available, so that prevented me from reviewing it for my December column, which appears in this weekend’s Post.

But I was really, truly excited to see in the mail this afternoon a hot-off-the-presses copy of Radiate.  Now do you believe me that I am really into books? 🙂

This isn’t actually a review of the book, since one of the kids has run off with it.  From my first look at it, it looks just as handsome and well-produced as Ablaze, with both new and well-loved saints.  Review soon!  In the meantime, if you need a book suggestion for a tween or teen reader, Radiate is your book.

 

First, What Are You Reading? Volume 28

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Here are the questions I ask and answer on the first of each month.  The questions, as always, are:

first, what are you reading?
what do you like best about it?
what do you like least?
what’s next on your list to read?

As always, I hope you’ll consider your current reads on your blog and/or sharing here in the comments or on Facebook or Twitter.  Happy reading!

First, what are you reading?

Thornton Wilder:  A Life by Penelope Niven, a brand-new biography of the playwright and author.  Niven had unprecedented access to Wilder family letters and papers in writing the book.

I’m slowly making my way through reading aloud  The Lord of the Rings trilogy, with the younger kids.  We are almost finished with The Fellowship of the Ring.

What do you like best about it?

I picked up Thornton Wilder at the new book shelf of the library after a book I’m highlighting as a good kids book features his play Our Town.  Our Town was a favorite of and oft-quoted by my late father.  He was fond of saying with a wry smile to one of us daughters at various times, “You’re pretty enough for all ordinary purposes.”  This was emphatically not a put-down, as it’s a famous line from the play.  My dad also loved The Bridge at San Luis Rey, probably Wilder’s most famous novel, as do I.

I very much enjoyed reading how Wilder’s family spent part of his childhood in China, as well as the time he spent at boarding school in China away from his family. (He was required to write long letters to his family every Sunday, which gives me ideas).  There must be something about spending part of one’s childhood in a foreign country that makes for great writers.  I can think off the top of my head of Rumer Godden and Jean Fritz, and I’m sure there are many others.

What do you like least about it?

I’m sure I won’t finish Thornton Wilder–I’m about halfway through– but what I have read has been great.

I both love and don’t love reading The Fellowship of the Ring aloud.  Reading aloud is the best and most connected way to share a book in a family, but it is hard work.

I have so far resisted getting an audiobook version so we could all listen together, or let my nine-year-old read it to himself.  He has mentioned reading it to himself a few times, and he certainly could.  But there truly is nothing to having a book read aloud, and by reading it aloud myself I am learning much more from Tolkein’s excellent writing, as well as highlighting quotes.

The reason I resist having us just read the books individually is that we are all really fast readers.

Case in point:  this week, when my nine-year-old was looking for a good book, I gave him my childhood copy of The 21 Balloons by William Pene Dubois, a Newberry winner from the mid-20th century.  He had not read it before, and when he looked a little dubious, I challenged him to give it 30 minutes and if he didn’t like it, he  could put it aside.

Forty-five minutes later, I called the kids for lunch.  He came walking in reading it (breaking our family rule, “no reading & walking” as I tell kids on the walk home from the library, trying to train them for not texting & driving).  He was already nearly halfway through the book.  Total time for him to finish the book?  Less than two hours.

I know this is technically a “good problem to have” but I find it super annoying, in a sort of funny way, and I told him so.  I already have enough trouble keeping older kids in books that are well-written and good!    More importantly, I have been concerned in the past that kids are not comprehending anything they read, getting through books so quickly, but I have found that comprehension is not a problem.  For instance, I asked him to tell me about The 21 Balloons, and he talked intelligently about the book for five minutes until I had to answer the phone.

Even though he was able to relate the plot and interesting vignettes from the book, I still feel we all miss out by reading too quickly.  Sometimes I try to slow myself down by taking notes of a book.  Reading aloud, especially with a classic like The Lord of the Rings, is completely worthwhile.

What’s next on your list?

Finishing The Lord of the Rings.

So many review books have come in lately I feel a bit overwhelmed, so I’m sure I will be taking some time in the next month to organize what I’ve got and try to map out the next few months.

What are you reading this month?

Book Traditions for Advent and Christmas

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I’m excited to share that I’ve been invited to be part of the Advent series hosted by Bonnie at A Knotted Life.   Kicking off the series this Sunday will be Lisa Hendey.  I truly look forward to following along with it, and of course I’m delighted to be included among the bloggers writing guest posts.  I will be writing for the feast of St. Nicholas.

As a little sneak preview, I am writing about–surprise, surprise–books for Advent and Christmastime.

But I wanted to share here in a more general way how I have used books during Advent, as well as offer some resources and suggestions.  After I wrote in part of my November column for The Catholic Post about some newer books to help keep Advent well, I realize that literature (and for kids in particular, picture books)  can be just as good as devotional works, to get in the spirit of the Advent and Christmas seasons.

Here are some of the nuts & bolts of how we use literature during Advent at our house.

I keep a basket of Advent- and Christmas-themed books tucked away in a closet.   I’ve kept this basket for years, and added to it over time via book sales, library cast-offs and Barnes & Noble “after Christmas” (though during Christmas season) sales. There are perhaps a dozen books that we truly treasure, but the rest are seasonal enough to hold interest and keep us reading.  There are about 50 books in our Advent/Christmas book basket, and I usually also order a lot of other books from the library, either new ones, or old classics we don’t own.   So there is plenty to read this time of year.

I began the Advent/Christmas basket of books when my oldest (now 15!) was a toddler.  I learned about the tradition from Catholic moms on various e-groups (in the Wild West, before we got all our great ideas from blogs, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest).

At that time, some moms shared on the e-groups about how they wrapped (sometimes in liturgically correct purple or pink) each one of the books well ahead of Advent, and then unwrapped one each day of Advent and Christmastime.  

That idea makes me tired just thinking about it, so needless to say that has never happened here.   I used to have some guilt, like I wasn’t quite “mom” enough to pick out and wrap dozens of books.  Now that I’m a little wiser, I leave that behind.

In reality, I feel accomplished simply that I am able to keep those books tucked away all year and bring out the basket at the beginning of Advent.

I won’t list all the books in our family’s basket (though I will share one special book on Bonnie’s blog next week, and a few others later in Advent here).  For one, I think there are fewer than a dozen that we cherish.  Mostly, though, it’s because so many moms over the years have made some great lists that I don’t need to re-invent the wheel.

Here are just a few sources if you are interested in starting this tradition at your house:

*Elizabeth Foss, whose endless energy and generosity has enriched her own family and shared freely with other families great book suggestions and themes, takes special care with Advent.

*Mary Ellen Barrett has a blog devoted to keeping Advent at O Night Divine.  Here are some of her many, many book suggestions.

*Jessica at Shower of Roses has a nicely curated list of Advent books (and trust me, I hold nothing but admiration for her for actually wrapping the books, God bless her).

*for those who would like a book rather than a web resource, Cay Gibson’s amazing Christmas Mosaic  has a list of dozens of books, crafts, recipes and other ideas for making Advent and Christmastime special for families.

Picture books and Christmas-themed literature are unique and wonderful to move and inspire us during this season of preparation, and then as we celebrate Christmas.

Do you have an Advent and Christmastime book tradition?