Mama Squirrel's Reading List, 2011

I didn't have a particular goal for this year's reading, so the list is pretty eclectic. This is the year I discovered George Eliot and Lloyd Alexander (I read through the Prydain Chronicles twice, once myself and once with Ponytails).   It was also a good year for art-inspired fiction.  (R) means it was a re-read.  § means I actually finished it.  A few of the books I didn't finish or didn't like have been left off the list..

Classic-type stuff

On the Art of Writing, by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch
Meno, by Plato (and I started reading a couple of other dialogues) §
"Lancelot and Elaine," by Alfred Lord Tennyson §
"Self-Reliance," by Ralph Waldo Emerson §
Parts of Plutarch's Lives (R)
Silas Marner, by George Eliot §
Scenes of Clerical Life, by George Eliot §
Middlemarch, by George Eliot
Great Expectations (R) (re-read with Crayons) §
The Abbot, by Sir Walter Scott §
Guy Mannering, by Sir Walter Scott §
The Incredulity of Father Brown, by G.K. Chesterton §
The Innocence of Father Brown, by G.K. Chesterton (R) §
The Scarlet Pimpernel (R) §
Candide, by Voltaire §

Science-type stuff
Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory...., by Peter Woit

Theology-type stuff
The Pursuit of God, by A.W. Tozer
Making Men Whole, by J.B. Phillips §
The Call, by Os Guinness (R) §
Serious Times: Making Your Life Matter in an Urgent Day, by James Emery White §
Lessons I Learned in the Light, by Jennifer Rothschild §
One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp §
Parts of the Bible (RRRRR)

Old-favourites-type stuff
Shepherds Abiding, by Jan Karon (R) §
At Home in Mitford, by Jan Karon (R) §
Light from Heaven, by Jan Karon (R) §
The Trail of the Conestoga (R) (re-read with Crayons) §
Meet the Malones (R) (re-read with Crayons) §
Beany Malone (R) (re-read with Crayons) §
Daughter of Time, by Josephine Tey (R) §
An Episode of Sparrows, by Rumer Godden (R) §
In This House of Brede, by Rumer Godden (R) §
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, by Anne Tyler (R) §
84, Charing Cross Road / The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street, by Helene Hanff (R) §

Teaching-type stuff
Norms and Nobility, by David V. Hicks (R) §
Marva Collins' Way (R) §
"Ordinary" Children, Extraordinary Teachers, by Marva Collins §
Read & Grow Rich, by Burke Hedges §
Homeschooling Only One (R), by Donna Conner §
Schoolproof, by Mary Pride (R) §
Parts of Charlotte Mason's books  (R) 

Gurgi stuff
The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain, by Lloyd Alexander §
The Book of Three, by Lloyd Alexander §
The Black Cauldron, by Lloyd Alexander §
The Castle of Llyr, by Lloyd Alexander §
Taran Wanderer, by Lloyd Alexander §
The High King, by Lloyd Alexander §

Madeleine stuff
Walking on Water, by Madeleine L'Engle (R) §
A Wind in the Door, by Madeleine L'Engle §
A Swiftly Tilting Planet, by Madeleine L'Engle §
A Ring of Endless Light, by Madeleine L'Engle §
Two-Part Invention, by Madeleine L'Engle (R) §

More space-and-time stuff
C.S. Lewis: A Biography, by A.N. Wilson §
Till We Have Faces, by C.S. Lewis (R) §
The Great Divorce, by C.S. Lewis §
Out of the Silent Planet, by C.S. Lewis §
Perelandra, by C.S. Lewis §
That Hideous Strength, by C.S. Lewis §
Prince Caspian (R) §

Homey stuff
More Make it Fast, Cook It Slow, by Stephanie O'Dea §
Canada's Slow Cooker Winners, by Donna-Marie Pye §
Hooked: A Crocheter's Stash of Wit and Wisdom, ed. by Kari Cornell §
other craft books that I can't remember
Creating a Beautiful Home, by Alexandra Stoddard (R) §
two other books by Alexandra Stoddard §
Flanagan's Smart Home, by Barbara Flanagan §
Does This Clutter Make My B---- Look Fat?, by Peter Walsh §

Miscellaneous
Madam How and Lady Why, by Charles Kingsley (R) §
The Long-Ago Lake, by Marne Wilkins
A Passion for the Impossible (bio of Lilias Trotter), by Miriam Huffman Rockness §
Trial and Error, by Anthony Berkeley §)
Detectives in Togas, by Henry Winterfeld §
Roman Ransom, by Henry Winterfeld §
Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper, by Harriet Chessman §
Girl with a Pearl Earring, by Tracy Chevalier §
Out of the Storm, by Grace Livingston Hill §
Not Under the Law, by Grace Livingston Hill §
Beauty for Ashes, by Grace Livingston Hill §

Book sale finds

This weekend was the big University Women's book sale. We didn't make it there yesterday--we had a really busy day between homeschool co-op in the afternoon and the Apprentice's choir coffeehouse in the evening. But we dropped in this morning when things were a little quieter.

This is what we brought home:

Two videos: Grammar Rocks and Miracle on 34th Street (1947 version) . Mr. Fixit found some videos as well.

A whole boxful of children's books for $4:

Making Simple Clocks, by Marjorie Stapleton

Sing a Song of People, by Roberta McLaughlin and Lucille Wood

Prières dans l'Arche, by Carmen Bernos de Gasztold (Prayers from the Ark, in French)

The Glass Mermaid, because Crayons requested it

Bored of the Rings, as a joke for The Apprentice

The Jungle Book II, by Rudyard Kipling

Soup, by Robert Newton Peck

The Light Beyond the Forest, by Rosemary Sutcliff

Did you carry the flag today, Charley?, by Rebecca Caudill

A Jean Little bindup of Different Dragons, Lost and Found, One to Grow On

Sarah, Plain and Tall, by Patricia McLachlan

Justin Morgan had a Horse, by Marguerite Henry

Amy and Laura, by Marilyn Sachs

The Painted Garden, by Noel Streatfeild (the story that features grown-up Posy and Pauline from Ballet Shoes)

Celebrating Children's Books, edited by Betsy Hearne and Marilyn Kaye

Some "schoolish" stuff in the same box:

Insects Activity book (word searches and things like that)

Nature's Wonderful Family, edited by Jack Mysers, Ph.D. (a Highlights for Children book)

Les Insectes, by Marie-Claude Ouellet--a workbook in French

Ma grammaire d'observation, by Daniel Poulin/Claude Simard--kind of a junior French grammar-at-a-glance

Jouer avec le français--a workbook meant for older children whose first language is French, but still interesting for French class

Six small French books in the same series by Lise Bernard--some "real life French" stuff again meant for French-speaking students, but with possibilities for learning French as well.

Some for the vintage Scholastic shelf: Two on an Island, Magnets and How to Use Them, Codes and Secret Writing, If You Lived in Colonial Times, and a couple of others

Four $1 books from the main room at the booksale:

Step Into Patchwork (I'll Teach Myself #3)

Collected Poems of Karol Wojtyla

Robertson Davies: Man of Myth, by Judith Skelton Grant

Flower Fairies of the Wayside

Three $1 books from the library discard rack later in the morning:

Living a Beautiful Life, by Alexandra Stoddard

How to Talk Dinosaur with Your Child, by Q.L. Pearce

Glenn Gould, by Peter F. Ostwald