The Birth House by Ami Mckay

I like this.

A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver by E. L. Konigsburg

This was a pre-read for Simon. I absolutely loved it.

Boomsday by Christopher Buckley

This was really funny.

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

review in haiku:
funny Greek hermaphrodite
genetics and fate

Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff

I read this out loud to the boys. It was pretty good.

Augustine Came to Kent by Barbara Willard

This was a pre-read for Simon. I was disappointed. This book is such a classic in the classical ed. homeschooling world, but I thought it was flat.

Oh well.

We can use it as a springboard to discuss what it was missing that makes a book interesting.

Garbage Land : On the Secret Trail of Trash by Elizabeth Royte

This was interesting. The first part made me feel guilty about contributing the landfills. The second part made me think recycling is a waste of time.

So there you go.

Psalms, Vol. 1: Psalms 1-41 (Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms) by John Goldingay

I'm reading this series for the class I'm teaching. I really like it.

The Forgotten Man : A New History of the Great Depression by Amity Shlaes

I listened to this as an audio book with the dh. Honestly, if I had been reading it, I probably would have deemed it too boring to finish.

Lies My Teacher Told Me : Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen

I thought I would hate this as a PC screed, but it wasn't like that at all. It was wonderful and interesting and really made me think and certainly gave me lots of fodder for discussion with the dh. I imagine that some of his critique is out of date now; I may actually pick up the revised edition.

We don't use history texts in our homeschool, but I still felt that there was a lot of beneficial thought here. I highly recommend this for all readers, but especially for anyone homeschooling.

Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross

This was such trash.

I loved it.

The State Boys Rebellion by Michael D'Antonio

At the intersection of twentieth-century eugenic theory, attitudes towards the disabled and other "undesirables," and state schools lies one of the saddest books I've ever read. It did drag a bit at the end as it followed the former inmates as adults, but it was still a compelling, amazing story.

The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent

I really liked this.

The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold

I bought this because I loved The Lovely Bones (even tho it was scary!), but this was pretty lame.

Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher

I read this out loud to the boys; it is a good but not exceptional back story to The Arabian Nights. There's some good language, strong female characters, interesting plot twists, and age-appropriate but intriguing explorations of serious issues, but it just didn't rise to excellence. (NB: Be prepared to explain to your kids what "eunuch" and "lover" mean.)

Traffic : Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says about Us) by Tom Vanderbilt

This was fabulous--all sorts of interesting observations from the intersection (ha!) of engineering and psychology. Highly recommended.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

I read this out loud to the boys; it was pretty good.

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

This was a wonderful light read--I can't think of how to say anything without giving the story away, so I won't. But this is an innovative plot with interesting social commentary and was very well written. Highly recommended.

Massacre at Mountain Meadows : An American Tragedy by Richard E. Turley, Glen M. Leonard, Ronald W. Walker

I was very impressed with how interesting this book was--I thought it might be dry but it definitely wasn't. Highly recommended.

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher : Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective by Kate Summerscale

This was an excellent book--kind of like a Victorian murder mystery except that it was true. Great details from everyday life and a well-told story.