Off My Bookshelf March 2011

Here is what has been off my bookshelf this month...

March has been a busy month and with my sister visiting many of my evenings have been spent visiting instead of reading...that and my daughter has acquired a few seasons of the Gilmore Girls and we have been catching up on a little of the TV we have missed over the past decade. So, lots of girl nights...which has been a nice change...next month it will be back to the books...I'm tired after a lot of late nights.

I found this 1975 cookbook at the local charity shop...lots of yummy goodies ...butter...flour...sugar...yum!

still looking for a large container for the fridge to hold my bread dough...I left my large tupperware containers in Nova Scotia...

This one made me want to go shopping...which I am guessing was the purpose of the book...lots of eye candy.

I ran across Gretchen Rubin's blog a month or so ago; I was intrigued and thought I would try reading her book. Easy to read, interesting insight...but I kept remembering a comment I once received from a geography professor on an essay of mine..."too many quotes". I have mixed feelings. She uses a lot of really great quotes but sometimes there are so many her voice gets lost among the quotes and it seems like she is just filling in words to link quotes. Overall a good read and an interesting project.

When I first seriously considered homeschooling my kids I bought a bunch of books for research. I really liked the idea of a literary education and not dumbing things down for my kids. I read a few books by Catherine Levison about the Charlotte Mason method (I also purchased the six book set of actual Charlotte Mason books...but they still sit on my shelf unread); they give a good overview of the Mason method.

Another book about homeschooling info. I thought that while we were having a little spring break I would continue to educate myself on some of the different methods of teaching out there.

So, that is what has been filling my head this month...what have you been reading?

off my bookshelf February 2011

Another month with a lot of books...

Did I ever mention how much I love books?

This is what has been off my bookshelf this month...

My heart is still in England this month as I continue reading through Jane Austen's novels...Mansfield Park this month...another favourite. I actually suggested calling my third son Edmund but my hubby wouldn't go for it. Tudor England is one of my favourite historical periods so I am brushing up on some of my history with Henry VIII - Reformer and Tyrant. Not a great read for everyone, but I enjoy it.

And continuing with the British theme, my hubby and I have been reading this together. It is taking awhile to read as it is hard to find time to read together and because it is also a subject we are passionate about and the book often gets put aside for some heated discussion and a little bit of ranting on my part. (a small piece of advise...do not get me into a conversation on the industrial food system...I will have a lot to say...and my voice might rise a little...just ask those in the car with my dad and I over the week-end who got to listen to three hours of heated discussion...I think I may take after him just a little). That said, I do love reading the Prince of Wales and he (and his thousands and thousands of pounds worth of education) says things a lot more eloquently than I do.

On a similar and a lighter note...

this is what I have been reading with my kids. My eleven year old daughter and I have been reading one of my favourite books together...Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver ( my daughter and I have been wishing my hubby had a nice farm hidden somewhere we could go and live off of). It has been fun discussing what we can do...(our organic CSA emailed this week with this seasons prices and I can't wait to sign up!). My two oldest boys and I have been reading Farmer Boy and I am having fun sharing my love of Little House on the Prairie with them. (We have previously read Little House in the Big Woods which they also enjoyed but this one has a little more testosterone so it is more fun for them!) And all three boys have been enjoying Dr. Seuss this month.

I am always looking at different points of view and advise on how to make our homeschooling experience more effective and fun.

I picked these up at a used book sale in the fall for 50 cents each. I've been eyeing up the poached egg page. I have never made a poached egg. I have always been scared of failing miserably. As soon as I can get my hands on some VERY fresh eggs I am going to do it. 2 1/2 months until the farmer's markets open up...free range farm fresh eggs...can't wait!

I have picked out my first knitting pattern to attempt. I learned how to knit just over a year ago; but have only attempted scarves and face cloths and things I could do without a pattern. Next month...I am learning how to read patterns and mix colours...I hope it turns out!

And to satisfy my magazine obsession...

Can I just say how much I love How Women Cook! This is the second issue and it is on sale now...LOVE it!

This is what has caught my eye and held my interest this month. What have you been reading?

off my bookshelf Jan 2011

In 2011 I decided that I wanted to read more. I already read a lot but over the past few years much of what I have been reading has been decided by university professors rather than by myself. So for 2011 I decided that I wanted to read a minimum of 52 books, at least one per week. In order to help me keep track of what I have been reading I have decided to post a monthly log of my progress. So, here is what has been off my bookshelf this month...

I love Jane Austen. I decided that I would like to read all six of her novels back to back this year. I am just finishing Emma. If I had to choose a place and time where I could have been born this would have been it, late 18th - early 19th century England. As a teen I was very nearly obsessed with all things English. I am definately an Anglophile. While most blogs I look at seem to have a fascination with France and all things vintage French (and I do love these things as well); my heart really is in England...

Continuing with the English theme... Monarchy gives a great general overview of the British monarchy (obviously) from the Tudors to the Windsors. It's a good easy read...as is Bryson's book. Bryson decides to travel through England by public transit and describes some of the changes that have taken place since his first trip in the 70s. While I enjoyed this book I did get a little upset by some of the descriptions of the "americanization" that is happening in some places (such as replacing small quaint high street shops with outside of town malls). When I finished it I had to switch back to Austen to replenish my pastoral, romantic notions.

I usually like to read more than one book at a time, just to satisfy my many moods. So while I love getting my British fix, sometimes I need a change...

I also love food writing or as Anthony Bourdain calls it: food porn. I love reading Anthony Bourdain and I hadn't read this one yet (I have previously read Kitchen Confidential and Medium Raw). I don't know why I love reading Bourdain I guess it is because he is very informal, direct and he doesn't try to be politically correct; I love that. (While I personally love reading his works I would give a warning to anyone sensitive to swearing and/or people saying what they think and I don't really think any subject is taboo with Bourdain).

I got this for Christmas and have been reading it from cover to cover...

My boys recieved some "ologies" for Christmas and we have been reading through them this month.

My eight year old REALLY loves them, especially Monsterology. We have had to have a few discussions about how they are just stories as they are written like old scientific journals...very cool.

I have also been reading these with my eight year old. He is studying the Canadian Provinces in school for Social Studies and was learning about food that is produced in different regions...I thought it would be a good time to introduce him to reading cook books...and he actually enjoyed them. I am determined to have all my children in love with good food and knowing what to do with it before they leave home.

and as I mentioned in the original "off my bookshelf" last April...I have a bit of a magazine fetish. These are a few of my favourites. I have collected a large stack of the British Edition of Country Living magazine and I often encourage my husband to take a look at them so he can visualize what I would like my life to look like...

What have you been reading this month?

off my bookshelf

I read a lot. I always have. Some of my earliest memories are exploring the kids section of the White Rock library. I remember looking at shelves and pulling off book after book and thinking "I've read that, read that, read that". It was always a challenge to find something that I hadn't already read. Although, I did have favourites that made it back to my bedroom over and over again.

When I moved across the country with my family we had to get rid of a lot of stuff. We had a trailer that we towed across with us that contained all of our worldly possessions. About half of that trailer was filled with books. Every week I usually read (or read from) a number of books and  I thought I would share what has come off my bookshelf this week.

I've been wanting to read Walden for a long time and since I had to read sections of it for an American Literature class I am taking I thought I had a good excuse to buy it and read the whole thing...it's for school.

I love Michael Smith and his great no knead bread recipe. I think I have made at least fifty loaves since I got this book last fall. So easy and so good...I don't even buy bread anymore.

This is my 2 1/2 year olds "book of the week". He always seems to have a weekly favourite that I read to him over and over and over and over...I think I have read this book about 20 times this week. It is not the most polite of children's books, but it is pretty funny. My kids have all liked it anyway and it does help get rid of the grumps.

I LOVE the British Edition of Country Living magazine. I will drive long distances to get a copy. I have a fairly large collection that moved across the country with me. I have copies from the 90's that are still in style. I have been feeling kind of flowery this week, so I have been looking at a few appropriate copies. Did I say that I love this magazine?

It is my favourite.

As I said, I've been feeling flowery this week.

The other magazine I have been reading this week. I have a bit of a magazine addiction. I found after I had kids that I just didn't have time during the day to read books and I hate going through the day without reading something. I am getting better and I am cutting down. Only two this month...so far. 

My ten year old and I have been reading the Harry Potter series together. We read the first five and then took a long break to read some girly books ( the first three Anne of Green Gables, Black Beauty and A Little Princess) but decided we wanted to read the seventh book before seeing the movie (we've seen all the movies before reading the books) the sixth movie got us interested again so we are back at Hogwarts.

My 5 year old pulled this one off the shelf; he likes chickens. I often look at organic/farming books with the kids. They are always full of animals and food which entertain the kids (and me) and I get a break from the 21st reading of "What are you so grumpy about". It's a win/win really.

Another book I have been reading with my two year old; we both like it.

A couple books I have been rereading for my literature course. I'm just finishing off an essay on justice and have been rereading the books for quotes.

My current favourite cookbook. I love cookbooks. I read them from cover to cover. I always have a couple of cookbooks I am reading. This one is really making me want fresh food. Spring is SO SLOW in coming to Nova Scotia; it is coming but I want some fresh food now! I do hear that fresh food is available in Halifax...so maybe it's time for a trip. I am REALLY missing the organic CSA I belonged to before I moved...it's starting up again soon...aahh..fresh greens...rhubarb...radishes...I miss you.

My seven year olds pick...he loves dinosaurs. We have been working our way through this series...he is really enjoying them...we've been trying to imagine where we could go to find this place...first we need to find an ammonite fossil...we are looking.

So, that is what has come off my bookshelf this week. What have you taken off yours?