Books I Read in May

Here is my collage of all the books I (we) read during the month of May. The top two rows of books are my independent selections whilst the bottom two rows are all the books I read aloud to the boys this month. I am quite impressed that I managed 12 books this month as it is always an adjustment in May with the new term, plus we had two weeks of illness thrown in for good measure as well.

"The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency" is a book (and series) that my mother recommended to me and I'm glad I finally read it. I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline and will likely enjoy some of the other titles in the series. Sadly our library doesn't have ALL the books (there are a LOT) but as I don't feel the need to read ALL the books, I will cherry pick titles now and then.

"The 5am Club" was nothing like what I expected based on my previous experience with self-help, motivational sorts of books. It was written from a narrative perspective, which was refreshing to begin with, but got tiresome towards the end of the book. However, I gleaned some information that I can apply to my life and therefore it was worth the read.

"Damned Whores and God's Police" was a recommendation from my pastor and one that I had been meaning to read for quite some time. It was the most difficult read of the month. I had to repeatedly remind myself that it was written in a very different time (1975 publication date) and therefore a lot of the information she presented (whilst true for the time period) was different and/or improved now. I am glad I devoted the time to this book and I intend to read at least one more written by the author to see what her viewpoint is now.

"How to Do Nothing" was another book that wasn't what I initially expected. This is a title taken from Barack Obama's book lists and it had some interesting information to share. Again, I don't necessarily agree with everything the author had to say, but there was useful information for me personally and I enjoyed the time I spent reading it. It definitely gives the reader food for thought.

"The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner was a confusing read to say the least. The storyline(s) were difficult to follow at the best of times. I am not convinced he is my cup of tea. However, the style in which he writes, and the language that he uses, is wonderful. Therefore, I will read one more book by him before I make a final decision.

"The Wearing of the Green" was a historical fiction novel written by an author that the boys and I have read previously as she writes a LOT of quality junior non-fiction. It was fun to read a different genre by her and I hope she writes some more young adult novels because goodness knows the middle grades need more quality literature.

The Banjo Paterson book and Henry Lawson books were poem compilations I read aloud to the boys as part of their poetry mini unit study. I had not previously read much of either author (none of Henry Lawson actually) so it was a good introduction for me as well. We will continue the unit study with a compilation of short stories by Henry Lawson which we will read during the second half of the term.

"A Timeline of Australian Food" and "The Story of Food" were both read alouds for Munchkin's Food Technology elective. Both books were full of interesting information and we found ourselves laughing out loud while reading the timeline book. We highly recommend both these books to anyone interested in the history of food, and/or Australian food specifically.

We continue to work our way through the entire series of Borrowers books, so finished "Borrowers Aloft" this month. This is the third time I've read the series aloud - once to each boy now - and I must say I still really enjoy reading them. Munchkin is thoroughly engrossed in the books and often begs for extra chapters to be read.

Our last book for the month was "Migrations" published by DK and it was AMAZING. Packed full of information about human migration over the course of the entire history of humans, and accompanied by gorgeous photography. I highly recommend this book.