underachiever

I love the end of one month/beginning of a new one, because I love reading everyone's reading wrap-ups for the month. Really I do. Yet they always leave me feeling like such a slacker. Take Eva and her 28 books or Dewey and her 20 books or Joy and her 16 books. I don't know how many books Carl read, but it was a lot, because I sure added a lot of sci-fi books to my wish list based on his reviews during the past month. Same with Nymeth...no idea exactly how many books she knocked off her pile but it was a considerable number. Again I know this because of the what's been added to that ever-growing wish list. And she got all this reading done despite the fact that she had finals.

And then there's me...and my piddly 6 books. What's even sadder is that that's really not a bad month for me. Pretty average, actually. *Sigh* (Of course, this just makes it more apparent what a fool I am for signing up for all those book challenges, huh?)

In addition to the six books I did manage to cross off the list, I read a smattering of shorter works, mostly folktales and fairy tales. Annie and I have been reading folktales from around the world for school this year, and we are now embarking on a journey into the world of Grimms Fairy Tales. This is really quite a new experience for me...I honestly don't remember reading many even as a child.

Of the folktales I read in January, I would definitely have to say that "Tonino and the Fairies" was my favorite. This is a folktale from Spain, one I was completely unfamiliar with. It is the tale of Tonino, a goat herder with a hunchback. Despite his pain, he was the merriest of fellows and always carried with him a positive outlook. He was well-loved by everyone, except for a boy named Miquel, who also had a hunchback. Miguel was "as cross and resentful as Tonino was merry and forgiving." I'm sure you can guess the message conveyed in this folktale, but I won't ruin the specifics. So if you want to find out the role of the fairies, you'll just have to read this one yourself. (Many of the folktales we've been reading, including this one, are found in Best-Loved Folktales of the World, selected by Joanna Cole.)

It seems a bit sad that I've made it this far into my life without having read Grimms Fairy Tales. I suppose I should just consider it one of those better late than never situations. Thus far, I've only managed to read a handful of the tales. For me, they've been a mixed bag. "The Traveling Musicians," the tale of a quartet of "past-their-usefulness" animals heading for the city to make it as musicians, made me laugh aloud. "The Fisherman and his Wife," a tale of the evils of greed, has long been a favorite of mine. "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" was totally enchanting throughout most of it, but I was extremely disappointed in its ending. It seems the perfect tale for a re-telling. (And of course, it's entirely possible that that has been done already.) I read a few more as well, but those are the three that stick out most in my mind.


And finally, I did manage to knock off one of my stories for The Short Story Reading Challenge..."How to Sell the Ponti Bridge" by Neil Gaiman (from M Is for Magic). What can I say...I loved this story!

It begins...

My favorite Rogues' Club is the oldest and still the most exclusive in all of the Seven Worlds. It was formed by a loose association of rogues, cheats, scoundrels, and confidence men almost seventy thousand years ago.

...and what follows is the tale of how Stoat gained his entrance into this exclusive club.

Don't ask me why, but I just love the story of a good confidence scheme or clever heist. (But only in a fictional setting, of course!) Maybe it's the intelligence and cleverness involved?

And speaking of intelligent and clever...those are certainly two words easily applied to Neil Gaiman. He never ceases to amaze me with his versatility and brilliance.

Okay, despite my efforts to try to "beef up" my list for the month of January, it is still apparent that I'm quite an underachiever.

and that's what we've been doing...

No earth-shattering news from our home this week. Was pretty much same old, same old here...


The kids spent lots of time trading Pokemon cards...they just never seem to tire of this. But it's really nice that they have something that they all can enjoy together.






They also spent a lot of time in their little pool. Annie logged the most water time, as the boys tend to get cold much quicker.

















































Annie had her final two soccer games of the season. Her team finally got their first (and only) win! And Annie scored her first goal during that game!



Gray had his year-end soccer party. They received their trophies that night, but Gray was much more excited about the water balloon toss.

It probably goes without saying that Gray spent a good deal of time drawing. But he also spent a lot of time reading this week. It's so great to see him finally choosing to read without any prompting from us.




Annie, of course, read up a storm. I think she would perish if she had to go more than a few hours at a time without reading!

And Rich has joined in on the Harry Potter craze! He's still working on his summer science reading list, but he's also decided to tackle all the Harry Potter books this summer. He generally saves his fiction reading for the evening, but he's caught the fever now and read the third book and started the fourth in the past 2.5 days.

And yes, I'm still plugging along on all my reading challenges. But mostly my time is spent working on homeschool prep for the coming school year. And I've also spent a good deal of time moving my considerable supply of scrapbook materials from one room to another. Giving up my scraproom to Annie is harder than I thought it would be. Not that I begrudge her the room...I'm just having a tough time fitting everything into my new space. But I'll figure it all out eventually, I'm sure.

And that wraps up a quick recap of our uneventful lives for this past week. (Hey, this post would make a good sleep-aid, huh?)

my little reading machine

As I was scanning through iphoto looking for a picture I wanted to enlarge, I happened to notice this photo of Annie. It's not a great photo...slightly blurry, with a very distracting background. But I love this photo, nonetheless. It is quintessential Annie...nose in a book and lost to the rest of the world.

I have to admit, there are times when I envy her. I wish I had as much time for reading as she does. And I wish I could read as fast as she does, as well. She reads a lot faster than I do, and yet has amazing comprehension and recall. (Her 3rd grade teacher told me on numerous occasions how she was convinced that Annie had a photographic memory. She doesn't, but she is amazing in the way she can recount the smallest details of everything she reads.)

Each quarter of this school year, Annie has kept a reading log. She records each book she reads, the author, and a brief description of the book, along with her feelings about the book. So far, this quarter (6 1/2 weeks in), she has read 31 books. Some of the books have been for school (like one about the Dust Bowl and one about the Blues), but most are of her own choosing. And you can never guess what she might choose to read next. She loves the Royal Diaries books, and has read a few of those this quarter. And she also loves fantasy, hence books like The Sea of Trolls and The Oaken Throne. And then again, she loves reading non-fiction of her own choosing, too. She read a book about Anatasia and a book about the Salem witch trials. And she's currently reading In Search of Nature by E.O. Wilson, 2-time Pulitzer award winning biologist. (Yep, my 9-year-old daughter is a much more well-rounded reader than I am!)

I think it's safe to say that Annie will be a book lover for life.

Just Curious...

Annie and I somehow got on the subject of reading and TV watching. We agreed that although we enjoy reading and TV viewing, if forced to choose between the two, without question we'd say goodbye to the TV. I would probably miss TV more than Annie (she watches next to none as it is), but I would still find it easier to get rid of the old boob-tube than to give up books.

Just curious...
...which would you give up if forced to choose?