A Net in Time

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Books for Young Adults

Books read in April

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This month has seemed very busy, so I’m trying to recall what all we read this month.   Not as much as some months.  🙂

Oh.. before I begin I have to tell you this funny story.

I told my mom-in-law how much we enjoyed the book Irish Chain… and suggested she read it.  She’s about 78 years old and she liked this book so much she stayed up all night.  Oh my…she looked so tired and frail but wow.. she was full of her enjoyment of it.  🙂   Gave her and the lad much to talk about. 

It took her four days to recover from her reading adventure.  🙂

So what else did we read this month?
We’re continuing our natural world adventures with Natural world.   We’re in the midst of learning about a variety of birds. It was rather interesting today, we had recently learned about swallows, and today we saw some swallows in real life.  My lad was fascinated!

The lad is continuing to read through Shepherd, Potter, Spy and Star-Namer.  Tells me he likes it.   His bed-time reading is all about the Warrior Cat series by Erin Hunter.

At breakfast we are reading the Golden Goblet.
So far this book has us very intrigued.  Has the lad asking lots of questions about why the boy’s brother has to be so mean.  

I’m glad my lad doesn’t really understand such cruelty.. he hasn’t experienced it.  I’m also pleased that it bothers him as much as it does me.

We are also reading a book about animals in urban life (very interesting), a book about Canada (a bit young but the lad asks questions so good), and a book about muskoxen (more fascinating than you might think).  OH… And we are also reading a second book in the Rip and Red series (review coming soon).   I don’t have pics as the books are upstairs in my sleeping sons room.


I have just started a new book: A Train in Winter. I picked it up at the hospital’s rummage sale.  I was hoping it would be written as a novel, but it wasn’t.   Still interesting, but won’t be as fun a read.  Well..I phrased that poorly.. as reading about women in the French resistance who were shipped to a death camp from the Nazi’s wouldn’t ever be a “FUN” read, but more clinical I guess this will be.

So far it’s been a good explanation as to why the French started to resist so much against German occupation.

Oh Remember Fledgling from last month?   I have the boys hooked, so we’re listening to it on MP3’s in the car!   They like it so much we’re into book two!  AND they are mad that I want to listen ahead to book three so my listening fun has been curtailed a bit.  🙁

Avian is not a book for young listeners though as there is a fairly NASTY fellow in the book who likes hurting people.   But Javed holds true to who he is learning he really is, even if others warn him not to be.   A compelling story that the lad says “NO drive around the block, drive longer!!  PLEASE!!!!”

I also read a Valdemar compendium.. thoroughly enjoyed it.  🙂
Tempest.  It’s fun to read fan fiction.. to see what people come up with that’s in the light of the whole series.

Some of the stories are really well done, others just leave you wondering “what were they thinking!!!” cause it seems so off.

This one was quite well done.

And that’s all I have in my brain for now.   NOTE!  A linky is up at the end of the post so… join in!

Books read for reviews:

Curious Constructions.  Engineering marvels from around the world.
Fish Girl.  A well done graphic novel.
Quick tips for busy families.  Parenting hacks
Your Next 24 Hours.   A book to teach us how to be kind.
John Deere, that’s Who.   I liked this meaty picture book.
Once Upon a Time Storybook.   I had mixed feelings about this bible story book
God’s Easter Miracles.  Picture book for Easter for children.

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Review: Your Next 24 Hours

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 Do you ever struggle with knowing how you can express kindness to others?   Your Next 24 hours:one day of kindness can change everything, is loaded with ideas about how to express kindness for others…. from seeing the actions others have taken, to simply listing off ideas you might wish to pursue. 

Twenty Two chapters contained in 167 pages, each chapter is short and written around a central idea.  A variety of quotes are given from the bible as well as from people throughout the ages.  Examples of kind people are provided from all walks of life, from the ordinary joe to politicians to actors.

I love the lists of ideas….some are ones I hadn’t thought of before.   Each chapter has it’s own list, generally around the topic theme.

Each chapter starts off with a quote that has something do to with the chapter.   I found the quotes were often enough to make me think, setting the stage well for the following chapter.

I
won’t say that this is a particularly Christian book, although it is
produced by Baker Books.  Quotes from the bible are given the same
relative importance as quotes from anywhere else.

Although
I agree with the premise that through kindness we can change a lot in
our neighbourhood and country, if we don’t have the grounding in Christ,
our kindness toward others will ultimately not change the world.

In the end, if you want to read a book that helps you come up with different ways for you to show kindness to others, this book is chalk full of them.   Great ideas, innovative plans, and some tried and true ones.    It covers everything from environmental concerns, personal involvement, how to be generous with individuals or groups, and just how to be MORE than yourself.   Being kind, just because you can, in whatever way you can discover.

Book Synopsis

A life with greater purpose and fulfillment is closer than you think.
The decisions you make in the next 24 hours can change your life and
influence the people around you . . . for good.        Your Next 24 Hours shows you the enormous difference you can make
through small, doable acts of kindness in your family, community,
workplace, school, and church. You’ll read inspiring stories of unsung
heroes, as well as celebrities. The kindness revolution starts with you! 

Your Next 24 Hours: One day of kindness can change everything
Author: Hal Donaldson with Kirk Noonan
Publisher: BakerBooks
Pages: 167
Type: softcover, non-fiction
Age: young adult and up
Reviewed for: NutsAboutBooks.    
 

Where can you find it?
Amazon.ca: Your Next 24 Hours: One Day of Kindness Can Change Everything

Amazon.com: Your Next 24 Hours: One Day of Kindness Can Change Everything

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!

©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/

Books Read in March

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The
Homeschool Review Crew does word prompts for Instagram fun, I think
it’s great to have these words prompts for doing quick posts.  🙂   I
find them fun as sometimes it surprises me where my brain goes.  🙂   The word for today is Books. 

Since I haven’t done my books read for the month I thought I’d do that up today.    I know I know, hardly innovative eh?  You’ll cope I think?

Books that I read just for me.

 Fledgling

I loved this book so much I went out and got the second book in the series before I even finished the first one.  

A great series about a lad who crosses two cultures and is not accepted in either one.  He meets a dragon and his life is forever changed.

The second book Avian is just as good.  🙂  Now to read Traitor and then Immortal…  I have to know how it all ends  .. I just have to know!!!!

Hubby and I just finished listening to  Balanced on the Blade’s Edge. 

I love the story aspect…it’s actually quite fascinating.  I’d rather not have the romance aspect to it as I find that I dislike that aspect in books now, but the story behind the romance has me hooked.  I want to know how the crisis will be worked through.    

Her second book I am liking more as the romance part isn’t quite as in my face.  “Deathmaker” It is called.   Definitely a fantasy type series of books, with powers of magic, dragons of old, and fear of magic rampant.

Books Reading with my Lad (in progress or finished)

We have been working through story of the world for quite a while.   I expect we’ll be done this book by the end of the month as we are in the last 1/5th of it.

We’ve learned a whole lot reading through this series.

The Natural World.

We’ve learned about all sorts of animals and natural phenomena.   
Trees, rainforests, critters of all sorts.

Currently we are in the midst of learning all sorts of fascinating facts about birds.

It will be a spell before we are done this book though.

A Wind in the Door
I loved this book as a child and it stuck with me forever.  

I could hardly wait for my lad to get old enough to share it with him.

He LOVED it.  And often begged me to keep reading through it.  

He was as sad as I was at the end when Progo died. “BUT MOM!!!  HE can’t die!!!”   What love will do eh?

Canada’s Natives Long Ago.

This book contains stories from early Canadians…both natives and early explorers.   We’re learning lots and being amazed often.   

We just finished reading a section about a young explorer trying to cross a river where the current was so strong it bent a tree FOUR FEET in diameter in half!   Can you imagine it?   They gave up trying to cross the river.

We continue to read through “Getting to Know Nature’s Children”.  This month we are learning about the grouse, last month we learned about otters and the red fox.   There are two animals in each book.

The lad continues to enjoy this series and as long as he does, we’ll keep reading through them.   

 

Irish Chain

I can’t say what a great book this is that we are reading.  I would call this a living book about a disaster in Canadian history.. devastated the town and harbor.  Killed 1000’s of people.   The lad and I are captivated by the story of Rose and her strength that she didn’t even know she had.   She lost so much…and yet..her family and her memories remained strong.

If you can…read this book.  It’s a good one.

Books Read for the Purpose of Reviewing Them.

Amazing Animal Adventure.   This was a GREAT seek and find book on biomes located throughout the world.

War Plan Red.    This was simply a fun review to do and I learned so much about the history between Canada and the United States. 

Found – Psalm 23.   A book for young children, a simple, gentle look at Psalm 23 and how the good shepherd cares for us. 

Let’s Explore…Mountain.   Want to learn about different mountains throughout the world?   Text plus activities to educate and entertain.  

 

The Kid from Diamond Street.   A story of women’s baseball, which focuses on Edith Houghton.   A very interesting book.   A meaty picture book that I enjoyed. 

A Dog in a Cave.   This was a somewhat different book that I enjoyed none the less.  Less about evolution and more about how two species can influence the development of the other. 

Really Woolly Easter Blessings.  A board board for the youngest children, to teach about Easter with Verse and prayer.

Three Middle School Books: I love you Michael Collins (Learning about the forgotten astronaut through the eyes of a young girl struggling with growing up and family issues), Ten: A soccer Story (a young soccer fan who works to make her dreams come true) and The Journey to Dragon Island (a light fantasy).  

 

 Books in process.

My son continues to read through the Erin Hunter “warrior cats” series, last I heard he was on the fourth series.   He has also started Shepherd, Potter, Spy…and Star Namer. 

I am currently reading: “Voyage to the Magical North” and “Head First”.   Also will be finishing book two, and hopefully book three of the Dragonrider Chronicles.  🙂

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©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/

Review: Shepherd, Potter, Spy–and the Star Namer

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It has been my delight over the past few weeks to read through  Shepherd, Potter, Spy–and the Star Namer by Peggy Consolver – Author.  It’s a fascinating book where I got to see biblical history come to life in a creative format.  It was a great book that I would love to have more people read.  🙂

I THOROUGHLY enjoyed this book.  I’m sitting here thinking, how do I effectively tell people how good this book is?

Seeing history come to life.
Watching a boy growing up in a volatile time. 
Seeing the horror in the worship of Molech.
Understanding the amazement of the nations in the fall of Jericho.
In the learning how God fights on the side of his obedient people.

This is a book of growth and learning and many ways for a 13 year Gibeonite lad named Keshub.   A story of a lad and his family facing troubled times and how they handled it. 

This is historical fact told with creative license. 

Overarching Themes: 
Obedience, bullying, family, servitude, sibling rivalry, survival, and negotiation.

Here’s a quick introduction to the book:

The great biblically based book is told from the point of view of the Gibeonites, with glimpses into life in the Israeli camp, and life under Zedek.   I found it a compelling story that drew me directly into the lives of the people involved.  I found myself so pleased with how Keshub took on his new responsibilities, rejoicing in his new skills, seeing his wonder that the Star Namer is the God of the Israelites.   Just an excellent book.

Peggy Consolver is the third of six children who grew up in Oklahoma.  She graduated from Southwestern Oklahoma State University where she met her husband George.

She worked various jobs until she had their two children, then was a stay-at-home parent for them. Teaching Sunday school and women’s
Bible studies, are some of her loves.  She encourages people to dig deeper into the story of God.

Due to the references to Molech, I would suggest that you gear the introduction of this book to the maturity of your student.  Seeing a young man step up to the plate, risking his life, doing a man’s work when his help is needed, oh but THAT is worth any maturing young man reading about.    Young men, reading about other young men doing good things, stretching in a reaching for manhood THAT… is a good thing indeed.  Don’t misunderstand me though, it’s a good book for the ladies of the world too, it’s just that I have a boy and I want him reading this book.  It’s a good one.

Did you know this cool fact?  There’s a study guide to go with it!  You can learn about braiding, wildlife, do some mapping and so much more. My lad is intrigued by the use of the sling, I wish I had a good place for him to practice it, kinda like with the archery he does already. 🙂   So many ways to broaden the learning to be found in this living history book.  There are also small group questions in the close of the book.

And for adults reading a book in advance of their children, or just enjoying the book for their own, just read it, learn your history, see God in action, see God preserve a people and call another to himself.   It’s a good thing this.  It’s bible history combined with creative story telling to create a cohesive whole.  Add in the study guide if you want to increase your awareness of the time and place, the memories, the land and the people in it.  It won’t be a waste of your time.  🙂

I read it before letting my lad get his hands on it (due to what I know of the time period), he is currently reading it and thus far says “I like it”. 

Shepherd, Potter, Spy — and the Star Namer. 
Written by: Peggy Consolver
Publisher: Carpenter’s Son Publishing
Age: Middle School and Up
Study Guide
Currently on Sale for $3.44.
Available as a paperback for $15.99
A study guide is also available for $12.99 (paperback) or $2.99 on Kindle

To read what others thought of story of Keshub, the Shepherd, Potter, Spy — and the Star Namer, click here or on the banner below.

http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/shepherd-potter-spy-and-the-star-namer-peggy-consolver-reviews/
You can find Peggy Consolver on Facebook.

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Attack Canada!! War Plan Red, A review

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 Hey… did you know that the United States had a secret plan to invade Canada!?!?!?!   DASTARDLY BEASTS!!!!   I tell yah!  🙂   (don’t take me too seriously eh?)  You can learn all about it in War Plan Red.

But oh no!!!!   Canada had secret plans to invade the United States as well!!!   … but really… we’re not dastardly beasts.. really.  🙂  LOL

Anyways, this book is a fascinating glimpse into the history between what is called “the friendliest border”.   We weren’t always so friendly, from the war of 1812, to the threatened trade of Canada as reparation by Great Britain for how they played both sides in the American Civil War, to the War of the Pig.  I know.. a war over a pig?!?!?!

I laughed.
I shook my head.
And the history I learned… oh my!  🙂

The things they don’t teach you in school.  

Like did you know that part of buying Alaska…was not only protection from Russia…but as a first step to buying British Columbia…and then slowly buying the rest of Canada?   Could you image that the entirety of the North American continent being one huge country?     Or how about trading Canada for Ireland or even have Canada AS an Irish Republic to launch attacks at Great Britain?  This was a scheme by the Fenians (catholic Irishmen).   It failed if only because most Irish in Canada were Protestant and the two simply didn’t cooperate with each other.

Canadian Pride was well-establish since the start of my beloved land.   We started off declaring  “We are a northern people…more manly, more real, then the weak-marrowed bones and superstitions of the effeminate south“.  (p.57)  Our success at Vimy Ridge solidified our national pride.  To this day, part of being Canadian is to tease our neighbour to the south.

So why build a plan to attack Canada?   As a means to attack Great Britain.   The awareness was that to attack Great Britain you would first need to take out their northern neighbour.

Included in the last 1/3 of the book is a reproduction of the American plan of attack.  The War Plan Red.

How we went from that to having such a friendly border… I don’t know… but we’ve managed it.  🙂  

Should you read it?
Yes!  If you are interested in the history of the border between Canada and the United States.  I found it fascinating… but I’m a Canadian.  I intend to hold on to it until my lad is old enough to read it for himself.  I suspect he’ll find it interesting as a teenager.    It is a book written for young adults and up.

 

War Plan Red
Author: Kevin Lippert
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
Pages: 128

Reviewed for: Raincoast Books. 

 Amazon.ca: War Plan Red: The United States’ Secret Plan to Invade Canada and Canada’s Secret Plan to Invade the United States

Amazon.com: War Plan Red: The United States’ Secret Plan to Invade Canada and Canada’s Secret Plan to Invade the United States

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Art Series: Fantastic Planets

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I so much enjoy my colouring book Fantastic Collections so when I saw I could review Fantastic Planet I was delighted!  This book is part of a series produced by Chronicle books.    This review is part of an Art series is part of an on-going series of Art books reviewed for your pleasure and resource.    You can find more books here and here.

 Book Synopsis:
Bestselling author Steve McDonald uses his unique photo-based
illustration style to celebrate the fantastic places, flora, and fauna
of the natural world around us. Here are inspiring, fun-to-color images
of lush jungles, teeming reefs, desert landscapes, fruitful orchards,
sun-dappled forests, spectacular waterfalls, majestic trees, tulip
fields, animal migrations, and much more.

My thoughts:

This is a GREAT colouring book.. seriously.
Fantastic images to fill in, that take the whole page, not just part of it.
High quality paper and images…wow… the images. 

I found myself hard pressed to pick which images I wanted to share with you.

 Back to back pictures that fill the page so you have no wasted space.   In the crease of the book one can find a description of what the image is about.

For instance, these alligators are from The Florida Everglades.   Can you see how an image like this might be fun to add to a study on Florida or Alligators?

These books are meant for adults, but I’ve known young teens who have done a stellar job with them.   Just a simply delightful colouring book.   The detail and imagery is simply a delight to fill in, knowing that by the end I will have a picture of a real thing.  

My son loves the tangle of snakes he discovered, my hubby the wolves and the landscape scences, I have a friend I’d love to send the elephants to, if I could figure out how to get it to her undamaged.  🙂   Some of these images, I see them and think, wouldn’t that be nice to add to a study someone is doing on Africa, Indonesia, China and more?  A nice add on for science and geography eh?

So if you like colouring books, my advice is to get this book, You’ll enjoy it.  Draw nature, explore this planet that we live on, and take some time…just for you.  🙂

 
Fantastic Planet: A Coloring Book of Places Real and Imagined
 Steve McDonald
 Chronicle Books
11.48 x 11.87
60 pages

 Reviewed for: Raincoast Books

Review: A Dog in the Cave

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I have to admit, I am not quite sure how to write this review.

I found the book fascinating despite the fact that I don’t believe in evolution.  I do believe that species can change over time to suit it’s environment better, but I don’t that reptiles can become mammals or that a one-celled critter can suddenly become a fish.  There are no gap animals.  This book is less about evolution, though that thought comes up frequently, and more about how two species influence the development of each other.

The book Synopsis:
We know dogs are our best animal friends, but have you ever thought about what that might mean?

Fossils show we’ve shared our work and homes with dogs for tens of
thousands of years. Now there’s growing evidence that we influenced
dogs’ evolution-and they, in turn, changed ours. Even more than our
closest relatives, the apes, dogs are the species with whom we
communicate best.
Combining history, paleontology, biology,
and cutting-edge medical science, Kay Frydenborg paints a picture of how
two different species became deeply entwined-and how we coevolved into
the species we are today.

My thoughts:
The premise of the book is that does and humans have been together for far longer than has been thought, and the question is this… when did those first dogs start to coexist with people?

Numerous examples from archaeological finds are used to further the questions being raised.
Could prehistoric dogs be distinguished from prehistoric wolves?   Current dogs have a shorter, broader muzzles today than wolves have so perhaps that might be true from days gone by. 

Contained within the pages of this book you will find seven chapters.
1. Close encounters of the Canine Kind
2. Written in the bones
3. Wolf-dogs: these skulls are how old?
4. A meeting of minds
5. Written in the genes
6. The dog on the couch:  Canine Psychologists
7. A wolf on the bed

The premise of the book is this.   Dogs made us the people that we are today, and we made dogs the creatures they are today.  There is I think, some truth to that statement… from how dogs make the job of a shepherd easier, how dogs can provide comfort to individuals, and then on the flip side, how dogs are been specifically bred to be companions, guardians, or hunters.   

We shape them, they shape us.

Did they make us human?   Read the book…you decide.  🙂

A Dog in the Cave: The wolves who made us human
by Kay Frydenborg

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt books for young readers
244 pages
Aged for 12 years old and up

 Reviewed for Raincoast Books.

 Amazon.ca: A Dog in the Cave: The Wolves Who Made Us Human

Amazon.com: A Dog in the Cave: The Wolves Who Made Us Human