It’s been awhile since I’ve done a book round up, and we’ve been reading like crazy over here, so let me give you a few quick reviews of some that we have loved.
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Books for the Kids
I have to say, and I know I’m a bit partial having worked with them on my own books, but OSV has been knocking it out of the park lately, both in general and in the kids department. G and my nephew have both devoured the new God’s Superheroes books. There is one for men and one for women, and they are awesome. Many of the saints are modern and all are written in a way that is engaging to kids today. I was planning on putting these in my kids’ Easter baskets this year, but as you can see, they found them early.
I just did a review for Our Sunday Visitor on the Teeny Tiny Theology series, which is a perennial favorite around here, so do check out the review and buy the books if you are on the hunt for board books.
Mark has been reading the Narnia series to William and Gianna at night, and while I prefer Tolkien to Lewis (though I love his space trilogy and look forward to the kids being old enough for it) it has been wonderful to watch William especially fall in love with the world building.
And I’m going to throw in a little self-promotion here: I created a Spelling Dictionary for my crew that I’m super proud of. It has all of the most commonly used words by elementary students and space for you to write the words your kid writes the most (William’s already has shipwreck in it). If you’ve got a burgeoning writer and are sick of spelling the same words over and over again, this book is for you.
Books for the Grown Ups
Fiction-wise I have been on a major Beatriz Williams tear. Don’t you just love finding a new to you author with a ton of books? She writes historical fiction with multiple timelines, and I love authors who can pull that off. My favorites thus far have been Overseas and Her Last Flight.
For non-fiction, Mark and I are reading Prudence by Fr. Gregory Pine together and I’m really enjoying it. Fr. Pine pulls no punches and dang is it a challenging and edifying read.
I’m also working my way through Vinita Hampton Wright’s new personal retreat. She has become one of my favorite writers, and of course, I love the women Doctors of the Church, so this is a great fit for me. I appreciate the length of the reflections, the challenging questions to journal with, and the fact that there is a short evening check in each day.
And there you have it- the books we are reading and loving these days. Drop a comment if you’ve got any recommendations for us!
For myself “Georgette Heyer’s Regency World” is a must if you like the regency period and/or Austen and/or Heyer. Georgette Heyer is hilarious, fast paced, and for the most part shows being virtuous pays off. Arabella by Heyer I just finished and it was great and a positive portrayal of a family with 8 kids!
The kids hear new picture books every week so way too many to name, but the Dodsworth series is home right now and we read yesterday “Her name was Mary Katherine” about the only woman whose name is on the Declaration of Independence. It’s a great story of patriotism.