Up to New Years

We went up to see mom and while she and Don were working on cable tv issues, Rebekah and I went to the library. I love this place. Look at the total organization!

We went to the kid's play area and saw names of good friends. 

Rebekah added her name too. 

A few days later I grabbed a blank wall and forced the yearly family picture. We got the cupcake and the smile from Rebekah or no cupcake and no smile. If only Don had a cupcake... Although he's not frowning, so there is that. To be fair, a few days ago he had a bad reaction to some medication and spent a few hours in the ER, so that may have been in his system still. 

In other events we finally finished the Lego Hospital. Rebekah was very excited. 

New years eve day it was raining profusely so we played inside and prepared for the night by making Courtney brownies. Rebekah is becoming quite the chef. 

Finally the rain stopped and we went outside for some much needed fresh air. Rebekah wanted to practice her bike skills.  

Riding into 2019:

December Books

In terms of page numbers, this was HUGE! But I was highly motivated to finish it in a timely fashion (5 other books I've had on hold came in all at once) so I pushed through and listened to it everywhere I went and while doing everything. The book is highly recommendable. I learned much about the man but also about what life was like for the African American during his time. 

I don't star rate a lot of books on my Goodreads account; when I do it's because they made a lasting impression. Fiction doesn't usually get a 5 star rating simply because it's fiction and therefore has to be intensely wonderful for me to rate it to the same level as history. I went back and forth from 4 stars to 5. This is a story about a little girl abandoned by her family and left to grow up in the swamp lands of North Carolina. The writing is beautiful and the characters are vivid and therefore it is easy to form attachments and become connected with them. Highly recommendable, but be aware there are some brief sex references.  

This shares the story of 3 different refugees: one from WWII, one from the late 1980's, one from 2015; each account given through the eyes of an early teenager. I was familiar with the account from WWII but the relation of that account and the other two was astounding. It's hard to believe that the events continually happens over and over. I loved the authors note at the end. This is exactly what historical fiction should be. Highly recommendable. 

I read the first few chapters of this and almost stopped but now that I'm finished I am glad I didn't. Some books are worth wading through to get to the end for understanding. I liked Eleanor's journey and hope that someday I can be a less smoke-filled Raymond to somebody. Very worth while. 

A huge fan of Joseph Ellis, I would probably read most anything written by him. This was different in that he started with the history and then brought us to present day explaining how we have varied and what we could learn from the founding fathers. It was a thought provoking read and therefore highly recommendable. Some of his explanations were shocking to me so I talked to my more liberal minded friend and then I talked to my more conservative minded husband. They both had incredibly different views of the same things. It all depends on the lens you look through I guess. Which one is right? My guess is somewhere in the middle. But I think the big picture is that both sides have opinions and need to actively listen, with real intent, to the other's views otherwise the two sides will continue as they are. But back to the book: American Dialogue leaves you with the sense of an impending crash of life as we know it, but if you can get over that hurdle it's well worth the read. 

I didn't know much about Rockefeller but someone wrote a book about him and since I have heard the name and knew the author I jumped right in. I liked Grant more but Rockefeller's story was very worth while. It's a long read (832 pages / over 32 hours worth) and I have to admit I got bogged down when the author explained business transactions and other such, but I found the narrative very interesting and even insightful.

Jason Reynolds is an author to watch. He has a great command of this genre. I was stunned by the book "Long Way Down" - so well written, and this book, while it is not so poignant as the before mentioned, is well done as well. There are other books in this series concerning other kids on the track team. I hope to read those too. Highly recommendable middle grade to YA fiction. However be warned: Reynolds writes this genre realistic (ie: main character's dad in prison for trying to shoot the mom and son, some references to domestic abuse, shoplifting, etc.) *Reynolds also has some great poetry. Really. I'm a big fan of this new author. 

When I started this I was excited but it quickly went downhill. Then it got okay again but nothing great. Basically it's the fictional story of George Washington's cook. There's some history in there: the 6 month provision, Oney Judge, and of course the way the kitchen ran and other slavery treatment, but other than that I wouldn't recommend. The writing and the story line is simply okay at best. 

This was probably the most weird book I have ever stumbled on. It sounded interesting and at many point it was, but it also deals a lot with the actual ravens and you get to read how they feed them and how they will hunt and tear apart other animals etc and so on. But there is a lot of history of the Tower of London in the book too. Recommendable if you have any desire at all to read about the Tower of London and can handle birds being birds and the very ...um... let's just say interesting people that take care of them.

This started out great. Horrifying actually because of the actual probability (plot - southern California runs out of water). But then it quickly got too much and went downhill. So no, not really recommendable.

At first as I tried to focus on the main characters I didn't care for the book, however as I looked underneath the supposed plot, I came to realize this was more about the Russian people and their plight during the political unrest, the first world war, the civil war and events leading to and during the second world war, it became much more important and interesting. There's a lot going on and it probably looses something in the translation to English, but this is recommendable especially if, like me, you are interested in life of the Russian people during that time period. Just don't focus on the "love story" aspect.

This is the second one in the series of three Roosevelt books (I began with the last book, this being the middle). I've wondered why I'm so interested in presidential history and after reading this book I realize how much actual history is involved in reading about the presidents. This book was a great portrait of the early 1900's. It even mentioned world events such as the Japan Russian war, the unrest of Wilhem II of Germany, etc. It also was a great portrait of the giant of a man Roosevelt was and the highlights and lowlights of his presidency. Although it is extremely long it is highly recommendable. 

*A side note: this was the the third book (two by the same author of course) I've read where President Taft was not presented in a good light. Of course all books were extremely pro Roosevelt and anti Taft. However, when I came away from visiting the Taft house thinking extremely well of him. Knowing the Taft house was most likely skewed I plan on looking more into the man.

Amazing. I enjoyed this so much that I bought it so Don could give it to me for Christmas. There are so many paragraphs and quotes that I want to mark for future reference, and I will be listening to the audio book that I've had on hold before I found this at the library in about 4 weeks. So worth it. The author writes of Lincoln, T. Roosevelt, F.D. Roosevelt, and Johnson; describing their early lives, their entry to politics, and their leadership style through their specific "turbulent times." I've been told I burn through books and this one took me over a month to read. There is so much in there! Tremendously recommendable.

Rebekah

We revisited these very well done princess superhero books. They make me smile and Rebekah loves them too. 

We are steadily reading through the Violet Mackerel series. Sweet stories. I love the lessons she learns and the lessons we can learn from her. Highly recommendable. 

I found these and bought Rebekah 4 of them for Christmas. We are always looking for good, age appropriate material. These rated high and they are Scholastic books and therefore not available at the library. But they are good. Nothing outstanding but good.

To sum up the year, Goodreads organized my books for me. It was fun to go back and look at each one. I can remember reading them, what was going on while I was reading them, etc and so on. 

2018 Books: Goodreads

But 116 books over 45,800 pages is a lot. I have to admit I'm wondering what I'm really doing with my time. "Have I done any good in the world..." kind of thoughts. Am I any better? I do enjoy learning but what can I do with it? How am I better? So this next year I hope to write what I learned from each book and how I am better rather than just say whether the book is recommendable or not. My hope is that I'll see that I'm not wasting time and I'm learning and growing myself rather than simply binging on books. 

Christmas

Rebekah has been kind to her parents and has always lasted until after 7 am before waking up for presents. This year was earlier than ever but she still made her 7 am usual. 

She was so excited. 

She has liked my dog socks, enough that she even started wearing them. So, I got her kitty socks for Christmas. It's really fun when she wears her kitty and I wear the dogs and we chase each other.

The big ticket item this year was the lego friend's hospital.

My Christmas included socks, chocolate, books, and a traditional Christmas orange.

Don's, no picture of course, included chocolate, cinnamon bears, and much needed replacement clothes.

Mom and Frank soon joined us and we opened more gifts.

I'll forever be grateful to my friend Courtney for introducing me to my yearly Christmas calendar present.

After a while Kayla Facetime'd with us and we saw the grandkids open their presents.

Know it's silly but I wanted to document the experience. They are getting so big! This is Henry with Paige in the background. We got him a Hot Wheel's track.

Paige. We got her a book and some Aqua Beads.

Little Makenna. We got her a bunch of little meowing kittens. I did tell Kayla before hand that she doesn't have to put the battery in. We are kind to each other that way.

After that we had the traditional sweet rolls. Rebekah wanted an action shot.

Mom didn't want any shot....

But I talked her into one with Frank.

Don was a great host.

After sweet rolls I had a few minutes to look at the kitchen helps my mother purchased for the family in the hopes that my kitchen experiences would be better.

This is my old mixer. I've had it since I ventured out on my own... guessing that's about 20 years or so. It's served me well but it's begging to be retired. Not only has the varnish come off the handle but it has a short on the lower two levels and only works if it is exactly where it needs to be.

But there wasn't time to explore too much, there was a Lego hospital to build! I quickly put together the helicopter / stretcher to distract her while I worked on the lower level.

The rest of the day was full of toys, puzzles, games and more Legos. Oh and food. Lots of food. A Merry Christmas indeed.