My March-December (2019) Reads

I'm obviously way late in sharing these reads as well (from 2019!!!) but I always love book recommendations, so as with all my posts in general recently, better late than never.  My thoughts will be brief, but here they are. 

Searching For and Maintaining Peace (Fr. Jacques Philippe) 

Fantastic book, friends!  You will not be sorry you read it.  So much beautiful, peaceful wisdom. Plus it was the book I read when snuggling with Sophie often.   

Saint John Vianney: the Village Priest who Fought God's Battles (Leon Cristiani) 

Wow!  St. John Vianney was amazing.  Such gifts and graces bestowed on him.  We were also able to venerate his incorrupt heart in 2019 which was such a blessing. 

Live Jesus!  Wisdom from Saints Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal

Mom Bissonnette recommended and let me borrow this book (a long time ago at this point) and it was filled with lovely tidbits of 'wisdom from Saints Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal' as the title suggests.  

 

Farmer Boy (Laura Ingalls Wilder) 

Some read alouds with the kiddos!  We are working our way through the Little House series and Farmer Boy we had skipped but came back to this year finally!  All the books are great, but this is a fun change from the story of Laura's family to that of her husband's childhood. 

Pollyanna (Eleanor H. Porter)

This is a darling story and I had only ever watched the Disney movie with Hayley Mills.  The books was just wonderful and as usual even better than the movie, though the movie will still always be one of my favs.  

 

The Penderwicks At Last (Jeanne Birdsall) 

More read alouds although I believe we listened to these as audiobooks on CD.  I can't remember which was which and what happened in each specifically, but they are cute books about a family of 4 girls (which eventually is a family of 5 girls and a boy) and their adventures.  My kids all love them.  

The Penderwicks at Point Mouette (Jeanne Birdsall)

Saint Bernadette Soubirous: Light in the Grotto  (Anne Heffernan and Mary Tebo)

We also read this book about Saint Bernadette's life which was a fairly simple chapter book, but gives lots of great information and tells the story beautifully.  

 

Little Town on the Prairie (Laura Ingalls Wilder) 

We made our way rather quickly through the Little House series in 2019.  The Long Winter was harder to get through as there are aspects of that book that get a bit slow and monotonous.  It was a long winter, after all.  But there was also just enough excitement and intrigue at the craziness of the blizzards that the kids all wanted to play "blizzard" after we finished the book.  We sailed through Little Town on the Prairie. 

The Long Winter (Laura Ingalls Wilder)

These Happy Golden Years (Laura Ingalls Wilder)

This one was always my favorite of the series.  Almanzo courting Laura and all the other fun of life for their family.  The girls loved it as much as I did and we said through that book as well. Lots of read alouds in 2019.  

 

Be Brave in the Scared (Mary Lenaburg)

A lovely woman I follow on Instagram wrote a book that is just beautiful and SO brave.  It had me laughing, praying, tearing up, and sobbing, so you know it's full of REAL.  

Everybody Always (Bob Goff)

I love Bob Goff's writing style.  Each chapter is basically a little story from his life teaching a beautiful lesson and it all weaves into one big story about 'becoming love in a world full of setbacks and difficult people' as his tagline says.  

Men, Women, and Worthiness (Brene Brown)

I listened to this as an audiobook and it was really fascinating.  I can't say I agree with Brene on every little thing, but I think she's hits the nail on the head in calling out our culture that shames people and inviting each of us to know the power of being enough.  

 

Be Healed (Bob Schuchts)

This is an amazing and lovely book.  I listened to it as an audiobook but would now like to go back through (audio again or paperback) and re-listen because it was SO RICH.  

Boundaries (Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend)

This book on Boundaries was really good for me- a person who has never known how to say no without feeling completely guilt-wracked.  It was also good for me to take a look at myself and realize all the many ways I have been living in fear and being toxic and controlling to those around me as a result.  Super helpful read.   

The Printed Letter Bookshop (Katherine Reay)

I absolutely love all Katherine Reay's books and this one certainly didn't disappoint.  They are modern day romances that are clean and funny and have great characters that are SO relatable.  Plus there's always great book references which I totally love and appreciate.  

 

Therese, Faustina, and Bernadette (Elizabeth Ficocelli)

I loved this book about these three powerhouse Saints.  I learned more about each of them and the way Elizabeth Ficocelli weaved her own story into it all was lovely.  

Who Does He Say You Are? (Colleen C. Mitchell)

This book was fantastic.  Each chapter was about some female character in the gospels.  Some of their stories took up only a paragraph or two in the gospels, but Colleeen Mitchell pulled out some amazing things to think about and reflect on that really made these women in the Bible come alive. 

              

The Gifts of Imperfect Parenting (Brene Brown)

Another good Brene Brown book about raising kiddos this time.  

The Four Loves (C.S. Lewis)

It's C.S. Lewis so you know it's great.  I had somehow never read The Four Loves but I'm so glad I did.  Wow.  Great stuff.  

 

15 Days of prayer with Blessed Chiara Badano (Florence Gillet)

Blessed Chiara was my Saint for 2019, so I found a book about her.  It was really neat traveling through her life and reading daily reflections to really understand her young heart. 

Left to Tell (Immaculee Ilibagiza)

What an incredible story this is from a woman who survived the Rwandan Holocaust.  It's hard to read because of it's content, but it is also too incredible, miraculous, and beautiful NOT to read. 

Loved As I Am (Sr. Miriam Jame Heidland)  

This book is not really very long, but filled with beauty and healing balms for the soul. 

And those are last year's reads.  Tell what you've been reading!!

September- December- LIBRARY HAUL favorites- 2019

Fall was filled with a lot of fun library finds for the kids!

 

Bird Watch by Christie Matheson was a beautifully illustrated book that opened our eyes to looking more closely around us to catch sight of various birds.  

Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees was a cute book about a gawky giraffe who thinks he can't dance, but finds that he can indeed dance with the right music.  There are three little bugs to find on every page which my littlest ones adored as well.  

 

Dandy bu Ame Dyckman is a relatable tale about a dad who is obsessed with his yard being perfectly trimmed and above all, having NO dandelions.  His daughter helps him to look at life differently. 

I LOVE the Rain by Margaret Park Bridges is an adorable book about a little girl who sees the beauty in rain that many don't.  

 

Plant the Tiny Seed by Christie Matheson is a lovely book about how flowers grow.  

Picture the Sky by Barbara Reid (she has another that I shared in our last library haul) is so sweet.  It helps us to look at the sky from many different perspectives and to see that much more beauty in it. 

 

Jesus Loves Me! by Tim Warnes was a beautifully illustrated version of the beloved song.  

Duck Soup by Jackie Urbanovic is a silly tale of chef duck who is perfecting his soup recipe.  His well-meaning friends try to help and worry that he has become part of the soup.  

Daddy Hug by Tim Warnes was a cute book.  The title really tells you all you need to know.  

Brave Young Knight by Karen Kingsbury is a beautiful story of goodness.  It tells a tale in which a young and virtuous knight chooses the right and in the end is rewarded.  

 

Thanksgiving Graces by Mark Kimball Moulton was a sweet thanksgiving tale about grace.  

I adored The Forever Garden by Laurel Snyder and Samantha Cotterill.  It was a story about a little girl with the sweetest neighbor lady who loved to garden.  When she had to move, they struggled, but the end was beautiful.  

Quiet by Tomie dePaola is a wonderfully, simple tale of sitting in silence in order to really hear and experience.  

A Fire Truck Named Red by Randall de Seve was about a boy who receives an old fire truck for his birthday.  He had wanted the shiny new one, but his grandpa explains why this one is so special.  

 

The Sheep that No One Could Find by Anthony deStefano is a beautiful rendition of the beloved Bible story of the lost sheep.  

Digger Dozer Dumper by Hope Vestergaard was a favorite for, you guessed it- Kolbe!! Trucks galore and so cute!

 

Love Is by Diane Adams was a cute way of showing just how precious our children are to us and how deep the love of a parent is.  

How to Track a Truck by Jason Carter Eaton was a really clever book that likened a truck to a pet, helping you to go to the right places to choose the right truck for you.  

And there's our fall library haul. 

 Any good ones you've been reading that you want us to check out?

April-August LIBRARY HAUL Favorites - 2019

Just dropping a few fun books that we enjoyed over the Spring and Summer months.  I got busy and forgot to take pictures of some of the other favorite books we read, but here are several.  

Because Amelia Smiled (David Ezra Stein) was a beautiful book about how a simple smile can effect so many other lovely things that you will likely never know about, but which in some way will return to you.  

Flowers (Gail Gibbons) was a beautiful book about flowers-duh!  We used it in a little unit study on flowers and it was beautiful and informative.  

Abraham Lincoln (Amy L. Cohn) was a neat picture book biography.  

Francis Scott Key and "The Star Spangled Banner" (Lynea Bowdish) was another wonderfully done and beautifully illustrated picture book boiography.  

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer) was a really neat picture book biography that we picked up as well. 

The Boo-Boos that Changed the World (Barry Wittenstein) was a neat book about the accidental invention of the band-aid.  

The Gift that I Can Give (Kathie Lee Gifford) was a sweet book about the gifts that each of us have to offer and how special and unique we are.  

Some Pig! (shortened verison of  E.B. White's Charlotte's Web) was a wonderful book that the kids really enjoyed reading and looking through (such sweet pictures!) after we read aloud the full version of Charlotte's Web during the school year.  

A Boy, A Bear, A Balloon (Brittany Rubiano) was a beautiful book inspired by the recent Disney movie Christopher Robin.  I have yet to see the movie, but the book was sweet.  

Picture a Tree (Barbara Reid) draws you into a lovely thought process about trees through seasons and from different angles.