The Book List - April

Last month's "Book List" post got good response, so I wanted to share my list of what I read last month.   I started off with several e-books, before moving on to my much preferred book version of hardback and paperbacks.  I love the feel of regular book pages and holding a book in my hand so much better.  That being said, I am thinking I'm going to ask for a Kindle for my birthday next month because I do read e-books too, and since I can't stand to read on the computer, I end up printing them out and that costs printer ink and paper.  If you do have a Kindle, or some sort of e-book reader, and you like it - please leave me a comment and tell me about it.

Solomon writing his book list

APRIL:
How to Build a Strong Christian Home by June Fuentes (e-book) -  This book was packed with both encouragement and practical help. I like reading books like this on occasion to try and learn ways to make our home and family life better.  This book left me with some really good food for thought.

My Precious takes great care of her family - I just wish she could clean her own house too!

Large Family Homeschooling by Amy Roberts (e-book) - I love reading any advice from parents of big families.  They have so much experience and usually seem to have figured out pretty well.  This book had a lot of useful tips.  I only have 3 kids at home right now, but the way their ages are spread out, schooling feels tricky to me at times.  But this book had good ideas about how to school a variety of ages.  I learned some new things that I am going to implement in our homeschool.

10 Steps to Organized Photos and Memorabilia by Lisa Woodruff (e-book) - (The link is to the Kindle edition.  You can get pdf edition on the author's website here.) I have been gathering good suggestions on how to deal with my digital photo collection since my blogpost asking for help.  (I am planning a part two of that post since several people have shared good ideas and online suggestions.)  This e-book had some good ideas and lots of encouragement.  I feel motivated to dig into this project once I finish taking care of some house things that need to be done.

French Kids Eat Everything: How our family moved to France, cured picky eating, banned snacking, and discovered 10 simple rules for raising happy, healthy eaters by Karen LeBillon - This book was utterly fascinating!  So intriguing I will do a blogpost about it in the next week or so.  The title and subtitle tell you what the book is about.  Besides all I learned about the food aspect, it was a fascinating read about French culture and seeing where my preconceived notions about the French were right or wrong.

Pippin is just so skinny, and perhaps his bad hoof is making it hard for him to nurse frequently, so last night we decided to supplement with a bottle to be sure he's eating enough

Fresh Eggs Daily by Lisa Steele - This book came highly recommended by Tabby!  I've had a copy for awhile but seemed to just keep flipping around in it to get information.  Last month I finally read the whole book from start to finish.  It was such an enjoyable and informative read.  And as an added bonus - it's one of those books with "feel good pages" as Tabby calls them.  Beautiful photography too.  I learned so many things we could do to keep our chickens healthy.  The author uses lots of herbs, which I like because I am trying to learn how to use them in more ways.  Did you know chickens love and benefit greatly from having raw apple cider vinegar (with the mother) in their water?  The book even has a recipe on how to make your own, which I had never thought about, and am looking forward to trying soon.  The author has a blog at:  http://www.fresh-eggs-daily.com/  which Tabby and I read.

Tic Tac Toe - 3 of Tabby's happy white Silkie Bantams in row

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - This was a re-read for me, but I do really like the story.  I find Austen's subtle humor so funny.  Recently I watched my favorite Pride and Prejudice movie version with Tabby and told her after she read the book, we would watch another version of it.  (She has now finished the book too.)  I think the 1996 A&E mini-series with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle is simply the best - and so close to the book, so that is my favorite.  (I remember when it came out, my roommates and I were glued to the tv every night for 3 nights watching it.)  I got a copy of the 2005 version with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen for us to watch next.  (I saw that at the theater when it was released but really can't remember anything about it.)  Austen's novels are fast paced and have so many characters that I have found it easier to watch a movie version before reading a book, to help me keep the characters straighter in my mind when I read.

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.