Top Ten Books That You Wish Were Taught In Schools

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

I never liked being forced to read a book and was thus predisposed to not like it as much. But hopefully that would never happen to these books!

Top Ten Books That You Wish Were Taught In Schools

1. Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Spry
The flora and fauna is a very jumbled mix but it's a great story of a ship wrecked family!

2. Snow Treasure by Mary McSwigan
Great adventure based off of true events set during WWII for elementary kids.

3. Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum
Supposedly it's a commentary on the economic policy of the day, but I just read it as a fun story, so to actually learn about the commentary side would be interesting. But then, the teacher would probably ruin the fun story part...

4. Romans from the Holy Bible
A long time ago it was used in a Harvard class to teach logic. (I read that somewhere a long time ago and tried to find a good online source but in the 4 minutes I spent searching only found other people asking the same thing or an un-cited source stating it.)

5. Beric the Briton by G.A. Henty
One of my favorite Henty tales - I know what a phalanx is because of this book. Tells the adventure of a Beric, who grows into manhood when Rome was conquering Briton.

6. 1776 by David McCullough
Maybe kids would find history more interesting if they got to read stories of it instead of textbooks...

7. Bruchko by Bruce Olson
Facinating account of a man who lived with a Colombian jungle tribe who had little if any contact with the rest of the world.

8. Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington
Great autobiography! I read it for school (homeschool!), but I don't think it's standard fare.

9. Battle of Wits: complete story of code breaking in World War II by Stephen Budiansky
Borrowed this from the library in college and while the amount of information was overwhelming it gave a great picture of what it took to break the Enigma and the Purple encryption machine generated codes.

10. Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
I read this for school also, a very interesting account of how a math genius changed navigation forever.

What books do you wish kids were taught or asked to read in school?

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Stealing the Preacher by Karen Witemeyer

Stealing the Preacher by Karen Witemeyer. Bethany House, 2013. 347p. (9780764209666) Series: Archer Brothers, #2

As you may remember I could hardly wait couldn’t wait to read the first book, Short Straw Bride, last summer. So much so that I sat on the floor of a freezing cold Barnes and Noble. Needless to say, I was looking forward to Stealing the Preacher as well. The Archer brothers can’t meet women under normal circumstances! Now I’m quite curious how the last brother will fare.

Goodreads Summary:

On his way to interview for a position at a church in the Piney Woods of Texas, Crockett Archer can scarcely believe it when he's forced off the train by a retired outlaw and presented to the man's daughter as the minister she requested for her birthday. Worried this unfortunate detour will ruin his chances of finally serving a congregation of his own, Crockett is determined to escape. But when he finally gets away, he's haunted by the memory of the young woman he left behind--a woman whose dreams now hinge on him.

For months, Joanna Robbins prayed for a preacher. A man to breathe life back into the abandoned church at the heart of her community. A man to assist her in fulfilling a promise to her dying mother. A man to help her discover answers to the questions that have been on her heart for so long. But just when it seems God has answered her prayers, it turns out the parson is there against his will and has dreams of his own calling him elsewhere. Is there any way she can convince Crockett to stay in her little backwoods community? And does the attraction between them have any chance of blossoming when Joanna's outlaw father is dead set against his daughter courting a preacher?

My Review:

There are so many unusual things in this book! A parson is the sole target of a train robbery and is kidnapped to serve as a birthday present. That same parson almost gets strung up by an angry father. He also goes to work for a retired outlaw and starts falling in love with said outlaw’s daughter. All while trying to do his job as a preacher.

The characters have character, even the secondary ones. I especially liked Bessie, the boarding house proprietress, and her interactions with the marshal. The boy Jackson was also a real pleasure to get to know and to see how the others poured into his lonely life.

What I enjoyed the most was how the author wove scripture into the story without being “preachy” and even Crockett’s sermons fit right into the story line. Crockett isn’t perfect and certainly questions why on earth things aren’t going the way he envisioned them. “For those who love God all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28 ESV) – that could be the theme verse of the book.

A fun book set in Texas in 1885 that made me smile, laugh, shake my head in disbelief and wish the characters well. If you like quirky yet serious, clean, Christian romance then you probably will enjoy this one.   

Go read it! Find it at a library near you; Buy it from Amazon; Buy it from ChristianBooks.com; Buy it from Barnes & Noble

Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission.

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Remember - Anytime you visit Amazon.com or BarnesAndNoble.com or ChristianBooks.com use an affiliate link to get there. Any purchase you make from a link on my site generates a small kickback. You need not purchase the item I'm featuring, any purchase counts. It costs you nothing extra and is an easy way to support this site.

WoW #24: The Invention of Sarah Cummings by Olivia Newport

Hosted by Breaking the Spine.

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

The Invention of Sarah Cummings by Olivia Newport

Revell - September 2013

About
In a world where everyone is putting on a show, there is a love that is genuine.

Sarah Cummings has one goal in life--to break into Chicago's high society. Desperate to stop serving dinner to members of the wealthy Banning family and to start eating at society tables, Sarah spends her meager free time altering cast-off gowns to create the perfect wardrobe for her future life.

When opportunity knocks at a chance meeting, she presents herself as Serena Cuthbert, weaving a fictitious past to go with her fictitious name. But as she gets closer to her goal--and closer to Simon Tewell, director of St. Andrew's Orphanage--Sarah finds that she must choose between the life she has and the life she dreams of.

Can she piece together the perfect life from scraps? Or will it all come unraveled in the face of true love?

Why I want to read it

I still haven't gotten a chance to read the other books in this series, but they're all on my to read list. Plus it sounds like an interesting story.

Where you can find it

Amazon and ChristianBooks

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Remember - Anytime you visit Amazon.com or BarnesAndNoble.com or ChristianBooks.com use an affiliate link to get there. Any purchase you make from a link on my site generates a small kickback. You need not purchase the item I'm featuring, any purchase counts. It costs you nothing extra and is an easy way to support this site.

Top Ten Most Memorable Secondary Characters

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

It's been a while since I participated in TTT, but it's good to be back and it's always fun to think back over the books I've read and remember them.

Top Ten Most Memorable Secondary Characters

1. Sam Hawkens, Dick Stone, Pitt Holbers, Dick Hammerdull, lange Davey and dicken Jemmy (all from Karl May's wild west adventures)

Sam Hawkens as played by Ralf Wolter in the Karl May movies

2. Monster (from Heartless by Anne Elisabeth Stengl, though he'd scorn the idea that he's a secondary character; he plays a bigger role in all the other books)

3. Nellie Olson (from On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder)

4. The Castle (from Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George)

5. Dr. Watson (from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Connan Doyle)

6. Aunt Josephine (from Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery)

7. The Seniors: Gram, Morty, Velma, Peg and William (from My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade)

And I think I've completed my ten with number 1 containing six characters and number 7 having five. Who are your favorite secondary characters?

Remember - Anytime you visit Amazon.com or BarnesAndNoble.com or ChristianBooks.com use an affiliate link to get there. Any purchase you make from a link on my site generates a small kickback. You need not purchase the item I'm featuring, any purchase counts. It costs you nothing extra and is an easy way to support this site.

Dragonwitch by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

Dragonwitch by Anne Elisabeth Stengl. Bethany House, 2013. 425p. (9780764210273) Series: The Tales of Goldstone Wood, #5

I read this on the airplane coming back to Africa and it was almost exciting enough to keep me reading straight through despite not having slept more than a few short hours on the transatlantic flight, meaning I’d been basically up for over 24 hours. Twice I had to put the book down and let my eyelids fall closed for a bit but the story kept pulling me back. All that to say, we’ve got another great tale of Goldstone Wood to enjoy!

Goodreads Summary:

Author's sketch of Lady Leta
More character sketches
are on Ms Stengl's blog

Submissive to her father’s will, Lady Leta of Aiven travels far to meet a prospective husband she neither knows nor loves–Lord Alistair, future king of the North Country.

But within the walls of Gaheris Castle, all is not right. Vicious night terrors plague Lord Alistair to the brink of insanity. Whispers rise from the family crypt. The reclusive castle Chronicler, Leta’s tutor and friend, possesses a secret so dangerous it could cost his life and topple the North Country into civil war.

And far away in a hidden kingdom, a fire burns atop the Temple of the Sacred Flame. Acolytes and priestesses serve their goddess to the limits of their lives and deaths. No one is safe while the Dragonwitch searches for the sword that slew her twice…and for the one person who can wield it.

My Review:

As I’ve said time and again, the degree to which all the stories in this series are woven together is astounding. I’ve read the books as they come out and have only reread Heartless so I know I haven’t caught all the references but they’re there folks, they’re there.

In Dragonwitch we finally get to hear the full story of the brothers Akilun and Etanun. We find out what happened to Starflower’s land after she left it. We also learn more about the goblin kingdom. And it’s the very fascinating tale of a scribe, a scrubber, a betrothed girl and the heir-apparent. But there’s more to them than meets the eye.

The ageless themes of beauty, loneliness, love, family-ties, loyalty and forgiveness are all expertly woven into this tale. 

If you love adventure, fantasy, clean fiction, an epic fight that stretches over centuries, a dash of romance and everyone’s favorite cat Eanrin, then this is a book for you.

Go read it! Find it at a library near you; Buy it from Amazon; Buy it from ChristianBooks.com; Buy it from Barnes & Noble

Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher on behalf of the author. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission.

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Remember - Anytime you visit Amazon.com or BarnesAndNoble.com or ChristianBooks.com use an affiliate link to get there. Any purchase you make from a link on my site generates a small kickback. You need not purchase the item I'm featuring, any purchase counts. It costs you nothing extra and is an easy way to support this site.

Announcing the Winner

 

 Congratulations to...

 

Sarah!

 

 

 

I sent you an email, please send me your address and your book will be in the mail in a few days.



The Wretched of Muirwood by Jeff Wheeler

The Wretched of Muirwood by Jeff Wheeler. 47north, 2013 (first published 2011). 287p. (9781612187006) Series: Legends of Muirwood, #1

A fun YA fantasy series that I got over a year ago as an Amazon freebie but hadn’t read until now. Shouldn’t have waited so long! Drawing richly from medieval and ancient history, world religions and human nature this imaginative tale drew me in and kept me turning the pages until I’d finished all three books.

Goodreads Summary:
Imagine a world where words are so precious they are only etched in gold, and only the privileged are allowed to learn how to read. Muirwood Abbey is one of the few places where learners are taught to read and engrave, and thirteen year-old Lia wants nothing more than to learn both of these skills - yet she is a wretched, an orphan, and doomed to remain in the Aldermaston's kitchen, forbidden to read and subject to his authority. Her future is destined for preparing recipes in a privileged household until, unexpectedly, a mysterious knight-maston abandons the wounded squire Colvin at the Aldermaston's kitchen in the middle of the night. Soon after, Sheriff Almaguer comes hunting for Colvin, and Lia is thrust into the greatest adventure of her life as she and the squire are forced into a partnership that brings her closer to her dream - and Colvin closer to his fear of dying on the battlefield.

My Review:
Lia is a great heroine; she thinks she’s a nobody, even though she will play an important role in the history of Muirwood Abbey and it is exactly what makes her a nobody that makes her perfect for the job. She’s spunky, she’s inquisitive, she’s loyal, she doesn’t know any better, and she wishes for a family.

We also get to know the supporting characters pretty well and they are a part of the story throughout the series. It’s nice not to be left hanging and the author does a great job of tying them in and then closing their parts.

I really enjoyed the world and its landscape and customs – since I’ve traveled in Europe it was easy to imagine the monasteries and cathedrals that no doubt influenced the author’s description of Muirwood Abbey and the other abbeys.


(Image Source)

If you enjoy fantasy novels that get their fantastical elements from mystical powers rather than from fantastical creatures or beings than this is a book for you. If you enjoy adventure stories with a strong heroine than this is a book for you.

Go read it! Find it at a library near you; Buy it from Amazon; Buy it from Barnes&Noble

Disclosure: I downloaded this book for free during a sale on Amazon. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission.

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Remember - Anytime you visit Amazon.com or BarnesAndNoble.com or ChristianBooks.com use an affiliate link to get there. Any purchase you make from a link on my site generates a small kickback. You need not purchase the item I'm featuring, any purchase counts. It costs you nothing extra and is an easy way to support this site.