Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the second book in the Harry Potter series again. I remember I enjoyed these books the first time I read them, but I have enjoyed it even more reading it as an older adult and knowing the full story line. 

As Harry prepares for his second year at Hogwarts, he meets a strange creature warning him not to return. After a bumpy ride getting there, strange things begin happening causing the whole school fear. Harry, Ron and Hermione are on the case, but many in the school fear Harry is behind it all. Will they uncover the truth before a murder takes place?

As with the first book, the story is compelling and extremely interesting. The plot is full of twists and turns and even more than are displayed in the movie. The writing is clear and easy to understand so that you can follow the intricate plot as they search for the truth. The tension of good and evil is clearly present which adds to the enjoyment.

There are great discussion points in here for older kids including bravery and courage, jumping to conclusions, is it ever appropriate to break the rules and thinking before acting. Everyone of these themes is prevalent and I'm sure you can find more if you're wanting to read this with your kids. This is also a great way to discuss that battle of good vs evil as you cannot escape this theme. 

I absolutely recommend this book for adults who enjoy fantasy! I recommend it with caution/parental guidance starting at middle school ages.

5 stars for this fun book that I'm sure will become a classic.

Reading Challenges:

I'm using this book for book two in three books by the same author in the Modern Mrs. Darcy 2020 Reading Challenge.

I'm also using this book as a book of 240 pages or more in Tim Challies 2020 reading challenge found under the committed section. 

Year 36

36 years on planet Earth. 36 years of growing and learning. 36 years to grow in wisdom and knowledge. 36 years. 

It's funny. As I think about 36 years here, I wonder how it could be so long and so short at the same time. Sometimes it seems like I was young yesterday. I wonder how I could be married for 15.5 years, mother of ten children, walked with the Lord for 30 years. Other times I feel like I've already lived a lifetime. And yet, by God's grace, I still have a lifetime to live. 

I'm not sure how to even describe year 36 in my life. In some ways it has been a pivotal year as our family has been stable for the first time in about three years as far as house, job and church are concerned, which encompasses most of our everyday lives. With that stability, however, came a level of discontent that I wasn't expecting. In many ways everything was "back to normal" while, at the same time, everything was completely different. 

We were back to Jim working in a hospital 4 days a week, back to homeschooling with all of our books at the ready, back to cooking, cleaning and every day homemaking. But we are now 11 (less than a month after my last birthday) instead of 9, and everyone was older and still adjusting, we are in Mableton, GA instead of Louisville, KY. We went from a shot-gun house with a camel back to a ranch style with a basement and exchanged carpets for hardwoods.  Jim's at Piedmont in the PACU instead of Norton in the NICU working four tens instead of three twelves. We are at Smyrna First Baptist and not Sojourn Community. We changed the family we were near. We moved back to old friends and made new ones, while saying good-bye to the friends we'd made in Louisville. 

The same, but totally different. 

While all of this was lurking in the back of my mind, my body was also transitioning with the birth of our 9th baby and also to simply getting older causing physical needs to change and need to be figured out again. 

These two things have led to a perfect storm in the depths of my flesh, which Satan also used to whisper his lies. 

But God in His amazing grace has not left me as I wrestle with discontentment, believing the whispers that something should be different, we should be somewhere else or I should not focus on the things he has told me. He draws me to Himself reminding me who He is and who I am with Him while also letting me see glimpses of who I would be without Him. I open His Word and I see the depths of my evil heart and God reminds me Jesus has healed and changed it. 

Because of the death of Christ my sin is covered and has no hold on me. Because of the resurrection of Christ I can live and live life to the fullest where He has me. Because of the Holy Spirit living inside of me I can do all God has called me to and say no to the things He has not. 

The battle still rages while I'm still in my flesh and many days my flesh still wins. This year, God has shown me how easy it is to let my wants, my desires, my thoughts, my understanding to rule me or give my pride a stroke. But at the end of the day, none of those things mean anything if I'm not humbly living out God's Word and His desires for me to bring glory to His Name. 

And that is hard. 

The more I give into God the easier it becomes to do what I ought. So that is my prayer for the year (and years) to come: that I would die to my flesh and let the Holy Spirit flow out of me. That I would be content in following God even when it's uncomfortable, scary or not what I wanted or expected. 

No matter what the future holds here on Earth, I know I can trust God to lead me in the place where He will receive all the glory and that after this life my future is secure in Christ. 

A Grain of Rice

A Grain of Rice by Helena Clare Pittman is a part of our Sonlight Curriculum in Core A.

I remember liking this book the first time we read it together, but reading it with my kids today reminded me why I enjoyed it so much! This book is clever, easy to read and understand for young kids, and teaches wonderful life lessons.

Pong Lo wants to marry the princess, but is a peasant and therefore refused by her father, the Emperor of China. The Emperor threatens Pong Lo's life, but the Princess steps in and saves his life. Now he must work to prove his worth. Can Pong Lo become worthy of the princess?

This book teaches working hard but working with joy and a smile on your face even with menial tasks. It teaches that it's worth working hard even with no promise of what you want. I really appreciate it showing the purpose of knowledge and using it to do your best work. It also shows using wisdom and cunning to answer difficult questions and remaining humble. This book teaches so much humility.

I really enjoyed talking about the lessons this book teaches with my kids and showing them how Pong Lo was living out mandates God has given us in Scripture. I absolutely recommend this book as a family read. We were able to read it fairly quickly over lunch but you can space it out if you would like.

I would give this read 4.5 stars.

This book does not really fall into any of my reading challenges very well, so it's a bonus book for me!

In Grandma's Attic

This fun little book is part of Core A in our Sonlight Curriculum and this is our second time reading it as a family.

I love this book as it gives you pictures into what it was like for Grandma growing up in rural America in the early 1900s. It is fun thinking back to what it was like to take care of animals, stoke a fire for cooking and warming the house, making all food from scratch and having a horse and buggy for transportation. It is also a great reminder that kids are kids no matter what generation they grow up in. Kids explore, make huge mistakes and learn valuable lessons from their foolishness by the grace of God. Grandma is quick to share the lessons she learns from her misadventures and give great talking points as you read these chapters. As an adult you also get a good laugh as you think of these things happening and how to teach in these lessons.

The writing is wonderful as it is straightforward and easy to read and understand. Each chapter is short with no more than ten pages, which is perfect for a quick family reading time that includes little ones. Grandma is very clear about the lesson she learned from each story as she teaches her granddaughter. While it is not overtly Christian, it is unmistakable that faith drives this family, which is also a wonderful element. The stories are clean and appropriate for all ages.

I give this family read five stars.

Reading Challenges:
This book is going on the Tim Challies 2020 Reading Challenge as a book of 100 pages or less in the Avid section of the challenge.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

I decided it was time to reread the Harry Potter series as our kids are getting older and asking about reading them. I have always enjoyed the movies but honestly don't remember my first read of these books. This first book was even better than I remember!

I was laughing throughout and enjoyed every moment of this book. I remember why I enjoy reading books and why I have to treat books separate from their movies because as usual the book far exceeds the movie. The books tells you all of the little details you miss or they don't put into the movies and gives you a more complete picture of the story world.

J.K. Rowling is a very skilled writer and weaves such an incredible and involved story that you are entranced from the beginning. I really enjoy how she contrasts the two worlds so starkly as well as puts such a difference between Harry and the Dursley family, with whom he lives. It is fun discovering the wizard world with Harry as he gradually learns who he is, who his parents were and what he is to do. Because this is a seven book series this book only gives you a slight glimmer into the full story, but it also does a great job standing as a book alone.

There are many lessons and talking points when reading with your kids. Good vs evil is a theme throughout. The kids in this book often disobey the rules and must deal with the consequences. There is also things that could be considered ambiguous, which makes for great discussion as you look at what the characters do and why. For example, is there ever a time in the fight against evil to break the rules?

I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to sharing it with my older kids in the near future. I do think kids need to be well grounded in reality and truth to be able to enjoy this book and learn the lessons this book has to offer.

I would give this book 5 stars.

Reading Challenges:
I'm using this book for the Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge as one of the books by the same author
For Tim Challies I'm using this book as a book of my choice in the Light section

More Reading Challenges

Like last year, I've got my eye on three other reading challenges apart from the Back to the Classics Reading Challenge that I'm aiming for this year. I will double, triple or may be even quadruple dip on some of the books, but its fun having different categories from a variety of challenges to expand my reading repertoire and also to encourage to read the books on my shelf that have yet to be read.

I'm using the same challenges as last year for my guidelines.

1. Tim Challies 2020 Reading Challenge
This challenge has up to 104 books. While reading that many books would be amazing, I'm not sure if I'll read that many and if I do many may not fit into the categories provided as his are very versatile and specific.

2. The Modern Mrs. Darcy 2020 Reading Challenge
This challenge has only ten categories with twelve books as one category is three books by the same author. I do think I'll be able to complete this challenge between all the books I plan to read this year and reading with my kids.

3. 2020 Christian Reading Challenge for Women with Jami Balmet
This challenge has two levels, with 13 or 26 books for the year with varying categories but several that repeat. Jami does give books for each category, however I will likely find books in the categories that I already have. There are many I am interested in from her list so I'll keep an eye out for deals.

I'm trying to read my shelves before buying more books. Between the four challenges I'm using as guidelines I hope to make a good dent. I did well reading off my shelf last year. Full disclosure I will be using a couple books I started last year in these challenges as the fit categories I'm seeking to fill. I didn't get all of my reviews written but hoping to do better with reviews this year.

Ready for a year of reading with my family both for learning and fun.

Do any of these challenges peak your interest? What are you reading this year?

Back to the Classics Challenge 2020

I am so excited that Karen's Books and Chocolate is hosting her annual Back to the Classics Challenge for this year! I'm hoping that with the books on my shelf, my Kindle and in our curriculum that has many classic gems I'll be able to cover all twelve categories this year. I'm really excited about the categories and the challenge of finding a title for each one.

This year's categories are:

1. 19th Century Classic
2. 20th Century Classic
3. Classic by a Woman Author
4. Classic in Translation
5. Classic by a Person of Color
6. A Genre Classic
7. Classic with a Person's Name in the Title
8. Classic with a Place in the Title
9. Classic with Nature in the Title
10. Classic About a Family
11. Abandoned Classic
12. Classic Adaptation

I will be reading 1984 for my Abandoned Classic because it's one of two I can think of that I never fully finished.

 

Other titles I am considering for this year include:

This Hideous Strength

The Jungle

Little Women

Pilgrim's Progress

Lord of the Flies

The Ugly American

Anne of Green Gables

The City of God

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas

Emma

Wuthering Heights

Red Badge of Courage

Tale of Two Cities

These are ones that have caught my attention, but if you have any great suggestions for any of these categories let me know!

Who wants to join me on this challenge? What are you reading?