Reading Recap - February 2025

I was surprised with how much reading I got in during February, given it's a shorter month.  We got into a bit more a homeschool rhythm which certainly helped.  Also, I read a lot of places that weren't home, as seen here... I've learned I need to squeeze it in where and when I can!

I'm very active on Goodreads here, somewhat active on Instagram here, and linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy!   

The Roaring Days of Zora Lily by Noelle Salazar
Dual time-lines nearly 100 years apart - 1924 and 2023, a clothing archivist finds a mysterious label over another label in a garment which leads her to figure out who this hidden designer was.  Flashback to 1924, during the prohibition where Zora Lily wanted to design clothes but it wasn't an easy job for a woman just to take up.  Her family also needed her to help provide which designing fun clothes didn't quite do.  I rooted for Zora and really enjoyed the time period and setting.  I wouldn't want to have lived then but it was fun to read about! 3.75 Stars

Happy to Help: Adventures of a People Pleaser by Amy Wilson
I rated this 4 stars on Goodreads but barely remember what it's about a month later, other than what I can deduce from the title.  I know there were some essays that I really related to; I've written "happy to help" in more texts and e-mails than I could count.  Overall was rather relatable! 3.5 Stars

Falling in Love at the Movies: Rom-Coms from the Screwball Era to Today by Esther Zuckerman
I purposely picked this to read in February, seemed like the perfect month for it. It was quite enjoyable, reminding me about many movies I have enjoyed as well as many more I think I'd like to see.  Going back in the history of rom-coms a bit, from the silent age and screwball comedies of the 1960s.  I wished it had a list of all the mentioned movies, divided into different categories would be even better but I should have just taken notes while reading it.  3.75 Stars

Tea with Elephants by Robin Jones Gunn
I've read all of Robin Jones Gunn books for adults and she was hugely influential on my teen years.  This was similar to her Sisterchicks series from about 20 years ago, with 2 women traveling on some wonderful adventure together.  This was to Africa and I really wish someone would give me an all expenses paid trip (to anywhere) with 1st class flights...I enjoyed the sisterhood, the travel, all of that.  There was a weird wrinkle of fiction and reality in her with characters from her Christy Miller series (and off shoots) that I wrote A LOT about on Goodreads but I mostly enjoyed this otherwise.  I'll continue to read the series (let's be honest...I'll read almost everything she writes at this point).  3.5 Stars

Grace Grows by Shelle Sumners
This was about my 8th reread of this book and the one I picked to read on Valentine's Day (including at the doctor's office while both my boys had cleanings).  It was quite enjoyable, again, even as I know the story so well. 4.25 Stars

How to Winter: Harness Your Mindset to Thrive on Cold, Dark, or Difficult Days by Kari Leibowitz
I read this about mid-February and that was perfect timing when it was still pretty cold and rather gloomy outside.  That's about when it starts to feel like spring will never come...and then by early March it usually does.  This was a bit scholarly of a read at times but it also really made me think about how to make the best of a bad situation, how so much of it is in your head, and the crazy ways the Scandinavian countries deal with winters ever darker and colder than ours.  3.75 Stars

Heartbreak is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music by Rob Sheffield
I would not call myself a Swiftie but I do have quite a bit of Taylor Swift on my phone and I did watch the Eras Tour movie.  It was short, under 200 pages I think, but an enjoyable read.  I didn't know the context for a lot of her earlier songs so that was just interesting to read about, helped some of them make more sense.  3.5 Stars

The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis
I have really enjoyed Fiona Davis' books taking place in various NYC landmarks, I have always learned something interesting about a building I have usually seen.  This one was mostly about The Met, where I've only sat on the stairs (this was in 2010, Gossip Girl time) but would like to visit someday.  Mostly about the Egyptian collection, set in the 1970s AND flashing back to the 1930s, when the world was still fascinated with King Tut.  It was really interesting and engaging.  One of the strangest things was that I saw this story the day after I finished the book, new developments on the tomb of the Pharaoh that served as the real life inspiration for a fictional one in the book, who I had just read about in the author's note at the end.  That gave the news some added relevance for me!  But also enjoyed the book before that.  4 Stars

Change of Heart by Falon Ballard
I have not seen any Hallmark movies (we do not have that channel/streamer) but I know enough about them to know that this was very much a take on what if you fell into an alternate world where that Hallmark movie world was real, like seasons only lasted a week or something and everyone was always in town square which was decorated perfectly for the season.  Actually made me think a lot about Hart of Dixie too.  But this woman ended up in a weird world and she needs to figure out how to get back to her "real world" but also seems to be some sort of quest to do.  Romance but not heavy romance, more on finding herself and all that.  A little strange but a strange sort of charming? 3.25 Stars

Better Together: Strength Your Family, Simplify Your Homeschool, and Savor the Subjects That Matter Most by Pam Barnhill
I picked this book up from the small homeschool section (found by dewey decimal numbers) at our library branch, after starting homeschooling in January.  I didn't really know what it was about other than homeschool but was pleasantly surprised by it.  It's all based around doing "morning time" nearly first thing in the homeschool day and packing that part of the day with things most meaningful that you want your kids to get, besides learning math facts and such.  That is not a practice we have picked up but I still found the book very empowering in a "you can do this and make it your own" and "you're the best teacher for your kid" way.  It was very helpful for that as we find our way.  And I nearly immediately ordered 3 books she mentioned to use as curriculum and 2 of them just arrived and are still sitting on my desk besides me.  Anyways, not for it's main purpose but I still found this very useful.  4 Stars

The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay by Kelly Harms
A woman whose life is falling apart realize that the annulment from her Vegas wedding a decade earlier never went through so she is still married and needs to track down the guy to get this things settled.  She's an artist and things aren't going great for her personally so she takes off, stumbled into the small town where her husband lives, loves the town, makes some friends, finds her art again.  A weird happening at the end with her BFF from home where the friend says she did a bunch of crap to just make the protagonist jealous and then everything is automatically forgiven which I found to be a very strange action and just a weird way to resolve that story line. But I liked the rest of it. 3.25 Stars

Read with my boys
(My 11 year old & I are working on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
I found out when I read this with my 6 year old that I read it over nearly the exact same days 4 years earlier with my older son, finishing on Valentine's Day both times!  My younger son said he likes James and the Giant Peach better but he was especially engaged in the early part of waiting to see if Charlie would get a ticket.  I really enjoyed this book as a kid, read it many times, and it was fun to share with both my boys.  It's even weirder than I remembered.  3.5 Stars

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
Read this with my (at the time) 6 year old and he enjoyed it more than I expected which I'm pretty sure I said about when I read it to my older son ~4 years ago.  I have very clear memories of this book although maybe that was more the made for TV movie and the book is definitely shorter than I remembered but she manages to say a lot with a little. 4 Stars

Brian's Winter by Gary Paulsen
This was our second homeschool book and perfect for reading through February.  I had read the first two in the series, starting with Hatchet to my (older) son a few years ago but this one we read together and he really liked it, even asked to do it nearly first thing many homeschool mornings (that is NOT how he feels about our current book).  It was engaging for him and a good reading level.  3.5 Stars

Freckle Juice by Judy Blume
Another book I didn't realize how short it was until I reread it, with both my boys now.  My then 6 year old wanted to believe that the freckle juice potion wouldn't work but he's also young enough that he just wasn't sure and it was very cute watching him debate what was going to happen.  3.75 Stars

What have YOU been reading lately?

Looking Back at February 2025

February was a month.  It was cold at times but got a little warmer towards the end of the month.  There's been a lot going on but also sometimes not.  I still try to get in all my reading, as you can see below, that means I need to read when and where I can. The boys had an extra long weekend mid-month which was nice.  February isn't my least favorite month (that's January) but it doesn't always have a lot going for it. 

Looking back:
1 year ago: Losing SAHM Status
2 years ago: Author Love: Katherine Center
3 years ago: {12} STEM {ish} Picture Books Series
4 years ago: The Molly Murphy Series by Rhys Bowen
5 years ago: Book Love: Flight Girls by Noelle Salazar
6 years ago: {11} Picture Books Featuring Food
7 years ago: Book Love: How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids by Jancee Dunn
8 years ago: Homemade Goo Gone
9 years ago: Photography part 3 - Back That Up
10 years ago: Attacking the Problem Areas: Painting the Craft/Office Cupboard (finally)
11 years ago: Kool-Aid Cookies
12 years ago: Things I Like - February
13 years ago: Intake

1) Reading during swim lessons.
2) Really weird hail, it sounded weird.
3) Reading at the dentist while both boys were back for their cleanings.
4) Lots of hearts!  We've been making Valentines for years and I hate wasting the edges of the paper from cutting hearts so I've been cutting lots of increasingly tinier hearts from the scraps.  For years.  So now we have a lot but also have lots of options for making Valentines!
5) Reading at home, I did do that too.
6) The bathroom, I rearrange these shelves with some regularity but a few of those pieces have been there for nearly 11 years!
7) Reading at swim lessons (that was the best part of swim lessons, a guaranteed 35 minutes to read in my week, also the pool room was very warm which was nice when outside was not).
8) Finally hung a planter my Dad made us for Christmas over a year ago! Plant is still alive!
9) Kool-Aid cookies which we ate much faster than we should have.
10) Also have a disco ball planter which got hung as well.  That plant is also still alive.
11) Reading at the orthodontist office. 
12) Finishing a puzzle I had been working on for awhile! 

Books finished: 15!
Miles ran: 2.0 and it was terrible
Currently watching: Matt & I have actually been watching movies!  Pretty much what we can find streaming.  For Valentine's weekend we rewatched Crazy Stupid Love where we sat through Hulu commercials because neither of us wanted to walk all the way down to the basement to get the DVD...(it's not that far)
Most read post this month: Things Saving my Winter and then DIY Strawberries & Cream Oatmeal
Sam's favorite song: I've stopped asking the boys this but Sam volunteered "If you are doing that survey where you want to know my favorite song...it's 'Everybody Wants to be a Cat'".  We recently watched The Aristocats.

March is a birthday for each of the boys, lent, a joint birthday party, making it over halfway through the semester, our second niece wedding of the year, and hopefully some warmer weather!

Things I Like - February 2025

Homeschooling has been a big part of my life these last 2 months, since I started homeschooling our oldest in January.  Homeschooling is a bit different than it was when I was homeschooled, nearly 30 years ago, and the internet has been a great resource for many things (as well as a great distraction for my student).  Here's a few things that have been great for us.

I always enjoy hearing what works for other people and I like sharing things I like, it's part of the reason I have a blog.  I've been doing these monthly posts for 10 years and they also provide a nice little snapshot in my life at a moment in time! See more here!  Some affiliate links may be included!

1) Teachers Pay Teachers
I knew about this site because my sister who teaches kindergarten has been selling on it for quite awhile.  I do not need her kindergarten resources for my 6th grader but I have found nearly anything else I am looking for on here without putting out a ton of money.  I've bought World War II Europe maps, study guides for books we're reading together, a test for a book we read that I had chapter discussion questions for (going back to a book my Mom used for me!), etc.  Most items that I'm looking for are around $4-$7 which is a great value for not having to make a test for a book myself.  It's been fantastic.

2)  Geography Map Games
I think my son's junior high social studies teacher used these at school too but we've found them very useful too.  We focused on Northern & Eastern European geography when reading Number the Stars and are now working on the states.  I personally enjoy taking the states one and seeing how fast I can do it (69 seconds is my best at 100% accuracy, of course.  I want to get that under a minute).  There are a lot of different ones, apparently I don't know my National Park locations that well (at least of the ones I haven't been to).  

3) Word Search Puzzles
I make a word search with his spelling words every week and I use this one every single time, just typing in his spelling words and then it makes it for me.  I save as a pdf and print.  Takes less than 5 minutes and is free.  

4) Typing Club
As much as I begrudge so much work being done on computers at schools now, I do think typing correctly and well is a very important skill to have.  He works on Typing Club one or two days a week and, honestly, it wouldn't hurt me to practice on there either.  I did a good bit of Mavis Beacon 30 years ago and am decent at typing but could be better!

5) Bible Gateway
I have used Bible Gateway for years as a quick way to look up Bible verses in a variety of translations.  When I assign him Bible chapters to read he nearly always has Bible Gateway read it to him as he follows along in his paper Bible.  

6) Homeschool Pop
Bonus 6th pick this month.  I do not want to have to explain parts of speech and objects of prepositions and all of that.  I think I would just confuse us both (the number of times I google what part of speech a certain word is while I am grading his grammar worksheets without an answer key is...a lot).  This is always the first YouTube channel I check for instructional videos.  They don't have everything but they've had many we've found useful.  And my 6th grader says they aren't annoying so that's high praise.  

I'll probably have more to say about homeschooling when we are nearing the end of the semester, it's certainly was a rough start but things are going fairly smoothly now!

Reading Recap - January 2025

Decent reading month although I just wasn't finding as much time as I would have liked to read at the start of the month.  Embarking on homeschool probably had a lot to do with that.  Big shake-ups to our routine!  But we've figured it out a bit now and things are going smoother just in every aspect, but for the purposes of this post, especially for my reading!  Not much blogging happening (it'll probably take me 3 tries to get this post finished) but some things just had to be cut to make homeschooling happen for now!

I'm very active on Goodreads here, somewhat active on Instagram here, and linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy!  

What I've been reading:

 

A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams
This is often the last book I finish every year but Christmas break just didn't have the reading time I hoped it would (December was crazy) and so it was the first book I finished in January.  I love it, I've read it around 10 times now and it's glittery New Years Eve setting of New York City during prohibition just make it the perfect late December (or early January) read for me, despite that a large chunk of the book also takes place in summer.  (I generally feel that summer set books can only be read in summer or in the dead of winter when I need hopes of summer to get me through!).  4.75 Stars

The Holiday Cottage by Sarah Morgan
I was very much interested in this because the cover looked and it sounded like The Holiday which I know is bit a ridiculous movie but I enjoy watching it every December.  This book really wasn't much like that, for starters, it wasn't really a fun read and it was about 100 pages too long.  But there was a good twist in there I did not see coming at all so that's something. 2.75 Stars

Snowed In by Catherine Walsh
A cozy-ish Christmas-ish set book that wasn't THAT much snowed in, maybe just 1/3 of it (I thought it would be more).  I didn't enjoy it quite as much as Holiday Romance, the book that preceded this one and I read this in January when maybe it would have been more cozy to read in December.  But a worthwhile read if you enjoyed the first one.  3.5 Stars

Subpar Planet: The World's Most Celebrated Landmarks and Their Most Disappointed Visitors by Amber Share
I read her Subpar Parks a few years ago and enjoyed it, having visited a good number of National Parks in my life.  This was world-wide destinations, some of which I had heard of, a few I had been to, and many I had never heard of.  Still astonishing that people can find nothing nice about beautiful places and it made me want to travel the world more, not just the US. 3.25 Stars

The Star That Always Stays by Anna Rose Johnson
Middle grade book about a Native American pre-teen/teen living in Michigan about 100 years ago, who is forced to abandon some of the ways of her heritage when her mother remarries a man who is not a Native American.  Grappling with figuring out who she is and where she fits in.  Not a time or situation I was much familiar with so it was interesting.  And based on the author's ancestors.  3.25 Stars

The Maui Effect by Sara Ackerman
I've read all of Sara Ackerman's books and this was a departure from her earlier historical fiction novels although still set mainly in Hawaii like the others.  All about big wave surfing which sounds even more dangerous reading about it than I had previously thought.  Mostly in Hawaii but some California and Portugal too.  Also about preserving some native land and nature that makes Hawaii what it is.  Liked it.  Cover is pretty too. 3.75 Stars

Die with Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life by Bill Perkins
I have thought more about this book than I have about nearly any other book I've read in the last year.  A fascinating way of thinking about spending all your money before you die.  Which of course is very hard because nobody knows when they will die.  The only things you can leave loved ones with are money (or things worth money) and memories so you might as well pack in the memories with them while you can.  And the average age to inherit money is 60 which is, hopefully, when people have already set themselves up for retirement.  Money could be more useful to children/grandchild when they are young, old enough to be responsible (maybe post-25) but young enough where they aren't fully financially stable themselves (maybe 35?).  So gift your children/grandchildren money at younger ages as you are able to help them out.  It would probably benefit them more than getting it when you die.  Again, it gets a bit complicated with not knowing how long you'll live or what health complications you might have BUT...I am very intrigued by the whole idea of it.  It's definitely driven some conversations between Matt & I about how we want to handle our finances.  4 Stars

The Author's Guide to Murder by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White
I have read all the books that these three authors have co-wrote.  I LOVED the first one (Forgotten Room) and have been so-so on the rest.  This was definitely the worst of the bunch.  Felt very indulgent with the plot being about 3 co-writers going away to write a book together but then turned into a murder mystery.  It felt disjointed in writing styles AND it had a 4th wall breaking of sorts.  First they mentioned a character from some of their previous novels as if she is a real person.  Great, love connecting novels with cross-over characters.  BUT THEN they also called out one of the authors by name.  As is "you got that from Beatriz Williams' website".  I do not like when fiction authors mention themselves AND how can both Beatriz Williams AND a character she made-up be real in the same book??  It was VERY distracting from a book I was already not really enjoying.  1.75 Stars

The National Geographic Bucket List Family Travel: Share the World with Your Kids on 50 Adventures of a Lifetime by Jessica Gee
This book has beautiful pictures and a lot of "bucket list" like trips.  Like that require chartering private planes or a private yacht.  Or flying to Australia for weeks on end.  Her intentions were good but she also shared at the beginning that her husband sold an app for multi-millions of dollars, thus funding their trips AND buying a house in Hawaii (not something in the budget for most of us).  And they became travel influencers so they got many stays/flights/experiences for free.  Which, again, isn't an option for most of us (without putting a lot of time and money into becoming an influencer).  I didn't look up any of their recommended accommodations but feel pretty confident that saying even their "budget" options are out of my price range.  So pretty pictures but take it for what it is.  If you don't have an unlimited budget maybe a couple of these are possible in a lifetime but not all 50.  2.5 Stars

Read with Luke or Sam
The Popper Penguin Rescue by Eliot Schrefer
A follow-up to Mr Poppers Penguins written by the grandson of the original author? Or great grand nephew??  Some relation.  The first book makes no sense but it was written so long ago that you just kinda accept it as "things were different then".  But this book takes place in present day and it still required a decent bit of imagination stretching.  These kids dropped out of school for months to travel nearly to both poles and nobody seemed to care? And they didn't seem to have nearly enough supplies packed for a multi-month trip.  Or a big enough boat.  You don't need to read this even if you enjoyed the first. 2.5 Stars

The Busy Beaver by Sophy Williams
Yet another of the Zoe Rescue Zoo books that I've been reading to Sam over the last 18 months.  The beaver wasn't much of a main character in this one but otherwise pretty much what I expect from Zoe. 3.5 Stars

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Luke and I FINALLY finished this, took 7 months.  One of my favorites in the series (but I could say that about a lot of them) and it was so fun to share with him.  We're trying to get through Half-Blood Prince in less time.  Maybe 3 months??? 4.5 Stars

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
This was the first book Luke & I read for homeschool.  I picked it because it's one I never read in childhood and had been meaning to for awhile.  Plus, I had resources to go along with it for a homeschool unit.  Luke knows a bit about World War II, the Nazis, etc so this wasn't all new to him which helped.  It was a good book to read together and discuss.  4 Stars

Looking Back at January 2025

January felt like a very long month.  Why does that happen every year?  It is the cold? Is it the lack of sunlight? Is it the return to normal after Christmas festivities?  I am not sure but the month seemed to drag and I was STILL surprised at all we fit into the month and that was with being home A LOT.  We were in Indy, had a family fun day, started homeschool, Matt got his first office and then 2 weeks later the position to go with it (a result of his recently finished schooling), more homeschooling, some snow, some e-learning, and wrestling camp for our 1st grader.  The stuff that happened at the beginning of the month feels a very long time ago now. 

Looking back:
1 year ago: {14} Valentine Picture Books
2 years ago: Picture Books: Snowmen
3 years ago: Author Love: Sara Ackerman
4 years ago: Things I Like - January (because I still wear #1 daily in the winter)
5 years ago: Book Love: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
6 years ago: The Whole House Purge (I feel like this hasn't stopped in 6 years)
7 years ago: Book Love: The Power of Moments by Chip Heath & Dan Heath
8 years ago: A Day in the Life #6
9 years ago: Book Love: Big Magic (also, why I think you should blog)
10 years ago: A Decade in a Box
11 years ago: Office Renovations (I've updated a few pictures in frames but otherwise this largely looks the same, 11 years later.)
12 years ago: Things I Like - January (I/we still have #s 2-5)

1) Snowy day downtown for family fun day.  Having snow feels like a long time ago.
2) Eating lunch at Electric Works which we always do on our January family fun day.
3) And went to the botanical gardens! Which we also always do this day.
4) The cactus room is the most boring one but the cactus are cool.
5) We also usually bowl on family fun day.  I won thanks to bumpers (Luke & Sam had them too, Matt did not).
6) Every year we watch Beauty and the Beast while taking down the tree.  Which usually leads to the boys watching the movie while I take everything off the tree.
7) Celebrating one Grandma's 100th birthday in dishes from my other Grandma!
8) Reading at weekly swim lessons (Luke's a decent swimmer but does weekly homeschool swim lessons right now for a winter activity.)
9) So many beautiful green dishes we got from my aunt's house (formerly my Grandma's dishes).  They are a perfect shade of green (we did not keep nearly all of these...and it doesn't include the bulk of the ones we did keep).
10) The gutters were overflowing (we should look at that...) and creating massive icicles in this bush.
11) A donut shaped donut at work. 
12) Some snow, there was more snow, it melted, then some more snow.  But it's been awhile since we had enough for the boys to play in.
13) Downtown for a BIL's 50th birthday party, checking out a new place (it was loud but great views).
14) Running in the cold.  I wore a lot of layers.  Luke wouldn't go with me.
15) A 2 hour delay day, got Sam to read with me on the couch before needing to get around for school.
16) Dining local but at home, these tacos covered 3 meals for me! (And I think Luke had one too). 

Books finished: 13! 
Miles ran: 2!  That's enough for how cold January was.
Currently watching: Matt & I just finished Shrinking season 2 (we got AppleTV for a month to do so).  I'm not sure what's next!
Most read post this month: Reading Recap: November & December then DIY Strawberries & Cream Instant Oatmeal

 

February is a blissfully short month to wrap up winter! A few days off school, Valentine's Day (which thankfully isn't Ash Wednesday this year), more cleaning up the basement, and hopefully a less cold run!