January Reads

I hope that your week is going well and you are curled up with your own stack of books.  I'm reminded once again what an awesome time winter is for reading!  We have only had a little snow but the weather was bad enough in the middle of the month to keep us snuggled up under blankets for a few days.  It's amazing how many books you can finish when you are staying home.  I really enjoyed reading all of the following books in January.  

Voyage of the Vikings (AIO Imagination Station Books) by Paul McClusker and Marianne Hering: This was our first Adventures in Odyssey Imagination Station book and we absolutely loved it!  In this book we were introduced to Beth and Patrick who travel back in time via the Imagination Station to the time of the Vikings.  This book is actually written for young readers and I look forward to Elijah possibly reading this book by himself next year.  I read this book aloud.

The Bears On Hemlock Mountain by Alice Dalgiesh: The children and I were absolutely captivated by this book that I read aloud.  Jonathan and his family live at the bottom of Hemlock Mountain.  One day his mother asks him to climb over the mountain to borrow a pot from his aunt who lives on the other side of the mountain.  This book deals with a child's fears and the courage that it takes to overcome them.  We enjoyed this book so much that I will be looking to add it to our home library in the future.

The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgiesh: This was the first book that we read aloud by Dalgiesh.  It is the delightful tale of young Sarah Noble who accompanies her father to the frontier.  They build a house in Indian country and then her father must leave Sarah while he fetches the rest of the family.  This is an excellent introduction to chapter books.  I think both early readers and entire families would enjoy this book together as a read aloud.

Hearing Jesus Speak To You In Your Sorrow by Nancy Guthrie: I realized that Guthrie had walked through intense seasons of sorrow while working through one of her Bible Studies in the Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament series.  Two of Guthrie's children died only months after they were born.  I knew that this was a book that I needed to get my hands on.  It has been a wonderful,healing balm to my soul as I have slowly read through this book the past few months.  It is not a book that you can breeze through quickly.  Rather this book needs to be savored and chewed upon in small pieces.  If you or someone you know has been going through a season of sorrow I simply cannot commend this book to you enough.

Jesus: Experiencing His Touch by Kay Arthur:  I have enjoyed studying the Bible using Kay Arthur's inductive Bible Study methods for years.  I still remember how inductive Bible Study helped me to really dig deeper into God's Word.  This was my first time working through one of her Forty Minute Bible Studies.  The idea behind this series is that they can be utilized in a group setting with no former preparation on the part of the participants.  (Of course the leader does need to prepare.)  I think this is a wonderful idea since many people are scared away from Bible Studies when they find out that a certain Bible Study requires one to two hours of homework per week.  I would be surprised if the actual study could be completed in 40 minutes.  It seems a lot more likely that this would take a good hour.  Overall I have been pleased with this Bible Study and have enjoyed working through it.  Please note that I did receive a review copy of this book from Blogging For Books.

Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne: We have only read the first seven chapters but we have been delighted to read the tales of Pooh Bear.  I am looking forward to completing this book in February.  (This book is one thousand times better than the Disney series ever thought about being.)

Idiot's Guide to Crochet by June Gilbank: As I mentioned before, I have spent a lot of time in January learning to crochet!  This has been one of the best learning to crochet books that I have borrowed from the library.  So good in fact that I'm thinking about actually purchasing one for myself!  The photographs are wonderful and the explanations are clear.  If you are new to crocheting this is a book I would definitely recommend adding to your library.

Educating the Whole Hearted Child by Clay Clarkson with Sally Clarkson: I've been reading this book every spare moment for the past two weeks and still I am barely half way through it.  It is a complete gold mind filled with thought provoking ideas for whole hearted education.  I am positive that it will quickly become one of my favorite books about home education.  I'll try to share a complete review in February.

I decided to set a reading goal of reading 52 books this year.  I'm an avid reader so this should be enough to stretch me just a little this year.   I've also finally jumped on the goodreads bandwagon.  How have I been missing this for so long?  Feel free to friend me if you are a friend or avid reader.

What books did you read in January?  Did the weather cause you to read more or less?  One of my favorite ways to choose future books to read is by the recommendation of friends so please share!