Family's List of Recommended Books

I am a bookworm by nature, devouring books in single sittings when I can.  In elementary school, I went through a phase of reading a book-a-day and sometimes my mom actually had to tell me not to read so much.    While motherhood has definitely slowed the volume of books that I read, reading is still something that is an important part of who I am and for the sake of my sanity, something that I have to make time for no matter how busy life gets. 

A couple of my kids (Spencer and Emma) have taken after me in this regard, reading voraciously whenever they can, but with the other three kids it's a little more of a push to get them to read.   They like books when they're reading them, but they're not as likely to select it as their activity of choice.  So to me it is a beautiful thing when I walk into a room and am greeted by this sight.....

Shortly after taking this picture, I got the idea to make a list of our favorite books--partially to capture the moment in time, but also to share with all of you some of the books that we like the best.  I asked each person in the family what books they would recommend and why.  I tried to use their own words whenever I could, but you will note that some of us are a little more verbose than others.  :)   Since we're always looking for new material to read, feel free to leave your recommendations (for adults or kids) in the comments. 


Glen's Reviews
Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain-- Intriguing research about how exercise affects our status of mind. It addresses how exercise has proven to be effective in treating common ailments such as stress, ADHD, depression, aging, addiction, and many other ailments and a great facilitator to increase learning. If you want a clinical study that's sure to inspire you to get moving, this is a great read. It is a little heavy on the medical terminology, but I have read it twice now and will likely read it again.

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen-- If you have any inkling for a passion to run, this is a great book.  It chronicles the true life experiences of Christopher McDougall in his quest to become an ultra marathoner. Among other stories, he talks of his experiences with the Tarahumara Indians in Mexico, a native Mexican tribe of Indians that have held distance running as a part of their everyday life for centuries. This book is fun and fascinating for the runner in you.

Lone Survivor-- This is an inspiring and humbling true life story of Marcus Luttrell, a Navy Seal member. Marcus Luttrell is the leader of a small elite team of Navy Seals that were given a true mission to covertly enter Afghanistan and apprehend or kill a head member of Al Qaeda believed to be very close to Osama bin Laden. During the course of the mission, something goes horribly wrong and the book is the true experiences of this Navy Seal team's struggle for survival. WARNING - this book has some colorful language you might expect to hear on the battlefield and some very real description of war sequences. It is however a very real insight into who I believe our military heroes are and the hell they are asked to live through on occasion to preserve and protect our freedom as well as the freedoms of peoples all over the world.

Lara's Reviews
These is My Words--This story is of a woman living on the American frontier in the 19th century.  I loved the characters, the romance, and the beautiful life she forged amongst the harshness of that time and place.    

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption --I sat incredulous through most of this book--incredulous that one man could endure so much.  Incredulous that men could be so evil.  And incredulous that someone could rise above all the evils/hardships he faced and do so much good. 

Book of Mormon--I have read this book again and again in my life and I am always amazed at some piece of wisdom I've missed in past readings.   This book goes hand-in-hand with the Bible and is an account of Christ's visit to the people living in the Americas.  I consider this book to be the most influential and inspirational book I've ever read. 

Edenbrooke--I'll be the first to admit that this book was cheesy and predictable, but I also found it charming and fun.  If you are in need of a light and clean romantic read, this book is perfect. 

Spencer (17)
Inheritance series--Spencer says that these books are "exciting and interesting" and he wants to be a  book reviewer when he grows up, so he can get paid to give such enlightening and descriptive book reviews. 

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy --Spencer finds this book quite entertaining and quotes from it liberally.  He recently talked Glen into reading it too which is helping Glen to understand a little more Spence-language.  He has yet to convince me. 

Cami (15)
The Goose Girl -- This book is full of good old-fashioned romance and adventure when a princess finds her life and kingdom in jeopardy.  She has to keep herself in disguise and use her unusual gifts to save herself and her kingdom. 

The Last Song --This book is as sappy as most Nicholas Sparks' books, but as always it's an engaging story that will make you cry.  

Emma (11)As you can see, Emma is quite a bookworm who enjoys a plethora of different genres. 

Boston Jane: An Adventure --She liked it because it was a romance, historical fiction, and an adventure all in one book. 

Dear America series--These books are historical fiction stories about girls living through famous moments of history.  It gives you a glimpse of what it might have been to live through them through the eyes of a child. 

Saving Zasha --A historical fiction book about life in post-World War II in Russia and a boy's journey to save a German Shepherd, which are forbidden in Russia at that time because of their affiliation with Germany. 

The Underland Chronicles --Written by Suzanne Collins (the same author as Hunger Games),  these fantasy books have adventure, strange creatures, and an everyday boy who becomes a hero.  Emma loved this series. 

Alex Rider--a series of mystery books about a boy who helps his uncle and  becomes an undercover spy. 

Adam (9)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory --This is a book I read over and over again when I was a kid, so I was so excited when Adam recently discovered this classic tale too.  I would skip watching the movies, since they are a bit odd, but this book is full of fantasy and imagination that will draw in even the most reluctant readers to its fantastic story.

Geronimo Stilton books--It's all about fun with these these popular chapter books.  They're fun adventure stories with full-color illustrations and fonts to match the words.    Adam says they're among the most popular books among boys his age and the school library was all checked out of them after only one day. 

Ellie (7)
Little House Chapter Books (easy readers )-- Based on the original Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, these easy-to-read books are Ellie's favorite right now. She wants me to mention that she loves books that are based on real stories. 

The Josefina Story Quilt (easy chapter book)--This book is a touching account of a little girls' joys and sorrows as she crosses the plains with her family.  Although there is a sad moment, Ellie absolutely loves this book. 

My Chincoteague Pony- (a picture book)--a sweet story about a little girl who goes to buy a pony at an auction, but does not have enough money.  The crowd feels her disappointment build as she bids unsuccessfully on pony after pony and then chips in to help her buy it.  Afterward she saves her money all year, so she can help someone else buy a pony the following year. 

Favorite Picture Books
Edward the Emu--a fun story about an emu in the zoo who decides to try out being other animals for a time.  In the end he realizes that he being the emu is the best.  We love the rhyming cadence of this book and at any given time some of my children have had this book memorized. 

Caps for Sale--a classic story about a cap seller who gets his caps stolen by monkeys while he is taking a nap.  My kids find this book wildly funny. 

Make Way for Ducklings --I loved this classic book when I was a little girl and now my own kids love  it too, especially after a visit to Boston and seeing some of the scenes from the book in real life.  The story is quaint and realistic and the illustrations simple yet beautiful. 

If You Find a Rock--I love the gorgeous pictures in this book almost as much as the simple but elegant text describing  rocks in a way that everyone (child or adult) can connect with.  Although not scientific in the slightest, it is perfect if you have any rock collectors in the house. 

Birth Order and Picture Taking

When I was a kid I loved perusing the pages of mine and my siblings' baby books.

Being the oldest in the family, mine was full of cute photos of me and  interesting tidbits from my early years. 

Did you know that Spencer W. Kimball (the modern day prophet at the time) tickled me and called me, "Angel" when I was a baby?  Although I was far too young to remember it happening, it was meaningful enough to read that it happened that we named our first son after him. 

I learned from reading my next younger brother's baby book that the first sentence he ever uttered was, "Lara did it."  While he was probably telling the truth about who did it, I used to tease him mercilessly for blaming me for everything from the moment he could talk. 

After that brother, though, the stories start getting pretty sparse.  By the time the eighth child rolled around my parents didn't go much past writing his name and birthdate in his baby book.    Baby pictures of him are few and far between.

In our family it's a bit different.  We have quite a few pictures of Spencer and Cami, then sometime before Emma was born our camera broke.  Digital cameras were still a bit on the pricy side and we didn't want another film camera, so we went without a camera at all for a couple of years.   All of the pictures we have from those first couple years of Emma's life were taken by other people. 

Eventually we got our first bottom-of-the-line digital camera and picture taking resumed again.  Baby pictures of Adam are poor quality, but plentiful.  Then I discovered blogging, got a better camera, and unlike my "baby brother",  Ellie is  by far the most photographed of all of our kids.  

So it shouldn't have surprised me too much, when we finally went raspberry picking on Labor Day when I uploaded the pictures from our Labor Day raspberry picking adventures that I found one picture of Emma with her friend Elena...

 and the rest were of Ellie.  

Perhaps I should feel guilty for not being better about photographing everyone...

but then again there's no one else who still happily and willingly poses for my pictures anymore.  

Except the raspberry jam I made yesterday afternoon...


it not only willingly submitted to me taking endless pictures of it, but it also allowed me to spread it over homemade bread for the berry best treat ever! 

And with that bit of cheesiness, I think I shall go to bed now or  I'm going to be in a real jam come tomorrow morning! 

First Day by the NUMB3RS

12th grade for Spencer!  We are so happy that he is healthy and well enough to go to school!  He is retaking physics, but is otherwise up-to-par with the rest of his classmates.  He missed the ACT and SAT testing dates in the spring, so he will be taking those sometime this fall. 

11 things I tried to accomplish while everyone was at school.    Unfortunately my list proved to be a little more ambitious than my energy.  

10th grade means my Cami Rose is a sophomore this year.  In addition to taking a challenging course load, she's also running cross country and trying to keep up her cupcake business (only for Saturday orders). 

9-years-old and way annoyed about posing for  first day of school pictures.  Despite the scowl though he's excited about 4th grade and hopes that he does not have as much homework as he did last year!

8 hours of back-to-school paperwork to fill out (and at least that long for my hands to uncramp)

7:30am--when we wake up the younger kids

6th grader, Emma and her friends, are excited to be the kings and queens of the elementary school.  Out of all of our kids, she was by far the most excited about going back to school. 

5:00am--our new wake-up time around here! 

4--how many miles I ran/walked with Glen today.  Man oh man, I  am out of shape!!!!!!

3 kids in elementary school this year! 

2 high schoolers up at the crack of dawn for the next 9 months or so. 

1 little second grader who was uncharacteristically nervous about starting school this year.  She'd had her first day outfit picked out for weeks, but spent the last few days so nervous about  having to officially let go of her beloved first grade teacher and have her first ever male teacher.   

Thankfully it seems that it turned out okay....

Last Week of Summer and Spencer Checkup

Backpacks are filled.  Class schedules have arrived.  They've met their teachers. 

The last week of summer is over and school begins bright and early on Tuesday morning and early morning seminary dawns even earlier on Wednesday morning. 

While I will definitely miss the carefree days with little on our schedule, we are good and ready for a semblance of routine around here.   Especially Spencer,  who may not admit it, but after 9 months without attending school is excited for his senior year! 

So other than going to bed way too late, breaking up yet another squabble among the kids, and eating breakfast around lunch time, how did we spend our last few days of summer vacation? 

Here's a glimpse: 

First and foremost, Spencer had another good check-up this past week!!!!!!    He had some more adventures with the Pentamidine infusion, but after 100mg of Benadryl and a very long nap, he was just fine.  His WBC was 4120, ANC 1740, Hgb 16.5, Platelets 117.  The platelet count is still lower than normal and than his last visit, but the doctor seemed unconcerned.  

I also continued experimenting with homemade fruit leather (grape): 

We had a little family get-together to visit with my uncle and aunt while they were in town. 

Much to Ellie's and my delight, that meant that we also got to see baby Jack again...

In fact, I daresay he was the most popular guy in the whole restaurant! 

Ellie also ate up the time to play with her cousins again...

Spencer attended his school's first football game of the year all decked out for Black-Out night!   He also hung out with friends and went on a date. 

Cami made and sold 16-dozen cupcakes in one day. 

It was a lot of hard work, but she was so thrilled with the results and couldn't stop smiling at her own little "bakery" table.  :)

Oh yeah and we worked....

A LOT! 

Besides sweeping the deck and painting Cami's room, we also emptied out and organized the hall closet, are still in process of trying to finish up the kids' room, cleaned up from Cami's cupcake escapades, prepared church lessons (YW for me, children's chorister for Glen), and....

took a picture of a bug on a window at the request of my very cute 2-year-old nephew.  :)

Tomorrow we hope to go raspberry picking (if the remnants of Hurricane Isaac don't rain us out), visit baby Jack and family one more time, go to the fabric store (for Cami and Emma), and have our special back-to-school Family Home Evening night.