As a blogger, I have an over-exaggerated sense of my own importance. I've become deluded enough to think that any one cares what I've read. Well, at least for the sake of my posterity and my own satisfaction in actually completing a resolution, I'm listing the books I've read. I even ranked them according to how much a liked them, counting them down from my least-favorite to my most favorite.
Today, I'm listing my non-fiction reads. I guess I'm getting old. In the past, I read purely for entertainment. Lately, I've tended also to read for information, too. I was surprised that I'd read 23 non-fiction books during the year. In the coming days, I'll provide Part 2, the fiction books.
Now, let's count them down:
23. Homeschooling for Excellence by David and Mickie Colfax -- This book, written by homeschooling pioneers who sent four kids to Harvard, had a lot of promise. However, the information was too general and out of date to be useful.
22. A Fortunate Life by A.B. Facy -- an autobiography of a common man growing up in Australia. Common men are the best, but their lives are not compelling book fodder. The book was extremely dry, and I had to force myself to read it. The one positive factor is that Facey was born the same year as my own grandfather and many aspects of their lives (itinerate farming, WWI, etc.) were similar.
21. A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver de Mille -- A lot of people in homeschooling circles whom I respect recommend this book. I thought it was poorly written and did not like it. I did glean a little home-schooling inspiration from it, though. I may have to reread it at a future date to see if it is an acquired taste.
20. A Life Lost and Found by Wilson Adams and Daved Lanphear -- One of the authors writes poignantly about heartbreaking loss and how he looked to the Bible for healing. His co-author tries to do the same but should have left all the writing to the other guy.
19. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families by Stephen Covey -- This book is definitely full of recommendations that our family would do well to put into practice, but Covey could have provided the same information in half the number of pages.
18. The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helen Hanff -- See comments at #15. The sequel is not nearly as entertaining as the first book, Charring Cross Road.
17. The Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore -- a very sad story told be two men inspired by the same extraordinary woman who lived her faith.
16. Teach Your Own: A Hopeful Path for Education by John Holt -- In this book, Holt reminds us time and again what we all know, that we don't remember much from our school days, except a little math and a little about reading. What we still know or know best, we've most likely taught ourselves because we needed to know it, which is why homeschooling (and the time/freedom it provides) in a stimulating environment is often more effective than the alternatives. He's a little on the radical side for my taste, but the book is worth reading.
15. Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff -- I read this only because I heard that it was the inspiration for one of my very favorite books, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peal Society. Hanff's writing style exudes intelligence and wit. The book is worth reading just to experience her writing, which outshines the actual events in her life.
14. Boys Adrift by Leonard Sax -- It's nice to know about a problem (i.e. "slacker dude" trend) early enough to get ahead of it. This book changed the nature of school for us, giving it a more 'easy-does-it' flavor for the kindergarten year
13. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell -- It's nothing new that success occurs when preparation meets opportunity (or being at the right place at the right time), which is the gist of this book. It's still worth reading the stories behind some of the most successful people of all time and the ingredients to their successes.
12. How Shall We Then Live? by Francis Schaeffer -- I would have liked this book a lot more if it wasn't such a stark reminder that my knowledge of world history is absolutely abysmal. A more educated mind than mine would have gotten more out this book, but the basic message was clear: we've become a society in which God's absolute authority is not recognized. We're in an era when people are only motivated by a desire to maintain their personal peace and affluence. That's all I have the space to write. To understand the implications of departing from righteous paths, you'll just have to read the book.
11. To Learn with Love by William and Constance Starr -- This is a book addressing the Suzuki method of music instruction. However, much of what's written can also be applied to homeschooling in general, which makes it a very useful little book.
10. Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire by Rafe Esquith -- This is not a homeschooling book, but a book about teaching written by a well-known and highly successful public school teacher. I read a lot of books on education, most of which are theoretical in nature. This one actually provides concrete suggestions that a teacher (even a home educator) can actually use.
9. President Lincoln by William Lee Miller -- It's obvious that Miller loves Lincoln, and after reading this book about his Presidency, I love him too.
8. The 5000 Year Leap by W. Cleon Skousen -- This is a book that I will have my children read when they get older. Not only does it summarize a lot of our nation's history, it explains how extraordinary our country was at its inception.
7. Hold on to Your Kids by Gordon Neufeld -- This book was a wake-up call that has most definitely made me a better parent. I recommend it, but it is not written terribly well, which makes it tedious to read.
6. Go Tell the Good News by Bob and Sandra Waldron -- This is eighth in a series of nine books that retell the Bible narrative in easy-to-understand language with notes by the author that are enlightening but not quite at the commentary level. I'm not exaggerating when I say that since reading this series along with my Bible (which I began in 2008), my Bible knowledge has easily quadrupled with a corresponding increase in faith.
5. Sir, We Would See Jesus by Bob and Sandra Waldron -- See above. This is seventh in the series discussed above. I liked it a tad better.
4. Prayer and Providence by Homer Haley -- The author provides a lot of thought-provoking material on two topics that interest me very much. I love that he uses the Bible only as the guide in addressing these topics rather than relying on personal experience, anecdotes or testimony.
3. John Adams by David McCullough -- I'm a David McCullough fan. He has made me a John Adams fan as well. McCullough makes reading history as entertaining as reading a novel. I was amused and enlightened.
2. Knowing and Teaching Elementary Math by Liping Ma -- Sometimes it seems that the information you're looking for just finds you. That was the case with this book, which I 'discovered' by reading a homeschooling on-line forum. I know I wanted to teach math well, but wondered how I was going to do it. This book, I think, has me started in the right direction. This is a book I need to read again and again. I recommend it for anyone who has a child that needs to learn math, which is anyone who has a child.
1. Norms and Nobility: A Treatise on Education by David V. Hicks -- I took volumes of notes on this book, an indication on how much I loved it. This book opened my mind to what an education could be if only I had the courage and discipline to pursue it, since it is mighty rigorous.
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