Free audio downloads from SYNC

I don't know anything about SYNC but during the summer they offer two free audio books for download each week, the catch being they are only available that week.  They tend to pair a classic with a more recently published  book with some connection to the classic.  The False Prince, which has been featured in a post here earlier and we also enjoyed listening to on a trip, is featured in late July.  SYNC schedule

Book Review for The Familiars by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson

The Familiars

The Familiars is one of my favorite books, and I think it might be yours too. It has creatures that you might recognize, such as a hydra, many cool spells, and cool new monsters such as the “Gundabeast”. I highly recommend this book because it's a book for any ages, if you have little children in your family it's a good read aloud book, plus it has pictures, and if you have a older child that wants to read it on his or her own, it's a fun read for all ages.

The main character in the Familiars is a alley cat that jumped into a Familiar shop through a back window and is mistaken for a telekinetic cat, or a cat that can make things move with his mind. Then he is chosen to be a companion, or a Familiar, to a wizard in training, called a Loyal, and taken to the Loyal's home, called the Stone Runlet. Then, the Loyals get stolen by the evil queen, and I wondered for a while if the queen was actually evil, but I'll leave the ending for you to figure out. The Familiars have to go pretty much all over the Vastia map, Vastia being the queendom that they are in, trying to find the Loyals.

As I have said, it is one of my favorite books and I am waiting to check out the next one at the library.

Our Best Books

Here are a few of our favorite Audio books that we have enjoyed in the last month. They can all be found at DBRL.  


-The Lost Prince and  The Runaway King- both by Jennifer Nielson are the first 2 books in the Ascendance Trilogy. Join Sage, as he is coached with a few other orphans on pretending to be the Prince and Future King of Carthia.
-The Cay by Theodore Taylor is about Phillip who is lost at sea with a 70 year old Jamaican man named Timothy. They float to a small deserted island and learn to survive even through a hurricane.

Black Star-Bright Dawn  by Scott O'Dell about an Alaskan girl named Bright Dawn who competes in the Iditarod Dog Race and her experience as she endures to finish the race.
 The Story of Classical Music- Darren Henley. It introduces the many changes that have occured in classical music and introduces many of the famous and not so famous composers and some of their best known works.

Adventures in Odyssey. A Radio show put out by Focus on the Family. The stories teach Biblical messages and stories through modern experiences. There are about 20 different collections and my kids regularly check out 2-3 every time we visit the library.

The Magic Tree House Collection by Mary Pope Osborne- Siblings Jack and Annie  travel to meet historic figures and witness memorable moments in history. They are very short books and are great for listening to at bedtime.

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle Books by Betty MacDonald. Mrs. Piggle Wiggle is the friendly neighborhood Grandmother who helps to cure children of their character weaknesses such as being lazy, or a cry baby or a forgetter. These stories always make us laugh and help us recognize the areas where we could use a a visit from Mrs. Piggle Wiggle.

These are some of our favorites that we enjoy and listen to again and again!    


We hope you will enjoy them too!

Park Day Thursday

We will be discussing on principle from the book Simplify by Carolyn J. Rasmus. The book can be found on line for pretty inexpensive. The reading are only a few pages and we will spend one week introducing the Principle and then report the next week on how we implemented the principle in our daily lives in our busy homes.
Join us on Thursdays at 1:00 for some fresh air and breath life back into your busy schedule.
Here are the principles for Simplify-
Stillness
Integrity
Mercy
Prune
Let go
Impossible
Fortify
You

2013 Book Club List

2013 Book Club- We have not been very consistent with our Book Club but here is the list of books  we are reading this year!
We plan to meet on the fourth Sat of each month except Nov/Dec when we meet the first Sat in Dec.
Feb- Emma Jane Austen
Mar- The Invisible Heart- Russ Roberts
April- Till we had faces- C.S. Lewis -We plan to meet May 18th to discuss
May- Farmer Boy- Laura Ingalls Wilder
Jun- To Kill a Mockingbird-Harper Lee
Aug- Real Benjamin Franklin- Andrew M. Allison
Sept- The Princess Academy- Shannon Hale
Oct- Much ado About Nothing-Shakespeare
Nov/ Dec The Life of Our Lord-  Charles Dickens