Can you believe we’re through the first quarter of the year? I can’t. But, as of right now, I’m officially still on track to make my reading goal this year! I finished 8 books, and still have 12 that I’m ‘currently reading’. I also added 45 to my to-read list on Goodreads. That’s right. 45. That number surprised me when I decided to tally it up on a whim about a minute and a half ago. I really do want to read ALL of them, but I’m clearly going to have to up my game. Ha!

1. Jane of Lantern Hill by L. M. Montgomery was the first book I read this month. Somehow, though I consider myself a serious Montgomery fan, I had never read this one. It was delightful. Totally reminded me of everything magical I’ve ever loved about Lucy Maud’s writing style.
2. Girls Club: Cultivating Lasting Friendship in a Lonely World by Sarah Clarkson is co-written with her two daughters, Joy and Sarah. It was a sweet book, meant to be encouraging to women who are looking for their ‘people’, and I think it succeeded. I disagree with them religiously on a lot of things, but the gist of the book was an encouragement.
3. The Brave Learner by Julie Bogart is one of my very favorite books of the year so far. I can already tell that it will be one of my long-time favorite homeschool books that I just keep rereading every year before we start school… in the middle of the school year… at the end of the school year. It’s that good. If you’re homeschooling, this book should be on your shelf!
4. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery was another delight, of course. It was even better because Sophia and I listened to the audiobook together. It was so fun to watch her fall in love with the story, and to rediscover it myself. It has been years since I read Anne of Green Gables, and I had forgotten how utterly magical it is.
5. Castle on the Rise by Kristy Cambron was a quick historical fiction read. Multiple timelines, castles, family secrets, world war, Ireland… It was a fun, quick read.
6. Writing Picture Books by Ann Whitford Paul was my little self-education thrown in there. I have some kids book ideas that I’d like to run with now and this book was so helpful in helping me to get an idea of what I should be honing in my little stories.
7. The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton is probably on another of my ‘Favorite Books Lists’ somewhere. Kate Morton is one of my favorite modern authors and this book was brilliant. I am still having ALL the feelings about it and trying hard not to give away any spoilers but it is so hard! It’s another one with masterfully blended timelines and plots that all come together seamlessly in the end in the most startlingly melancholy way.
8. I’d Rather be Reading by Anne Bogel was a fun quick read about the reading life. So many of her essays were about things that I’ve done and assumed that they were just funny little quirks about ME. Turns out they’re pretty normal bookish quirks–at least, normal enough to be mentioned in a book about bookish quirks. There’s nothing new under the sun… 😉 It was a kindred spirits book, if you’re a reader; a comforting, rainy day book that makes you feel at one with the reading world.

And so here we are again, already 6 days into a new month. I think I was light on my nonfiction in April, but I don’t anticipate that changing until after we finish out our homeschool year. Most of my brain power right now is devoted to these last few weeks of school before our longer break, and reading is my happy place. I’m jumping in and out of Austen’s England, the Shattered Plains, Idris, and Hogwarts in all my spare moments right now. And on that note, I’ll get back to it 😉