Howling Frog Books

First, a little update:  I started back to work last week.  It's a new semester, filled with hope and possibility!  It's nice to be back, and I am also working a lot more hours now, as a co-worker is on maternity leave.  It's a good chance for me to do more (and earn more!), but the transition is proving a little rough.  Suddenly I seem to have almost no time at home, so keeping the household running takes up the hours I'm not at work.  Don't worry, I'm making the kids step up; everybody is willing enough, but we're working on that elusive skill of noticing that things need to happen without Mom pointing it out.  Reading time is only somewhat curtailed (since a lot of my reading time happens while doing other things anyway) but wow, I'm going to have to be very intentional about scheduling blogging time or it will never happen. Meanwhile, everybody else did a weekly Top Ten post about the books they wished they'd read in 2018, but didn't.  I d...

This week's top ten list is one I like:  Top Ten Favorite New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2012 .  I've found lots of authors this year, so I'm very happy to share them. 10. Marva Collins .  Collins goes on my classical education shelf as a great inspiration.  She is highly regarded in classical ed circles, and I finally got to read one of her books. 9. Sharon M. Draper.   Probably the best new-to-me children's book I read all year. 8. Tsitsi Dangarembga.   I thought Nervous Conditions was wonderful and plan to read The Book of Not at some point. 7.  Jorge Luis Borges. Great stories; I'm glad I finally picked him up. 6. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.   My first new author of the year!  Eva recommended her highly, so thank you Eva! 5. Jacques Lusseyran .  His memoir, And There Was Light , was one of my favorite books of the year.  Read it! 4. Katherine Boo . I was so impressed with her writing, especially with her ability ...

This week's Top Ten, hosted at the Broke and the Bookish , is about what books we'd like for Christmas.  Which seems a little blatant, but I don't think anyone who gives me presents reads this blog anyway, unless my mom sees it.  (Hi Mom!)  So we can call this a fantasy wishlist. 10.  Roll, Jordan, Roll , by Eugene D. Genovese -- it's an enormous book so I'd like to own it so I can take a long time to read it without having to return it to the library. 9.  Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing , by Gretchen Hirsch -- I've been following Gertie's sewing blog for a long time and would love to get my hands on her new book! 8.  Goldwork Techniques, Projects, and Pure Inspiration , by Hazel Everett -- another sewing book!  I'd love to learn to do goldwork embroidery.  Affording it is the tricky bit--usually I like embroidery for its low cost! 7.  The School of Freedom , ed. Marc Sidwell -- I read this collection of pieces on liberal educatio...

The Broke and the Bookish has a Top Ten meme every week.  I meant to do this one days ago...actually you can probably guess most of them if you show up at Howling Frog very often.  But I have bread rising in the oven, and all the rest of my share of Thanksgiving cooking is done, so this seems like a good time. (Now that I've written the list, I see that I've cheated a bit.  Oops.) 10.  Jasper Fforde , for inventing the Bookworld and Tuesday Next.  Plock. 9.  For humor, Gerald Durrell and P. G. Wodehouse and yes, Daniel Pinkwater --I couldn't get along without them. 8.  Eleanor Farjeon , Elizabeth Goudge and Susan Cooper come in just under #7. 7.    L. M. Boston and E. Nesbit are the first really wonderful authors I can remember reading and absorbing as a kid. 6.  I've read exactly one Elizabeth von Arnim book in my life-- Enchanted April --but it came along just when I needed it. 5.  I don't really read Madel...

I've never really done Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by The Broke and the Bookish) before; I can never think of enough things.  This is a topic I can do!  I'm supposed to list ten 'older' books (just not brand-new) that I think shouldn't be forgotten.  Of course most of my special favorites probably won't be forgotten anytime soon-- Anne of Green Gables is unlikely to disappear.  But so what? The Little Bookroom I did sometimes pick less-famous titles by famous authors, because those are my special favorites. However, I'm trying to not repeat myself too often, so just take Diana Wynne Jones and Daniel Pinkwater and so on as too obvious to even mention, OK?  1.  Going Solo , by Roald Dahl -- This autobiography of Dahl's years as a young man, working in Africa and World War II, is just great.  The very first chapter is one of the funniest things I've ever read, and sometimes I just read that.  The amazing thing is that after all the exciting t...