Thursday, December 31, 2015

My 2015 Book List

2014 Book List
2013 Book List
2012 Book List
2011 Book List

*readalouds with my daughter


January
  1:  Black Night (Black Wings series) by Christina Henry
  2:  How to be Cool by Suzanne Wynn*
  3:  Rancher and Protector by Pamela Britton
  4:  The Case of the Surfing Secret by Cathy East Dubowski*
  5:  The Nightmare Before Christmas junior novel*
  6:  The Messiah Code by Michael Cordy
  7:  Burned (Fever series) by Karen Marie Moning
  8:  Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo
  9:  Trixie the Halloween Fairy by Daisy Meadows*
10:  The Hound of the Baskervilles (Sherlock Holmes) by Arthur Conan Doyle

February
11:  The First Wife by Erica Spindler
12:  Pippi Goes on Board b Astrid Lindgren*
13:  The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
14:  The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
15:  Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
16:  The Super- Duper Sleepover Party by Megan Stine*

March
17:  Still Life (The Books of Elsewhere series) by Jacqueline West 

18.  George's Marvelous Medicine by Roald Dahl*
19:  The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas
20:  Orhan's Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian
21:  Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
22:  Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder*
23:  Princess Posey and the First Grade Parade by Stephanie Green
24:  Ensnared (Splintered series) by A.G. Howard
25:  One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis

April
26:  The Book Thief by Markus Zukas  
27:  The Book of the Dead by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
28:  Little Bee by Chris Cleave
29:  Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder*
30:  Boo by Neil Smith
31:  Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
32:  Changeling (Order of Darkness series) by Phillippa Gregory
33:  Somewhere in Time by Richard Matheson
34:  Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
35:  The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
36:  Moby-Dick by Herman Melville 
37:  James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl* 

May
38:  North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
39:  The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
40:  The Secret Garden by Elizabeth Hodgson Burnett
41:  Death Note Volume 1:  Boredom by Tsugumi Ohba
42:  The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
43:  Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
44:  Death Note Volume 2:  Confluence by Tsugumi Ohba
45:  A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire series) by George R.R. Martin
46:  Death Note Volume 3:  Hard Run by Tsugumi Ohba
47:  The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
48:  Death Note Volume 4:  Love by Tsugumi Ohba
49:  The Capture (Guardians of Ga'Hoole series) by Kathryn Lasky*
50:  Death Note Volume 5: Whiteout by Tsugumi Ohba
51:  ...And Now Miguel by Joseph Krumgold

June
52:  A Secret Kept by Tatiana de Rosnay
53:  Alexis Cool as a Cupcake by Coco Simon*
54:  Re Jane by Patricia Park
55.  Death Note Volume 6:  Give-and-Take by Tsugumi Ohba
56:  Garden Spells (Waverly Family series) by Sarah Addison Allen
57:  First Frost (Waverly Family series) by Sarah Addison Allen
58:  Death Note Volume 7:  Zero by Tsugumi Ohba
59:  Death Note Volume 8:  Target by Tsugumi Ohba
60:  I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak 
61:  The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
62:  The Dragon of Lonely Island by Rebecca Rupp*
63:  The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen
64:  Death Note Volume 9:  Contact by Tsugumi Ohba
65:  Death Note Volume 10:  Deletion by Tsugumi Ohba
66:  The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
67:  Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen
68:  The Great Ice Engine by Erica David*
69:  Disney Infinity:  Toy Box Trouble by Walt Disney Company*
70:  All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
71:  Death Note Volume 11:  Kindred Spirits by Tsugumi Ohba
72:  Death Note Volume 12:  Finis by Tsugumi Ohba
73:  Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

July
74:  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl*
75:  33 Days:  A Memoir by Léon Werth
76:  A Clash of Kings (A Song of Fire and Ice series) by George R.R. Martin
77:  Equestria Girls:  Rainbow Rocks by Perdita Finn*
78:  Ink and Bone (The Great Library series) by Rachel Caine
79:  Jane Eyre:  The Graphic Novel by Charlotte Bronte
80:  Blue Exorcist Volume 1 by Kazue Kato
81:  The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes
82:  A Paris Affair by Tatiana de Rosnay
83:  The Help by Kathryn Stockett
84:  Frozen Fever by Walt Disney Company*
85:  Glitter Beach (Secret Kingdom series) by Rosie Banks*
86:  To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

August
87:  All Hail the Queen by Erica David*
88:  Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
89:  Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage
90:  Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary*
91:  The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami
92:  Life of Pi by Yann Martel
93:  Mr. Penumbra's 25-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
94:  Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary*
95:  A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
96:  Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary*
97:  The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
98:  YOLO Juliet by Brett Wright
99:  The Accident Season by
100: Speak by
















113: 
114:  Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
115:  Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
116:  Fever Moon (Fever series) by Karen Marie Moning
117:  Orphan Number Eight by Kim Van Alkemade
118: 



















Sunday, December 27, 2015

Metropolis

We normally go the Reenactment at Fort Massac every year but this year we decided to skip it.  I'd had a bad week at work, the girls were cranky, and all three of us just didn't feel like messing with it.

After a school trip to see a play nearby we decided it was a perfect day to visit the park and see what it looked like without the hundreds of visitors there.  Surprisingly, it felt miniature compared to what we were used to.  We were disappointed we couldn't go into the actual fort but the park was abandoned, it was a beautiful fall day, and we explored our hearts out so it made up for it.





We also made our usual yearly visit to see Bug's boyfriend!

Monday, December 14, 2015

St. Louis Zoo

We live relatively close to St. Louis so it's a fun place to go for day trips.  Every year one grade from my daughter's school gets to spend the day there on a field trip and she was so excited that this year it was her turn.  We left at around 6:45 in the morning and came home around 8:30 that night so I think it's safe to say we had a full day!

I for some reason thought this trip always took place in the spring so we went ahead and went to the St. Louis Zoo over the summer.  I was worried they wouldn't be very interested in it since we had just been there a few months earlier but they had an absolute blast.  From now on we are only going in the fall, never the summer again.  We saw every single animal on full display because it was so cool that they tried to stay outside on the rare chance the sun came out.

The weather was in the mid-sixties but it was overcast and windy so I made sure we all had jackets with hoods on.  Good thing since it sprinkled on and off the whole time.  It never bothered us though since it kept the crowds down and we did so much walking that we stayed warm most of the time.

Goose's favorite animal is the red panda and we managed to catch it twice while it paced around below us.


Bug really wanted to see the zebras and the prairie dogs.  The prairie dog exhibit was empty but she did get to see several zebras.

Their daddy is obsessed with penguins and was disappointed he had to work so we took lots of pictures for him.  They were being absolute hams and swam around trying to splash anyone who got near them.  Bug loved it and I had to drag her out of there since it was freezing.




With the school armband we were able to ride the train all the way around the zoo, ride the carousal as many times as we wanted and have free admission to the Children's Zoo where the jellyfish and naked mole rats (two of my favorites!) live.




The school had to have the kids back at a certain time but since I drove separately we were able to stay longer and backtrack to see whatever we had missed.  They were in the middle of the Boo at the Zoo programs so there was quite a few Halloween scenes around the grounds.  I would have loved to see them all lit up but you have to pay to get into it and since I had already paid a giant bill for parking I didn't want to pay more.

*look at this adorable giant flytrap!*


After we left the zoo we drove up the street to the art museum, something they've been begging to visit for months now.  We didn't stay long enough to see much but they wanted to see the mummies and Van Gogh so we managed that and a few more.



Van Gogh is my favorite painter and I love seeing how much more beautiful his work is in person.  There are no words to describe how they make you feel.


Bug's favorite part was definitely the Egyptian section.  She's still telling people about the oldest statue in the museum.  This statue is over four thousand years old!



Seeing some of the most famous names in history makes me feel guilty that I only had about two hours to explore this huge museum.  One day we want to come back and spend the entire day roaming through all the halls.