Books I've Been Reading and A Field Trip

We had a nice day trip over Memorial Day weekend. It was nice to get away, but the return trip was a nightmare of traffic. What should have taken one hour to return home took just over three hours. Yikes! But we were still happy that we had left town and explored. We went to Greenville, South Carolina and visited their river park. We also ate lunch out at a restaurant that had outdoor seating (a first for the kids since the pandemic began). We wrapped up our day with a trip to the mall which is double the size of ours and, unlike ours, is thriving. We also attended a movie over the weekend. This was also a first since the pandemic began, and we had lots of fun. We saw Cruella. It was good and a fun re-entry to the movie theater world.  

All of the pictures below are from our visit to Greenville's river park.  I will insert the books I have been reading throughout the post. My goal is to read at least 12 books this year. I will most likely surpass that number, because I have already completed eight. My reading has gone faster than I thought it would. Some of the books were easier books that my kids had read years ago and loved, but I had never gotten to read. They still talk about them, so they must be worth reading.

An Hour Before Daylight by Jimmy Carter ~ This was not a page turner, but I did enjoy learning about the boyhood of one of our former presidents. I didn't know very much about rural farm life in the Deep South. I know a great deal more now. Jimmy Carter is one of those genuinely kind people, and it very much comes through in his book.  

Alexander Hamilton The Outsider by Jean Fritz ~ My kids loved this book and it was good. I enjoyed it and found it chock full of information as is the norm for a Jean Fritz book. 

Becoming by Michelle Obama ~ I loved this book. What a wonderful look into a life of an extraordinary woman. This book became Rebekah's very last assignment for high school. She is almost done and has enjoyed it as well. 

The Charlotte Years on Tide Mill Lane by Melissa Wiley ~ This is one book in an enjoyable series of books that were written about Laura Ingalls Wilder's mother and grandmother. They are fun, quick reads that Rebekah and I  have very much enjoyed over the years. We are slowly collecting the complete sets and this was our most recent find.

  

Evicted by Mathew Desmond ~ This was a very good but hard read. Hard because it really laid out the corruption of landlords, the mishandling of people's lives by government and the desperation of poverty (especially for those with intellectual deficits). This hits especially hard for me because I am raising a handful of high end special needs people that may well fall into this life after I am gone if I don't figure out how to protect them. Also, while reading this, we have been working to transition our daughter (Katie) from one placement to another which is proving much more difficult because she is now an adult. Her social worker even said she could probably handle being independent (although all of her doctors feel she needs tons of support) and that the system could help her if and when she became homeless and couldn't get back on her feet! Of course, we don't want to wait until that happens!

The Children's Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin ~ This has been one of my favorite books this year. It is based on the true story of a terrible blizzard that struck the American West during school hours in 1888 and killed over 200 people (mostly children trying to get home). It was a sad topic, but very well written with an emphasis on the heroes. I always like to read about the everyday heroes.

The Walnut Tree A Holiday Tale by Charles Todd ~ This was an enjoyable and page turning book about a young woman who became a nurse during World War I and found her true calling and true love. 

To School Through the Fields by Alice Taylor ~ This was a gentle story about the author's childhood in rural Ireland in the 1950's, which was not as modernized as the United States was in the fifties. I love historical accounts about normal lives and this one was nicely written. 

Blessings, Dawn