Sooo, I'm totally done with City of God. nbd. ;) THAT'S 860+ PAGES, DUDES. And I read every word. BUT. I'm also done with GB for the summer.... :D Which means, not that I will stop reading, but that I can do more pleasure reading :) So, I thought I'd give you my preliminary list. Feel free to drop some suggestions to add to it in the comments. 

1) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain. I found this in our bookshelf the other day and my interest was piqued. It looks fabulous and fun :)
2) Surprised by Hope. Recommended by Mr. C in our last class. I can't remember exactly what he said it was about, but I remember that I was very interested in checking it out.
3) Gonna finish Confessions. We only read up to Book 10 in class. 
4) Maaaaybe someday I'll finally read Inkspell...since Inkheart is one of my all time favorites. 
5) Trusting God in a Twisted World by Elisabeth Eliot. I've started this but haven't had much chance to continue. It's been really good so far though. 

Annd, some book completeds:
44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith: Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Very Wodehouse-ish. But modern. And Scottish. 
And...I can't remember finishing anything else recently. Except for City of God. Which..was good. But hard, and long. I would not have gleaned much from it had I not taken the class. Still, Augustine rocks. And there was a lot of good stuff in there. 


-shainabo

[baby island]

I found this book somewhere...I'm not sure where, and nabbed it to read to my little ones when I have them. I don't know about you, but a well done kids book just makes my day. It's one of my favorite things. I haven't read this one all the way through; it's a chapter book in the style of The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, but a bit shorter. I do want to read it sometime when I have the time, though. The illustrations are darling, a bit reminiscent of Indian Captive (one of my favorites growing up-by Lois Lenski) and it looks like a really fun book for 7-12 year old kids. I have a few pictures of some of the illustrations, and a couple shots of some cute parts in the book. Enjoy!

Yes. I want to write a book like this someday.

I have to say, I've absolutely loved this year, with all my heart. But Confessions took first place as my favorite book we've read. Augustine's words spoke to my heart in a way that not many other books have. It was amazing to me how something written 1700 years ago could be so relevant to what I'm thinking and feeling. It was such an encouraging, challenging, and stimulating read. Probably any of you reading this pretty much know that because I was always posting quotes from the book as I read it. I would encourage any of you to read it: it's a pretty short book, and easy to read. (It was an easy two weeks in GB) In many places it reads similarly to a devotional; in others it's more autobiographical; in every part interesting and thought provoking. Augustine had such a questioning, open heart, he feels like an old friend.

[what i've been reading/watching]

                                             Reading:

-Taking Flight by Elisabeth Elliot. Got it from our home church host in a box of books. Read the first entry and decided to add it to my daily devotions. Read the second and decided to write a blog post about it. It's comprised of short words of wisdom from Mrs. Elliot, put together for graduates. I've only read the first two entries but it's very good so far.  
-The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny. A fantasy series. My dad read them when he was my age and then my brother recently started reading them. I started the first book and really enjoyed it. It's very much un-cliched, though many of the fantasy books can be. 
-The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I figured I should find out what all the fuss was about. I liked it ok, but I'm not caught up in the rage over it. I will say that it was very suspenseful, haha and hard to put down. I'll probably read the next ones if I have nothing else on my list. And I might watch the movie after it comes out on dvd. We shall see :) 


                                           Watching:
-North and South. Grandma snagged this and watched it with Papa John. While working on the project, I watched it and she rewatched it, haha. It was quite good, not a favorite of mine but I did enjoy it. I think I'd probably enjoy watching it a second time, as I know the characters better now. It starts out a little slow, but Mr. Thornton's accent is wonderful. :) Oh yes, and Esther from Bleak House has a small part in it! I love her so much, her character (and her portrayal of that character)  in Bleak House is one of my favorites ever.
-Horatio Hornblower. I must confess, I'm a huge fan of the British Miniseries. And this one particularly. Rewatching this (also while working on the project.... YES there will be a post about it soon) I noticed how young Horatio was when he started out! Also Horatio is brilliant, but like many of them, would be terrible to be married to. He was married to his ship. He is still a tremendously loveable character, not to mention Archie, Mr. Bush, and many others. I really really love this series, and I highly recommend it. Though definitely not  a chick flick, I still enjoy it immensely. Normally I don't like war movies, but this one has more to do with the people than the fighting, so I really enjoyed it.
-Sherlock. Also rewatched this series recently... It's great. The cinematography is wonderful, and the writers did a tremendous job with it. I normally am quite a purist, but they definitely made the modern day setting work. I can't wait for the next season of it! Also, the actor that plays Watson is playing Bilbo in The Hobbit, and that gives me great hope for the movie. I think he'll be perfect for it. 




                                     Also on my list:
-The Bourne Identity. Snagged this one from our host as well. I've watched the movies, and enjoyed it but am not a huge fan. But I hear that the books are very very different? Maybe I'll enjoy it. Dad said the first book is the only one worth reading. 
-Til We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis. I've read this before. But it was before GB and I have a feeling it will mean more to me now. It's definitely intriguing. 
-The New Jane Eyre movie :) Sam and I are gonna watch it tonight. I love the actor that plays St. John, so I'm excited. Well, and I love the story. But from the trailer I've seen it almost looks like a carbon copy of the 2006 version (my favorite so far)