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Catastrophic Caves

June 9, 2023 by Emma Filbrun · Leave a Comment

9 Jun

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Catastrophic Caves by Vance Nelson

Title: Catastrophic Caves
Author: Vance Nelson
Series: Untold Secrets of Planet Earth
Major Themes: Caves, Geology, Science
Synopsis: Travel around the world investigating cave and cavern formations, both in natural and in man-made structures, and see what they tell us about the speed of formation!

Every morning, as we begin our homeschooling day, I read from several books. One of them usually has something to do with history or science. Right now, we are working our way through the series Untold Secrets of Planet Earth. We just finished Catastrophic Caves, and my 13-year-old commented, as we finished, that the book makes a lot more sense now that he has heard the text and not just looked at the pictures. Maybe he will learn the value of reading the text now!

This book begins with about 25 pages of introductory matter. Here, the author describes the difference between caves and caverns and tells how both secular scientists and Biblical Creationist scientists believe caverns and their formations developed. He also describes the differences in chemical composition between natural cavern structures and the cave formations that form in man-made structures.

Next are the three main sections of the book. Section One focuses on mines and industry and the rapid mineral formations that are found in some of those places. Section Two describes mineral springs from around the world. Section Three shows rapid mineral formations in both natural and man-made caverns in various parts of the world. In each section, the examples are organized by location. Each example is described with a page or two of text and several pages of beautiful, full-color photographs. A few pages at the very end of the book wrap it all up with a final assessment of the evidence. The theme of the book, that it does not take long ages to create cave formations, but that instead, it takes lots of water, is repeated over and over through the book.

We thoroughly enjoyed reading through Catastrophic Caves together and seeing the stunning formations in caves and mines around the world. I think everyone’s favorite pictures were from the petrifying caves in France, where people make souvenirs from the calcite that forms from the water flowing through these caves. These pictures have to be seen to be believed.

No warnings!

Age levels:

Reading Independently—Ages 15 and Above, Adults

Links to buy this book:

Amazon: Hardcover
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
Creation Store: Hardcover

Keywords: Caves · Geology · Science · Untold Secrets of Planet Earth series · Vance Nelson

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With Every Memory

June 7, 2023 by Esther Filbrun · Leave a Comment

7 Jun

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support!

With Every Memory by Janine Rosche

Title: With Every Memory
Author: Janine Rosche
Major Themes: Memory Loss, Marriage, Forgiveness
Synopsis: As Lori starts to rebuild her life after a devastating accident resulting in amnesia, she realizes the happy family she once had is now distant and reserved.

I admit; sometimes I get books to read based solely on the cover. With Every Memory was almost one of those—although I did take a quick skim of the back cover copy, the main thing that drew me in was the beautiful cover. The other thing that drew me in was the reference to amnesia. I’ve been intrigued by stories about amnesia for a long time. Several years ago, I read the Sight Unseen series by Chautona Havig, and more recently, Mom read Restart by Gordon Korman to us—an excellent middle-grade story, which my brothers and I enjoyed. Used as a catalyst for a story, amnesia (which, I imagine, is awful to walk through in real life) can create some intriguing scenarios and illustrate points we might not otherwise get to see. So far, with the books I’ve read that contain that medical issue, they’ve all had a depth and richness that I’ve loved, and this book was no exception to that rule!

After narrowly surviving the accident that killed her son, Lori is fighting to build her life up again. But dealing with amnesia, and not remembering much at all from the past eight years, is proving more difficult than she ever imagined. She remembers life with a doting husband and happy children. Now her husband is reserved, and her daughter is distant and angry. What happened to bring them to this place? How can she bridge the gap between what she remembers and where they are now?

With Every Memory was more brutal to read than I originally anticipated…and much, much better, too. There were several points where I could feel myself tensing up, wondering what the next page was going to contain, but every time, as the story went on, I admired the way Rosche wove her story. Gripping, heart-wrenching, and all too realistic, I’m afraid, this is the story of a family who gradually fell apart—and what led them there.

I was able to connect with Lori from fairly early on in the book, and I appreciated that. I loved how she fought to show love to those around her, even when she didn’t remember them and didn’t remember the backstory for why they were acting the way they were around her. I was a little disappointed that the faith element didn’t come through more strongly here; it’s more referenced than lived out, if that makes sense. Lori’s faith was a stabilizing force in her life as she worked on moving toward recovery, but that didn’t have as much focus as it could have had. That being said, certain characters in this story exemplified the love of God over and over, maybe not in words, but in actions, and I loved that.

Besides my disappointment in the faith element, I was also somewhat disappointed in the way teenage relationships between guys and girls were handled in the book. There was little parental oversight on what was happening (granted; they were 18-year-olds), but I was made uncomfortable by the number of times there were scenes with just a guy and girl alone in his or her bedroom. Usually, they were working together on a project and there wasn’t anything overtly romantic going on, but I didn’t feel like that was a healthy way to go about things. I know it happens a lot, I know it’s realistic; I just don’t agree with the way that was handled.

I was also somewhat disappointed by the number of references to marital intimacy. I was thankful that although it is mentioned, nothing on-page goes beyond desire and kissing. I felt like it wasn’t always necessary to even refer to that much, but since I feel like this is a fairly realistic portrayal of a couple working on rebuilding their marriage and addressing some tough topics, I do give the author some grace there. In general, the author tried to keep scenes as clean and detail-free as possible, which I appreciated!

Overall, I’m thankful I got the chance to read With Every Memory! I hope this isn’t the last of Rosche’s writings that I’ll get to enjoy, because I loved the way she crafted and pulled this story together. It was well done. I had quite a few mental arguments with myself about this book, because all I wanted to do was read…but I was supposed to be a responsible adult getting Responsible Adult Things done. Sigh. If you enjoy books about people that feel like they could be your next-door neighbor or close friend, this could be an excellent choice for you!

I was given a complimentary copy of this book, and this is my honest opinion of it.

WARNING: See the last paragraphs of the review. Language: “Good glory” and “thank heavens” are used in ch. 1; curse or a variant is used in ch. 2, 10, 21, 23, and 36; goodness or a variant is used in ch. 2, 12, 17, 28, 38, 39, 40, and 44 (two instances); “sweet Swayze” is used in ch. 7, 12, 24, 32, 38, and the epilogue; shoot is used in ch. 11; swear or swore is used in ch. 12, 24, 25, 35, and 36; “sure as the mountains isn’t true” is used in ch. 18; “holy smokes” is used in ch. 22; cussed is used in ch. 34; and God is used in ch. 35. There is lying in ch. 3, 6, and 9. Characters cheat in a game in ch. 14. Wine is mentioned in ch. 6, cocktails and dancing are mentioned in ch. 22, and someone is drunk and gets sick in ch. 41. A character gets a temporary tattoo in ch. 26.

Violence: In ch. 6, there are mentions of people who assume someone tried to self-harm or kill themselves. A character has a flashback to a car crash in ch. 16. There is a mention of indecent pictures being passed around at school in ch. 23, and a brief fight ensues.

Sexual content: Someone mentions sneaking out to see her boyfriend in ch. 4. Someone says, “[boys] wanted to date you for only one thing…” in ch. 10, and this is referenced again in ch. 12. In ch. 16, a character mentions the possibility of going to a hotel room with her boyfriend. Unmarried couples touch in ch. 10, 12, 13, 14, 17, 21 (indecent touching), 24, 28, 32, 33, 34, 36, 41 (indecent touching), and 45, and kiss in ch. 14 (a character trying to seduce another), 19, 21 (a guy taking advantage of a girl), 32, 33, 38, and 41.

Marital intimacy is mentioned in ch. 4, and a wife tries to attract her husband. There are mentions of sex jokes in ch. 11 and 13. An affair is referred to in ch. 13, someone wonders about an affair in ch. 15, and in ch. 16, a character mentions their assumption that someone had sex before marriage. In ch. 20, a woman admires her husband. In ch. 26, a character vaguely refers to her parents being intimate, and sleeping together is referenced in ch. 27 and 38. The affair topic is brought up in ch. 32 again, someone has a flashback to an affair in ch. 35, and in ch. 42, there is another flashback to an affair. A woman tells about being raped in ch. 38, and tells of a man’s death. A woman tells about a “calculated decision [to conceive]”, and someone else mentions she was raped in ch. 43. A married couple kisses in ch. 15 (described somewhat), 25 (described somewhat, as well as a mention of arousal), 27, and 45.

Age levels:

Reading Independently—Adults

Links to buy this book:

Amazon: Paperback | Kindle | Hardcover | Audible Audiobook (unabridged)
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com

Keywords: 21st Century · Amnesia · Books for Women · Christian Fiction · Forgiveness · Inspirational Fiction · Janine Rosche · Marriage · Memory Loss · Mysteries · North America · Romance

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Belles on Their Toes

June 5, 2023 by Emma Filbrun · Leave a Comment

5 Jun

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Belles on Their Toes by Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr., Ernestine Gilbreth Carey

Title: Belles on Their Toes
Author: Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr., Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
Sequel to: Cheaper by the Dozen
Major Themes: Family Life, Humor
Synopsis: After Dad died, how could Mother keep her family together and prospering?

After we read Cheaper by the Dozen, we wanted to read more about the Gilbreth family. I was able to find Belles on Their Toes in an online library, so we read this book together. These stories begin where Cheaper by the Dozen ended, when Dad died. Suddenly, Mother had to figure out how to keep the family together. They did not want to be divided among relatives, but how could they make a living for themselves with Dad gone?

Dad had been planning a speaking tour of Europe, so Mother used his tickets and gave his lectures. That left the 11 children to take care of themselves at home while she was away, with the help of Tom, the man of all work. Mother left all the money she could to keep the family going, but they all knew it would hardly be enough. With Martha at the reins though, and her new budget in place, the children figured out how to save money and make everything work. That’s not to say that everything went without a hitch, however…imagine 11 people coming down with chickenpox, and then traveling to Nantucket Island for the summer. Sheer, hilarious chaos!

Once Mother returned, it was soon time to go back to school. This necessitated shopping trips for clothes. Imagine taking six boys shopping for clothing, when each of the younger ones must approve the older ones’ purchases because they would have to wear them someday. The closing statement of that chapter was hilarious.

Belles on Their Toes follows the adventures and misadventures of the Gilbreth family through about 15 years, until the last ones had graduated from college and everyone was married. It is a beautiful story of a family working together to make their way in the world. We loved this book, and even the three-year-old would beg for more chapters of it. If you want a funny book to read together as a family, look for this one. It may be a good idea to pre-read chapters 5, 6, 7, and 20, before giving it to your children, however.

WARNING: Chapter 2: heck, no. Chapter 3: heck; oh gee, oh gosh, oh golly. Chapter 4: for cat’s sake, my cow, gosh, damn it, be damned, gee. Chapter 5: girls in swimming suits. Chapter 6: a man talking about a woman’s anatomy. Chapter 7: girls smoking, gosh twice, gee. Chapter 10: what the devil. Chapter 11: golly, gosh, for Pete’s sake. Chapter 12: I’ll be doggoned, gosh, gee twice. Chapter 13: fight between boys, gee. Chapter 16: for Pete’s sake, I swear, son of a gun. Chapter 20: boys teach their sister how to be popular with the boys at school and dances.

Age levels:

Listening Level—Ages 8 – 12, 10 – 12, 12 – 15, Family Friendly
Reading Independently—Ages 12 – 15, 15 and Above, Adults

Links to buy this book:

Amazon: Paperback | Kindle | Hardcover
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
Book Depository: Paperback

Keywords: Biographies · Ernestine Gilbreth Carey · Family Friendly · Family Life · Frank B. Gilbreth · Humor · Memoirs · North America · US History · US History 1900-1950

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The Mystery of History, Volumes I and II

June 2, 2023 by Emma Filbrun · Leave a Comment

2 Jun

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The Mystery of History, Volumes I and II by Linda Lacour Hobar

Title: The Mystery of History, Volumes I and II
Author: Linda Lacour Hobar
Series: The Mystery of History
Major Themes: World History, Ancient Times, Arabs, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Persia, Rome, Middle Ages, Renaissance/Reformation
Synopsis: A grand sweep through history focuses on God’s work in and through His people.

Sometime during the school year, as I was reading The Mystery of History, Volume 2 to my children for our morning history time, I realized I had not reviewed Volume 1. So I will do both together.

I have used several different history courses during my 20 years of homeschooling. I like the different facets of each one. Some I have used simply assign readings from various books. Some have brief commentary and suggest books to read alongside. The Mystery of History is a self-contained textbook. Volume I covers events from Creation to the resurrection of Jesus. The main framework for this volume is the Old Testament. For example, the first three lessons are titled Creation, Adam and Eve, and Jubal and Tubal-Cain. Each major person in the Bible has a lesson devoted to them, with lessons interspersed at appropriate places that tell what is happening in other parts of the world at the same time. For example, the legend of the Trojan Horse and the Trojan War comes at the time in which Ruth and Naomi lived. In between Samson and Samuel is a chapter about the Zhou dynasty of China. There are chapters about each of the prophets of the Old Testament, along with the story of the founding of Rome, the Olympic games, and even a chapter about the ancient Native Americans. A number of chapters describe ancient Greece, by telling about the lives of certain people that we know about. About three of the weeks that this book is broken up into talk about the Roman Empire, and the last two weeks tell about Jesus’s life.

Volume I has 36 weeks of lessons, with three lessons per week. Each lesson has suggested activities to go along with it, divided into simple suggestions for young children, more complicated ones for the middle grades, and complicated projects for teenagers. We actually never did any of these; we just read the lessons and did the pre-tests at the beginning of each week and the quiz at the end of the week. There are also reviews for each week, with suggestions for putting figures on a timeline, and doing map work. At the end of each quarter is a worksheet that reviews the entire quarter and a semester test after the second and fourth quarters to review the entire semester. All the way through, there are quiz questions about previous weeks’ lessons, to help children remember the important points. Answer keys are in the back of the book for all of these. I have an earlier edition of The Mystery of History Volume I, with all the activity suggestions, map work, pretests, quizzes, and tests built into the book itself. I have, however, seen the newest edition. It is a hardcover, full-color book, and all those helpful resources are available to the original purchaser of the book, to download. They can also be purchased from the author’s website.

The Mystery of History Volume II covers events from the early church and the Middle Ages. The first weeks’ lessons will be quite familiar to anyone who knows the Bible, as they talk about Pentecost and the disciples, and Paul and his missionary journeys. Then, we learned about Nero, the martyrs of the early church, and the Jewish revolt/the fall of Jerusalem. A couple of those lessons talked about topics that could be disturbing for young children, and I appreciated that there was a note in each of those places that it may be good to skip the next few paragraphs. Another note told me where it would be safe to pick up reading again. The lessons move on through the remaining years of the Roman Empire, with one lesson about India and another about the Maya in Central America. More lessons describe the lives of early missionaries such as Patrick and Columba. Then, chapters about Islam, as well as events in China, appear along with lessons about Saint Boniface, Charlemagne, Alfred the Great, and “Good King Wenceslas”—who wasn’t a king at all—one chapter discusses the ancient legend of Beowulf, and A Thousand and One Nights, along with the background and possible meanings of these stories. More lessons describe the Vikings and their discovery of America, the Battle of Hastings, the crusades—and who was Robin Hood? Then, as we near the end of the Middle Ages, we meet the people who triggered the Reformation. The book winds up with the invention of the printing press. This volume is only divided into 28 weeks, but otherwise, the pattern is the same as Volume I, with three lessons per week and the same activities, quizzes, etc. In mine, they are all included in the same book, but in newer editions, they are separate. 

So, what is our opinion of The Mystery of History? We love it! I love the focus on God’s work throughout history, and the way the story of the world is told through God’s work with and through His people. I wouldn’t use this course exclusively, because, of course, there are many events that had to be left out because of space and time constraints. No one history book can tell the entire story of the world. We will definitely work our way through Volumes III and IV, and I’ll probably take my youngest children through the whole cycle again in 10 years or so. I especially like the tests/quizzes. We have done all of them orally, and I am amazed at some of the details the children have remembered. Because these books are written in the form of stories of what happened in the past, they are fairly easy to remember.

No warnings!

Age levels:

Listening Level—Ages 5 – 8, 8 – 12, 10 – 12, 12 – 15
Reading Independently—Ages 10 – 12, 12 – 15

Links to buy these books:

The Mystery of History, Volume 1—

Amazon: Hardcover (third edition) | The second edition on Kindle: Quarter 1 • Quarter 2 • Quarter 3 • Quarter 4
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com

The Mystery of History, Volume 2—

Amazon: Paperback | Hardcover (second edition) | On Kindle: Quarter 1 • Quarter 2 • Quarter 3 • Quarter 4
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com

Keywords: Africa · Ancient Times · Arabs · Asia · Australia · Central America · China · Egypt · Europe · Far East · Greece · History Curriculum · India · Israel · Japan · Linda Lacour Hobar · Middle Ages · Middle East · New Zealand · North America · Oceania · Persia · Renaissance/Reformation · Rome · South America · The Mystery of History series · World History

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Dawn Wind

May 31, 2023 by Emma Filbrun · Leave a Comment

31 May

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support!

Dawn Wind by Rosemary Sutcliff

Title: Dawn Wind
Author: Rosemary Sutcliff
Major Themes: England, Saxons, Middle Ages
Synopsis: After losing his entire world in the final battle when the Saxons conquered the Britons, Owain went on to face many more unexpected challenges.

This year, we have been reading a lot of books by Rosemary Sutcliff. Since we are studying the Middle Ages, I wanted read-alouds that went along with that era. We began with the Eagle of the Ninth trilogy, and then read Beowulf. Next, I found a recommendation for Dawn Wind. I never heard of this one before, but as soon as we started reading it, we realized that, although it is fine as a standalone book, it follows The Lantern Bearers. Our clue was the appearance of a particular signet ring that was important in each of the three Eagle books. It was fun to realize that the hero of this book was a descendant of the heroes of the earlier three books.

As the story opens, Owain comes back to consciousness after the battle of Aquae Sulis, in which the Saxons destroyed the last British army. Owain’s father and brother were killed and he was now alone in the world. He began walking to where he thought he might be able to meet up with the army if it regrouped, but when he finally reached that place, the only life he found was a girl. The two of them tried to leave Britain together, but when she became sick, Owain sacrificed his freedom to save her.

As a slave to a Saxon family, Owain had no hope of ever seeing Regina again. Little by little, however, he found himself becoming part of the family. Then something totally unexpected happened. Now, Owain had hard decisions to make. Which people did his loyalty belong to? 

Dawn Wind is an amazing story. Our attention was grabbed from the first chapter, and on the days when I had time to read more than one chapter, everyone cheered. Many different challenges came Owain’s way, and he had to decide what was the right thing to do, over and over. This book brings British history to life very vividly, just as the three Eagle books do. As we were reading from a history text today about the period of history in which the Saxons took over England, we recognized the events from various books in the series that we had read. I was pleased with everything that the children remembered from them. 

WARNING: Chapter 1: the aftermath of a battle; a boy is badly injured and sees much carnage. Chapter 10: swearing “Hammer of Thor” and “Thunderer”, talk of sacrificing horses and men. Chapter 11: a dog is killed in a fight. Chapter 13: shipwreck, bodies washing ashore. Chapter 14: Hammer of Thor! Chapter 15: prayer to Woden, swearing by the gods. Chapter 16: battle, a man dying. Chapter 22: a man killed.

Age levels:

Listening Level—Ages 8 – 12, 10 – 12, 12 – 15
Reading Independently—Ages 8 – 12, 10 – 12, 12 – 15

Links to buy this book:

Amazon: Paperback | Kindle | Hardcover
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
Book Depository: Paperback

Keywords: Books for Boys · England · Europe · Historical Fiction · Middle Ages · Rosemary Sutcliff · Saxons

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