Rachel thinks this is her last thread this year

Hi all! I'm Rachel, 44yo mom of IL4, and stepmom of D13 and M10. For a living, I am a caregiver for the disabled and elderly. For fun, I read a variety of books - both fiction and nonfiction. A lot of my books this year are early chapter books I read to IL4. I also write pen pal letters, to people all around Europe and the Americas. (So far, I haven't succeeded in ensnaring a pen pal from Asia or Africa, and my pals from Australia keep disappearing.) I also play D&D and cross-stitch.

Books read in January
1. To Shape A Dragon's Breath, by Moniquill Blackgoose
2. Akata Witch, Nnedi Okorafor
3. A Mother's Reckoning, by Sue Klebold
4. Inspector Flytrap, by Tom Angleberger
5. Inspector Flytrap The President's Mane is Missing, by Tom Angleberger
6. Inspector Flytrap in the Goat Who Chewed Too Much, by Tom Angleberger
7. Simon and Chester Super Sleepover, by Cale Atkinson
8. Didi Dodo Recipe for Disaster, by Tom Angleberger & Jared Chapman
9. Two Headed Chicken, by Tom Angleberger

Books read in February

10. When Stars are Scattered, by Victoria Jamieson
11. Didi Dodo Future Spy Robo-Dodo Rumble, by Tom Angleberger & Jared Chapman
12. Didi Dodo Double-O Dodo, by Tom Angleberger & Jared Chapman
13. Sixteen Scandals, by Sophie Jordan
14. Bad Kitty Gets a Bath, by Nick Bruel
15. The Chicken Squad, by Doreen Cronin

Books read in March

16. Eva's Treetop Festival, by Rebecca Elliott
17. Zealot, by Reza Aslan
18. The Case of the Weird Blue Chicken, by Doreen Cronin
19. DJ Funkyfoot Butler for Hire, by Tom Angleberger
20. The Yeti Files: Meet the Bigfeet, by Kevin Sherry
21. The Yeti Files: Monsters on the Run, by Kevin Sherry
22. Eva Sees a Ghost, by Rebecca Elliot
23. The Yeti Files: Attack of the Kraken, by Kevin Sherry
24. Henry Heckelbeck Gets a Dragon, by Wanda Coven

Books read in April
25. Simon and Chester Super Family!, By Cale Atkinson
26. Gallant, by VE Schwab
27. Simon and Chester Super Detectives!, By Cale Atkinson
28. Super fly the World's Smallest Superhero, by Todd H Doodler
29. The Adventures of Caveboy, by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
30. Game Over, Super Rabbit Boy, by Thomas Flintham
31. Super Rabbit Boy Powers Up!, By Thomas Flintham
32. Super Rabbit Racers!, by Thomas Flintham
33. super Rabbit Boy vs. Super Rabbit Boss, by Thomas Flintham
34. Owl Diaries: A Woodland Wedding, by Rebecca Elliott
35. Press Start: Super Rabbit Boy Blasts Off, by Thomas Flintham
36. Press Start: The Super Side Quest, by Thomas Flintham
37. Super Rabbit Boy's Time Jump, by Thomas Flintham
38. Super Cheat Codes and Secret Modes, by Thomas Flintham
39. Super Rabbit Boy's Team up Trouble, by Thomas Flintham

Books read in May
40. Robo-Rabbit Boy Go, by Thomas Flintham
41. Game Over, Super Rabbit Boy, by Thomas Flintham
42. Super Rabbit Boy Powers Up, by Thomas Flintham
43. Revenge of the Roach, by Todd H Doodler
44. Super Rabbit Boy All-Stars, by Thomas Flintham
45. Super Rabbit Boy World, by Thomas Flintham
46. Super King Viking Land, by Thomas Flintham

Books read in June
47. Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot, by Dav Pilkey
48. Society of Substitutes: The Great Escape, by Alan Katz
49. DJ Funkyfoot: Give Cheese a Chance, by Tom Angleberger
50.Gallant, by V E Schwab
51. No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith
52. Battle of the Bad Breath Bats, by David Bowles
53. Democracy in Black, by Eddie S Glaude Jr
54. Reading Biblical Literature, (lectures), by Craig R Koester
55. Lunch Walks Among us, by Jim Benton
56. Eva and the New Owl, by Rebecca Elliott
57. Eva's Wildwood Bakery, by Rebecca Elliot
58. The Bad Guys, by Aaron Blabey
59. Homeland, by R A Salvatore
60. The Bad Guys in Mission Unpluckable, by Aaron Blabey
61. Billy and the Monsters: Monsters Go to the Hospital, by Zanna Davidson
62. The Bad Guys in the Furball Strikes Back, by Aaron Blabey
63. Into the Wild Another Misadventure, by Doreen Cronin
64. A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking, by T Kingfisher

Books Read in July

65. Remote Control, by Nnedi Okorafor
66. Superfly vs. Furious Flea, by Todd H Doodler
67. Don't Turn Out the Lights, ed by Jonathan Mayberry
68. Babel, by R F Kuang
69. DJ Funkyfoot: The Show Must Go Oink!, By Tom Angleberger
70. Caveboy is a Hit, by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
71. Eva and the Lost Pony, by Rachel Elliot

Books Read in August

72. Bad Guys in Attack of the Zittens, by Aaron Blabey
73. The Bad Guys in Intergalactic Gas, by Aaron Blabey
74. Henry Heckelbeck and the Haunted Hideout, by Wanda Coven
75. Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
76. Stinky Cecil in Operation Pond Rescue, by Paige Braddock
77. The Fire-Breathing Ferret Fiasco, by David Bowles
78. Super Narwhal and Jelly Jolt, by Ben Clanton
79. Death With Interruptions, by Jose Saramago
80. Throne of Glass, by Sarah J Maas
81. Cursed, by Marie O'Regan
82. Attack of the 50-ft Cupid, by Jim Benton

Books Read in September

83. Happy Birthday Bad Kitty, by Nick Bruel
84. Merry Adventures of Robinhood, by Howard Pyle
85. Educated, by Tara Westover
86. Society of Substitutes Food Fight!, by Alan Katz
87. Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs the Mutant Mosquitos, by Dav Pilkey
88. The Princess in Black, by Shannon Hale & Dean Hale
89. Emperor of Nihon-Ja, by John Flanagan
90. Rise of the Evil Army, by Todd H Doodler

Books Read in October
91. Monsters in the Dark, by Zanna Davidson
92. Poppy the Pirate Dog, by Liz Kessler
93. Henry Heckelbeck Spells Trouble, by Wanda Coven
94. Akata Warrior, by Nnedi Okorafor
95. Warm Hearts Day, by Rebecca Elliot
96. Dark Shadows: Yes, Another Misadventure, by Doreen Cronin
97. Dragons and Marshmallows, by Asia Citro
98. The Bad Guys in Alien vs Bad Guys, by Aaron Blabey
99. Clash of the Cackling Cougars, by David Bowles

Books Read in November

Books Read in December

Open for business!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Rachel! Lots of fun and good reading to you this weekend!

Karen O.

Happy new thread, Rachel.

Based upon your activity this year, I really don't see that this will be your last thread this year. x

Thanks foggi, Karen, and Paul!

Alexandria, Jane, and Sukie are bored of life. Then comes Daryl, who livens up their lives with a bit of magical seduction. However, things quickly turn dark. I’m not sure what to make of this movie. It was certainly quite strange. Pretty naughty. I bet the book would make more sense.

A good deal of these jokes were pandemic-related.

Billy is afraid of the dark. But then he finds out monsters are real. This was a cute story with great colorful pictures.

When Poppy becomes a pirate dog, she really wants to find a boat that fits her new status. Cute, but nothing amazing.

I liked the River Song plot, but was starting to get tired of the Ponds by the end of it. I liked them at first, but I guess they became too much.

This movie is just as hilarious now as it was in the ’90s.

Happy new one!

>24 The_Hibernator: Have you seen the second movie?

Happy New Thread!

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/354158

Happy New Thread, Rachel! I have dog named Poppy! Good choice.

Happy new thread Rachel!

Happy Friday, Rachel. Happy New Thread. I love the topper. I canceled the Iowa camping trip, for a couple of reasons. My wife is going to be going to MI with friends, so I would have been going solo. That should wrap up camping season for us. Now, we just have to winterize the camper.

Happy belated birthday, Rachel!

>25 figsfromthistle: No Anita, I haven't seen the second movie. I'm afraid it won't be as funny. Have you?

Thanks Silver, Deb, Nina, and Nora!

>30 msf59: Hi Mark! I had to cancel our last camping trip, too... don't know if I said that. It was the weekend IL4 got out of the hospital and we were exhausted.

Thursday was pretty relaxed. After work I went to my second job. And then I took D13 to her play rehearsal.

Akata Warrior, by Nnedi Okorafor
Great Mythologies of the World
How to Read the Bible, James Kugel

Happy new thread, Rachel!

Happy new one, Rachel!

Thanks Stasia and Jim!

Friday after speech therapy, I did what will apparently be one of many bowel cleanouts for IL4. I also watched "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead" with D13 and M11.

Akata Warrior, by Nnedi Okorafor
How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel

Happy new thread, Rachel!

Thanks Anita!

Saturday was a fun day. After some errands in the morning, I played D&D for 4 hours (though it was all role-playing, no combat...poor Aaron). After that, Aaron and I went out for my birthday gift: Mexican food and a comedy club.

Warm Hearts Day, by Rebecca Elliot

Sunday I worked, then we all went out to dinner.

Beloved, by Toni Morrison
Super Rabbit All Stars, by Thomas Flintham

Monday I took D13 to her weekly appointment, and then took dad to his neurology appointment. The ER doctor had made it sound like they'd found something bad on his CT scan when he fell back in August. They told us to make a neurologist appointment ASAP. The first one wasn't available till October. But the neurologist poo-poohed the whole finding, using more words than necessary, and off we went.

Aaron spent the morning trimming willows near a lake for his work's service day.

I had a really proud moment for IL4 that evening. The family does "most and least heinous parts of the day" at dinner, and IL4 participated for the first time ever. Apparently "the tree" was the most heinous and school was the least heinous. I wonder what happened with a tree, though.
In the evening when I was reading to IL4, I told him what a nice bonding experience reading together was, and that I wished the older kids wanted me to read to them. They heard - and now I need to find time to read to the older kids. Not that I mind reading to them - that part is fun - but when?

Run, Hide, Repeat, by Pauline Dakin
Dark Shadows, by Doreen Cronin
Super Rabbit Boy's Time Jump, by Thomas Flintham

Tuesday after work, I took a 3 hour walk with dad. I pushed him pretty hard, but he made it. Then I took D13 to an appointment. In the evening, my friend Liz came over and we watched a couple episodes of Doctor Who. Finally, I read to D13 and then to IL4. I was interrupted half-way through the book by a call from dad, who'd missed the last bus home. Luckily, he was only 10 minutes away, so I was able to hop in the car and fetch him before work started again.

Beloved, by Toni Morrison
Bible
Great courses: St Augustine's Confessions, by William R Cook and Ronald B Herzman
Exile, by Shannon Messenger

Wednesday after work, I went to my second job, then to have dinner with a former client. Afterwards, I read to M11 (D13 listened in, too).

Beloved, by Toni Morrison
Great Courses: St Augustine's Confessions, by William R Cook and Ronald B Herzman
Mahabharata
Dragonwatch, by Brandon Mull

Henry is in trouble again when the school has a spelling bee. He gets out of trouble in his own magical way. This is a cute read and my son seemed to enjoy it.

This is still a good show, but there were some really bad decisions (and unlike the characters) made in the last few episodes.

Sunny is an albino free agent – a Nigerian witch who grew up with the lambs (non-magical people). She is convinced she must stop an oncoming apocalypse.

This is an excellent follow-up to Akata Witch. In fact, I liked it even more than the first book, because I’m a sucker for action.

This is a 1991 movie about 5 kids who learn a valuable lesson when they try to make it on their own after their babysitter dies. It was hilarious to see pre-X-Files David Duchovny. The movie seriously lacked verisimilitude, but it was amusing.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/354324

Thanks Silver!

Thursday after working two jobs, I drove D13 to rehearsal (combat training started!) and watched Supernatural with Aaron.

Beloved, by Toni Morrison
Mahabharata
Great Mythologies of the World
Dragons & Marshmallows, by Asia Citro
The Bad Guys in Alien vs Bad Guys, by Aaron Blabey

You sure stay busy with the kids, your husband and dad, as well as working Rachel. I'm glad you can fit in tv and books in what little spare time you have.

>55 vancouverdeb: Thanks Deb! This is actually a really good time for me with books and tv...as well as writing my pen pal letters. Hopefully this period lasts a while.

Friday, I took IL4 to speech therapy. We had been going to have bacon and pancakes afterwards, but he fell asleep in the car on the way home, so I sat in the car with him for a couple of hours. Then, we went to feeding therapy.

M11 had rehearsal in the evening, and D13, IL4, Aaron and I watched some X-Files. When M11 came home, we all watched an episode of Umbrella Academy. Then I read to D13, then to IL4.

Clash of the Cackling Cougars, by David Bowles
Eye of the World, by Robert Jordon
Beloved, by Toni Morrison
Great Mythologies of the World

Saturday was fun. After D13 got her COVID shot, we all went to a fall festival for the day. It was a lot more expensive than the last time we went, and I blew my entire fun budget on it. 😭 It'll take months to save up that much money again. Regardless, the kids had a blast. There was a gigantic potato sack slide, camel rides, a corn pit, a corn maze, a zipline, pumpkin cannons, and a bouncy house.

After all that, Aaron, dad, IL4 and I had dinner out.

We saw Jason Banks at Rick Bronson House of Comedy. He was pretty good. He showed a Tiktok video at the end which was funnier than the rest, so I’m guessing he’s better at Tiktok than standup. But his stand-up was pretty good all the same.

Eva celebrates Warm Heats Day with her city of owls and a few other animals. Cute.

The feisty little chicks are at it again – this time while visiting family on a farm. When their jelly beans go missing, they are up for adventure. This may be my favorite one so far.

Zoey discovers that magical creatures exist, and that she needs to help take care of them when they’re sick. Cute story. Didn’t read it to IL4 – it was a little too advanced for that. I’d say it was 3rd grade level.

In this hilarious continuation, the Bad Guys are fighting a nasty alien who’s trying to take over the world. Very fun.

Malia, Ivan, and Dante are out skiing when, once again, they are transported to 13th street. This time, they have to deal with cougars who tell dad jokes. This book was cute, like the first two. Its focus was to thicken the plot.

Sunday after work I took IL4 and to a McDonald's Playplace for a playdate with his friend L4. M11 came along because he's grounded and he had been busy reading all day. He wanted a change of scenery.

I really like L4's mom. She isn't head of the PTO, cub scout master, girl scout leader, perfectly -clean-homed mom. She's real.

The playdate ended abruptly when IL4 pooped himself. And I had wipes and a change of shirts, but not pants and underwear because I'd used my spare on another day and forgot to replace them. So he went home commando in wet pants. 🤦‍♀️

That evening, I read to M11 and D13, and then I read to IL4.

Beloved, by Toni Morrison
Keeper of Night, by Kylie Lee Baker
Sydney and Taylor Explore the Whole Wide World, by Jacqueline Davies

Monday morning I had to scrape the frost off the car windows. Yuck. I took D13 to her appointment, and then took IL4 to get a scan of his gut to check for anatomical abnormality. They said they didn't see anything obvious at a quick glance, but the final results were not immediately released. In the evening, I read to D13 and then to IL4.

Beloved, by Toni Morrison
How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel

Tuesday was awful. I had to leave work an hour early to go to a 6 hour training. It was pure listening, with 2 5 minute breaks and no lunch break. In case you don't know, I have ADHD. By 3.5 hours in, I was literally shaking with the effort of listening. I had to take my highest dose of anxiety meds to try to alieve the shaking, but it didn't help.

By the time I got home, my brain was fried. But M11 was crying because of an unresolved argument about whose turn it was on the TV. I just needed a break, but IL4 wanted to bake a cake with 2 pieces of bread, an apple, some peanut butter, and the ketchup. He wouldn't take no for an answer, so I hid in the bathroom and tried not to cry while Aaron took over.

In the evening, I read to D13, and then started reading to IL4 before petering out and taking a nap before leaving for work at 9:30.

How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel
Bible

Happy Wednesday, Rachel. I hope you had a much better day than yesterday. That sounds awful. I hope you found some comfort in your bible book. I loved Beloved but that is a novel that is not meant to ease your mind.

>67 The_Hibernator: Sorry to hear about your stressful day. I hope the rest of the week goes better for you.