My Life Recently

Hi!! How have you all been since my last post?! I am sorry to say that I did not receive enough stories to host a short story contest. *sighs* Sorry! I have also changed my blog background. I do a double-take every time I see it, but I love it. I won't be able to post very much this summer; we have a massive garden that needs tending (😒), and I am also being snared for lawn-mower duty more and more frequently- much against my will. But I'll try to post maybe twice a month (I know that's not a lot, but I have trouble thinking of posts. *sigh*) If you have any ideas for blog posts PLEASE, either email me with the "Email Me" form on the right sidebar, or comment on the latest post. If you would like me to add your blog to the blog list, also on the right sidebar, comment, or email, and I'll put it up there. Now I'll share a little bit of what I've been doing the past week or so. First, our library is still not open. But you can go on their website, and look up books, and if they have them, you can order them. Then they call you and set up a convenient to come and pick up your books. We did that, and yesterday we went to pick up our books. They had them on a table outside, in plastic bags with your name on them. Imagine our disappointment when we realised there was another bag that we forgot to get!!! We also went to a HUGE yard sale, where we found a bunch of books, and to a bookstore, where we got 37 Nancy Drew books for a great bargain, plus a bunch of classics. Then, we sat around and read all day long (Hey, we were rolling in books! It was a dream come true!). This morning we went to the park. That's where we've been having church lately. And then we went to Wendy's for lunch, and then came home to read some more! That's about the only thing that has happened lately that is of interest- getting FIFTY new books in one day. What have you been doing lately?  ~Caitlyn

From My Bookshelf

I am sick and tired of this shutdown. The libraries are closed, and I am thirsting for some new books. Instead of my weekly library trip, I have been re-reading some of my old favorites. These are the ones I have been reading this past week. Comment and let me know what some of your favorites are. And don't forget to subscribe!






1. Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott
 This is my favorite book of all time! It gets a five star rating from me! Four sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy experience life's many joys and sorrows as they grow up in 19th century New England.

2. An Old-Fashioned Girl, by Louisa May Alcott
A poor country girl comes to the city to visit her friend, and discovers that being rich isn't everything.

3. The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Mary Lennox is sent to live with her queer uncle in a mansion with 100 rooms after her parents die in India. She has no friends, no happiness..... until she finds the key to a secret garden.

4. Andrea Carter and the Long Ride Home, by Susan K. Marlow
 Andi Carter loves riding her palomino mare, Taffy, on her family's huge ranch in California. But she spends too much time riding, and neglects her chores. Thirsty horses, and a forbidden, near death encounter with a wild stallion make for a very angry older brother. She decides to leave the ranch. But Taffy gets stolen! She feels she cannot return without her beloved mare. When will she find Taffy and go home?

5. Courageous Love, by Susan K. Marlow
 Another book about Andi Carter. She and two of her family members get kidnapped, and only a badly wounded man knows where they are. How will he help them?

So there you are! My 5 favorite books. That I own. I have some other books that I really like, but they are in the library. 

Review of "The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict"

         Nicholas Benedict is a 9 year old orphan with a very rare condition called narcolepsy. If he laughs or cries for more than a few seconds, he falls asleep instantly, and doesn't wake up for an hour or more.
      He lived in an orphanage where everyone was cruel to him except one boy, John Cole.
      Nicholas also had a very special gift for remembering anything he had ever read or seen. This, naturally, was very handy to him.
       With the help of John and a deaf girl named Violet (a girl from the neighboring farm) Nicholas sets off in search of a long-lost treasures. What the treasure is is certainly not what you'd expect it to be. 
    He also outsmarts a gang of bullies who call themselves "The Spiders", which saves a bunch of little children from being bullied, helps get a farmer a much-needed gift to lighten his work load, and generally is the type of boy everyone loves.
    Nicholas Benedict (at age 70 or so) helps bring together the children who form the Mysterious Benedict Society, and they go on a mission to save the world. But the adventures of Reynie, Kate, George "Sticky", and Constance are another story...........


        Books by Trenton Lee Stewart