Farmer's Daughter Quilt Block and What's on Your Nightstand?

Farmer's Daughter Quilt Block Pattern Information

I'm participating in the monthly feature, What's on Your Nightstand?
Participants post what they've been reading the past month as well as what they're planning to read in the future.

Baby Board Books:
This month my husband and I began a Grand Book Club with our nine-month-old grandson who lives in another state.  I sent him some books and bought copies of the same books for us.  Ahead of time, his parents read the books to him several times, so he would be familiar with them.  We connected on Face Time, and I read aloud Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton to him while he followed along with his own book.  His dad sat with him, but my grandson  turned the pages.  Later, we had another book club "meeting," and I read Pajama Time! by Sandra Boynton while he and his mom followed along with their own book.  It is hard living so far from our grandson, but modern technology has made it easier to have a good relationship.  I keep all of our book club books together, so we can quickly have a book club "meeting" whenever our grandson is up for one.  

 

 

Picture Books:    
With my third graders at school, we read the typical version of the fairy tale
Cinderella along with Bubba the Cowboy Prince by Helen Ketteman.  One boy was horrified that I was expecting him to read Cinderella but quickly got into it once he saw that we were comparing/contrasting it to Bubba the Cowboy Prince! 

Middle Grade/Young Adult Books:
I am currently reading Wayside School Is Falling Down by Louis Sachar with one group of 5th graders.  These are wonderful books for reluctant readers.  It makes my day when a student reads ahead of his assigned pages!  It's all they can do not to tell us what's going to happen next! 

With my other group of 5th graders, I'm reading Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patterson, 1978 Newbery Medal winner. 

For the Third Annual Laura Ingalls Wilder Reading Challenge,  I read Little House in the Big Woods and Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  These are re-reads for me.  I love these books, but it is more fun for me to read them with children!  My family and I have visited the Little House on the Prairie site near Independence, Kansas.  I also read Little House on the Prairie as part of the Reading to Know Classics Book Club. 

Book Club Books:
For the free, online Quilters' Book Club, I read Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini.  You can read all my posts about this book right here.

My local book club read The History of Love by Nicole Krauss.  To be honest, I did not get all the way through it.  I found it very confusing, as did most of the other book club members.  I wish I had read a summary of it ahead of time;  that might have made it more understandable.  I should have probably taken notes along the way.  And I didn't realize until a member pointed it out to us that there was a symbol at the beginning of each chapter to let readers know which character was narrating that chapter.  I give myself permission to not finish a book I really don't like!

Audio Books:
I listened to Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother written and read by Amy Chua.  "Amy Chua explores the differences in Chinese and American parenting styles and how both cultures clash and overlap in her own life as she raises two daughters."  While I certainly don't agree with the ultra-strict, demanding way she raised her daughters, I think there are some things American parents can learn from her.  

What's on Your Nightstand?  Inquiring minds want to know!  Answer in the comment section below.  By commenting, you'll be entered to win a copy of Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini, courtesy of Plume Books.  If you are reading this via email, you must click on the title of my blog post to be able to comment and read the comments of others.  The two winners will be announced on March 1.

You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post Writer's Block Quilt Block and an Interview with Author Jennifer Chiaverini.