Book Week Two - B is for Biography

This month my mind seems to be on non fiction so will continue the theme for the rest of January.   I seldom read biographies and autobiographies, thinking they would be dry and boring.  However, once started home schooling discovered many interesting ones, not only for kids but for me as well.   From the presidents and their wives, to saints to philosophers to monks to civil rights leaders, there are many choices.  And surprisingly, they aren't all dry as dust.   

Mount Rushmore

Last year I stumbled upon the U.S. Presidents Reading Project and liked the idea so decided to join in and start reading about the lives of the presidents. I am going to read through the list consecutively from beginning to end.  The project is perpetual so my goal this year is to read about George Washington and John Adams.    I picked up His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph Ellis and John Adams by David McCullough.  So while my son and I reading George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster together,  I'll be reading His Excellency. 

Autobiographies I currently have sitting on the shelves waiting to be read are St. Augustine's Confessions and Teresa of Avila which are also classics, so perhaps I should add them to my list of classics to read this year.

Who would you like to read an autobiography or biography about?  

Presidents - one at a time

I figured I'd chime in after the post today about the U.S. President's Reading Project.
I decided to start this year so in June I began, logically, with a biography of George Washington. I read Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation by Richard Norton Smith.

It only covered his years as president and I realized I wanted to know more about his life before and during the Revolution. It was certainly interesting reading about the presidency. Mainly, I learned that most of our Founding Fathers had differences with each other.

Jefferson and Hamilton were on very different wavelengths and Washington did a lot of intervention there. No one seemed to respect Adams much (or at least the author of the biography didn't have much to say about him). Washington did seem to consider setting precedent and trying to ride a line between setting a formal tone for the office without looking like he was trying to be royalty.

Now I am reading through John Adams by David McCullough. I am about half way through - the Revolution has been won and he is the representative to Great Britain. Obviously in this book Adams is a much more dynamic character with a lot of good traits and accomplishments. ;-) He even got along well with Jefferson when they served in Congress and in Paris together. In this book, it is Franklin who gets short shrift. To that end, I picked up a biography of Franklin to read when I finish John Adams. I'm also interested in reading about Samuel Adams based on some things I've read. John Jay also seems to be an interesting figure. The list goes on....

I am enjoying revisiting early American history. I read with a bit more discernment and enjoy following the links. I know others who are doing the President's project who are not going in chronological order. I can see benefits to that too, but so far I'm enjoying watching the progression through history.

I picked up a copy of Truman by David McCullough, we'll see how long it takes me to get there.

Week 32 - Book 33

Week 32 - Book 33

Today is the start of Week 32 in the quest to read 52 books in 52 weeks and should have you starting book # 33. We are more than halfway through the year and halfway towards our goal of reading 52 books for the year.

I came across this wonderful project today started by Lezlie of Books and Border Collies. She created this website - U.S. Presidents Reading Project which has a list of all the presidents and links to suggested lists of books to read more about them. There is also a link on the site to the white house with mini biographies on each president.

The rules are easy:

1. Read at least one non-fiction book about each of the U.S. Presidents
2. Take as much time as you need
3. Have fun learning about U.S. history and its leaders

I had planned on doing a U.S. Presidents Unit Study with James for this year and this comes at an opportune time. It sound much more fun and interesting, we'll draw it out a bit, rather than condense the information and we'll turn into a family reading project, concentrating on one president at a time without a time limit. I am so stoked and looking forward to reading and learning more about the presidents.

Check out the U.S. Presidents Reading Project for yourself.