dafyddclover's reviews
19 reviews

The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life is Worth More Than Anything You Can Buy in a Store by Cait Flanders
Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.

I liked the premise of the book, but it was full of a lot of fatphobia and classism and ultimately wasn't enjoyable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Fatphobia

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Classism

Minor: Sexual content

Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell

adventurous funny informative fast-paced

4.0

A fun look at Lafayette's relationship with early America in Sarah Vowell's distinctive style. If you like history and NPR it is a fun one. Audiobook is read by the author, with a cast of actors reading the quotes.

A Short History of the World According to Sheep by Sally Coulthard

dark informative lighthearted fast-paced

3.75

A pretty quick romp through the human relationship with sheep. It goes from lighthearted fun facts to traumatic events pretty quickly and without warning, and is a little sloppy with the order of some me events, but was overall fairly fun and I learned a ton. Worth a read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Genocide, and War

Minor: Animal death

Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution by Mike Duncan

adventurous challenging hopeful informative medium-paced

5.0

A well done and honest portrayal, obviously written with a lot of love, while also being unflinching in its criticisms.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I wanted to read this with my 9 year old as part of our study of colonial america because it is such a well beloved classic. It was a decent read aloud, but honestly I think it is loved mostly out of nostalgia. The casual racism is a problem, as is the fact that the central romance is basically "he only teases you because he likes you!" And while it gave some details about the era, it seems to count on the reader to already know quite a lot. I like the message of accepting difference but there's way better historical fiction out there.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Racism

Teach Your Own: The John Holt Book of Homeschooling by John Holt, Pat Farenga
Did not finish book. Stopped at 32%.

The writing style just really doesn't work for my brain, it's all anecdotes. I wanted to read it and appreciate it since so many people seem to find ND inspiration in John Holts work, but it was just obnoxious.

Success Without School: Unschooling My Children from Birth to College by Jean Proffitt Nunnally

reflective medium-paced

1.5

This is not a book about unschooling or homeschooling, rather it's a poorly written memior about how two kids with a shell oil exec for a father and a crunchy stay at home mom graduated from college. There was a little info, insight, and perspective, near the front half of the book, hence the 1.5 stars. But mostly you'll find details you didn't need about the moms workout routine and how many credit hours the kids took in college. Rather than practical advice on how to work with others she states that their homeschool community "just came together naturally." And there is no reckoning whatsoever with that fact that for tons of kids who can't teach themselves to read, this approach can be a disaster. 

The Genius of Home: Teaching Your Children at Home with the Waldorf Curriculum by Catherine Read

slow-paced

3.0

This book is barely about his homeschooling, it is primarily about how much the author, an anthroposophist, loves anthroposophy and the Waldorf curriculum. It was interesting but take it with a huge grain of salt.

Kingdom of Children: Culture and Controversy in the Homeschooling Movement by Mitchell Stevens

informative reflective slow-paced

3.5

This was an interesting look into the history of home education in America, but the nature of the book leaves a lot to be desired. The author takes people at their word which, in a lot of cases, means missing a whole lot of context. He ends of giving a sunny view of some organizations that we know now have advocated for mistreatment of children. So read with a huge grain of salt.

Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our Future by Patty Krawec

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad fast-paced

5.0

This book was phenomenal. A great, though hard, way to come to better understanding of indigenous displacement in the United States and Canada. I will be recommending it to others.