150 Books in 2013

I tried the goal of 200 books in 2012.  I have horrible insomnia and doing things around the house was disturbing all the lucky ones that were able to sleep.  Plus spending a lot of time in waiting rooms and hospital rooms, I had a lot of free time.  After Tin Man died, I lowered it to 150 books, but it wasn't possible to do. I wasn't into reading for a large part of the year. I just didn't care.

So I'm going to try it again this year. 150 books.

Please if you have any recommendations (that aren't full of sappy love stories or long drawn out love story vs death) please let me know.


I started the Besty Vampire Queen series before Christmas.  The new year started with book 5.

1. Undead and Unpopular - MaryJanice Davidson
2. Undead and Uneasy - MaryJanice Davidson
3. Undead and Unworthy - MaryJanice Davidson
4. Undead and Unwelcome - MaryJanice Davidson
5. Undead and Unfinished  - MaryJanice Davidson 
6. Undead and Undermined - MaryJanice Davidson 
7. Undead and Unstable - MaryJanice Davidson

I Love My Kindle

When the Kindle first came out I vowed I'd never get one.  I love reading books.  I love the way they smell and the way they feel.

Then in 2009 when Tin Man was in the hospital for 2 weeks and I was lugging around a bag full of books, I decided to give in.

Aldiko is an app for android phones.  I used that up until a month ago.    It's a great app, but it drained the battery on my phone really fast.  This was a problem when we were at clinic or the hospital because I didn't always have access to an outlet.

So when my mother in law asked what I wanted for Christmas this past year I asked for a Kindle.

I was rather surprised that her and my brother in law went in together to get it because normally I get cow related crap for Christmas.  They think its hilarious to get me cow crap because I hit a cow with my car several years ago.

Anyway, the only complaint I had about my Kindle was it didn't have a backlight.  Not a problem, I went out and bought a book light.  The 2 I bought were to heavy so I invested in a lighted Kindle cover.  I wish they would have come in different colors.  I chose the green one because it was on sale, and let me tell you this thing reminds me of several diapers I changed when my kids were little.

I read a lot and the kindle lets me have a variety of books at my finger tips.  A good friend and I decided to try to read 200 books in a year.  Granted if Tin Man gets his heart transplant its not going to work.  If he does get his transplant I'm going to aim for 150.

I'll update my list as I finish books.

200 Books in 2012

How I Get My Kids To Read

I've had a few people ask me how I get my kids to read.

When Warrior was in kindergarten I had to fight with him to read.  I always love to read, and loved reading even more to my kids when they were babies.  I had hoped that my reading to him every night would make him love to read.  Nope.  I constantly had to fight with him to read a book himself.  If I sat there with him he would read it as long as I took turns with him, but he wouldn't read one all by himself.

So I came up with Book Bucks.  They could then turn in this "money" for things they wanted or wanted to do.   Over the years as they've gotten into chapter books and then the big chapter books my prices have gone up.

When they were younger I printed up some slips of paper with numbers on them that I gave the so they could physically see them.  Now that they are older they have some old check book registers that they fill out. 


They used to bring me the book and tell me about it.  What they liked about it, what they didn't like about it.  Then I would hand over the money.

Now that they are older they each have a clipboard with a sheet hanging in our learning area.  On the paper they write the names of the books they've read, how many pages, a short summary, and one thing they liked or disliked about the book.  They know the summary must be different than the one on the back of the book or they won't receive their Book Bucks for that book.

Then every other Friday I will go through their lists and figure out how many Book Bucks they each got for that period.

Over the years I've been able to turn this into something more than just bribing them to read.  They've learned what inflation is.  They've also learned how to budget and save for what they really want.

For Sugar Pea her prices are
                           $0.50 - a picture book.
                           $2 - $5 for a chapter book depending on how many pages it has.

For Warrior -
                           $0.25 - for a picture book
                           $2 - $5 for a small chapter book
                           $5 - $10 for a larger chapter book

They can use the Book Bucks for extra TV time, or an extra half hour of video games.  They also have the option of using them for an extra family movie night or extra family game night.

They can also save up for big things.

$500 - an extra mom/dad and me day a month. 
$1000 - for a new video game/toys - but they have to pay for part of it with their allowance.
$5000 - we will take them an a friend to the local boardwalk for a day.

Before anyone says anything about the mom/dad an me day.  We have these a few times a month.  We will take the kids out for one on one time.  Sugar Pea and I will go for a trail hike or get mani/pedis.  Warrior and I have gone to the batting cages or mini golf.  Their dad takes them for hot chocolate at Starbucks, or for ice cream.  


Its time for the kids to talk to them about anything they want without having the sibling there with them.  When they buy an extra day they get to plan it.  They plan where we go, what we do, and what we talk about.  Its their day to be in charge.

The kids' school also helps with them wanting to read.  If they read a certain number of books a year they get a carnival at the end of the year.  This carnival includes several inflatable things like bounce houses or slides.  They also have game booths where they earn tickets and can use those tickets for raffles or to buy things like popcorn or caramel apples.  Even the middle school kids look forward to this.

I know some parents may not agree with my methods of getting my kids to read, but this works for us. 

To Read Lists

So much stress causes for many sleepless nights.  Since my husband has to sleep propped up on the couch (he can't breathe if he lays flat in bed) it leaves little for me to do during these nights.  So I find myself either reading or surfing the web.

Last night I decide to go through my To Read List and check off the ones I've already read.

That didn't take long so I decided to go through and add more to my list.

I love Shelfari because I can browse all sorts of books.  By series, themes, authors, and so many more.  Going through I found not only books I want to read, but books I read when I was younger.

I was so excited when I came across Anne of Green Gables.  Those were my favorite books when I was younger, I easily read each book in the series.  It was also one of my favorite tv shows.  I took those books with me where ever I went and would pull them out every chance I got.  I wish I still had my books so I could give them to Sugar Pea.  Every night we read together before she goes to sleep, and I would love to read these books with her.  She loves this mommy and her time so much she was telling me the other day that she wants more books for Christmas.

So I got to looking on Amazon and found the complete Anne of Green Gables boxed set.  I also found the Little House set, Junie B. Jones set 1-4, and Junie B. Jones set 5-8.  I can't wait until Christmas so we can start reading all of these together.

Shelfari also gave me a lot of ideas on books for Warrior.  He's been into Harry Potter for the last 3 years, but is finally getting tired of reading those same books and looking for new ones.  I bought him Percy Jackson 5 book set, Eragon series set,and The Golden Compass series.

Normally we get all our books at the library, but living in a small town they don't always have what we want which gets frustrating, fast.  Plus both of the kids have asked if they can start their own libraries in their rooms.

I figure if they are willingly asking for me to buy them more books, I'm not going to turn them down.