On the Lake

  My house is just a short walk away from a big, beautiful lake. I've lived near it for ten years, but I'd never gotten the opportunity to go out onto it until our neighbors invited us on a boat trip last Thursday.

  IT WAS SO FUN GUYS.

|my brother, Caleb, steering the boat|

| my grandpa and my brother, Brendan |

 After a while, we stopped at a pretty dock where we walked around a bit and had tea and scones.

| so look at this cute little table with the cute little cups of tea |

| our neighbor's dog, Margo, wearing her life-jacket |

 The weather was gorgeous, everything was beautiful, and there were scones involved. It was a great day.

love, 

Hannah

Desk Clutter

   On a shelf on my desk, I have a stack of notebooks and journals. They're all top secret and super important, and I can't show you what's inside.

   Just kidding. Of course I'll show you!

   The first book in the stack is this little one. I use it to keep track the books I read, and I jot down a few thoughts about each book. I know there's other ways to do this (such as goodreads.com) but I love to have it down on paper, too.

   I love this notebook - my sister got it for me in Paris. It took me a while to decide what to use it for, because I wanted to use it for something special. I eventually decided on using it for my favorite quotes. It's filling up quickly!

   This is my travel diary. When I go on a trip to a different country, I write about all the different things I do and see each day, so I can remember it better afterwards. So far, it's got entries from two countries - Switzerland and Scotland.

   So - Wreck This Journal. This book is crazy. Each page has a task to do - for instance, there's one that says "spill coffee on this page", and one that tells you to crack the spin of the book (oh the horror!). Everyone needs this book in their lives.

   At present, this journal is 100% empty. It's always good to have a couple of those lying around.

  Last but not least, there's My Future Listography. My sister gave this to me (she gives me the coolest stuff). I've mentioned before that I really love making lists - so this book is perfect. There's hundreds of lists to be made in here. 

  And that's it! Those are six books that I clutter up my desk with.

  The three things that I hope you learned from this post are:

1. I don't have cool hand-writing, and it's a terrible pity.

2. I should have used the Paris notebook as my travel diary.

3. Whatever they may say, at least I'm good at scribbling. 

  Now tell me - what do you clutter up your desk with?

love,
Hannah

Summer Lists

 I'm really excited about the upcoming summer holidays.

 One of the things about being homeschooled is that if you get behind in school, you end up with no summer break. I haven't had a school-free summer in years. But this time I will - and that's why I'm so excited, and why I want to make the most of this summer. 

 I made a few summer-related lists (because aren't lists the best thing ever invented?). Here is a few of them.

Goals (for productivity)

- Wake up earlier than usual, not later

- Read my Bible daily

- Finish French and Math

- Memorize some chapters or a book of the Bible (I'm working on James right now)

- Do several SAT practice tests (agh soooo not fun)

- Go running at least 3 times a week

- Start journaling

- Take more photographs, and make a photo-album of them at the end of the summer

Bucket List (for spontaneity)

- go to the beach

- learn a new skill

- bake something I've never made before

- watch all the animated disney classics I haven't seen yet

- go to a museum

- stargaze

- go on a picnic

- make s'mores

- wake up to see the sunrise (and leave the camera behind)

- go to the zoo

- go to at least one place in Ireland that I've never been to before

- swim in the lake

- have a water-balloon fight

- do a diy project

- make homemade icecream

- go to a farmer's market

- bake cookies for someone 

- have a movie marathon

- read a book in a day

- send a postcard

- film a video

Books (for knowledge & enjoyment)

Classics:

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

Watership Down by Richard Adams

Non-fiction:

Christian History Made Easy by Timothy Paul Jones

History Lives series by Mindy and Brandom Withrow

Think Biblically by John MacArthur & Others

It is Not Death to Die: A New Biography of Hudson Taylor by Jim Cromarty

Series to Continue/Complete:

Complete at least 3 series from my Series-to-Continue Goodreads shelf

Continue at least 2 series from same shelf

Other:

The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope

Briar Rose by Jane Yolen

The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson

Overambitious? Definitely. But it'll just be fun to see how much I can get done in the next few months.

Do you have any goals and plans for the upcoming summer?

love, 

Hannah

Top Ten Book Covers I'd Frame As Pieces of Art

I love pretty books. I could stare at them forever.

Today I'm linking up to The Broke and the Bookish's meme to show off a couple of my favorite book covers...I want all of these hanging on my wall.

The Goose Girl 

by Shannon Hale

It's a work of art. The colors, the crackly-ness, the everything.

Cinder

  by Marissa Meyer

Look at the font. Look at the cyborg leg. Look at the shiny red heel. It's simple but super cool.

 

The King of Attolia

 by Megan Whalen Turner

I love the detail in this, and I love the colors. It's probably my favorite cover in the series (and they're all gorgeous).

The Adventures of Robin Hood 

by Roger Lancelyn Green

All of the cloth-bound Puffin Classics are to die for. This one is my favorite. Ohmygoshsopretty.

The Magician's Elephant  

by Kate Dicamillo

I think it's the font on this one that gets to me. It's like a vintage circus poster. The floating elephant makes everything better.

The Little Prince

 by Antoine De Saint-Exupery

This one's just so cute. If I were to frame it, though, I'd want that yellow sticker gone.

The Book Thief  

by Markus Zusak

Because I had to.

The Thief Lord 

by Cornelia Funke

The color, the font, the gorgeous illustration. Woah.

The Mysterious Benedict Society 

by Trenton Lee Stewart

This one is so detailed and so quirky. Love, love, love.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe 

by C. S. Lewis

I love this vintage version of LWW. Narnia needs to be represented on my wall, and I think this is the perfect cover to do that.

And that's all of them! What do you think of these choices? I'd also love to hear what your favorite book covers are!

love, 

Hannah

Hauling Books

Alternative Titles:

"Oops, I Bought Some Books"

"Show and Tell: Books Edition"

"Hannah Further Adds to Her Pile of Unread Books"
"I Don't Always Buy Books, But When I Do..."

 I love getting things that I've ordered in the post. It's like getting a present from myself. Especially if it a book. That's the best.

 A while ago, much to my excitement, I found out that I was one of the fourteen winners in a photo contest. The prize was a voucher for 50 euros.What did I spend most of it on? Books! What a surprise...

 I'm a big fan of the "Book Haul" posts and videos that other bookish people do. I thought it would be fun to do one myself! So here we go:

 I bought books from two different places: BookDepository.com, and a used bookshop in my town.

 First off, here's what I bought from Book Depository:

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - €8.00 ($11)

This is one of my favorite books (in the whole world ever), so I was really excited to finally buy my own copy (really, really excited).

The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson - €7.00 ($9.50)

Like I said in a previous post, I've been meaning to read more Christian fiction. This book is a fairy-tale retelling by a Christian author. It sounds really good!

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo - €11.00 ($15)

 I love Les Mis, so I thought I should give the book a try. It's a huge book, but I'm planning on reading it this summer. (Even though the cover art is pretty ugly. Dirty shoes? What?!)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - €8.00 ($11)

I've heard a lot of good things about this classic. It sounds like a really sweet book, and I think I'm going to like it.

These next books are from the used bookshop in my town. The shop is tiny, but I always find some treasures there!

Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers - €1 ($1.38)

 I've always liked the Disney film version of this book, and after watching Saving Mr. Banks I was interested in reading the book. I was happy to spot this on the shelf!

Now We Are Six by A. A. Milne- €1 

 This is a book of poetry by the author of Winnie-the-Pooh. I love this book, and I couldn't pass by such a pretty copy of it.

The Happy Prince & Other Stories by Oscar Wilde - €1 

I've been wanting to read this for a long time. I've already read the first short story, "The Happy Prince" and really liked it. I'm sure the rest of the stories are just as good.

Horseradish by Lemony Snicket- €2.50 ($3.44)

This is a little book full of sayings and quotes by Lemony Snicket. He's practically the King of Quotes, so I figured this was bound to be brilliant.

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli- €2.50 ($3.44)

I bought this one because I had heard about it for years and it always sounded interesting to me. Plus, the gorgeously pink cover made it hard to pass up. I read it last month, and I absolutely adored it.

Altogether, these books cost €42, which is about €4.60 apiece.

“When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes.”
― Desiderius Erasmus

Have you read any of these books?

love, 
Hannah