A not-inclusive list of things that are delighting us:
Audiobooks:
James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small – this marvelous trip in time, geography, and career has captivated our whole family.
Nightwatch – sly, satiric yet full of heart, dramatic. Originally bought for me to listen to as I walked the dog on cold, dark, winter nights, it became a couple thing, and now Sandra can’t get enough Terry Pratchett on audio.
Tales from the Odyssey -another dramatic family favourite.
Read Alouds
Percy Jackson and the Olympians – Wow. How can I not have heard of this series before?! We started it on our camping trip and the kids and Rainer were begging me to read it all through the day and not just at bedtimes. I didn’t let them know any of the plot before we started the first one, and as the Greek themes revealed themselves they were delighted and agog. Funny narrator, dramatic and gripping plotline, memorable world.
The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh – You’re never too old. This is cracking the kids and me right up.
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Read silently
Rainer: Out Stealing Horses (after a review from Lolly Knitting Around)
Me: Mysteries of the Middle Ages: And the Beginnings of the Modern World – witty and interesting, and I’m always up for a good book on the Middle Ages
Sandra: Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident – “It’s really good, Mom. You should read it.”
Tias: it’s all Calvin and Hobbes these days
Blogs
Dear Amanda – I dug this up the other day for a La Leche League meeting I was leading. It does such a marvelous job of describing the roller coaster ride that is mindful parenting. It makes me laugh and cry. Ironically, I couldn’t use it at the meeting because there were so many babies and toddlers there that we were all too busy parenting to listen to a long essay.
Makeunder My Life – addition through subtraction
DVDs
From the Earth to the Moon – Wow.
Elizabeth I – Complicated woman, fabulous clothes, with dashes of goriness thrown in to remind you of the reality of the times
Handmade Homeschool 
Thanks for the varied recommendations – I look forward to checking some of them out. What did Rainier think of _Out Stealing Horses_?
The Complete Herriott is an annual read for me. So many memorable characters and good memories of reading them with my Grandmother one summer.
[Can’t resist….] hehehe if you read my blog you’d have met Percy!! My daughter read it and loved it earlier this year!! With no homeschoolers, my blog is evolving more and more into a reading blog. I hated the Odyssey, but both my kids are huge fans–go figure! A dramatic cd version just might be appreciated–thanks for the tip!
Tias– you have GREAT taste in reading material. Next, try Doonesbury–start at the beginning so it makes sense! No need to ever take American History if you read it from the start!
Love hearing what you’re all into right now. I hadn’t heard of the Percy Jackson series before, but popped straight over and reserved the first one at our library. My older two are all about reading aloud these days. 🙂
Both Herriott & Winnie the Pooh are regular reads for me, ones I grew up on. I can remember riding the school bus home, laughing while I read a Herriott book, to the bewilderment of my bus-mates.
On Aug 2 I blogged about the Percy Jackson series. My 9 year old is reading book one to himself. I want to read the series. Glad to hear you like it so far!
I immediately zoomed in on the “Chosen Collection”, which also graces my shelves, and thought “she MUST have good taste.”
how did you know I needed a new book to sink my teeth into, and Thomas Cahill nonetheless. yeehaw. It’s on my goodreads to-read list now! Thanks.
Oh, Terry Pratchett is so much fun! We listened to one of the books on CD a while back, and the kids were laughing and quoting it for days and days.
And I’m glad you’re all enjoying Percy Jackson. My kids are counting the days until the movie opens.
Me: Three Cups of Tea
Spouse: Marx by Terry Eagleton
EcoKid (being read aloud to her; she’s 3): Ramona the Pest
EcoBabe: Winter Babies Wear Layers… over and over and over despite us sitting here in the Mediterranean heat!
Thank you for sharing your recommendations…you did the hard part for me and now we can enjoy!
Thanks so much for recommending my blog, I’m glad you are enjoying it. Please feel free to email me (jess@jesslc.com) with any ideas or suggestions you have :).
We discovered Percy last summer and had a ball… it was hard waiting for the fifth to come our this June! Glad you enjoyed it.
Delurking to say that I’ve recently discovered Terry Pratchett as well, and am *so glad* there are 38 Discworld books! By the time I read them all, I’ll have forgotten the plots of the ones I read first and will be able to start over. He’s amazingly sly and funny.
We LOVE Pooh stories!! Yes. My daughter and I laugh the whole way through. I’m so enjoying your blog. Thank you!
Thanks for the suggestions. We’re members of Audible, so I’m heading over there now.
And I adore Terry Pratchett! (also noticed the Buffy dvd in your bookshelf. 🙂 I just started watching that series on hulu because I love Firefly and thought I’d check out Joss’s other work.)