June 2014 Book: Ten Great Souls by S. Michael Wilcox

(Note: overview for last month's meeting can be found in the post below.)

The book we will be discussing in June will be Ten Great Souls I Want to Meet in Heaven by S. Michael Wilcox.

Book Description:

Mormon's teaching to "lay hold upon every good thing" and the Doctrine and Covenant's injunction to "seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom" serve as an invitation to study truth from all cultures and all people. From great individuals of the past we gain valuable insights and cultural perspectives, and we are inspired by their triumphs over life's challenges.

In 10 Great Souls I Want to Meet in Heaven, author S. Michael Wilcox profiles the lives of his "best friends history," ten individuals who have tutored his soul as well as his mind and whom he wants to meet in the hereafter.

The list includes Saint Patrick, the slave who was not Irish; Saint Francis of Assisi, the son of a wealthy Italian merchant who became a Catholic friar; Joan of Arc, a French peasant who became a national heroine; Mencius, a Chinese philosopher; Khadija and Aisha, wives of and helpmeets to the prophet Mohammad; Siddhartha, who became the Buddha; Charles Darwin, the English scientist and naturalist; Sir Ernest Shackleton, who spend much of his life as a polar explorer; George MacDonald, the Scottish author, poet, and Christian minister who inspired, among others, C.S. Lewis; and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the prominent English poet, whose love for her husband, Robert Browning, and its reciprocation, are the stuff of Legend.

(This book can be purchased from Amazon or Deseret Book. The American Fork library currently has only one copy of the book.)

Author Bio:

S. Michael Wilcox received his PhD from the University of Colorado and taught for many years at the LDS Institute of Religion adjacent to the University of Utah. He has spoken to packed crowds at BYU Education Week and has hosted tours to the Holy Land and to Church history sites. He has served in a variety of callings, including as bishop and counselor in a stake presidency. He has written many articles and books, including House of Glory, Sunset, 10 Great Souls I Want to Meet in Heaven, and Finding Hope. He and his late wife, Laurie, are the parents of five children.

May 2014: Meeting Overview

The books we will be reading for each month have been planned out for the next 8 months. (Yay!) You can find them on the side of this blog. We are in need of discussion leaders for all books / months besides June's book. If you'd like the opportunity to be the discussion leader for one (or more) of those books please email the group.

Here are other topics that were discussed:

Fun Summer Adventure Books:

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

 The Mysterious Benedict Society

The Mad Scientist Club

Where the Red Fern Grows

Michael Vey

The False Prince

Hatchet

Brian's Winter & The River (alternate endings to The Hatchet)

The Thief by Meglen Turner

Captain Blood

The Cat of Bubastes (G.A. Henty book)

Enchanted by Kontis

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins

Other Recommended Book / Books Mentioned:

The Boys Guide to Historical Adventures (G.A. Henty books guide)

Animal Farm (one of the books The Hunger Games author used to help her write her book)

Finding God in the Hunger Games

Left to Tell

5000 Year Leap

The New Strong's Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible

The Lottery (short story) (not sure on author or exact book, anyone?)

Cooked (not sure on author or exact book - anyone?)

Other Things Mentioned:

learnliberty.org (had video classes that taught about the lessons that can be learned from the book The Hunger Games)

Also Mentioned (homeschool groups, co-ops / organizations:

FLA

RISEUP

George Mueller

ESP & MAP: Harmony Programs

August's Meeting

August Meeting Minutes:

~ We changed our Tuesday book club meetings back to Wednesday's. So book club will now be held every third Wednesday, at Shauna's house at 7pm.

~ We made a few changes to our meetings schedule. The changes are as follows:

        * From 7-8, following an opening prayer, will be our in depth book discussion time. There will now be a book discussion leader for every book. They will be in charge of leading the book discussion for this hour. This will allow us to have deeper discussions about the book and enrich our experiences while there.

        * From 8-10 we'll go into our "book club business", good news minute, start snacking and continue on with any remaining discussion about the book but will also use this time to discuss the topic of homeschooling (like we normally do).

~ We planned out what books we'll be reading for the next 8 months!!! They are as follows:

September:..........Do Hard Things by Alex & Brett Harris. (Discussion leader: Claudia)
October:.............Teach Like Your Hair is on Fire. (Discussion leader: Shauna) -or- Deconstructing Penguins. (Discussion leader: Marilyn)
November:.........Fourth Turning (Discussion leaders: Denise {part one}, Shauna {part two}, Emily {part three}
December: ........Picture books and white elephant book exchange.
January: ............Les Miserables (unabridged or abridged)
February: .........Red Scarf Girl
March: ............The Naked Communist
April: ..............How to Read a Book by Adler
May:...............Unbroken

Pretty exciting stuff!

Here are books that were mentioned during the meeting:

~Teach the Children
~The Universe Next Door
~How to Think About the Great Ideas
~ The Boys Guide to the Historical Adventures
~How to Raise an American
~The Book of Mormon Stories for Young Latter-Day Saints
~Illustrated Stories from the Book of Mormon - Heritage Media
~Big Ideas for Little Kids
~How to Kill 11 Million People
~A Lantern in Her Hand

Other resources mentioned:

~Story of the World
~Let's Make Music
~My Tech High

Our next meeting will be held on September 19th. We will be meeting at Shauna's at 7pm and will be discussing: Do Hard Things.

"A generation stands on the brink of a "rebelution." A growing movement of young people is rebelling against the low expectations of today's culture by choosing to "do hard things" for the glory of God.  And Alex and Brett Harris are leading the charge.

Do Hard Things is the Harris twins' revolutionary message in its purest and most compelling form, giving readers a tangible glimpse of what is possible for teens who actively resist cultural lies that limit their potential.

Combating the idea of adolescence as a vacation from responsibility, the authors weave together biblical insights, history, and modern examples to redefine the teen years as the launching pad of life.  Then they map out five powerful ways teens can respond for personal and social change.

Written by teens for teens, Do Hard Things is packed with humorous personal anecdotes, practical examples, and stories of real-life rebelutionaries in action. This rallying cry from the heart of an already-happening teen revolution challenges a generation to lay claim to a brighter future, starting today.

"Most people don't expect you to understand what we're going to tell you in this book. And even if you understand, they don't expect you to care. And even if you care, they don't expect you to do anything about it. And even if you do something about it, they don't expect it to last. We do." – Alex and Brett"

Until then!

~ Claudia

February's Meeting

The meeting was wonderful - as usual. We spiced it up a little by going to a stake center to listen to Shauna's friend talk. Then went back to Jessica's, talked some more, and enjoyed Jessica's home made pumpkin bread...yummy!

Here's a few things I had said I'd post on this blog:

Nicholeen Peck's "Self-Government" teachings.
Awesome TED talk about practical wisdom from Barry Swartz (political views aren't necessarily mine :) )
Where I get my current news articles from which we discuss in our home.

The science book we are using is called World of Science and it's a Parragon book. I got it from Barnes and Noble. It has simple yet detailed explanations, lots of illustrations, tells briefly about the different scientists who discovered the different scientific concepts throughout the book, and has simple science experiments at the back of the book.

So our next book is going to be Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis which will be held on the third Thursday at 6:30 pm.

Anyone want to host?

It was a great discussion last night - can't wait until we meet again.

Jessica's 2 cents

Hello, Ladies!

I always look forward to our meetings the entire month. This time, however, I am sick - sick enough to miss our meeting. I was especially looking forward to this meeting so that I could tell you all in person how grateful I am for each of you, for your prayers, and your kind and thoughtful words. I have learned so much from this experience. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Another reason I am sad to miss tonight is that I LOVE picture books. Some of my favorites that I would have brought tonight are: Dex (formerly Superdog): The Heart of a Hero by Caralyn and Mark Buehner; Julius, Baby of the World by Kevin Henkes (or really any picture book by him!); Yertle the Turtle and Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss. These are only a few of my favorites.

We often talk about service. We have had some wonderful experiences lately. We dusted the children's section at the library. We watched our neighbor's twin babies so that they could pack to move. I read this blog article and thought it was a wonderful idea that I plan on implementing as soon as I am well enough to have a complete thought: http://dianehopkins.blogspot.com/2008/12/secret-service-star.html Be sure to check out her other posts as well, especially the one about fitting in. Wow.

I hope you all have a wonderful time tonight and drive safely in this Winter Wonderland! Lots of love and wishes for a Merry Christmas!

Next Meeting

Our next meeting is coming up this Thursday, December the 18th .

It'll be at 6:30 pm at Claudia's house.

We are discussing (and bringing) our favorite picture books.

Can't wait to see you all there!!!

March's Book

I realized that we had already planned into February.

Does this still sound alright to everyone?

Jan - Fourth Turning (again)
Feb - Laddie