Jim is still reading the James Bond novels by Ian Fleming, which are currently enjoying a new vogue. I have Live and Let Die in my "to read" pile, but have only read a few pages so far, as I have gotten stuck into several other things.
The children and I are reading The Penderwicks, one of the recommended books for the fourth graders preparing for next month's Battle of the Books among our local elementary schools. Not sure what the format of this upcoming competition will be, but we're trying to plow through as many of the books as we can.
I am nearly finished with The Fourth Part of the World: The Race to the Ends of the Earth, and the Epic Story of the Map that Gave America its Name. I have to admit that when I bought this book, I thought it was fiction. I quickly discovered otherwise as soon as I opened it, but it has really sucked me in! Geography, history, religion, the humanities; they're all in there. It has all the elements of a good story - political intrigue, deception, romance... It's really a great book; I would highly recommend it.
Today Jim and I went to Jos. A. Bank over at the Breton Village Mall, so he could pick out a new tie to match (well, sort of) Esme's new dress for the Daddy-Daughter Dinner next week. That mall also happens to be the home of Pooh Corner, a local independent bookseller and a favorite place of mine. So I went to Pooh Corner while Jim was occupied looking for brass collar stays (*sigh*), and picked up a copy of Where the Red Fern Grows for Aidan, who said he was reading it at school and wanted one for home. (We try to fulfill our children's requests for books, whenever and wherever they crop up.) I was browsing about and a bright red book caught my eye. It's called The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure, by Hans Magnus Enzensberger.
I was intrigued, so I bought it and started to read it in the car on the way home. This is fabulous! I bought it for myself, and thought I might see if the children were interested in it, but now I'm thinking it should be required reading for elementary school students! It makes complex abstract number theory so easy and applicable to children, and it's very well written. Very funny, too. The first chapter dealt with the importance and usefulness of the number 1; the second with the discovery of 0 and the reasons we need it; and the third with prime numbers, how they're determined, and why they're special. The fourth chapter I'm reading now, and it goes into the infinity of numbers, repeating decimals, and more. And it's all so easy!
So quite without meaning to, I'm into two books of nonfiction and very much enjoying both of them.