One Shelf at a Time - Shelf 4

Moving on to the dining room, where there are three more Billy bookcases, all six shelves tall - one either side of the window, and a third joining the left hand bookcase cornerwise, adjacent to the dresser. I am starting with the top shelf of this one.

This shelf has smaller homeschooling books, including the series of Charlotte Mason's own writings, a few history books including Robert Lacey's three volume Great Tales from English History, and a few random books that don't belong anywhere else. Double stacked in front are a handful of books I have listed on Book Mooch that are waiting for a home. The three books I have picked out to share with you are:

I Buy a School by Marion Berry. This autobiography is one of the least well known of the various Charlotte Mason related books I have. The author trained at CM's House of Education at Ambleside in the late 1920s, spent a little time as a governess, then taught for over forty years in PNEU schools - thirty years of those as headmistress. The book is an easy read, and I like it for the insight it gives into the way a CM style education worked out in practice.

Autumn by Susan Branch is suitably seasonal. I had never come across Susan Branch's books until I picked this one up in the discount section of Borders. I get the impression they are popular in the US, but have never really made it across the Atlantic. This book is a mix of crafts and recipes for autumn. So far I haven't actually tried any of them, but the book itself is a feast for the eyes. All the pages are beautifully illustrated, giving it the look of a personal, and very artistic, diary. Worth owning just to look at.

Collins Tracing Your Family History by Anthony Adolph. A reference manual for both would-be and experienced genealogists. I dabble in genealogy periodically, and while I have a fairly good grasp of the basic record sources, this book gives lots of ideas for moving beyond the hunt for births, marriages and deaths.