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This Week In History February 3rd-9th

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This Week In History

This week in history we are leaning about an outlaw, an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, a couple of movies, tow authors, two queens, and more.

This Week In History February 3rd-9th

February 3rd

  • 1889 Outlaw Belle Starr was killed when shot twice in the back.
  • 1912 The Sixteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. It gave Congress the right to impose a Federal income tax.

February 4th

  • 1861 Representatives from six Southern States met in Alabama to form a new Independent government headed by Jefferson Davis.
  • 1938 Disney debuted Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

February 5th

  • 1953 Disney’s film Peter Pan debuted.

February 6th

  • 1756 Aaron Burr was born. Aaron Burr was the third U.S. Vice President and the person who killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel.
  • 1952 Princess Elizabeth became Queen of the United Kingdom when her father King George VI, died.

February 7th

  • 1804 John Deere, American manufacture of agricultural implements, was born.
  • 1812 English author Charles Dickens was born.

February 8th

  • 1587 Mary Queen of Scots was executed.
  • 1828 French author of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne was born.

February 9th

  • 1773 William Henry Harrison, the ninth U.S. President was born. He served the shortest term of any U.S President when he caught a cold on inauguration day and died thirty days later.

 

 

 

Books Set In California

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Want to learn more about the state of California or the people that have lived there? We put together a list of some of our favorite books set in California.

Books Set in California

When I challenged myself to read a book about every U.S. state, I had no idea how much I would learn about the different people, places, and cultures that make up the U.S.

The challenge has forced me outside of my reading comfort zone and has taught me so much about the history of states that I never knew.

I have a list of the books that I read for my Nonfiction Books for Every State challenge, but I realize that not everyone wants to read a book about every state. However, I know some of you want to know about a specific state or two. So I decided to put together some lists for the individual states as well.

The Nonfiction Books for Every State Challenge includes only the books that I have read, but there are many of books based in individual states that didn’t fit my challenge. They didn’t fit because they were fiction, I hadn’t read them, or I read them years ago.

The individual state lists will include all kinds of books, but they will all be books that Grace or I have read. We will also update these lists as we read more books based in each state.

Our goal is to share a few states each month. So keep a watch out for the state you are from, the state you live in, or a state that you want to learn more about.

If we missed a book that you think should be added to the list, leave a comment letting us know.

Today’s list is all about the state of California

Rise of the Rocket Girls

Rise of the Rocket Girls 

Rise of the Rocket Girls takes place in the California during the 1940’s and 1950’s. It covers a lot of the history of how that part of California made a big impact during the cold war. This is a great book for those that love science and math related books. I gave this book as a gift to my father in-law who went to college in that area of California because he knew all about the places they mentioned in the book.

Bad Blood

Bad Blood

Bad Blood was one of my favorite books of 2018. This book is a little outside of my normal reading comfort zone, but I loved it. Once I started reading it, I could not put it down. I read it in less than two days.

Bad Blood is one of those books that makes you realize that fact is often stranger than fiction. If I didn’t know that this was a true story, I would have thought I was reading fiction. The writing in Bad Blood draws you into the story in a way few nonfiction do.

I highly recommend this book for anyone, but it would be especially good for anyone that loves science, technology, or medicine.

Riding With Reagan 

Riding with Reagan is not specifically about California, but it contains a lot of information about the time Reagan spent at his ranch in California, so it is a book based in California. It is also a great book to and a little bit of a different view of President Reagan than we usually hear about.

Mission

Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe

Jimmy Stewart was an Academy Award winning actor who starred in many movies that you are probably familiar with. This book isn’t specially about California, but because Jimmy Stewart was an actor for many years, it includes a lot of information about Hollywood and California during his acting years.

The Californios by Louis L'Amour

The Californios

And for a fun fiction read The Californios by Louis L’Amour is a great read. It is a western book about the California Gold Rush. This gives an interesting idea of what California may have been like before and once gold was found in California.

Do you have a favorite book set in California? We would love to hear what it is? 

Read Wherever You Are

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Read Wherever You Are

Want to know how to read more? Read wherever you are.

People often ask me how I am able to read so many books in a year. Well, one of the ways is a simple one. It is to read wherever you are and whenever you have time.

I know that sounds too simple easy, but it is the number one tip I can give you for reading more.

Grace shared the picture above on Instagram a few weeks ago while we were waiting at a doctor’s appointment. Both of us took books with us to the appointment because we knew there would be time to read in the waiting room and in the room waiting for the doctor.

Instead of getting on our phones to browse social media or read the news while we waited, we both read and actually got quite a few pages read.

Read Wherever You Are

We keep a books with us all the time. If you keep a book with you at all times, it makes it easy to grab it and read a few pages while you wait. It doesn’t matter where you are. If you are waiting somewhere, you can usually read.

Books can be a pain to carry around, so get a Kindle to keep in your purse, bag, or on your bedside table. Put the Kindle app, or another app for reading ebooks, on your phone.

My Kindle is full of ebooks, and I have only paid full price for a couple of them. There are always ebook deals, and there are often good ebooks on sale.

Many library have Overdrive or a similar system that lets you check out ebooks.  It is a great way to read more on your Kindle or phone.

A couple of years ago we did Kindle Unlimited. (They currently have a 30 day free trial.) It was well worth it for us at the time. Now my daughter and I use Scribd and love it. There are all kinds of ebooks on Scribd for a monthly fee.

With the technology we have today, it is easy to always have some sort of book or ebook with you.

It is all about making an effort to read, so read while waiting at doctors appointments or for your kids at school pick up. Read while waiting for your kids while they are at music lessons or sports practice. Whenever you can, read a book instead of scrolling Facebook or Instagram.

One of Grace’s favorite quotes of Louis L’amour is “Often I hear people say they do not have time to read. That’s absolute nonsense. In the one year during which I kept that kind of record, I read twenty-five books while waiting for people. In offices, applying for jobs, waiting to see a dentist, waiting in a restaurant for friends, many such places.”

I agree with her that it is a great quote and one to remember. Even if you only get a few pages read, it is still worth it. A few pages here and there quickly add up to a whole book.

Louis L'Amour Reading Quote

This Week In History January 27th-February 2nd

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This Week In History

This week in history we are learning about Texas, Kansas, a WWII battle, The Lone Ranger, a book, an author, a dictionary, Groundhog Day, and more.

This Week In History January 27th-February 2nd

January 27th

  • 1756 Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born.
  • 1832 Author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll, was born.
  • 1888 The National Geographical Society was founded in Washington D.C.

January 28th

  • 1813 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen was first published.
  • 1986 The space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after taking off, killing the crew, including teacher Christa McAuliffe.

January 29th

  • 1843 William McKinley, the twenty-fifth U.S. President, was born.
  • 1861 Kansas became the thirty-fourth U.S. state.

January 30th

  • 1882 Franklin D. Roosevelt, the thirty-second U.S President, was born.
  • 1933 The show Lone Ranger debuted on a Detroit, MI radio station.

January 31st

  • 1915 Germany used poison gas for the first time.
  • 1917 During WWI Germany announced renewal of submarine warfare.

February 1st

  • 1861 Texas seceded from the Union becoming the seventh state to secede.
  • 1884 The first volume of the Oxford English Dictionary was published.

February 2nd

  • 1848 The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed by the U.S. and Mexico ending the Mexican-American War.
  • 1887 The first Groundhog Day was celebrated in Punxutawney, Pennsylvania.
  • 1941 During WWII, The Battle of Stalingrad ended after months of fighting, when German troops surrendered.

 

 

 

 

 

The Way I Heard It ( Podcasts That We Love)

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The Way I Heard It Podcast

Audio books and podcasts are some of our favorite things to listen to. They are a great way to use your time and learn something while doing everyday tasks. They are also a great way for both kids and adults to learn.

You can often find us listening to them in the car, while doing housework, while exercising, and many other times.

It has been awhile since we shared podcasts that we are loving, so today I wanted to share a podcast that I recently found.

Have you listened to Mike Rowe’s podcast The Way I Heard It?

I discovered The Way I Heard It podcast a few months ago, and I love it.

I have never watched his T.V. show Dirty Jobs, but I know who Mike Rowe is and thought his podcast sounded interesting. After listening to a couple episodes, I knew I had a new podcasts to add to my playlist.

Why Is The Way I Heard It so good?

It is short. Most of the episodes are ten minutes or under. I love this about it. Many of the podcasts I listen to are longer ones. Some of my favorites are over an hour long. So I love having one that I can listen to in just a few minutes. It is great for shorter car trips or while working in the kitchen.

This morning I listened to episodes 119 and 122 while exercising, and I enjoyed them both. They were both about ten minutes long so it was perfect for the twenty minutes I spent on the elliptical exercising today, and they were both stories that I had never heard before.

It also keeps you guessing. Multiple times when I have been listening to the podcasts I think I know exactly who or what he is talking about, and I end up being totally wrong. It is fun to try to figure it out as I listen to it. Even if I am usually wrong.

It teaches you interesting and odd facts. I have learned something every time I have listened to one. The facts are lesser known or odd type of facts, so it is a great way to learn new things.

I also love Mike Rowe’s voice. Not everyone has a great voice for podcasts or audio in general, but Mike Rowe does. A great voice makes all the difference in a podcast. The content can be great, but if the voice isn’t good I wont’ listen to it.

Do you have a favorite podcast? I am always looking for new ones, so please leave a comment letting me know your favorites.

For more information about The Way I Heard It click here.