What’s On My Kindle?

I’m definitely one for a paper book in hand, but my Kindle Paperwhite gets quite a bit of love too. It’s especially handy for trips, when I don’t want to weigh down my luggage with books but I do want to make sure I have plenty to read. For a 4 1/2 month trip, taking only two suitcases total for all six of us, that means I need to load up my Kindle–because zero books (for reading–we are bringing math and Latin) are coming along for the ride to the UK. (I make no promises about the return trip however…)

When it comes to Kindle reading material, I utilize my library’s OverDrive/Libby digital books extensively. (If your library doesn’t have it, beg them to get it!) I also take advantage of Amazon Kindle book deals by subscribing to several email lists that notify me of sales or freebies on Kindle books. (I get eBook sale emails from Book Bub and Modern Mrs. Darcy.) Additionally, I use Kindle Matchbook to put books on my Kindle for free or very cheap that I have purchased from Amazon as a physical book. (You can look on Amazon to find out which of your books are available for Matchbook.)

Here’s what I’ve loaded onto my Kindle for our trip. (I can’t recommend these carte blanche because, in most cases, I haven’t read them yet. But I think most of these should be pretty safe recommendations for adults.) Many of these have to do with Britain, since I want to make the most of our trip, but others are ones I’ve been saving for travel.

History/Biography/Memoir

• Bandersnatch (Inklings bio)
• The Inklings of Oxford (Inklings bio and guide to walking Oxford)
• Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature
• How the Heather Looks (memoir of a family that traveled to the UK in the 1950’s and searched out a whole bunch of literary sites from children’s books; they had tea with A.A. Milne’s wife and visited Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle’s farm and Jemima Puddleduck’s garden, etc.)
• The Brendan Voyage (Tim Severin retraces the voyage of the Irish monk in a small oxhide open boat across the Atlantic)
• Call the Nurse (memoirs of a nurse in on a Hebridean island; similar in tone to James Herriot)
• The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street (sequel to 84, Charing Cross Road, which I loved on Audible; Helene Hanff recounts her trip to London)
• Our Island Story (narrative history of England, written for children)
• Scotland’s Story (narrative history of Scotland, written for children)
• John G. Paton, Missionary to the New Hebrides
• The Faithful Spy (new bio of Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
• Susie (new bio of Susannah Spurgeon)
• Steal Away Home (true story about Charles Spurgeon and American slave and missionary Thomas Johnson)
• The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson (Boswell’s well-told account; I also have this on Audible, so I might listen)
• Becoming Mrs. Lewis (a somewhat fictionalized account, based on their letters, of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis’s relationship; I heard an interview with her son Douglas Gresham saying that the author captured his mother better than many biographers, so I’m putting it in this category)
• The Bible Smuggler (a story about William Tyndale)
• Presenting Miss Jane Austen

Fiction

• Malcolm (a George MacDonald classic set in a town we’re visiting; I recommend the translations by Michael Phillips, who makes the Scots dialect readable to Americans)
• The Marquis of Lossie (sequel to Malcolm)
• Thomas Wingfold Curate (another MacDonald classic)
• Virgil Wander (I’ve been waiting patiently to read this new book by Leif Enger!)
• The Hill of the Red Fox (set on the Isle of Skye, written for children)
• The Green Ember
• Ember Falls (sequel to Green Ember)
• Ember Rising (Green Ember book 3)
• Shiloh
• Seeker (sequel to Shiloh)
• Songbird (sequel to Seeker)
• Fiddler’s Green (sequel to Fiddler’s Gun, which I’ve already read)
• Parnassus on Wheels
• Swallowdale (sequel to Swallows and Amazons, which I loved on Audible)
• Children of the New Forest (historical fiction set in the New Forest region of England)
• Daughter of Time (re-read of this historical mystery centered around Richard III–much more interesting than it sounds, I promise–I loved it the first time; this is the fifth in a series, but, though I enjoyed the whole series, it’s not necessary to have read the others to enjoy this one)
• Family Grandstand
• Family Sabbatical (sequel to Family Grandstand)
• Mitford series (I’ve only ever read the first one)
• Ivanhoe
• Something New (also titled Something Fresh in other editions; I love Wodehouse for fun plots and great writing)
• The Golden Tresses of the Dead (the latest Flavia de Luce; I’ve been reading these since the first book of the series was published; I’m getting a little tired of them, but we’ll see; I do not recommend these for children even though the main character is a child)
• Miss Read books
• Jane Austen books (re-reads)
• Linnets and Valerians (Elizabeth Goudge is a favorite British author)
• The Complete Father Brown Mysteries

Philosophy and Other

• Habits: The Mother’s Secret to Success (this is all the things Charlotte Mason says in her education volumes about habits, pulled together in one place; I’m keeping in mind that it’s out of context, but I think this format could be helpful in other ways)
• Ideas and Books: The Method of Education (same as above regarding ideas and books as formative)
• Know and Tell (about the art of narration in education)
• In Defense of Sanity (collection of Chesterton essays)
• The Tech-Wise Family
• On Reading Well (I know there will be things about this book that I really love and others that annoy me and that I disagree with, but that’s okay)
• The Passion of the King of Glory (a retelling of the story of Christ’s suffering in 40 readings for Lent; of course, I started it this week already)

I’m sure I’ll be adding others as I’m inspired by my surroundings (or as I find new Kindle deals), and I guarantee that I won’t get through all of these, but I do hope to make a good dent in this list.