Red Faced And Starring At My Shoes

Well, I am not actually wearing shoes, so it's more like I am starring at my bare feet, but you get the picture. What I am about to admit to is embarrassing.

I am ashamed of my book choices. There, it's out. I have been discreetly buying and reading books that I consider a lower species of writing for awhile.

Has it been days?

Has it been weeks?

Nope, it has been years. I have been doing this for years. 

A little background: I read sci-fi, fantasy, young adult and kids books openly and happily. Never feeling silly or embarrassed about them even if they are crap. I often openly admit that they are crap with a smile on my face. 

I have a C.S.Lewis quote TATTOOED on my foot. Not a quote of something he said, nor even from one of his college required reading books like Mere Christianity or Screwtape letters. My quote is from The Magicians Nephew. A children's book. So you see, There is a lot about my reading choices that another starting-to-get-grey-hairs and well-out-of her-twenties women might feel timid about.

None of that causes me to blush at all. It is actually my more mainstream choices that I continuously avoid admitting to.

It's the 'mainstream' and 'normal' books I intermittently pick up that give me pause to admit to. Wild, Those Who Save Us, and The Witch's Daughter to name a few. My current one is The Spymistress by Jennifer Chiaverini. I like it. It is easy to read, but still interesting and the characters are likable and intelligent. It would be better with aliens, space travel, dragons, faeries, werewolves and/or vampires... but hey, no book is perfect. 

Also, and even more distressing is my occasional desire for books that are NOT smut... but definitely could be classified as paranormal romance. Ew. Even typing it makes me feel dirty. Seriously though, lots of chicks read this kind of mind numbing trash. These ones I am reading are nothing compared to the ones we cleaned out of my grandmothers room a decade ago when she moved into a nursing home. (hmm... maybe I can blame this on genetics...)

So why do I skate around talking about these books? I am pretty active in a facebook page overflowing with people who are addicted to reading like I am. Any book published, at least one person in that group has read, but I avoid the 'what are you reading?' posts with a vengeance when I have a questionable book in progress. I will never meet these people and if I did we would never recognize each other for two of the three or four thousand people in the group. Seems silly, but it continues.

Am I just a book snob who is slumming and will eventually come to her senses and give Anne McCaffrey's ambitious son and J.R.R.Tolkien another chance, falling back into my comfort zone? By all that is good in this world I hope so! 

Or maybe I will stop all my close-minded snobbishness and take my changing reading habits in stride, like a mature adult should. 

Ha! I wouldn't hold your breath for that one!

Whatever happens, I am glad for the chance to understand the interests of other readers. I am appreciative that I am getting into the minds of characters the like of which I may never have encountered in my other genres. I am grateful for goodreads.com so that I can discreetly find other books like the ones I can't ask my physical or virtual friends about.

George R R Martin wrote "A reader lives thousand lives before he dies... The man who never reads lives only one." I will live a wide variety, it seems. I am thankful for the opportunity... perplexing as it may be.

Why Read "Bad" Books

It is Banned Book week once again and I find that the rebel in me is ALL ABOUT reading things that other people think shouldn't be easily accessible. For several years now I have been spending this week with an attitude of utter defiance. 

I get immense pleasure out of reading frequently challenged books like The Giving Tree, In The Night Kitchen and Sylvester And The Magic Pebble to the unsuspecting toddlers and preschoolers that I am entrusted with each day. I spend a little extra effort encouraging my mini me to read things like Harry Potter, The Golden Compass and Harriet The Spy (though she needs little prompting). 

I commonly read challenged books anyway, but I make a little extra effort to pick up something controversial during this time of year. Something like Slaughterhouse Five, To Kill a Mockingbird or The Handmaids Tale makes me feel a deep sense of accomplishment. 

Why, though, should those of you who are not consumed by the need to be insubordinate acknowledge Banned books week? Here are a few reasons to consider

1. Reading is a great way to encourage yourself to think about things you take for granted as fact when, in fact, they are opinion. "Just because you're taught something's right and everyone believes it's right, it don't make it right." ~Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
2. One questionable opinion or scene in a book does not negate the good of the entire book. 
3. These books can help us teach ourselves to disagree with each other, authors, societies, etc.. without fear or hate. Agreeing to disagree is an important step towards peaceful relations with each other.
4. If a book is being challenged or banned it is usually because someone is trying to stop others from considering the validity of an unorthodox opinion. You don't even know these people! Why should they be doing your thinking for you?
5. When do you want your kids to think about tough situations? When they or their friends are already in them? Or before that, with you or a teacher after they are handed the book and asked for their thoughts and given the chance to discuss it and hear different opinions/options?

Think about it!

Sharon Creech- Lover Of Children

I'm not sure if I have shared this before, but as a child I was NOT A READER!  

**BUM BUM BUM**

I did not get into reading until I was forced to by that dreaded AR (Accelerated Reader) program when I was 12 or 13. As you would expect from an angry teenager with anxiety and an attitude problem who has never learned to love reading, I hooked onto the R.L.Stine fear street series. 

(In the interest of full disclosure I did like the Thoroughbred and Saddle Club books at some point.)

After that I moved sideways into L.J.Smith, then up into Anne Rice, then sideways to Anne McCaffrey. Occasionally, I caved in and read the books I was supposed to read for school like Othello and To Kill A Mockingbird (more on that later!).

Long story short, I never read the 'normal' books that other kids read when they are young. No Judy Blume or Ronald Dahl or E.B.White for me. This may or may not explain my obsession with children's and teen books even though I am physically an adult now, or so people tell me.

When I was working at Barnes and Noble they would have Christmas parties. When I say party I mean they would school us in all the pertinent holiday policies and events then play games where we win books. Not cheap mass market ones either. Newish, hardcover ones. I once won The Castle Corona and later acquired (I don't remember when or where) Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech.

I found these books to be phenomenal. 

After that I would often look at the C section in the young readers aisle at libraries and bookstores and think about picking up another of hers, but never got around to it until this week.

While we were volunteering at the library this past week I grabbed Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King, Pandora by Anne Rice, Love Life and Elephants by Daphne Sheldrick, the DVD of Hugo, and of course The Boy on the Porch and Love That Dog by Sharon Creech. 

She is a really cool author. She writes books about orphans who find people who love and care for them and about how kids really feel about things. I find her perspective fascinating. I feel like her books help me understand what goes on in those crazy little heads of the children around me which in turn makes me a better caregiver, teacher and parent. So really it's like professional development! (See I can justify anything!)

Next time you come across one of her books pick it up. It will only take you an hour or two to sail through one. I promise you won't be sorry.

My Humble Opinion on Reasons My Kid Is Crying

I was recently sent a copy of Reasons My Kid Is Crying by Greg Penboke for review.

 

GREG PEMBROKE is the father of two sons (and the husband of one wife) from Rochester, NY. He works part time as radio advertising copywriter three days per week and stays home with his young sons two days per week.

It just happened to arrive on a very busy day of work, and vacation bible school. Before I knew it, or had a chance to even open to the first page, my bible study friends were sitting around my livingroom, passing this book around, laughing and reading excerpts out loud to each other. 

"This book is hysterical!" 

 "My daughter has to see this!" 

After they left I sat down alone with it and had to completely agree with them. This book IS hysterical and oddly comforting. It is a collection of pictures of young children completely frustrated with the incompetence of the world around them. 

To see that other parents are helpless to prevent these complete meltdowns over things like "A fly landed near him" and "her popsicle was cold" is nice to know. Especially during the terrible 2s and horrible 3s... or if, like me, you always have a couple of kids in your house who have, as Pembroke describes it, "insanely specific goals" and "great expectations" for their lives and routines each day.  

If you are loving the idea of this as much as I was you can check it out on Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter! 

I received this book from Blogging For Books for this review.
 

 

Just a dream

Summer around here has a slightly different flavor then any of the other seasons. Many of our 'regulars' (Kids that come 10 months out of the year) are missing and our 'occasionals' are frequent and sometimes there are kids here for only a few weeks out of the whole year or one day a week for a couple of months. Really, it's just a little dizzying to tell you the truth. So, of course, our schedule suffers a bit. It gets tweaked and adjusted until it barely resembles our normal routine. 

It all turns out alright. I plan a loose theme that is very shallow but entertaining and flexible. I'll tell you what I would love, though. I would love to take a classic book like Tom Sawyer, Treasure Island or The Secret Garden and base our whole summer program around it. 

I would read them a few chapters a week. Plan appropriate games, crafts and field trips. Really delve into the time period and the culture and have fun with it. 

Weird, I know. It's just a dream. It's just the crazy homeschooler that I have become, mixing with the nerd I have always been and creating wackiness. 

It is also impossible. There is no way with kids here random days and hours to really get into any kind of thematic unit with any depth, but it's fun to think about. 

Maybe some day I will run a literary summer camp!! 

Oldies but Goodies

There are days when I look around and realize that I am not in the mood for ANY of the books in my TBR (To Be Read) pile

Or the TBR 'bookshelf' on my kindle...

Or the one on my NOOK...

Or the one... Well, you get it. None of them look right.

Sometimes, like last week, the book I want to read is one I haven't bought yet. I am anxious to get City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Claire, but I am trying to have a little self control since it just came out and is still in hardcover. In cases like this I often have to fall back on an oldie, but goodie. This months comfort read is the Narnia series. 

People often ask me how I can read books over and over. I respond with a question,

How can you watch movies or shows over and over?

How can you hang out with the same friends over and over?

How can you go on the same amusement park rides over and over?

If you do any of these things then you really could understand me if you wanted to.

Ironically C.S. Lewis agrees with me!

In Summer!

"Bees that buzz. Kids that blow dandelion fuzz, and I'll be doing whatever snow does in summer!" (Frozen music is permanently ingrained in my head! Help!)

Ah, Summer! 
Pools
Beaches
Zoos
Flowers
Sleeping in
and summer reading


In the past we have been members of a large, heavily funded library in the county next to ours which has a phenomenal summer reading program with bags, stickers, bookmarks and tons of coupons for free food at local stores as the prizes. Since we did not pay what I consider to be an overly large amount of money for that membership this year and since our small, privately funded library cannot afford anything so extreme, I have decided to come up with my own program. 

Gwen has a LARGE summer long goal of 4,000 pages and will receive a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card for reaching that goal. 

She also gets smaller prizes every 400 pages (Maximum of one per week!) which include things like a free water ice at the local ice cream place, a new game on our tablet, and a trip to YoGo.

What do your kids do for summer reading?

Brutal and Bloody

Facebook pages are amazing. The spread of humor, encouragement and information on those things delights me! I am currently addicted to several. 
Book Haven,
Books Rock My World,
Coffee and a Good Book &
I Have More Books Than Friends
to name a few. I am always amazed that there are people that feel the same way I do about books. Things I go through that I thought made me incredibly strange, are commonplace to these people... You know... Like how I hyperventilate at the end of a book.

About a month ago one of those pages posted an invite for everyone to recommend their favorite books to each other. To quote from a movie that got me interested in Thomas More, "I could no sooner pick a favorite star in the heavens" then come up with ONE favorite, and there were already HUNDREDS of comments, so I said nothing. 

I did, however, read through quite a large chunk of the suggestions and found one for a Japanese book published in the 90's titled Battle Royale. I did some research and people are claiming that it is the 'original' Hunger Games, but more brutal and bloody. I ordered it immediately. 

After 50 pages I had to admit that while I don't like to suspect people of ripping off the ideas of others, Suzanne Collins should probably publicly explain why her idea so closely resembles a book published 10 years earlier. You know, just to squish the rumors and so I don't continue to feel disappointed in myself for not suspecting she got the idea from somewhere else in the first place.

After 120 pages the cat got mad at me. Apparently I kick her a lot when I am having terrifying dreams about children killing each other and blood splattering on my face.

I am currently taking a break from reading to write this... Simply because I think I can't handle reading too much of this book at once. 

FYI:
This book is intense. The goodreads reviewer who recommends this book for "people who don't throw up a lot" and the one who recommends it for "the non-squeamish" were not exaggerating. 

One Of THOSE Books

Some books are edge-of-your-seat, can't-put-it-down, up-all-night-reading kind of books. They mean something to us. We feel connected to the characters, the places and/or the conflict. They might give us insights into someone else's life... or our own lives. They might transport us to distant places. 

Some books are not like that. They might be interesting looking. They might be books we WANT to want to read, but they don't scoop us up and focus all of our attention. These books are no less important then the other type of book. I would never have read Pride and Prejudice or The Red Tent if I thought a book that didn't immediately captivate me wasn't worth reading. 

  

I am wrestling with just such a book right now. Alice in Wonderland is adorable and goofy and imagination sparking, but honestly, I am done after a few pages. I have been reading an average of 5 pages a day. Yawn. It will take all my will power to stick with it till the end. 

It is a book a want to want to read and it's worth it. What books have you struggled through?

Baby it's cold outside

Leaves gently floating to the ground, birds rapidly flying overhead, sweaters, pumpkins and apple cider. School buses, marching bands and football games. Ah, Autumn...

I miss summer already

My mourning period for the end of summer lasts about 8 months. My feet miss the grass, my skin misses the sun, my kid misses the pool, and I miss the camping (reading outdoors). 

Thankfully, I have found a hobby to ward off the post summer sadness. Scoping out all the great fall book releases! Yay! (C'mon, humor me. Keep reading)

I am really excited for 

 The third book in the Divergent Trilogy. If you are a fan of dystopian books (After the end of the world kind of stuff) you will love these books. The first two were staying-up-late, can't-put-them-down reads and I expect nothing less from the third. Release date: October 22nd

 I Am Malala sounds like an amazing story of a young girl from Pakistan who insisted on an education and was shot in the head for it. "Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize." Released on October 8th

 The long awaited 5th book of the much loved Game Of Thrones series! Yay! Release date: October 29th

 And finally, Some crazy chick that likes to make everything fro scratch shares her holiday recipes and tips. No, of course I'm not going to cook! My goodness! I am excited about this book because it will make a great Christmas present for the amazing from-scratch cooking people that I know. Release date: October 29th

Anything look especially good to you??

Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover... But Maybe Judge a Reader by Her Bookshelf?

I had a moment of shock earlier this year that all of you should know about.

I am a NOOK patron. NOOK is Barnes and Noble's e reader. Once you are NOOK friends with someone you can see all of the Barnes and Noble books that they own which are lend-able. This was good news for me at the time because I was saving up for a big trip. Saving up for a big trip means that I am struggling to adhere to a strict budget... adhering to a budget means using the library more then the bookstore.

Not that I don't LOVE the library... it's just that I really enjoy being able to walk up to one of my bookshelves and see a good book and remember what I loved about it and possibly reread it at any time. Other people borrow library books, which means they are not always there when I want them. Also, the library is not open 24 hours a day like my bookshelves are and Gwen would probably get pretty annoyed with me if I threw her in the car at 2 am because I couldn't sleep and I wanted to read that particular book that I borrowed from the library 8 months ago and was really awesome...

Anyway...

This past spring I was checking out what my friends with NOOKs had to offer and I was blown away. Now I realize that these were only the 'lend me' books (not all ebooks are able to be borrowed, which is stupid, but that is a soapbox you don't want to get me started on!) and people always keep all of their ebooks because they are a lot easier to store then actual books and why delete something you paid for? An ebook collector is not nearly as committed as a physical book collector. Take it from the chick that has 7 overflowing bookshelves AND books piled up all over the house. Still though, you really can tell a lot about a person by what they read and even more by what is physically on their bookshelves.

For example, two of my friends are closet romance readers. Who knew?!?! I have never heard them talk about them or seen them lend them out or buy them. I don't think they kept it from me, specifically, because they know how I feel about romance books. I try to keep my distaste for that entire section of the bookstore a secret (So shhhh!) because really, I read crappy science fiction/fantasy so who am I to judge.

Anyway...

I took a look around my books with new eyes and discovered a couple things about myself by my own bookshelves.

First: My joy in owning and lending out books actually exceeds my literary appetite. I own roughly 40 books that I haven't read yet. About 10 of them I never honestly plan on reading (free or 50 cent yard sale buys) and another 10 or 15 of them I will probably never get around to reading because they don't strike me as books I will love.

Second: My love of certain books exceeds my love of lending out books. I have a 'top shelf' of books. They are organized by author and series and double stacked so that only half of them are visible. Many of them have been read so many times that the covers have completely fallen off. I have never offered to lend these to anyone. Ever. I don't plan to either. They are mine. My only. My prreeeccciiousss.

Third: It's all about the escape (but I knew that already). Historical fiction, Science fiction, Fantasy, etc.. are my favorites. I want impossible or in the past. I get enough of reality when I am not reading.

Fourth: Stronger is better. My favorite characters that I like to revisit over and over in the pages of their books are strong. They make mistakes... a lot, but they are not indecisive sissies (speaking of indecisive sissy characters, those twilight books are collecting a lot of dust on their shelf. Hehehehe!). 

So I love to share the literary 'bug', but am possessive of my 'top shelf' and I am drawn to strong characters, but only when they are facing impossible settings and situations.

What can I learn about you by your bookshelf? More importantly, what can YOU learn about you from your bookshelf??

Disappointment

This is important.

Read it again.

It drives me absolutely nutty when a great book gets massacred in the theaters. I just want to yell at the screen: It was good the way it was!! If you didn't have any improvements you should have left it alone!! Of course, the first time I did that, mini-me was so worried that I would be arrested that I save it for the car ride home now. I have also had plenty of opportunities since then to show her that my kind of crazy is not against the law... just funny and occasionally embarrassing.

Movies that have been a horrible disappointment to me are:

• The Great Gatsby (2013)- I actually walked out in the middle of this in the theater, and my movie buddy was more then happy to leave too!
• Prince Caspian- *sigh* It was such an amazing book
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)- One word- Creepy!
• The Cat In The Hat (2003)- Theodor Seuss Geisel would be sooooo unhappy. This was so upsetting, I couldn't even read the book for weeks afterward
• A Wrinkle In Time (2003)- I have tried to stay awake through this movie on three separate occasions and have failed horribly.
• The Golden Compass- My favorite parts of the book were slaughtered. It was sad.

Did I miss any?

Banned Books Week!!

I have returned from my long absence to remind you about Banned Books Week! Yay!

While I am in complete agreement that parents should be able to decide what is appropriate (or not appropriate) for their children... I am totally against removing books from library and/or store shelves simply because they are controversial. 

I have recently been exploring the ALA (American Library Association) web site and discovered a list of frequently challenged books! Imagine my delight, rebel that I am, when I discovered that I have many controversial books on my shelves here at home. 

I will highlight in red the ones I have:

Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009

1. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling
2. Alice series, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
3. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
4. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
5. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
6. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
7. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
8. His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman
9. ttyl; ttfn; l8r g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
11. Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers
12. It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris
13. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey
14. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
15. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
16. Forever, by Judy Blume
17. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
18. Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous
19. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
20. King and King, by Linda de Haan
21. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
22. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar
23. The Giver, by Lois Lowry
24. In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak
25. Killing Mr. Griffen, by Lois Duncan
26. Beloved, by Toni Morrison
27. My Brother Sam Is Dead, by James Lincoln Collier
28. Bridge To Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
29. The Face on the Milk Carton, by Caroline B. Cooney
30. We All Fall Down, by Robert Cormier
31. What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones
32. Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
33. Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson
34. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler
35. Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging, by Louise Rennison
36. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
37. It’s So Amazing, by Robie Harris
38. Arming America, by Michael Bellasiles
39. Kaffir Boy, by Mark Mathabane
40. Life is Funny, by E.R. Frank
41. Whale Talk, by Chris Crutcher
42. The Fighting Ground, by Avi
43. Blubber, by Judy Blume
44. Athletic Shorts, by Chris Crutcher
45. Crazy Lady, by Jane Leslie Conly
46. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
47. The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby: The First Graphic Novel by George Beard and Harold Hutchins, the creators of Captain Underpants, by Dav Pilkey
48. Rainbow Boys, by Alex Sanchez
49. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey
50. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
51. Daughters of Eve, by Lois Duncan
52. The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson
53. You Hear Me?, by Betsy Franco
54. The Facts Speak for Themselves, by Brock Cole
55. Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Green
56. When Dad Killed Mom, by Julius Lester
57. Blood and Chocolate, by Annette Curtis Klause
58. Fat Kid Rules the World, by K.L. Going
59. Olive’s Ocean, by Kevin Henkes
60. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
61. Draw Me A Star, by Eric Carle
62. The Stupids (series), by Harry Allard
63. The Terrorist, by Caroline B. Cooney
64. Mick Harte Was Here, by Barbara Park
65. The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien
66. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor
67. A Time to Kill, by John Grisham
68. Always Running, by Luis Rodriguez
69. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
70. Harris and Me, by Gary Paulsen
71. Junie B. Jones (series), by Barbara Park
72. Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
73. What’s Happening to My Body Book, by Lynda Madaras
74. The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
75. Anastasia (series), by Lois Lowry
76. A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving
77. Crazy: A Novel, by Benjamin Lebert
78. The Joy of Gay Sex, by Dr. Charles Silverstein
79. The Upstairs Room, by Johanna Reiss
80. A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck
81. Black Boy, by Richard Wright
82. Deal With It!, by Esther Drill
83. Detour for Emmy, by Marilyn Reynolds
84. So Far From the Bamboo Grove, by Yoko Watkins
85. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, by Chris Crutcher
86. Cut, by Patricia McCormick
87. Tiger Eyes, by Judy Blume
88. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
89. Friday Night Lights, by H.G. Bissenger
90. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L’Engle
91. Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George
92. The Boy Who Lost His Face, by Louis Sachar
93. Bumps in the Night, by Harry Allard
94. Goosebumps (series), by R.L. Stine
95. Shade’s Children, by Garth Nix
96. Grendel, by John Gardner
97. The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende
98. I Saw Esau, by Iona Opte
99. Are You There, God?  It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume
100. America: A Novel, by E.R. Frank

In addition, I plan to read a few of them again in honor of this week and my freedom to do so. 

What will you read this week?

Concerning The Power Of Thoughts

If a person has ugly thoughts, it begins to show on the face. And when that person has ugly thoughts every day, every week, every year, the face gets uglier and uglier until it gets so ugly you can hardly bear to look at it. A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely. ~Roald Dahl

One of the new things people began to find out in the last century was that thoughts--just mere thoughts--are as powerful as electric batteries--as good for one as sunlight is, or as bad for one as poison. ~Frances Hodgson Burnett

The mind is its own place, and in it self
Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven. ~John Milton

The dew seemed to sparkle more brightly on the green leaves; the air to rustle among them with a sweeter music; and the sky itself to look more blue and bright. Such is the influence which the condition of our own thoughts, exercise, even over the appearance of external objects. ~Charles Dickens

Death By Audio

I want to share a dream of mine:

I have always wished for a book that will read itself to me when I am doing something I can't do while I'm reading. You know, dishes, diapers, driving, showering, etc... But the thought of a simple audio book never appealed to me. We have borrowed some kids ones from the library when we were going on trips and they were bearable

Not enjoyable though.

Audio books seem to have the same missing element that movies based on books have. I know it's going to sound odd when I say this, but the missing element is me.

I usually prefer the image of characters that I come up with better then the way Hollywood actors portray them. I give my own emphasis to what characters say and how they act. I love the way I picture the scenes playing out.

I recently tried my first adult audio book from Audible.com, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, and sadly, I have not even been able to finish it. I really think that it would be enjoyable to read, but listening to it is like listening to a movie without being able to see the pictures. The voices of the readers seem to squish the imagination. 

I am told that the new kindle has the ability to go back and forth from reading to listening IF you buy both the ebook and the audio book.

Raise your hands if you have so much money that you can buy all of your books twice.

Anyone?

Anyone?

Me either... Nor do I own the new Kindle.

What are your thoughts on audio vs. paper or ebook? 

My Love, My Life

      

Gwen and I may not have tons of frequent flyer miles, but I have taken my child to the Hundred Acre Wood with Pooh, Narnia with Lucy, Out West with Laura, North of North with Bella, England with Mary and China with Ping.

 We have been to Japan with Masako, Africa with Ki-Pat, Spain with Ferdinand, Boston with the ducklings and to Paris with Madeline.

We have been to the vet with George, the Garden with Peter, Under the sea with Emily, and to the farm with Happy.

We have been to Droon with Eric, into the woods with Robert Frost, Canada with Toklo and New York City with Chester the cricket.

Side by side we have battled snowstorms with Katy, ran a circus with Olivia, chased bees to their tree with Mary Ellen, been chased by Monsters with Jewel, and traveled the world in Santa’s sleigh with Felix.

Together we mastered the high wire with Mirette, been adopted with Martha, escaped the Vikings with Jack & Annie, played with Danny’s dinosaur, and misunderstood EVERYTHING with Amelia.

My daughter and I have built fairy houses and birds nests. We have cleaned up litter and watched a turtle eat (It happens veeerrrry Slllooowwlly). We have explored forests, wetlands, beaches and fields as a team.  

These are experiences that will shape her life. Someday she will think of me and get feelings of excitement, love, approval, and acceptance. She may not remember every moment of every day she spends with me, but she will have a great desire for adventure and knowledge. She will know that I loved her enough to give her that, no matter how long it took us or where we ended up.

A-Z Challenge!

So, I was on Goodreads.com (just like I am every day) and I got a great idea from my YA (Young Adult) Book group. They are doing an A-Z challenge. It sounds like a great idea to me, but I don't only read Young adult books. I would like to be able to count all the books I read. You should join me!

If you look above this post at my pages, you will see a new one called A-Z Challenge where I will keep track of my progress and list the rules (or you can click here). I'm doing pretty well already, if I do say so myself!

Let me know if you are going to attempt the challenge too!

Dependable Book Reviews

Some of you may know that I have always been more comfortable with my daughter reading books that I have read first and given my seal of approval.

*Don't look at me like that! There are a lot of parents that do this.

You may also be aware that this beautiful child of mine now reads at a 5th grade reading level and as quickly as I do. I love it, of course! Unfortunately, I do not have as much time to read as she does... You know, because little things get in the way. Like my job and house and teaching a homeschool curriculum. So I have been searching for a web site that I can trust for book reviews of the books I have not had a chance to pre-read. Thanks to suggestions from my friends on Cafemom I have found several great resources.


Common Sense Media
I have used this website for movie reviews in the past, but somehow didn't realize that there were book reviews as well! This site allows registered members to give the book a

• Star Rating
• Age Recommendation
• Rating for topics such as Educational Value, Positive Messages, Positive Role Models, Violence, Sex, Language, and Drinking Drugs & Smoking.

Christian Book Websites
Christian book distributors usually only carry books that have been carefully reviewed. One is The Way Station


Another is ChristianBook.com which allows customers to review books and give the book a

• Star Rating
• Rating for Quality, Value, and Meets Expectations

Sparknotes
Remember these? The old fallback for when you didn't do your high school summer reading? Well, now they can help you find out the ins and outs of a book even if you don't have time to read the whole thing before your speed-reading child! (Or if, like with me and Gwen, you and your child have differing opinions on what you like to read) This website seems to have everything the books have, including, but not limited to

•  Plot Overview
• Character Analysis
• Themes
• Breakdown of Chapters
• Explanation of Important Quotes
• Key Facts

Thriving Family
This is my favorite site of the ones I have found. It doesn't feature as many books as I had hoped, but I love the quality and breakdown of the reviews. It supplies

• Age range
• Plot Summary
• Christian and Other Beliefs
• Profanity/Graphic Violence
• Kissing/Sex
• Discussion Topics

And more!


Books About Books!!
When in doubt, look in a book!!!
 
Honey For A Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt is out in it's 4th addition. It is a guide of wholesome books for ages 0-14. Honey For A Teen's Heart is in it's 1st addition and lists over 400 titles!


The Hand That Rocks The Cradle by Nathaniel Bluedorn was revised and updated about 5 years ago. This book includes summaries, reading levels, and settings for 400 classic read-a-loud books.

Happy Reading/Reviewing!!!!