Calder Reading Room

Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History

2010-02-25T22:10:00.001-08:00

Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I was a little afraid of this book, I'll be honest. First off, I had no idea that Laurel Thatcher Ulrich is LDS until about 30 pages in. This surprises me because I tried (and failed) to read her other book A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812, which I thought was good, but so boring I fell asleep probably about 275 times reading it. It surprises me that I didn't pick up on it, not surprising that she's Mormon. Anyway, I was suspicious of it because I'm generally suspicious of all Feminist literature. I didn't know too much about it going in (it was for book club), and I was afraid I was going to get stuck reading 200 pages of man-hating, hairy-legged, feminazi rants. Or, something that praises women for throwing tantrums and/or for not having babies. (Which, I'm not sure why I thought that because the woman who picked it has 4 children, and I've never seen her throw a tantrum.)

But it was neither of those things.

It's a history of women's history, so it's an exploration of the question of how women made history, which I found very interesting. I learned several things about amazons, Wonder Woman, milkmaids, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Rosa Parks, and a lot more. I like history, so if she'd named it something different, I might have read it a long time ago.

Like A Midwife's Tale, I felt the writing was a little redundant as she wanted to make her points extra extra clear by restating them 3 different ways, which was tiresome. But overall, I'd recommend this book, even if you only have a passing interest in women's history.

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Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckly by Jennifer Fleischner

2010-01-21T06:44:00.000-08:00

The Remarkable Story of the Friendship Between a First Lady and a Former Slave

The subtitle should read something more like Parallel Biographies of Women from Opposing backgrounds and the Story of their Relationship, since they don't actually cross paths until 2/3s through the book. I liked this book because it was fascinating and readable. I always find it interesting to read about details of the period.

I find very little to admire in Mary Lincoln. She probably had some abandonment issues (her mom died when she was six and her stepmother sent her away to a boarding school), made manifest by her neediness, emotional instability, and compulsive spending. One of the most interesting things about her, I thought, was that, according to this author, she pretty much guilted Lincoln into marrying her. She had great political aspirations, always claiming she was going to be married to the President some day, but it seems that Lincoln ultimately married her out of a sense of obligation and honor. I'd be interested to read more about Lincoln himself.

Elizabeth Keckly is the antithesis of Mary Lincoln. Resourceful and hardworking, she was sensible and smart with a good head for business. She was ambitious and practical. She was born into slavery, the daughter of a slave mother and white father. As a mulatto, she was given work in the Big House, tending the children (she practically raised many of her half-siblings and their children), sewing, and helping around the house. Eventually she was sent to live as the slave of one of her half-brothers and his wife in another town. She was raped there by a white neighbor, had a little boy, and eventually bought her and her son's freedom. She went on to open her own business as a renowned seamstress, ultimately sewing in the White House.

The "remarkable friendship" between Lizzy and Mary is founded more on the fact that Lizzy was reliable and dependable than anything else. Jennifer Fleischner claims that Mary felt safe and comfortable with Lizzy because of Mary's early experiences with a black "Mammy", although there also appears to have been trust and respect on both sides of the relationship. Elizabeth Keckly wrote a memoir, Behind the Scenes, about her years sewing for Mary Lincoln in the White House and in a way, Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckly is Fleischner's way of defending Elizabeth Keckly and her motives for writing the expose, which ended their friendship. According to Fleischner, Keckly's motives were pure and she intended only to help Mary but it backfired.

While it's never the main story, there is quite a bit of backdrop with the Civil War.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, America's Beloved Poet by Bonnie L. Lukes

2009-12-19T08:44:00.000-08:00

In early December I sang (with my choir) at the temple visitors' center lighting ceremonies. It's kind of a big deal; there's a big sign out front that says, "Tonight's Program is for Invited Guests Only," and the guests consist of ambassadors and diplomats from all over the world, a few LDS senators and representatives, and members of the seventy. Elder Marriot is always there (he has sponsored the event for 32 years), and Salt Lake always sends someone to speak. Last year it was Neil L. Andersen, who was called a few months later to become an apostle. This year we heard Elder Jay E. Jensen speak. He talked about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, quoting several excerpts from his journals and poetry. It was fascinating and moving. I love early American history, biography, and literature, so this was right up my alley. Anyway, Elder Jensen's talk prompted me to get a few books from the library on Longfellow. I visited the exterior of his house when I was in Boston in March, but it was closed for tours for the winter.

America's Beloved Poet was nice in that it gave a good overview of Longfellow's life and his work. It was short; I read it in one sitting over the course of about two hours. I thought it was a nice introduction. It included several stories about his tragedies and triumphs, and painted a very nice picture of this wonderful man. I would have enjoyed a lot more integration of his journals and letters. It adds so much to hear his voice. It did include several photographs. It made no mention of the poem that became the hymn I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, which Elder Jensen's talk centered on. Overall, it was a good book that makes me want to read more in-depth about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's life.

The Gone-Away World

2009-11-14T07:23:00.000-08:00

The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I wish I could give this 3.5 stars. This book was part Matrix, part Fight Club, part Catch-22, but mostly it's own thing; really original.

Good: I liked the characters, I didn't see the twist coming and was completely baffled and a little bit unsettled by it. It was interesting and thought provoking. Well, I knew there was a twist coming, I just didn't know what it was going to be. And, the writing is really good. I mean, who else can think of calling someone a "geosynchronous shrew." What does that even mean?

Bad: There is A LOT of swearing in it. Like, a lot, a lot. To be honest, I only kept reading it because I was too sick to go to the library to pick up something else. And, the first chapter is in medias res, which is exciting, and then it goes back for 150 pages of sort of boring and seemingly pointless exposition and the only thing that kept me reading was the promise made in chapter 1 of a good story, and that I was sick and had nothing else to read.

But, I don't really regret it. After those almost painful 150 pages, it picks up quite nicely and sails right to the end.

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Graceling by Kristin Cashore

2009-10-13T19:43:00.001-07:00

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I read this book in 1.5 days, much to the dismay of my family. I think Bridget said it best (although she was talking about a different book):

The point here is that Catching Fire is one of those lovely, delicious books that sucks you into its world and makes you want to ignore every other responsibility in your life, every other engagement, commitment, or member of your family, even the tiny helpless ones, and just READ. As much as I love reading, this particular kind of book doesn't come around very often (the Twilight series and some of the Shannon Hale books come to mind as other examples...)

This book did remind me a lot of Goose Girl in style and the mythical world milieu but edgier and it didn't end quite how I wanted it to end. But, I couldn't put it down, and will probably read the companion prequel, even though the review says it has dragons in it, and I usually draw the line at dragons. And Fairies.

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The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas

2009-09-23T18:05:00.001-07:00

Another fly-by find from the library, this book is made great by both the characters and the mode of storytelling. Conn is the first person narrator, but in between each chapter you get a page or two of notes or letters from the wizard Nevery, so the change in perspective helps further along the plot. Loved all the characters. Loved Conn's strong stubbornness and innate trust in himself. Loved his matter-of-fact approach to life. Loved the way the relationships developed. I recommend this book for a quick getaway (sometimes I just want to escape from my life for a little while, don't you?). Highly enjoyable.

I'm utterly useless with pictures tonight. Blame the nasty cold complete with sinus headache. Here's a link.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

2009-09-23T17:43:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine recommended the movie to me, which I was surprised to learn is an anime movie that was nominated for an Academy Award in 2005 (lost to Wallace and Grommet, which I find creepy but my kids love). I have yet to see the movie, but I found the sequel to this book in the library during a fly-by and was thus reminded to check out the book. Sorry, long intro.

The basic premise is that Sophie gets turned into an old woman by a witch and goes out to seek her fortune and try to get her own figure back. Along the way she strikes a bargain with a fire demon and becomes housekeeper to the wizard Howl. It was a pretty good story. Not fantastic, but I did enjoy it. There was a little too much description of the scenery for my taste.

The sequel, written some 22 years later, I found much more compelling. It's called House of Many Ways. It has a different main character and a different setting, but Sophie and Howl and the fire demon get wrapped up in the plot, as well. The author employs a very imaginative use of magic (bending time and space).

Apparently there's another one called Castle in the Air. I think they all stand on their own and are only sequels in that some of the characters overlap.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

2009-09-19T20:18:00.001-07:00

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
If I read this book as a child, I don't remember it. But, that didn't matter at all because I really liked this book. It was a quick read and it had just the right amounts of suspense and love story and happy feelings.

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Alphabet Juice by Roy Blount Jr.

2009-08-25T10:36:00.000-07:00

Alphabet Juice: The Energies, Gists, and Spirits of Letters, Words, and Combinations Thereof; Their Roots, Bones, Innards, Piths, Pips, and Secret Parts, ... With Examples of Their Usage Foul and Savory by Roy Blount Jr.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a book about words; the subtitle sums it up very nicely. Roy Blount Jr. is one of my favorite panelists on Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me, so I thought I'd try out one of his books. I liked this book because I really like words. Not just reading them, but saying them and learning about them. If you are not interested in reading this book, I offer three highlights:

tmesis- inserting a word into another word for an intensifying effect. Example from my life: Tyler was trying to come up with a mnemonic (which word is also treated by RBJ) for the first three letters of our new license plate, AFZ. What he came up with - Ari-frickin-zona. RBJ points out that, ironically enough, the word tmesis looks like it should have something stuck in the middle of it, an apostrophe (t'mesis) or some vowels (tamesis).

level- the most even word in the English language. Just look at it.

portmanteau- "a British term for a suitcase that opens out into two halves. Portmanteau words are inspired combinations such as guestimate from guess and estimate." Personally I find this delicious and I can see in my minds eye guess and estimate as the two sides of a suitcase getting closed up into guestimate.

The cons of this book are as follows. 1. It was kind of long for what it was, 364 pages about words. 2. RBJ is sort of a rambly and I often found it hard to follow where he was going. 3. There are all sorts of references to movies that were made 50 years before I was born and actresses and other famous people that I've never heard of, so I didn't get a lot of the jokes, I guess you could call them... puns, humor?

This is the third book I've read that was organized into 26 alphabetical chapters and it blows Reading the OED: One Man One Year 21 730 Pages out of the water, but does nothing to touch The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest To Become The Smartest Person In The World. So, if you're going to read one book like this, read that one. If you are going to read two, read that one, and then this one.

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The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

2009-08-22T07:04:00.000-07:00

I think the measure of how much I like a book could be how much I hide from my children in order to read it. And, if I have too many more days like yesterday, CPS might come and take my children away.

Flavia de Luce is 11 and when she finds a body in the cucumber patch, she's determined to solve the mystery of who he is and what he's doing there.

The writing is very good, and it's a lot like Harry Potter in that it's technically for children or young adults, but it makes no attempt to dumb anything down (I kept a list of words I had to look up, and it numbered well over 30); except one time. The word was "hesternal." I attempted to look it up but it wasn't in the dictionary. As I kept reading, Flavia says something like, "I remembered that hesternal means 'pertaining to yesterday.'"

You know a book is good when you want to start right over on page one as soon as you finish to pick up everything you missed the first time around.

The only thing I found unrealistic was Flavia's age. After being put in primary, I've met a few 11-year olds, and there is no way even the most sophisticated of them could walk/talk/think/act like Flavia. Oh well.

The Lost City of Z by David Grann

2009-05-22T12:26:00.000-07:00

I read about this book in TIME magazine and thought it sounded interesting. It's a biography of Percy H. Fawcett, a Victorian-era explorer who was obsessed with finding the lost city of Z, or El Dorado, in the Amazon. He led several expeditions into the Amazon, and disappeared there in 1925.

It's pretty interesting, I especially liked the parts about how the Indians have adapted to live in the rain forest which, it seems, is actively trying to kill all it's inhabitants. My favorite bit was when they talked about how certain Indians could whistle worms out of your skin, like a really gross snake charmer.

In finding the image of the book, I stumbled upon a website that told me they were making it into a movie with Brad Pitt starring as Colonel Fawcett.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

2009-05-06T12:16:00.000-07:00

Intense. This book, if made into a movie, would probably be rated 'R' for strong thematic elements and sexuality. This is number 3 in my attempt to read more... I was going to say 'adult books' but that sounds inappropriate. How about 'grown-up books'?

On the back of the book, one of the reviews compares it to some sort of Grey's Anatomy season finale, but better. I've never seen that show, but I think that's probably a good analysis. Marion Praise Stone and his twin brother Shiva are born to a nurse-nun living in Ethopia, sired by the head surgeon at the hospital, who abandons the children. The book follows Marion and Shiva as they grow up, mess up, and then figure it out. A lot of the book deals with their teen aged years, which, I'm pretty sure, were drastically different than my own, morally speaking. There's also a hefty dose of civil war.

If you choose to read this book, I want to give one spoiler: Shiva survives birth. The author hints that this is the case, but as Dr. Stone was poised to crush his skull when he was stuck in the birth canal, I got really really nervous.

In all, I can see why this book was recommended by NPR, the writing was really good, it was witty at parts, touching at others, but it had too much sex for me.

And, I'm still not 100% sure what the phrase "cutting for stone" means. I get that it's some sort of saying or maxim and that by using it as the title, the author is playing on the fact that the dad is a surgeon and his last name is Stone... but the pithiness of it is lost on me.

The Host by Stephanie Meyer

2009-04-16T16:14:00.000-07:00

Or - Mom's Eye Book as Lillian renamed it.

Am I the only one who's read this? I liked it better than the Twilight series, but I did think it had a Stranger than Fiction ending, which I'm not sure I liked. I think it was written that way to set it up for a sequel. (Sorry if that ruins it for you) Which is another thing: what's with the sequels? Time was a story could be contained within 250-300 pages or so. Now, probably because of J.K. Rowling, authors think they can keep the story going for books and books and books. Look, I've got better things to do than stress over your characters. Especially, if I thought I was going to say goodbye to them two novels ago.

Sometimes, I like it. Actually, most times, if I liked the story, I'm happy that I can keep living it in another form. But maybe, in some twisted way, I don't like it for the characters; I have anxiety for them. They've already had 300 pages of conflict and resolution, why put them through any more? Why not just let them have their happily ever after already?

Don't worry, Tyler's already pointed out that I don't actually have to read these sequels. Oh, but I do. He doesn't get it.

The Girl Who Could Fly by Victorial Forester

2009-04-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

This was recommended to me by one Stephanie Meyer on her website. I don't usually read her website, but she was the one who recommended The Hunger Games, so I thought maybe her other recommendations would be worth looking in to. The book is what Meyer calls a mix of Little House on the Prairie and X-Men. A farm girl from middle America discovers she can fly, after she shows off her talent, she's taken away to a secret learning facility.

I liked the book, mostly. It was suspenseful, and exciting, and funny, and feel-good. It's juvenile fiction, not that there's anything wrong with that... I just found it sort of... simple. And, there were some parts where I found myself saying, "I've read this before, except it was a movie, and it was called X-Men." But, the plot took some interesting twists, so it ended up being it's own story.

The verdict: A good read for a plane ride or something. I finished it in about 5 hours.

2009-04-06T10:33:00.000-07:00

Both of these books are delightful. They are short (around 130 pages) and full of laugh-out-loud events. I can't recommend them enough. I read the first one a while ago, so I don't remember it as well, but the sequel I just read on the flight home from Utah. It was great. I give it two thumbs up. I thought about reading it to Tristan, but some of the humor he might not "get" for a few years. By the time I explained why parts were funny... it would take a long time. I want someone else to read it so we can say, "Wasn't that a funny book?" "Yeah... it was."

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

2009-03-31T10:02:00.000-07:00

I stayed up till 12:15 last night reading this book. It was very naughty of me because I'm really tired today, but worth it because this book is so great.

These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner

2009-03-24T16:16:00.000-07:00

Wow.

I'm really not lying when I say that this book made me laugh and cry. I started this book before moving and between putting things away and cleaning, I didn't have much time to pick it up. I started it in earnest yesterday and read almost straight through. (Why can I not be moderate in my reading?) Last night, I was hiding my face in the couch pillows and giggling like a little girl, and this morning, I was distressing Lillian to an extreme degree with all my crying.

The book is a fictional diary of a woman named Sarah Agnes Prine whose family moves to Tucson in the 1880's. The fact that I live in Tucson didn't really influence my love for this book, if you were wondering, although it was interesting to have heard of the places that they visit and talk about.

Her diary chronicles her late teens through her twenties, her courting and marriage, and her struggles with small children. This is probably why I like it so much. There's a scene much like the one in Little Women where she's had a heck of a time with her toddler and baby and is standing covered in vomit with two screaming kids trying to cook and clean up a broken jar all at the same time when her husband comes home with company and asks for a haircut. She simply takes off her apron and announces she is going to bed. This scene has played out in my home as well.

Oh, I loved this book.

Another part I thought was wonderful, (maybe read this after you read to book if you don't want me to give too much away) was when after she has a few kids and she sees her brother go off to college and she is beset upon by a longing and a sadness. She feels sort of shackled to her children and home and is conflicted about wanting a bigger life and attend college too and wanting to be a mother to her children. A Yavapai Indian that she's friends with tells her wisdom is not a journey, it is a tree. She can grow up and out in many directions and there are many more ways to increase in intelligence than can be studied in a classroom.

I have never felt closer to a fictional character before. And, I realize it is fiction, but I just love that even though I've never had to shoot anybody to protect my family, or carry my belongings in a covered wagon, or watch my close family members die, I am a mother and that has been the same forever. The struggles I have with my kids not sleeping or crying or driving me crazy or the worries I have over them or how much I love them are the same with every mother from the beginning of time.

American Buffalo by Stephen Rinella

2009-03-03T07:12:00.000-08:00

For fun, I made a list of all the books I read last year. After I was done, I looked it over and realized that 95% of it was juvenile fiction with the other 5% being popular adult fiction. My friend Bridget did the same and she had her's categorized. One of her categories was "NPR-type books" and it had 12 books in it. Good grief. I looked at my list, and then looked at her list, I thought, "It's no wonder my mind is turning to oatmeal."

So, I decided to read some books that I heard about on NPR, the first of which being American Buffalo. The author is an extreme mountain man (who reminded me a lot of Brian) who has been fascinated with buffalo from a young age. He enters a lottery for the opportunity to go hunt a wild buffalo in Alaska. The book is about his experiences hunting the buffalo and intertwined with the narrative is the entire history of buffalo in North America.

The parts about him hunting are not that interesting and border on gross during the parts where he actually kills and butchers the animal. But the history of the buffalo is, well, fascinating. To Tyler's chagrin, I had the word vomit about it. For example, I thought it was interesting that the reason the buffalo were killed off so fast is that there was an advancement in the tanning process that allowed the winter coats to be processed. Previous to that, only summer coats could be processed allowing the buffalo to be able to regenerate their numbers during the winter/spring. I also thought it was interesting when the author makes the point that the Indians used every part of the buffalo, but they didn't use every part of every buffalo. They used what they needed at the time and left the rest.

I didn't think I liked this book, and I guess I complained a lot about how it wasn't over yet when Tyler said, "for a book you dislike so much, you sure talk about it a lot." So, maybe I did like it after all.

the latest

2009-03-03T05:37:00.000-08:00

Since I perforated my eardrum and the kids and I got the flu, I've done a lot of reading. A lot. Half of it was recommended here, so I don't need to go into it, except to say that:

* I loved The Hunger Games
* I'm on the fourth Percy Jackson book
* Hattie Big Sky reminded me of a book I love called Tisha, about a woman who goes out into the Alaskan wilderness and faces the same kind of harsh weather and racism, etc. I don't know if it's still in print but it's by Robert Specht. It's good.

I read The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch for book club. I was the only one who thought it was just okay. Perhaps I'm the arrogant one, but it seems to me that anyone can write an anecdotal, this-is-what's-important-before-I-die type of legacy. He has some funny stories and good advice, but maybe the fact that he was way too into his career is what turned me off. He was a really accomplished guy with a positive attitude and I've heard that if you actually watch his "last lecture" online that he comes across as much more human and likable.

Since reading all the Jane Austen novels and watching lots of Jane Austen movies, including Becoming Jane with Anne Hathaway, I decided to check out some Jane Austen biographies. Jane Austen by Carol Shields, at less than 200 pages, is highly readable. She offers valuable insight as an author of fiction herself.

I'm reading another Austen biography (all with the same title; I tell you, there's no creativity here) by Claire Tomalin which is longer and more tedious but apparently the new authority, so we'll see.

When I was still searching for something to read I found a book called The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa, about a brilliant mathematician whose short-term memory only lasts for 80 minutes because of an accident. He's obsessed with math, the beauty of numbers, etc. The housekeeper has a son who forms a special relationship with the professor. I found it pretty boring. Probably there's something I'm not getting.

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

2009-02-25T19:15:00.000-08:00

This book was recommended to me by a friend who said it was so good, she read it out loud to her husband who actually requested that they stay up late to finish it (I guess that never happens). Perhaps because of this glowing review, I was expecting something great (and the fact that it's a Newbury Honor book), but I was a little disappointed.

The story is set in a made up version of ancient Greece, so the names are Grecian sounding and they have a pantheon of gods similar to the Greek gods. It follows a professional thief who steals things for the various kings and queens on the island. It's interesting and exciting and I read the other two books in the series (The Queen of Attolia and The King of Attolia) which I thought were much, much better than the first.

Here's the problem, I think the author's mind eye works differently than mine. For example, in the last book, she describes a scene that takes place on a rooftop and I couldn't figure out how the characters were standing in relation to each other or what the geography of the roof looked like. I had to re-read the section to understand what was happening. I thought this confusion was just a product of my mind turning to applesauce from watching too many episodes of Handy Manny, but my friend Bridget, who, I think, is much smarter than I am, read them as well, and she had the same problem.

So, to sum up: the story is great and interesting and worth your time, but the writing is a little confusing, especially for juvenile fiction.

In a Sunburned Country

2009-02-16T13:21:00.001-08:00

This book gives you a real sense for what it is like going Down Under without even leaving your house. I read this on the way to Sydney--well not the whole thing in one sitting, but if you've ever wondered about the Aussies this book is for you.

To whoever wants to post

2009-02-16T12:17:00.000-08:00

If you want to be able to post here, just email me with your gmail address, or whatever address you use to access blogger, and I'll add you.

Anne

2009-02-16T11:18:00.001-08:00

I don't know who has the controls of this, but Anne would like to be able to post.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2009-02-08T13:08:00.000-08:00

You must read this book. That's all there is to it.

It's science fiction, sort of. I'm going to very cautious compare it to the Twilight series, but it's not really the same at all. It's got the same sort of vibe: juvenile fiction, can't put it down but don't know why, the main character is a girl. But there are no vampires or a *real love story. (*There is a love story, but it is tangential to the plot. We don't have to hear about his marble chest and fruity breath every page for 400 pages.)

Tyler read it in a few days and I read it in one sitting when I was really sick last week.

Read this book, you won't be sorry.

random review

2009-02-07T15:34:00.000-08:00

I have officially read all of Jane Austen's novels (over a period of many years). I like them, but I have to be in the right mood to get into it. Pride and Prejudice was my favorite. I think it helped that I watched the movie first, the one with Keira Knightley. I wouldn't usually say that about a book made into a movie, but I think in this case it helps you get a feel for the setting with the costumes and the period music, etc. Persuasion was also good, and I liked the movie of that as well. Austin calls them 'bonnet' movies. I like that they stick really closely to the plot and the text of the books.

I randomly read a book called The King's Daughter by Sandra Worth, which I read about on curled up with a good book. It was a little more romance-novel-ish than I was expecting, so I wouldn't really recommend it, but it did give me a greater interest in the period. It's about Elizabeth of York who ends up marrying Henry Tudor and becoming the first Tudor queen. It is a novel, but "meticulously researched" so has good historical detail.

Also, the Fablehaven books are pretty good, by Brandon Mull. I read the first in the hospital while Austin and Andrew were in surgery. Jules had it with her. I just read the second and third in January. I think they age well. I just hope it doesn't go on and on like the Tennis Shoes among the Nephites series, where by the six and seventh books they end in the middle of the story, completely unresolved. How can you end a novel on a cliffhanger? That's annoying. I haven't heard if Fablehaven will end at a certain point, but the fourth book is coming out in March, for all you fantasy lovers (mostly just me, I think).

I started The Hunchback of Notre Dame but haven't been able to get into it yet. What else have y'all been reading? Let's hear it.

Sorry for no pics. You're smart, though, you can look it up if you really want to see the covers. =)

The Fountainhead - Read by Chad

2009-01-06T16:35:00.000-08:00

This was my second time through The Fountainhead. Caitlin and I first read it together while on our honeymoon. Romantic, I know.
In The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand explains her theories of the glorification of man embodied in her main character, Howard Roark. According to Rand, true happiness can only be obtained by a strict adherence to one's purest desires. In other words, complete selfishness.
Howard Roark is an architect in the early 20th century who's genius could earn him a fortune if he could only forfeit his own desires to design buildings according to the ideas and desires of others. To do that, he would have to forgo his desires which he can not do. Instead, he lives a meager but happy life, designing the type of structures that satisfy his desires, regardless if the client(s) likes them or not. Some recognize his genius and support him. Other's recognize it, and try to extinguish it.
While I don't agree with all of Rand's ideas, there is something to be said for those who find happiness in doing that which they truly want to do, regardless if that thing brings them success (according to a worldly standard) or not. Happiness is success according to Rand. And one can never find happiness down someone else's path. That is, except for the Savior's path but I guess Rand had never heard about the Church.
In conclusion, this is one of my favorite books. I highly recommend it.

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

2009-01-05T13:49:00.000-08:00

I really liked this book. This book, and The Tipping Point both remind me of Freakonomics. The author has a way of coming at problems and questions sideways so you don't anticipate where he's going and then, bam! there's a connection that you never thought of before. Every chapter is insanely well researched, to the point where you think "how would you ever think to look up something like that?"

The book is about our ability to make decisions without thinking or considering options. How we can look at a situation and just 'know' something right away. A good example of this kind of thinking from the book goes something like this: A man and his father are in a car wreck. The father is killed. The man is rushed to the ER and the doctor sees him and shouts, "This is my son!" Who is the doctor? The doctor is the man's mother. You don't have to think about it, the answer just comes, bam. The book talks about how this kind of thought process affects every aspect of our life and the decisions we make. It's really interesting stuff.

Gideon the Cutpurse, by Linda Buckley Archer

2008-12-23T11:34:00.000-08:00

I grabbed this book from the juvenile fiction shelf, mostly because it had a fantasy sticker on the binding but also because I noticed its sequel sitting next to it, The Time Thief, which had an intriguing piece of promotion tagging the front cover. It said, "May very well give J.K. Rowling a run for her money." That's probably the best bit of promo they could have given a book like this. I might not have otherwise checked it out. Anyway, it's an adventure book that centers on two present day English adolescents (yes, they're 12) who accidentally land themselves in 1763. So historical fiction, if you will, as well as time travel adventure story. It's a trilogy, the third of which hasn't been published yet. Has lots of twists in the plot. Fun and fast paced. In a way it reminded me of the Peter and Starcatcher series. I really enjoyed both books. But I wouldn't go so far as to say it rivals Harry Potter. Oh, and apparently the title of the first book was later changed or maybe published differently in the UK and in the states, so depending on your library the first book can also be found under The Time Travelers (I like the original title better, personally).

I read The Lace Reader and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which Amanda posted about. They were both really good. The Lace Reader was a little scary/exciting with some unexpected twists that make you want to read it all over again with your new, added perspective. I'm currently about 3/4 of the way through Guernsey and the Literary and Potatoe Peel Pie Society. I LOVE it. If you haven't checked it out yet, go do it. Right now. One of the best books I've read in a long time. I also read Mansfield Park by Jane Austen not too long ago. I really enjoyed it. It's a quiet, contemplative sort of book. Next up is Pride and Prejudice.

"Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" By Mary Shelley- Read by Chad

2008-12-21T16:04:00.000-08:00

Dr. Frankenstein, with the hope of advancing science sets out to reanimate that which has pasted away. At the moment of success, religious and ethical doubts flood his thoughts to the point where he runs in terror.
The creature, finding himself alone in a world of fear and hate towards him, decides to track down his creator with the hope that he will create a female to accompany him through his new life. Frankenstein refuses to repeat the evil that he'd already committed. The creature cursed with solitude sets out to curse Frankenstein with the same fate.

The book makes a few parallels to the creation of Adam and Eve however in this case, after the creation of man, the creator curses the man and leaves him to fend for himself with out help, and with out a companion. Thus, in a sense, making the man or "the creature" drunk with hate and scorn towards his creator.
This book is terribly sad for both the creature and Frankenstein.
For a book that was written nearly 200 years ago, it is extremely relevant to the ethics of science today.
Don't look through the window at night in a lightening storm, it's a guarantee that the creature will be on the other side smiling at you. Dun, Dun, Duunnn....

What I've been reading...by Chad

2008-12-20T09:13:00.000-08:00

I had to break into Caitlin's account to post here since apparently, the only dude that can post is Austin.
So anyway,
Edward- "I love you, but I want to drink your blood"
Bella- "I love you, I'm not scard of you. Let's get it on".
If Jasper is so jumpy around blood (i.e. He nearly kills Bella when she gets a paper cut (wait, was that in this book?)) then what the heck is he doing in school? What, no one's got a paper cuts in school? I think I saw someone lose a finger once in shop.

Edward- "I'm in this book. JK".
Jacob- "Hi Bella, I'm not so secretly in love you and you hanging around all the time is sort of leading me on. P.S. I'm a werewolf."
Bella- "Thanks for helping me get over Edward. Oh, you love me? I love you too. JK. I'll be here tomorrow so you can hold my hand some more.

Bella- "Edward, make me a vampire"
Edward- "Alright, JK"

I thought the ending was anti-climatic. If the volturi were mind attacking them, I think it would at least have been cool if they did some mind attacking back. Maybe had the Amazon take out their vision or something.

My second time through this one. There was a bunch of stuff I missed from the first time. For examle, Bokonan predicted that his boat taken from the "Lady's Slipper" would sail again at the end of the world. It was made into the bed that Papa was in when he fell into the ocean.
Now I want to try a little Boko Maru with Caitlin. This book gave me a nightmare about Ice Nine. I haven't verified this, but I wasn't aware the cat's cradle is one of the oldest recorded games. I like this book.

My first time with Robinson Crusoe. I was surprised at how spritual it was. He spends 28 years on the island, 26 or so by himself. Over which time, he comes to appreciate the Lord's hand in all he has and all he is able to learn and accomplish. "If savage man come, they eat me, you get away". This is also where "My man Friday" comes from. I like Friday. I like the scene where Friday fights the bear.

The Know-It-All

2008-12-10T06:58:00.000-08:00

In my Real Simple magazine, they had some authors write letters to Santa as their childhood selves. The one by A.J. Jacobs was particularly funny, so I thought I'd get his book from the library. Hilarious. He decides he's going to read the Encyclopaedia Britanica from A to Z. The book not only goes over the odd things that he's learned (like how Rene Descartes had a thing for cross-eyed women, or this bit about Pythagoras that I liked,

According to the encyclopedia, members of the brotherhood , [which Pythagoras founded] were told to "refrain from speaking about the holy, wear white clothes, observe sexual purity, not touch beans, and so forth." That's what it said: do not touch beans.... It didn't say whether that meant all beans, or just certain beans like kidney or pinto. Just those four words.)

but he talks about how he tries to fit all of these new factoids into his daily conversations. This is something I'm always trying to do, so I felt like we would be two people of the same heart. He chronicles his quest to go on Jeopardy, join Mensa, and use his new found trivia knowledge to compete in the crossword puzzle tournament hosted by Will Shortz.

It was hilarious. The only down side was maybe 8-10 incidences of foul language, maybe 12. I normally wouldn't stand for that, but I was hooked.

Lace Reader

2008-11-13T07:08:00.000-08:00

I just finished Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry. I picked it because of the rave review it received on CurledUp.com. First off, I have a confession: this book normally wouldn't have passed my profanity filter, which sort of works on a point system. The problem with this book is that there was no swearing until more than half way, and by that time I was hooked and couldn't stop. Just in the interest of disclosure, I would guess that throughout the last half of the book, there were probably 20 incidences of the "f-word" but not much else. No sex or violence, and some mild illicit drug use.

On to the story. It revolves around a woman named Towner Whitney who fights equally with her own mental illness and (possibly caused by) her family. All the Whitney women are Lace Readers with a streak of genuine psychic power. Lace reading invloves holding a piece of lace to the face of another and seeing images in/through the lace and telling the future. Towner battles with past demons and tries to find what is real and what is hallucination.

You may be wondering about the picture at the top. It is a lace maker's pillow. A portion of the book revolves around one of these pillows and while Ms. Barry did as good a job as a person could have done describing it, I was still way confused at what it actually looked like. Mostly because those wooden peg things are called bobbins. She never says what the bobbins look like, so I was trying to picture bobbins like the little things that go in your sewing machine, and it just wansn't working out. So, if you read it, you won't be nearly as confused as I was.

I wouldn't go so far as the previously cited reviewer as to say that this is one of the best books I've ever read, but I did enjoy it. A lot. Once I got about 100 pages into it, I read it straight through.

My only complaint, aside from the f-bombs, is the ending. It has a twist ending that I totally didn't see coming. Not the same as, but akin to, The Sixth Sense where the whole perspective of the book changes with this one piece of information. The only thing is, I felt, is that there were lots of unanswered questions connected to this one last twist that I would have felt more peaceful about if they were addressed. As it is, I'm wondering how it all was supposed to work in that one scene.... or what about... or who was she talking to if....

My Antonia

2008-11-05T08:35:00.000-08:00

I saw a while back that Caitlin had My Antonia by Willa Cather listed under her "currently reading" section on her blog. I had never read it (really I hadn't heard of it), so I got it from the library. I had a few other things I was reading at the time, so I had to renew this book 3 times before I got through it.

For those who, like me, haven't read it, it was published in 1918 and it chronicles the lives of settlers on the Nebraska prairie. The narrator is Jim Burden, a boy sent to live with his farmer grandparents. His closest friend is Antonia Shimerda, an immigrant from Bohemia who lives in the next farm over with her family. The Shimerdas have it rough and live in a sodhouse like the one pictured above.

The book, overall was worthwhile, but like other great pieces of literature of the early century, was a bit dreary to get through. (We all remember the turtle chapter from The Grapes of Wrath.) It seemed to me that looking back and reminiscing was a large thematic element. As Jim gets older, he is always thinking about his early years. The Shimerdas are always talking about 'the old country.' Looking back is fine, but it seemed that no one was satisfied with the present. The only thing that came close was when Jim was going to the dances in Black Hawk, and having fun dancing with all the girls, until his grandmother felt he was giving the family a bad name, so he had to quit going.

When Jim does try to go back to his hometown after being away for so long, he doesn't look on the changes he finds there with any sort of satisfaction; just a sad longing for the way things used to be.

I agree with the sentiment that 'you can never go home again,' and while that's a sad truth, I can still find pleasure in the present, and even excitement about the future. Maybe that's what Antonia was trying to do when she was talking about how much she cared for her orchard. She speaks about how she cared for the trees and woke up in the middle of the night to go water them. What are young cherry trees if not a promise of a better future (one with cherries in it)? Maybe this pleasure in the present is what Jim was trying to do when he was taking his mental snapshot of all of Antonia's children coming out of the fruit cellar.

At any rate, I'm glad that I was born where and when I was if only that I didn't have to wrangle cattle all day then hunker down in the back room that night and give birth. What a life, eh?

The Cronicles of Prydain

2008-09-21T16:53:00.000-07:00

I tried reading these books when I was young but I think I started in the middle of the series and it was just too hard for me to get into them. Chantel and I have read all five and I thought they were awesome. I gave my office mates and others who caught me reading them the line, "well, I have to read them to make sure they're all right for my 6½ year old son." They are not too dark or too violent, check. Lots of action to get Owen's attention, check. Almost no romance whatsoever—the heroine is somewhat of a tomboy—thus Owen, a member in good standing of the “no-kissing-club” will not revolt, check.

I plan on owning them someday soon.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

2008-09-04T14:31:00.000-07:00

My friend Vivian is responsible for so many fabulous things in my life: my love of ultimate frisbee, chocolate milk in a frosty mug, my first taste of Jack Johnson, and my introduction to a movie called Cold Comfort Farm. I love this film. It is very character driven with very little actual plot, but by the end of the movie, I felt like I knew and cared about all the people in it. Not to spoil what plot there is, but I was really happy for all of them that it had a happy ending, genuinely happy for them.

This book is like that.

The book uses an epistolary style to tell the story of the German Occupation of the channel islands (as in the English Channel). At the end, you come out knowing so much more than what it was like for the people of Guernsey Island during the war. You've made friends with all the people there. On the back cover, Elizabeth Gilbert, autor of Eat, Pray, Love (a book which I hear is fabulous and I started to read, but I can't recommend on account of it didn't pass my profanity filter) gives a review. She states: "... I kept forgetting this was a work of fiction populated with characters so utterly wonderful that I kept forgetting they weren't my actual friends and neighbors."

I loved this book so much, I finished it in a very unproductive day and a half, if productivity is counted as doing things other than reading like caring for my child and cooking/cleaning.

Read it, you'll love it.

Book of a Thousand Days

2008-08-17T15:14:00.000-07:00

Why can't I post a picture of a book... help me.... I'm so retarded.

I just read Shannon Hales's Book of a Thousand Days. I really liked Goose Girl by the same author. Both books are retellings of Grimm fairy tales. They are harowing and romantic. It was easy reading... I finished it in less than a day. (OK, not my most productive day)

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

2008-07-07T09:24:00.000-07:00

Mom read this book in her book club and every time I talked to her, she asked me if I had read it. She described the plot, and from what I could tell, it sounded really depressing. Her description, which is fairly accurate, went something like this: It's the story of two girls in pre-communist China. And they communicate by writing secret messages back and forth on a fan. The book tells the story of their lives including all about how they have their feet bound and are married off to strangers.

I wasn't all that jazzed to read a depressing story, so after she loaned it to me, it sat on my shelf for a while. When I got around to reading it, I found it very compelling. To learn about a culture so different from my own from an insider's perspective, without judgment. Not even A Thousand Splendid Suns really did that (although I liked that book too).

Anyway, the book is a bit depressing, but at the same time, it's fascinating and heartwarming.

The Sisters Grimm

2008-02-04T14:42:00.001-08:00

I just finished book 4 of the Sisters Grimm series. Apparently, every female of my family that lives in the borders of Orange County has already read them, and kept them a secret. So, this post if for anyone else who's out of the loop, like me.

The books center around Sabrina and Daphne Grimm, great-great-....-great-granddaughters of the famous Brothers Grimm. In the books, the Brothers Grimm didn't invent the fairy tales, they "documented" them... as in the characters are real. Now, centuries later the immortal Everafters, as they call themselves, cause trouble and it's up to the Grimms to solve the mysteries and keep the peace.

The books are written for a young audience, maybe 7-14 years old, but they're cute and you can read one in about 3 hours. There are five currently published with the 6th due out in April.

Little Women, Warning: SPOILERS

2007-12-18T14:16:00.000-08:00

I have to confess that I cheated. I was reading Little Women and I wanted to be directed so I could look for things to talk about later, so I read a list of reading group questions supplied by the internet and I got all in a huff. I had only read through the first half, so I knew the characters well, and had a good idea of where I wanted the story to go. The questions not only revealed to me that Beth was going to die, but the Jo was not going to marry Laurrie. I was outraged. I almost made up my mind that I wasn’t going to like the book. But after reading it, I really did like it. Here’s some of the questions, and I’ll write what I think about them, and anyone who’s read it can respond.

Do you find it surprising that once Laurie is rejected by Jo, he falls in love with Amy? Do you feel his characterization is complete and he is acting within the "norm" of the personality Alcott has created for him, or does Alcott simply dispose of him once our heroine rejects him?

I don’t find it surprising at all. Like Jo says, she’s like the wind while Amy is like the sun and while a romance between Jo and Laurie would have been more interesting, or more fun, it wouldn’t have been more work to keep it happy. As far as the “norm” of the personality, I think it is out of the norm of his character, and this is what I think the book is about to some degree: that you can choose to learn from life, be it good or bad. Laurie had been a gadabout his whole life and had made an effort to learn from the good (i.e. trying to improve himself to win Jo), but when the Jo refused him, he was resigned to be unhappy. Amy showed him that you move forward no matter what.

As far as the shake-up goes, in general I think Alcott wanted to show that you don’t have to settle for so-so love. You don’t have to be married unless there is the potential for both parties to be ‘Julie-Andrews-spinning-on-a-mountain-top happy’.

The last two chapters find Jo setting aside her budding literary career to run a school with her husband. Why do you think Alcott made her strongest feminine figure sacrifice her own life plans for her husband's?

Boo to this whole question. It makes me irritated that people have forgotten what Alcott was trying to say in the last two chapters. That someone could read that and think only of the worldly glory that Jo was giving up with her writing and not see the joy that she invited into her life by surrounding herself with family and children is truly lamentable. Jo’s writing never really made her supremely happy because she was just ‘talented’ and not a genius, and thus could never create that wonderful masterpiece she dreamed of in her castle in the sky. But with getting married and opening a school, she realized the most wonderfully feminine part of herself and was really happy. And, as a point of order, the idea to open the school was Jo’s in the first place, not Mr. Baer’s.

The other questions were mostly dumb and obvious, but I just wanted to say that I really agree with the lessons taught by Marmee to her daughters. I especially like the ones imparted to Meg about making the home pleasant for her family and not letting her children eclipse her husband. I didn’t mark the page, but it really rang true to me when Marmee says something like, “you are the sunshine of your home.” As women, we have the opportunity to be very literally the glue that holds our home together. I know for me, I get bogged down in the every day minutiae of running a home (and going to school) like making sure that we have milk in the refrigerator and singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star for the millionth time in a row. But with the book, Alcott shows us that life is hard and housework is very real (I know I don’t sew one-tenth the amount that the March girls did) but like the last page of the book, when Marmee gathers her family around her, we too will have a reward so delicious that it can make sweet the bitter and everything will be more than worth it.

A sipid story of requited love

2007-12-17T20:21:00.000-08:00

Mom sent this to me awhile ago, and I was thinking about it today. I thought I'd reproduce it here so anyone who is interested can have a good laugh.

How I Met my Wife by Jack Winter

It had been a rough day, so when I walked into the party I was very chalant, despite my efforts to appear gruntled and consolate.

I was furling my wieldy umbrella for the coat check when I saw her standing alone in a corner. She was a descript person, a woman in a state of total array. Her hair was kempt, her clothing shevelled, and she moved in a gainly way. I wanted desperately to meet her, but I knew I'd have to make bones about it since I was travelling cognito. Beknownst to me, the hostess, whom I could see both hide and hair of, was very proper, so it would be skin off my nose if anything bad happened And even though I had only swerving loyalty to her, my manners couldn't be peccable. Only toward and heard-of behavior would do.

Fortunately, the embarrassment that my maculate appearance might cause was evitable. There were two ways about it, but the chances that someone as flappable as I would be ept enough to become persona grata or a sung hero were slim. I was, after all, something to sneeze at, someone you could easily hold a candle to, someone who usually aroused bridled passion. So I decided not to risk it. But then, all at once, for some apparent reason, she looked in my direction and smiled in a way that I could make heads and tails of.

I was plussed. It was concerting to see that she was communicado, and it nerved me that she was interested in a pareil like me, sight seen. Normally, I had a domitable spirit, but, being corrigible, I felt capacitated -- as if this were something I was great shakes at -- and forgot that I had succeeded in situations like this only a told number of times. So, after a terminable delay, I acted with mitigated gall and made my way through the ruly crowd with strong givings.

Nevertheless, since this was all new hat to me and I had no time to prepare a promptu speech, I was petuous. Wanting to make only called-for remarks, I started talking about the hors d'oeuvres, trying to abuse her of the notion that I was sipid, and perhaps even bunk a few myths about myself. She responded well, and I was mayed that she considered me a savoury character who was up to some good. She told me who she was. "What a perfect nomer," I said, advertently. The conversation became more and more choate, and we spoke at length to much avail. But I was defatigable, so I had to leave at a godly hour. I asked if she wanted to come with me. To my delight, she was committal. We left the party together and have been together ever since. I have given her my love, and she has requited it.

Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

2007-12-15T15:01:00.000-08:00

This is the best fantasy adventure book I've read since Harry Potter. It's something like 450 pages but I read it in two days, so it's fast and easy. I grabbed it on a mad dash down the juvenile fiction aisle at random and it proved to be not only an entertaining read but also very clever and well thought-out. I think it's a trilogy because I saw at the bookstore yesterday that the first two are in paperback and the third one is out in hardcover now. It's basically the story of how Peter Pan became Peter Pan. But it's nothing predictable or anything that I would have thought of. I think one of the author's daughter's asked about how Peter Pan and Captain Hook met in the first place and that got the wheels spinning. It seems that a lot of the best fiction is in the juvenile section, but this could just as easily be shelved for adults. (Or maybe I just like juvenile fiction better.)

And I have to say, I'm so excited that I actually have something to post here. Austin and I were talking about the lack of reading we've been doing lately, or rather, the lack of reading silently to ourselves. In the last month or two I have read aloud to Owen and/or Soren Stuart Little, The Trumpet of the Swan, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, several "Jack and Annie" books (that's Magic Tree House series in Soren-speak), as well as countless short stories, but nothing for myself. Well, that's not entirely true, but almost. I love to read but somehow my time is getting all sucked up doing other things (funny how that happens...).

Anyway, this book was really good, I highly recommend it. I can't wait to start the next one.

I Am A Mother

2007-11-20T08:51:00.001-08:00

My grandma loaned me this book and I am so grateful that she did. Chad was gone all of last week and I played single mom for 8 days. Needless to say it was difficult, especially since they were both sick and I wasn't able to take Archer to preschool. This book couldn't have come at a better time. I Am A Mother is written by Jane Clayson Johnson who was a former co-anchor of the "The Early Show." At the peak of her career she was married and she gave up an exciting career and a multi-million contract to stay at home with her children. Suddenly the things I sometimes feel I have given up don't seem as great of a sacrifice when compared to hers. Don't get me wrong, we all give up something when we become mothers, but the opportunity offered to Johnson may never come again in her lifetime. I, on the other hand, can go back to school and graduate whenever I want. Anyway, I like her because she isn't perfect. Johnson's first (temple) marriage ended in divorce and that fact really makes her more accessible and real. She speaks very candidly about her decision and how difficult it was to give up her exciting career. It is still something she struggles with, just as every mother does. Anyway, she really puts some meat on the cliched sayings like "Being a mother is the greatest thing in the world!" and "Motherhood is the highest calling." In this quick read (100-some-odd pages), I felt re-energized and more determined to do my best and give myself credit for the things I have accomplished today instead of focusing on the things that didn't get done. Here is a link to an excerpt of the book as well as a video of her talking about it.

Little Women

2007-11-11T09:25:00.000-08:00

So this is the first book I have read in a (really, really, really) long time. I read this book when I was younger and really enjoyed it. I have somewhat of a history with Little Women as it was my grandmother's favorite book. She was in grade school during the great depression and grew up extremely poor and without her father around. She won a copy of Little Women in either a spelling bee or an essay contest, I can't recall at this moment. My grandmother loved this book so much she named my mom after the saintly character Beth. Anyway, as I said before, I read this book when I was younger and hadn't thought much of it since. I hosted our ward's book club and this is what I chose to read. I can't believe how much I enjoyed it and I felt as though I was reading it for the first time. Obviously I am in a different place in my life than when I first read it and the story really spoke to the wife, mother, and young woman in me. If you haven't read this book in awhile, or have never read it at all, I encourage you to do so and let me know what you think!

Isaiah for Airheads

2007-10-15T13:58:00.000-07:00

I stole this book from Jerri and I decided to study Isaiah like it suggests: slowly, methodically, prayerfully, and with my scriptures open. And just as John Bytheway promises, I changed from thinking "oh great, the words of Isaiah" to "Great are the words of Isaiah."

The book focuses on just the Book of Mormon chapters of quoted Isaiah, and is set up like an institute manual with commentary on a verse-by-verse basis along with practical application and a lot of 'big picture' concepts. There's about 20 chapters of Isaiah quoted in the Book of Mormon, so if you did a chapter a day, which is pretty reasonable, you'd be done in 20 days. It took me much longer than that because sometimes I only had time for a few verses.

I found it very helpful because sometimes, you just need someone to tell you what the heck a crisping pin is. I would heartily recommend it.

American Jezebel

2007-10-10T15:10:00.000-07:00

Reading this book is awesome. I disagree with the author on some very key points, but reading about a Puritan woman non-conformist is interesting to me in many ways. I've especially found some parallels with all the talk regarding President Beck's talk from conference.

Hattie Big Sky

2007-09-22T08:59:00.001-07:00

Just a quick note, I finished Hattie Big Sky, by Kirby Larson last week and loved it. It was very cute. It's Young Adult fiction. Check it out. Why am I so retarded that I can't put a picture of the book on here?

If You Decide to go to the Moon

2007-09-15T05:52:00.000-07:00

by Faith Mcnulty, illustrated by Steven Kellogg
(he also did Is Your Mama a Llama?)

Owen brought this book home from the library on Media Wednesday and I like it so much I want to buy it. The prose is fun, imaginative, and informative and the pictures are amazing. I recommend you scoot on over to the library and check it out.

The Tipping Point

2007-08-16T17:54:00.000-07:00

I saw Malcolm Gladwell on Oprah publicizing his new book Blink. He was saying some pretty interesting things, especially about the Implicit Association Test developed by researchers at Harvard and a few other universities. I took the test, and turns out, I'm prejudiced. But Mr. Gladwell's point is that most people are. Anyway, I tried to borrow this book from the library, but they were booked up for weeks, so I decided to borrow his other book, The Tipping Point which book mom had brought to read the week she stayed with me right after Lillian was born. It's a definite conversation piece, as I'm sure my husband is tired of hearing about things like transactive memory and why Sesame Street is successful at teaching children how to read.

If you liked Freakonomics, you would like this book.

As a completely unrelated side note: Tyler is reading the Percy Jackson books. He's on the second one and we were both reading quietly before bed when he says, "I'm not sure I can read this book anymore... Look, (he reads) 'We were traveling at 25 knots per hour'! Knots per hour?! That's as bad as saying 'We have been traveling for 10 lightyears.'"

Just in case there was any confusion, my husband is a nerd.

Jack

2007-07-31T08:56:00.001-07:00

Is Jack going on a trip? I'm glad he has his lightsaber!!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

2007-07-23T11:21:00.000-07:00

Who's reading it? We bought our copy on Amazon, so it came to our house on Saturday. I suggested that we could read it together, separately... It's how we've read a number of other books. You sit side by side on the couch, and both hold the book open to the page you're on, with the intervening pages straight up. The only downside is that you get a crick in your neck. Anyway, Tyler didn't want to do that with this one because he knew I'd read the whole thing while he was at work, so he insisted we read it out loud to each other. It's a little slow going, although I just looked and we're on page 235. Not bad for only two days.

Oh, when it came in the mail, Tyler looked at Lillian and said, "Ok baby, you can't cry for at least a week."

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

2007-07-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law recommended this book. It's about a man who grew up in Afghanistan and immigrated to California but is asked to return to Afghanistan years later to help a friend. I'm only about half-way through, but really like it. Not only is it written well, but it gives the reader an insight into the way Afghanistan used to be: before Russia, before the terrorists.

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

2007-07-14T09:52:00.000-07:00

This book won the Pulitzer a few years ago and is Oprah's current book club selection, so I thought I'd give it a try. It's about a person named Calliope/Cal who was born a hermaphrodite and his time growing up trying to figure out why he's a girl on the outside but a man on the inside. The premise was OK, but the book was a little... juicy... if you know what I mean. Nothing gratuitous really, just a little much for my taste. I stopped reading maybe 60 pages in.

3 for Tea

2007-07-12T17:42:00.000-07:00

I've been invited to join a "smart" book club. Hmmmm. Our first book is "3 for Tea." Not sure how to underline yet. It's a fascinating, true story of a regular guy who gets lost while climbing K2, and the next thing you know, he's promised this village he will help build a school. He has no idea how to even begin. It's sometimes humorous how he blunders along. But in the last 10 years he's built 55 schools in the most remote locations, mostly for girls. He's fighting the Talaban with education. An excellent book!!

Anne of Green Gables

2007-06-04T08:29:00.000-07:00

When I was younger, I wanted so badly to be Anne Shirley and live in Green Gables in Avonlea. I wanted to have a 'kindred spirit' for a friend and live by an orchard. Like most phases, especially for a Calder girl, it only lasted a little while, but for that week, I think, I wore a dress every day, and insisted that mom braid my hair.

I had never read any of the other books in the series. I've just now finished Anne of the Island the third book. I think I may read one more, just to see Anne and Gilbert be married, but I think I'll stop there. Who has the stamina to read all eight?

As a humorous side note, for those of you who've read the books, you know Anne is all caught up on being romantic, so this morning, when I woke up, Tyler asks, "Who is Ms. Bennett?" I replied, "The only Ms. Bennett I know is Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice." He then says, "Oh, because last night in your sleep you said, "Ms. Bennett can't marry him, it wouldn't be romantic."

To A Mouse, by Robert Burns

2007-05-26T13:14:00.000-07:00

I love this poem, even if it is a little depressing. I found a place online where you can listen to a woman reading it. I found it makes a lot more sense if you have a proper Scottish accent.

On turning her up in her nest, with the plough,
November, 1785

Wee, sleekit, cow'rin', tim'rous beastie,
O what a panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae (so) hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!
I wad be laith (loath) to rin an' chase thee
Wi' murd'ring pattle!

I'm truly sorry man's dominion
Has broken Nature's social union,
An' justifies that ill opinion
Which makes thee startle
At me, thy poor earth-born companion,
An' fellow-mortal!

I doubt na, whiles, but thou may thieve;
What then? poor beastie, thou maun (must) live!
A daimen-icker in a thrave (an occasional ear of corn out of 24 sheaves)
'Sa sma' request:
I'll get a blessin' wi' the lave (remainder),
And never miss't!

Thy wee bit housie, too, in ruin!
Its silly wa's the win's are strewin:
And naething, now, to big (build) a new ane,
O' foggage (moss) green!
An' bleak December's winds ensuin'
Baith (both) snell (severe) and keen!

Thou saw the fields laid bare an' waste
An' weary winter comin' fast,
An' cozie here, beneath the blast,
Thou thought to dwell
Till, crash! the cruel coulter (iron piece in front of plough) past
Out thro' thy cell.

That wee bit heap o' leaves an' stibble
Has cost the mony (many) a weary nibble!
Now thou's turn'd out, for a' thy trouble,
But house or hald,
To thole (endure) the winter's sleety dribble
An' cranreuch (hoarfrost) cold!

But, Mouse, thou art no thy lane (not alone)
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft a-gley, (often go awry)
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promised joy.

Still thou art blest, compared wi' me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But, Och! I backward cast my e'e
On prospects drear!
An' forward, tho' I canna see,
I guess an' fear!

Percy Jackson

2007-05-16T09:40:00.000-07:00

The new Percy Jackson book is out. It was exciting and I read it in about a day and a half. But, I was disappointed, and a little excited, that it wasn't over over. The plot had some conclusion, but I get the feeling there's going to be at least 2 or 3 more books in the series. Something to look forward to, I guess.

How Green Was My Valley

2007-05-05T16:01:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's beautiful. Beautifully written. Beautiful scenery. Beautiful people. But, I had no idea what was going on most of the time. You can't do much about the Welsh names: Huw, Angharad, and Mr. Gruffydd. However, from what I understand, it's written like how Welsh people talk. One man says to another man, "now, my little one, ah y fi, don't cry, is it?" What?

But, that's not that big of a deal. You get the point. My major, big, huge, gigantic complaint with the book is that he finds out he fathers an child out of wedlock and does nothing. The whole book is about honor, right? His father is always belting his brothers and him for even looking at other girls or the like. His brothers beat up another man because he talked to their sister without asking their father's permission. And yet, Huw fathers a child, which everyone knows about, and one sentence, "I felt shamed" then nothing. Poor Ceridwen, simply brushed aside. I couldn't enjoy the rest of the book because I kept waiting for his father to call him in and tell him what's what. Or for him to try and go find her and marry her. I fell right out of love with him and considered him a jerk for the remainder of the book, which I read only on the off chance he was going to turn around and do the honorable thing. I have to admit, every time I turned a page, (of which there are 500, so I did it a few times) I would scan for Ceridwen's name, not find it, and be irritated all over again.

Maybe the movie is different. I hear it won all sorts of awards.

Slice of Life Piece

2007-04-25T09:50:00.000-07:00

I have a friend who is frustrated with all the magazines out there. She decided she was going to publish something that wasn't about pleasing her man or losing weight. She asked me to write a one page 'slice of life' piece. This is what I came up with:

I have the distinct feeling that I’m getting less and less interesting as I grow up, ‘grow up’ used loosely, of course, as I’m only 23. Or 24. No, 23; I can never remember. I may be romanticizing a bit, but I have memories of holding my audiences in rapt attention, laughing, crying, eating out of the palm of my hand. I could make even the most mundane subjects dazzle. Now, I’ve got nothing.

‘What happened?’ you may ask. The most wonderful and awful thing in the world: I had a baby. ‘How can you call that awful?’ you may ask. It’s more wonderful than awful, if that’s any consolation. Mostly, the awful had to do with the actual having of the child, which I won’t discuss here, because no one wants to hear about it. I don’t even want to hear about it. But, the thing is, no one wants to hear about any of it. Sure, everyone wants to look at the baby. They coo and tickle and say things like, “wow, she’s got a mohawk” (which is not something a mother needs pointed out). But all subjects which have bearing on the actual raising process are, lets face it, either extremely unpleasant or downright boring. Like the ‘having process’ I won’t discuss the ‘extremely unpleasant’. You can imagine. ‘How can it be boring?’ you may ask. Well, somehow, I can’t make the fact that my daughter loves watching the turntable spin in the microwave funny. You can say it. Someone says, “So, how are you?” And you say, “My daughter loves watching the turntable spin in the microwave.” But then what? You get a cursory, “that’s cute” and then your audience moves on to the conversation next to you where they’re discussing backpacking in Peru. I can’t compete with that.

To get me back in the conversational saddle, I tried making a list of talking points which would aid me in making friends and impressing audiences through my unparalleled humor and mental prowess. This was when I knew my life had really taken a turn for the worst as ‘crossword puzzles’ was near the top. It was awful. If the turntable in the microwave was difficult to make interesting, try out the fact that on March 15^th, there were no ‘i’s in the puzzle (as in, beware the Ides of March). I thought it was pretty funny, but perhaps the man who created the puzzle and I were the only ones. Also high on my list of talking points was my recent discovery of sweet potatoes. The man on the television in the produce section of the supermarket told me they were to most nutritious vegetable. The sad realization hit me like a ton of bricks. It was no longer a matter of suspecting that I was boring. I was boring.

At this point, the baby woke up and I went in to get her out of her crib. As soon as she saw me with her gorgeous big blue eyes, a gigantic grin spread across her little cherubic face and she let out a little squeal of joy. I thought, with an exclamation point, “She likes me!” Waves of happiness coursed through my body as she snuggled up close and I read the caterpillar book for the millionth time.

It doesn’t matter that I’m no longer good at conversing; my baby likes me, and will like me forever. Or, at least until she turns 13.

A good book

2007-04-22T11:46:00.000-07:00

I am reading Gravitation, by Misner, Thorne, and Wheeler. It's a pretty good read, but it's very heavy at 1200 pages. I'll let you know how it goes. By the way Wheeler was one of the principal scientists involved in building the atomic bomb during WWII. His other book: Geons, Black Holes, and Quantum Foam: A Life in Physics, was partly about his experience in WWII building the bomb. It was especially intersting as he had a brother in Europe who died before they finished building the bomb. It is written to be read by a general audience.

Levi's Will by W. Dale Cramer

2007-04-13T15:51:00.000-07:00

I really loved this book. I chose it as I walked past and the binding looked interesting. It's the story of a man who leaves the Old Order Amish community. It follows his whole life. I know, it sounds boring, but it's not. It treats the Amish faith and community really respectfully. I read it in a day and a half. It's not my usual fare, but I feel changed a bit from it. It's really about love and forgiveness.

Oprah's new book club book

2007-03-27T17:26:00.000-07:00

It's called The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier. The whole book is about measuring yourself to a higher standard. I only read half of it because it would be rated R, for language. Most of the language is when he is talking about the racism he faced when he first immigrated to the US from the Bahamas. It's a tough subject, but he treated it with the language to match. Not for me.

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

2007-03-22T06:48:00.000-07:00

I had this book for a class that I ended up dropping; I'm not sure why I kept it, but it's been sitting on my shelf for a few years, so I finally pulled it out. It's a novel and a pretty quick read. I can't say that I loved it or that it changed my life, though. It was rather strange. Kind of eery and haunting in an undisturbing kind of way. That probably doesn't make any sense at all. On the positive side, there was nothing R-rated whatsoever, and the writing was really beautiful. Every word intentional. It's kind of a silent book. There's hardly any dialogue in it. It's about two sisters who grow up with various relatives after their mother drives her car off a cliff. Read at your own risk.

I've never read Hamlet

2007-03-03T22:02:00.000-08:00

I read this book called Dead Fathers Club by Matt Haig. In the review that I read, it gave it 4 stars and said it was a cross-over juvenile fiction book based loosely on Hamlet. When I got the book at the library, the reviews on it said that it was humorous and witty. I've never read Hamlet, but I wasn't sure how one could make the story humorous or witty, so I thought I'd read it. My number-one problem was the seriously PG-13 language. I thought it was supposed to be juvenile fiction. My number-two problem was the extreme lack of wittiness and humor. The Hamlet character is an 11-year-old boy, and the story is told from his point of view, so some parts are at best awkward, like life is when you're 11.

I did like it, however. Aside from the language, it was a very compelling story, and it was just different enough from the play that I wasn't quite sure what was going to happen.

In short, it was OK.

(Lillian's been taking two two-hour naps every day, and that's why I have so much time on my hands to read what my husband characterizes as "a million books a week." I'm waiting on Book 2 in the Percy Jackson series, so I think I'll read something serious, maybe On Liberty by John Stuart Mill. I had to buy it for a class, but we only read the beginning bit. Hooray for naptime!)

Percy

2007-02-26T07:58:00.000-08:00

I just finished the first book of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Thanks Allison for recommending it, it was fun. I kept telling Tyler it was like Harry Potter, but with Greek mythology instead of witches.

This book stole three days of my life

2007-02-15T17:16:00.000-08:00

My sister-in-law sent me this book: Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. She called to tell me it was her new favorite. The back reads: "About three things I was absolutely positive. First Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him - and I don't know how dominant that part might be - that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him." My eyes rolled. I started reading. Bella moved to Forks, Washington to let her mom breathe and to be close to her dad. Oh yeah, she's a junior in high school. While living in this podunk town, she notices a family of outsiders; two girls and three boys. They sit by themselves, are extremely graceful, very pale, and amazingly beautiful. Oh yeah, they're vampires. While trying to find her place, Bella falls in love with one, Edward, and she's so "unconditionally and irrevocably in love" that she doesn't care that he's a vampire. Oh yeah, they've only spoken maybe four times. There was much eye rolling and head shaking, and I was rapidly losing respect for my sister-in-law's literary tastes.

Then it sucked me right in. I won't tell you what happened, but suddenly, all I wanted to do was read. I read before bed, right when I woke up, while cooking, during Lillian's naps, while she was awake. I had to know.

It's written for teenagers, I think, so don't expect too much. But, after all the eye rolling, it wasn't half bad.

John Adams by David McCullough

2007-02-08T21:48:00.000-08:00

By odd coincidence, Mom and I ended up reading John Adams at the same time. I've been nibbling at it since Thanksgiving, mostly reading it in between other books. After just finishing it, I am astonished at how much he gave for our country, all to be repaid in scandal and rumor. He said that if he had to do it all over again, he would have been a shoemaker. I didn't know that he and Jefferson were so close, and that after Jefferson used ever device possible to undercut Adams, they could still be the closest of friends; they even died on the same day, July 4th, on the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. He tried always to improve the world, never once writing, or encouraging to be written, a disparaging remark about any of his opponents, and was, well, loquacious, which makes for a good biography. People just don't write letters like they used to.

All in all, it put a face on all of these scraps of history that I had floating around in my brain, left over from Mr. Sink's AP American History my junior year of high school. For example, I remembered there was such a thing called the XYZ Affair, but who can remember exactly what it was all about? (Tyler's recollection limited it to 'what you say when someone's fly is down.)

It is long, however, and for most of it, it isn't exactly riveting. It is more of a ponderous thing than any sort of quick read. But it can be used rather successfully as a conversation piece, which device I have seen and you have probably heard Mom employ, and you sound very smart and well read. Not that that's why I read books.

John Adams makes me feel not only like I should be doing more, but that I can do more. Said he, "Admire and adore the Author of the telescopic universe, and and esteem the work, do all in your power to lessen ill, and increase good, but never assume to comprehend."

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

2007-02-02T15:18:00.000-08:00

I really liked this book. I found it in the Juvenile section of the library. It's a little Harry Potter-esque. It was a fun, quick read. I liked it so much that I went out and got book two, The Sea Monster. I can't wait for book three to come out this summer.

Chantel, you guys should read the Magic Tree House books to Owen. There are a million of them and we read through them in one or two nights. Tristan never seems to tire of them. I, myself, can only take a couple before I have to have a change. They are high interest, lower-level reading. High interest, i.e. sabertooth tigers, knights, dinosaurs, ninjas, etc. I'll have to try reading Harry Potter to Tristan. We tried Junie B. Jones, and although I thought they were funny, Tristan didn't get the jokes.

Rats!!!

2007-01-22T11:46:00.000-08:00

I didn't notice the little words on the bottom of the back cover of An Assembly Such as This which read "Book 1 in the Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman trilogy." Blast it all. The book ends in the middle. To quote Meg Ryan's character in Dad's favorite movie, "I'm always in agony over whether Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are really going to get together." The next book is called Duty and Desire. Ahhh!!

An Assembly Such as This

2007-01-16T09:57:00.000-08:00

The book is the story of Pride and Prejudice as told from Mr. Darcy's point of view. The prose isn't quite as rich or flowery as the original, but it's a quick fun read.

Autism??

2007-01-11T08:05:00.000-08:00

Looking for more books on Autism, or Autism Spectrum Disorder. If you know of anyone, please ask them if they have any recommended reading. I read one book which was fasinating, but her boy was not autistic, he had food allergy. Not the same.

Harry Potter

2007-01-06T13:12:00.000-08:00

We recently finished the first Harry Potter book with Owen. He loved it. I thought he was a little young, but Austin convinced me and he was right. Now we're into the second one. Over the last year we have also read six of the seven Chronicles of Narnia books to him, all of which he was totally into, and Alice in Wonderland, which I don't recommend. I can see why it might make a cute, slightly crazy Disney movie, but the book itself is full of jibberish. Lots of play on words, which he isn't old enough to grasp yet, and nonsense. Some of the nonsense was fun. Still not a great book. But we do love Harry Potter.

Frustrated

2006-12-19T14:32:00.000-08:00

Why does it seem like all book are rated 'R'? Do everyday people really talk like that and I just live in my bubble and don't hear it? I thought only teenagers who are trying to test the limits of their freedoms by being vulgar used such language. I picked up a book called Left Bank by Kate Muir at the library. It sounded cute, and the first couple chapters were, but then it was all about swearing and having affairs. What's the deal?

Mayflower

2006-11-29T07:22:00.000-08:00

Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick was an interesting read. It kind of debunks the whole mythology of pilgrims landing on Plymouth rock, practically starving but surviving (which is true) and then launching off into the Revolutionary War 150 years later. He gives more of a play-by-play of the pilgrims--how they got here, why they came, and how they survived, including the traditional 'first Thanksgiving' and interactions with Squanto, who was more mischievious and duplicitous than has been traditionally rendered. But the greater part of the book is about their relations with the Indians (and yes, he calls them Indians) and the war that ensued fifty years later, hence the subtitle, A Story of Courage, Community, and War. He doesn't take sides with the English or the Indians; as he says, they were both "too human" to be purely good guys and bad guys. It's an interesting issue to me, especially with the gospel perspective that we have. He gives some pretty gruesome details of King Philip's War (King Philip being the sachem, or tribal leader, of the Wampanoags, and the son of the leader with whom the pilgrims had been fairly intimate). I had no idea that being drawn and quartered was something that was done here by the colonists. It makes sense, seeing as they hailed from Shakespeare's England and that was still going on over there, but still. Yuck. Philbrick estimates that between 60 and 80 percent of the local tribes were killed in that particular war. He also concludes that about ten percent of modern Americans can trace their lineage to the Mayflower. I'm descended from Edward Doty and Faith Clark through my dad's mom's side. I know Austin says that the Calders are, but he can't remember which ancestor it was. Anyone know? Anyway, it was a good book. I find it all very fascinating.

Updates

2006-11-26T08:14:00.000-08:00

So, I went ahead and bought The Thirteenth Tale and boy, it was a page turner. I couldn't put it down. But, every time I read it, I got a eerie feeling in the pit of my stomach. I tried to ignore it, but it wouldn't go away. I figured someone was trying to give me the hint that I shouldn't read it, so, I stopped half-way. In conclusion, it was good, but I can't exactly recommend it.

I'm also reading the Marie Antoinette book that Caitlin recommended, and it is a really enjoyable read. I'm at the part where the public opinion is just starting to sour towards her.

Also, while I was at my Mother-in-law's house, I read a book called, The Secret Symbols of the Dollar Bill by David Ovason. It was a quick read: it only took about 2 or 3 hours. It was interesting enough, a lot of it made sense, some of it was a little out there. But what can you expect from an author who "teaches astrology, and has studied the life and writings of Nostradamus for more than forty years." On a scale of 1 to 5, I'd give it a 3.

Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

2006-10-28T10:05:00.000-07:00

I read the back of this book while in Costco, and it looked interesting. It said it was Jane Eyre-esque fiction. I liked Jane Eyre, so I requested it from the library. (In case you care, the libraries here on the Central Coast are in a huge cooperative so if the book you want isn't at you're library, they'll ship it from Santa Barbara or Cambria or wherever.) Anyway, usually when I request a book, I get an e-mail in a couple days. It has been like two weeks, so I checked to make sure I really had ordered it and not just made it up. Turns out, there are 42 people in line a head of me. Forty-two people, at an average of two weeks a piece, that's almost two years. So, my question is, has anyone heard anything about this book? Should I just buy it?

Everything I tried at the Library

2006-10-21T06:38:00.000-07:00

So, most of my book getting from the library happens on my way to the children's section. I tend to quickly browse the books in the middle, pick two and run to see what mischief Jack has happened upon. I picked up On Beauty, by Zadia Smith and Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson. (How come I can't underline, like everyone else on this blog. I'm not blog smart.)
OK, so, On Beauty was hard to follow at first. Then it kind of had a lot of swearing and after a while I decided that I didn't like it. I only read half of it.

Gilead won the Pulitzer Prize, so I thought it would be great. Hmmmm...I see why it won, but it's not a page turner. It's more of a book that you read one page a day. It's about an old preacher. He didn't marry until very late in life, he's now almost 80, and he feels like he's dying. The WHOLE book is a letter to his 7 year old son. He meaders and rambles though the letter adressing events in his life and his views on life.

I was sitting next to Caitlin in Sunday School and I asked her if she'd read the Tennis Shoes Amoung the Nephites books. She hasn't. I recommended those. If nothing else, they made me want to get out my Book of Mormon and read. The other book that made me do that was Righteous Warriors, by John Bytheway. I thought that book was great. Everything I read, I kept thinking, "Oh, that would be a great talk."

Marie Antoinette

2006-10-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

When I saw a preview for the new Sofia Coppola movie about Marie Antoinette, I couldn't have been more excited. If you haven't seen the preview then here is the link. The movie comes out this Friday (I have only been waiting for 5 months). As I looked into the movie more I read that Coppola based her script on the book by Antonia Frasier called "Marie Antoinette: The Journey". I was slightly worried that the book would read very dry and boring, but I couldn't have been more wrong. It was a fascinating and heartbreaking story about a 14 year old girl thrust into a marriage as a political pawn. I couldn't put the book down and I was able to relate to her as a girl and as a mother. It also dispelled a lot of the myths about her. One of these myths was the fact that during a protest of hundreds of starving peasants, she never uttered the phrase "Let them eat cake". I am so excited to see this movie and to see the book come alive. The film was shot on location in Versailles, what could be better than that? OK, I have gone on long enough. Just read it already. PS- Another interesting fact-her marriage to King Louis the XVI wasn't 'consummated' for SEVEN years!

Picture books

2006-10-14T08:54:00.000-07:00

Owen and I have been favoring the folk and fairy tales section of the library lately. We go there every week. We've also checked out a few seasonal books of late.

From the folk tales section:

Stone Soup by Marcia Brown
This is a traditional french folk tale, you probably all know it, but Owen really likes it. It is a Caldecott honor book, if that means anything to you.

Koi and the Kola Nuts-A Tale from Liberia illustrated by Joe Cepeda
This one has very colorful illustrations. The facial expressions of the main character are particularly funny. And of course, Owen loves it. Is there a book he doesn't love?

Yonder Mountain-A Cherokee Legend illustrated by Kristina Rodanas. Owen didn't 'get' this one at all, but he still wants to read it repeatedly. It has a good message and beautiful pictures.

and Owen's absolute favorite, Mariana and the Merchild-A Folk Tale from Chile by Caroline Pitcher and illustrated by Jackie Morris. It's about an old woman who lives alone by the sea and a merbaby she cares for for a time. The artwork is fantastic.

I enjoy folk and fairy tales, partly for the adventure component but also because I feel that being exposed to other cultures was a major missing piece in my education. It's great that Owen loves books so much. He'll read anything with me.

I already mentioned The Halloween Showdown with the witch Grizzorka in my other blog. Now we've got a book called Thanksgiving at the Tappletons' by Eileen Spinelli. We may end up paying for it because Soren took a big chunk out of the corner this morning. Not just on one page but the entire book. That kid loves to eat paper. Anyway, it's pretty silly and Owen laughs at the slapstick. Even Austin and I laughed out loud a couple of times. All the while I was reading aloud I was thinking, "how is this going to end?" But it has a great ending with a warm message.

Fermat's Last Theorem

2006-10-11T14:27:00.000-07:00

Remeber the Pythagorean theorem, a^2 + b^2 = c^2, from High School? Well Fermat's last theorem is like that but way cooler. I just read this book and it was awesome. It is also a very readable book containing mostly the historical background of the many mathematicians involved in solving this three hundred year old problem.

I love history

2006-10-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

I'm in the middle of two books right now.

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow is a really well written, detailed history of Hamilton's life, starting with his childhood in the West Indies and moving on through his immigration to the United States and his career with George Washington, first as his private secretary during the Revolutionary War and then as the first Treasurer. Apparently Hamilton was a doting father and husband, but he also had an illicit affair that he was later blackmailed with. He ended up dying in a duel (who knew people engaged in duels in this country?) and his wife outlived him by fifty years. Despite the affair, which became public, she adored him until the day she died.

It's a really dense biography but it's so interesting, it almost reads like a novel. I love this period in history. Chernow presents tons of information without bombarding you with his own opinion. He also gives mini biographies within the context of history of the people with whom Hamilton worked closely. In this aspect, I find that I'm learning more about George Washington in this book than I did in reading a biography solely about the President. It's also interesting that Hamilton is one of the only founding fathers who never attained the presidency. His moral failings aside, he played a pivotal role in shaping the country at its inception. And that's an understatement. His character is fascinating.

The other book I'm reading is called Hidden in Plain View by Jacqueline L. Tobin and Raymond G. Dobard. It's about slave-made quilts and the underground railroad. We visited the National Cryptologic Museum and they have a big quilt in one corner (a modern sampler, not an actual slave quilt, as those are extremely rare) with excerpts from this book. Slaves used different quilt blocks as codes and hung them out as if airing them to send messages to those who were preparing to flee. I'm finding the book itself to be somewhat redundant, but the history they cite is interesting. The authors did a lot of research tying the quilts and symbols they used to African culture and secret societies.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

2006-10-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

This work of fiction by Betty Smith is one of the best books I have ever read. It follows a poor Irish immigrant family that lives in Brooklyn in 1912. You really get a sense of the history of these people and the time that they lived; from politics to how they heated their homes. It shows how people can be happy inspite of poverty and hardship and I found it very inspirational. If anyone gets a chance to read it, let me know what you think.

Dying for Jerusalem by Walter Laqueur

2006-10-06T15:20:00.000-07:00

It's about the Jewish-Arab conflict, something I know very little about. The tag line on the back says "Why are people who do not want to live in Jerusalem willing to die for it?" I didn't know the answer, so I decided to read the book. The whole first half was about the Kibbutz movement, which I couldn't figure out had to do with anything, but it's starting to make more sense. I've read about 3/4, and so far, it's pretty good. It's readable and I feel like I'm learning a little bit more about the world.