Raehink: April Reading

For our April read, I am challenging you to read a book within a genre that you don't usually read--for whatever reason. If you don't read westerns, try one. No sci-fi? Give it a shot. Abhor fantasy. Try anyway. So stretch yourself this month by reading a book you would normally NOT choose! It will be interesting to see what y'all come up with.

Here's a small list of genres if you are unable to think of one right off the bat:

Fantasy

Mystery

Historical fiction

Nonfiction

Biography

Autobiography

Folktales

Poetry

Romance

Humor

Thriller

Horror

There are plenty more and the ones listed can be broken down into subgenres. Have fun with this assignment and try to really do something out of the ordinary--for you!

Happy reading!

Lynness: Re: Abby: Look who's joined us!

I was looking back through old posts...I plugged "Eulalie and the Talking Heads" into Amazon and found "Eulalie and the Hopping Head" by David Small.  Is that it?

Abby wrote:

I don't know how it happened, but Qait hasn't been a member of the blog before! So she's here now! She asked if it was okay if she didn't always read what we were reading, and I of course told her that was fine. I told her she should share a post she had on her family blog about children's books. I've already requested all of them from my library.

Lulu and Qait were both talking about a book called Eulalie and the Talking Heads. Anyone know the actual title and author? No amount of google searches brought it up.

Lynness: Re: Making Time to Read, my recent reads, some suggestions?

I've been meaning to replay to the last couple of posts for days...I think all of us that post here are of the same opinion as Qait- books are necessary!  I get myself in trouble sometimes though: I DO shut off the rest of the world and then I suddenly realize that I've been reading for 2 hours and the girls' WHOLE naptime is gone and I haven't done half the things I meant to or maybe I burned the bread or whatever.  I'm sure I neglect my kids occasionally!  I'm so into my books that Nathan knows that if he wants any response then he has to get my attention first before talking or I will miss all of it.  He can't just start a conversation while I'm in a book, or it will be very one-sided.  (Or it will make no sense and I may agree to all sorts of things, which I'm sure my kids will take advantage of one day).  Isaiah is exactly the same.  You can tell him to do something and if he's in a book, he either doesn't hear or gives a vague "okay" and continues and has no idea what he will shortly be in trouble for not doing when he said he would.

As far as books on tape (CD/mp3/whatever), I don't really have any patience for them.  I read very quickly and, to me, they take waaay too long to finish.  Also, I am NOT an audio-learner: I often find it hard to concentrate on the spoken word alone- I wouldn't get a thing out of Conference this weekend if I had to listen to the radio.  And I usually can't hear over the dishwasher/microwave/kids/etc... anyway.  That being said- my mom read to us up until I was in college.  I didn't mind that it was so slow because it was her (and that was when I didn't have so much responsibility of my own- I could sit for an hour doing nothing but listening).

Here's what I have read most recently...I'm very into non-fiction currently
An Edible History of Humanity (Tom Standage)- fascinating insights into how food has shaped civilizations.  I liked it so much that I read another of his books: The Victorian Internet- about the invention of the telegraph and how it changed society.  There are some very striking parallels with the changes the Internet has made in our day.  I plan to get another of his books: A History of the World in 6 Glasses and just realized when I umped to Amazon to make sure I got the title right that I have read another of his books, about the Turk an 18th century chess playing 'machine'.
I also read Get Me Out!, a history of childbirth through the ages, from groaning cake to sperm banks, from no men allowed to most OBs being male.  It made me realize that (although we're not currently trying), I am ready for pregnancy and childbirth again- whenever that should happen.  Any earlier than this I would not have been (Tabitha will be 8 months on Friday).  While I'm not quite up there with Abby on the no pain, and I'm not ready to try an at home delivery like Jennica, I do enjoy (in a weird way and in retrospect) labor and delivery and I think the world of my midwives!
And I'm browsing Square-Foot Gardening and have high expectations for this new yard with no trees!!

We have finished the My Father's Dragon series and have plenty of books, but I'm wondering what some of your favorite chapter-book reads are for kids.  Keep in mind that I have to appeal to an almost 8 year old boy and a barely 3 year old girl at the same time.  We're thinking Charlie and the Chocolate Factory next, or maybe the Mary Poppins books.

Annie to Qait's "Making Time"

I am a slow reader mostly due to my attention span!! But I DO love to read!! Ive previously thought of books on tape, or scripture even but I always thought I would space out and not absorb anything. Recently with my Arbonne biz I have been listening to training that I download onto my phone. One day while I was listening I said to my self, "Self". Myself said, "Hum". ... hehehe I thought, "Hey I CAN absorb this, and actually ENJOY the process of getting ready in the morning while being entertained".
SO... I checked out some books on CD from the library, ( To Kill A Mockingbird being one, I read over half the book, finally set it down, all of a sudden 3 months had gone by and I just couldn't seem to get back into it, BUT I wanted to finish!!) and IM IN LOVE!! Doing the dishes can be fun, while I listen away, deeply enthralled in a dream. (All while still being able to hear the children ;D)

Can I add a side note? We can always be to busy to do anything in life. Its making the time and changing bad habits that allow us to enjoy the good ones!!

QAIT: Making Time to Read

I mentioned some time back how I love to read and can hardly help myself some days; Michael's sister said she's just got far too much to do to fit reading in.

I think I could say the same thing! I mean, my time is measured very differently since I'm not in school or holding a [paying] job (as in, other than Mommy). But I love books! And they're so necessary to me! I know not everyone has to feel like that, but I get hungry for stories and knowledge and new ideas, and reading feeds me so satisfyingly! It's comparable to the satisfaction of creating something even, like when I doodle or play the harp. Does that make sense? I don't know how that works.

My laundry still gets done, and I really don't neglect Ender. Or Michael. But whether I mean to make time to read or not, I do it!

PS: Once in a while, it's frustrating to read because now that I'm a mom, I'm practically incapable of shutting off the world when I tuck my nose in a book. And I'm a slow reader (I tend to actually say the words in my mind--with the right voice and everything--and if the book says "they paused a moment" sometimes I can't help but pause a moment)! I used to be able to focus so well, and now I feel like every sentence I read is infused with the sounds of whatever Ender's doing, anything Michael says, the goings-on of the family--I've got a Mom-Antenna tuned for any calls to duty! :)

Lynness: forgot to post this

The Olympics were a great incentive for my kids to get ready for bed on time: if they were brushed, dressed, washed, prayed, etc, then we would do family prayer and scripture and turn on the Olympics at 8pm and watch for 15 to 30 minutes before we banished them to their bedrooms and watched more ourselves.  (I'm glad they're over- we stayed up too late too often.)  After the Olympics I decided to keep this going, but with books.  Isaiah's bedtime is 8:15 on school nights, and Ruth used to be 1/2 hour earlier, but she was trying to give up naps, so we recently pushed it back.  Now that they're going to bed at the same time, we can do this sort of thing: the deal is that if they are both in bed at 8pm, Nathan reads to them from the hall until 8:15.  He decided to start with My Father's Dragon, which Janis (I think) had read to him and his sibs growing up.  The kids are enjoying it and are quick to jump in bed for a daddy read!

Lynness: Feb, March

Well, I re-read the first Norby book, to see what I thought of it now and to preview it for Isaiah.  I had read it in elementary school (since I couldn't find anything from my teenage years that I loved that I don't still occasionally re-read) and wanted to see how it compared.  Predictably enough, it was shorter in length than I remembered and not quite the brilliant fiction I supposed it was then.  But it was still a decent read and Isaiah absolutely loved it.  So, I went online to reserve the second book.  The library, strangely, has books 1, 3 and 5.  His school library (which is where I found them when I read them- different school, same county school system) doesn't have any.  Hmmm- birthday present??  But then I'd have to get #1 also.  Are they THAT good??  Still undecided.
I did have one laugh-aloud moment while reading this book: the main character's name is Jeff Wells.  His brother's name is Fargo.  I think they even list his name as "Wells, Fargo" at some point in the book.  Completely missed that when I was a kid.  Of course, I probably didn't know what Wells Fargo was, then.  And, if I did, I probably wouldn't have picked up on it, given the way I read.  (Same with the Jasper Fforde Thursday Next books- never noticed anything odd about Commander Braxton-Hicks' name until Nathan pointed it out, but I did get Millon de Floss, though not on the first go-round).
I think for March I'll get some picture books I loved as a child to share with my kids.  Three of us had piano lessons one after the other, so there was always waiting around time while the others were in lessons at our teacher's home.  I spent them (after quickly practicing what I hadn't that week on the keyboard-with-headphones conveniently located nearby) reading everything on the bookshelf.  There were lots of lovely and memorable books- I'll have to see if I can find any of them in our library.

Liz: Dahl, Fannie & Scoresby

Better late than never? I wanted to read Harriet the Spy but I never checked it out; I loved that book as a teen, (I think I was a teen) and it was that book that made me love tomato sandwiches. But guess what I did read? I read the BFG, which is something I am not sure I read all the way through--or maybe portions of it were read to me--anyhow, I was familiar with it, but reading it this time felt like the first time. I loved it. I love the inventive vocabulary, and so did the boys, especially Seth. I love the story, too. I read it to my boys, Seth (8) and Josh (6), and both of them loved it. I am going through my Roald Dahl collection with them. We are reading James and the Giant Peach currently.

I am trying to finish the book called Can't Wait to Get to Heaven, by the same lady that wrote Fried Green Tomatoes (don't have the book nearby or I'd type her name--Fannie something) for another book club. I like it, I just don't make/have a lot of time to read it right now. I'm also reading a book about raising moral children in an immoral world, by Scoresby, recommended by a friend.

Just thought I'd post a note--since I haven't for a while. Hope you all are well!

QAIT: February reading

I changed my mind about reading the dragon books by Patricia C. Wrede. I finally remembered a book I loved when I was about 12-- The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare!

At first it seemed like the writing was too transparent when it tried to make the love interest ...interesting. You know, desirable and everything. But as I read on, I realized the writing is incredibly beautiful! I've decided I still love this book. I can still relate with all the varied feelings and emotions Kit goes through, and I still got very teary-eyed when the town was so blind to think Kit's old friend was a witch.

That was a fun reading "assignment"... (at one point, I sat to read with the intent to stay only 15 minutes, and I ended up finishing the book).