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These are a Few of My Favorite Books

There are some books that just stick with you… books that you find yourself constantly recommending or referring to in conversation or maybe, books you just can’t get out of your head or want to re-read over and over again. While I love a good non fiction or business book, most of those don’t compel me to read them over and over (the exception is below).

I am also leaving out some of my most beloved books, namely the Harry Potter and Anne of Green Gables series … but you’ve likely heard of these before and maybe these you haven’t.

Better than Before
This is Gretchen Rubin’s (The Happiness Project) book on habits. Not only does it contain info on why habits are important, but also practical tips and strategies to implement good habits and get rid of bad ones as well as things that you can do to help ensure you don’t sabotage yourself.

Pro Tip: Gretchen Rubin has a great podcast called Happier and it’s one I never miss.

Ready Player One
I have recommended this book to so many people and almost universally to great reception. Set in the not too distant future, humans have retreated into the virtual confines of The Oasis, a computer generated world. And why wouldn’t they? The outside world is kind of a mess. Wade Watts, a kid from a trailer park in Oklahoma City is no exception. He spends his days going to school online and avoiding his crummy life with his abusive guardian. Then one day, an amazing announcement, the reclusive, eccentric creator of The Oasis has died and left a crazy puzzle of “Easter Eggs” in his virtual world and whoever should solve them will win the keys to the kingdom and untold wealth. Wade joins the hunt along with most of the rest of the world and there the story begins.

With tons of pop culture references (mostly from the 80s), fun dialogue, interesting characters and a good pace of plot with some interesting points on what our future holds, this is one I enjoy over and over.

Pro Tip: The movie bears no resemblance to the book and personally, I wouldn’t bother.
Pro Tip 2: The Audio book, narrated by Wil Wheaton, is a gem.

A Girl of the Limberlost
Raised in the Limberlost, a now-all-but-extinct swampland in Indiana, Elnora Comstock loves two things: nature and learning. Neglected by her mother, who has been grieving since Elnora’s birth prevented her from saving her husband from drowning in the swamp, Elnora has found comfort in the arms of the nearest neighbors and her beloved Limberlost. As the story begins, Elnora is heading to high school for the first time and while she may be a model pupil, there are many challenges that must be surmounted.

Off to Be the Wizard
Martin is your average computer geek. Well maybe a bit above average. In the midst of one jolt-fueled hacking session, he discovers THE FILE. It’s a simple text file, but it appears to contain the parameters of … well the whole world, confirming that we are, in fact, living in a simulation.


Of course he can’t just let sleeping files lie … he starts manipulating the data and lands himself in some very hot water. Pretty soon he decides he needs to escape back to a time when his special “powers” will be appreciated, or at least properly feared, and transports himself back to medieval England. Things just get better from there.

The first in a still evolving series, this one is the best, IMO, but they’re all fun.

Pro Tip: The audio book is very very well done. Definitely worth a listen.

The Blue Castle
This is by the author of the Anne of Green Gables series and though I read it for the first time just a couple of years ago, it’s become a favorite and one of my go-to comfort reads.

Valancey Sterling is almost 30 and decidedly an old maid. Living a miserable existence where she is equally cowed and overlooked by her formidable family, each new day is an exercise in death by inches.

Then one day she receives a diagnosis and learns she will have just a year to live and Valancey realizes it’s time to live. And you will cheer her on as she does just that.

Landline
Georgie is a successful TV Writer in LA and though she has the career she’s always wanted, she has been drifting from her husband Neal for some time. So when Neal packs up the kids to head to his parents’ house in Omaha for Christmas and Georgie has to bail at the last minute, she thinks she’s really done it this time.

So imagine her surprise when she learns that she can call her husband … in the past on the landline in his parents’ house. And now she has the chance to fix everything … or does she?

Rainbow Rowell is a brilliant writer and this is one of my favorites of the sadly just four full-length novels she’s written.

Bright Side
Though Kate’s life has been anything but perfect, she’s managed to keep an optimistic, sunny outlook on life, hence her best friend, Gus’s (admittedly kinda cheesy) nickname for her, Bright Side. And though she is funny, smart and musically gifted, she’s never believed in love. So when she leaves Sunny San Diego to attend college in a tiny town in Minnesota, she is more than a little surprised to fall in love with Keller Banks.

Though their love story seems epic, Kate has a secret … one that will challenge the bounds of Keller’s love for her.

Harry’s Trees
This winsome book, full of everyday magic, is a more recent favorite – one I found just this past fall. It is the story of two people – one a middle aged man and one a young girl, both dealing with life-changing grief.

They find each other through serendipitous events in the forests of Pennsylvania and embark upon a magical journey together.

Animal Vegetable Miracle
Though this book can be a bit heavy-handed on the underlying political agenda, the story of author Barbara Kingsolver and her family’s move from Arizona to rural Appalachia is charming.

In an effort to eat only things grown within a 100 mile radius, they take up farming and animal raising and get to know the neighbors who can supply them with things like flour … and all that that ensues. The food makes your mouth water; the anecdotes on turkey animal husbandry will make your eyes water (with laughter!) and it will give you an appreciation for American’s agrarian roots and where our food comes from.

A Town Like Alice
This is one of those books my mom recommended to me that took me years to get around to reading, but once I did, I fell in love.

Jean is a young Englishwoman living in Malaya and is captured by the invading Japanese. She is forced on a 7-month march with other women and children through the most impossible conditions imaginable.

Once back in England with the ordeal behind her, she wants to give back to the people who saved her life and this begins the transformation of her life once again.

Birds, Beasts and Relatives
This charming book follows the English Durrell family and their crazy and amazing life in the Greek island of Corfu. Told from the perspective of the baby of the family, animal-crazy Gerry but with tons of the other members of his family mixed in. The book is a wonderful mix of anecdotes about the locals and about the cool and crazy animals Gerry encounters and adopts … a feel good novel for sure.

I have committed to reading 70 new books this year but I’m hoping that I can fit in a few of these to enjoy all over again.

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What I’m Digging

After a really wild ride the past few months (moving, traveling, strep throating, skiing), I feel like we’re finally getting into a new normal. We ate at home last night! I went to the gym this morning! Our house isn’t full to the brim with boxes!!

agathaI need to do a big ol’ post about my amazing kids, but for now, I thought I’d share some of the things we’ve been digging on – like this excellent series of books about a pint-sized sleuth called Agatha Mistery. She and her cousin, Dash, jet all over the world, solving mysteries with the butler Chandler and cat Watson in tow. They meet up with various family members of the Mistery clan who are sprinkled all over the world. They’ve got a few pictures here and there which satisfies Ben and both kids beg for another chapter every night. There are 4 already out and 2 more to follow this year!

unicornAnd while we’re on the subject of kids’ books …. I find recommendation for kids’ books online various places and then I will get on our library’s website and order them up. I got a really good batch a month or so ago and of the 10+ books we got, three of them made the “buy them!” cut. Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great is the story of a goat who is just a bit jealous of a new student in his class, Unicorn, who has garnered the attention of all. You won’t be surprised to learn that Unicorn envies Goat a few of his traits and they work things out. Great dialog, fun pictures and great for reading aloud.

journeyJourney is just a beautiful book. There are no words. The story, about a little girl and her imaginative adventure, is told through beautiful illustrations. Ben loves this because he can “read” it all by himself.

crayons quitThe Day the Crayons Quit is probably my favorite of the bunch. The story is an airing of grievances from a little boy’s crayons told in the form of letters to the boy from said crayons. Great idea, really fun and colorful illustrations.

wall caddyThe rental house is actually proving to be pretty functional for all of us. We don’t really have any space for a dining table, so the kids are eating at their picnic table in their bedroom and Matt and I are eating standing up or in the living room on the couch or at the desk. Once we sell, we plan to bring our coffee table over so we can all eat together, but for now, it works! We also need plenty of organizing things to keep everything where it’s supposed to be. I bought this great organizer to get our keys and papers and that sort of stuff, all where it needs to go. It is great for now and will be super cute in our mudroom. Now I just need to get the minions to hang it.

parenthoodGot a half marathon in less than 2 months. Guess how much I’ve run in the past month. Practically nothing, nil, zero, zip, zilch. I’ve been too busy skiing and moving!!! So now I have to get my butt in gear. We were able to take our treadmill with us to the new house, but it is in a tiny, kid of weird, auxiliary room that you have to leave the main house and go around back to get to (although it’s technically attached to the house). So while we have a treadmill, no TV. But happily we live in the streaming TV age and so we are not even getting cable anymore and I’ve used a few of the dollars we’re saving on cable to get some TV to watch on my ipad while I run. Parenthood, Castle, Two Broke Girls, Elementary. It’s an amazing world we live in!

vmarsAnd last, but definitely not least, Veronica Mars, The Movie is in theatres March 14. You better believe I’m getting there ASAP and in the meantime, re-watching the series.

 

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Analog Fun

phones

We are major criminals on the digital entertainment front. Between smartphones, tablets and iPods, there are six portable digital devices at our disposal (!!) and man do we make good use of them. We play games and watch TV and movies. Tabby has reading and math flashcards on them. We have books both for adults and kids on them and of course music! It’s not a bad thing. But it can be a pretty pervasive thing. The kids pick them up on an early Saturday morning to watch Phineas and Ferb and give us some much-needed sleep in time. They are the go-to entertainment while waiting for the other sibling to do his or her lesson. They are essential at restaurants, particularly if it’s a longer meal or if the kids are already out of sorts. But the requests for tablets or phones ALL THE TIME gets to me. I don’t want my kids to become those people. I don’t want Matt and I to become THOSE PEOPLE.

So we limit screen time, not only by how much they’ve earned but also by the virtue of it not belonging in most situations. The (home) dinner table is phone free with the exception of me checking in on and recording their chores at the beginning. It then goes away. Car trips are without the devices unless we’re driving more than 1.5 hours away. It’s far from perfect, but we’re really making an effort to unplug and be with each other.

At the dinner table, we have a box of Table Topics, Family Edition that we pull cards from and discuss. In the car and while grocery shopping and at restaurants, we play a bunch of different verbal games. ISpy is a perennial favorite as is “Guess Which Animal I Am?” I particularly like this one because it’s a good thinking game and really teaches abstraction. It’s still a little hard for Ben yet, but Tabby seems to really be picking up on the idea of asking broader questions to narrow down the field. We also quiz them on numbers and letters (math and spelling for T) and family facts like our address and phone numbers.

Wanting to add to the repertoire, I found a few other games I’m keen to try: Continue reading “Analog Fun”

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Friday Faves

callmidwife

Call the Midwife. Lovely British Drama based on the memoirs of a midwife who worked in London’s East End in the 1950s. Wonderful stories about interesting people. You can watch the first season on Amazon for $9.45 and S2 is on PBS in March.

yurbuds

YurBuds – these are amazing headphones. They actually stay put while you run. Total triumph.

where'swater

Where’s My Water. This is my current fave game of the moment. You have to make a path for Swampy’s water to get to his shower. Plenty of obstacles. For Android or iOS.

nuun

Nuun tablets. I can drink a few bottles of plain water, then I want something different. Nuun is just lightly sweet and flavored. Awesome.

candyandyCandy Andy. Because he is super tasty. And he owns a candy shop.

blpancakesGoing to try these oatmeal pancakes this weekend!

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2012 In Review: Books!

2012booksI somehow managed to read 74 books (my goal for the year was 65). This is probably the only goal (of the ones I wrote down, I mean) that I actually achieved this year, so yay to me. Since I “read” audio books, it’s actually easier for me to keep on track when I’m super busy like I was this year since I “read” while I’m working.

Stats (cuz I nerdily LOVE stats):

  • 24/75 were non-fiction, 5 were fiction – I am pleased with this as I have been trying to read more non fiction
  • Sarah Dessen and Nora Roberts were tied for authors I read the most (6 books each) followed by Joshilyn Jackson’s at 4
  • I read THREE books about presidential assassinations: one on Garfield, one on Lincoln and one on Kennedy and I actually have another one on Kennedy waiting in the wings (it’s like 20+ discs and seems a bit daunting)
  • Other than novels, the type of book I read the most of was memoir. My favorites were Mindy Kahling’s sublime Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? and the yummy Stuffed: A Restaurant Family.
  • I also read a lot of dystopian novels (all YA if memory serves). The only one that I really enjoyed was Thumped (the sequel to Bumped). I think I’ll avoid that genre for a while, at least until publishers stop publishing ANYTHING in a rush to be the next Hunger Games.
  • My favorite NF book for the year is a tie between Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot and Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me which are about as different as you can get. I loved Killing Kennedy because it’s probably the best history lesson on that period I’ve ever had and it was imminently readable. Mindy’s book though was pure comic genius. Like I said, toss up.
  • My favorite fiction book of the year was Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ The Great Escape. She writes such fun, fluffy, lovable, SMART chick lit and she’s one of my favorite authors.

I am really pleased with my year in reading. I feel amazed every year at the breadth of GREAT options available for consumption and I feel like I get really good knowledge and insight from these smart writing folk. I consider it to be as important as exercise. The other cool thing in reading this year was the fun I’ve had watching Tabby learn to read. I hope that both of my kids will one day love to read as much as I do.

 

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On the Tube

I have been bringing home my laptop a lot lately. Like A LOT. Like it practically never leaves my side. So when I’m at home and I need to pull it out to do some work, I like to turn on the TV for a little mindless entertainment and reward. Between the laptop and the treadmill, I have been logging more TV time than in a looong while. Here’s what I’m digging:

18 to Life is a cute sitcom about a couple of crazy kids, nextdoor neighbors, who fall in love and up and get married at age 18. They come from different (liberal vs. conservative) backgrounds and wind up living in the attic of the boy’s parent’s house. Hilarity ensues as they figure out how to be married and the in-laws clash. It’s pretty funny and not cliched. You can find it on Netflix streaming.

 Easy A was recommended to me by a friend. It’s a “teen comedy” about a girl who lies about having sex with a boy to help out his reputation … then she becomes the fake school slut and gets paid (in random gift cards) to not have sex with a bunch of other guys. Sounds pretty typical, but the humor is smart and clever and even thought-provoking. Her parents, played by Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson, are wicked funny and steal every scene they’re in. Matt, though skeptical at first, ended up really enjoying this too.

 I have been running (literally and figuratively) through Grey’s Anatomy – I gave it up when I was pregnant with Tabby because terrible things kept happening to moms and unborn babies – and have now finishd off season 7. Next I have decided to go back and watch Felicity from beginning to end. I think I missed a season or 2 in there somewhere. After that I was thinking about checking out Dawson’s Creek because a friend has been watching them and her recaps and takes on them are hilarious.

Matt and I have almost finished up Star Trek: Enterprise which I find just this side of tolerable, though Matt likes it a little more. We hardly ever get time to watch TV together, so it goes slowly. Next up we are working our way through Castle which we both love a lot. Dr. Who may be on the horizon as well since it scores so huge on the geek-o-meter.

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Lastly, since ABC family thoughtlessly cancelled Make it Or Break It, I am bereft of good clean silly teen fun … tonight I plan to check out Bunheads, the new ballet driven teen drama from the same network. It looks to have good potential. What can I say? I’m 13 at heart.

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The HAPS

As usual, it’s our own version of semi-organized chaos over here. Just a sampling of what we’ve been up to:

  • We’re busily planning our summer camping trips. Sites book up FAST. We’ve already got two trips planned, one to Sand Dunes in May and one to Rocky Mountain National Park in June. Add to that our trip to FL in May, two other camping trips we want to take, weekend trips to Vail, and a possible 10th anniversary trip and I’m pretty sure we’re going to spend half of the summer away from home. So what else is new?
  • Matt took Tabby to the store with him on Saturday to pick up some groceries. She spied a coconut and wanted to try it, so he bought it for her. He used a corkscrew to drill a hole in it and then she sampled the milk through a straw. She wasn’t a huge fan. Next they will do something with the flesh. For now it’s sitting on the counter.
  • I ran a 10 mile race on Saturday. It was very hilly which is unusual for me since I run mostly on the treadmill or a few tried and true outdoor spots, and I hit it HARD. My body hurt pretty much the rest of the weekend and I had to take naps and go to bed early. Good wake up call for my half marathon in April.
  • Most of our Nashville family (Matt’s stepmom, brother, sister, brother-in-law, and niece) are arriving on Thursday. I’m super excited to meet my niece, now 3 months old!! And it will be good to see everyone else too. We have some fun plans including, of course, skiing. Continue reading “The HAPS”
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2011 in Review: Books

2011 isn’t quite done yet, but I know that my reading time will probably be somewhat diminished over the next 25 days. This year, I set a goal for myself to read 60 books (it was 52 last year, though I actually finished 62) and when I finish my current book, that goal will be met! This of course does not include random little reads I’ve picked up like camping books and crafting books and cookbooks and it also doesn’t include anything I re-read including about 5 of Susan Elizabeth Phillip’s books. I am incredibly grateful that our local libraries have kept their excellent levels of content, particularly audio, even in face of massive budget cuts.

I went through my list (I’m on GoodReads and Shelfari if you’re interested) and was pretty surprised to notice that out of the 60+ books I read this year just a handful were non-fiction. I really enjoy non-fiction – good non-fiction that is but I think it’s hard for me to find. So much of the “non-fiction” out there is so politically slanted one way or the other, it’s hard for me to get into it. I don’t really do politics, don’t’ really like politics and that kills off many possible reads in the non-fiction sector for me. I am also in some ways reluctant to read non-fiction because of the things that have happened with some non-fiction authors like Greg Mortenson. I really enjoyed his books and I as bummed and felt swindled when I learned that his non-fiction was really mostly fiction anyhow. But I’m determined to try and find some more good non-fiction and read it in 2012.

But enough about next year. Here are my superlatives for 2011: Continue reading “2011 in Review: Books”

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This is What it Has Come To

A friend sent me a text (at 9:30 PM, no less) last night, wanting to see if I want to run a 10mile race with her on Sept 5 (i.e. less than two weeks from now). And of course, I said yes. I’m probably slightly mental and a bit sleep deprived, or maybe bolstered by the excellent run I had yesterday (4 mi). Or perhaps I was drunk on the chocolate frosting I nicked out of the bowl while making b’day cupcakes for my dad. Take your pick.

Anyhow. The kids started gymnastics last night. The class officially started last week, but we went to a going-away party for my cousin instead. Tabby is probably the oldest kid in the class. I put her in level 1 so I could just take them to one class. There’s not a LOT of difference, but there’s some. Mostly in how the kids behave. Ben is one of the youngest. He just runs around in circles and makes excellent use of the bouncy floor. And spring board. And anything to climb on. He genuinely seems to WANT to listen and “be good” but the urge to MOVE is great in this one. And even if Tabby is a bit advanced for the rest of the class, she’s having a great time being with her brother and advising anyone who will stand still long enough to listen.

I have been reading a lot. I am working my way slowly through JD Robb (Nora Roberts)’s “In Death” series. They are nice kind of fun reads, but formulaic enough that they don’t really stand out in my mind. The two most awesome books I’ve read recently are Nurture Shock and Bossypants.

Nurtureshock is about all the findings over the last 20 yrs or so about how kids learn and grow and develop. It is incredibly interesting and useful information and I highly recommend it to ALL parents and caregivers. We also learned that the curriculum our public schools use for the preschoolers and kindergartners is a really really well respected curriculum with amazing results and bragging rights. It’s called Tools of the Mind (check out the website, it’s got great info) and I’ve started implementing some of the ideas it uses with Tabby when we’re at home, including play plans (where the kids write out what they’re going to do during playtime) and buddy-reading (we read a book to Tabby and then she “reads” it back to us).

Bossypants on the other hand is its own kind of great information. It’s Tina Fey’s extremely funny book. Sort of part biography, part show-biz anecdotes and part life lessons (many learned from Lorne Michaels). It’s short, sweet and made me laugh out loud at least 10x as I read it. Excellent photos as well.

I have about 6 actual paper books in my queue right now, one on running, two dealing with nutrition and kicking the sugar habit (see reference to chocolate frosting drunkenness above), one about two society girls who came to the CO frontier to teach around the turn of the century, and a couple of new cookbooks plus about 10 magazines I haven’t cracked yet. I plan to drag them with me this weekend and see if I can make a dent.

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Good Intentions

I meant to post yesterday, but somehow I blinked and the day was over. Well I will make up for it today. Or not … we’ll see. So what is going on?

  • We leave for Nashville in about a week (our insane neighbor and his pit bulls and AK-47s is watching our place, so don’t even think about it). I’m both excited and a bit overwhelmed getting ready to go. The trip is absolutely jam-packed with stuff to do and people to see.
  • I have been finding it incredibly hard to get up early for the past couple of weeks. I want to snap out of it, but there are so many things to do at night I’m finding it hard to get to bed on time.
  • We have an awesome hummingbird hanging out in the tree in our back yard. We’ve seen her a few times sitting on her eggs and flying around. I’m hoping we might be able to glimpse her babies in a few weeks.
  • Speaking of wildlife, we were driving around last night looking for some land and we turned a corner and saw a black rabbit sitting on the side of the road. It looked just like my sister’s bunny, Hoover and definitely not wild! I thought it had gotten loose or something and then I spied about two more black rabbits! And a grey one! And a white one!! The lot on the corner is a huge farm/ranch thing and they had tons of animals, including, it seems a bunch of rabbits that sort of run wild. They seemed much smarter than the rabbits in our ‘hood as they weren’t playing chicken with cars.
  • I am finally getting my hair cut today after WAY too long. My stylist was on maternity leave and it is down to my shoulders again. I will be glad to have it short enough that I don’t have to blow-dry it every day.
  • Ii am also getting my new pimp tooth installed today, gold y’all (though covered in tasteful porcelain). What a fun way to spend $250 (not including what insurance covered).
  • Tabby is now the proud owner of her very own Camelbak. We got it in blue and green and hopefully Ben will be able to use it when she outgrows it. She has been quite a good hiker and we thought it was time. She was overjoyed and tried it on right over her jim jams and tutu (I was thinking of Bonnie in Toy Story 3 in the last scene where she’s wearing overalls, galoshes, a tutu and a macaroni necklace).
  • We will be gone this weekend too (remember the neighbor!!!), heading to the mountains to check out my uncle’s new place. There will be hiking and boating and general merriment. I am very much looking forward to it.
  • Loki, who is staying with our friends while we’re in Nashville, is hanging at the vet’s this weekend. He’s getting his yearly checkup and shots and also getting groomed. It’s like a spa weekend for him, only really really crappy and even more expensive.
  • As part of the pre-Nashville planning I’ve been boxing up the remaining Tabby baby clothes for my sister in law. It has been a nice trip down memory lane, but sad too. It kind of makes me want another baby. There are so many great reasons for being done, but it’s all gone so fast and I sort of want it to last just a little longer.
  • I bought the kids a couple of special things for our trip. I got Ben a copy of Bee Movie. My coworker’s grandson loves it and hopefully Ben will too. I got Tabby a  new DS game as well. There are a few greatlists on Amazon of DS games that are easier for kids who can’t read to play. She’s been so in love with her Dora game, I thought it would be a nice treat for her. I also got her an early-reader Skippyjon Jones book that I’m sure will be a hit.
  • I have been watching Greek on Netflix while I run lately and it’s been great. It definitely holds my interest and the stories movie fast enough for running (does that make sense?). And now that I can stream Netflix on my phone, I can even watch at the gym. W00t!