I'd better list the rest of the books I've read this year.
46: 11/22/63 by Stephen King is a winner. In it, a teacher travels back in time to try to stop JFK's assassination. There is adventure, references to the novel IT, a love story, and of course the wonderful thing we all dream of: getting to have a do-over for certain moments in our lives. King mentions in the afterword that his son advised him to change the ending, and it is perfect. I wish his son would go back and fix the endings of a few other books.
47: Half Empty by David Rakoff is a series of essays based around the topic of pessimism. They are funny, self-deprecating, and a little sad. Rakoff is a good writer, but I still prefer David Sedaris.
48: The Magicians by Lev Grossman. It was okay. It's heavily inspired by Harry Potter and the Chronicles of Narnia, but intended for an older audience. I thought it had too many pop culture references, making it dated. To me, stories that are like fairy tales should be more timeless. Also, the pace of the book was imperfect. Too much time was spent on boring parts and then when the next adventure began, it was too much of a contrast. The excitement didn't build properly.
Here's a great line from it: "There was an ongoing competition, hotly contested, as to who could make the single most boring observation."
Even though I didn't fall in love with it, I liked it enough to read the sequel:
49: The Magician King by Lev Grossman. Again, I thought the pacing was off, but some parts were pretty fun. I will probably read the third book, if I notice when it comes out.
50: The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley. This is a historical fiction/romance novel, so it's outside of my usual fare. I did really enjoy reading it. The setting alternates between modern times and 1708, both in Scotland. I loved the historical details and also the description of a small town in present day Scotland. The protagonist writes a novel, using her ancestor's name for one of the characters, but her dreams seem to be tapping into ancestral memory, and with those hints, she finds more information about her own family history.
51: Didn't I Feed You Yesterday? by Laura Bennett. This is a book of funny essays about parenting, written by the red-haired, sophisticated contestant from "Project Runway." She has six kids and a career, a kind of loosey-goosey attitude toward parenting, and a sense of humor about life. It's a very light, meaningless read.
52: Made from Scratch by Jenna Woginrich. Meh. I like reading books about people who give up the city life and start making everything from scratch in the woods. This one just didn't do it for me. I think was too teach-y and I prefer to just read the author's story, rather than get instructions on how to follow suit.
53: Health at Every Size by Linda Bacon. Non-fiction by a nutrition professor who looked at all the weight studies and determined that being fat is not the cause of health problems. The most famously cited studies linking fat to disease have been discredited. She also states that the way our bodies work, it can be impossible to lose fat once you've gained it. So, her point is that we shouldn't feel badly about our weight. Just eat nutritious foods in reasonable amounts, exercise for health, and maybe for some of us, the excess fat will go away because of our improved lifestyle. She recognizes that it is very difficult to ignore societal pressures to be thin, and the bombardment of food advertising, and the pressure in social situations to eat a lot of junk with everyone else, and gives suggestions for dealing with those issues.
54: Great Garden Companions by Sally Jean Cunningham. I'm sure I will re-read this one for years to come. Cunningham suggests plant pairings to discourage pests, keep the soil healthy, and help each other grow. She recommends mixing flowers in among your crops, and vice versa. I will probably skim through this in a couple months when I start daydreaming about my garden again. For now, I'm content to think about other projects -- I didn't even put the garden to bed this year. I am still saving kitchen scraps to throw out there as soil amendments. I hope to get a compost box this spring (usually they are on sale for Earth Day so I will look for one then).
I am in the middle of a short old cozy novel called And Dangerous to Know, Cleopatra, a Life, and No Ordinary Time (about FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt during WWII). I'll try to finish all of those before the year ends, but I won't be surprised if I run out of time.
I'm thinking about what I want to accomplish in 2012, and I have a few ideas.
1. Get rid of excess stuff, especially clothes that I don't wear anymore
2. Finish our basement. We're working on this now and maybe I'll put up some progress pictures.
3. Finish a bunch of sewing projects
4. Start blogging again regularly and really decide on a topic to focus on
5. Write a whole novel, instead of just starting one
Those are subject to change, but that list is a start.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Sunday, November 13, 2011
11-11-11
So I had this big idea about starting some life-improving changes on November 11, 2011. That date is thought to be really powerful, so I hoped that it would be an extra help in starting some better habits. I want to be a little more organized, especially with meal planning for myself and for Violet. I also want to be more focused and productive. I AM working on some goals, but I didn't do very well at them on 11-11-11 (or the couple days since). I will keep trying to improve and by the end of the year, maybe I'll be perfect.
One thing I'd like to do again is blog more regularly. I also want to write a novel. And I want to finish the Blog Novel that I started. It's hard to write with a baby in my life, but it was hard to write before she existed, too. I'll keep at it and someday I will finish writing a whole novel.
In the meantime, I'm still reading. Here are some more books I've read this year:
39 & 40. Kate Carlisle's The Lies That Bind and Murder Under Cover. These are cozy mysteries about a bookbinder. No complaints, easy reads, entertaining, and kind of silly.
41, 42 & 43. Kate Collins's Mum's the Word, Slay it with Flowers, and Dearly Depotted. Cozy mysteries about a law school-dropout who now owns a flower shop. There are 10 or 12 of these and I'll likely read them all. Fun, easy reads with some humor.
44. Julie Kenner's Demon Ex Machina. Cozy plus demons. Are demons cozy? A soccer mom is also a demon slayer. Lots of bad jokes, but still pretty fun. I could not stand to read more than one at a time due to the author's overuse of the same phrases AND use of the first person. But, this series is fun.
45. People with Dirty Hands by Robin Chotzinoff. I have read these essays about passionate gardeners several times and plan to re-read it in the future. I really like Chotzinoff's style. She talks to rose rustlers (people who take cuttings from wild roses or other people's roses), chili growers, ladybug hunters, urban gardeners, tomato-obsessives, and more. She makes people seem interesting even if they aren't.
More later -- hopefully soon as I intend to make blogging a habit again by the end of the year.
One thing I'd like to do again is blog more regularly. I also want to write a novel. And I want to finish the Blog Novel that I started. It's hard to write with a baby in my life, but it was hard to write before she existed, too. I'll keep at it and someday I will finish writing a whole novel.
In the meantime, I'm still reading. Here are some more books I've read this year:
39 & 40. Kate Carlisle's The Lies That Bind and Murder Under Cover. These are cozy mysteries about a bookbinder. No complaints, easy reads, entertaining, and kind of silly.
41, 42 & 43. Kate Collins's Mum's the Word, Slay it with Flowers, and Dearly Depotted. Cozy mysteries about a law school-dropout who now owns a flower shop. There are 10 or 12 of these and I'll likely read them all. Fun, easy reads with some humor.
44. Julie Kenner's Demon Ex Machina. Cozy plus demons. Are demons cozy? A soccer mom is also a demon slayer. Lots of bad jokes, but still pretty fun. I could not stand to read more than one at a time due to the author's overuse of the same phrases AND use of the first person. But, this series is fun.
45. People with Dirty Hands by Robin Chotzinoff. I have read these essays about passionate gardeners several times and plan to re-read it in the future. I really like Chotzinoff's style. She talks to rose rustlers (people who take cuttings from wild roses or other people's roses), chili growers, ladybug hunters, urban gardeners, tomato-obsessives, and more. She makes people seem interesting even if they aren't.
More later -- hopefully soon as I intend to make blogging a habit again by the end of the year.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
August Post
Wow, it's been a long time. I have a bunch of books to report.
30, 31, 32, 33. Maisie Dobbs books by Jacqueline Winspear
An Incomplete Revenge: Maisie heads to the countryside to catch an arsonist and meet some Gypsies.
Among the Mad: Maisie tries to find a would-be mass murderer who she suspects has been institutionalized.
The Mapping of Love and Death: Maisie traces an old war-time romance (and tries to face letting go of her own).
A Lesson in Secrets: Maisie works with Scotland Yard.
These are all really good books. I don't think I was at all disappointed in any of them. The whole series is definitely worth reading!
34. Cold Vengeance by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Special Agent Pendergast is back, and so are his ward, Constance, and his teenaged Kansas assistant, Corrie. He works on unraveling the mystery of his wife's death. It's just as fun and exciting as usual for this series.
35. The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball. A city girl falls in love with a farmer and moves to the country. Pretty good. I liked Kimball's voice. I also like the idea that she and her partner had: grow everything that their customers need. Not just zucchini and onions, but meat, dairy, eggs, syrup, grains, flours, beans, herbs, and fruits. Pretty amazing idea. I like to daydream about being a farmer, though I know that I do not want to HAVE to work that hard every day. I like to work hard on my garden and then sometimes say to hell with it and let the weeds grow while I take a break. I guess that's what keeps it fun for me -- it's optional.
36. Still Life with Chickens by Catherine Goldhammer. In this memoir, a woman gets divorced and has to move with her daughter. Illogically, she buys baby chickens just when they're having open houses to sell their old house and looking for a new place to live. But the chickens are a great distraction and bring the mother and daughter together. I liked this one, too.
37. The $64 Tomato by William Alexander. In this memoir, Alexander tells us about creating an enormous, ridiculous garden in his yard. It's so fun. He and his wife waste so much time, effort, money, and water, and have such a wonderful, disappointing, frustrating, infuriating time of it. And he learns lots of lessons. And he adds up the cost of his garden one year and does the math to see how much he spent per tomato. You already know the answer from the title, and it would be scary to do the math in most people's gardens. I liked this one, also.
But gardens aren't really about saving money, right? They're about having a project and doing some sort of tangible work with a delicious reward. And having everything ruined by hail or bugs or disease, and keeping a certain perspective on life -- great for Buddhists to remember to let go and stop trying to grasp on to anything. Nothing is permanent.
38. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.
Wow, this one has a really cool premise and you should definitely check it out from the library. Riggs collected a bunch of cool old photos and wrote a young adult novel around them. COOL! And the plot is that there are kids with special powers who live together in a house in Wales -- or is it just a story that the narrator's grandpa told him? Was grandpa a liar, or was he psychologically damaged in the war?
It's pretty dang good for the first half and then it's only okay. But it's worth at least flipping through at a store or library and seeing the pictures and imagining what story YOU could write with those photos. I just read something that said that we find our novel when we read someone else's and it's disappointing. We start thinking about how we could have done it right. I think this one is inspiring tons of would-be novelists right now.
___
My 8-month old CRAWLER! is crying so I have to go. Today she stood up all by herself for a few seconds, not holding on to anything! She might be walking before too long.
30, 31, 32, 33. Maisie Dobbs books by Jacqueline Winspear
An Incomplete Revenge: Maisie heads to the countryside to catch an arsonist and meet some Gypsies.
Among the Mad: Maisie tries to find a would-be mass murderer who she suspects has been institutionalized.
The Mapping of Love and Death: Maisie traces an old war-time romance (and tries to face letting go of her own).
A Lesson in Secrets: Maisie works with Scotland Yard.
These are all really good books. I don't think I was at all disappointed in any of them. The whole series is definitely worth reading!
34. Cold Vengeance by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Special Agent Pendergast is back, and so are his ward, Constance, and his teenaged Kansas assistant, Corrie. He works on unraveling the mystery of his wife's death. It's just as fun and exciting as usual for this series.
35. The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball. A city girl falls in love with a farmer and moves to the country. Pretty good. I liked Kimball's voice. I also like the idea that she and her partner had: grow everything that their customers need. Not just zucchini and onions, but meat, dairy, eggs, syrup, grains, flours, beans, herbs, and fruits. Pretty amazing idea. I like to daydream about being a farmer, though I know that I do not want to HAVE to work that hard every day. I like to work hard on my garden and then sometimes say to hell with it and let the weeds grow while I take a break. I guess that's what keeps it fun for me -- it's optional.
36. Still Life with Chickens by Catherine Goldhammer. In this memoir, a woman gets divorced and has to move with her daughter. Illogically, she buys baby chickens just when they're having open houses to sell their old house and looking for a new place to live. But the chickens are a great distraction and bring the mother and daughter together. I liked this one, too.
37. The $64 Tomato by William Alexander. In this memoir, Alexander tells us about creating an enormous, ridiculous garden in his yard. It's so fun. He and his wife waste so much time, effort, money, and water, and have such a wonderful, disappointing, frustrating, infuriating time of it. And he learns lots of lessons. And he adds up the cost of his garden one year and does the math to see how much he spent per tomato. You already know the answer from the title, and it would be scary to do the math in most people's gardens. I liked this one, also.
But gardens aren't really about saving money, right? They're about having a project and doing some sort of tangible work with a delicious reward. And having everything ruined by hail or bugs or disease, and keeping a certain perspective on life -- great for Buddhists to remember to let go and stop trying to grasp on to anything. Nothing is permanent.
38. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.
Wow, this one has a really cool premise and you should definitely check it out from the library. Riggs collected a bunch of cool old photos and wrote a young adult novel around them. COOL! And the plot is that there are kids with special powers who live together in a house in Wales -- or is it just a story that the narrator's grandpa told him? Was grandpa a liar, or was he psychologically damaged in the war?
It's pretty dang good for the first half and then it's only okay. But it's worth at least flipping through at a store or library and seeing the pictures and imagining what story YOU could write with those photos. I just read something that said that we find our novel when we read someone else's and it's disappointing. We start thinking about how we could have done it right. I think this one is inspiring tons of would-be novelists right now.
___
My 8-month old CRAWLER! is crying so I have to go. Today she stood up all by herself for a few seconds, not holding on to anything! She might be walking before too long.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
May Post
Here's the list of recent reads:
23: Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris. It's about Sookie Stackhouse, who can read people's minds, but not those of vampires or werewolves or fairies or other supernatural creatures. The main thing I noticed while reading this one is that Harris's protagonists are always cleaning their houses (or other people's, in the case of the one who owns a cleaning business). And it makes me want to clean more often. They just vacuum real quick while waiting for someone to try to kill them, or work on cleaning the attic until someone else turns up dead. It's weirdly inspiring to me, reminding me that I could clean for a few minutes here and there while the baby is sleeping or playing. It doesn't have to be a huge, whole-house cleaning. Just a touch-up.
It's so weird to think of how busy I was during college! I worked full time, took at least 5 classes a semester, had friends, and had hobbies! If I had half an hour before I needed to get to work, I might run to the store. Now I feel like I need hours free to do anything. Part of it is that I live in the burbs and it takes half an hour to get to the store, but a lot of it is just a lazy mindset. Maybe I will be able to change that this year.
24: The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht. A really good novel that takes place in Eastern Europe, in modern times and during WWII. We follow a young woman doctor and also learn about her grandfather's youth. Definitely recommended.
25: The Memoirs of a Survivor by Doris Lessing. This is a kind of alternate-reality novel in which something has happened that causes all production to stop, and government to lose control, and people to slowly ooze from the cities. An older woman, still living in the city, somehow becomes the guardian of a young teenage girl. The woman doesn't want to leave the city, but it's becoming more and more dangerous as the wild children who have been left behind take more and more control. It's creepy. Even creepier that she describes it as an autobiography!
26. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling. After seeing the 7th movie, I needed to re-read this book since I couldn't remember it very well and I wanted to know what happens at the end. When it first came out, I read it really fast, like in a couple days (759 pages). When I speed-read, I don't seem to synthesize the content nearly as well. I like that Rowling "humanized" Dumbledore by giving him faults. And I still say Snape was a dick, no matter what side he was secretly working for.
27. Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear. This is the first in a series of novels about a 1930-ish lady detective in London. She is also a psychologist and has been trained in meditation, so her methods are a bit unorthodox. Mazie's past influences her behavior in regards to her clients, and it really adds a lot to the stories. When she was 13, her mother died and her father sent her to be a maid in a rich family's house. They discovered how intelligent she was and set about educating her. She studied with a psychologist/investigator/Secret Service Agent/Medical Examiner, then went to a posh college. She dropped out to become a nurse during WWI and ended up in France, right in the midst of horrible fighting. She was injured and went home to convalesce, finish school, and work with her mentor. Now she has her own business, a male assistant, and a couple of suitors.
In this first novel, she investigates a retreat intended as a safe haven for soldiers whose disfigurement made them uncomfortable in normal society. (Did you know they used to make tin masks and paint them to look skin-colored for those whose faces were badly damaged?)
28. Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear. In the second Maisie Dobbs novel, she searches for a runaway spinster heiress who has a habit of running off. Another good read.
29. Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear. In the third Maisie Dobbs novel, she searches for proof of death of a wartime pilot. She also helps her friend find information about her brother's death.
I used to be unable to stand to read about wars -- it really upset me. For some reason I am able to read these fictionalized accounts of war and post-war events with interest and without becoming overly saddened. I find it fascinating to read about this time period in between the World Wars and am really enjoying Maisie Dobbs as a character.
30. The Last Bookstore in America by Amy Stewart. An alternate-reality short novel about a world in which the Gizmo has replaced books. Once people can just stream books for free, they quit buying them, and eventually all publishers stop publishing and writers stop writing. No one actually reads books anymore -- just tweets and blogs. A young married couple inherits one of the last remaining bookstores, but what they don't know is that it stays in business by selling marijuana. Funny and well-written. And I read it on my Gizmo -- I mean, my Kindle.
--
The days are just rushing past around here. Jason and I decided before Violet was born that we would take her picture every day for her first year, and we've kept up with it so far. It is really cool to see how much she's changed already! Today is day 161 with her in our lives, and it's been pretty great. She is so sweet and snuggly, and so impatient and demanding, and so curious and brave. She loves electronic devices, though we really want her to avoid our tv addiction. She is totally enamored with our cat, Francis. She can't wait until she is 6 months old and can try eating food. Her wavy hair has the biggest whorl in the back, and she almost always has an Alfalfa lock of hair sticking straight out. She blows spit bubbles and laughs and squeals in delight. Her nails are razor sharp. She is very strong and seems almost ready to stand up on her own, though we're still working on crawling.
In other news, we're planning on building a deck this summer (well, hiring people to build it for us). We're planning a garden again, and may plant this weekend. I'm glad we waited because yesterday was all tornado warnings and hail and rain, rain, rain. Last year I planted right after Mother's Day and the garden was destroyed by hail. I learned my lesson: wait another week or two!
We have planted berry bushes again (this year I've been watering regularly and I know that it just might take a while before any growth is visible). And we added some lilac bushes along the fence to block the neighbors' view into our yard. Some day the bushes will be taller than the fence :)
I want to plant tons of bulbs this fall so we have a beautiful spring next year. We may also plant some trees this year. I'd really like to have cherries and apples. We are kind of waiting to see what happens with the deck first, but the guy who's supposed to be drawing up the plans had to go to a funeral and now it's been like 3 weeks and we're still waiting. Doesn't he know the WHOLE YARD is waiting??
Anyway, it's fun to do more to our yard and see it start to look less like a rock quarry and more like a suburban yard. And in a few years, it will be a crazy yard, filled to the brim with flowers and fruits. And maybe a half pipe.
See you soon!
23: Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris. It's about Sookie Stackhouse, who can read people's minds, but not those of vampires or werewolves or fairies or other supernatural creatures. The main thing I noticed while reading this one is that Harris's protagonists are always cleaning their houses (or other people's, in the case of the one who owns a cleaning business). And it makes me want to clean more often. They just vacuum real quick while waiting for someone to try to kill them, or work on cleaning the attic until someone else turns up dead. It's weirdly inspiring to me, reminding me that I could clean for a few minutes here and there while the baby is sleeping or playing. It doesn't have to be a huge, whole-house cleaning. Just a touch-up.
It's so weird to think of how busy I was during college! I worked full time, took at least 5 classes a semester, had friends, and had hobbies! If I had half an hour before I needed to get to work, I might run to the store. Now I feel like I need hours free to do anything. Part of it is that I live in the burbs and it takes half an hour to get to the store, but a lot of it is just a lazy mindset. Maybe I will be able to change that this year.
24: The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht. A really good novel that takes place in Eastern Europe, in modern times and during WWII. We follow a young woman doctor and also learn about her grandfather's youth. Definitely recommended.
25: The Memoirs of a Survivor by Doris Lessing. This is a kind of alternate-reality novel in which something has happened that causes all production to stop, and government to lose control, and people to slowly ooze from the cities. An older woman, still living in the city, somehow becomes the guardian of a young teenage girl. The woman doesn't want to leave the city, but it's becoming more and more dangerous as the wild children who have been left behind take more and more control. It's creepy. Even creepier that she describes it as an autobiography!
26. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling. After seeing the 7th movie, I needed to re-read this book since I couldn't remember it very well and I wanted to know what happens at the end. When it first came out, I read it really fast, like in a couple days (759 pages). When I speed-read, I don't seem to synthesize the content nearly as well. I like that Rowling "humanized" Dumbledore by giving him faults. And I still say Snape was a dick, no matter what side he was secretly working for.
27. Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear. This is the first in a series of novels about a 1930-ish lady detective in London. She is also a psychologist and has been trained in meditation, so her methods are a bit unorthodox. Mazie's past influences her behavior in regards to her clients, and it really adds a lot to the stories. When she was 13, her mother died and her father sent her to be a maid in a rich family's house. They discovered how intelligent she was and set about educating her. She studied with a psychologist/investigator/Secret Service Agent/Medical Examiner, then went to a posh college. She dropped out to become a nurse during WWI and ended up in France, right in the midst of horrible fighting. She was injured and went home to convalesce, finish school, and work with her mentor. Now she has her own business, a male assistant, and a couple of suitors.
In this first novel, she investigates a retreat intended as a safe haven for soldiers whose disfigurement made them uncomfortable in normal society. (Did you know they used to make tin masks and paint them to look skin-colored for those whose faces were badly damaged?)
28. Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear. In the second Maisie Dobbs novel, she searches for a runaway spinster heiress who has a habit of running off. Another good read.
29. Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear. In the third Maisie Dobbs novel, she searches for proof of death of a wartime pilot. She also helps her friend find information about her brother's death.
I used to be unable to stand to read about wars -- it really upset me. For some reason I am able to read these fictionalized accounts of war and post-war events with interest and without becoming overly saddened. I find it fascinating to read about this time period in between the World Wars and am really enjoying Maisie Dobbs as a character.
30. The Last Bookstore in America by Amy Stewart. An alternate-reality short novel about a world in which the Gizmo has replaced books. Once people can just stream books for free, they quit buying them, and eventually all publishers stop publishing and writers stop writing. No one actually reads books anymore -- just tweets and blogs. A young married couple inherits one of the last remaining bookstores, but what they don't know is that it stays in business by selling marijuana. Funny and well-written. And I read it on my Gizmo -- I mean, my Kindle.
--
The days are just rushing past around here. Jason and I decided before Violet was born that we would take her picture every day for her first year, and we've kept up with it so far. It is really cool to see how much she's changed already! Today is day 161 with her in our lives, and it's been pretty great. She is so sweet and snuggly, and so impatient and demanding, and so curious and brave. She loves electronic devices, though we really want her to avoid our tv addiction. She is totally enamored with our cat, Francis. She can't wait until she is 6 months old and can try eating food. Her wavy hair has the biggest whorl in the back, and she almost always has an Alfalfa lock of hair sticking straight out. She blows spit bubbles and laughs and squeals in delight. Her nails are razor sharp. She is very strong and seems almost ready to stand up on her own, though we're still working on crawling.
In other news, we're planning on building a deck this summer (well, hiring people to build it for us). We're planning a garden again, and may plant this weekend. I'm glad we waited because yesterday was all tornado warnings and hail and rain, rain, rain. Last year I planted right after Mother's Day and the garden was destroyed by hail. I learned my lesson: wait another week or two!
We have planted berry bushes again (this year I've been watering regularly and I know that it just might take a while before any growth is visible). And we added some lilac bushes along the fence to block the neighbors' view into our yard. Some day the bushes will be taller than the fence :)
I want to plant tons of bulbs this fall so we have a beautiful spring next year. We may also plant some trees this year. I'd really like to have cherries and apples. We are kind of waiting to see what happens with the deck first, but the guy who's supposed to be drawing up the plans had to go to a funeral and now it's been like 3 weeks and we're still waiting. Doesn't he know the WHOLE YARD is waiting??
Anyway, it's fun to do more to our yard and see it start to look less like a rock quarry and more like a suburban yard. And in a few years, it will be a crazy yard, filled to the brim with flowers and fruits. And maybe a half pipe.
See you soon!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
More books!
19. Bossypants by Tina Fey. SOOO funny! If you like Tina Fey, you will like her book. If you like Liz Lemon (her character on 30 Rock), you will like this book. I kept laughing and Violet would look at me with a warning in her eye -- Are you done, lady? Because I'm serious. She does not like sudden noises or loud noises because she is a baby.
And the books read on Kindle (which need to be segregated because for me, reading on the Kindle is still a different experience from reading a real book. Yes, I think of paper books as REAL and electronic books as e-books, something else entirely):
And I'm sorry to say that I don't remember too many details about some of them because they were read when I had a newborn and my memory from that time is not good. But I'll tell you if I liked them or not, okay?
20. The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzsh. Liked it. You would, too. Historical mystery/thriller with murder and children and witchcraft and hangmen!
21. Impact by Douglas Preston. You'd like it if you like other books by Douglas Preston. Adventure, thriller, lots of characters, I bet. To be honest, I don't remember this one at all.
* Okay, I just refreshed my memory with the help of Amazon's description, and it IS a fun book. I like the main character in it, Wyman Ford, rogue ex-CIA agent. So I can recommend it if you like this genre.
22. Poser: My Life in Twenty-three Yoga Poses by Claire Dederer. I liked it but kind of in spite of thinking she is sort of annoying. It was interesting for me because she talks about raising her kids and feeling some pressure to use the Attachment Parenting style (co-sleeping, baby-wearing, etc...) and I'm thinking a lot about parenting styles. She also talks about living in Chautauqua for a year, which is in Boulder, Colorado, and I lived in Boulder for some years and believe Chautauqua to be the epicenter of hippiedom. So it was fun to get a glimpse into the weirdness there. Plus she talks about trying to force her way through yoga rather than relaxing, and I am Type-A in some aspects of my life. And I like yoga! If all that stuff is interesting to you, then I recommend the book, but if not, skip it.
Oh, and I liked reading about her weird childhood near Seattle. Her parents separated when she was little but never got divorced and tried to pretend like that was normal and better than divorcing. But it was just weird for the author and her brother.
--
And now I'm caught up again.
The baby's asleep in the evening! What should I do? What should I do? There are 47 things I'd like to do, but I get a type of paralysis now when I actually have free time! I better get going or I'll waste it.
And the books read on Kindle (which need to be segregated because for me, reading on the Kindle is still a different experience from reading a real book. Yes, I think of paper books as REAL and electronic books as e-books, something else entirely):
And I'm sorry to say that I don't remember too many details about some of them because they were read when I had a newborn and my memory from that time is not good. But I'll tell you if I liked them or not, okay?
20. The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzsh. Liked it. You would, too. Historical mystery/thriller with murder and children and witchcraft and hangmen!
21. Impact by Douglas Preston. You'd like it if you like other books by Douglas Preston. Adventure, thriller, lots of characters, I bet. To be honest, I don't remember this one at all.
* Okay, I just refreshed my memory with the help of Amazon's description, and it IS a fun book. I like the main character in it, Wyman Ford, rogue ex-CIA agent. So I can recommend it if you like this genre.
22. Poser: My Life in Twenty-three Yoga Poses by Claire Dederer. I liked it but kind of in spite of thinking she is sort of annoying. It was interesting for me because she talks about raising her kids and feeling some pressure to use the Attachment Parenting style (co-sleeping, baby-wearing, etc...) and I'm thinking a lot about parenting styles. She also talks about living in Chautauqua for a year, which is in Boulder, Colorado, and I lived in Boulder for some years and believe Chautauqua to be the epicenter of hippiedom. So it was fun to get a glimpse into the weirdness there. Plus she talks about trying to force her way through yoga rather than relaxing, and I am Type-A in some aspects of my life. And I like yoga! If all that stuff is interesting to you, then I recommend the book, but if not, skip it.
Oh, and I liked reading about her weird childhood near Seattle. Her parents separated when she was little but never got divorced and tried to pretend like that was normal and better than divorcing. But it was just weird for the author and her brother.
--
And now I'm caught up again.
The baby's asleep in the evening! What should I do? What should I do? There are 47 things I'd like to do, but I get a type of paralysis now when I actually have free time! I better get going or I'll waste it.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Hello, Strangers!
Oh, that's right. I'm the stranger. You know what? It's difficult to blog when you have a baby to take care of. When she's sleeping or playing by herself, I usually use that time to get up and move around rather than sit at the computer.
Here's what I do while holding her:
*Read
*Watch TV
*Watch movies
*Look at the internet on a laptop, but rarely type anything because I'm holding the baby
*Look at the internet on my smartphone
*Eat things that don't require silverware
*Try to cut her magically fast-growing fingernails (luckily I haven't had to cut her toenails yet since she somehow files them down by rubbing her feet inside her socks)
Here's what I do when she lets me put her down:
*Exercise -- how I miss the days when I could do as much as I wanted! Right now I would love to spend about two hours a day, including weights or cardio + yoga + a walk. Some days I only get 10 minutes and on a few rare days I've actually managed the above-mentioned 2 hours!
*Prepare food, eat, and wash dishes
*Take a shower or bath (I'm lucky if this happens every other day, and I really prefer to shower EVERY day)
*Spot-clean the house. One day I clean a bathroom and the next maybe I finally put away laundry (I am able to wash, dry, and fold clothes almost daily but putting them away is another story)
Violet's now 4 months old and she has discovered the joy of playing with toys, which is awesome! I used to be her only toy but now she can be awake and happy without me holding her. Don't get me wrong, I love to hold her and still do it for hours every day (especially in the evenings, when she simply MUST be held by her mama). I know some day she will be horrified at the thought of spending time with me and I am enjoying it while it lasts! But I do enjoy having a couple of hours each day when I can do something else.
Now, on to the book list. Here are the books I've been reading:
(and sorry if I don't have time to add links. I know that sucks, but I'm afraid I might have to half-ass it or not do it a-tall.)
1. Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston. A really nice-sized little book about decluttering. I like it. I'll keep it and re-read parts of it later, when I have more time to sort things. I would really like to do another sweep of all my stuff (I did one about a year ago and got rid of a lot of stuff and it felt great. Once I lose some more pregnancy weight I want to try on all my clothes and get rid of stuff that's too small or that I don't like or that I think I'll never wear. I've got 13 pounds to go!)
2. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett. This was recommended (and given to me) by my friends Joe and Emily and it is a great, funny novel about the end of the world. A demon and an angel who are both stationed on earth and who have become friends over many, many years are the main protagonists. I must point out that it is BRITISH humor, so if you don't like that, do not read this book.
3-7. The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins. Shit, these are good books. They're for teens or tweens or 11-year-olds and are about a seemingly normal kid who gets sucked into an underground land where he is thought to be The Warrior of their prophecies. He's brave and kind and good. Don't we love epic quests with pure-hearted heros? If you do, read this series. The individual titles are: Gregor the Overlander, Gregor and the Prophecy of the Bane, Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods, Gregor and the Marks of Secret, Gregor and the Code of Claw. WARNING: if you start reading the first one, you probably will not stop reading until you've completed all five.
8 & 9. If Books Could Kill and Homicide in Hardcover by Kate Carlisle. These are cozies (light mysteries) with a heroine who is a bookbinder. They're fun, light reads but I won't insist that you read them.
10. If Morning Ever Comes by Anne Tyler. I love Anne Tyler and her quirky, thoughtful characters. Sometimes there's just no point to the story, and it's more of a character study, and I think this is one of those. Here are some things that I liked:
"A tune began in his head, hummed nonchalantly by that sexless, anonymous voice that lived inside him and always spoke words as he read them and thoughts as he thought them."
and
"He never could have the feeling that the whole family was under one roof and taken care of; one always had to be out wandering around somewhere beyond his jurisdiction." What a great use of that word!
11. I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron. This is a collection of essays about this and that and aging. I'm 34 and found it very funny and relevant. You don't have to be Nora's age to enjoy it. Here are a couple things I particularly liked:
She's at a movie theater and the movie isn't properly centered on the screen. She's the only one who will go and complain about it. "By the time I got back to my seat, the image on-screen had been reframed, although not perfectly, but by then I was too exhausted by my heroism to complain further."
and
She finds an online game called Scrabble Blitz and says, "I began playing it without a clue that within one day -- I am not exaggerating -- it would fry my brain."
12. The Great Fitness Experiment by Charlotte Hilton Andersen. Well, I wouldn't call it "great" but it was kind of fun. Each month for a year, she and some friends tried a new style of working out and/or a new eating style to see what results they'd get. That's fun for someone like me, because I like to work out and I like trying new stuff. BUT, it would have been more useful if she had done the programs for more like 2 months, since 1 month is too short to really know if it's going to work. AND sometimes she didn't really do the program. Like, she'd read about it but instead of buying the DVD or the program, she'd just make up something that she thought was close enough. Um, if you're writing a book, try to get the publisher to pay for the DVDs you need to write the book! So, kind of fun but not quite good enough.
13. Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott. This is subtitled, "A Journal of My Son's First Year." This woman raised her son as a single mother and it sounds like hell. I can't imagine being alone with a newborn ALL THE TIME. Her entries are funny and sad and I read it while Violet was a newborn and was so grateful to have my husband! She had a bunch of great friends who helped her and I guess that's what you have to do if you are a single mom -- let people help you or hire people to help you. Anyway, I recommend this book if you think it sounds at all appealing, or if you are about to be a parent so you will be able to think, "man, this is really hard but at least I'm not a single mom." or "fuck, it's really hard being a single mom, but if that crazy Anne Lamott with her author photo of herself with white-lady dreads can do it, so can I!" (Plus I just Googled her and she wears those crazy white-lady dreads still, apparently. That must be her thing.)
14. Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell. A good Swedish detective novel. There is a whole series starring police inspector Kurt Wallander, who is separated from his wife and semi-estranged from his father and daughter and keeps getting a little fatter and less together. He's likable and you root for him to get his shit together. I like the writing and the glimpse into Swedish life.
15. Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Why did I decide to read this? I don't know. Partly because Raj read it on "Big Bang Theory." Partly because sometimes I just need a little life-affirming influence in my life and I don't live in Boulder anymore so I can't get it from hippies. It's what you would expect: uplifting and funny and also sad. But it also has cussing! And it was fun to read about Italy, and an ashram in India, and what it's like in Indonesia. I have to admit that I really enjoyed it and maybe I don't care if you think I'm a dork.
16. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. I really liked this one! It covers three different time periods and sets of characters. Nell was a lost little girl who showed up alone on a ship in Australia. Her granddaughter tries to find out how that happened after Nell has died. The granddaughter uncovers the story of Nell's parents and her very early childhood. It's really good. I did feel a tiny bit befuddled sometimes with the switching back and forth between times, but I really believe that was because I was so sleep-deprived and distracted. I think you'll keep up just fine and really like it.
17. Gideon's Sword by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Well, I love these guys for their Pendergast novels, and this is a new series with a new character: Gideon Crew. I don't like him as much as Pendergast, but he might grow on me in future adventures. He's smart and handy and has good reasons to be a loose cannon. Overall, not as much of a page-turner for me as some of their other novels, but appealing enough that I will check out the next one in the series.
18. Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan. This mystery felt like something new. It wasn't a comforting novel following the usual pattern, and I felt like I could not predict what was going to happen. It's smart, well-written, with interesting and mysterious characters (is the main guy good or bad? do we like him? can we readers trust him?) and a strong plot. I definitely recommend it.
I read some more on my kindle, but I'll report on those next time.
See you soon, hopefully!
Here's what I do while holding her:
*Read
*Watch TV
*Watch movies
*Look at the internet on a laptop, but rarely type anything because I'm holding the baby
*Look at the internet on my smartphone
*Eat things that don't require silverware
*Try to cut her magically fast-growing fingernails (luckily I haven't had to cut her toenails yet since she somehow files them down by rubbing her feet inside her socks)
Here's what I do when she lets me put her down:
*Exercise -- how I miss the days when I could do as much as I wanted! Right now I would love to spend about two hours a day, including weights or cardio + yoga + a walk. Some days I only get 10 minutes and on a few rare days I've actually managed the above-mentioned 2 hours!
*Prepare food, eat, and wash dishes
*Take a shower or bath (I'm lucky if this happens every other day, and I really prefer to shower EVERY day)
*Spot-clean the house. One day I clean a bathroom and the next maybe I finally put away laundry (I am able to wash, dry, and fold clothes almost daily but putting them away is another story)
Violet's now 4 months old and she has discovered the joy of playing with toys, which is awesome! I used to be her only toy but now she can be awake and happy without me holding her. Don't get me wrong, I love to hold her and still do it for hours every day (especially in the evenings, when she simply MUST be held by her mama). I know some day she will be horrified at the thought of spending time with me and I am enjoying it while it lasts! But I do enjoy having a couple of hours each day when I can do something else.
Now, on to the book list. Here are the books I've been reading:
(and sorry if I don't have time to add links. I know that sucks, but I'm afraid I might have to half-ass it or not do it a-tall.)
1. Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston. A really nice-sized little book about decluttering. I like it. I'll keep it and re-read parts of it later, when I have more time to sort things. I would really like to do another sweep of all my stuff (I did one about a year ago and got rid of a lot of stuff and it felt great. Once I lose some more pregnancy weight I want to try on all my clothes and get rid of stuff that's too small or that I don't like or that I think I'll never wear. I've got 13 pounds to go!)
2. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett. This was recommended (and given to me) by my friends Joe and Emily and it is a great, funny novel about the end of the world. A demon and an angel who are both stationed on earth and who have become friends over many, many years are the main protagonists. I must point out that it is BRITISH humor, so if you don't like that, do not read this book.
3-7. The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins. Shit, these are good books. They're for teens or tweens or 11-year-olds and are about a seemingly normal kid who gets sucked into an underground land where he is thought to be The Warrior of their prophecies. He's brave and kind and good. Don't we love epic quests with pure-hearted heros? If you do, read this series. The individual titles are: Gregor the Overlander, Gregor and the Prophecy of the Bane, Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods, Gregor and the Marks of Secret, Gregor and the Code of Claw. WARNING: if you start reading the first one, you probably will not stop reading until you've completed all five.
8 & 9. If Books Could Kill and Homicide in Hardcover by Kate Carlisle. These are cozies (light mysteries) with a heroine who is a bookbinder. They're fun, light reads but I won't insist that you read them.
10. If Morning Ever Comes by Anne Tyler. I love Anne Tyler and her quirky, thoughtful characters. Sometimes there's just no point to the story, and it's more of a character study, and I think this is one of those. Here are some things that I liked:
"A tune began in his head, hummed nonchalantly by that sexless, anonymous voice that lived inside him and always spoke words as he read them and thoughts as he thought them."
and
"He never could have the feeling that the whole family was under one roof and taken care of; one always had to be out wandering around somewhere beyond his jurisdiction." What a great use of that word!
11. I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron. This is a collection of essays about this and that and aging. I'm 34 and found it very funny and relevant. You don't have to be Nora's age to enjoy it. Here are a couple things I particularly liked:
She's at a movie theater and the movie isn't properly centered on the screen. She's the only one who will go and complain about it. "By the time I got back to my seat, the image on-screen had been reframed, although not perfectly, but by then I was too exhausted by my heroism to complain further."
and
She finds an online game called Scrabble Blitz and says, "I began playing it without a clue that within one day -- I am not exaggerating -- it would fry my brain."
12. The Great Fitness Experiment by Charlotte Hilton Andersen. Well, I wouldn't call it "great" but it was kind of fun. Each month for a year, she and some friends tried a new style of working out and/or a new eating style to see what results they'd get. That's fun for someone like me, because I like to work out and I like trying new stuff. BUT, it would have been more useful if she had done the programs for more like 2 months, since 1 month is too short to really know if it's going to work. AND sometimes she didn't really do the program. Like, she'd read about it but instead of buying the DVD or the program, she'd just make up something that she thought was close enough. Um, if you're writing a book, try to get the publisher to pay for the DVDs you need to write the book! So, kind of fun but not quite good enough.
13. Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott. This is subtitled, "A Journal of My Son's First Year." This woman raised her son as a single mother and it sounds like hell. I can't imagine being alone with a newborn ALL THE TIME. Her entries are funny and sad and I read it while Violet was a newborn and was so grateful to have my husband! She had a bunch of great friends who helped her and I guess that's what you have to do if you are a single mom -- let people help you or hire people to help you. Anyway, I recommend this book if you think it sounds at all appealing, or if you are about to be a parent so you will be able to think, "man, this is really hard but at least I'm not a single mom." or "fuck, it's really hard being a single mom, but if that crazy Anne Lamott with her author photo of herself with white-lady dreads can do it, so can I!" (Plus I just Googled her and she wears those crazy white-lady dreads still, apparently. That must be her thing.)
14. Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell. A good Swedish detective novel. There is a whole series starring police inspector Kurt Wallander, who is separated from his wife and semi-estranged from his father and daughter and keeps getting a little fatter and less together. He's likable and you root for him to get his shit together. I like the writing and the glimpse into Swedish life.
15. Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Why did I decide to read this? I don't know. Partly because Raj read it on "Big Bang Theory." Partly because sometimes I just need a little life-affirming influence in my life and I don't live in Boulder anymore so I can't get it from hippies. It's what you would expect: uplifting and funny and also sad. But it also has cussing! And it was fun to read about Italy, and an ashram in India, and what it's like in Indonesia. I have to admit that I really enjoyed it and maybe I don't care if you think I'm a dork.
16. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. I really liked this one! It covers three different time periods and sets of characters. Nell was a lost little girl who showed up alone on a ship in Australia. Her granddaughter tries to find out how that happened after Nell has died. The granddaughter uncovers the story of Nell's parents and her very early childhood. It's really good. I did feel a tiny bit befuddled sometimes with the switching back and forth between times, but I really believe that was because I was so sleep-deprived and distracted. I think you'll keep up just fine and really like it.
17. Gideon's Sword by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Well, I love these guys for their Pendergast novels, and this is a new series with a new character: Gideon Crew. I don't like him as much as Pendergast, but he might grow on me in future adventures. He's smart and handy and has good reasons to be a loose cannon. Overall, not as much of a page-turner for me as some of their other novels, but appealing enough that I will check out the next one in the series.
18. Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan. This mystery felt like something new. It wasn't a comforting novel following the usual pattern, and I felt like I could not predict what was going to happen. It's smart, well-written, with interesting and mysterious characters (is the main guy good or bad? do we like him? can we readers trust him?) and a strong plot. I definitely recommend it.
I read some more on my kindle, but I'll report on those next time.
See you soon, hopefully!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Wow, 2010 was awesome! I got a house, a husband, a garden, a new car, and a daughter. I am incredibly lucky!
I finished some more books:
#47, 48, 49: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. This series is written for young adults. It's set in North America in a post-war future in which democracy and freedom no longer exist. In order to intimidate the masses, the government holds an annual lottery to choose children or teens from each district to compete in deadly games. To win, the child or teen will almost certainly have to murder his or her opponents.
These are hard to put down, keep-you-reading-all-night books. There's lots of violence and death, but no sex, even with a teenage love triangle as a major plot line. Strange.
#50: The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman. I read a lot of this one in the hospital, waiting until it was time to push! It's a good, modern gothic tale. A woman returns as a teacher to her own boarding school and is haunted by an unfinished curse from her time there. There are secrets, adoptions, incest, and plenty of teenage girl drama!
#51: True Grit by Charles Portis. The Coen brothers' movie is out now, so you probably know the plot: 14-year old girl hires a ruthless one-eyed Marshall to help her hunt down and kill the coward who murdered her father. She is the narrator of the novel and is damned funny. You'll like it.
#52: The Liars' Club by Mary Karr. A memior of growing up in Texas with alcoholic parents. Pretty good. It's the type of memior in which the rememberer doesn't feel sorry for herself about her difficult life. She's able to see humor in lots of tough situations, so it's enjoyable, not painful to read.
#53: Homicide in Hardcover by Kate Carlisle. A cozy mystery starring a pretty bookbinder who was raised on a commune. Quick, entertaining, and non-taxing, like a cozy should be.
So I finished about half as many books as last year. That makes sense, since I did so much work on our house and garden. Plus when I had morning sickness (first AND third trimester) I tended to watch tv or waste time online instead of reading books. I also read parts of lots of books about pregnancy and babies. I wonder how many I can read in 2011 with a baby in my arms?
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