the one our book club should have picked.

There's this little book called Little Bee.  It's really incredible.  I'm not supposed to talk about it.  The cover actually admonishes readers from revealing too much of the plot.

People who have read the book comment that it sticks with them.  Some call the book depressing.  They're right.  It is depressing.  But the book is written with an intelligent audience in mind and made me reflect on how often and easily I turn away from what's uncomfortable in our world.  There are violent scenes in this book but fortunately they are not gratuitous.  The telling of this violence serves an educational purpose (unlike in Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).  Others may disagree.

This book has been all over the Target shelves and paraded around the internet.  One of my favorite books of the summer.  But according to Chris Cleave (or his publisher) I'm not allowed to talk about it.

A Simple Poem

 


















The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.
I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light.
For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.

I don't think ahead to loss and let it color the fullness.

I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.
I am content in the here, the now.

Be. here. now. Rest in the grace of the world and be free.

Wendell Berry

the one that follows the first.

I just finished the sequel to The Hunger Games.  Love.  Love.  Love.

Suzanne Collins is going to be dirty, filthy rich when they make these books into movies.  The second book was as compelling as the first.  It absolutely drew me in.

Waiting for August 24th now to find out what happens to Katniss and the country of Panem.

my favorite one in a long while.

This is a trilogy I can actually get behind (vs. Twilight & The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo).  A book that totally consumed me and seemed completely novel and unique.  This book should even capture the attention of my 17 yo nephew who hates to read (gasp!) and much prefers audio books.

Normally I am on top of book phenomenons and internet crazes but I feel a bit behind on the Hunger Games series.  My friend Kate reviewed it recently on her blog so I'll refer to her spot on comments:

Kate's Review

I am now racing through the second book and eager for book three (Mockingjay) to release on August 24th.  I would love, love to see Suzanne Collins at Wild Rumpus on Friday, October 1st but may be otherwise occupied at home. Drat!

Info on Suzanne Collins Event

I love when good books find the shelf at just the right time.  Cure your book slump, encourage blanket reading in the dog days of August. 

This book was a winner! 

the one that makes me scared for the kids.

I just finished Deep Economy by Bill McKibben.  This book brought about many realizations.  It also reaffirmed that what I really want is to own a cheese farm in Vermont and live amidst what seems to be a utopia of creative and independent thinking folk. 

Deep Economy brings together the ideas of the environmentalists and foodies and nutritionists and politicians that have scared the beejeezus out of us lately talking about our dismal future.  McKibben plants seed of hopefulness and I was rather intrigued to hear about ideas that are working round the globe in getting people to think smaller and think local.  I loved the year of eating seasonally and locally section and it made me want to re-read Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle book.

I'm wishing that my husband would read this book but know that I owe him a read off his bookshelf first.

I wish I could say more.  It was a profound book but perhaps a little too profound for a pregnant lady just trying to beat the heat in August.   Go to http://www.350.org/ if you want to hear more about 10/10/10 - a day set aside to fight against global warming and save our precious Earth.  

Eager for the book club discussion.

the smart one about cancer.

This book got me. 
Eating Pomegranates : A Memoir of Mothers, Daughters, and the BRCA gene.

Lest you think I only read books about food and babies, I devoured something with a bit more depth and purpose.  The author of this book, Sarah Gabriel, was on Kerri Miller's Midmorning show a few weeks back.  She is brutally honest, literary and informative about her experience with breast cancer.  Her mother died of breast cancer at the early age of 44.  Given the significant family history, Sarah decided to embrace genetic counseling and have several proactive surgeries to mitigate her risk.  And yet . . .

What I enjoyed most about this book is how candidly she discusses the family disease.  She discusses the origins of the disease and the first ever mastectomy in 1802.  You learn about the statistics and current developments in treatment through Sarah's eyes.  Although the cancer word is not as dreaded as it once was, people still shy away from it.  They yearn for you to speak positively about the experience and fill them with hope.  It's not what one discusses at the grocery store or at the neighborhood barbecue.

This is a tough book to talk about. It made me think about my legacy, my future and my decisions.  

I can't find the words but luckily Sarah Gabriel does quite well.

another one by a foodie.

I quickly read Ruth Reichl's Not Becoming My Mother the other day.  I mean QUICK.  This memoir is 110 short pages long. 

This is Ruth Reichl.

I'm intrigued by Ms. Reichl.  She was restaurant critic for the New York Times and editor in chief for the now defunct Gourmet magazine.  BUT this book is a memoir of her mother and how she experienced limiting choices for her career and life happiness in the 1940s and 1950s. 

think January Jones in Mad Men - if that is a reference for you.  A heartfelt understanding on how the role of women in our society has transformed.

Ruth doesn't think she is all that beautiful.  Her mother grew up feeling ugly too.

My favorite quote:
"You'll see.  Once you find out who you are, you will find your beauty.  You have to grow into your face.  But I promise you this: you will."

There is something about growing old and truly understanding your mother that just appeals.

the one . . . make that three . . . books about babies.

I just finished three books about newborns.  None made me cry OR feel anxious, irritated and overwhelmed.  Would highly recommend.

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by the notorious Ina May

Healthy Child, Healthy World by Christopher Gavigan
Heading Home with your Newborn by Jana and Shu

I decided that I would take baby steps (hah!) on being green AND start just with the food chapter in Healthy Child.  Meaning: organic milk & meat, staying away from the dirty dozen, obtaining fruit at farms or markets, stripping plastic from my kitchen and cutting out preservatives, corn syrup and trans fat.  Some of these efforts I have already made but am now re-energized and committed to the task.

My favorite quote was from Ina May and I plan to use it as my mantra for the next six weeks.

 Remember this, for it is as true as true gets: YOUR BODY IS NOT A LEMON. 

You are not a machine. 
The Creator is not a careless mechanic. 
Human female bodies have the same potential to give birth well as aardvarks, lions, rhinoceri, elephants, moose and water buffalo. 
Even if it has not been your habit throughout your life so far, I recommend that you learn to think positively about your body.

True enough.

one really big announcement.

Kerri Miller just announced the Fall 2010 Talking Volumes season.  I just love the Fitz and SO enjoyed attending these author talks a few years ago.  Tickets have gone up in price and become a lot harder to get your hands on.  If life were not so unpredictable this fall and if literary companions were in abundance, I would be attending each and every one of these events.

Jonathan Franzen - September 21st
Nicole Krauss - October 28th
Nora Ephron - November 17th
Anita Shreve - December 8th

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/ongoing/talking_volumes/

Now doesn't that look fun?

the one with very short chapters.

I just finished the follow-up to The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.  This novel is a great book for those with lots on their plate and not much time to breathe.  The chapters are two pages - tops. 

Half Broke Horses is the true life "novel" (read: not memoir but fiction) about Jeannette's grandmother; a women who pulled out her dentures and let 'em have it.  Lily Casey Smith was a one room schoolhouse teacher and sold bootlegged liquor.  I've heard this book called "Little House" for adults.  Maybe, maybe not.

Please don't have overly high expectations of this book.  It was a good summer read and worth checking out but nowhere near as riveting and rocking as The Glass Castle.

I do LOVE the feeling of finishing a book and putting it on my shelf.  Such satisfaction.