the one that made me nostalgic about books.

I was just at the small town Newport library today and learned it was going to close.  Sad, sad, sad.  I have overly fond memories of getting book suggestions in the library of Westview Elementary and weekly trips to the public library in Burnsville and reading among the pillows and nooks at Normandale Hills.

Don't even get me started on the Scholastic book order that came every month.

It kills me that they are taking books out of schools.

The Reading Promise was such a wonderfully sweet book about the relationship between a girl, her dad and books.  I thought this was yet another memoir that didn't need to be written but was pleasantly surprised.  Alice Ozma is precocious and unique and smart.  Her dad taught her to exclaim over thunder strikes and make friends with spiders.  I laughed out loud several times when reading and almost cried.

Such a surprise this book.  LOVED.  IT.

the one that felt extreme.

I love that Amy Chua wrote her Battle Hymn b/c it made me react and then really think.

I.E. when she rejected her daughters' birthday cards and tried forcing Lulu to eat caviar.  And it really creeped me out when she kept talking about OUR violin or took her daughter out of recess and art class to get in more practicing.  But it wasn't so much the actions she took that caused me alarm but the tone.  And one sentence the author stated really stuck out:  "the truth is I'm not good at enjoying life."

I'm hearing (MPR) that Americans are over concerned with being Happy. Happy. Happy and thus creating a generation of kids that can't deal with unhappy or plain old mediocre.

So many perspectives.  Where will I fall as a mom?

Easy book to read and would be an excellent book club discussion.  We all have childhoods to dig through.

the mysterious one.

I'm not funny and I don't like mysteries.  But I was and I did, Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie would be an incredibly good book.  The heroine is a plucky little British girl who has a passion for chemistry and rides around on a bike named Gladys.  I really liked Flavia.  She reminded me SO much of Harriet the Spy from way back.  I just wasn't that interested in the plot and stamps, unfortunately.

But do read this book (and the de Luce series) if you want a light, interesting read.

the one that is causing anxiety.

And in sharp contrast to the lovely tennis memoir I read over the 4th weekend.
A perfectly fine book with a few parenting gems that I ought not gloss over.

You Are Your Child's First Teacher by Rahima Dancy
written by a wise, old Waldorf midwife
(who lost me when she encouraged not to push reading.  get it, got it Heidi.)

I REALLY need to stop reading books that emphasize how you will irrevocably screw up your kid if you send them to daycare during the first three years.

the one that brought me back.

I really loved reading Andre Agassi's Open.  He took me by surprise.  I celebrated his victories and bemoaned all his losses.  As always, Sampras :) But what I liked most was the feeling of nostalgia hearing names like Chang & Courier & Edberg (my love!) & Wheaton & Krickstein.

And remembering that Agassi married Brooke Shields for like a day and was rumored to date Babs.  I think he'd be a hard guy to live with, yes? But how perfectly perfect that he ends up with Graf.

At times I felt like I was reading a gossip column.  But I have to say, there was really a lot of meat to this book.  I got a true sense for how Andre's life and psyche have evolved over time.  What a wonderfully complicated person he is.

It was fun reading this during Wimbledon.  Which sadly, I only watched for a few minutes.  They just don't make tennis stars like they used to.

the one I regret.

I grew up with Elizabeth & Jessica Wakefield, the creepy blonde twins from Sweet Valley.  And just finished Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years Later.  I feel old.

Jessica is still as mean spirited and shallow as before and Elizabeth seriously needs to get a clue and then a backbone (in that order).  Jessica steals Todd Wilkins (Elizabeth's fiancee) and Elizabeth's LIKE "oh whatever, they're in love."  This book is JUST terrible and not only because LIKE is used every other sentence.  The characters were truly awful back then and they ALL come back.

If you want to read a poorly written, poorly edited soap opera, go for it!  I regret reading this but I really couldn't help myself.  And yes, I'm going to read the Sisterhood 10 years later book too.

the one by Pema.

i don't think i'm the enlightened type.  although I'd really like to fashion myself a Buddhist yogi.  i really can't sustain it though.

i just finished Taking the Leap: Freeing Ourselves from Old Habits and Fears.  if you're reading the kindle edition and it's dragging, know that it finishes at 75%.  what a surprise!

the book mostly taught me about pausing.  "pausing becomes something that nurtures you; you begin to prefer it to being all caught up."  i used to be VERY bad at pausing.  i'm learning now . . .

and some practical advice: "the next time you're getting worked up, experiment with looking at the sky."

Chodron likens nasty thoughts to getting a "poison ivy" of the brain.  you just keep scratching and scratching to no avail.  that made sense to me and for awhile when i thought about work or Matt's work or crying babies or money or cloudy skies . . . i thought of poison ivy and how i was just adding aggression to the world.

and then i got bored with all that thought and went back to my worry.

i liked this book.  i wish i liked it more.

and for a change of pace, I'm reading Sweet Valley Confidential next.  Love those Wakefield twins!

the one by the Latina author

i have never read an Isabel Allende book and I felt a little left out as I read The Sum of Our Days (a memoir).

two cool things about Isabel Allende:
1) she starts all her books on January 8th, a most auspicious day
2) since she fled Chile in 1973, she has worked to establish her "tribe" in Marin County

I want a tribe.  And I want to live in Marin County.  Because then I might just "run into" Anne Lamott and Isabel Allende when they hang out at the Book Passage.

This memoir made me want to pick up Daughter of Fortune sooner rather than later.  What an interesting, feisty, mystical woman . . .

i'm still here.

the reading has slowed down a bit as Maren speeds up.  she's crawling and standing and all kinds of good tricks. and I'm spending more time in the garden and less between the pages.

but it's raining outside today and because rain = books in my mind . . . i got a little nutty and actually started a goodreads account for Maren.  i want to keep track of our reading together. 

we'll be starting a Baby Storytime class at Red Balloon this week.  i know i'll have all kinds of books i want to shop for.  and favorite aunts might want to buy.  hint.  hint.  hopefully her account will help us keep track.

anyways, feel free to friend Maren Prestegaard if you want to follow our literary journey!

the one about rebirth.

I know there are many Barbara Kingsolver fans out there.  And I am now hopping on the bandwagon.  She may sit next to Anna Quindlen at my imaginary dinner party.  I loved Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.  Next up, The Bean Trees.

I just finished Prodigal Summer and absolutely delighted in the strong, female characters.  But, I loved all the characters really.  The coyotes even and the snakes too.  So much to glean here.  This was a book to relish. 

I hope I will read it again and again . . .