bekahcubed

Categories Everyday Life

Breaks, Intentional and otherwise

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I don’t plan blogging breaks – but only because I’m not that intentional about blogging. I rather expect that I’ll post daily (except on Sundays), but I (generally) don’t stress if I don’t. Usually, that means I end up posting 3-5 days a week.

And then I started doing I-don’t-know-what at the beginning of this month. (Probably trying to get my list of books read since starting my “read every book” challenge organized and counted for this post.) I was busy and just didn’t blog. Then my brother and his wife and their baby-on-the-inside came to visit over Labor Day weekend. Then we went north for a week-and-a-half-long vacation.

I didn’t intend for that to equal a blogging break. I’d have access to a computer, as well as my tablet (with a keyboard). I’d probably even have time, since we weren’t there over a holiday – meaning that our families were still generally working during the day.

But blogging barely crossed my mind.

Which means I have plenty to report, right?

Of course right.

September 5: Day 1
I spent the morning writing up the aforementioned challenge progress report. Then, when Timothy and Joanna texted that they were about an hour away from Hutchinson, we took off for Hutchinson’s Cosmosphere.

Tirzah Mae in the Ejection Seat

Tirzah Mae sits in a spacecraft ejection seat

If you ever find yourself in southeastern Kansas, you really should check out the Cosmosphere. The first time we went (with my parents sometime last year, I think?), we bought tickets for the whole shebang: the museum, the “digital dome” theatre playing some documentary, “Dr. Goddard’s lab”, the planetarium. We spent a fair bit of time exploring the “upstairs” portion of the museum – with all sorts of facts about the planets. When we went downstairs for the “Hall of Space museum”, I was already tired, but I took a fair bit of time reading everything in the first gallery, a display all about the Nazi V1 and V2 rockets – precursors to modern space flight. I had no idea how large the museum was.

This time, we knew better than to waste our time on documentaries and planetarium shows we could see just about anywhere. We were prepared to plunk down our cash for tickets to the Hall of Space museum – and nothing else. As it was, my brother asked for the military discount (a couple dollars off ticket price), was asked if he was active military (which he is), and was handed free tickets to the Hall of Space for us all.

A bright-eyed Tirzah Mae looks out from her space suit

A bright-eyed Tirzah Mae looks out from her space suit

Anyway…we toured the Hall of Space, reading about and seeing artifacts from the entire history of the Space Age – from the aforementioned V1 and V2 rockets of World War II through the Cold War space race and the Apollo missions up to today. This time, I had more energy (not having wasted it on the upstairs stuff!), but I still wore out by the end of the museum. There is SO much to see and to learn.

Once we were done, we were all worn out – so we ordered Mediterranean in (from Le Monde – a delicious place).

And that was our first day of vacation :-)

Categories What's on Your Nightstand?

Nightstand (September 2015)

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Since the first day of September was a Tuesday, the fourth Tuesday of the month is the earliest it can ever be – which means the September Nightstand completely snuck up on me. (Does anyone else feel that way when the Nightstand isn’t on the last Tuesday of the month?)

And since I haven’t had a lot of books that needed to go back to the library over the past three weeks, I’ve been enjoying a leisurely reading schedule that has me partway through a couple dozen books but only finished with a few. Which means you should be able to browse a nice short list this month :-)

Fiction read this month:

  • Whirlwind by Cathy Marie Hake
    A rather typical Christian romance in which a widower ends up thrown into a marriage of convenience with his son’s new nanny. A little underdeveloped mystery, some likewise underdeveloped romantic tension. I still enjoyed it. Also, this was my library’s last book by Hake, so I’ve closed her out in my quest to Read Every Book at my local library.
  • The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
    My in-real-life book club’s September pick, this was a long but intensely interesting look at the intertwined lives of three women. It wasn’t a mystery exactly, but it was something like that. I highly recommend it. Read my full review.
  • 3 “Arthur” picture books by Marc Brown
    Maybe I need to pick up the pace so I can just get done with these. Ugh.
  • A dozen or so read aloud board or picture books
    I’ll be discussing our favorites from among these this Thursday for Read Aloud Thursday.

Library books returned September 2015

Nonfiction read this month:

  • Don’t Know Much About Literature by Kenneth C. Davis & Jenny Davis
    This Q&A book made me feel that I do indeed not know much about literature. Either I hadn’t read anything from the author (sadly, way too common an occurrence) or the questions were about the author’s life instead of his works. I did ace the quiz on C.S. Lewis, though. So there’s something. Also, this closes out the “802” section in my library. Go me!
  • The Journal of Best Practice by David Finch
    David Finch’s marriage was on the rocks with little expectation of resolution when his wife made a discovery that changed their lives: David has Aspergers. The Aspergers diagnosis (which was confirmed by a doctor) gave Finch the impetus to try to work on his marriage, to try to work on himself. Daniel and I listened to The Journal of Best Practices (read by the author) while we drove on our recent vacation – and we generally enjoyed it, although we felt that the author blames his Aspergers for rather a lot. Many of the problems in the Finch’s marriage were exacerbated by Aspergers, sure; but they’re the same things many marriages suffer from – lack of communication, failure to see a spouse’s perspective, poor division of labor, etc. Finch makes statements about “neurotypicals” that make me wonder what tree he fell out of (and if his editors also think that’s actually how normal people are) – believe it or not, not being on the autism spectrum doesn’t make one intuitively socially aware or incapable of overthinking something. Nevertheless, this book was interesting to listen to and gave us plenty to talk about. We were disappointed, however, with how often the author drops the F-bomb. (Side note: Why is such deplorable language considered acceptable writing? I wish I could trust that I can listen to a nonfiction book in my car with my daughter present, but I’m realizing I’m going to have to do a lot more screening of our trip reads in the future.)
  • The New Kitchen Science by Howard Hillman
    Back in the day, I taught a lab called “Scientific Principles of Food Preparation” – and I loved it so much I’ve dreamt of making a series of posts with videos showing the amazing science that goes on under our noses every day in the kitchen (although, oh my, the work it’d take to turn that dream into a reality!) So I was excited to read this book. Unfortunately, Hillman starts his Q&A format book with a chapter on kitchen *equipment* – definitely the most boring of kitchen science. It got more interesting as the book went on, but I still felt like the book could have been laid out differently to better engage the reader and more logically explain the science. (Also, it could have included a LOT more experiments!)
  • The Modern Christmas in America by William Waits
    An adaptation of the author’s doctoral dissertation in sociology, this was a rather dry treatment of the evolution of gift-giving in America from the 1880s through the post-WW2 period. The author took a novel approach to studying this by exploring popular literature: magazines and their advertisements. I enjoyed the many advertisements reproduced in the book, but thought the author’s blatant socialism (in the chapter on charity) and his theories on “decontamination from the marketplace” were rather off-putting.

Don’t forget to drop by 5 Minutes 4 Books to see what others are reading this month!

What's on Your Nightstand?

Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

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16-year-old Laurel is sitting in her treehouse, pouting, while the rest of her family enjoys the baby’s birthday party. She’s just about decided to join the family party when she sees her mother greet a visitor (a man Laurel has never seen before) by plunging a knife into his chest.

In the very next chapter, Laurel is a grown woman and her mother Dorothy is celebrating her 90th birthday, her last birthday. Laurel goes through a family photo album, telling her hospitalized and unresponsive mother the familiar story of her own life, starting just before she’d met their father. As Laurel nears the end of the album, an old photo falls out, one Laurel has never seen before. It’s their mother and another woman, victory rolls in their hair. Laurel asks her sister about the picture and her sister explains how she’d found the photo in a book belonging to their mother: a copy of Peter Pan, the play. The book was inscribed “For Dorothy. A true friend is a light in the dark. Vivien.”

It’s funny, Laurel thought, she’d never considered her mother’s life before the album began – her life before she’d met and married their father. But this photo, and the inscription in the book, touched something deep inside of Laurel. She began looking into the story of her mother’s past.

From there, The Secret Keeper follows the lives of three women: Laurel, her mother Dorothy, and Dorothy’s friend Vivian. The narrative jumps back and forth from woman to woman and from 1940’s England to modern day (2011) England. And it’s absolutely fascinating.

This was the September pick for my in-real-life bookclub, and I knew from the other readers that there would be a twist at the end. Despite this, I spent the majority of the book with no clue as to even what I might be trying to solve. Was I trying to solve the mystery of the man’s death? Of Vivien and Dorothy’s relationship? Of… well, I didn’t know. It was disconcerting, reading a book that kept me guessing all the way to the end – guessing not only about the solution to the mystery but about what the mystery was exactly.

It drew me in like few books have lately. It wasn’t simply an escape – it kept me thinking too much. Yet it wasn’t dense and literary (in such a way that I felt exhausted afterward from the hard work of interpretation.) It was an engaging story, a thought-provoking read, a mental and emotional workout that I only recognized by the runner’s high, not by any perspiration in the process. (For the record, I have never experienced a runner’s high from running, nor have I ever run without noticing myself perspiring. Actually, I’ve pretty much never run. So maybe my metaphor should have been something more like an enjoyable night of dancing that I only recognized as a workout from the pleasantly sore muscles in the morning – but it’s not what I came up with first, and I don’t have the energy just now to figure out how to transform that one to fit the sentence. Yep, I’m that lazy.)

It took me a few chapters to get into this novel, but once I was in, I was in all the way. I enjoyed every twist and turn. And the twist at the end? It’s more like two dozen twists, absolutely paradigm-shifting twists. Twists that make me want to sit right back down and read the book over again to see how the author crafted the story so exquisitely that everything fits in this completely altered worldview.

Yeah. It was GOOD.

You should read it.

Rating: 5 stars
Category: General Fiction
Synopsis: A woman seeks to learn about her mother’s life before marriage and family – and finds out more than she could have ever imagined.
Recommendation: An excellent book. Highly recommended.

Categories Books

9 years ago today

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On this day in history, 9 years ago, I started a massive project: to read every book in my local branch library.

I’ve moved cities twice, gotten married (just once, thank you), and had a child in the intervening 9 years.

What started at a branch library now continues at Wichita’s Central Library.

I’m gonna read every book in my local library. Or die trying. Probably the latter.

Meanwhile, it’s been tremendous fun.

TOTALS as of Sept 5, 2015 (9 years or 3287 days)

Category Items Complete Categories Closed Items/day
Juvenile Picture 1335 433 0.41
Juvenile, Board Books 54 15 0.02
Juvenile, First Readers 64 3 0.02
Juvenile, Chapter 92 7 0.03
Juvenile Fiction 308 205 0.09
Juvenile Nonfiction 179 1 0.05
Teen Fiction 40 4 0.01
Teen Nonfiction 5 0 0.00
Adult Fiction 443 70 0.13
Adult Nonfiction 756 34 0.23
Audio CD 549 0 0.17
Juvenile DVD 48 0 0.01
Adult Fiction DVD 90 0 0.03
Adult Nonfiction DVD 34 0 0.01
Periodicals 66 0 0.02
Total 4063 items
1.24 items per day

Interestingly, the last time I made an update was exactly 4.5 years ago – which gives a nice opportunity to see how my reading habits have changed over the past 4.5 years.

Some major differences –
Juvenile: I have decreased my reading of juvenile books in general (from 1203 books to 829 books) – although I had not read any board books until we were expecting Tirzah Mae and my intake of juvenile nonfiction was increased in this past 4.5 years.
Adult: My “adult” reading has basically halved, with the proportion of nonfiction to fiction increasing.
Media: I have listened to about 100 more audio CDs in this past 4.5 years than in the 4.5 years before that. My DVD consumption has decreased dramatically (because I haven’t been recording when Daniel and I watch something on Netflix – while I *did* record things I watched with my sister on Netflix). I have also essentially stopped reading magazines.

Of course, the real question is how many books I read in a certain time frame – and I haven’t answered that one yet. Since my last data point is 4.5 years ago, I’m going to have to answer for the entire past 4.5 years – but it looks like I have read 566 books in the past 4.5 years (excluding children’s picture books, first readers, and beginner chapter books.) That equals out to 125.8 books per year or 10.5 books per month or 1/3 of a book per day.

Categories Recap

Recap (2015.08.31)

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In my spirit:

  • Marveling at how the first two “stories” in the Bible with human characters show so strongly God’s justice and mercy entwined (The fall – God’s justice in the curse and His mercy in the curse on the serpent; Cain and Abel – God’s justice in making Cain a wanderer whose crops would never grow and His mercy in preventing others from killing Cain.)
  • Rejoicing in God’s mercy to the apostle Paul, which Paul says was so that “Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.” (1 Timothy 1:16) If God shows mercy to a blasphemer, persecuter, and insolent opponent – He will also show mercy to us who have placed our trust in Him.

In the living room:

  • Books, books, books. I’ve been requesting books from the library, forgetting that once I request them, I have to pick them up and bring them home. My library shelf is overflowing (but we’ve been reading at a pretty steady clip, so if I can just refrain from requesting more until everything fits on the shelf…)

In the kitchen:

  • The sourdough starter turned pink, which my internet sources say means no good – so I threw it away. I think I’ll take a break from the sourdough and try again when fall truly rolls around (and I won’t feel quite so bad about turning on the oven every other day to use up my starter!)
  • What with my fatigue this week and some over-large recipes last week, we ended up eating lots of leftovers this week. But we still managed to sneak in a new recipe: these very nice Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs. I used bone-in ribs from the half cow we got last year and cut the brown sugar to 1/4 cup instead of 3/4 – they were excellent.
  • Daniel’s workgroup has “snack days” about once a month and the days have themes. This month’s theme was “everything crackers” – so we tossed around a few ideas before settling on this Smore’s Eclair Cake, really more of a pudding dessert. Any gains I might have been making nutritionally…
  • I’ve made this Kung Pao Chicken before, and always liked it – but since I don’t stock dried red peppers, I always sub red pepper flakes. Unfortunately, I haven’t been recording amounts that I subbed, so it’s a guessing game each time. For the record, 2 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes is too much. I handled it okay – Tirzah Mae needed some watermelon and breastmilk to help her cool her mouth down after dinner.

In the nursery:

  • Tirzah Mae loves to make her parents laugh. She’ll shriek to get our attention and then dissolve into laughter, begging us to join her. And when we startle her? She bursts into laughter and then opens her eyes expectantly, waiting for us to do it again.
  • Either it’s one thing or it’s the other – in this case, nighttime sleep has become a struggle. She goes down for naps just fine, but when I put her down at night, she pops onto all fours and starts climbing the crib sides. Then, she’ll spend the next half hour or longer clearly fighting sleep – fluttering her eyes to check to make sure I haven’t tried putting her back in the crib.
  • We took our first trip to a playground and splash park this week. Tirzah Mae wasn’t too sure about either the swings or the water – but warmed up to the latter once we started walking around the sprinkler-type jets and she realized she could get her mama wet (while she herself could be walking under the arc of the water!)

In the library:
aka “Books added to TBR list”

  • Emma, Mr. Knightley, and Chili-Slaw Dogs by Mary Hathaway (added based on Barbara’s Review – I do love Austen adaptations)
  • The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon (added based on Lisa’s Nightstand – it’s hard to think of a more awful world than one without the written word – the premise of this dystopia)

In the garden:

  • The beans are finally growing to maturity – maybe it’s just been too hot until now? Or maybe the “Square Foot Gardening” recommendations packed them too close together. Either way, I servd fresh-from-the-garden green beans Saturday night!
  • The cukes are going gang-busters (I probably could have preserved some if I’d chosen to), but some of the vines are starting to look wither-y.

On the land:

  • We have a hole!
  • Also, an error on the deed meant it needed to be refiled – but that’s for the title company that misfiled it in the first place to deal with. I just had to drop off the original at their office.
Categories Read Aloud Thursday

Read Aloud Thursday (August 2015)

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One of the major difficulties of writing up what we’re reading aloud is that we read A LOT. And since mama is picking the books at this point (without Tirzah Mae showing much preference), we read a new book (almost) every time. Which means there are a lot of books to talk about.

Since we’ve been reading a number of series books or books by the same author, I’m going to try to group them a bit (we’ll see how that works!)

BabyLit! Books

Little Master Baum: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Jennifer Adams

Little Master Baum: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Daniel heard about the BabyLit! books when Tirzah Mae was a newborn, and requested the Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility ones from the library. The gist of these is that they introduce characters or plot points from classic books. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was a “colors primer”. One layout is Dorothy’s blue dress and the blue munchkins. Another is the yellow brick road with a variety of yellow signs. Some of the colors seemed a bit contrived: pink had Glinda’s castle and rubies and socks while the scarecrow was “tan”. But it may be that the reason I didn’t like Oz as much as I enjoyed the Austen adaptations is simply that, well, I don’t like Oz anywhere near as much as I like Austen. The series is a solid one, and I’ll be looking for more of these – but I wouldn’t be buying the Oz one.

Mini Myths

These are very loose adaptations of ancient myths, set in modern day preschoolers’ worlds. (Why does everything for children have to be about themselves?)

Brush Your Hair, Medusa and
Make a Wish, Midas! by Joan Holub and Leslie Patricelli

Mini Myths: Medusa and Midas

Medusa has crazy curly hair, but she’d rather do somersaults than brush it. Grandma arrives before the hair is brushed, and summarily takes Medusa for a haircut. The only similarity with the myth is how Medusa’s hair looks.

Midas’ favorite color is yellow. He only wears yellow clothes, only eats yellow foods, and he wishes that EVERYTHING was yellow. But when he tries painting his pet dinosaur yellow, he gets his wish, but discovers that a yellow Dinoboo just isn’t the same. This one is closer to the myth, but I had a hard time figuring out why exactly painting Dinoboo yellow made Midas cry. It’s not as if his daughter had turned to gold.

Be Patient, Pandora! and
Play Nice, Hercules! by Joan Holub and Leslie Patricelli

Mini Myths: Pandora and Hercules

Pandora has been instructed not to open the wrapped box – but curiosity gets the better of her and she touches it, sits on it, stands on it, bounces on it. The bouncing is the last straw and the box bursts open, sending cupcakes all over everywhere. All the cupcakes save one are ruined. I thought this myth was actually quite well done.

Hercules is a strong little boy who likes to beat up bad guys (signified by toys) and to break down castles. Unfortunately, the castle he broke down is his little sister’s and she’s none too happy. Hercules has to make up for his error by rebuilding her a castle (which she summarily knocks down herself.) The myth is present in this one to some degree, but even if it wasn’t, this story and its accompanying illustrations are a cute description of family life, I think.

Books by Boynton

I am, in general, a fan of Boynton – but I actually managed to find a book or two I wasn’t so fond of in this go round.

Little Pookie
and What’s Wrong, Little Pookie? by Sandra Boynton

"Little Pookie" and "What's Wrong, Little Pookie"

Boynton introduces us to Little Pookie the pig as Pookie’s mother shares ten (oh wait, make it eleven!) things she knows about her Little Pookie. A sweet little story that I imagine moms and little ones can identify with quite a bit (especially item 11: “You like reading books. And oh! I do, too!”) In What’s Wrong, Little Pookie?, Pookie’s mother tries to guess what’s wrong, giving more and more outlandish guesses each time – until Pookie has rather forgotten what got him so upset. These are precious little tales.

Dinosaur’s Binkit by Sandra Boynton

Dinosaur's Binkit

This one’s a lift-the-flap, touch-and-feel type book – and Tirzah Mae loved it. The narrator tells Dinosaur that it’s time to get ready for bed, so he begins the process, but does so very sadly (escalating to a full-fledged meltdown) because he couldn’t find his “binkit”. Dinosaur’s boy finds him crying in the closet and offers him a handkerchief – that happens to be the lost fuzzy Binkit. It’s a relatable story for many, I’d imagine (although, while Tirzah Mae definitely goes to sleep better with her “lovey”, she dosn’t meltdown if she’s missing it.) What made it fun for us was that this was the first time Tirzah Mae really got into the touch-and-feely part,

The Bunny Rabbit Show
Opposites and
Fifteen Animals! by Sandra Boynton

"The Bunny Rabbit Show" and "Opposites"Fifteen Animals

In The Bunny Rabbit Show, a chorus line of bunny rabbits sing and dance across the pages. I sang freestyle, with no tune in particular, but moms who are more particular can look up a recording of the bunny rabbits’ song. Maybe I’d enjoy the official version more – the book didn’t really do it for me.

The little protagonist in Fifteen Animals (which is also a song) has fifteen animals, all of which have their own special name: Bob. (Okay, they aren’t ALL named Bob. There’s a surprise at the end – don’t tell your child!) This is a silly, totally relatable little story.

Opposites is a pretty typical opposites book – with pairings of opposite words set amidst illustrations. It did have a few novel opposites that were well illustrated: “hello” and “goodbye” were fun.

Happy Hippo, Angry Duck by Sandra Boynton

Happy HIppo, Angry Duck

A Bear? asks “Hello, Little Person! How are you today?” and then goes through a list of possible moods, each of which are paired with an animal (Happy as a Hippo, Angry as a Duck.) This wasn’t my favorite of Boynton’s books, probably because there isn’t anything inherently angry about a duck and the cartoon-style illustrations didn’t strike me as crystal clear about what each mood “looks like”.

The Belly Button Book by Sandra Boynton

The Belly Button Book

I think some people would find this book of bathing hippos showing off their belly buttons hilarious. I’m not really a fan of belly-button-baring-bathing suits, though, so I was less impressed.

Other Books by Familiar Authors

Black & White by Tana Hoban

Black & White

These are the same black and white outlines that can be found in Black on White and White on Black, except that they’re in an accordian fold that folds and snaps into the dimensions of a normal board book. I wasn’t a huge fan of them as separate books and I’m not too fond of them in this form either.

Hide and Seek Harry at the Playground by Kenny Harrison

Hide and Seek Harry at the Playground

The last of Harrison’s Hide and Seek Harry books (that my library owns). We continue to enjoy this simple series where Harry the Hippo hides out (not so secretly) in a variety of settings.

Mommy Hugs by Karen Katz

Mommy Kisses

Katz has been a mixed bag for me – but I think this one goes on the “like it” list. The mama in the book counts up ten different types of “Mommy hugs”, from one “nuzzle-wuzzle wake-up hug” to ten “I love you,”(x10) “goodnight hugs”. I don’t know that Tirzah Mae looked at the illustrations much, but she sure enjoyed the hugs :-)

New Authors This Month

Chicks by Laura Ellen Anderson

Chicks

A sweet little book with multicolored chicks going about their days – from hatching in the morning to snuggling together at night. Tirzah Mae enjoyed looking at the pictures. I enjoyed the one sleepy little chick who came out with her nightcap on – and kept it on all throughout the day, catching naps whenever she could (I wonder why I enjoy that so much – perhaps because I am *definitely* a fan of sleep and my daughter is definitely NOT?)

Summer by Chris L. Demarest

Summer

Simple two to three word sentences describing things you’ll see at the beach in the summer. The pages are cut into odd shapes to allow continuity from one page to another (because the skyline, for example, is from the previous page). Overall, though, this book was an “eh” from both Tirzah Mae and me.

A Circle Here, A Square There by David Diehl

A Circle Here, A Square There

A simple book in which shapes are found in a variety of everyday objects – a triangular piece of pizza, an oval egg, a diamond-shaped kite. The text is simply the name of the shape – but the simplicity of this one is charming. I think we’ll be taking a look at this again as Tirzah Mae gets a little older.

Baby Animals Spots and Stripes by Phyllis Limbacher Tildes

Baby Animal Spots and Stripes

This black and white wordless book is just delightful. The detail of the animal drawings remind me of plates from an old nature guidebook. There’s a spotted rabbit, a raccoon with a striped face and tail, a spotted box turtle, a striped king snake, etc. Tirzah Mae liked looking at these pictures as I showed her the stripes and the spots – she also liked the surprise color illustration on the last two-page spread!

Who Says That, Cat the Cat? by Mo Willems

Who says that, Cat the Cat?

A simple animal sound book in which Cat the cat goes around asking different animals “What’s your sound?” “Hound” the hound and “Cow” the cow and all the other animals answer with their respective sounds – until they get to Bunny the bunny, who answers with a worried look and a little scribble in her speech bubble. Cat the cat answers with “Sounds like somebody needs a hug!” and all the other animals hug the nervous bunny. Cute.

Check out what other families are reading aloud at Read Aloud Thursday at Hope is the Word.

Categories What's on Your Nightstand?

Nightstand (August 2015)

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My library is celebrating 100 years this year – and, as part of their celebration, they’re inviting library patrons to try to read 100 books this year (with the opportunity to read great prizes, they say.) The only stipulation is that the books must be at least 100 pages in length (do I sense a theme here?) As of today, I’ve read 72 books over a hundred pages (I only wish I’d noted the pages – I’ve seen others tabulate how many pages they’ve read, and that’s a pretty good idea.) That’s 72% of the way to 100 and it’s 65% of the way through the year, so… I think I might make it to 100 :-D

First load of library returns

Fiction read this month:

  • The Siege of Macindaw by John Flanagan
    I am continuing to enjoy the “Ranger’s Apprentice” series – the former castle wards turned apprentices are now in their first duty posts, handling a tricky situation up North. Will and Horace have to figure out how to siege Macindaw with fewer men than are within the castle walls – and they have to do it before something horrible happens to Alyss, a prisoner within the castle tower.
  • The Adventures of Perseus by Peter Hepplewhite
    An episodic recounting of the myth of Perseus, with cartoon-like illustrations and a call-out box or two per double-page spread giving background information on the current episode. For example, in the episode entitled “Perseus rescues his mother”, a call-out box titled “Ask the storyteller” asks “What happened to Medusa’s head?” I’d say this is probably a good choice for mid- to upper- elementary child.
  • The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer
    An arranged marriage, a suspected murderer, a free-trader, an actual murderer, and a runaway bride? This Heyer novel had me laughing out loud – and quite unable to communicate why to my husband. Heyer just has a knack for hilarious interpersonal interactions (but ones that you can’t always understand in just an excerpt!)
  • 18 board books
    Tirzah Mae and I have been doing lots of reading this month!

Nonfiction read this month:

Books about Family Issues (Marriage, Childbirth, Baby Care):

  • I’d Trade My Husband for a Housekeeper by Trisha Ashworth and Amy Nobile
    An expansion on a chapter in I was a Good Mom before I had Kids, by the same authors. My opinion of this book is about the same as my opinion on the chapter in the earlier book – generally good advice but the women they talk to can be incredibly disrespectful to their husbands. You can find my full review here.
  • Thank You, Dr. Lamaze by Marjorie Karmel
    A fascinating memoir of Karmel’s experience giving birth naturally in France using Dr. Lamaze’s variation on “Pavlovian childbirth” – and then of applying that same method while giving birth in America. For those who are into birth or the history of birth (okay, I might be the only one?), this is absolutely riveting. Read my full review here.
  • Cut it Out! by Theresa Morris
    A fascinating sociological exploration of the current c-section epidemic in the US. This author argues (and quite successfully, I think) that organizational changes (mostly driven by litigation) are the primary contributer to the US’s astronomical c-section rate. Morris interviewed hundreds of healthcare providers and recently postpartum women and includes extensive quotes throughout the book. Definitely worth reading if the subject interests you at all (I read it in two, maybe three sittings?)
  • How to Survive Your Baby’s First Year by Hundreds of Heads
    Lots of dogmatic black-and-white advice with little by way of usable tips – except the oft-repeated (and, in my opinion BAD) advice to “do what works for you”. Read my scathing review here.
  • The Baby Food Bible by Eileen Behan
    Somewhat dated and doesn’t address a lot of the hot-button issues (or many of my favorite soapboxes), but a good resource for a mom of an infant under 8 months who intends to make her own baby food purees. Read my full review here.

Second load of library returns

Books about Building a Home:

  • Almost Green by James Glave
    A freelance writer tries to build a super-green studio workspace in his yard. Interesting in parts, insufferably supercilious in others. I don’t really recommend it. You can, however, read my full review here.
  • Porches and Sunrooms by Roger German
    A full-color resource for planning, building (or renovating), and repairing a porch, three-season-room, sunroom, or conservatory. I enjoyed all the photos of lovely porches – and gained what I think will be useful information about the process of building a porch.

Books about History:

  • Caesar and Christ by Will Durant
    I’ve been listening to this one off and on since April – and I finally finished it (it’s only 30 discs long!). It’s a fascinating look at the history of Rome – from the foundations to the fall. I’d like to read it again someday – and I see this as potentially being a great resource for a high school study of ancient history.
  • The Black Count by Tom Reiss
    The story of the novelist Alexandre Dumas’ father, also names Alexandre Dumas. Dumas was a mullato from French Saint-Domingue who participated in the French Revolution, even becoming general-in-chief of the French Republican Army. After participating in Napoleon’s unsuccessful invasion of Egypt, Dumas became a prisoner in Naples while Republican France devolved into a totalitarian regime under Napoleon. This was a intriguing story of the French Revolution and of race relations in revolutionary and post-revolutionary France.

Other nonfiction:

  • Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
    This month’s pick for my in-real-life bookclub. I love how this story reminds me of my own childhood – both because of similarities between our stories and because of how the Gilbreth story influenced our family culture when I was a teen.
  • Christmas in Brazil by World Book
    Brazil has some rather different Christmas season traditions. Interesting.
  • The Lion’s World by Rowan Williams
    A delightful conversation about themes in Narnia; like a chat with one of the smartest people you know, who also happens to be a lover of Narnia. You can find my full review here.
  • Organize Your Stuff the Lazy Way by Toni Ahlgren
    Not particularly well-organized for a book on organizing – and tremendously dated (about half of the book applies to stuff that no longer exists thanks to technological changes).

Third load of library returns

Don’t forget to drop by 5 Minutes 4 Books to see what others are reading this month!

What's on Your Nightstand?

Categories Family

We’re Mediterranean

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If Tirzah Mae were forced to claim an ethnic heritage, the most honest answer would have to be “German”. The daughter of two mutts, she ends up 9/16ths German (more than her mother can claim!)

She has the blue eyes and fair complexion that testifies to her northern European heritage.

But three things bear witness to her small but significant Mediterranean heritage.

The most obvious to outsiders is the Garcia last name, passed down from a Spanish great-great grandfather (actually, it was his mother’s name, but immigration recorded it incorrectly so Garcia we are.)

The least obvious to outsiders is Great Grams’ spaghetti sauce. Tirzah Mae’s Italian great-great grandmother taught the recipe to her German daughter-in-law. Tirzah Mae’s German great-grandmother taught it to her own German daughter-in-law. And when Tirzah Mae’s mother (who is mostly a mutt, but 3/8ths German) married her father? He handed her his mother’s recipe for Great Grams’ spaghetti sauce. And at least once a month, we make up a pot, serving it (when the German mutt mother remembers) with Mediterranean green olives.

And right in the middle, there’s the bit of Tirzah Mae’s Mediterranean heritage that infuses our everyday life.

Daniel is papa, as was his father, as was his father. It makes sense. Papa is dad both in Spanish and Italian.

And since Daniel is papa, I am mama. It doesn’t make sense, you see, for Daniel to be papa and me mommy. Papa and mommy don’t go together.

So despite my protestations that Daniel and I, and our Tirzah Mae, are All-American and that, if anything, we are of Northern European stock, I am forced to admit that we are not uninfluenced by Daniel’s Southern heritage.

I am reminded, daily, as I try to decide whether to change the storybook’s words from “Mommy” to “Mama”. I am reminded when I can rule out half of the onesies in the store as being ineligible for purchase, since they declare the wearer “Mommy’s” or “Daddy’s” or “Mom’s” or “Dad’s” little girl.

Tirzah Mae hasn’t a mom or a dad. She has a mama and a papa.

Because.

We’re Mediterranean.

Categories Recap

Recap (2015.08.23)

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In my spirit:

  • Considering how proper motivation keeps our theology from going off the tracks (1 Timothy, see “Why Do I Study God?)
  • Having just taught the fall to my three-year-old Sunday School class, I’m pondering anew how God provides everything we need, how His rules are for our good, how Satan lies, AND how God responds to our sin by providing a serpent-crushing Savior. What a God.

In the living room:

  • I started doing “real” knee pushups this week instead of this wimp-out version I learned while I was pregnant (when my belly wouldn’t allow me to do the real kind). Those real ones definitely give the back and shoulders a better workout.
  • Tirzah Mae was teething this week – so I’m learning to roll with the punches and resume cleaning routines when I can.

In the kitchen:

  • Tuna Rotini. I don’t remember ever using a recipe to make this main-dish tuna and pasta salad – but I’ve been making it since I was ten or so, and it’s always a great hot-weather meal. We almost had it as a picnic on Monday (except that I forgot to grab the picnic basket with the utensils and plates, so we brought it back home and ate it at the table.)
  • Great-Grams’ Spaghetti – Great Grams was Italian and her recipe has been passed down to daughter-in-law after daughter-in-law, until it got to me. We LOVE it.

In the nursery:

  • After just two days of near constant nursing, Tirzah Mae’s second front-bottom tooth emerged.
  • Daniel and I have long enjoyed blowing raspberries on Tirzah Mae’s tummy – but this week she learned to reciprocate.
  • Another new skill this week: clapping.
  • Also, the diaper changing gymnastics are on.

In the craft room:

  • Due to unusual body morphology, I’ve long had difficulties finding shirts that fit. My current shirts are pretty much all stretched out, having made it through a pregnancy (nope, I never ended up buying any maternity stuff). I considered going to the store to purchase some new ones (knowing my usual difficulties) – and then decided I’d see if I could draft myself a good pattern so I could just make myself some that really fit. I spent a good part of the weekend working on it – and have finally arrived at a basic t-shirt pattern that should work well.

In the library:
aka “Books added to TBR list”

  • The Case of the Missing Moonstone by Jordan Stratford (added based on Amy’s Review)
  • Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris (added based on Alice’s Review – I like me a good grammar story :-P)
  • Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley (added based on Sherry’s review)
  • Lilliput by Sam Gayton (added based on Carrie’s review – I don’t have a problem with fan-fic, and I liked Gulliver’s Travels)
  • Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren (added based on Amy’s Review – and seriously, why haven’t I already read this?)

In the garden:

  • Rain, rain, and more rain this week means… cucumbers, but not enough sun to ripen my tomatoes.
  • I sat down and started working up a plan for next year’s garden – I think I might end up trying to triple my garden size next year (from 1 to 3 4×8 beds.) Am I crazy, or is this doable? I’ve got a nice amount now for eating, but would really like to be able to preserve some next year.

On the land:

  • We had our four-corners no-start survey on Monday – so we now know what land we actually own (as opposed to guessing based on where the fences are and the neighbors have mowed!)
  • And we went out and staked out the house (and where the driveway culvert will go) with our builder yesterday. Moving right along!

On the web:

  • 9 Parenting Truths from John Piper –

    “Be radically consistent and authentic in your own faith — not just in behavior, but in affections. Kids need to see how precious Jesus is to mom and dad.”

    ~John Piper

    I love this – especially because this was something I saw modeled so well. I was recently telling a friend what it meant to me as a child to see my dad tear up as he read the gospel in some passage of Scripture, so overwhelmed he was by the grace of God. That’s a heritage that can’t be forgotten.

Categories Book Notes

Why do I study God?

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J.I. Packer begins his modern-day classic Knowing God with an apologetic of sorts for the practice of theology.

He quotes a Spurgeon sermon to say that the study of theology humbles us, expands us, and consoles us. He attempts to convince us that the study of God is essentially practical and relevant. He tells us what he intends to cover in our study of God: the Godness of God, the powers of God, the actions of God, and the character of God. And, he begs us stop and consider our motivations.

“We need to ask ourselves: what is my ultimate aim and object in occupying my mind with these things? What do I intend to do with my knowledge about God, once I have got it? For the fact that we have to face is this: that if we pursue theological knowledge for its own sake, it is bound to go bad on us.”

The truth of Packer’s caution was driven home when I began to inspect 1 Timothy, the book I have taken up for study after finishing Titus last week. In 1 Timothy 1:3-7, Paul writes of the reason for which he has left Timothy in Ephesus.

“As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.”

Paul contrasts his motivation in giving the charge to avoid teaching false doctrine and spurious matters with the motivation of those who are teaching false doctrine and devoting themselves to spurious matters. Paul is motivated by love, by a pure heart, by a good conscience, and by a sincere heart. The “certain persons” have swerved from these, wandering into vain discussions, making confident assertions about things they don’t understand.

It makes sense. When am I most bound to misunderstand or misrepresent the gospel? When am I most bound to spend my time fighting about nonessentials? Is it not when I am seeking self-glorification (the opposite of selfless love)? Is it not when I am seeking to gratify impure desires? Is it not when I am seeking to assuage a guilty conscience? Is it not when I am trusting self rather than God?

So what is my motivation in studying? Is it love for God and my fellow man? Is it a pure heart, a good conscience, a sincere faith?

Maybe. But not always. Often, my motivation is to feel good about myself. To have something to blog about. To show how much knowledge I have or how deep a thinker I am. I swerve all too often from love, a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.

Does that mean that I ought not study the Scripture, since I am bound to go wrong?

Certainly not.

Instead, it is a call to start my study where I’d rather not. It is a call to start my study on my knees, acknowledging my sinful desires, my sinful motives, my sinful actions. It is a call to start my study at the cross, begging God to yet again replace my heart of stone with his own heart. It is a call to approach my study as one who desperately needs for the Scripture to change me.

And, having studied, I must purpose to confess my sin as revealed in light of God’s truth. I must purpose to be obedient to God’s instruction as revealed in God’s word. I must purpose to glorify the One who is the object of my study.

Packer writes of it thus:

“Our aim in studying the Godhead must be to know God Himself the better. Our concern must be to enlarge our acquaintance, not simply with the doctrine of God’s attributes, but with the living God whose attributes they are. As He is the subject of our study, and our helper in it, so He must Himself be the end of it. We must seek, in studying God, to be led to God. It was for this purpose that revelation was given, and it is to this use that we must put it.

How are we to do this? How can we turn our knowledge about God into knowledge of God? The rule for doing this is demanding but simple. It is that we turn each truth that we learn about God into matter for meditation before God, leading to prayer and praise to God.”

May we ever have a heart to do so.

I’m reading J.I. Packer’s Knowing God along with Tim Challies’ “Reading Classics Together” bookclub. You can find Challies’ post on the first two chapters here. A couple bloggie friends are also participating and have posted this first week (I can link to them because I’m a day late in posting!) – Check out what Barbara and Lisa have to say about chapters one and two. And…it’s not too late to read along – we’re reading just two chapters per week and this is just the first week :-)