book report XI

Time for another quick book review—as I sort through my desk trying to figure out which are the books I've read recently and which are the ones I've retrieved from the floor. Veronica has reached the "pulling books off the shelf" phase, another entry on the "reasons I'm done" list.

I've got three Perry Masons finished: Grinning Gorilla, Hesitant Hostess, and Vagabond Virgin. It consistently amazes me how Gardner manages to avoid writing the same story over and over again, and manages to throw in twists and turns in a very formulaic setting. For example, in Hostess Mason actually goes to trial! He begins the book in the middle of a robbery trial that he was handed as a pro bono thing. Gorilla starts because he bought a diary on a whim and gets caught up in the mystery involved. All three are solid entries into the Mason canon.

Two Louis L'Amour's: Last Stand at Papago Wells and The Outlaws of Mesquite, a book of short stories. L'Amour, as well, manages to keep every story fresh and unlike all the others. Papago Wells was a fascinating story about a stand-off, a bunch of people stranded at a watering hole under attack by Indians. There are always a few similarities—most often, in the character of the protagonist, who tends to be the rugged mid-thirties tough guy who really just wants a home and a family. But L'Amour draws the men well and they all have a bit of a different voice.

I also read From British Peasants to Colonial American Farmers, by Allan Kulikoff. I came to this book in a way that is unusual for me. Kulikoff was an author for one of the journals I proofread, and I was impressed enough by his article that I noted down the name of his book and searched for it for a couple of years before I found a copy. It is very much a scholarly text; packed with information, and fairly narrowly focused. It's a dense read, but the author's passion for his research comes through. Basically, the book describes the early colonists' journey to become Americans—their reasons for coming over, the lifestyles they brought with them, the ones they evolved into.

And, finally, I reread an old Sterling North novel, So Dear to My Heart. If you haven't read Rascal or The Wolfling, also by North, I highly recommend them. So Dear isn't quite on the same classic level as the other two, but as a picture of a lifestyle and a time that has gone by, is quite evocative. It was written in 1947, probably set in the early 20th century in a small backwoods community—probably much like that in which my own grandparents grew up. (Maternal, that is.) Possibly why it speaks to me!

sticker charts

Motivation has been troubling me for a while now. Not so much in the arena of things I have to do for other people (errands, grocery shopping, classes for Charles, etc.), since there's external accountability where those are involved, and not really in the arena of downtime ... although my downtime pursuits have become a lot more escapist and less intellectual. Mostly, the lack of motivation has appeared in the area of things I need to do for myself that aren't necessarily pure fun. Running; diet; some of my heavier reading; writing. (Including, as you've noticed, this blog.)

Tis the holiday season now, and I'm noticing Advent calendars everywhere (I promise, Your Honor, I'll connect this up!). They're in the grocery stores, the catalogs, heck, I even got one in the mail. Last year at this time, there were none to be found anywhere that I looked, and I had really wanted to do a countdown to Christmas for Greyson. So, lacking an Advent calendar, I made my own. And every day of the Christmas season, the boys picked out stickers, put them in the space for that day, and we counted down to Christmas. After the holidays, both the boys enjoyed putting the stickers on so much that they asked to have another calendar. And I got the bright idea that they would earn their stickers by taking good naps every day. Why is this related to my motivation issue? Because in the last couple of weeks the Advent calendars I've been seeing have reminded me of this and made me really start thinking about how the sticker charts have kept my kids napping. I really believe that without them, we'd have lost the naps sometime last summer ... and I would have truly lost my mind. It's noticeable that whenever we slack off on the stickers—get a week or more behind—the naps get much more erratic.

So I thought, since I was looking for motivation, a sticker reward chart might work for me, too! So I get a small sticker for running every day, working out on the weight machine and/or doing a lot of sit-ups, blogging, and drinking 64 oz. of liquid a day. (I know, it's supposed to be water. But drinking 64 oz. of anything in a day is hard enough for me.) And at the end of a month, if I get enough stickers, I earn a dinner out or a new book or something, depending on how many I have—just like my boys.