book reviews

Moving right along! I've actually made more progress this year on the to-be-read stack(s) than I thought, but I still think it looks like I'll have to make a modified version of the "no new books" pledge for 2009.

Norma Kassirer, Magic Elizabeth. Yes, this is children's literature, and not even classic. (Published in 1966, which makes it arguable, I suppose.) Probably, if it weren't so girly, Greyson could read it. Nonetheless, it's one of my favorites; I've read it time and time again; and I really love it.

Anne Perry, Rutland Place. I felt this was a fairly lackluster entry into the Perry oeuvre. Not a very exciting plot, not a lot of memorable characters. On to the next one (I seem to recall finding this one disappointing the first time I read it, as well).

Victor Hugo, Les Miserables. Don't get excited. I didn't finish it. This was my third try at the massive tome, and I got almost halfway before deciding that, given the many, many books on my to-be-read and to-be-bought lists, life is just too short to waste any further time, when I can get more enjoyment out of listening to the musical 17 or 18 times.

David Hackett Fischer, Washington's Crossing. This was a nice, solid piece of research. In particular, the first set of sections - on the three armies - was something I had never seen before and really well done and informative.

happiness and luck

I've been noticing recently a great upswing in my luck. In the last few months, I've won a big planter (with plants), a book, and a restaurant gift card. Now, this doesn't sound like much - but I don't usually win anything, so it's been a pretty lucky year so far. It's also been a particularly good and happy year, leading me to wonder: does happiness improve your luck? It certainly seems connected. But I haven't yet been tempted to try my hand at the lottery - maybe I should!

a quiet evening

Here we are on a Saturday evening, after a day full of errands. Freshly baked bread (by Lou!) is cooling on the stove, chicken (for an easy coq au vin-style recipe) is thawing in the sink. My children are sprawled in chairs and couches watching Popeye. Lou and his father are working in the basement. And I'm sitting here blogging, thinking of what to do between now and starting dinner.

(Mostly, I just want to go to sleep, and since that's not likely to happen, getting up and moving is probably the next thing on the schedule!)

1994

I was thinking about it last night and realized, to my shock, that the last time I had Christmas with my family was 1994.

Now, Christmases with my family weren't all starlight and holly-bushes, and Christmases with Lou's family are boisterous, fun, and filled with joy (in general). But still ... it's been almost a decade and a half since I had my own family-of-origin to have Christmas with.

But you know what I really miss? And from much longer ago than 1994: I miss lying in bed on Christmas eve with my mom and grandmother at my grandparents' house in Fostoria, and hearing Santa's sleigh bells. (Yes, I really did. Several times. Take that, nonbelievers.) I've been listening for a quarter century now, and have never heard him anywhere else. Grandma must have had quite an in with jolly old St. Nicholas!

5 things I love about parenting

I'm finding this to be my favorite parenting time ever, as my kids are all getting older and becoming more and more interesting. These are some of my favorites:

1. watching them sleep. I love to look in on them after the day is done - they look so peaceful and quiet.

2. holding hands. Any time one of them walks with me holding my hand - it feels so trusting and close and makes me feel special.

3. snuggles! Need I say more?

4. listening to them play. It's so interesting to hear the way their minds work, especially when they're playing alone and having a running commentary with their toys.

The fifth one is harder to reduce to a bullet point. I just love watching their growing independence, seeing the pride and pleasure they take in school and friends, the enthusiasm they have for books and games and toys, and just generally the way they're developing as people.

"and I was like ..."

If there's one conversational tic I could break myself of, that would be the one. I picked it up somewhere in high school, and cannot seem to get rid of it. It would be easier, simpler, and certainly grammatically correct to say "and I said ..." but no. Out it comes. "And I was like ... " Occasionally, even worse, it's "I went ..." Or "he goes ..."

Dreadful. Embarrassing. I feel like I brand myself a perennial teenager every time I do it. But I can't break myself of it, no matter how I try. Some day I'll be a little old lady, telling my grandkids stories, and they'll be cracking on my grammar.

book reviews

Time for another round!

Elaine Viets, Dying to Call You. Pretty good, really. Nice characters, decent plot, fast-moving; a nice entry in the series.

Will James, Sun Up: Tales of the Cow Camps. I was a little disappointed. Not so much with the writing - it was fairly good writing, a little erratic, but in general decent characters and decent plots. But I felt as though the subtitle was a bit misleading, as far more of the stories took place in and around and about rodeos than in cow camps. Perhaps they're interconnected, but I wouldn't have bought the book if I'd known. So it was a nice read, but isn't a keeper.

Ken Follett, World Without End. I recently joined a book group, and this was the first book they were reading. I'd never heard of Follett before, and apparently must pick up WWE's prequel, Pillars of the Earth, at some point - many, many people have spoken glowingly of it. So I was prepared for WWE to knock my socks off. It was perfectly adequate, but not sock-knocking. About 400 pages in the middle (out of 1000) needed to be excised, or at least heavily edited and rewritten, as they formed a mostly awkward bridge between the two well-written sections of the book. Not sure if it's a keeper or not, but as it's on extended loan (to a fellow book-group member who hadn't actually read it), I'm not worrying about it yet.

Marisa de los Santos, love walked in. Another book group assignment. I didn't think I would like it - the first two chapters were in two different points of view, leaving me jumping between characters and not giving my full attention to either one because I wanted to see what was happening to the other one, and the younger girl character's situation was uncomfortably close to home. But as the book went on (and the two characters met and their stories merged into one), it became lovely. Thoughtful, thought-provoking, deeply emotional. Still uncomfortable - several characters had parts of my life to deal with - and the ending felt plodding, as though the author didn't quite know how to get her characters out of the situation she'd placed them in (and it was a tangled one, so I feel for her dilemma), but overall well worth reading.

Robert Burns, The Poems of ... I admit it, I barely started this one. The poems are in the original dialect, making them impossible to understand without heavy reference to the keynotes, and I just didn't want to work that hard. I feel a bit guilty about it - my early forays into poesy have left me feeling as though I need to respect and enjoy poetry and seek it out where I can - but life is short, my time is limited, and thousands of other books are waiting for me.

fall in New England

Fall has come early (or on time, as far as I'm concerned) this year. The past couple of years we've been in shorts and T-shirts through the end of October. This year, we're into the jeans and turtlenecks type of weather that I like. I'm hoping we don't blow through it into heavy coats and mittens weather too fast!

Meanwhile, the leaves are turning lovely colors, with pumpkins and mums displayed brightly on all the lawns. Apple cider is in the fridge, two birthdays and Halloween are coming up, school is in full session ... and the groundhog is still busy chowing down on what's left of the clover in my lawn.

Hopefully this time next fall, we'll have a few of our own apples to harvest!

whew, there's a lot to do!

It may well be a slow blogging month! Between now and this time next month, there are:

- two birthdays, one with party
- Halloween
- three birthday parties (unrelated to the two birthdays in the house)
- four journal deadlines (and the necessity to actually do the work!)
- at least three, possibly four relatives visiting (and the potential of a fifth arriving not long after Nov. 3)

In addition, of course, to the usual round of Greyson's school; Charles's school; flag football, tae kwon do, and baseball; Veronica's playgroup; an eye doctor appt.; two school in-service days and a half-day.

It seems likely to be a busy several weeks! I need a nap...