Updates and Kids books

I could really get used to this "stay at home mom" thing. I've been able to take Cadence to camp, went with Amelia to Baby Bookworms at the library today, have had time to take care of little things, and of course, hang out with Maddie. Tomorrow I have my six week checkup, and it's reminding me that I don't have much more "stay at home" time left. That sucks. It's necessary, but it still sucks. Makes me really wish we were very very wealthy and I didn't have to worry about it! ;)

Cadence started Girl Scout camp yesterday, and seems to be having a blast. She's coming home really tired (even though she'd never admit it), and I'm worried that she won't be able to get out of bed by the end of the week! She's brought home photos of her artwork the last two days, and I can't wait to see the art show at the end of the week.

Amelia has FINALLY warmed up at Baby Bookworms, and actually interacted some today (and, of course, it was the last day of the summer session. It continues through the year, though.) She also "read" more than enough books for the summer reading program. She needed 20, and I think we ended with closer to 50. Her entire sheet was filled, and I've discovered some really great kid books in the process. Some of my favorites:

The Baby Lit series A beautiful series of board books based on classic literature. So far we've read Alice in Wonderland (colors), Jane Eyre (numbers) and Pride and Prejudice (numbers.) There's also Romeo and Juliet and Dracula (both numbers) and A Christmas Carol (colors.) I love the Alice in Wonderland one so much that I'm tempted to buy it, tear it apart, and use the board book pages as the artwork in Amelia's room. They are that beautiful. Amelia adores Pride and Prejudice (she's carried it around all day while hugging it and saying "MINE!!") and Alice in Wonderland (she's insisted on checking it out of the library twice because she's seen it on the display and had to have it), and I'm pretty sure I know what she'll be getting for Christmas. 


The Boy Who Cried Ninja This book is absolutely hilarious, and seriously, how can you go wrong with a book that contains ninjas, pirates and a time traveling monkey?? It is a funny story about how a boy's parents don't believe him when he says ninjas (and other various exceptional creatures) do different naughty things around the house, but he can't lie because that gets him in trouble as well. The end is great, and Cadence laughed all the way through this one.


Robot Zombie Frankenstein The title alone was enough to make me want to check this one out, and I wasn't disappointed at all. It's two robots trying to outdo each other by making themselves into bigger and crazier things, and it includes pie. Cadence thought it was funny, but with all the zombie craze at the moment, I think I found it funnier than she did. The illustrations are bright and colorful (and kept Amelia's attention), and the words are simple and very effective. Awesome book!


Dinosaur vs. The Library  Dinosaur is on his way to the library, and challenges all his friends along the way. His huge ROAR allows him to win against everyone - except the librarian. This is a great book to introduce animal sounds, and to talk about inside/outside voices. Again, very bright pictures, and it's mostly animal sounds so very easy for toddlers to follow along. And seeing Amelia "ROARRRRRR!" with him was well worth it! And I just realized that they also have Dinosaur vs. Bedtime, Dinosaur vs. The Potty and in September, Dinosaur vs. Santa. I'm very excited.

I also LOVE the Bink and Gollie books that Cadence has been reading. There are only two out at the moment, but she devoured both of them and is (not so) patiently waiting for more to appear. I'm on the lookout for more books like that for her, so if anyone knows of any, please share! And thanks to Bink and Gollie, Cadence met her reading goal for the library as well. The end of year carnival is Thursday, and I'm glad we were able to stick with it and both girls finished the program.

Books 17-19 of 24

This should catch me up with the ones I've read, and I'm only 5 away from my goal! Not bad since I still have over 5 months to go.

17) First Bite: The Wicked Queen's Tale by Laura Briggs & Sarah Steinbrenner

I enjoyed this book, but it took a little while to get into it. The book starts out explaining a lot of back story, so it took a little while to piece it all together. But once the story got going, it was excellent. I really enjoy reading different variations of the most popular fairy tales, and this was a great twist on Snow White. I also started reading it while I was watching Once Upon A Time, and there are similarities. I was impressed with this one, and have started the second book in the series which is about Hansel and Gretel. There is also a third about the Fairy Godmother. I'm eager to see the twists that they put on these as well.

I gave this 4 books

18) The Priest's Graveyard by Ted Dekker

This was a really dark Christian fiction book about a guy who sees his mom and sisters raped and murdered while living in Bosnia, and he then kills their killer. He comes to the US as a priest, but does more than just help in church. He also tracks down the scum of the earth and takes them out. It was more graphic than what one would usually expect from Christian fiction, but I really enjoyed it. It went into some dark topics, and did a great job covering them and making a completely believable story from them. I've missed having new Ted Dekker, and have two more sitting in my "to read" pile. I really hope they are as good as this one was.

I gave this 4 books

19) The Film Club by David Gilmour

Somewhat depressing, but so so so good. It's a story of a guy who has a son that is getting in trouble in school, and he lets him drop out on the promise that he'll watch at least 3 movies a week with his dad. It covers the movies they watched, what was going on in their lives during this time (the good and the bad), and was a great parent/child story. A lot of things his son said and did reminded me of Cadence, and I just hope to be as understanding and loving if (or when) we face hard teenage years. It was excellent, and I'm so glad that I picked it up on a whim at the library the other day.

I gave this one 5 books.

Books 8-16 of 24

I realized that even though I haven't been reading like a crazy woman (like I hoped I would during maternity leave), I'm still ahead of my "2 books a month" goal. Problem is, I haven't talked about the last 12 I've read. So, here I go, but it may take a few posts.

8-9) Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

I will admit, I didn't love these two as much as the first one, and by the end of Mockingjay, I was reading just to finish the series. I liked the story (as much as one could, considering the plot), but my main thought was that somewhere along the way, Suzanne Collins replaced Katniss "Girl on Fire" with Bella Swan "Girl who Whines Too Much and Can't Make Decisions On Her Own." By the end, I was actually hoping she wouldn't come out alive, and I really really didn't like the "tied in a neat little bow" ending. They weren't awful, but Hunger Games was definitely the best of the three.

I give them both 3 books, but only because they helped complete the series.

10) Zombie Cinderella by Kevin Richey

Yeah, I like zombie stories, and love fairy tales, but wasn't that impressed with this one. The Snow White zombie book I read earlier was really good - gory, but not too gory, funny but not stupid, and very readable. This one, however, was gory just for the sake of gore. I don't watch horror movies that are excessively gory, and this would definitely be in that category if someone made it into a movie. The storyline is decent, but there were parts that were just gross.

For that reason, 2 books.

11) Wildflowers of Terezin by Robert Elmer

So, so good! It's about two people during WWII, one a Jewish lady and the other a Lutheran pastor, who's lives get intertwined because of the Germans deporting Danish Jews. It's a great story that shows the struggles of the normal people during that time - the ones that knew what was going on was wrong, but were scared, worried, and just downright terrified of getting involved and getting themselves in trouble, too. It does a good job of showing some of the horrors of concentration camps without getting extremely graphic, and I loved the ending. It was a great book, and one that I had problems putting down.

I gave this one 5 books.

12) Michal: A Novel (The Wives of David) by Jill Eileen Smith

I really enjoyed this one as well. I've read lots of Christian based fiction, and some of my favorites are the ones about women in the bible. This one is about Michal, one of the wives of David, and talks about her life before and after they were married. Jill Eileen Smith did a great job of making me connect with her, and there were a few times that I was on the verge of tears or laughing out loud. Michal became a real person, and it was a great story. I believe that there are a few more that Smith has written, and I'm eager to read them as well.

I gave this one 5 books.

13) The Big Read Button by Bob McClain

This is from the same guy that wrote "Snow White and the Seven Deadly Dwarves," and it was short and sweet. It was a great little suspense/horror story, and reminded me of some of the Stephen King short stories I've read. It wasn't extremely gory, and left some things to the imagination. I really liked it.

I gave this 4 books

14-16) Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed by EL James

Wow. I will admit that I didn't have a clue what these books were about before I started them, and read Fifty Shades of Grey on the recommendation of a friend. By halfway through the first book I was laughing hysterically at all the sex scenes. By the second book I was skipping them altogether. There is just so much in those scenes that is so completely improbable, and it made them SO funny to me. I also noticed by the end of the first book that there were A LOT of similarities between it and Twilight - Overbearing, controlling boyfriend, same area of the country, family size is similar, Mary Sue girl and super hot guy - the list goes on. The only difference is where Twilight didn't have any sex at all (until they were married, that is), this had so much it became a joke. I will say, the story in the later two was better than in the first, but I still didn't get the lust rush that is seems the majority of American women seemed to get.

I gave all of these 2 books. Only because of the comedic value. 

I have 3 left to go before I'm caught up with the ones I've read, and I'm currently sitting on my couch with 5 more books that I checked out today and 3 or 4 on my kindle. I'm not sure if I'll get them all read, but I'm going to have fun trying!

Books 4-7

Here are the most recent that I've read, and what I think about them.

4) The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

There were parts of this book that I really really enjoyed, but a lot more that were just "meh." It was set in Sweden, and I know that had something to do with the parts I didn't enjoy that much - if it had been a place I was more familiar with, the landmarks and other situations would have made more sense. Also, most of the beginning and end deal with finance/journalism, and I really don't have much interest in either. And the other thing that threw me off was all of the casual sex. It wasn't graphic, and usually sex/violence/language don't bother me. But there was just SO MUCH sex, and a lot seemed thrown in there for no reason.

However, there was a murder mystery in the middle that I found VERY intriguing. It was by far my favorite part of the book, and I was actually disappointed when that was wrapped up and there was still about 1/4 of the book left. I made it through the rest, and I have book two here waiting, but can't bring myself to start it quite yet. Overall it wasn't awful, but it definitely wasn't the best book I've read recently.

I give it 3 books.








5) Snow White and the Seven Dead Dwarves: A Zombie Fairy Tale by Bob McLain

Oh. My. Goodness. This book was written by a guy who loves Disney stories and zombies. He started with the awesome story of Snow White, took it back to it's gruesome roots, then threw in a few Disney-like twists. It was very quick, and I loved it. It's definitely not high brow reading, but it was definitely fun, and a great way to spend the time while I was waiting on Cadence at the dentist. He is supposed to be releasing a full length novel called "Once Upon A Zombie," a story about zombies taking over the rest of Fairy Tale Land, and I can't wait until it comes out.

I give this one 5 books.





6) Alice in Deadland by Mainak Dhar

I'm apparently on a zombie kick at the moment, because this one was a combination of Alice in Wonderland and a typical zombie story. It wasn't a direct retelling of the story, and that gave it a nice twist.  I really enjoyed this story, and finished it in one afternoon. There were parts that were predictable, but overall, I enjoyed it.

I give this one 4 books.





7) Mile 81 by Stephen King

This story was very short, and ok. It definitely wasn't a typical Stephen King story, and was pretty predictable, but wasn't awful at all. It was a nice distraction for a Saturday afternoon, but something I'm glad I didn't spend a ton of money on.

I give this one 3 books.

Book 3/24: 11/22/63 by Stephen King

3) 11/22/63 by Stephen King

Wow. That's about all I can say. It was long (about 850 pages), but so worth it. Basic story is that the main character finds a portal that sends him back in time, and he decides to try and stop the JFK assassination. During the course of the story, I really came to love him, and all the people he became associated with. I was also in tears by the end, and even though I wanted it to end differently, it really couldn't have. Also, it seemed to go very quickly - much more quickly than you would expect an 850 page book to go. I've read a few other of his books, and there were some I really think could have been a few 100 pages shorter and still had been awesome. However, I think this one could have kept going and I would have been just fine.

I loved it. I give it 5 books. 

Book 2/24 - Angelfall by Susan Ee

2) Angelfall by Susan Ee

I have to say, I really really liked it. It's classified as YA Fiction, and it was a really easy read. I tend to like things that deal with the supernatural - angels, demons, etc - so an entire book based on angels coming down to earth was great. I loved the relationship that Penryn and the Angel had, and wasn't sure whether to love or hate the mom. The only part that really got to me were the ones with her little sister. Paige is 7 (the same age as Cadence), and some of the parts with her just broke my heart, because I kept thinking of Cadence. Overall, the book was excellent.

This is the first in a series, and #2 hasn't been published yet, but I will definitely be getting it when it is. This one was only 99¢ on the Kindle, and well worth it.

I gave this one 4 books.

Book 1/24 - The Hunger Games

I've decided to try the book challenge again, and am hoping for 24 books this year. That's only 2 a month, and I'm going to go from Christmas 2011 to Christmas 2012. I'm hoping I can actually do it this year, since last year was a sensational flop!

1) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I had read enough online about this book before actually reading it, that I knew pretty much what would happen. And I must say, I'm glad I did. I would have been a complete mess if I hadn't, and probably would have cried through a lot of it. Between the ages of the main characters, the total disregard of most of the adults, and the crummy (to put it lightly) conditions they had to live in day to day, it definitely pulled at the heartstrings (especially since I'm a pregnant, overly hormonal mom.) It was really good (even if depressing), and I'm eager to read the next two since I haven't read anything online about them yet. I now want to see the movie as well, and am curious as to how much a like they will be. I don't know that I'd rank it up there with my most favorite books ever, but it was definitely a great read.

I have two others I've started, and a at least three more still to start. Next on the list are 11/22/63 by Stephen King (in book form) and Angelfall (on the Kindle app.) The Stephen King one is HUGE (about 850 pages), but I'm already halfway finished. It's awesome, and I think I'm going to be very sad when I'm through with it.

Over all, 4 Books

Shopping and Progress Reports

I did some shopping today, and have a very nice start on Christmas and Birthdays. The majority is from the Missions Garage Sale that the church holds every year. I work in a very nice, upscale area of town, and there is always some crazy nice stuff. This year I came away with:
For Cadence-

• Books! So. Many. Books! I ended up with 6 for her. They are Junie B. Jones and her Big Fat Mouth, 99 1/2 School Jokes, Riddles & Nonsense, Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses, The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes, The Secret Fairy in Fairyland (it even comes with holographic stickers!) and Number the Stars (one of my most all time favorite books.)
• This awesome book that's like a scrapbook and journal in one called I *heart* Being Me! It has pockets to put mementos in, and space to write things about you. It's so awesome.
• And, Operation. I will probably hate the buzzer before too much longer, but I know she'll be thrilled!

For Amelia -

• Fisher Price Brilliant Basics Stroll-Along Walker - She's getting pretty good at walking, but I think she'll like having this to push her Marie Baby around in.
• Fisher Price Little Superstar Stacker - Yeah, she might be almost past the age, but it's a stacker! And it lights up! And it was $1!!
• Fisher Price Amazing Animals Spinning Zoo - It's just too cute. And plays music. And has animals with wheels as feet!! How could I pass it up??
• Snap Lock Beads - she's almost a year old! She has to have snap lock beads!

For me -

• Two Michael Crichton books - State of Fear and Prey
• The prettiest teal pyrex baking dish. I LOVE this dish. The color is beautiful, and I'm pretty sure it was someone's grandmother's. I love, love, love it.
• Some ribbon headbands (those are mostly for Sarah, though.)

For Mike -

• I found the most awesome LSU camping chair, and it was marked $2. I made the mistake of not opening it, and it was broken. :( I'm not sure if I can fix it or not, and I half-jokingly commented that I'm sure all the Ole Miss fans at work did something to it! ;)

The best part? All of it was only $22.50!! This is why I love the Missions Garage Sale every year! I also bought a few other things for Christmas/Birthday. Amelia got a see-n-say junior, and Cadence got a Girl Scout charm, some Daisy Girl Scout socks, and a princess glitter fashion set (her daddy will kill me for that!)

We also got progress reports today, and Cadence had all 100's! Not even 90-somethings - all 100's! I'm so extremely proud of her, and she's doing so so well in school!

Book 2/10: Palm Trees on the Hudson: A True Story of the Mob, Judy Garland & Interior Decorating by Elliot Tiber

I know that I said The Dashwood Sisters Tell All was next, but I was looking through the free books for my Kindle app, and came across this title. Any book that has a bright pink and purple cover and deals with the mob, interior decorating *AND* Judy Garland is one that I have to pick up, even if it’s just for the absurdness of it all.

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a really easy read, and he does a great job describing NYC in the 60’s. His descriptions of the nightlife, the outlandishness, and the art scene are awesome. I also felt a little sorry for him through part of it, because I saw the mob stuff coming a mile away, and hated for him that he didn’t. I enjoyed it, and it was a complete 180 from Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart. Overall, a fun time, and I give it 4 books.

Next up, The Dashwood Sisters Tell All (for reals this time!)

Book 1/10: Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart by Beth Pattillo

I started this last year, and only made it through 5 books before life got too hectic - no where near the 25 I was aiming for. So I’m going to try again, and decided to try for 10 this time around. Sarah gave me some books to read, and I just finished the first: Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart.

I must preface this with the fact that I have never made it through any Jane Austen book. I’ve also never seen any of the movies - even the Holy Grail of Austen movies, the 5 hour BBC Pride and Prejudice. However, Sarah loves Austen, and not only loves - but owns - the BBC movie, and has watched it more times than she can count. She assured me that I’d love these books, so I told her I’d read them.

I went in not expecting too much, but absolutely loved this book. It is a very easy read, and VERY easy to get lost in. It also didn’t require a lot of thinking and concentration, which was great since I was usually reading either with a baby on my lap or while pumping, so 15-20 minutes at a time. The story was good, and it had just enough about Jane Austen in it to make me want to try reading Pride and Prejudice again. It was a great, fun, summer read, and a perfect escape during the few moments I could find during the day.

I can’t wait to read the other two in the series: Jane Austen Ruined My Life and The Dashwood Sisters Tell All. I give it 5 books!



Next: The Dashwood Sisters Tell All by Beth Pattillo

Book 4/25: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I made the comment to the girl I work with last week that I had finished my book and needed something else to read, and she brought me The Help by Kathryn Stockett on Tuesday. Oh, WOW! I started it Tuesday night when I got home, and returned it to her on Thursday morning. It was absolutely wonderful.

Short synopsis: Set in Jackson, MS in the early 60’s, and the main girl has just returned home from college (Ole Miss, of course!) and all her friends are married and starting families while she isn’t. Through a series of events, she decides to write a book about “the help” - the black maids, cooks and nannies - from their point of view, and wants to tell the good, the bad and the ugly.

There are parts that are absolutely hilarious, and parts that had me in tears, and I felt like I actually knew all these people. I’m sure some of it is because I live/work in Jackson, and have been in MS all my life, but I know that a lot of it is because of WHERE I work. The church I work at is filled with families that this book could have been written about. I’ve been able to see the Ole Miss love, the high society living and the Country Club/Junior Leage lifestyle up close and personal - especially in some of the older ladies that go to this church. It was a wonderful story, and hit, maybe, a little too close to home - especially for some of the older families in the city. However, I loved it.

I plan on buying it so I can let my mom and aunt read it, and I’m very excited they are making it into a movie. I also want to read it again, and actually enjoy it this time instead of being worried for a lot of the characters in it. I really enjoyed it, and give it 5 books.

Up next, Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer. I promised my sister I would...

Book 3/25: The Tommyknockers by Stephen King

After  A Clockwork Orange I took a break, but eventually picked up The Tommyknockers - another book Mike got me for Christmas. One thing I’m starting to love about Stephen King is that he takes his dear, sweet time telling a story. This one was more supernatural than scary, and I enjoyed it more than The Stand. There weren’t as many characters in this one (well, it was close, but the story flowed better this time), and he’s great about doling out little bits of info at a time - just enough to keep you wondering *exactly* what is going on. The subject matter was a little ridiculous (and he pokes fun at himself about this in one part of the book), but he did a great job of making it seem plausible.

This one is long, too, but I was able to get into this story a lot easier than The Stand (only other SK book I’ve read.) I’m not sure if it’s because I knew what to expect a little more, or if I just flat out enjoyed the story more. I’m now on the hunt for a few more of his books, and I give this one 4 books.

Next, The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

Book 2/25: A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

I have 3 books I’ve finished and not posted about, so over the weekend I hope to get all three up.

First up is A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, and I’ll say, it was better than I thought it would be when I started. The only thing that threw me (and almost made me put the book down in frustration) is that he uses a lot of made up, teen slang throughout the book, and in the beginning it was hard to get into the story because of it. Once I got a little farther into it, however, I started recognizing the words, and it the story was good. Well, about as good as a story about a kid who’s in a gang, gets arrested and goes through brainwashing can be. The copy I had said something on the cover about having the original ending in it, and I loved the way it ended.

It’s not a happy book, or a light, fun, summer read, but was good nonetheless. But, I will say, after reading The Stand and this one back to back, I had to take a break for awhile! I’m glad I picked it off of my “classics” list, and enjoyed it a lot. I give it 4 books.

Next, The Tommyknockers by Stephen King.

Book 1/25: "The Stand", Stephen King

On one of the boards I visit, they started a book reading challenge for the year. I posted that I was going to try and read 25 books this year. In years past, it would have been way more than that, but because of the craziness of life, and the fact that I can’t re-read any books, I decided to play it safe!

I finished Book 1 last night - Stephen King’s The Stand. Wow. First reaction after finishing it, “It’s just so LONG! (about 1150 pages.)” Second reaction, “Some of it was just SO predictable!” Third reaction, “It was actually pretty good! Kinda like Frank Peretti, but with lots of sex.”

Mike says that the reason I feel like I do about the predictability is because when it came out, it was the only thing like it at the time. Now, however, it has been an influence for so many other writers, and I’ve probably read a ton of books that are a lot like it (and yes, I have.) I told Mike that it was the situations that were predictable, not the specifics. But I still think the book could be almost half as long, and still be a great book.

Overall, even though it wasn’t happy, peppy, all glitter and rainbows, it was a good book. I’m glad he got it for me for Christmas, and I’m glad I didn’t let the length get to me. I would recommend it, but just be warned that it may take awhile and seem to drag in parts. Because of that, I give it 3 books.



Next on the list, A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess


_______________________
Things I’m thankful for:
1) Books, good or bad, that cause you to get lost
2) Books that have a story that makes you think long after you’ve put the book down
3) Time to read
4) The opportunity to find another book to get lost in
5) Cadence just starting to realize how great reading can be