Back from vacation where I was busy baby-wrangling and didn't read much.
"I Can Make A Difference" by Marian Wright Edelman is a fantastic children's book highlighting human values of respect, nonviolence, gratitude. Each principle is matched with different quotations, parables or poems. It's wonderfully inspiring and I want to give it to everyone I know.
"The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin follows her year-long project to follow advice and make herself happier. She used to be an attorney so she's very methodical and rigorous in her actions. I really liked the way she distilled concepts into Rules or Splendid Truths or Secrets of Adulthood. She covered lots of things I've observed - a touch of deprivation makes you appreciate things anew. Helping others makes you feel good.
Some of her insights I found helpful were "Be Gretchen" - or whoever you are. Accept youself - your limitations and your strengths. I am always awaiting to be transformed into a socially confident leader and maybe I'm never going to command a room in that way. I can accept this and be happy in who I am today.
She also writes about enjoying the anticipation, expressing happiness and savoring the memories. Milk each event for all it can offer and you'll be filled with joy. I love this - I am a huge fan of talking about favorite memories and sometimes other people aren't so willing to delve into the past with me. But it's a good reminder to do so anyway!
Anyway, I loved the book!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
the girls
"The Girls" by Lori Lansens has a farfetched plot - the autobiography of a conjoined twin. But similar to Eugenides' "Middlesex," this esoteric premise takes us on an epic journey to the center of the human heart.
It is amazingly real and concrete about what it feels like to be conjoined, from the small daily details. The author does not make a single misstep, she creates a totally convincing world. That is remarkable in itself. But the reason you keep reading is way you fall in love with the characters, Rose and Ruby. It's a fantastic book. I couldn't put it down and now I can't stop thinking about it.
Much weeping at the last pages:
"I have an urge to apologize for my mountain-climbing metaphors while begging patience for one more. Because, my friends, I can see the summit. It appears bitten, scalloped white against this azure sky. There are other people there too. And not all of them writers.
Everyone says, 'Don't look down,' but I did look down, at where I've been, how far I've come, how high I've climbed. Where I thought I made a single trail in the snow, I've made a thousand, blighted by debris, the bits of me I've left behind. And tools I didn't even know I had."
Also I read the Pride and Prejudice graphic novel adapted by Nancy Butler - which was a interesting way to tell the story, but of course not as rich as the actual novel. Still, it might be a fun way to introduce a kid to the story.
I read "American Widow" by Alissa Torres, a graphic novel by a 9/11 widow. It was very sad to go back to those tragic days in American history. She writes about the whole experience, including the struggles of dealing with Red Cross bureaucracy.
"Shelf Discovery" by Lizzie Skurnick was flat out fantastic! I felt like it was written FOR ME. It's a collection of essays revisiting books we read and loved as teenagers. Lois Duncan, Little House, Judy Blume, I could go on. I had read most of the books and LOVED her fond and pertinent analysis. So, so good. I have to get this book. It brought back my childhood! I flipped out when I saw her inclusion of "Caroline" by Willo Davis Roberts of the Sunfire series. OMG! I loved that book! I think I still have it boxed up.
I also really enjoyed "Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life" by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, a delightful book of random thoughts, lists and witty observations. No one can pass a parked limousine without remarking upon it. Or, when you are calling someone's name to get their attention and they don't notice you: "no matter who they are - a lawyer, a surgeon, a Latin scholar - they look like an idiot searching for you, craning their head like that, and you question their intelligence." Ha ha.
Also read "Sleepy Little Alphabet" by Judy Sierra to the little mister. Very cute.
It is amazingly real and concrete about what it feels like to be conjoined, from the small daily details. The author does not make a single misstep, she creates a totally convincing world. That is remarkable in itself. But the reason you keep reading is way you fall in love with the characters, Rose and Ruby. It's a fantastic book. I couldn't put it down and now I can't stop thinking about it.
Much weeping at the last pages:
"I have an urge to apologize for my mountain-climbing metaphors while begging patience for one more. Because, my friends, I can see the summit. It appears bitten, scalloped white against this azure sky. There are other people there too. And not all of them writers.
Everyone says, 'Don't look down,' but I did look down, at where I've been, how far I've come, how high I've climbed. Where I thought I made a single trail in the snow, I've made a thousand, blighted by debris, the bits of me I've left behind. And tools I didn't even know I had."
Also I read the Pride and Prejudice graphic novel adapted by Nancy Butler - which was a interesting way to tell the story, but of course not as rich as the actual novel. Still, it might be a fun way to introduce a kid to the story.
I read "American Widow" by Alissa Torres, a graphic novel by a 9/11 widow. It was very sad to go back to those tragic days in American history. She writes about the whole experience, including the struggles of dealing with Red Cross bureaucracy.
"Shelf Discovery" by Lizzie Skurnick was flat out fantastic! I felt like it was written FOR ME. It's a collection of essays revisiting books we read and loved as teenagers. Lois Duncan, Little House, Judy Blume, I could go on. I had read most of the books and LOVED her fond and pertinent analysis. So, so good. I have to get this book. It brought back my childhood! I flipped out when I saw her inclusion of "Caroline" by Willo Davis Roberts of the Sunfire series. OMG! I loved that book! I think I still have it boxed up.
I also really enjoyed "Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life" by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, a delightful book of random thoughts, lists and witty observations. No one can pass a parked limousine without remarking upon it. Or, when you are calling someone's name to get their attention and they don't notice you: "no matter who they are - a lawyer, a surgeon, a Latin scholar - they look like an idiot searching for you, craning their head like that, and you question their intelligence." Ha ha.
Also read "Sleepy Little Alphabet" by Judy Sierra to the little mister. Very cute.
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