News

My youngest sister, Landen, got engaged a couple of weeks ago. We met Adam over Christmas break when he came down and spent nearly a week with our family in Las Vegas. Everything we'd heard about him had been extremely positive, and we liked him just as much as we'd hoped we would.

So yes, that engagement was certainly good news.

But the news I was far more anxious about came on Friday. Adam is graduating this spring (as is Landen) and his plan is to get a PhD. And, as fortune would have it, his number one choice was the University of Texas.

You know, the one in Austin.

He interviewed for the program a few days after they got engaged, and on Friday morning, he got the news that he'd been accepted.

Which means that, come August, the two of them will be living in Austin for the next five years.

I absolutely cannot wait. Oh happy happy day.

(Also, I told Bart, "If we'd still been living in Boston and found out they were moving to Austin, I probably would have just died on the spot.")

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

6 of 10: After a really slow start, I found myself enjoying Cutting for Stone, but I don't have the intense love for it that so many people do.

I'm glad to have read this book. It is widely popular right now and I don't like having not read something that so many people have read (how do people stand not having read Harry Potter? Muggles!).

It took me . . .well . . .forever to get through.

This is a book, I think, that I would have greatly benefited from an introductory summary. I read it with no idea where it was going or who the story was even about. Sometimes I like that, but for this book, which has quite a lot of things going on, I could have used a little hand holding.

The story is told from Marion's point of view - he and his twin brother, Shiva, were born in an Ethiopian hospital to a nun (one hardly needs to point out that this is problematic, to say the least). The father appears to be the primary surgeon at the hospital, Dr. Stone, but he seems, like everyone else at the hospital, to have had absolutely no idea that she was pregnant. She dies in childbirth and Dr. Stone
flees. The twins are raised by Hema and Ghosh, two other doctors at Missing hospital.

And then something (oh, lets be honest here, it's a girl) creates a mega-rift between the brothers and Marion leaves to become a doctor in America. Where, of course, it turns out that Dr. Stone is and Marion ends up having to confront the very things he was trying to escape.

I have to say, I'm a complete wimp about reading medical things. I cannot even read a sentence that contains mention of a scalpel without wanting to throw up. (I know, how I managed to birth a baby is completely beyond me too). So that does make this book a little difficult for me.


I liked this book; I did. Once I was finally about halfway through, it really picked up for me and I finished it in about a week. It was just the first half that nearly did me in. And the ending nearly brought me to tears (and not just because I was finally done with it after plugging along for three months).

Now that it's been a month or so since I finished it, I find myself almost wanting to go back and reread it now that I know where it's going. But, you know, only almost. 


Copy kindly lent to me by Becca

Shout Hooray!

Today is Crawford's birthday.

The day he was born, I was at a friend's house, since my mom had gone into labor during the night. We were playing Oregon Trail (best game ever) on the computer, and her dad came in to tell me that my parents had just called to say that Crawford had been born. I was so anxious for the rest of the morning for my dad to come get us and take us back to the hospital to see him.

I've loved him from the moment I first met him.

I left for college when he was seven years old, and seeing him was always the highlight of coming home. He's always made me feel like he was so glad I was there, snuggling up with me on the couch while we watch a movie, or anxious to come along on an errand.

Perhaps one of the things I love most about Crawford is how funny he is. A few years ago, we met up with my parents and Crawford in Houston. At dinner he'd been amusing us with renditions of Brian Regan's skits, which I hadn't seen. Afterward, we went back to my parents hotel room and watched the real thing on YouTube. I was disappointed! Crawford's version had been funnier!

Watching him as an uncle is so sweet - he is so darling with both Merrick's little boy and Ella. He plays with them, reads books to them, and generally warms my heart.

And once Ella is old enough to know, I'm certain she'll love him too.

A Return to Madam Librarian for the Evening

One of my friends is in charge of weekly activities for the girls ages 8-11 at church and she asked me to do a little presentation on books. I pretty much had free reign and about 45 minutes.

I spent a lot of time picking books because I wanted a variety of genres and reading levels, not to mention a mixture of recent and classic books. (I desperately did not want to be the person saying, "Let me tell you about this great book you'll love called Harry Potter.")

We split the girls into two groups and half went with me, while the other half played a game I'd set up (a Jeopardy-ish game where each slide was an image from a movie based on a book and they had to guess which book it was from. . . apparently it was a big hit).

In the other room, I sat on the floor with the girls, set out all the books (about 7-8 per group) and chose one girl at a time to tell me one of their favorite books and then choose a book from the display for me to tell them about. Some of the books I gave them a synopsis of, some I read a little bit from.

It was so enjoyable - I'd forgotten how fun it is to have kids clamoring for books, laughing at the funny bits when you read aloud, and having them tell me about what books they love.

And, if you're curious, here's the books I used:

8 - 9 year olds:
Number the Stars
The BFG
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Half Magic
Girls Think of Everything
Babymouse
Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry
Love that Dog

10-11 year olds:
Ella Enchanted
Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat
Savvy
A Year Down Yonder
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
No Talking
Lost & Found
Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry

Six Months

Little Girl,

The usual platitudes about how I can't believe you're already six months old, etc.

You are teeny. You haven't even doubled your birth weight yet and are now in the 10th percentile for weight. In fact, you barely gained any weight in the last two months, which means an extra trip to the pediatrician next month to see if you're gaining. Because you're on track with other development, he's not too worried, and since my family has many a tiny person, I'm not that worried either. Sometimes when you're sitting on the couch, I just laugh at what a little thing you are.

Ironically, you love to eat (although with parents like me and your dad, it would be more surprising if you didn't care about food). We've done a modified version of baby-led weaning with you (less mess) and you will eat ANYTHING. In the last month, you haven't turned down a thing. You've had tomatoes and avocados, bananas and applesauce, stew, yogurt, curry, mulligatawny soup, peas, blueberries, blackberries, cheese, and anything else we try you out on.

Last week, after your shots, we had you sitting in the bebePod on the table while we fed you dinner. Your dad was making you laugh in a big way and then, suddenly, you burst into tears and tried to lay your head down on the part of the chair between your legs. It was heartbreaking. Also, very very funny.

You've got teeth now, two of them (which appeared out of nowhere (your dentist granddad would tell me that they came from your gums)) and so I get my fingers bitten on a regular basis now.

A few months ago Merrick posted a picture of your little cousin. In it, he was holding a toy, and I thought "I cannot even imagine my baby actually PLAYING with a toy." But here you are, shaking with joy when I pull out your little red monkey or a rattle or a ball. You'll sit on the floor (yes, you sit! although you topple a lot too. . . ) with all your toys around you and play happily for long stretches at a time, which is making dinner prep much easier.

Last night, your dad had to work late and so you were already long in bed when he got home. He was so sad to miss seeing you and asked me all sorts of things about what cute things you'd done that afternoon (happily, he'd been home for lunch, so he had seen you that day). He can't get enough of you, and neither can I.

We both love you so so much,
Mommy

Untitled

The other night, I babysat for Ralphie's girls. I'd made dinner but it wasn't quite finished cooking when I left, so I took half of it and finished cooking it at Ralphie's house, while Bart ate his half at home.

Later, when we were discussing dinner, we both commented that it was a fine meal, but nothing great. In fact, we noted that when we'd first gotten married, we probably would have loved it and put it straight into our (very small) rotation of meals. Now, five years later, it tasted strong and obvious to me - no subtlety or depth to it at all. I sincerely doubt I'll ever make it again.

Sometimes change is so gradual, you don't even notice it happening.

I've been blogging for over four years now and it is rather staggering, sometimes to reflect on how many permutations my life has gone through in that time.

I started it just as I was finishing up a nanny gig, then there was a year or so of full-time work, then graduate school, then an elementary school librarian, now a stay-at-home mom.

There was Texas and then Boston and then Texas again. There was just Bart and me, then pregnancy, now Bart, me, and Ella.

There is reading, there is cooking, there is traveling. Sometimes there is drama (hello Santa Claus post!), sometimes the echos in the comment section are deafening.

There are episodes of my life, people I know, that are never mentioned or referred to here at all. Like any blog, this one reflects only some aspects of my life.

My life has changed a lot in five years. It makes me feel better about the fact that sometimes I feel a little lost here, like I don't know quite what I want to say anymore.

Drought by Pam Bachorz

8 of 10: Ruby and her mother belong to a congregation that is under the thumb of a cruel overseer, collecting water with magical properties, while they wait for Ruby's father to come rescue them. Drought surprised me at every turn - it wasn't at all what I'd expected.

I have a hard time writing about books when I can't fully grasp what is supposed to be a revelation in the book and what is just giving a brief overview. This book is one of those ones where I have no idea if I'm giving away spoilers or not. Consider yourself warned.

Ruby and her mother live with a small congregation of people in a community in some unspecified forest-y area in, I assume, the eastern United States. They spend all day, every day collecting water from plants. If there is anything worse than doing this kind of laborious, boring work, it's doing it for 200 years. Oh yes, that's right. . . the reason they're collecting the water is that it has magical properties that keeps them from aging at a normal pace. After 200 years, Ruby is only about 16 physically.

Except, of course water from plants doesn't have this mystical power (I mean, c'mon, that would be silly). It's Ruby's blood, added to the water, that makes this happen (it also heals wounds and makes plants grow like mad (this is, of course, not ludicrous at all)).

Ruby's father, Otto, whom she has never met, also had this magical blood. He's the one who formed the congregation and he disappeared 200 years ago. He left behind several vials of blood, which Ruby's mother has distributed a drop at a time, heavily diluted, to the congregation, allowing them to continue living while they wait for Otto's promised return. 

His blood is long gone, though, and now Ruby is the one who provides the mystical water (although most of the congregation is unaware that it's her blood in the water now).

Unfortunately, Darwin West, a man from her mother's past, followed the congregation to the forest when they fled after Otto's disappearance and has found out about the magic water. For the last 200 years he has been forcing them to collect the water for him (he then sells it off for a ludicrous sum). It's when he discovers them living in the forest that Ruby's mother came up with the water collection story so that Ruby is protected (she sneaks to the water barrels every few nights and puts blood in them).

Life is pretty horrendous for the congregation - they get little food, a lot of physical abuse from Darwin and his guards, and pathetic little huts, all of which is on top of the backbreaking work of collecting water from plant leaves. Also, they continue to live as if it's the early 19th century - they've never seen a television or indoor plumbing or any of the technological advances that have taken place in the two centuries since they fled into the woods. Yet, they submit, just waiting for Otto's promised return.

Ruby's not such a fan of all this waiting around, working herself to the bone and watching her mom get beaten up on a constant basis. And it kind of comes to a head when one of the new guards becomes friendly with Ruby and offers to help her escape. She desperately wants to (she dreams of perhaps finding Otto and bringing him back to rescue everyone else), but she knows if she leaves, everyone will die without her blood.

Some of the things don't make a lot of sense. Why does Darwin live in such rural conditions and live in such fear of the guy who buys the water when he's the one who is collecting the water? And how is it possible that in 200 years living under armed guard, they've NEVER gotten caught putting blood in the water cisterns?

And it's a hard sell to have it keep coming back to "we just have to wait for Otto" when things are SO bad and when it's been 200 years (and, as far as I could tell, it's not like he said he was coming back - he just left the blood and took off. The congregation just assumes the blood vials meant he wanted them to stay alive until he returned).

But I liked it anyway - I was so curious what was going to happen and despite my frustrations with Ruby, I also felt a lot of sympathy for her. Despite the terrible conditions, she's also never known anything else. Hard to run away to an unknown world when you're leaving behind everything and everyone you know. Harder still if you're going to sentence them all to death (although after 200 years of collecting dew in a cup, death seems like it might look quite appealing).

This book was just so unusual. Despite the supernatural angle to it, it doesn't feel at all mystical. I found it incredibly easy to suspend my disbelief for the mystical water bit. Frankly, it's the "we will just sit around and wait" angle that I had a harder time swallowing. This book was just nothing like what I expected and so different from much of what I've read in recent years - I just couldn't put it down, even when I wanted to throttle the characters.

Advance copy received from publisher

It's Just Food Food Food Around Here Lately

In case you thought we were only eating ice cream around here, I shall put your mind at ease.

I make dinner nearly every single night (I will say that when Bart's busy season starts and they have dinner at work every night for many weeks, I will probably need to start buying some Cinnamon Toast Crunch because I'm not exactly about to make a full dinner for just me).

Also, I just read Bill Bryson's At Home for book club, and it talked about a country parson who kept a very meticulous diary for some 40 years, but was, in large part, just a record of what he ate (a critic, apparently, called it "little more than a chronicle of gluttony.") Bill Bryson says that when the man's sister died, he expressed sorrow, but also mentioned the turkey they had for dinner. When the Bastille fell, the man noted it as well, but spent far more time detailing his dinner. I feel a little like that man today.

Thursday

• Huevos Rancheros in Tortilla Cups (Bart was very wary of these, but they turned out to be delicious)
• Salad
• Kiwi

Friday

• Cobb Salad (whoa, this was so ridiculously good) (I used this ranch dressing instead of the vinaigrette)
• Chocolate Raspberry Scones
• Bananas and Blackberries

Saturday

• Basil Curry
• Brown Basmati rice (because, you know, I'm so whole-grains and such)
• Naan

Sunday

• BBQ Chicken Sandwiches (I make them in the crockpot and use these rolls)
• Chips
• Apples

Monday 

• Mulligatawny Soup
• Cranberry Scones 

Tuesday

• Pizza (It's nice if you think I prepped enough to do the pizza dough the night before, but clearly, I did the quick and easy one. Go easy on the flour. I also let mine sit in the fridge for about an hour before I rolled it out)
• Green Salad
• Beans

Wednesday

• Cashew Chicken (I love love love this recipe. And I don't even like cashews (my mom thinks I might have been switched at the hospital))
• Sauteed Zucchini (Ella LOVED this)
• Mango and Blackberries

What did people DO before cooking blogs?

Rose Sees Red by Cecil Castellucci

7 of 10: Rose Sees Red was a little more quirky than I usually go for, but this book, set in Cold War New York City just delighted me.

Sometimes I like reading the same kind of book over and over again (see my Sarah Dessen obsession last year and my more recent Janette Rallison fling).

And then sometimes it's nice to read something quite different. Rose Sees Red was a little different. And I enjoyed every second of it.

Rose is a freshman in high school and her life is fairly bleak. She's loved dance her entire life and secretly auditioned for an arts school in New York City. Her best friend growing up is furious about this, feeling completely betrayed (to be honest, this "friend" is a complete jerk, so the betrayal is totally in her own head where the world revolves around her), and has turned all of Rose's old friends against her.

Rose's life is also complicated by the fact that she's not even close to being the best dancer at her school, and she is having a hard time keeping up, fearing that she'll be kicked out. And she doesn't have friends at school either, so things are just rough all around.

And if those mundane issues aren't enough, her neighbor is a girl from Russia and this is the 1980s, so a Russian neighbor is worthy of note. Especially when said neighbor is being trailed by the CIA on a regular basis.

The book itself really only covers a single day, where the Russian neighbor sneaks into Rose's bedroom and asks to experience a real American evening with her. Rose can't quite bring herself to admit that she virtually no social life, and so the two of them go downtown to a party and end up having quite the evening.

Of course, Rose knows she's going to be in mega-trouble when this is all over, but she feels like she has nothing to lose since her life is so bleak anyway.

As I mentioned, the book takes place in the 1980s, in the midst of the Cold War, and with a Russian neighbor, the tensions between the countries is certainly not lost on Rose. I haven't read a lot of books set in the 1980s where that is considered a historical setting (I mean, Sweet Valley Twins were set in the 1980s, but only because they were WRITTEN in the 1980s). Also, I was born in the 1980s - am I already becoming a historical artifact?!

This is a pretty short book, but the character development that takes place is quite remarkable. I felt like I really knew and understood Rose. There is just not a wasted word in this book - it is so tightly written and communicates the characters, the setting, and the vibrancy of New York City in so few pages.

I just loved this quirky little book.

Copy sent to me by Kelly of Stacked

We All Scream

Bart came home a few nights ago and said, "That ice cream maker is starting to become a permanent fixture on the counter top."

And he is not wrong.

In the last two weeks, I have made no less than seven different batches (Roasted Banana Ice Cream, Cheesecake Ice Cream, Chocolate Raspberry Ice Cream, Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream, Chocolate Tangerine Sorbet, Cherry Coconut Frozen Yogurt, and Lemon Ice Cream, if you were wondering) (Also, you may have noticed that I'm married to someone who is convinced that every flavor is good as long as it's chocolate).

All have been raging successes except for the banana ice cream because, tragically, I discovered too late that my freezer wasn't as cold as it needed to be to freeze the canister. A spin of the freezer dial and another day of chilling and we were back in business. It's been smooth sailing from there.

See, I made the novice error of checking out the much-lauded The Perfect Scoop book from the library. And it has well over one hundred recipes in it, with so far not a dud among them. Which means I want to try them ALL (Bart is raising an eyebrow at the avocado ice cream (probably wondering if chocolate chunks might improve it)).

Luckily for us, we are surrounded by good friends who are willing to sacrifice their own time to help us eat our way through this cookbook. What would we do without them?

It is also a very fortunate thing that one of my other goals for this year is to run three times a week. Might need to up that to three times a day.

Split by Swati Avasthi

9 of 10: Split is one intense book - you wouldn't expect anything less from a book that honestly and fearlessly tackles the subject of domestic violence. I couldn't stop thinking about this book and the real, flawed characters.

I heard about this book from my all-YA-knowing friend, Kelly, who highly recommended it after it was chosen as a finalist for the Cybils. And then when it showed up while I was browsing Overdrive (the system many libraries use that lets you download audiobooks straight to your computer or mp3 player), I figured I needed something to listen to while I made batch after batch of ice cream (and, of course, the occasional dinner).

And this book did not disappoint. I was looking for chores to do so I could keep listening.

The book begins with Jace showing up on his brother's doorstep in New Mexico, but the story begins years earlier with Jace's family. His dad has been abusive for years, hitting his mother and then, when Jace is still quite young, Christian, the older brother, starts stepping up, trying to protect his mother.

But then, of course, Christian grows up and escapes, going first to college and then disappearing entirely. The family doesn't speak about him - it's as if he's died. Life goes on as normal except now Jace is the one taking the brunt of his father's anger to protect his mother.

It's been five years since Jace has heard from him. Then, at age 16, Jace finally has had enough and when he stands up to his dad, he gets thrown out of the house. As he's leaving, his mom hands him an envelope with an address. Christian's address in faraway New Mexico (Jace's family lives in Chicago).

Jace's mom promises that she'll leave her husband and come to live with the boys by Thanksgiving (about three months away) and this keeps Jace going.

He slowly adjusts to his new life - a new school, a new job, even a new girl, but he's also hardpressed to cut ties with Chicago entirely since his mom is still there, Lauren - his previous on-again-off-again girlfriend is there, and there's always the very real fear that his dad will track them down (he knows his dad has, in the past, made major efforts to locate Christian).

And you quickly realize that it's not just worry about his mom that is keeping Jace awake at nights - he also has a secret he's afraid to share with anyone, but that he can't move past either.

Avasthi has done a great job of writing a book that is high-tension without turning to gimmicks or cliffhangers to achieve that. The stress of the situation weighs on you, even when Jace is playing soccer or doing homework. And the memories Jace has from his past are horrible and violent, but not done for shock value or described in overt detail.

I particularly liked how real Christian was. How easy might it have been to make Christian into the big older protector brother? He is that, to some extent, but he's also just as damaged by his growing up experience as Jace is and his reactions take Jace a while to figure out.

But every character is rich and real - the parents, Christian's girlfriend, Lauren, Dakota (the girl in New Mexico that Jace finds himself interested in).  And, of course, Jace himself. Oh, how I loved Jace, wanted him to forgive himself for leaving behind his mom, wanted him to be able to move beyond his defining past and make a new start for himself.

I've never been in any kind of abusive relationship, so I can't say with any authority that this is extremely realistic, but it seems to me that it must be. The constant terror, the ups and downs of the abuser, the worry about how you'll handle your own relationships, the difficulty of extricating yourself and your loved ones from those relationships. . . it all rang so true to me.

It reminded me strongly of The Rules of Survival, another book I listened to (even the narrators seemed similar), and which broke my heart, while hitting all of my reader buttons. I'd be hard pressed to pick a favorite between the two.

The topic alone suggests that this is not a book for everyone (there's also some swearing, although I did not find it gratuitous). It's painful and sad, as it should be. But it's also hopeful, without being unrealistic or trite.

Audio checked out from library

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

8 of 10: Delirium stands out in the world of dystopian trilogies with an intriguing premise and really excellent writing.

At ALA Midwinter in Boston last January, one of the heavily promoted titles was Lauren Oliver's debut Before I Fall. I picked up a copy of it, intrigued by the Groundhog Day-ish premise and read it within a week or two. I . . . did not love it. The characters were so horrendously unlikeable, the book really dragged in the middle, and the ending fell flat for me.

Which is why I was leery of reading her second, MUCH-hyped (it was optioned back in JUNE) book, Delirium. But, on the other hand, it was dystopian novel. And I cannot resist the siren call of a dystopian novel. Even in a year crowded with dystopian novels. Even when it's the first book in another trilogy.

And then Kelly, who also didn't swoon for Before I Fall, got a copy of Delirium and really loved it and sent me her copy. And, what do you know? I loved it too.

The story takes place in Portland, which is surrounded by a mega-electric fence. All the cities left in the United States are the coastal cities and each one is completely locked down - no one goes in or out. The interior the continent is left barren, after the Great Sanitation.

See, love (also known as the delirium) has been declared a disease for which, thank goodness, a cure has been found. When you reach 18, you have "the procedure" done (part of your brain is zapped out) and you no longer have to worry about contracting the deadly disease. They can't do the procedure before the age of 18 because people tend to have serious side effects, including death. But until you are 18, everything is segregated, so the likelihood of contracting the disease is low.

The Great Sanitation cleared out everyone who hadn't submitted to the procedure and moved into the cities. There are rumors that some people, called Invalids, still live out in the wilds and don't believe love is actually a disease, but the government says that they've all died off because of the disease and there is no one out there anymore. And no one really questions it anyway.

Of course, there are other problems that come along with the cure, like the fact that parents don't tend to be quite as nurturing and protective of their children because they aren't capable of loving them, but the government has a lot of regulations about caring for a child and so it generally goes pretty smoothly.

The government spends a lot of time, too, getting rid of Sympathizers, those who secretly don't really care for the procedure or want to escape. They are either killed or locked away in a giant prison called the Crypt. Even the rumor that you're a sympathizer is enough to get you and your family fired from your jobs, expelled from school, and kicked out of your house. Basically, you toe the line.

Lena is just a few months away from the procedure and she is counting down the days eagerly. The disease killed her mother, who committed suicide because of it, and her older sister contracted it and ended up having the procedure against her will a few months early (happily, she's now completely cured, married to her assigned pair with children, and living peacefully). Lena still acutely feels the heartache of losing her mother and has been told by her sister and aunt that after the procedure, she won't feel that pain any longer - it will all seem a distant memory to her.

The idea of losing that pain is unbelievably appealing, even though it will mean she no longer will feel the strong bonds of friendship with Hana, her closest friend.

And then, as the procedure approaches, Lena accidentally falls in love. And now, like everything she's ever read about the disease predicted, she can't think clearly, she loses her feelings of self-preservation, and she has clearly contracted the delirium. And she doesn't even care.

Lena is such an excellent character - sometimes weak, sometimes strong, sometimes brave, sometimes terribly frightened. When she falls in love, she acts the way people in love do. Her friendships, her family relationships are all very very realistic. I can't say that I really loved Lena but she is exactly the right character to explore this world through.

It's been mentioned before and it'll keep getting mentioned - the writing in this book is really excellent. It's almost hard to read because I kept wanting to race ahead to see what was going to happen, but I also didn't want to miss any of the writing. What a terrible problem to have. . .

I loved how well-thought out the world in this book was - how a world without love really would function. It's not really full of hate, more just indifference. People just float through their lives, feeling no real joy and no real pain. Little things like how parents raise their children without love are mentioned in passing, just briefly enough to flesh out the setting and make it more realistic; you get the sense the author thought a lot about these issues as she wrote the book, rather than just thinking "Ah-ha! A world without love. And go!" And I appreciate that in an author.

Kimberly mentioned that this book reminded her of The Giver, but it reminded me far more strongly of Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series (when I told Bart the premise, he agreed), although I can see similarities to The Giver.

If you're a fan of either book, this is almost certainly one you'll enjoy.

ARC received from Kelly of Stacked

I'm a Professional

As you no doubt know, I really love my local library. The collections are excellent, the staff is generally lovely, it's close to my house, there is plenty of parking, and it is open most of the time.

Oh, you caught how I said the staff is "generally" lovely?

Yesterday afternoon I went in to the library with two items in hand (which I'd checked out only two days before) and the alarm sounded when I walked through. These items had not set off the alarms when I checked them out, but the alarms, I've noticed, tend to be quite finicky, so I didn't give it a second thought.

Except that one of the staff members was standing right there by the door.

I dropped my items into the drop slots and went to the hold shelves to pick up the three things waiting for me.

The staff member followed me over. "Some people think because it's on hold they don't have to check it out. You still need to check it out."

I smiled politely, "I will. Thanks."

Then I headed into the juvenile fiction section (Ella's bulky carseat banging against my knee with every step) to pick up After Ever After.

He followed (of course he did): "You need to make sure every item turns green on the screen before you remove it from the scanner!"

I smiled less politely and nodded, glad to escape to the peace and quiet of the stacks.

I got my book and hobbled back to the check out desk, pulled out my card and turned around to find him hovering right beside me.

I tried really really hard not to roll my eyes.

After my books were all checked out, he said, with an air of great surprise, "You did that perfectly!"

Some days, I just want to wear a sign that says "I'm a licensed professional librarian! I can check out books all by myself. Even with a carseat in tow!"

The Candymakers by Wendy Mass

8 of 10: The Candymakers is just the kind of book I wish my school libraries had been full of. Funny, mysterious, and clever. Four kids trying to invent a new candy, all of them harboring secrets? This book is a winner.

I haven't read a LOT of Wendy Mass books (and by "not a lot," I mean "exactly one other one besides this title,") but the woman is a VERY popular middle grade writer, I'm starting to realize and this one made me realize why. Her books are just FUN.

I've read a number of books in the last little while that have tried to imitate the same clever, amusing feel that The Mysterious Benedict Society did well. And they have failed quite spectacularly by my standards (School of Fear was one of them - it felt like it was just trying so very very hard).
I worried originally that this book might fall into the same trap, but it neatly avoided it, much to my relief.

The basic premise is that four children are meeting at a candy factory as part of a nationwide candy making contest. Children are given free rein at candy factories across the country and have several days to develop a  new candy. Then all the candies are collected and a winner is chosen.

The four children meeting at the Life is Sweet factory all have specific reasons for wanting to win. The story unfolds carefully, starting with one of the children and beginning the story from his point of view. Then, you get the backstory on the next child and you learn things that weren't revealed by the first child. And so on until you know quite a lot about the surprising and mysterious (and, overlapping) backgrounds of each of the main characters.

This could have been mega-confusing, but it was done so well that I never had any problems following what was going on or who was thinking what. 

Not only are the characters all fun and mainly likable (once you know their stories), but the descriptions of the food are KILLER. You will want a large supply of candy along with this book. I'm warning you. 

This is one of those books that is just borderline fantasy. Nothing quite outright magical happens, but things that aren't exactly possible happen too. And it's delightful. 

And it gets better as it goes along, rather than tapering off like I felt The Mysterious Benedict Society did.

It's a little bit long of a book (it clocks in at just over 450 pages) and I know firsthand that books that fat can be a hard sell to a lot of kids, but truly, the length of it is my only hesitation. Other than that, it was just a perfect middle grade book.

Advance copy received from publisher

Just When You Thought You Were Safe

I know you were thinking you dodged a bullet, not having to be subjected to a gazillion pictures of Ella's First Christmas.

Wrong. You will pay your dues like everyone else. (I have no idea what these dues are).

Ella is horrified that you might not want to look at pictures of her. I mean, really. 

Meeting Bart's mom for the first time (this darling dress was sent to me by a lovely blog reader who just had her own baby this past week). Also, Ella can rotate her head a ridiculous number of degrees.

Introducing Ella to Bart's little nieces (that one in the leopard print? I met her on my and Bart's first date. I've loved her ever since).

Ella has a LOT of cousins from Bart's side of the family (she's number 17).

And only one cousin on my side. (Pay no attention to the two darling blond girls).

We tried to give Ella a little culture by taking her to an art exhibit, but she snoozed through the entire trip PLUS a trip to J Dawgs.

 Breakfast before driving back to Las Vegas. Italian french bread with cinnamon syrup and marscapone cheese. Oh yes, I married into the right family. 

 

One last picture before we left behind the snow. 

  

Ella probably feels like she spent the entire trip in this contraption. Sorry. 

 Did I ever get tired of saying "Who's got the bear bum?" No, I did not. 

"Give me the toys!"

 With Auntie Landen

 

 My hair is very long these days.

 A little Owl Babies reading with Grancie.

I feel like this Christmas morning with Grandad could use a little music. "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. . . "

Ring Out the Old

I have been loving reading the various end of year reading wrap-ups on various blogs. If you are thoroughly sick of them, you may move right along. I shall not be offended. However, if you have a burning desire to see what I read in October, November, and December of 2010 and my brief and non-witty thoughts on each one, this is your blog post. Proceed with caution.

• Monster High by Lisi Harrison
This was a terrible way to start the quarter. This book was so dumb I could hardly stand it. And, dude, I have read some really really dumb books.

• My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison
Definitely my least favorite of hers thus far.

• Revenge of the Cheerleaders by Janette Rallison
Ah, here is the Janette Rallison I know and love.

• White House Autumn by Ellen Emerson White
Man, I loved this series.

• Long Live the Queen by Ellen Emerson White
Brace yourself for quite a lot of swearing, but excellent excellent story line and dialogue.

• My Bonny Light Horseman by L. A. Meyer
I cannot remember a time when I wasn't listening to these in the car.

• Long May She Reign by Ellen Emerson White
Gripping, horrifying, fabulous. Also has quite a lot of swearing.

• Food Rules by Michael Pollen
  
A quick read that made me laugh and swear to eat better.

• The Hole in the Wall by Lisa Rowe Fraustino
Have I said before how BIZARRE this book was? I mean, really. It was so bizarre.

• Delirium by Lauren Oliver
I thought I might be burned out on dystopian novels. I was wrong.

• Things I Know About Love by Kate Le Vann
Why did this book end like it did? I was so prepared to love it.

• The Candymakers by Wendy Mass
Cute and funny. Not the Roald Dahl knock-off I feared. Also, the day I learn to spell "Roald" without looking it up is the day I consider myself a real children's librarian. 

• One Crazy Summer by Rita Garcia-Williams
A big favorite for the Newbery. Can't wait to find out on Monday!

• Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers
Still memorably good, possibly because I expected it to be terrible.

• The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June by Robin Benway
Someone on a blog somewhere said they thought this had a good shot at the Printz. I would die of surprise. It was kind of silly. 

• Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
WHY do I keep reading these? (I have no idea).

• Poems: New and Collected by Wislawa Szymborska
Do you know how SMART it made me feel to be reading Nobel prize-winning Polish poetry? LIKE A FREAKING GENIUS.

• Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Perhaps the only person in the book blogging universe who did not fall head over heels for this book. And mini-confession: I just had to pretend he was taller than she is. I could not date someone shorter than me. Because I am a very shallow individual.

• Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
Fun, but I nearly had to strangle Seth on multiple occasions. I mean, really, what part of "DO NOT OPEN THE WINDOW" were you not clear on?

• Mostly Good Girls by Leila Sales
Amusing but not quite as awesome as I'd been told it would be.

• Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
Not my favorite of his. But still interesting.

• Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler
So much better than Twenty Boy Summer. But still not my favorite.

• Rapture of the Deep by L.A. Meyer
i know. This series never ends.

• Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers by Ralph Moody
Give me Little House every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

• Keeper by Kathi Appelt
Also a favorite for a Newbery nod of some kind.

• The Road Home by Ellen Emerson White
I loved this book. Of course.

• Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community and War by Nathaniel Philbrick
The comments from last quarters books show up here and it amuses me that this one said, "Delightful fluff." The last thing that could be said about this book. Interesting until the war started.

• A Family of Readers: The Book Lover's Guide to Children's and Young Adult Literature by Roger Sutton
Oh man, this book was written for me.

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
  
I wasn't thrilled with this book the first time around. This time it seemed BRILLIANT. Oh, I loved it.

• Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
I know, I know. Another wildly popular YA book that I didn't quite grasp the hype about.

• Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
How many times can you use the phrase "blossom of pain"? Not as many as Paolo Bacigalupi.

• I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan
Sweet and very unlike most YA books.

• The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci
Meh.

• Jane by April Lindner
Okay, see, some books don't translate to modern times very well. Keeping your mentally unbalanced wife locked in the attic in 2010? Makes it rather hard to like Mr. Rochester (who is actually a ROCK STAR in this version. Yes, a literal rock star).

• Knightly Academy by Violet Haberdasher
Awesomely Harry Potter-ish. Delighted me.

• Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
How had I not read this book until now? It was quite excellent.

• So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld
Stick with Uglies. For your own sake.

• The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney
Hmm. A big Hmmmm.

• Heist Society by Ally Carter
Watch Ocean's Eleven instead.

• Welcome to Vietnam by Zack Emerson
Meh. 

• Fall for Anything by Courtney Summers
I realized I don't like REALLY REALLY DEPRESSING BOOKS. Even well-written ones.

• Baby-led Weaning by Gill Rapley
My baby eats avocado.

• Life Without Friends by Ellen Emerson White
Not my favorite, but it still had some excellent Ellen Emerson White zip to it. I read it in about five minutes.

• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling
This is probably my favorite of the series. Or at least my favorite of the first half of the series. Oh, how I love Harry Potter.

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
  
This one is a winner too. Even if it is perhaps a little longer than necessary.

• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling
I love this one for the same reasons I love Prisoner of Azkaban - I love the ones where the backstory is so huge.

• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling
Delightful. I cannot wait to read these to my children. (Take that, Harold Bloom).

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
Do Fred and George ever grow old for me? No.

• Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
I am a wimp who has no stomach for medical descriptions. Ugh. 

• Human .4 by Mike A. Lancaster
This was such a ridiculously bizarre and dumb book.

• Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream by Jenny Han
Yet another Judy Moody wanna-be. I like her "Summer" books much better.

• Deadly by Julie Chibbaro
Nice, but slow historical fiction. Yes, high praise indeed.

• The Book of Mormon
And a high note for the end of the year.

Merry Christmas to Me

Yesterday, this gift to myself arrived:

I think I shall celebrate with a little Double Cookie Dough Ice Cream this weekend.

That running goal is going to be very necessary this year, I feel certain.

Five Months

Sweet Baby Girl,

Last month, your dad put his foot down and declared that you were in desperate need of a haircut (he was right - the double mullet was quickly becoming an unflattering look for you). Now your hair is starting to grow back in all over (save for the persistent bald spot on the back of your head) and you look like a little fluff ball.

You still go to bed swaddled, even though I know you're getting a little old for it. It just seems to calm  you down and make it easier for you to fall asleep, even though you wake up virtually every morning and from most naps with one or both arms out. It makes me happy that you're still my little burrito baby.

Speaking of sleep, we started sleep training just after you hit the four month mark. You began sleeping through the night at seven weeks old of your own accord (I know, I know, brag on, Janssen), but you suddenly became quite difficult to put down for naps or bed, with the time it took to get you to sleep abruptly shifting from about ten minutes to two hours. This was misery. So, despite my former reluctance, we started letting you cry and within about four days, you started going to bed in about three minutes flat. Oh, my life has improved because of this (even though it was so so so much more painful than I'd expected to listen to you cry. I really thought my heart would break in two). It thrilled me to watch you go easily to sleep in a new crib at all three grandparents' houses while we were on vacation.

Despite a few nights where you woke up in the middle of the night and didn't want to go back to sleep since you could see us from your crib, you were the most delightful baby when we went home for Christmas. It was so fun to see all your cousins love you and for your grandparents and aunts and uncles to have some time with you.

It's hard to believe that last Christmas, we were just starting to tell a few select people that you existed and we hadn't even heard your heartbeat yet. Oh, how a year changes everything. In this case, in the best possible way.

Love,
Mommy

2011 Goals

Oh, how I love setting goals for a new year. I look forward to spending the last few weeks of December planning what I want to accomplish, what areas of my life I want to improve, and projects to get done.

In 2009, Bart and I were on fire with our goal setting and accomplishing. This past year, we never really finalized our goals and we both felt the void. This year will be much improved.

Here are some of my goals for 2011:

•  Health
• Run 5K in August 
• All whole grain rice and pasta at home
• 10 new vegetarian recipes added to regular rotation 
• Creativity/Projects
• Start herb garden on balcony with 8 different varieties  
• Photo albums for previous five years of marriage
• Finish bumpers for Ella's crib
• Frame four pictures for the house 
• Blogging
• Participate in  Cybils (Picture books or non-fiction picture books, preferably)  
• 50 Book Reviews
• Organizational
• Ella's closet organized
• Bathroom cupboards organized
• Pantry organized
• Laundry closet organized
• Intellectual
• Read 4 adult classics
• Read 6 Newbery books  
• Read at least 2 Economist articles from each issue 
• Download internet time tracker 
• Family
• Be a better gift giver 
• No TV for Ella
• Read 50 Caldecott (winners or honors) books with Ella
• Weekly Family Home Evening
• Plan 4 dates with Bart
• Do 4 new things in Texas

Happy New Year, indeed.

2010 Reading

Whew, this was quite the year of reading for me. In 2008, I read 149 books. Last year, I finished 199. This year I was DETERMINED to hit a nice round number. 200 books for the win!

According to my unbelievably nerdy spreadsheet, I read 26,478 pages this year, which means my books were, on average, 298 pages long.

Looking over my books for the year, I'd say this was the year of Harry Potter (I reread all of them in the last five weeks), Jacky Faber, Janette Rallison, Ellen Emerson White, and Malcolm Gladwell. Not to mention the six trillion books I brought home from ALA Midwinter. I shall stain my pillow tonight with tears that I am not going this year.

And for my top ten books this year. . . I've got to say this wasn't the best year for books. I read a lot of things I liked, but very few books that I just absolutely LOVED. Tragic. Nevertheless, I shall press on. In no particular order:

1. What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell (also Outliers)
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
3. Shakespeare Bats Cleanup by Ron Koertge (review here) (also Shakespeare Makes the Playoffs)
4. The Road Home by Ellen Emerson White (review here) (also her President's Daughter series)
5. Just One Wish by Janette Rallison (review here) (along with My Double Life)
6. Matched by Ally Condie (review here)
7. A Family of Readers: The Book Lover's Guide to Children's and Young Adult Literature by Roger Sutton and Martha Parravano
8. Nightshade by Andrea Creamer (review here)
9. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (along with the sequel, Linger)
10. Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta (review here)

What about you? What was your favorite book (or books. . . I'm not picky) in 2010?