2 x 2 (by 2)

Every year, the Texas Library Association puts out a book list called 2 x 2 with 20 books aimed at children between the age of 2 and second grade. It's a nice selection of books and they have activities to go along with each book.

I started checking these out from our library to read with Ella and I'll be reviewing them (how else?) two at a time through the rest of the year. 

Here's the 2011 list, in case you're interested.

Disappearing Desmond by Anna Alter

LMNO Peas by Keith Baker

Let’s Save the Animals: A Flip-the-Flap Book by Frances Barry 

Shark vs. Train by Chris Baron, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld. 

One Pup’s Up by Marsha Wilson Chall, illustrated by Henry Cole.

Dancing Feet by Lindsey Craig, illustrated by Marc Brown. 

In the Wild by David Elliott, illustrated by Holly Meade. 

Rubia and the Three Osos by Susan Middleton Elya, illustrated by Melissa Sweet.  

Chicken Big by Keith Graves

Tuck Me In! by Dean Hacohen, illustrated by Sherry Scharschmidt

Say Hello by Rachel Isadora 

1+1=5: and Other Unlikely Additions by David laRochelle, illustrated by Brenda Sexton.  

Swim! Swim! by Lerch

Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same! by Grace Lin

Pocketful of Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes by Salley Mayor

Who Said Coo? by Deborah Ruddell, illustrated by Robin Luebs. 

Chalk by Bill Thomson

A Balloon for Isabel by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Laura Rankin. 

A Beach Tail by Karen Lynn Williams, illustrated by Floyd Cooper

Cat the Cat Who is That? by Mo Willems

*************************************

By the way, I wrote a review of Sarah Dessen's new book, What Happened to Goodbye, over at the BlogHer book club. You know I'd take any excuse to talk about my deep love for Sarah Dessen - check it out here, if you'd like. 

Ella's Birthday Party

Let's not kid ourselves, this party was way more for me than it was for Ella.

Bart really wanted to have a little party, and I quickly warmed up to the idea because, hello, another chance to pull out the frosting gun.

It was convenient that her birthday fell on a Saturday, so we could celebrate on the actual day.  We took a little walk to the dog park in the morning, then she went down for a nap, while Bart and I cleaned the apartment a bit and set up for the party. She woke up 30 minutes before everyone arrived, and was happy and pleasant the entire time.

I didn't want this party to cost a fortune, so we didn't do a lot of food. I had a fruit plate, a large dish of jalapeno popper dip (Bart was devastated that this got completely scarfed) with vegetables and crackers, and three kinds of cupcakes.

The cupcakes were the main event, for me. I stole the idea of using little ketchup cups to bake the cupcakes in from my mega-crafty friends in Boston, Kristen and Jessamy. I went to two McDonalds and one Wendys and asked if I could buy about 30 of the ketchup cups. Happily, all of them said I could have them for free.

The thing about using the ketchup cups is that you can just lay them out on a cookie sheet and bake about 50-60 at a time. I didn't spray the cups or anything, but they came out of the wrappers quite easily. Just don't overfill them - about half full is perfect for most cake batter.

I made Snickerdoodle cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, coconut cupcakes with lemon curd filling and cream cheese frosting, and chocolate with raspberry frosting (I cooked down some raspberries from my freezer with a bit of water and sugar, strained them, and then substituted that for the seedless raspberry jam in the recipe - I couldn't find seedless raspberry jam at my grocery store).

To my surprise, the snickerdoodle was the most popular, with the lemon coconut a close second. The chocolate was my favorite, with snickerdoodle my least favorite.

We printed 20 photos of Ella from the past year, trying to get a good representative sample. We did 5x7s which I think was a good call. Next time, though, I'd only do 12 photos (we did one wall with 12 photos and another wall with seven photos - one photo printed quite darkly, so we didn't use it). We still have them on the wall and Ella points to them many times a day, wanting to be picked up so she can look closely at them.

I also bought a couple of sheets of paper at Michaels and made a garland of different size circles (I geared everything toward pink and red polka dots), which I think turned out very nicely. Also, easy.

I used the last of the snickerdoodle cupcake batter to make a little cake for Ella - I greased a mug like crazy and baked it in that. It came out really nicely, I sliced off the bottom so it'd be even, frosted it with the cream cheese frosting and then edged it with the raspberry frosting.

I had warned Bart the night before that if Ella made any indication that she disliked all the attention on her while we did the cake thing, it would be immediately over. I was determined not to be one of those parents who is forcing their baby to have a good time eating cake, when they clearly are hating every second of it.

But the second everyone started singing to her, Ella's face lit up in this mega-cheesy grin. She loved it.

And then she was quite interested in the cake.

And then, the minute I stepped away from her, she stuck her face right into the frosting.

and I think it's safe to say, she enjoyed it.

We had a small little group (seven adults and five children), so it wasn't too crazy, and everyone stayed for two hours. We sat around and talked and the babies and children played and played and played.

Ralphie's husband made fast friends with the babies by reading them a little flip book over and over again.

After everyone left, Ella went right back down for another nap and when she woke up we opened a few gifts, which she seemed to quite enjoy.

We ended the festivities of the day with a trip to Rome's Pizza for a very tasty (and free! thanks to Morgan's Deals) pizza with our friends James and Allison, who love Ella nearly as much as we do. James even took Ella up to the counter and told the owner it was her birthday, and he gave us a free slice of cheesecake, which Ella thought was pretty much the greatest thing ever.

Happy birthday to our sweet baby.

Thanks to Ralphie for bringing her camera and taking all these photos, without ever once complaining about how terrible the light in that part of our apartment is.

Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley

Flags of Our Fathers was our July read for one of my bookclubs. And after ten pages, I couldn't stop telling people about it.

This was a book where I suddenly realized how MUCH I didn't know about something famous. Before this book, I'm pretty certain I could have identified Iwo Jima as a WWII battle. And I'm fairly confident I could have said it was a Pacific battle. But beyond that, I think I knew nothing.

I didn't realize that it was six men that raised that flag over Iwo Jima. I had no idea that the flag was raised - in pretty tranquil circumstances - after a few days of the battle, but that the fighting continued to rage on for a total of 36 days.

I didn't know that Iwo Jima was so strongly defended by the Japanese because it was considered part of their homeland and thus an attack on their country. I didn't know the Americans wanted it so badly because every time they flew planes to Japan in order to bomb, they got shot at both on their way their and their way back. I had no idea that the US casualties were over 26,000 (the Americans sustained more casualties than the Japanese, even though they won). I didn't realize that number only seems high until reading about the battle itself, and then I was amazed that it wasn't a 100% slaughter.

I certainly didn't know that this iconic flag-raising image was captured almost by accident - the photographer took the picture without looking through the view-finder and didn't see it until later. I absolutely had no idea that this was the second flag-raising over Iwo Jima (the first took place earlier and then a Navy officer wanted the flag as a souvenir, so one of the Marine commanders had some men go take down the first flag to protect it from Navy pilfering and had the second flag put up in its place). I didn't know that FDR sent a presidential order to the Marines to identify the men in the photograph and then have them brought back to the US to appear on the tour to raise war bonds.

The author, James Bradley, is the son of one of the flag raisers. His father was a Navy Corpsman (medic) and got pulled in to serve with the Marines. In a letter home to his parents, he mentioned the flag raising and said it was one of the happiest moments of his life. He was awarded a Navy Cross for his heroics during the battle.

Then he came home (after being wounded), married a girl he'd known since third grade, raised eight children, and never spoke of the war, Iwo Jima or the flag-raising again. His children knew vaguely that he'd served in the war and that he was in the famous photograph, but beyond that, it simply wasn't part of their lives. His father never spoke to reporters, went to reunions, or participated in documentaries. His children knew that, if a reporter called, they were to say their father was fishing in Canada.

After his father's death, James Bradley found his father's letters from the war and found himself fascinated with the flag-raising. He tracked down the stories of the other five flag-raisers and this book is the result.

Three of the flag-raising Marines never came home - they were all killed before Iwo Jima was over. His father came home wounded, with shrapnel in his leg and foot that he'd carry for the rest of his life. One flag-raiser, already inclined to alcoholism before the war, came home with terrible survivor's guilt and drank himself to death within a decade. And the sixth man, pushed on by his wife, looked for fame and success because of his actions, neither of which he ever really found.

This book does a fantastic job of combining the human element with the facts of the war - this book was as gripping to me as any novel. I never felt like it got bogged down in the details, but I also felt like it gave plenty of background and context to make the story meaningful and memorable.

My impression is that the European side of WWII is far more discussed, recorded and taught, so this book gave me a whole new view of the War in the Pacific. I understand better why the three main leaders of the Allies felt like dropping the atomic bomb was a pretty obvious choice. I realize now why this photograph is so famous. And I understand (and appreciate) the role of the Marines far better than I ever did.

There is an audio version that is highly abridged and I had that checked out along with my hard copy, but I wouldn't particularly recommend the abridged audio version because you miss a great deal of the story. Every time I would try and speed up my reading by listening to a bit, I'd end up going back to read the whole section  in the book because it skipped so many fascinating stories and anecdotes. This. . .was not a time-saver, as you can imagine.

This book was SO fantastic. I highly highly recommend it.

(Of course, as with most war books, there are some gruesome events, although I did not find it at all gratuitous. There is also a few instances of the f-word, etc, but they are brief and infrequent).


Audio and hard copy checked out from my local library

Twelve Months

Little Girl,

And here we are at a year.

You don't talk a lot yet (your only real words are "mama" and "quack" - your dad wonders how the rubber bath ducks rated ahead of him), but you make it pretty clear what you want through pointing, crazy arm-flapping to show excitement, and constant "eh-eh-eh"ing.

You like seeing us react to you, especially your dad, who can't hide his laughter every time you hold your food over the edge of your high chair and look up to see if he's watching you threaten to drop it on the carpet (whatever fool decided to carpet the eating area deserves to eat his dinner off that carpet).

And you're walking amazingly well. Because you weren't a particularly early crawler, I've been surprised how quickly you picked up walking. You now prefer walking to crawling, even if it takes you longer and you fall down multiple times while crossing the room.

I bought you a couple of pairs of shoes, and suddenly you just love shoes. Ralphie gave you a pair for your birthday and when you pulled them out of the gift bag, you immediately stuck your foot up in the air so I could put them on you.  

This past week, you've started giving kisses, pressing your open mouth to our cheeks and, my word, it's ridiculous how cute your dad and I think that is. You also like to do "nose-to-nose," brushing your nose against ours.

And the dishwasher? The coolest thing you've ever seen. As soon as you notice it's open, you're glued to the side of it, pulling out the silverware as fast as you can. And occasionally, you climb on the dishwasher door.

Over the last couple of months, you pretty much only get your pacifier to go down for naps or to bed, and oh my, your love for it has increased as your access to it has been restricted. When I hand it to you, your whole face just lights up. I'm guessing we'll get rid of the pacifier in the fall, once our summer traveling is done, but I am dreading the thought of doing so, not just because I fear the crying, but also because it just brings you so much joy.

I just had no idea that your happiness could bring me so much happiness.

You have lit up this past year for me. Thank you for being my baby.

Love,
Mama

Miscellaneous and Probably Boring Thoughts on Harry Potter

Bart and I went to see the final Harry Potter movie on Friday evening (thank you, 2-for-1 movie tickets on Fridays with a Visa signature card).

In many ways, I thought it was the best of the movies so far (I feel like the movies have been somewhat uneven), and probably would have continued to feel so if they hadn't taken so many (stupid) liberties with the ending of the movie.


Spoilers, I guess, if you happen to care about Harry Potter enough to be bothered by spoilers, but not enough to have read the books and know how things happen.

I thought Neville's killing of the snake was seriously weakened by the way they made it play out. The book really let Neville have his moment of glory and I wanted to see it.

And having the weird fight between Harry and Voldemort? Lame. And just the two of them dueling in the courtyard with Voldemort dissolving? A let down. The book has it so much better, with a full audience, and Harry's explanation to Voldemort about the wand (much better to have the explanation before it really happened), and then the curse rebounding.

Plus, no moment with the three main kids in Dumbledore's office, where Harry repairs his wand and puts aside the Elder Wand? And no cheering from the portraits on the wall? No Dumbledore weeping with pride and joy? You wanted me to be happy with a wand snap on the parapet and a quick explanation of Malfoy's wand? Wrong. I will be disappointed. 

Also, because I am a very shallow and horrible person, I find myself totally disturbed by the fact that Ginny is taller than Harry.

End of Spoilers

I reread all of the books last winter, and I have some very happy memories of snuggling my nursing baby in the my in-laws' basement, reading the British versions of several of the books, with the space heater next to my feet.

I realized when I read them, that, despite having seen all the movies, the books are so separate and distinct in my mind that I do not imagine the movie characters or movie sets when I read the books. I still so clearly remember my own Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The Great Hall looks far different than the book one does and Snape is less old than Alan Rickman.

And for that, I'm glad. Although the movies are fun, the books are really where it's at for me, and I'm glad the movies haven't taken that from me.

Pig Pig Returns by David McPhail

I like books like Pig Pig Returns that feature animals living as humans (see Oliver and Amanda Pig, Olivia, Bread and Jam for Frances, etc (this list makes it clear to me that I also apparently really like pigs. And I only thought I liked them for delicious bacon)).

But more than just an animal wearing clothing, I particularly love it when those animals have a little bit of human angst. For some reason, this just amuses me to no end (this may explain my deep love for Frances). 

It also amuses me when animals have pets. But that is neither here nor there.

Anyway, the presence of an overall-wearing pig filled with worry over a road trip meant that this book was a quick new friend in our house.

Pig Pig is going on a road trip with his aunt and uncle, but he's pretty nervous about it. Not because he's scared, of course, but because he is worried his mom will just miss him too much. Of course.

But he is convinced to go, and after a rocky start, what with the car sickness and going to see the hot springs that shoots off every Thursday, but they arrive on a Friday. Tragic.

The text is delightfully sparse (nice for a small child and with a bit of ironic flair to it), and the illustrations are sweet, colorful, and breezy. I loved this book.

I especially giggled at the little note on the copyright page that says "A not for concerned readers: Pig Pig is of the appropriate age, height, and weight to be sitting in the front seat of an automobile. On pages 8 and 9 his safety belt is obscured by his magazine and the dashboard of the car."

Apparently David McPhail wrote five books, a decade or two ago, about Pig Pig, and this book is a return to these characters. I'd never heard of them, but I have several on request at the library as we speak.


Copy received from publisher

Vegetarian Recipe #3: Creamy Artichoke and Tomato Orzo

We've eaten this dish in some form or another for the last couple of years, but I've tweaked it a little every time, finally settling on this as the best version.

I particularly like making this in a deep stainless steel skillet because 1) I feel like a real cook and 2) the browning bits of mushrooms, etc add a lot of flavor, but it doesn't all stick to the pan like crazy.

This is one of those dishes where the leftovers are just as good or even better than the original dish.

Also, this is crazy easy to make - two pots, and mainly just dumping everything in and stirring. Done in 30 minutes too; I can handle that.

Creamy Artichoke and Tomato Orzo
adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil
8 ounces mushrooms, halved and sliced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tsp garlic, finely minced
2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 pound orzo pasta
1 cup reserved pasta water
6 ounces cream cheese
1 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained (and chopped, if desired)
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbs lemon juice
Salt and Pepper

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the orzo and cook according to package directions until tender (for me, this is around 10-15 minutes).

While the orzo cooks, heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. When the oil is warm, add the mushrooms and let cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are soft. Add the garlic and thyme, and cook, about 1 minute, stirring to keep from burning.

When the orzo is finished cooking, ladle 1 cup of the liquid into the skillet with the mushrooms. Drain the orzo over the sink and add the pasta to the skillet.

Immediately toss in the chopped tomatoes and the cream cheese. Use the spatula or spoon to break up the cream cheese a bit so it will melt more quickly.

Add the artichokes, Parmesan, and lemon juice, stirring to combine.

Bring to a simmer and let cook for about ten minutes until it's quite thick and no longer watery. Stir occasionally.

Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Why I Will Never Buy a Shabby Apple Product

I have considered writing this post for some time and not done so because I didn't want to seem ungrateful for my mom's lovely and generous gift, but. . . now I'm just too angry not to say something about it, and I would really like to keep someone else from having the same terrible experience I had.

The short story is: Shabby Apple makes poor-quality items and doesn't stand behind them.

The long story? Well, buckle your seat belts. Because I am filled with indignation.

For Christmas, my mom bought all three of us girls dresses from Shabby Apple. Mine was this one:

via

Lovely, isn't it? My mom has good taste and always has (I do not joke when I say that every time I get compliments on an item of clothing I'm wearing it is always something my mom has purchased for me).

The thing was, at Christmas I was still nursing. A lot. And continued to for many months afterward, so wearing a dress wasn't really an option for me. So the dress hung, unworn, tags still on, in my closet for quite a few months.

Finally, when nursing had tapered off to the point where I could make it through three hours of church, I pulled the dress out of my closet, and with anticipation, slid it on.

And. . .then I realized I couldn't zip it up. Keep in mind that the website states that this dress is "fits generously." I am not sure what universe it is where a "generously" fitting dress will not zip over my sub-100 lb body, but it is NOT this universe.

And the top gaped like crazy.

Oh, and the top? Was white. And sheer. And unlined. So the whole premise of Shabby Apple, which is "A return to what dresses were always meant to be—a one piece outfit. No need to add anything…no tank tops, no cardigans, nothing," is blatantly untrue. 

Also, it hit me mid-calf, rather than at the knee, which was quite unflattering.

We were starting to get dangerously near running late, which I loathe, so I quickly changed into something else and we went to church. 

The dress still had the tags on it and I'd worn it for a total of 2 minutes in front of my bedroom mirror. 

After church, I looked up the dress on Shabby Apple and it said, "Sizing concern? Not the right dress for you?  Return your dress and Shabby Apple will ship you a new dress for FREE!"

Perfect. This would be an easily solved problem (my present self is laughing at this). Plus, the dress was still being sold at full-price, so I figured they'd let me ship it back and send me off another one. I'd pick a less expensive dress! 

I called in to Shabby Apple the next morning and explained the situation. "Was it ordered more than 30 days ago?" the rep asked. "Then I'm sorry, there is nothing we can do." (I loathe this answer so much because that is NOT true. They are choosing to do nothing about it).  Basically, I was stuck with a brand-new, non-fitting, poorly made $100 dress.

I emailed a long description of the scenario to Shabby Apple (recap: 6 month old dress, never worn, still for sale at full price, tags still on). I was upfront about the fact that I knew I was outside the return window.

They emailed back saying how sorry they were and could I give them some info about the purchase so they could see what they could do.

My heart soared. 

Only to crash when they quickly responded saying, "Unfortunately we wouldn’t be able to make an exchange for your dress whereas your item was purchased in December. We understand and are flexible when the purchase is given as a gift but we do strongly advise that you try on your items as soon as possible to receiving them so that any exchange/return can be placed within our 30day exchange/return policy. I am sorry for any inconvenience that this may be for you and that the dress didn’t work out for you." 

I'm not sure what their definition of "flexible" is, but it's clearly FAR different from mine. Also, why did they suggest they could do something about it when I told them the dress was purchased many months ago, but then when they saw the actual date, they suddenly couldn't do anything?

I went back and looked at some of the reviews of the dress again. One reviewer, who gave the dress 4 stars, said "The only problem is that the top is completely see-through. You can’t really wear an undershirt because the skirt is so tight that you would see a line. So you would have to sew a lining in the top. The quality doesn’t reflect the high price." 

Okay, so I wasn't alone in this sheer problem. (Why you would still give it 4 stars is beyond me, but whatever). 

Another commenter, giving it three stars said, "VERY LONG SKIRT. I'm 5'4" and rather petite. I ordered this dress in a Med, because another dress that I ordered very similar to this one was a Small was too tight. I have to return the dress because it sits WELL BELOW THE KNEE, as in mid calf. And overall it was just too big, which could have been the Med instead of the Small, but the length was just silly. I looked like I was wearing my big sisters dress. ha. No lining in the skirt, and it felt rather thin. I wish it had fit as it is a cute style! But the pics on this website show the blonde girl with the dress at her knee, ya-no way."

Again, why three stars? But I digress. 

Another FIVE star review said, "This dress is not lined and is a bit of a struggle to get on and off. I did manage to zip it up and down on my own, but it took a good five minutes each time and I feared tearing the dress." 

I guarantee you that the people who are giving these high star ratings with complaints like this are the people who give a standing ovation to every performance they attend.

As I looked through reviews of other dresses, I noticed the same sorts of comments again and again: cheap fabric, unlined, fit not as shown, poor sizing.

I know Shabby Apple has a good reputation. They take gorgeous pictures, they have lovely models, and their selection is wide. They heavily promote their brand in the blogosphere, giving away many many dresses. But their dresses are poorly made, don't fit well, and the photographs are terribly misleading. They are low quality products that are horrendously overpriced.

And their customer service is seriously lacking.

Compare this with my experience yesterday with Lands' End Canvas. I ordered a swimsuit a couple of weeks ago and it didn't show up. I had recently ordered another swimsuit and a shirt for Bart for Father's Day (Lands' End makes excellent, excellent dress shirts) and they'd both shown up within a week of ordering. I knew from my order that it'd arrived two days after shipping at the post office sorting center. But then the post office appeared to have lost it.

Twelve days went by.  

I hopped on their website, clicked the "Chat Now" button and within seconds was chatting with Megan. I gave her my order number and told her the situation. Two minutes later, she was verifying my address and said a new swimsuit would arrive at my doorstep on Thursday, via UPS. No hassle, no waiting, not even a phone call.

And THAT is why I love Lands End. When they say "Guaranteed. Period." they mean it. That's why I buy my swimsuits there, and why Bart wears a Lands End shirt to work 80% of the time. 

They know what good customer service means. 

Last week, my mom emailed Merrick and me to ask if we'd like new black dresses for Landen's upcoming wedding. She suggested that Shabby Apple had a very cute line of black dresses. 

Both of us emailed her back separately that we would love a new dress, but would she mind if we purchased them from somewhere else? 

I ordered this one from eShakti. Their return policy? You can get a full refund or you can get a gift card back in the amount of your order PLUS 20%. Why?  

* A way for us to show higher responsibility in not meeting your expectations.
* To give you the opportunity to order again so that we can try and delight you, the next time round!

That's a return policy I can get behind.  

If you're considering buying a dress from Shabby Apple, I would strongly encourage you to think again. You can get a better dress somewhere else. A less expensive dress. A dress that isn't sheer, sized incorrectly, and unlined. 

And perhaps, if you buy that other dress, if you need to return it, you'll get a better answer than, "Sorry it didn't work out for you."

Half Way Mark

I read 40 books (and 13,547 pages) since April 1st. Not quite as high as the first quarter, but I've been busier, I think, and also my baby doesn't nurse for an hour at a time, three times a day. If it weren't for discovering that my iPhone will play audiobooks at double speed, I probably wouldn't have read nearly so much this quarter.

• Dani Noir by Nova Ren Suma
Meh. There are so many better middle grade books out there, although it did make me want to go watch a lot of old films. 

• Hourglass by Myra McEntire
It was a really slow start and then, in the last hundred pages picked up a lot (once some time travel got added to the plot, I was a fine). Not a bad read, but dear heavens, it's a lot to ask of a reader to give it over 100 pages with nothing happening.

• The Sweetest Thing by Christina Mandelski
Billed as a Sarah Dessen readalike. And for once, it kind of was. Cute and a quick read.

• Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
This was terrific, especially with the fantastic narrator.

• Taking Off by Jenny Moss
Historical fiction at its best. I loved this book about the Challenger's explosion. 

• Wait Till Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin
This is one of my favorite memoirs. Which shocks me, because it involves so much sports talk.

• After by Amy Efaw
I'm torn on this one about a girl accused of dumping her baby in a trash can, but has no memory of a pregnancy or a baby. I raced through the audio of it, but I wouldn't say I really loved it. 

• Back When You Were Easier to Love by Emily Wing Smith
  
A cute road trip/romance book. I wrote a guest post review of it, if you click the link.

• Bird in a Box by Andrea Davis Pinkney
This one about boxer Joe Louis during the Depression and the three fictional children he inspires was so highly touted (even Gary Schmidt personally recommended it at TLA!) but I found it kind of a letdown.

• Bumped by Megan McCafferty
I have tried to read the Jessica Darling series at least three times and never can get more than ten pages in. I should have known this book wouldn't really do it for me either, even though I threw caution to the wind because everyone kept raving about how fantastic it was.

• Girl Wonder by Alexa Martin
This book was so ridiculously trite. Skip it, I beg you.

• Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt
Delightful, sweet, funny, heartbreaking. I loved this book.

• Two-Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt
Meh.

• The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
I loved this book the first time around. This time, rereading it in preparation for the release of the final book in the trilogy, I found Belly quite whiny.

• Bitter End by Jennifer Brown
Such high hopes. Such bitter disappointment.

• It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han
This one was better than the first one.

• The Summer I Learned to Fly by Dana Reinhardt
I really enjoyed The Things a Brother Knows. This one? Not so much. Fine, but not memorable.

• Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
Sometimes you just need to read some chick-lit. This one was quite cute. 

• We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han
I hate it when I feel like the author is forcing a character to become unlikable.

• How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr
Sara Zarr can do almost no wrong in my book. Another stellar book (also the fourth or fifth teen pregnancy book I read this quarter). Review coming in October when this book is available for purchase or at your library.

• Tell Me a Secret by Holly Cupala
I listened to this one through free podcasts which is, let me tell you, a very irritating way to listen to an audiobook. Downloading each of the 45 chapters individually and listening to the intro and the, um, outro(?) for every single one of those doubles the time it takes to listen to this book.

• Princess for Hire by Lindsey Leavitt
This book didn't do much for me. Skip it and read Sean Griswold's Head instead.

• The Future of Us by Asher Jay
I wanted to like this one - the premise, about two teens in the 90s who find their future selves' Facebook pages, was so brilliant, but the book itself didn't go much of anywhere.

• Crossed by Ally Condie
Look, everyone wants to borrow my copy and it's making the rounds. But I'll warn you, it's definitely the middle book in a trilogy. It's good, but it's no Matched. It's a little bit a slow read.

• The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder
I like books written in verse. This one was quite excellent.

• A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Fun, quirky, and smart.

• The Little Women Letters by Gabrielle Donnelly
I loved this book. If you like Little Women, you may well love this book.

• I'll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan
So different. So worth reading.

• Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
  
Mixed mixed mixed feelings on this one. On the one hand, brilliant writing and a quick moving plot. On the other hand, a little too edgy for me. I'd hesitate to recommend it to someone I didn't know very very well, as far as book taste went.

• Fracture by Megan Miranda
I couldn't remember this book at all, so I looked up my notes on Goodreads and I'd said that when I told Bart the plot he was like, "That was it? What's even the point?" And now I couldn't even remember the plot, so I had to look up ANOTHER review to remind me what happened. I stand by Bart's assessment - no point.

• Bunheads by Sophie Flack
Written by a former New York Ballet dancer, this novel of the behind-the-scenes life of a young professional member of the ballet corps is fascinating. Look for a full review in the fall.

• Halo by Alexandra Adornetto
I am rather in awe that I didn't give up on this book. It's so long. And practically nothing happens. I mean, the whole "hey, I'm an angel! I love a human!" thing can only carry you so far (hint, not 15 CDs far).

• The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
Fantastic non-fiction. I feel like I know so much more about American history after reading this one. 

• The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
Bleck. I don't want to read a book about a girl whose life is practically ruined by being able to taste emotions in food.

• Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five by John Medina
Nurtureshock is better.

• Forgotten by Cat Patrick
I'm sorry. It just didn't work for me.

• Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
This book is worth reading so you can read Linger.

• Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
So much better than Shiver. And one of the few trilogies where the middle book is the strongest.

• Across the Universe by Beth Revis
This was such a ridiculous and weird little book about a girl frozen on a space ship so she can help build a new world when she arrives on a distant planet. Will not be reading the sequels, thank you very much.

• Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
Not as good as Linger, but better than Shiver. Cole and Isabel really carry this book. Sam and Grace = snoreeeeee. I get it. You love each other. Forever and ever and ever. 

Vegetarian Recipe #2: Egg and Avocado Quesadillas

And, another recipe for the Vegetarian List (although, really, it's going on "Favorite Meals Ever" list too).

This was SO ridiculously good. I had one for lunch the next day, and then mourned the lack of ingredients for the rest of the week.

I saw the recipe pop on Pinterest and was intrigued, even though I don't really care for eggs. And then when I looked more closely at the recipe, I saw it was inspired by 101 Cookbooks, which has recently become one of my most reliable recipe sources.

I've checked out two of Heidi Swanson's cookbooks from my library (Cook 1.0 which is, tragically, out of print, but one of my new favorite cookbooks, and Super Natural Every Day) and everything I've made from them has been phenomenal (the citrus risotto! the baked oatmeal! the chipotle potato pot pie! the berry/peach frozen yogurt!)

Anyway, I figured I'd give it a go. This was, perhaps, the best decision of my life.

Unda-Style Avocado Quesadillas

(adapted from Espresso & Cream)

Makes 1 serving

Ingredients

1 whole wheat tortilla (I have cycled through a number of recipes and finally landed on this one as my favorite - it is consistently the most tasty, is the easiest to work with, rolls out very smoothly, and is just all-around superior to other ones I've tried. I follow her directions precisely, except that I use white wheat flour instead of all-purpose).

1 egg

Salt and pepper (use fresh pepper - pre-ground pepper tastes like cardboard flakes. I'm just saying. . .)

1/2 T butter

1/4 cup crumbled Cotija cheese or queso fresco

1/2 avocado, mashed

1/3 cup salsa (you can use homemade, but I am a cretin who prefers jarred salsa to fresh)

Directions:

In a glass measuring cup, beat the egg until well combined. Stir in salt and pepper. 

Heat butter in a nonstick skillet over medium heat, swirl to cover pan (if your pan is really prone to sticking, you might want to give it a spray of non-stick. . .spray too). 

Pour egg into pan and cook 1-2 minutes, until egg is set on the bottom and slightly soft on top. Place the whole wheat tortilla on top of the egg. Flip the egg and tortilla so the tortilla is on the bottom. 

Crumble cheese and dot the mashed avocado on one half of the egg/tortilla. Fold over and cook 1 to 2 minutes more, flipping halfway if your tortilla is getting too crispy. 

Transfer to plate.

Pour salsa over the top. 

Repent of all the bad things you've said about eggs over the last 25 years.

My Books and Me

When Merrick got married, there was a wedding dinner after the ceremony and one of her husband's friends gave a little speech and mentioned that Philip is extremely careful with his books. This friend said that when he borrowed Philip's books, he didn't open them to more than a 90 degree angle so as not to break the spine.

This kind of blew my mind. I really had never realized people tried not to break the spine. I also worried that maybe I was haphazardly breaking book spines all over the place without even realizing it.

If I borrow a book from you, I will be careful with it. I'll try and return it in as nice of shape as you gave it to me (I know you're doubting that now. . . ).

But my own books?

They are for reading, for loving to pieces, for lending around.

I read while I eat, I shove my books in my purse or bag, toss them on the backseat of the car, stack them up precariously next to my bed, and let Ella turn the pages (she's amazingly careful with them, which I know means that she'll probably rip fifty pages out of something tomorrow). 

The aide at my library in Boston was horrified by my habit of putting books opened, face-down. I . . . didn't even know you weren't supposed to do that until she commented on it.

My mom turns down the corner of the page to mark her place, which I know some people find horrifying (I don't do this myself but it's because I'm too lazy).

My favorite books are very well-loved looking. The back covers are falling off, the pages are worn and the edges are fuzzy. I like them that way.

I don't hoard my books (except for a few precious ones, like my Laura Ingalls Wilder collection or my Louisa May Alcott set). I like to let people borrow them.

Gretchen, who I'd never met until Saturday, came over and picked out a number of my BEA books to read. I was delighted that someone else could enjoy them (the fact that she brought me half a dozen donuts didn't hurt either; neither did the fact that she kept oohing and ahhing over Ella, who took a real shine to her).

I don't think of my books as an archival library. I weed my books ruthlessly, I give some away, I sell others, I donate many of the advance copies to the local library. I use them and then, if I'm done with them, I find another home for them. I let Ella take them off the shelf and look through them.

I get joy out of my books being read, looked at, flipped through, turned over, being loved. And if that means they don't look crisp and new, well, that's a price I'm more than happy to pay.