kirstencan

Reader's Choice

I haven't written about books here for a while, I was realizing (oh, except my last couple of posts - ha!).  I think because I've been entering them on Goodreads.  You can click on the cool little widget on the sidebar to see what I'm reading, I've been trying to keep it current.

But since I've hit so many good books lately, I must share here, too!

Libraries rock.  And Librarians have the coolest job (...so why aren't all of them nice???).  My library does a 'Reader's Choice' a few times a year, where they pull out specific books that they've picked, get lots of copies of them available in a central display, and let readers vote on them.  Also, there is usually a gimmick, like this time you got to play a game and win candy when you turned in a ballot.

Anyway, I have found many good books through Reader's Choice in the past, and this time was no different.  Here are a few I've read in the past month or so (click on the cover image to read more about it on Goodreads):

Little Bee

The Calligrapher's Daughter

 

Asta in the Wings

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

 

The Tourist (I'm still reading this one - don't tell me what happens!)

They were all way good!  If I was going to recommend one two to you, they would definitely be Asta in the Wings and The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.  I dove headfirst into those books and thoroughly enjoyed myself.  Go check them out!

Another good thing about Reader's Choice is that when it's over, they have lots of really nice extra copies to sell at library prices ($1).  I will probably try to snag a couple of these!

p.s. Thanks for your nice comments on my last post - your virtual hugs helped.

Breaks my heart

I was in the grocery store waiting for a prescription at the pharmacy.  I browsed the books while I was waiting and came across this book by Jodi Piccoult:

This is what it says on the inside flap:

"They tell me I'm lucky to have a son who's so verbal, who is blisteringly intelligent, who can take apart the broken microwave and have it working again an hour later. They think there is no greater hell than having a son who is locked in his own world, unaware that there's a wider one to explore. But try having a son who is locked in his own world, and still wants to make a connection. A son who tries to be like everyone else, but truly doesn't know how."

Wow, did that ever strike home.  My spectrum kiddo is SO social.  It made him hard to diagnose, actually.  He always wants to be with friends.  He is always trying to talk to the kids in his church class or people we meet at the park - but they usually don't know what to make of my kid.  What motivates him to get his work done is the thought of playing outside with his friends later.  And when they can't play he's usually crushed.  But sometimes/often it's hard to watch his interactions with his friends.

Sometimes it all goes south so quickly.

One afternoon this week several boys decided to be really mean to him.  REALLY mean. I won't get into details, but it was particularly awful that afternoon.

When your kid gets their feelings hurt, it breaks your heart a little.

When my spectrum kiddo gets his feelings hurt... it SUCKS.  There's not another word for it.  Breaks my heart bigtime, and while we've dealt with teasing quite a bit it NEVER gets easier.  I was in tears right along with him -  shouldn't I be used to it by now?  

It SUCKED.

He didn't get it either, at least not right away, and I was repeatedly trying to tell him 'Hey, they're not being nice right now, let's go do something else' which he didn't want to do.  He just kept saying 'But they're my friends."

Not right now, kiddo.

What a crappy afternoon.

This has been the hardest part of having a special needs kid, I think.  Sometimes I wonder if our life would be easier with less kids around to play with (or want to play with constantly).  We live on a circle with ELEVEN little boys.  It gets a little nuts.  So sometimes I wish we could just go live up in the woods with plenty to do, but maybe not so many people.

Or, maybe not.

So I'm sending virtual big hugs to all the "Special" moms out there.  You might need them today.

*********

The book sounds kinda interesting, but the premise is quite a bit like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time which I really enjoyed.  I don't know if I'll read this one.  It's also interesting that she came out with this book (and NBC came out with a show) about Aspergers right when it is announced that Aspergers will no longer be a separate diagnosis from Autism.

End of Summer Random

I have a bunch of random rumblings in my head today - bear with me as I purge.

**At Old Navy recently, I spied a rack of STIRRUP PANTS.  Black ones.  Just like the ones I begged my mom (and Santa) for when I was 10.  It was the 80's and I was 10 - that is my excuse.  Anyone who buys them now has NO excuse.  Seriously??

**I found new stainless steel water bottles at Costco - loving them.  They are Contigo brand, BPA free, dishwasher safe and they were a great price.

(The ones in the back are the kids' Thermos Funtainer ones.  They've been in constant use for 2 years.  I finally called Thermos to order new straws.  I may still buy some new ones for them, too - Mom spied some kids' Contigo ones at Costco, too).

**Yard sale season is coming to a close - and I have a couple more finds to hunt for - most importantly some kind of wardrobe/armoire for the girl's room.   She could really use a place to hang up her clothes.

**I found a pretty good natural deodorant.  I've been a fan of the JASON deodorants (in the background - notice I try to pick them up at Target on clearance) but I picked up this Arm & Hammer one a few months ago at the grocery store and like it even better.  Just get the unscented.  Trust me.

I switched to natural (aluminum free) deodorant a couple of years ago - and they're pretty hard to find!  But worth it, I think.  Once when I wore regular antiperspirant for a day after switching - I broke out in hives!  That sold me.  Plus, doesn't it seem weird to stop your body from sweating?  Anyway.

**We saw Ponyo in the theater afew weeks back - fabulous.  The kids LOVED it.  It was more fun to watch the kids watching it than keep my eyes on the screen.  They are big Miyasaki fans, so seeing a Studio Ghibli film in the theater was a real treat.  And it was really good.  Very charming.  If you have a chance to catch it in the theater - go for it!  It's probably my second favorite after Totoro.

**We also saw The Fox and the Child this week (checked it out from the library) and that was very charming as well.  It's a beautiful French film that the kids really loved - and so we are studying foxes this week in biology.  I highly recommend both movies.

**I've been reading quite a bit - and while I might not make it through 'American Gods' (sorry Aaron - he's been trying to get me to read this for years) I have a few notable books that I've really loved.

Love, Aubrey was one of my daughter's library books that I just picked up - and then couldn't put down.  I really enjoyed it.  It's a juvenile fiction and so worth reading.

Also recently read The Hunger Games and its sequel Catching Fire.  Both are fantastic and so exciting - Princess thought so as well.

**I'm so sick of my kids' 'internet names'.  I don't regret using them, I just regret the ones I chose.  But it's been 3+ years, so it feels too late to change them.

**I am still taking photos for 365 - but have lost count and haven't uploaded for a while - I need to go sort that all out!

Okay, that's all for now - I think my head feels lighter.

What's random with you?

Read For Fun

We're busy busy around here, getting ready for company this weekend - family in town for a very special event.  The dyson is getting a workout!  So I hope you have a great fourth, and I wanted to point you all to Chelle's cool summer reading program.  Isn't her chart seriously cute?  And if you're not a pink person there is a blue option. 

My library actually does do an adult summer reading program - but Chelle's is way cuter, so I picked hers. ;)

My goodreads friends may have noticed a lack of reading on my part.  Well, I lost my reading glasses.  And they're not the kind you can buy at a discount store and I know they're in my house somewhere so it's driving me crazy.  But I can read in short bursts, and have re-read the Harry Potter books (completely out of order) and started Atonement.  So there you go.

Have a great Independence day for those of you celebrating!  And if you get bored, check out human tetris.  With a name that awesome it has to be good, right?

Meeting Shannon

So, about that special valentine...

Princess and I had a night out this week.  It's always fun to have a girls' night out.  We headed downtown to a bookstore where Shannon Hale and her husband were speaking.

What fun!

They are hilarious.  No, seriously, they are both super charismatic and I was laughing the whole time they spoke.  They have a short story written together in an anthology called First Kiss (Then Tell) so they were talking about how they met and ... it was just so funny!  It's awesome when you see that someone who's work you respect is nice!  Quite, actually.

Later, they signed books - Princess brought Princess Academy, and I brought Austenland (you already know I love Austenland).

Princess wanted to make Shannon a valentine, so she made her a cookie bouquet - with a Black Apple card attached.  The best part was what she wrote on the back:

Dear Shanonn:

I love your books!

Please let me know when you write a new book.

(and then she wrote our phone number!) 

Heart, (she drew a heart) [Princess]

p.s. Thanks for writing good books.

Sweet, huh?  It was pretty funny to watch her - she was a little nervous (and SO excited) to meet one of her favorite authors.  She's read and re-read most of Shannon's books.  When it was her turn to get her book signed (it was a nice small group, so the line wasn't long, and Shannon took time to really talk to each person) Princess totally froze up!  She managed to say a couple of times that 'They're really good.'
Ha! 

This from the Girlwhowillnoteverstoptalking-
noseriouslywearetalkingaconstantstreamofchatter. 

So it made me chuckle to see her dumbfounded. 

What really made me chuckle was when we were heading out of the store and Princess stopped to tie her shoe - I finally opened the book to see what Shannon had written in my copy of Austenland:



Yeah, baby!

Tidbits and Follow-ups

Thanks for the playroom love, guys!  I'm so glad you liked it!

I wanted to say, to those of you who wished you had a playroom, that we don't have a huge house.  We really don't.  But, like many houses, there is a 'living room' and a 'family room' and we decided to LIVE in the living room, and turn the family room into a playroom.  We don't need a formal living room - who does, really? As the kids get older, the playroom will evolve and change, probably eventually sporting a decent TV and game system (so the kids will want to hang out here! :).  I think part of the decision to use our rooms that way came from reading The Not So Big House.  That book is cool.

(random shot - a bird in the grocery store)

Speaking of books, the books I used for my mobile were definitely specific cut-up books.  I keep the books that have good illustrations that my kids rip up (we're now on our third copy of Zen Shorts, I think).  That's happening less and less, but Thomas went through a stage where it happened frequently.  I also have picked up books at yard sales or thrift stores that I bought to cut up.  I've cut up these books for tags, magnets, ornaments, cards, and now the mobile.  I LOVE cutting up books.   

Also in the book category, I found out that my book club (which, sadly, I haven't been able to attend for a few months) is reading P.S. I Love You this month.  So I picked that one up and read it... all on Sunday.  It is great - I really enjoyed it!  I have a feeling the movie will be so completely different, probably still good, but different.  The book is definitely worth a read.

Haven't decided what to read next, except for Click and Clack.  That's right, after two long weeks, the insurance company finally decided that our car has major frame damage and will be 'unrepairable'.  That stinks.  Seriously, it seems unfair that because of a relatively small fender-bender which wasn't our fault, we get a little bit of money - not what our car is worth to us at all - and not enough to get a decent car to replace it with - but such is life.  (Think zen, think zen!)

And finally, to end this random post on a happy note, here are some pretty spritz cookies I made yesterday.  Flowers and snowflakes to take to a church activity. 

I only make them when I can share them, because they are way too yummy!

Jane Austen, etc.

Here's my Stack 'o' Books from Christmas- The bottom one is Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts (wahoo!).  I immediately plowed through Austenland (again) and Twilight.  I enjoyed Twilight, especially the beginning.  Not as fond of the middle.  I'm not as excited about reading the other two in the series, but I probably will eventually.

The collected works of Jane Austen is awesome. I'm excited to go through the whole thing. Is anyone else watching the Jane Austen Masterpiece series?  I missed Persuasion, but watched Northanger Abbey - which I haven't read.  I enjoyed the show, it was pretty well done. The previews for the Mansfield Park show don't look as promising.  I read somewhere that MP was Jane Austen's favorite work.  So far it has been my least favorite of hers.  I just didn't enjoy it.

I saw The Amber Spyglass on my sidebar - ha!  I'd forgotten that I was reading that book - I put it down about a third of the way through.  Which is a shame, it's the third in a trilogy, but it's very different from the first two, very metaphysical and 'deep' - and it totally lost my interest.  Tells you a lot about my personality, eh? :)

I just finished Angela's Ashes - wow.  That's about all I can say.  It makes me feel tremendously blessed to have the knowledge, family, and material things that I have.  An amazing book.

I also just read East .  What a fun book!
Princess asked me what it was about, and I was telling her and she's like 'Oh, I know that story'.  What?  'Yeah, it's from East O' the Sun and West O' the Moon'.  I hadn't realized it's a re-telling of an old folktale.  Much along the lines of Gail Carson Levine and Shannon Hale.  A popular trend right now.  It's a really great read, actually, and Princess may read it next.

Now what should I read next?

Any suggestions?  Please?

While you're thinking, here's a couple more handmade gifts - I'm a lucky, lucky girl:

My mom made these cool fingerless gloves for me - I like to wear them - sometimes to play Katamari!

Letterpress cards from my SIL, Eva - I hope it's obvious that those are 'hello' cards and not 'hell' cards - although those might find a niche market, too. :)

Lists

We're back from a pleasant Thanksgiving trip to see Aaron's family.  Hope you all had a great weekend, too.  We're not in full Christmas mode yet - The Grinch has been watched (and read), I pulled  out all the Christmas books, a couple of holiday CD's and changed the pillow covers.  Not much else as of yet. It'll come.

I have a huge list of things I want to do this next month - here's what I remember of the list since I can't actually find it:

• shop update (shirts, brooches, ornaments - including custom orders)
• finish Christmas quilt
• make Christmas quilted pillow cover
• gnomes
• secret project with Princess (underway!)
• pom pom garland
• craft morning with Princess' friends
• see the Nutcracker
• make paper snowflakes
• make new stockings
• finish various gifts
• etc, etc, etc.

Yeah, that isn't nearly all of what's on my list.... must find it!

This month I'm trying to read out loud with Princess every day.  We used to do that, but have gotten out of the habit.  Last December we tried to re-read all of the American Girl Christmas books (I think my favorite is Molly's).  This year we started with Chapter 2 of Little Women (When the family gives their modest Christmas breakfast to a family that has none).  And then Princess took the book to bed with her (Yay!  It's an amazing thing to pass on your favorite books!).  I thought I'd try and find a couple of Little House Christmas chapters, too.  Does anyone else have any ideas of Christmas-y segments from books?

I also want to do more cooking with her.  She found an American Girl (Felicity) cookbook at her Nana's house this weekend and set out with Nana to make Sally Lund bread.  It turned out delicious, and I want to make more 'historic' food with her.  Actually, I think I have the 'Louisa May Alcott Cookbook' - I'll have to dig that out!

Wishing you all luck with your own Christmas lists - because I know you have them, too.

Fall Books and Movies

So our fall books and movies are in heavy rotation now.  The kids ultimate fave Halloween book is Big Pumpkin, and a new fun one we got this year is
The Wee Witches Halloween (by the author of But No Elephants - also a fave).

We put the holiday movies away during the year, so the kids are really enjoying:

It's the great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
The Nightmare before Christmas (seriously, every time I hear the music I love it more - Danny Elfman is a genius)
Ichabod Crane
Max and Ruby's Halloween

Aaron and I are waiting to have time to watch 'The Burbs' - a favorite that we save for a Halloween treat.
...

I've been reading quite a bit lately, here's the list:

Uglies and Pretties (the other two are on hold at the library - don't read the summary on the back - they're really good and not what I was expecting)
Evolution, Me, and Other Freaks of Nature (fairly entertaining, but 'eh')
Book of a Thousand Days (lovely book - not my favorite Shannon Hale, though - Princess liked it, too)
The Eyre Affair (funny, will probably pick up the sequels)
The Golden Compass (just finished it - love it!)

Also trying to (finally)finish the Series of Unfortunate Events (I'm on #10) just for the sake of being able to tell Princess I've finished them.  She is working on the Lord of the Rings series (at the end of Return of the King - her dad is so proud!:) and the Charlie Bone series.

Next up is finishing the sequels to the Golden Compass, and then reading the Twilight series (finally!). 

What have you been reading?

On Harry Potter Movies - no spoilers

We've just returned from seeing the Order of the Phoenix.  Thumbs way up on this one!  (It really was a 'Potter' weekend, as my sisters came with me to see 'Miss Potter' yesterday and it quite good, too!)

Princess came to the movie today, too - we wouldn't have let her if she hadn't already read the book - and she was really excited to see the end battle.  She didn't care for the snogging - covered her eyes and was heard to whisper 'Ew, gross!'

I practically giggled at Bellatrix Lestrange - I didn't know they'd cast Helena Bonham Carter until just last week - could they have cast her more perfectly?  Loved her.
Luna was acceptable to me, but slightly forced.

There was a real departure in music, too - I loved it!  So fitting, but different from the John Williams' scores.  And Nicholas Hooper is signed on for the music in movie #6 as well.

Looks like the next movie will come out next November, and I'm SO excited that they have the same director as Order of the Phoenix working on it.  I think he did a great job - there was a really cool style to this film and I'm excited to see what he does with the next one.

So, I have to say this is in my top 2 HP movies.  I think my favorite is still #3, but this one is a close second, if it is second.  I find it interesting that people either LOVE #3 (The Prisoner of Azkaban) or hate it.   It seems to me that the more artistic people seem to love it.  I think that both movies 3 and 5 depart the most from the books, but in a good way. They add the most atmosphere and condense the story where need be.  Movies 1, 2, and 4 are all good films, very well done, but a tad boring, I think.  Like they had a list of plot points from the book and just squeezed to get them all in.  I think as we see the sixth and seventh movies we'll see more departures like those made in 3 and 5, as the books are HUGE and filled with plot.  You just can't get every tiny detail into a movie.  It's a totally different art form, and they should look at it like that, as a film, not a book on the screen, you know?

So, are you a #3 lover or hater?  I have to know!

(and I won't hate you if you hate #3 - promise.)

(P.S.- Also, saw another preview for 'Becoming Jane' - so excited!)