what I read: January, February 2017

In the spirit of sharing what I read re: yesterday's post, here's a list of what I read over the first two months of 2017, with a quick note about each one. Have you read any of these? Tell me what you thought in a comment here or an email (larkingshop at gmail)!

Middle-Grade or YA Novels
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein [literature-based caper]
Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan [historical fiction, magical realism, racial injustice, the power of art/music]
Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper [historical fiction, racial injustice, coming of age]
Hour of the Bees by Lindsay Eagar [magical realism, family drama, coming of age]
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo [coming of age, family drama]
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken [suspense/thriller/adventure]
The Westing Game by Ellen Rankin [mystery]
Carney's House Party by Maud Hart Lovelace [friendship, romance]
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo [fantasy, adventure]
Wildwood by Colin Meloy [fantasy, adventure]
The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz [coming of age, family drama, bigotry/racism]
The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea by Eileen Beha [adventure, family drama]

Mysteries
The Penguin Book of Victorian Women in Crime edited by Michael Sims [collected short stories and chapters from Victorian women writers or published works about women detectives]
Bellwether Rhapsody by Kate Racculia [The Shining meets Special Topics In Calamity Physics with a dash of Alice in Wonderland]

Nonfiction Books about Writing
What It Is by Lynda Barry [graphic novel about overcoming writing fears and Barry's own creative path]
The Nuts and Bolts Guide to Writing Picture Books by Linda Ashman [e-book only]

Adult Fiction
Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple [in the same vein as Where'd You Go, Bernadette]
Austenland by Shannon Hale [three weeks at a fantasy camp for Jane Austen connisseurs]

larking book club, revisited.

I've mentioned before that I'm in a book club I adore, modeled roughly on the one that appears in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, in which we all read whatever we personally choose and then we share at our meeting (over hard cider and french fries), sometimes trading books amongst ourselves. We all have very different reading preferences, but a few books (often typical "book club picks") have made it around most or all of the members: The Night Circus, Where'd You Go Bernadette, The Golem and the Jinni, Wild, How Lucky You Are, Gone Girl (NB: this is not an endorsement of the books on this list - they were just read by multiple members, sometimes loved and sometimes despised).

I like the freedom of reading what I choose and not being stuck with a book I dislike, but I do miss the chance to actually discuss with fellow readers. I've made a commitment to pick up books instead of scrolling social media this year, and as a result I'm making significant headway on the large list of titles I've been meaning to read. I thought it might be fun to share my reading list at the beginning of each month and, if you're interested, you can jump in and read along! No pressure to read them all, of course, but if a title sounds good, I'd love your literary company.

I'm not sure yet what my format will be for sharing my thoughts on the books - email newsletter, blog post, FB live video, something else - so if you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them. And if you're local and want to come to our monthly book club or meet me for coffee or a drink to discuss, that'd be awesome too.

Here's the lineup for March (I've already finished the first book and am 40 pages from finishing the second so you can find them at the local library if needed!):

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
A Study In Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
The Getaway Car by Ann Patchett
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
The Fate of Mercy Alban by Wendy Webb
and if time (otherwise, the start of my April list)
Empire Falls by Richard Russo
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Emma by Jane Austen

(ps - these are not affiliate links, just helpful ones, but I did use my smile account on Amazon to search for them)

Hope some of you might be joining me in reading one or two of the titles on this list! If you have some books ideas to share for the rest of my year, I'd love to hear your thoughts on what else I should be reading - and you can always find me on Goodreads, too.

reliving my childhood - a Betsy-Tacy adventure

I've been back in the saddle with lots of custom orders in my Etsy shop this summer, and it always feels great to work on items that have personal significance in some way. My favorite recent order was a set of four necklaces, each featuring a picture of elementary-school-aged Betsy, Tacy, and Tib (plus Betsy's little sister Margaret) from the wonderful series by Maud Hart Lovelace. Elizabeth, the woman who contacted me, ordered the necklaces for her daughter and nieces, who have been reading the books and decided to take a trip to the Betsy-Tacy Society in Mankato, Minnesota to see the childhood home of "Betsy" (Maud Hart Lovelace) and learn more about the books and the author. I was thrilled: I have fond memories of my own visit there as a child, and it made me nostalgic for my home state and those charming stories. What better project, really?

I wish I had thought to take a picture of the completed set of necklaces, because they were so sweet and some of my favorite pieces I've created, but I was in too much of a hurry to get them in the mail and to Elizabeth in time for their big trip. Luckily, however, she took some beautiful photos of the girls having the time of their lives in "Deep Valley" and gave me permission to share this collage with you (you can see a great shot of the "Betsy" necklace in the lower left, and you'll notice the girls wearing their pendants in the other photos as well):

I'm so honored to have been a part of their adventures "Over the Big Hill" - thank you for sharing, Elizabeth!

literary-inspired names for boys.

So, I'm not writing on my own blog, but I am writing on other people's - that sounds pretty much like the story of my life! Pop on over to Laura's blog (which you should be visiting already on a regular basis) to read through my list of name ideas for her little bundle!

what we've been reading.

It's been a while since I updated you on what books have been gracing our shelves lately. (BTW, are we friends on GoodReads? We totally should be.)

that great pulp fiction Blue Train cover image found here

First of all, I've been on a crazy Agatha Christie binge - three of them in one week. And it just so happened that the ones I picked referenced each other, which is something I've never noticed before - especially mysteries that involve different detectives!

I suddenly realized that I'd never read The Mystery of the Blue Train, even though Poirot is my favorite. How does this happen? It's a good one - and features a plucky female heroine (not unlike another of my favorites, The Man in the Brown Suit) and a sweet little romance, so it's hard not to fall in love yourself. Strange coincidence #1: our plucky heroine is from St. Mary Mead! I can't remember a Marple/Poirot connection in any other books, but now I'm on the lookout.

Then it was on to By the Pricking of My Thumbs (love the Macbeth reference!), a Tommy and Tuppence mystery that I had forgotten about. It takes place in a small, blink-and-you'll-miss-it village in the English countryside where Tuppence winds up after a wild goose chase involving a painting, a memory of an old train ride, and a confused old lady in a nursing home who seems to be in some sort of trouble. Tommy and Tuppence are such a great pair - I wish Christie had written more mysteries involving them.

And, finally, I finished with Sleeping Murder. This is one I was pretty sure I remembered the solution to - I've read it, and it was a Miss Marple episode on Masterpiece not too long ago - but something made me pick it up anyway. Perhaps because it's about moving to a new house - though I'm certainly glad that there's no chance I lived here as a child and witnessed a murder! And there, in the middle of the novel: that same confused old lady from By The Pricking of My Thumbs, making the same strange comment to someone else! Bizarre that I happened to have read them in such short succession.

I also read, and loved, the following: Waiting for Birdy by Catherine Newman, The Egg and I by Betty MacDonald (you know her as the woman who created Mrs. Piggle Wiggle!), and the newest installment in the Flavia de Luce series. All three are totally fabulous, and I need to write a separate review for each of the first two titles - they're that fantastic.

I tried really, really hard to finish Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. I just couldn't. Between the characters who were all totally despicable and the writing ("Literally" appearing on just about every page? Who is your editor?), I threw in the towel. And I'm glad I did, because if I had slogged through and then been rewarded with that horrific ending, there might be a book-sized hole through the bedroom wall of our new place. Totally not worth it. I'm not one for abandoning books, but that one had to be done.

As for toddler picks, Lorelei has been adoring Please, Baby, Please by Spike Lee and his wife, Tonya Lewis Lee. The illustrations by Kadir Nelson are darling, and reading all about a naughty little toddler and all the things she does that she's not supposed to has been an endless source of laughter for a certain someone I know and love. I also found a very old copy of Over in the Meadow (Langstaff/Rojankovsky 1957 edition) hiding on the shelf at our library and we've been singing the sweet song that provides the text for this book ever since. If you don't know it, it's a great action song as well as a way to teach counting.

Disagree with my reviews? Have something to add? Please let me know in the comments!

Linking up with the Agatha Christie Carnival.

I've got the book yips.

I think it's the apocalypse: I've spent a total of 3 hours browsing book stores lately and I haven't bought a single book. Is it inertia? I've been in a reading slump, so maybe a reading brain at rest is having trouble being anything other than at rest. But it's making me feel all itchy inside. Yip yip.

Maybe the problem is my nightstand, which looks basically like this:

(Okay, truth be told, I don't have a nightstand anymore, because the fact that my nightstand and Jason's didn't match at all was making me totally insane, so I moved it to the basement and got a basket, also known as collection-bin-for-all-kinds-of-crap. But this is a lovely little trunk in my living room, and on top of the books you'll see the best $12 I ever spent, which I'll tell you about tomorrow.)

Are you seeing the problem? ONE WORK OF FICTION. This is abysmal, people. Don't get me wrong: David Liss is amazing, and I'm tearing through this one just like the rest of his novels. But what happens when I finish it? I can't just read parenting books. It might kill me.

Oh, and I'm about a third of the way through Gone Girl  on audiobook. I'm really wanting to like it, but I'm not sure how it's going to sustain itself much longer without something big happening (other than, you know, the disappearance). Don't tell me, though.

There are a couple of books I've been eyeing, but I can't seem to pull the trigger. I even saw a bunch of titles I've bookmarked on Goodreads when I was wandering around my favorite bookstore on Sunday and I still left empty-handed. There is something wrong with me.

Chicagolanders: if you haven't been here, add it to your list. 

Also, save room for the bread pudding in their amazing little cafe.

So this ex-literacy facilitator needs a kick in the reading pants. Anybody else excited about Flight Behavior or Sweet Tooth? What else are you reading? I need some serious inspiration, or I'm going to be stuck watching way too many King of Queens reruns before bed. Again.

and the winner is...

Sorry (or, you're welcome?), I'm not doing a political post today. But I am telling you about the recent kids' books we've been reading and which one is our new favorite!

Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever
This is an oldie but a goodie -- and Lorelei is reading my old copy, actually! My mom said my brother and I were obsessed with this book, and my daughter is no different: she wants to read this several times a day. There are so many things to point out and talk about on every page, and as she learns new words and concepts we find more and more to look at. Recently, she's been excited about acting out certain pages (like Kenny getting ready in the morning and all of the kids at the playground). You can find vintage copies on Etsy and eBay, or find a new version for a steal.

Judy Hindley's Baby Talk
Confession: the dollhouse, plastic zoo animals, and car carpet at the library are right next to the "H" section of the children's books, so we tend to check out a lot of books by H-named authors. Luckily, we love Judy Hindley's books -- especially because her text is always paired with illustrations that are captivating for toddlers. Lorelei loves this title in particular; it walks you through a baby's typical day and is a great way to practice the kinds of words and phrases that your new talker might be trying out. I found hardcover copies on Books-a-Million for as little as $2.99.

Willa Perlman's Good Night, World
We loved this book so much we renewed it from the library! The sweet rhyming text and whimsical illustrations make for the perfect bedtime story -- you'll like it so much you'll have the whole thing memorized after a few reads. There's a redwing blackbird (my favorite!) on every page which is fun for little fingers to point to. Barnes and Noble has used copies for $3 and up.

Stephen Savage's Where's Walrus?
I don't always love wordless books, but this one is just so fun! This plucky walrus just wants to find a place to fit in -- and it's hilarious to watch him running away from the zookeeper and trying on different hats, literally and figuratively, until he figures out what makes him happy. The illustrations have a classic feel (lots of bloggers have posted about this book because it is so graphically pleasing) and you and your toddler will laugh and clap together at the perfect ending. $7.50 and up on Alibris.

And the winner is...

All of them!

Lorelei's pick: Baby Talk
Dad's pick: Where's Walrus?
Mom's pick: Good Night, World
The one we read the most, so the winner by time spent reading it: Best Word Book Ever

books that look like home.

A little while ago, Lorelei and I received a wonderful surprise package in the mail from Amber and Liam. It included a copy of this very sweet book:

Did you ever read Sarah, Plain and Tall when you were in grade school? It took me a while to make the connection, but All The Places to Love is by the same author. (The darling illustrations were painted by Mike Wimmer -- I can't believe how much the little girl looks like Lorelei.) Amber mentioned in her note that it's a book that reminds her a lot of where she and Liam live, and even though I grew up in a very large suburb of Minneapolis, you didn't have to drive very far to be in the farmland you see in this beautiful little story. My mom's family two generations back was from a very rural part of Nebraska, and I grew up hearing the stories of my great-grandmother's adventures living on the prairie -- it's amazing to think how her husband, my great-granddaddy, was born in a sod house in the 1800s and lived long enough to see a man walk on the moon!

It got me thinking, too, about two grown-up versions of All The Places to Love: one is a book I've discussed before by Wendell Berry (you can read my review of it here) and the other is My Antonia, a novel by Willa Cather that I used to teach back when I was in Colorado. Both of these books are love songs to a place more than novels with gripping plots, but sometimes it's nice to be immersed in the beauty of a landscape without worrying about the who or the what or the why.

I learned fairly recently that Willa Cather commissioned an artist to create drawings for the original publication of My Antonia but that her publisher refused to use them -- luckily, the University of Nebraska rescued them decades later. I've actually been making a series of necklaces out of them in my shop:

...and my mom was inspired enough to make a purse to match.

Thanks again for the mailbox surprise, Amber and Liam :)

live chat with Lesley Kagen {wordy wednesday post}

PSA: Remember when I reviewed this amazing book? BookTrib is hosting a live chat with author Lesley Kagen next week on the 29th -- and 10 participants will be chosen at random to receive a copy of the sequel, Good Graces! Click the image below to learn more.

You have to sign up for an account to participate, but it's free. Hope you'll join me next Wednesday at 3:30pm ET!

what I've read lately {wordy wednesday post}

It's been quite a while since I've posted about what I'm reading. Here's a quick recap.

(click image for source)

JUST READ:
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls -- liked, but didn't love, this book. The writing is amazing and the story is powerful (to survive, and thrive, a childhood of such horrific neglect and upheaval is mindblowing), but it's just not "my kind of read." I have a hard time with voyeuristic memoirs and a really hard time reading about parents who are so unfit, especially now that I have a daughter of my own. And lest you want to argue with me that Jeannette's parents loved her and did their best, I'd have to counter by saying that loving your kids means getting a job even if you don't want to and protecting your children from child molesters even if they are related to you. Really.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver -- definitely an inspiring and eye-opening way to think about food. I love the idea of eating what's local and in-season (we do it as often as we can), and I love that Kingsolver and her family were willing to dig their heels in and actually walk the walk by growing it all themselves and journaling their experiences. I think at times it gets just the tiniest bit sanctimonious -- those of us who live significantly north of the Mason-Dixon line will have a very hard time living by their principles, and I think it's okay to do the best we can and not go through the produce section with a cloud of guilt over our heads. I also think it's important to note, as a little cruelty-free plug, that eating vegan one day a week has the same environmental impact as eating only locally-grown/produced food 100% of the time (read about it in a Carnegie-Mellon study described here).

Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christie -- the last mystery novel she ever wrote (the last one published was her final Poirot, but she had written it years earlier); her Alzheimer's/dementia is obvious through the change in her writing style and the subject matter, which is all about forgetfulness and the power of the past.

CURRENTLY READING:
A House and Its Head by Ivy Compton-Burnett -- Struggling with this one, but determined to finish it because I want to read "real" literature along with the other bestsellers, mysteries, and "fluff" reads on my list. It's about the relationships in a family not dissimilar from the one showcased on Downton Abbey with some serious skeletons in the closet.

The Snowman by Jo Nesbo -- A page-turning thriller by yet another Scandinavian mystery writer. Finding myself skimming through the scary/gory parts because I don't have the stomach for them at the moment (warning: this one is about a serial killer targeting mothers, so you might want to skip it if you have a too-vivid fantasy life). Can't wait for Wallander to return to PBS, btw.

Room by Emma Donoghue -- I picked this one up recently because I'm using it to create something for a friend's blessingway and didn't intend to read it, due to the Jaycee Duggard-esque content. But flipping through it I couldn't help but get swept up into the narrative. I'm reading it in fits and spurts when I feel in the mood.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson -- a good palate cleanser (and spirit lifter) when The Snowman and Room become too intense for me. Really enjoying the relationship forming between the two main characters, and especially enjoying the book after reading a piece by the author in last month's Real Simple.

NEXT UP:
The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones -- a dinner party gone awry due to a derailed train and a desperate group of survivors needing a place to spend the night in the English countryside...

Waiting for Birdy by Catherine Newman -- a memoir about a mother's second pregnancy while raising her quirky, curious, and energetic toddler.

What are you reading? What else should I add to my bedside table (and/or goodreads shelf -- if we're not friends yet, we totally should be!)?

wordy Wednesday: wedding wisdom from Shakespeare

At my brother's wedding on Saturday, the bride and groom had several friends and family members do readings, which is pretty typical ceremony practice. But they also asked four of us (me, my husband, and two close high-school buddies of my brother's) to do something unusual: speak for about two minutes each about what marriage and commitment means from the perspective of our different disciplines (English and literature + philosophy for the two of us, science/medicine and business for his buddies). We didn't get any other direction than that -- oh, except my brother saying "Don't tell me what you're going to say, because I want to be surprised."

No pressure, right? It was a really tough assignment! But we managed to pull together something we were all pretty proud of -- and we were all feeling good about it at the rehearsal the night before. That is, until I found out that my little flower girl was terrified of the wedding venue!

It wasn't her fault, really. We were in an old converted factory with high ceilings and giant windows so it was really bright and really loud -- not to mention filled with people she didn't know who all wanted to touch her and get right in her face. She cried through most of the rehearsal and was very agitated and whiny during the first part of the service on Saturday afternoon. So when I got up to make my little speech all about what Shakespeare has to say about marriage, standing a mere three feet away from her, it was too much for her to handle, and the waterworks started.

Typical: stay-at-home mom who craves intellectual challenges finally gets the chance to do something that satisfies her old self but is thwarted by her clingy little baby. ;) Lorelei ended up on my hip, Jason held the microphone for me, and my speech turned into quite the family affair -- much to my chagrin, and the delight of most of the wedding guests.

a stolen-from-Facebook pic of our little comedy act

Considering the "take-away" message of my speech, it ended up being rather appropriate in the end after all. Interested in reading it? Click here.

a literary bridal shower {DIY/how-to post}

My shop has been totally neglected, I've been skipping my regular posting schedule, and sleep has been minimal -- but my almost-sister-in-law's bridal shower was a smashing success!

My brother and his beautiful fiancee are getting married this July (remember them?) and their wedding will be all-things-book-related -- Meredith is an elementary school teacher who is working on a degree in literacy, Ross is an aspiring filmmaker who could never turn down a good mystery or Heinlein novel, and it will definitely be totally "them." My co-host and I wanted to make sure the party was in keeping with their wedding vibe, so we jumped on the book bandwagon and drove that sucker home. :)

A few more pictures from the event -- and then click on the jump for all the how-to details!

books as comfort food.

(image -- and a really cute shop too!)

Do you have certain books that you return to over and over again? My husband never reads books more than once unless it's for work, but I am definitely a repeat offender when it comes to my favorite titles. I actually wrote one of my college application essays about the multiple times I read George Orwell's Animal Farm (not a favorite, by the way) and how I had come to realize that, though the book seemed different every time, it was really because it kept revealing to me how I had changed. Deep stuff for a 17 year old -- wish I still had a copy!

Here are some of the books I'm guilty of rereading:

Pride and Prejudice. Enough said.

Agatha Christie novels and Sherlock Holmes short stories. I can tear through them really fast, and I always know I'm going to enjoy them, so it satisfies my book craving when I'm in between reads.

Something Foolish, Something Gay and Freaky Friday. When I was in junior high and high school, I read each of these countless times (waaay before the Lindsay Lohan movie, thankyouverymuch). Why? I guess I envied the lives of the girls in them for some reason -- smart, sarcastic, independent, cute.

Ian McEwan's Saturday. I love how this novel reveals the power of stories (and the desperate need for them) in our lives, and I also feel a pretty strong affinity for the family McEwan portrays -- it reminds me a lot of my own, in certain ways.

M. Scott Peck's The Road Less Traveled, when I'm feeling like I need to do some soul-searching.

What books do you turn to time and again? I'd love to know your put-it-on-repeat picks!

And speaking of books I've read many times, I'm excited to announce the winners of Lorelei's Baby Book Club giveaway from last week. Thanks to random.org, the proud new owners of copies of I Love You, Mouse are Margaux and Finley! Send me your contact info so I can get your books in the mail -- and don't forget to post about the book sometime on your blogs, too. :)

this week's adventures in motherhood: I love you, mouse {baby book club giveaway}

Coming down off the high of Lorelei's birthday week...ahhhh.

I'm so glad we didn't do a big party, because as a result we've had some lovely small celebrations with the people who matter to us -- Lorelei got to enjoy several individual visits from grandparents, her uncle and soon-to-be aunt, cousins, and friends, and they got to enjoy having her all to themselves rather than fighting through the crowd at a raucous party. Not that I'm disparaging anyone's choice to throw such a party: I love a good bash and am in the midst of planning one myself (a detailed post coming soon!). But this worked out perfectly for us.

A few birthday-related pics:

On the night of the 24th, after a picnic lunch and a birth minute kiss and a feast of avocado and birthday cake followed by bath time in her very own brand new bathtub (look how excited she is!), Lorelei settled in for story time with Daddy. They read a book we received shortly after Lorelei was born that has become one of our most cherished bedtime stories:

I love you, mouse.
and if I were a mouse,
I'd build you a furry nest.
And we'd curly up together
and nibble some cheese.


I love you, cub,
and if I were a bear,
I'd find you a cozy cave.
And we'd hunt for some honey
and watch out for bees.


I love you, baby.
And since we're people,
I've built a house for you,
and given you a bed with warm quilts,
a cool drink of water,
a kiss on the nose,
and a quiet good night.

And since we cherish it so much, we want you to read it, too!

Lorelei and I have two gently used copies of I Love You, Mouse to give away! (The book is out of print or we'd get you some brand spankin' new ones.) To enter, just post a comment below. If you blog, tweet, or mention this giveaway on Facebook, come back and leave another comment too for more entries! Oh, and remember: for Lorelei's Book Club giveaways, the only requirement is that you promise to post about the book on your blog at some point and link back here. Pictures of your little one reading would be especially appreciated -- and don't be afraid to get creative if the "little one" lives far away from you or hasn't been born yet!

The giveaway will run through next Tuesday night (June 5th) at 10pm (CDT). Good luck!

first birthday week: best books for new moms

To continue this week-long celebration of Lorelei's first birthday, I thought I'd share my list of must-have books for new moms:

The Nursing Mother's Companion by Kathleen Huggins: a no-nonsense guide to all of the nitty-gritty about breastfeeding. This book has been my constant companion for the past twelve months -- it's the best resource I came across for everything from initial latch-on to starting solids to lancing a plugged milk duct (yikes!).

Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott: I could have written this, if I could write like Anne Lamott. Captures the emotions of the first year of motherhood perfectly. Read my full review here.

The Shelter of Each Other by Mary Pipher, MD: a book all about creating a solid, loving family environment in a world where feuding families are cheap and easy fodder for primetime TV. Read my full review here.

Your Baby's First Year: AAP-approved advice, milestone charts, lots of good parenting basics. Nothing too new or fancy, but a good solid resource to have around.

Great With Child by Beth Ann Fennelly: warm, inspirational, honest account of motherhood. Read my full review here.

I Love You, Mouse by John Graham: out of print, but a wonderful bedtime story that surpasses Goodnight Moon and Guess How Much I Love You, in my opinion. The Tomie dePaola drawings are darling.

You might have noticed I'm not recommending any sleep books. I've read at least a dozen (not hyperbole), and none of them are a perfect fit for my baby. There are many parents who will tell you "This book will get your baby sleeping through the night in two days!" and I'm sure that is true for their baby, but not necessarily for yours. I'd advise borrowing sleep books from friends and/or the library until you hit on one that works for you -- and then buy it once you've decided it's worth its weight in gold!

I'd also suggest investing in an e-reader and a subscription to audible.com for those long hours of nursing, or rocking, or pacing the floor with your newborn in arms.

guest post: building a library for baby

My book-related post is one day early this week: I'm guesting over at boho mama with some ideas about building a library of books for your baby or young toddler. Stop by Megan's fantastic blog to see what ideas I'm sharing there today!

And for those of you interested in the books I posted about, here are some links to find them online from a variety of retailers:


Interactive Books for Babies and Young Toddlers
In My Nest
Where's Spot?
Ten Wiggly, Wriggly Caterpillars
That's Not My Dragon
Where's Baby's Belly Button?

Predictable and Rhyming Books for Older Toddlers
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
Hop on Pop
Is Your Mama a Llama?
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Home for a Bunny
Jump, Frog, Jump!

Bedtime Books a Parent Can Love (our current favorites!)
Owl Moon
I Love You, Mouse
Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!
Symphony City
My Rhinoceros

The Shelter of Each Other - Mary Pipher

I was really excited by Joanna's book recommendation from this week's "Motherhood Mondays" post -- any of you read it already? I'm fascinated by the idea of simplifying and slowing down to help your child grow to be more happy, curious, and independent. And it reminded me of a book I've been wanting to tell you about that we received as a "new baby" gift last year from a dear friend.

I had already read (and loved) Reviving Ophelia, so I was thrilled to have another Mary Pipher title to absorb, and I ended up loving this one even more (while Ophelia is incredibly eye-opening, it is also depressing and clinical -- and this book leaves you with a buoyant feeling of hope!). The Shelter of Each Other is a book all about building a strong, loving family in an age when media portrays family relationships as hostile, volatile, and necessarily antagonistic. Pipher shares her experiences as a psychologist and counselor helping struggling families and interweaves those vignettes with tales of her ancestors' experiences as homesteaders on the Nebraska prairies -- lives that seem, at first, to be worlds apart but that have resonances with each other as well. She emphasizes the important role that culture plays in shaping our families and urges us to repair the communities in which we live as a first step towards protecting the sacredness of childhood and healthy family relationships. Our daughter is still very young, but time moves faster than you realize, and I look forward to reading this book again in a few years when some of the suggestions and lessons will be more timely for us than with a little baby.

By the way, Pipher originally published this book in 1997, but I'd recommend reading the updated version that was released in 2008 instead.

If you read it, let me know what you think! And I'd love to hear your suggestions for other great books about parenting and family life.

baby book club. (a friday round up)

It's been a little while since I posted about what baby and I are reading together -- so today's typical Friday post is all things picture book related. Here's what L and I highly recommend you find at your local library:


Symphony City by Amy Martin
The pictures in this book are GORGEOUS. So gorgeous that I've considered ordering some of her artwork as prints for our house. The story is sweet, too -- a girl gets separated from her grandfather on the subway and the music of the city keeps her safe on her journey back home to her mother.

Hen Hears Gossip by Megan McDonald and Joung Un Kim
I love the collage-y artwork of this quirky little story about farm animals who are a little too eager to spread some news they don't really know that much about. (Favorite misheard line: "A lady yak was born?!")

Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! by Mo Willems
I know I'm coming pretty late to the party on Willems' pigeon series, but this book makes us laugh so hard. Who isn't in the mood for a hot dog party instead of going to bed?

I'm Not Scared! by Jonathan Allen
Allen's "I'm Not..." series featuring Baby Owl and his little stuffed Owly are our favorite bedtime reads, and L knows exactly when to turn the pages now that she's heard this one so many times. Can't wait to read it with her once she actually understands the words, too!

Babyberry Pie by Heather Vogel Frederick and Amy Schwartz
I sing the Pie Song (from the movie Waitress) at every nap and every night as a lullaby, so this was a perfect fit for us as a bedtime story, too. I love the idea of describing a routine as a "recipe" as you snuggle your baby into bed.


As for me, I'm finishing up Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. What are you reading this weekend?

wordy Wednesday: favorite book series for kids

Didn't you just love reading book series as a kid? There's nothing better, for a young bookworm, than finding out that the end of a book is not, in fact, the end of your experience with those characters. I burned through The Boxcar Children, Nancy Drew, and The Babysitter's Club. I fell in love Madeleine L'Engle's Wrinkle in Time books (not to mention the Austin family series), Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe, and with the Alice series. I even read some Trixie Beldens (not as many as Beth, though!) and spent lots of time with Agent Arthur on road trips.

But my favorite series as a kid? The Betsy Tacy books.

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Set at the turn of the century in Deep Valley, a fictionalized version of Mankato, MN, these stories are loosely based on the life of author Maud Hart Lovelace. The main character, Betsy Ray, is a lively, creative little girl (and, eventually, young woman) who has a stubborn streak and a penchant for the dramatic, not unlike Jo from Little Women. She has two very dear friends -- Tacy (short for Anastacia), a shy little redhead from a big Irish family, and Tib (short for Thelma), a spunky German-American girl -- who accompany her on most of her adventures throughout the books, which follow Betsy from age 5 to her mid-twenties.

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One of the best features of these books is that they grow up along with the characters and the reader; the difficulty of the text increases with each novel, which makes them age-appropriate at every level. As a result, Betsy's exploits always feel relatable to the reader, from making up fanciful stories and fighting over who gets to be the May queen in the early books to cramming for exams, falling in love, and taking a trip around the world by cruise ship in the later stories.

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Lovelace's books were originally published in the 1940s, and I just adore the illustrations that accompanied those versions of the series. They were reissued in the 1970s and again in the 1990s, and though the new look perhaps appeals to a more modern audience in some respects, I think you can't get much better than those lovely first covers.

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If you'd like to read an excerpt or two from these darling books, here's one from an early book when the three girls are so excited to turn ten years old ("It's the beginning of growing up!") and another from Betsy's high school days when she learns her lesson about helping some fellow students who slacked off on their summer reading assignment (guess that happened in 1910 as well as in 2010!).

Though I'm all for letting kids read what they want, these are the kinds of stories I hope my daughter and I will read together one day -- sweet, wholesome, imaginative, fun.

Anyone else a Betsy-Tacy fan? I'd love to reminisce with you! Or tell me about your favorite book series growing up (did you read these? I want to do a post about them, too!).