What's On Loan From The Library

I've had a few interesting reads lately although they're quite the hodgepodge of recommendations.

Let's dive in.

Bad Blood
by John Carreyrou
Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup The Story of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. I CANNOT believe this was real life it was so crazy. Definitely recommended.


A Curious Beginning (Veronica Speedwell Series)
by Deanna Raybourn
A lepidopterist living in 19th century England that solves murders? Yes, please. I tore through this series, but then again I'm partial to (odd-ball) strong women protagonists with scientific obsessions.


The Burning Sky (The Elemental Trilogy)
by Sherry Thomas
This is a hard book to quantify: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Romance but not the gloopy sort of romance that leaves you wishing for a heroine with a stiffer spine, stronger self esteem, and better critical thinking abilities. The girl is powerful and the supporting characters are excellent.

Additionally, I also enjoying the author's take on the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, also devoted to strong, smart, odd women. :)


I'm still trying to make my way through Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. Good god it's taking forever. Its 832 pages but it's a hell of a slog. I'll get there. Eventually.


Come As You Are
By Emily Nagoski
An essential exploration of why and how women’s sexuality works—based on groundbreaking research and brain science

This book came hugely recommended by the readers of  the (wonderful) Cup of Jo blog; it's a great read for women (and men that love women). Given the dismal state of proper sex education in our country, Emma and Ben will both be getting a copy when they reach an appropriate age.

Next on my list: Educated by Tara Westover

"Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home."

Anything you've read lately that's good?

How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight (for Toddlers and their parents)

There are only so many times a parent can read Hop on Pop before they go a little batty. Thus, we are always searching for new reading material in our house.

My toddler never does things in half measures: if he’s going to love something, he’ll love it wholly and completely. His favorite book? He’ll ask to read it seven times a day. And it must accompany him to bed.  This lasts for about two weeks. And then he’s ready to move on to a new favorite obsession.

We had a minor crisis the other day because he wasn’t quite done with the current crop of favorites and he didn’t understand why they had to go back to the library. “Well just buy them for me, mommy. I don’t want to send them back!”  Oh, child. We need to have a little talk about money.

He’s had a few stinker obsessions too. I’m kind of ready to be done with garbage trucks, for example. But dinosaurs? Never. Especially after my parents brought over the “How Do Dinosaurs...” series by Jane Yolen.

They are awesome. The verses are great (we’re always on board with rhyming books) but the illustrations, especially of the poor, bewildered parents, are pure gold.

When he hears, “Take a nap!”
does he give dirty looks?
When he’s told, “Quiet down!”
does he rip up his books?

No cookies today?
Fling a mug at the cat!

From How Do Dinosaurs Say I’m Mad?

At the conclusion of each book, the dino works out his problems or decides it really is time for bed. Although, between you and me, I like the ‘mad, stubborn, and mischievous' parts best. Reminds me of my own little stinker.

He cleans up his mess, 
and he picks up the mug.

He says, I’m so sorry.”
He gives a big hug. 

His anger is gone,
so he opens the door.

Not mad? I’m so glad, 
little dinosaur. 


Here is an interview with the author on how the series came to be. 



As for Emma, we have a few favorites.

These two will never get old for me:

Time for Bed, by Mem Fox:

and the classic Going To Bed Book by the always-lovely Sandra Boynton.

What are your favorites, My Dears? Any recommendations? We’d love some suggestions.


xo ,

Sonja

Books!

Update: Here is another list: 100 Books Every Woman Should Read (Fiction). 

My dears,

I am finishing up a few good months of reading, figuring I won’t have much time once the babe is born. Here are a few that I went through this Fall.

Recently Read Books

When in New Zealand, I was on a bit of a local kick, reading books about the Pacific Northwest and California.

My ‘big read’ of the trip, because I felt like I should have this one under my belt: Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose. A classic novel of the west.

Angle of Repose tells the story of Lyman Ward, a retired professor of history and author of books about the Western frontier, who returns to his ancestral home of Grass Valley, California, in the Sierra Nevada. Wheelchair-bound with a crippling bone disease and dependent on others for his every need, Ward is nonetheless embarking on a search of monumental proportions -- to rediscover his grandmother, now long dead, who made her own journey to Grass Valley nearly a hundred years earlier. Like other great quests in literature, Lyman Ward's investigation leads him deep into the dark shadows of his own life.

Currently I’m wading through The Orchardist, by Amanda Coplin. I’ll admit, I’m struggling a bit with this one, simply because I don’t love the characters. I lose interest when I have trouble identifying with the personalities in the book. I don’t have to adore the whole person, but do have to find some common spark, tidbit of personality, or something with the lead character and I’m not finding it here.

At the turn of the twentieth century, in a rural stretch of the Pacific Northwest, a reclusive orchardist, William Talmadge, tends to apples and apricots as if they were loved ones. A gentle man, he's found solace in the sweetness of the fruit he grows and the quiet, beating heart of the land he cultivates. One day, two teenage girls appear and steal his fruit from the market; they later return to the outskirts of his orchard to see the man who gave them no chase. Feral, scared, and very pregnant, the girls take up on Talmadge's land and indulge in his deep reservoir of compassion. Just as the girls begin to trust him, men arrive in the orchard with guns, and the shattering tragedy that follows will set Talmadge on an irrevocable course not only to save and protect but also to reconcile the ghosts of his own troubled past.

My most favorite was recommended by my friend Amy: Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple. This is a fast, hilarious read that is especially fun because it takes place in Seattle. One of my favorite books of the year.

Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she's a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she's a disgrace; to design mavens, she's a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom. 

Then Bernadette disappears. It began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette's intensifying allergy to Seattle--and people in general--has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now runs her most basic errands. A trip to the end of the earth is problematic. 

To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, secret correspondence--creating a compulsively readable and touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter's role in an absurd world.

The book I thought I’d love but actually hated: Raven Stole the Moon by Garth Stein (the author of The Art of Racing In The Rain, which I really enjoyed). Also a Seattle-based book but not of the good kind. Pregnant women with toddler sons should not read novels in which the main character’s young son drowns while on a fishing trip in Alaska. Especially if you happen to travel to Alaska and take fishing trips there.

When Jenna Rosen abandons her comfortable Seattle life to visit Wrangell, Alaska, it's a wrenching return to her past. The hometown of her Native American grandmother, Wrangell is located near the Thunder Bay Resort, where Jenna's young son, Bobby, disappeared two years before. His body was never recovered, and Jenna is determined to lay to rest the aching mystery of his death. But whispers of ancient legends begin to suggest a frightening new possibility about Bobby's fate, and Jenna must sift through the beliefs of her ancestors, the Tlingit, who still tell of powerful, menacing forces at work in the Alaskan wilderness. Armed with nothing but a mother's protective instincts, Jenna's quest for the truth behind her son's disappearance is about to pull her into a terrifying and life-changing abyss.

Here’s a rare book in which I couldn’t identify with any of the characters, yet couldn’t put down: Pilgrim’s Wilderness: A True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier, by Tom Kizzia. Fascinating and horrifying. I would so love to meet the family members, to see what they’re like today.

When Papa Pilgrim appeared in the Alaska frontier outpost of McCarthy with his wife and fifteen children in tow, his new neighbors had little idea of the trouble to come. The Pilgrim Family presented themselves as a shining example of the homespun Christian ideal, with their proud piety and beautiful old-timey music, but their true story ran dark and deep. Within weeks, Papa had bulldozed a road through the mountains to the new family home at an abandoned copper mine, sparking a tense confrontation with the National Park Service and forcing his ghost town neighbors to take sides in an ever-more volatile battle over where a citizen’s rights end and the government’s power begins.

I’ve got Chris reading one of my favorite books of all-time: The Book Thief. I’m curious to see what he makes of it.

The extraordinary #1 New York Times bestseller that will be in movie theaters on November 15, 2013, Markus Zusak's unforgettable story is about the ability of books to feed the soul. 

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still. 

Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.

Books On My List

The Seattle Times just came out with their 31 ‘best titles’ of 2013. I’m always of two minds about these lists as they are so subjective. For example, I’ve never been a huge fan of celebrated Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl’s recommendations. What grabs her fails to inspire me. But there are a few books on the ST list that look intriguing, especially the Ivan Doig book, as he is an exceptional author. Here are a few that I’m adding to my library wish list:

“Sweet Thunder” by Ivan Doig (Riverhead). Seattle novelist Doig returns to his native Montana for this epic tale of loyalty, politics, love and newspapering set in the gritty labor wars of early 20th-centry Butte. Doig is at his best in his historical novels; this one dazzles with fascinating characters and contemporary themes. — Tim McNulty

“The Signature of All Things” by Elizabeth Gilbert (Viking). Botany has never seemed more exciting than through the eyes of Gilbert’s fictional heroine, Alma Whittaker, whose energetic pursuit of plants and the man she loves captures the 19th-century thrill for discovery. — Ellen Emry Heltzel

“Hild” by Nicola Griffith (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). “Hild,” by Seattle author Griffith, spins taut threads from the elements of treacherous kings, desperate bandits, brilliant tapestries, and dying gods, weaving them into a marvelous story of a seventh-century Englishwoman’s coming of age. —Nisi Shawl

“The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt (Little, Brown). The long-awaited new novel from the author of “The Secret History” is the sort you get happily lost in; combining page-turning plot twists with achingly beautiful prose. It’s a story about the love of beautiful things; about spending youth searching for something undiscoverable; about how life can shackle us to a perch, unable to move forward. —Moira Macdonald

See the entire list here.

Any favorites that you’ve enjoyed recently, my dears? I’d love your recommendations.

xo,

Sonja

Bookworm: The Book Thief

I just finished a book that was recommended to me by my mother called The Book Thief. The story details the life of a nine year old foster girl in WWII Germany. Death, a cynical, yet comical character, is the narrator. Overall, it was quite enjoyable.

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Below is a summary and an excerpt (From Amazon.com)

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The Summary:

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

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An Excerpt

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First the colors.

Then the humans.

That's usually how I see things.

Or at least, how I try.

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***HERE IS A SMALL FACT ***

You are going to die.

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I am in all truthfulness attempting to be cheerful about this whole topic, though most people find themselves hindered in believing me, no matter my protestations. Please, trust me. I most definitely can be cheerful. I can be amiable. Agreeable. Affable. And that's only the A's. Just don't ask me to be nice. Nice has nothing to do with me.

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***Reaction to the AFOREMENTIONED fact***

Does this worry you?I urge you--don't be afraid.I'm nothing if not fair.--

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Of course, an introduction. A beginning.Where are my manners?I could introduce myself properly, but it's not really necessary. You will know me well enough and soon enough, depending on a diverse range of variables. It suffices to say that at some point in time, I will be standing over you, as genially as possible. Your soul will be in my arms. A color will be perched on my shoulder. I will carry you gently away.At that moment, you will be lying there (I rarely find people standing up). You will be caked in your own body. There might be a discovery; a scream will dribble down the air. The only sound I'll hear after that will be my own breathing, and the sound of the smell, of my footsteps.The question is, what color will everything be at that moment when I come for you? What will the sky be saying?Personally, I like a chocolate-colored sky. Dark, dark chocolate. People say it suits me. I do, however, try to enjoy every color I see--the whole spectrum. A billion or so flavors, none of them quite the same, and a sky to slowly suck on. It takes the edge off the stress. It helps me relax.

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***A SMALL THEORY ***

People observe the colors of a day only at its beginnings and ends, but to me it's quite clear that a day merges through a multitude of shades and intonations, with each passing moment. A single hour can consist of thousands of different colors. Waxy yellows, cloud-spat blues. Murky darknesses. In my line of work, I make it a point to notice them.As I've been alluding to, my one saving grace is distraction. It keeps me sane. It helps me cope, considering the length of time I've been performing this job. The trouble is, who could ever replace me? Who could step in while I take a break in your stock-standard resort-style vacation destination, whether it be tropical or of the ski trip variety? The answer, of course, is nobody, which has prompted me to make a conscious, deliberate decision--to make distraction my vacation. Needless to say, I vacation in increments. In colors.Still, it's possible that you might be asking, why does he even need a vacation? What does he need distraction from?Which brings me to my next point.It's the leftover humans.The survivors.They're the ones I can't stand to look at, although on many occasions I still fail. I deliberately seek out the colors to keep my mind off them, but now and then, I witness the ones who are left behind, crumbling among the jigsaw puzzle of realization, despair, and surprise. They have punctured hearts. They have beaten lungs.Which in turn brings me to the subject I am telling you about tonight, or today, or whatever the hour and color. It's the story of one of those perpetual survivors--an expert at being left behind.

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It's just a small story really, about, among other things:

* A girl* Some words* An accordionist* Some fanatical Germans* A Jewish fist fighter* And quite a lot of thievery