6 Books That Stuck With Me

I was looking through our archives the other day and realized that my most popular book post was almost entirely full of crazy books. And while I stand by those books, I don't want that to be the only thing you guys think about my book taste.

As I was trying to formulate a theme for this post, books were jumping out at me from my bookshelf as books that I just never forgot because they were beautifully written, compelling, and quietly wonderful. Enjoy!

Digging to America by Anne Tyler. If you've never read an Anne Tyler book, you are missing out. I think this has been my favorite so far, maybe because I read it when my baby was about six weeks old and I really identified with the young mothers in the book. The premise is that two families adopt little girls from Korea on the same day and meet each other in the airport - and they decide to remain in contact so the girls can be friends, even though they have basically nothing in common. One of the families is your typical crazy "all-American" family, the other are Iranian immigrants. Their parenting styles, values, manners, etc. are fascinating, and the idea of what it means to belong really comes out as the relationships grow and change and as the girls grow up.

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner. This is one of those strange books that didn't have a particularly fast-paced storyline or dramatic characters, but it drew me along anyway because it was just so beautiful and real. It's a sprawling story of two couples who meet when they are young and just starting out and remain friends throughout their lives, and it's sad and happy and wonderful and awful and just feels very true to me. Wallace Stegner's writing style is exquisite.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I read this book because I liked The Kite Runner and my brother picked up a really beautiful copy for me at a used book store in New York. The relationship between the two women in the novel is so beautiful, and the book is just heart-wrenching and wonderful. It's also an accessible way to get some perspective about a culture you may not understand very well (it's set in Afghanistan).

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley. This is one of my most-recommended books when people just want a really compelling story with some good romance and some substance. All of Susanna Kearsley's books have a similar premise - the modern-day heroine develops some kind of link with someone from the past (sometimes she's channeling memories, sometimes she has visions when she touches things, but there's always some kind of weird psychic link in her books, and you get used to it). In this one, the heroine begins to have strange dreams about Jacobite sympathizers in the 1700s. She thinks it will make a great topic for her next novel, but as she starts writing, she discovers the things she was dreaming about were true - and she continues having more dreams. She becomes more and more wrapped up in a story that she becomes more and more convinced really happened - and she isn't sure she's going to like where it ends. It's a really fun way to do historical fiction (quite a few of the characters in the ancestral memories really WERE real people) and it's really captivating despite the kind of weird premise. (Side note: if you like it, I just discovered by accident  (12 chapters in) that Kearsley's The Firebird is a followup of sorts, which gave me closure where this book didn't.)

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. I'm still thinking about this one. Basically, it's a book about a girl who is hired to take care of a quadriplegic, thinking it will be an old man. Instead, she finds a young man who is bitter that his once full, active life has been taken from him, and who no longer wants to live. The relationship between the two main characters is just lovely, and although I still can't decide how I feel about the way it ended, overall I was just wowed.

So Brave, Young and Handsome by Leif Enger. This is a book about an author who wrote one wildly popular book and quit his job - and then lost his inspiration. Seven unfinished novels later, he leaves his family at home to follow an old train robber who is trying to settle his life - in the hopes of finding inspiration. (Meanwhile, they're being chased by a dogged lawman as they have one adventure after another - in the least cliche way possible.) It's a really lovely book, and I kind of love the main character's wife, even though she's not present for quite a bit of the book while he's chasing his story.  Lovely writing, lovely story. (I also love this author's Peace Like a River, but more people have heard of it. This one is really fun and not as widely circulated I think.)

Disclosure: This is an affiliate post. The opinions are my own.

Weeding My Collections

For the first 25 years of my life, I was a collector.

As a child, I collected spoons from vacation spots. (Remember spoon collecting? Do people still do that?) I collected rocks (and named them, but that's a post for another day). I collected (I swear I am not making this up) napkins, like from birthday parties and weddings and holiday celebrations. I kept them in the special napkin basket that I used when I was six and my job was to pass out napkins at my cousin's wedding. I'm probably the only person who remembers when weddings (at least in Utah) always featured napkins embossed with some cute little pictures and the names of the bride and groom, because I had napkins from every wedding reception I went to as a child, and there were a lot of cousins and siblings and neighbors getting married. I collected dolls and their accessories, stuffed animals (subcategory: stuffed tigers), Cherished Teddies (yes, yes I did) and so much other stuff that I have probably forgotten was once very important to me.

When I got older, my major collections were CDs, DVDs, and books. When CDs stopped being much of a thing, I collected digital music. I have SO MUCH DIGITAL MUSIC. My enormous iPod is bursting with music that I have barely heard, but can't bring myself to delete, because what if it is amazing and I just haven't gotten there yet?

And then I got married to another book collector. And then we moved three times in our three years of marriage.

Guys. Having a lot of books is fun when they're on your shelf. They're such conversation starters, and I love browsing my shelves and trying to decide what to read next or read again. Having my favorite books around makes me feel like I'm surrounded by old friends, and having books that I picked up on a whim somewhere and haven't read yet just feels like a new adventure waiting to happen. Plus, keeping my books from college reminds me that I am smart and well-read, even on days when I am doing nothing but wiping a toddler bum and finding new ways to trick the same toddler into eating the occasional vegetable while keeping her from coloring on the laptop.

Moving 30 boxes of books is not so much fun. Also, unpacking them, especially into multiple rooms.

This week my husband and I decided to start weeding and organizing our collection. ("Weeding a collection" is a term I picked up in library school. It means junking the books that are no longer checked out, accurate, relevant, holding their shape.) Here are some of the things we discovered:

• We have a lot of duplicates. We had two copies of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (which we both felt was more of a fun idea than actually good as a book). We had two copies of the complete Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, two copies of several classics like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (both mine!) and Anna Karenina, (and, I later discovered, two copies of Great Expectations, which I despise, despite more than one attempt to change my own mind - we chucked them both and just kept the big Dickens collection that included it)  two copies of a random book about World War I memorials because we both took a WWI class at some point in our college careers, and a whopping three copies of Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee, Frederick Forsythe's No Comebacks (which I think I may have accidentally purchased a couple of times at used book stores thinking that the copy I had on the shelf was my dad's when actually I had already purchased it . . . twice? I guess I really liked it.) and The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis, which I don't think I've even read. 
• We have a lot of books that I never care to read again, and although sometimes I like to hang onto books like that so I can look back on them or lend them to friends or just have because they look smart on the shelf, if I'm honest with myself, I'm never going to lend out books that I just really didn't care for. I know lots of people really liked The Shipping News, but I didn't, so why is it still sitting on my shelf? So I can point to it and say, "Hey, I read that once. Meh?"  
• Also, why on earth do we have an MLA Style guide from several years ago? I really, really hope I never have to worry about writing in MLA ever again. (I won't even talk about the biology and chemistry textbooks my husband is hanging onto from his undergrad, because he isn't talking about the literary theory books that are shoved into various corners of my shelves. We both managed to let a couple of books in each of those categories go.) 
• As much as the librarian in me loves building a collection, part of me just wants to be able to get all of our books to fit on our FOUR bookshelves and maybe have a little room for a picture or something here and there. 
• At some point, the insane clutter of books means I can't even see what's on the shelf that I'd like to read but keep forgetting I have. (My iPod is similarly cluttered, and some days I scroll through my days and days of music and can't see anything I want to listen to. Probably time to weed that as well.) 

I guess what I'm saying is that at some point, I think I stopped becoming quite so much of a collector - or maybe my true collector self just realized that what I've been lately is more of a hoarder. In any case, we just sold one huge box of books to the used book store (so we can buy more books on credit later) and the box they wouldn't take is being donated. And then I might see what else needs to go to clear up my life a bit. It's time to make room for new friends, new stages of life, and new additions to my collections that matter to me now. 

Of course I'll still have four bookshelves. Let's not get crazy. 

What do you think? What crazy collections are cluttering up your life? 

Characters we love: Doc McStuffins

As a mother of a preschooler and a toddler, I am often assaulted by horrible, mind numbing "entertainment" that is equally annoying and pointless. Not only that, but most of these shows play into typical stereotypes that undermine the potential of my daughters.

That is, until Doc McStuffins came along.

Doc McStuffins is Disney's animated tale of a six year old named Dottie, known as Doc McStuffins. Instead of dreaming of castles and princesses, Doc aspires to be a Doctor, just like her mother.  Doc spends her days diagnosing ailments and treating her stuffed animal patients with the aid of her magical stethoscope. Not only is this one of the rare occasions where a Disney female protagonist wears a lab coat instead of a ball gown, Doc is African American.

Myiesha Taylor a Doctor and mother of a preschooler said she was excited to see, "a child of color in a starring role... and she’s an aspiring intellectual professional, not a singer or dancer or athlete.”  She decided to create an online collage featuring Doc surrounded by photos of real African American women medical professionals. She wrote,  "We are trailblazers. We are women of color. We are physicians. We ARE role-models. We are Doc McStuffins all grown up!"

When my preschooler discovered Doc she absolutely fell in love, and so did I. At three years old growing up in a large, multicultural city she didn't even notice that Doc's skin color was different from hers. For her fourth birthday, she requested a Doc McStuffins birthday party and requested chocolate cake because, "Doc's hair is brown." Hannah tells me that she wants to be "A doctor or a nurse and a mommy," when she grows up. I'm sure she'll go through lots of phases between now and adulthood, but I'm very happy that one of her role models is a little girl who wants to make a big difference. Plus how can you resist THIS adorableness? 

Board Book Favorites

I've been reading a lot of board books with my daughter. She loves to look at the pictures and the books are more destruction proof with the thick cardboard pages. Plus they are generally smaller and easier for her to hold because she loves to look through them on her own also. Here are some of our favorites.

This Little Piggy and Other Favorite Action Rhymes by Hannah Wood. We like having all the favorite nursery rhymes and songs plus some new ones. Wood has several books and they are all fun.

 

ZooBorns! Zoo Babies from Around the World by Andrew Bleiman and Chris Eastland. There are lots of unusual animals in here for kids to learn about and anything that is a baby is just cute.

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury. I thought this book was cute, but my daughter absolutely loved it! I think we read it three times in a row without her moving once. She likes pictures of other little toddlers and this has lots of different toddlers from around the world.

The Splendid Spotted Snake by Betty Ann Schwartz. This book is fun because the snake grows and grows with each page turn. It's fun to watch and my daughter liked to feel the ribbon snake.

When the World was Waiting for You by Gillian Shields and Anna Currey. This is a cute book about getting ready for a baby to come, then enjoying the baby with family. It ends with the world waiting for the baby to grow up and be and do something special.

Let's Go to the Farm by Fisher Price. There are lots of flaps to lift in this book that teaches animal names and sounds, and also shapes and colors and farm things.
 

The Belly Button Book by Sandra Boynton. Anything by Sandra Boynton is "serious silliness" (from the back of one of her books. This one is fitting for my daughter who loves her "bee bo" a lot.
 

My First Library by Baby Einstein. This is a great set to have because it teaches shapes, nature, colors, letters, music, and animals with real photos mixed with drawings, and also most have one word per page. They are also the perfect size for little hands to hold and come in a handy carrying case.

10 Books My 1-Year-Old Loves

Perhaps we aren't quite ready for Harry Potter yet, sweetie.

Disclosure: I'm experimenting with the Amazon Affiliate program on this post, which basically means if you click any of these links and buy these books, the blog gets a small percentage. I tell you this not to urge you to buy any of these items, but to tell you that if for some reason you decide to buy any of them, you may as well support the blog at the same time, eh? This did not influence my choice of books and the opinions are entirely my own. And CB's.

I don't know what it is about this age, but suddenly my baby, who at first just kind of tolerated me reading to her or flipped through the pages of one or two books and then headed off, has decided she LOVES books. She goes over to her book shelf, grabs a book, thrusts it toward me (there is really no other word for the way she gives them to me) and then crawls into my lap when I pat it and sits there for half an hour reading book after book. I love that this is part of her developing curiosity, and I hope for many years of reading together.

However, some books are understandably bigger hits than others with the 13-month-old attention span. Here are a few of our favorites right now (most of which have been favorites for at least a month or more).

The Spooky Old Tree by Stan and Jan Berenstain
This book was universally loved by my brothers and me when I was little, and my little one loves it just as much. She especially loves when we get to the little bears with shivers and I make her shiver, and when we do a big chomp as they go up the spooky old stair over the alligator. The text is short enough that she sits through it really well again and again.

I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont
The illustrations in this book are so delightful that it would be hard not to love it just for the joyous color and crazy-looking kid, but the text is so fun and musical, and as the child paints each body part it gets funnier. It's a pure delight, and even my small child loves looking at the colorful pictures and having me tap each part of her as the child gets more covered in paint. "Like an Easter egg, gonna paint my LEG! Now I ain't gonna paint no more!"

The Adventures of Bert by Allan Ahlberg and Raymond Briggs
This bizarre little British book has been a favorite with all of my nieces and nephews, and now CB loves it too. I think the love stems from the first couple of pages where you are introduced to Bert and his wife (Mrs. Bert) and told to say hello to them, but NOT to Baby Bert, who is sleeping. Then you turn the page and wake the baby up, and he cries very loudly. CB loves waving to the Berts and waiting for the cry. Bert has other adventures, like getting stuck in his shirt and being chased by a sausage, but waking up the baby by turning the page has always been the biggest hit.

Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?  by Dr. Seuss
Not all Dr. Seuss books are favorites yet, but this one is beloved. She loves the sounds, and when we get to the sound of the hand on a door, she knocks on her head as soon as she sees the picture (because that's what I always do on that page). It is beyond adorable. There's a nice shorter board book version, but she'll usually sit through the whole thing now if I make the sounds exciting enough.

Pride & Prejudice: A BabyLit Counting Primer  by Jennifer Adams
We have about five of these so far, and she loves them all. I think her favorites are a tossup between P&P and Jane Eyre, probably because she quite likes counting books right now, and having me count the things out for her. I have a feeling she'll like Moby Dick more in the future, because it's her daddy's favorite.

Where Is Baby's Belly Button? by Karen Katz
This has actually been one of her favorite books for a long time, and it is now so well-loved that the flaps all have reinforcing tape on them because she's ripped a couple of them and the rest are totally dog-eared. She loves the babies, she loves lifting the flaps, and now she's starting to point to her belly button.

Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins
This book is so fun and rhythmic. I highly recommend using your baby's belly as a drum as you read it. By the time CB was 10 months old, she'd started beating her tummy drum as soon as she saw the cover of this one. I might have it memorized. Maybe. My favorite part is where there are some monkeys saying hello to each other (Hello Jack! Hello Jake!) and when CB started waving, she would wave to the monkeys when they said hello. (Basically, we love a book that invites waving.)

Are You a Cow? by Sandra Boynton
Sandra Boynton is just the best, and I love all of her books (and her CDs!) but we are particularly taken with this one right now because of the big animal faces, the very short text, and the duck. My favorite line is "You are not a hippo. You are small. They are big." It cracks me up for some reason. Maybe you have to be there.

Fuzzy Yellow Ducklings by Matthew Van Fleet
This was a gift from my mom, and it is delightful, but not to be perused by a solo baby, as it is a little fragile. However, she is in love with the fun illustrations, the folding pages, and the delightful textures. The sticky frog tongues and the sandpapery sharks are my favorite, but CB loves the wooly lamb.

Hug by Jez Alborough
We picked this book up on a whim from a zoo gift shop because the little monkey's name is Bobo, which is what we called our baby until we picked her real name. (I think this came about because my husband suggested "Jimbo" as a possible baby name, and I told him that was a monkey name. He said, "No, no, you're thinking of Bobo." Thankfully, we had a girl and put off that discussion a little longer.) The illustrations in this book are so adorable, and the only words in the book are "Hug," and the monkeys' names, but the story of a little monkey looking for his mommy is still kind of touching and sweet. I'm excited to read it as CB gets older and can try to figure out what's going on in the story for herself.

10 months old, reading with Daddy 

What are your favorite books for little ones? 

Historical Fiction about Girls

I hope you noticed that I said about girls, not for girls. Some of these books will be more universally appealing than others—Number the Stars, The Green Glass Sea, The Book Thief, and The Ruby in the Smoke, especially—but I personally know boys who have appreciated all of them, and the same is true for adults (YA is not just for teens!). Four of them are books I loved as a child, and still love as an adult; the rest are books I read for the first time as an adult, and I enthusiastically recommend them all.

The Hope Chest, by Karen Schwabach

I've been so excited about this book ever since I started it, because it's the only junior or YA fiction I've ever seen that tells the story of the suffrage movement, and from the inside. It's written from the perspective of two young girls, Violet and Myrtle, who run away to join Violet's older sister in fighting for suffrage. Such a thrilling and well-written story (and if the title turns you off, let me tell you that I felt the same way and don't worry—it's much more interesting than it sounds).

Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry

This has been one of my favorite books ever since I can remember. I have always loved fiction about World War II, and it takes place in Denmark, which is an uncommon setting for American children's books. It's a short book, and the action is quick and exciting.

I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith

For me, this entire book was lovely, but I've also heard that it took some people a little while to get hooked, so just make sure you give it a good chance. Fans of Downton Abbey, especially, should appreciate it for the romantic atmosphere; it's set in early-1900s England, narrated by seventeen-year-old Cassandra, who lives with her family in a dilapidated old castle. Her father is a struggling writer, her stepmother communes with nature, and her new neighbors/landlords are rich Americans with two unmarried sons. The recommendation writes itself.

The Green Glass Sea, by Ellen Klages

The premise for this book is fascinating and unique—eleven-year-old Dewey goes to live with her father in Los Alamos, where he is working on the Manhattan Project. I just loved the setting, and the characters and story are likable and engaging. It was really lovely to read about a girl with an aptitude for science.

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

I feel like you have to have been living under a rock to have missed at least hearing about this book. It's about a German girl named Liesel, who steals books and lives with a foster family in Munich during World War II. And it's narrated by Death. I think I just told you everything you need to know.

Catherine, Called Birdy, by Karen Cushman

Karen Cushman is a really fantastic and popular writer of historical fiction, for good reason. This is my favorite of her books, about a girl in thirteenth-century England whose greedy father is trying to marry her off to one of several horrible suitors. She's smart and independent, and I liked her more than enough to overcome my annoyance with the phrase "corpus bones."

Daughter of the Mountains, by Louise Rankin

I've loved this book since about third grade, and I was absolutely giddy when I mentioned it to a sixth-grade boy at the Orem library, spent about three seconds describing it, and he grabbed it saying it sounded interesting. It is! It really is.

Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O'Dell

I liked this as a kid, too, but it wasn't until I reread it last year that I learned it was based on a true story. Historically fascinating, and the kind of book that sounds like it should be boring—person stranded alone on an island for several years? What would they do all the time?—but is absolutely not. 

Mara, Daughter of the Nile, by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

There are a few books that have been passed around my family, read by my parents, my teenage brothers, and me, and loved by everyone. This was one of the first; it was part of the curriculum when my brothers were homeschooled, and they loved it so much they made everyone else read it, too. 

The Ruby in the Smoke, by Philip Pullman

This book sat on my sister Talia's bookshelf for most of our teen years, and for some reason I formed an unfavorable opinion of it based on the cover, without ever having picked it up. When I did decide to read it one day, I had to laugh at myself, because it is an excellent, really engaging mystery (and I don't even especially care for mysteries). There are three sequels, but unfortunately I thought each one diminished in quality, so if you want my recommendation I would say just stop after the first.

Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery

I read this a few years ago for the first time, but I saw the Megan Follows movie when I was younger, and the book is just as much fun to read as the movie is to watch. I think Megan Follows is brilliant as Anne, but that wonderful personality comes across just as well through the text, and if you made it to adulthood without having read it (like I did), you really should remedy that soon.

The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Honestly, I feel like any book that was written before 1920 but still appeals to kids (in its original, unabridged form) is worth checking out. I was a voracious but impatient reader, and I loved this book. What child (or adult) doesn't love the idea of a secret place all their own?

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

Obviously. Scout Finch is smart, good-hearted, and independent. She's a great character and an excellent narrator for a brilliant book.

Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott

I loved this book when my parents gave it to me for my twelfth birthday. I grew up watching the Katharine Hepburn movie, and I have always loved this story. It's quiet and comforting to me, driven not just by the relationships between the sisters, but by each sister's personal journey of discovery. They have such lovely relationships, and the characters are just imperfect enough to be beautiful instead of annoying (probably because they were based on Alcott's own family).

Caddie Woodlawn, by Carol Ryrie Brink
Having, as I do, a complete and utter lack of interest in stories about the American West, it took me 28 years to finally pick up this book even though I've been hearing about it basically my whole life. I now know that it is for good reason. Caddie is a delightful character, and the story moves quickly enough that even if you are like me and don't care for pioneer stories, you'll enjoy this.

The Wild Girls, by Pat Murphy
Historical fiction is supposed to take place at least fifty years in the past, and The Wild Girls  is set in the 1970s so it doesn't technically count. It's such a great book, though, and it definitely does have the feel of a different decade, so I decided to include it anyway. The characters are lovable and the book handles serious issues well—neither too heavy nor too lighthearted in its treatment of them, and just right for the age group.

Staff Picks: Beach Reads

No matter where you live, summer is a great time to sit on a lawn chair and devour a really great book. Everyone's idea of a great summer read is different, and we'd love to hear your recommendations too! Here are some of our favorite summer reads if you need a recommendation before you hit the beach!

Rachel:

Rachel's summer reading credentials:

Must:

• Have writing that is complex enough that I find it beautiful, but simple enough that I don't need a dictionary or have to reread passages for them to make sense 
• Be that amazing paradox between being able to put it down and still pick up where I left off and have it make sense--but also that tantalizing deliciousness that makes me not want to put it down 
• Be available in paperback

I also confess a bias toward anything set in Latin America or Spain, mystery novels, and/or historical fiction. 

So, all that said, one beach read recommendation: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. This is a mystery, a love story, a story within a story, a historical fiction novel set in the Spanish civil war in Barcelona. I am still in the stage of life where I am moving a lot, so trying not to keep books unless they are ones that I know I will return to over and over; this is one of them. Seriously. SO GOOD.

Miri: 
I've never actually done beach reading (having only been to the beach once since I was a child), and frankly, I would have no problem reading Wuthering Heights or Slaughterhouse-Five while lounging in the sun. (I've definitely done Thomas Hardy and John Steinbeck while tanning by the pool.) But I still like the name "beach reads" for conveying the feel we're talking about here, and my recommendation for it is the genre Goodreads has sort of boringly named "Funny Women Memoirs." I've read a surprising number of the books on that list (most recently, ones by Chelsea Handler and Mindy Kaling) and they're just a lot of fun. They're very quick reads, they're usually hilarious, and you get an interesting glimpse of a life that's probably very different from yours. Bossypants, How to Be a Woman, and Wishful Drinking are a few of my favorites.

Rayla:

I’m going to go very literal here and say Eclipse. This is the only fiction book I have ever read while on a beach. Sadly, I read the entire book in one sitting in Huntington Beach, CA without actually ever getting into the water. I waited 4 years after the first book was published to start reading these things. I didn’t want to read them. Ever. But, after one poor Red Box movie choice I was hooked and had to figure out what was going on.

If you were me and near a real beach this weekend, I’d suggest Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua or Suits by Nina Godiwalla. Both are memoirs written by strong, funny women.

Lindsey: I love the beach.  I have read so many things while soaking up rays (read: turning into a lobster), although I tend to go for music and/or audio books so I don't get those pesky sunglasses tans.  Either way, my favorite beach read ever was The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.  It's a fantastic book no matter where you read it, although I think it helped that this particular reading for me occurred on a porch, in a hammock, listening to the waves crash on the shore.  This summer I will be reading Shiver, Linger, and Forever by Maggie Steifvater and probably The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen. 

Melissa: Summer is about the only time that I love diving into mysteries. Kate Morton has become one of my favorite authors. I suggest The House at Riverton (which has a very Downton Abbey/Upstairs Downstairs feel to it) or The Forgotten Garden. I also really love reading Jane Austen in the summertime. I'm always in the mood for a good romance at the beach.


Lis:
I would have to take Stephanie Perkin's two books: Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door. Stephanie describes her own books: "They have funny bits and kissing, so you should totally read them. If you're into that sort of thing." Both books are fun and easy beach reads that leave you smiling. The kissing is self-explanatory, but here's an example of the funny bits. Lola has two Dads (as in a gay couple), and as she is leaving one night to hang out with a guy, one of her Dads tells her, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" The other Dad laughs and says that it gives her permission to do everything that he doesn't want her to do! It made me laugh out loud, but I guess you really need to read the book to get the whole hilarity of it, so check them out!


Jill:
Before I sat down to finally pick a book of my own to suggest to y'all I decided to read through all the other lovely ladies' suggestions. I was surprised at how many non-fiction books were chosen, but was even MORE surprised when the first book that popped into my mind as my top beach read this year was ALSO non-fiction: That Woman by Anne Sebba. Y'all don't really know me, so you don't know that to me, "fun" reading is always fiction. There have been so few exceptions to this personal rule that I was bowled over when a biography of the one and only Wallis Simpson was so fascinating that I stayed up until 3 am two two nights in a row to finish it- an honor usually only bestowed on the most delightful fiction books I read. For those of you drawing a blank, Wallis Simpson is the twice-divorced American woman who King Edward VIII gave up the British crown for and she is fascinating, I tell you. Fascinating!


Meg: I am definitely of two minds when it comes to summer reading. On the one hand, I really did used to read a Thomas Hardy novel every summer. I find that lately I've had a little bit of "My reading keeps getting interrupted by a crying baby taking too short of a nap" syndrome. I've enjoyed more chick lit in the last year than I've ever read in my entire life, because it doesn't matter when I pick it up and put it down. However, of the books I've really enjoyed lately that I think I will still care about in a few years that are also light enough to enjoy while you make sure your baby doesn't drown in the ocean, I think my top picks are The Night Circus by Eric Morgenstern (I didn't read it on a beach, but I did read it last summer when I was very pregnant and couldn't ever sleep) and What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell. One is a lovely, magical, non-cliche love story with a nice dose of fantasy, and the other is a series of fascinating articles about things you had no idea you wanted to know (mustard, dogs, birth control, hair color, pitchmen, etc.), and both are perfect for summer.

Elise: 
I have a huge girl-crush on Maggie Stiefvater and love everything she writes, and her latest book The Raven Boys did not disappoint.  Well, it disappointed my husband because in the two days it took me to read it, he didn't come home to a hot meal or a clean house.  (He's a good sport when it comes to my literary binges.) But that's beside the point. The basic gist of the book is as follows: "Blue Sargent, the daughter of the town psychic in Henrietta, Virginia, has been told for as long as she can remember that if she ever kisses her true love, he will die. But she is too practical to believe in things like true love. Her policy is to stay away from the rich boys at the prestigious Aglionby Academy. The boys there — known as Raven Boys — can only mean trouble." I know,  I know. Forbidden love? Prep schools? Rich entitled boys? That dead horse has been flogged in so many young adult novels, but Stiefvater doesn't stoop to gimmicks or love triangles to keep things interesting. The only flaw with this book is the fact that it's the first in a series that hasn't been finished. This makes my literary heart hurt. But! In the words of Kathleen Kelly, "Read it. I know you'll love it."

Amanda: 
I must say I haven't been to the beach in a few years, well I guess I once went to the beach in California in February at 10pm, trust me, it's not the same.  But  the last time I was there I read a book that I truly enjoyed, it was Jody Picoult's Plain Truth.  It's a book about an Amish girl, and her secret baby, and her being accused of killing said baby.  It has some powerful emotional moments. I have to be honest, when I go to the beach it's all about guilty pleasures for me.  I also read pretty much every book Sarah Dessen ever wrote.  What can I say? When I am at the beach I am not really in the mood for deep thoughtful writing, I want to relax and be able to fall asleep in the middle of a sentence without having a hard time picking up again!

Meredith:
My family loves the beach, and we've been several times. I've even camped out on La Push for a night, which was pretty awesome. (I'll give all of you Twilight crazies a chance to catch your breath before reading any further.) There's always a book in my beach bag whenever I go, and I really do try to read while slowly baking in the sun. The thing is, though, that I soon realize that my brain is melting in the heat and the water looks much more appealing. The beach, to me, means giving my brain a break from everything, so I'm going to recommend one of the funniest books I've ever read: I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley. It is, without a doubt, hilarious. I received this book from a good friend many moons ago, and it changed my life. I think almost everything is funny, but this book... I don't know. There's just something about it. That's all I'm going to tell you, because you need to figure out how amazing it is on your own. If you've read anything by Jack Handey and loved it, then you'll love this book, too. (If you haven't, then his book What I'd Say to the Martians is another book you should bring. You can thank me later. It also reminds me of Stefon from S.N.L. That skit has my sister and me rolling on the ground every single time.) Anyway, it's that kind of funny that this book entails, so I hope you enjoy it! Oh, and don't get stung by a jellyfish. Those suckers are crazy and will sneak up on you like no other.

Megan:
Don't get me started on reading while on vacation. My husband always makes fun of me for packing way too many books. What can I say? I don't want to be stuck anywhere without reading material. Back on topic- I usually go for two things when picking books to take with me- one of which being books that are relevant to where we're going. For example, when we went to Moab in March, I read Red: Passion and Patience In The Desert by Terry Tempest Williams. The other genre I like on vacation is teen fiction. Amanda and Lis already mentioned some of my favorites. I also like John Green, and he has some fun road trip-themed books.

Library Love

As I was driving home from the library tonight, I knew I had to write a post proclaiming my love for libraries. I've always loved the library. When I got hired at the library, that love grew. When my son started to love the library, it made me love them even more.

If you're not a frequent visiter to your local library, I implore you to visit and see what they have to offer. You might just be surprised at the value of library use. The obvious benefit is not having to pay for every book or magazine you want to read, every DVD you want to watch, or every CD you want to listen to. You might say that you have an e-reader or an iPad now and don't need your library. Guess what? Most libraries allow you to download eBooks or eAudiobooks. My local library is even offering a way to download magazines now. We've offered free music downloads for a long time as well. Some libraries even offer passes to local museums or state parks. We were able to get into two state parks on our last road trip for free.

If you have children, the library is even more valuable and important. It's important to have a personal library of children's books, but the library allows you to have variety. Currently, my son is obsessed with the Scaredy Squirrel series by Melanie Watts and the Elephant & Piggie books by Mo Willems. There is no way I could afford them all when I know he'll have a new favorite within a few months.

Generally, libraries have amazing programming for kids- story times, puppet shows, movie nights, etc. My library alone is having multiple science activities throughout the month of June, preschool fitness, a program called Bedtime Math, a magic show, and a juggling event.

Most libraries have summer reading programs where adults and children can earn prizes for reading or even have fines waived for reading. If we've met the criteria at the end of the summer, we both get to pick out a free book (or a fine waiver) and we get a free pass to our local natural history museum.

And as for what specifically inspired my post tonight, my son was able to check out a bird backpack for a week. The pack comes with a book about wildlife in your own backyard, two bird field guides, a bird call identifier, a pair of binoculars, and a list of local hikes. How freaking awesome is that!

If you haven't been to your local library lately, please check it out and see what it has to offer you. If you already go, let me know what you love about your local library.

"A library is not a luxury, it is a necessity."

-Henry Ward Beecher

7 Great Books That Got Me Weird Looks At Book Club

I have been in a lot of book clubs.

It almost never works out.

Here's part of the problem. Once I feel assigned to read a book, I have a hard time being excited about it. Picking my next book is always an exciting thing for me, and when I don't get to do that because there's one I have to read, it takes some of the fun out of reading for me.
But the other problem is finding a book club that suits my personality. Everyone reads a little differently and likes different kinds of books. I happen to like a lot of different kinds of books, including an array that didn't always go over well when I brought them up at book club. Here are a few gems (all of which were really good books!)

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach*: I actually read this one in my most successful book club, and we all loved it. It's this truly fascinating book about what happens when people donate their bodies to science, what happens to bodies when they decompose, body snatching, and more. Mary Roach is hilarious and insightful, and I love her. Then I brought it up at another book club a couple of years later and it went something like this: "And there was this cool part where old people who were dying just ate honey until their bodies turned INTO HONEY! And then other people ATE THEM AS A DELICACY!"

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex* by Nathaniel Philbrick: This is an absolutely wonderful book about the true story that inspired Moby Dick. I could not put it down. It was full of history and science but presented in a wonderfully readable narrative form. I brought it up at a book club like this: "And then after the whale crashed into their boat, they all got lost at sea and started eating each other!" (Correct. That's two for cannibalism.)

World War Z by Max Brooks**: This book is  written like a series of oral histories, and it's fun and a little gory, but also thought-provoking. Someone at my book club was talking about a book they'd read where they examine what would happen if we lost power, and how nursing homes and hospitals would be affected and so forth, and it reminded me of a part in this book where the blue collar workers became much more valuable to society than the accountants and lawyers and such because they have real-life skills when America is no longer inundated with first-world problems. But what I said was, "That reminds me of this book I read about the zombie apocalypse!" There is no coming back from that when you're talking to 40 year old ladies from church.

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson: This is a really fantastic book about the Chicago World's Fair and the serial killer who built a death hotel and lured young women into it. It is CRAZY and so well-written. This is what you should not say about it to someone you want to convince you are not a nut for reading it:  "I thought I would just like the part about the serial killer, but the part about the World's Fair was really interesting too!"

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson: This is a fun, creepy book about these two sisters who live in their family house and are ostracized by their town after the rest of their family mysteriously was poisoned all at the same family dinner. Whoops. "So it's about these two sisters who are living alone after one of them is accused of having poisoned their whole family, and the other one is crazy. And it was awesome."

Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein: This is a very interesting, well-researched and (I thought) fairly balanced book about the girly-girl culture that seems to be springing up as women gain equality, and whether it's ruining/limiting our daughters. Pretty much all I had to say was, "I just checked out a book called Cinderella Ate My Daughter. It's about feminism."

The Secret History by Donna Tartt**: I read this one for a book club too, but only about two of us actually read it, and then while we discussed it, lots of people looked at us suspiciously. "So their teacher gets them all obsessed with the Greek classics, and there's a guy named Bunny, so you know he's doomed, and there's a weird part where the protagonist is just hanging out in an apartment with no heat because he's too proud to mention it to anyone and he almost DIES, and IT WAS SO GOOD!!"  

Okay. So looking over the list now I realize that it's possible my tastes occasionally tend toward the macabre. And then those are ALWAYS the books that come up. But I swear some of them aren't as bad as I made them sound. In fact, they were great!

The moral here is two-fold.

1.  Don't judge a book by its cover, or by the weird thing someone says to you about it before you've read it. There are lots of really fabulous books out there that don't sound good but just are. (Have you ever tried to explain Room by Emma Donoghue to anyone and make it sound appealing? It is nearly impossible, but it is SUCH a fantastic book.)
2.  If you're going to be in a book club, find people who already know you're crazy. 

What great books have you stopped telling people about lately?

*Parts of this book should not be read while you're eating lunch.

**Contains some strong language and adult themes.

GIVEAWAY: The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

“It's about living in the moment and appreciating the smallest things. Surrounding yourself with the things that inspire you and letting go of the obsessions that want to take over your mind. It is a daily struggle sometimes and hard work but happiness begins with your own attitude and how you look at the world.” --Gretchen Rubin

The Happiness Project is a memoir of a year in Gretchen Rubin’s life. Gretchen lives with her husband and two daughters in New York City. She loves her family, her job, her life, but she isn’t quite as happy as she should be. She decides to change her attitude by taking steps to help her appreciate life more.

When I finished The Happiness Project I had to resist the urge to buy a plane ticket to New York, locate Gretchen Rubin, and beg her to be my friend. This book changed my life.

It’s not that her book suggests anything earth shattering, but she presents her ideas in such a way that shifted my perspective. I found myself highlighting whole paragraphs, sharing quotes on facebook, calling friends and family to get their take on a philosophy, and giving my own perspective a makeover.  She does insane amounts of research on happiness philosophies, outlines a plan, and sets worthy, reasonable goals that are (mostly) small steps in achieving happiness now.

Along her journey, she discovers her Secrets of Adulthood, many of which I found to be very true, and I try to remember them in my day to day interactions. Here are some that resonated with me:

·         The days are long, but the years are short.

·         It’s okay to ask for help.

·         You can choose what you do; you can’t choose what you LIKE to do.

·         Happiness doesn’t always make you feel happy.

·         What you do EVERY DAY matters more than what you do ONCE IN A WHILE.

·         You don’t have to be good at everything.

·         It’s important to be nice to EVERYONE.

·         You know as much as most people.

·         Eat better, eat less, exercise more.

·         What’s fun for other people may not be fun for you — and vice versa.

·         If you’re not failing, you’re not trying hard enough.

·         No deposit, no return.

Gretchen is very intelligent, yet so down to earth. She keeps the narrative interesting and is an excellent writer. She is honest about her failures and missteps, yet she never gives up saying, “Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail, but every day is a clean slate and a fresh opportunity.” 

I felt happier reading this book. I appreciated my family more and I was happy to serve them. I took some things more seriously, and some things less seriously. I played more. I worked more. 

The theme of this book is basically being happy no matter what your circumstance is in the moment. It’s about accepting yourself, flaws and all, finding the good within your life, and changing your perspective if you fail to do those things. I loved it so much, I want to give YOU a free copy. Enter the giveaway below and start your own happiness project! What made you happy today?

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6 Nonfiction Books about Strong Girls

Miss Moore Thought Otherwise by Jan Pinborough

As someone who works in a library and takes my son to many children's programs there, I loved reading about the librarian who helped make it all possible. Anne Carroll Moore became a librarian at the Pratt Free Library soon after the first library room designed specifically for children was opened. She implemented many changes to make libraries more kid-friendly and also wrote what is likely the first book list for children's book recommendations.

"She urged the librarians to take down the SILENCE signs and spend time talking with children and reading them stories. She wrote book reviews and made book lists to help parents, librarians, and teachers find good books for children- and to encourage book publishers to publish better children's books."

Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909 by Michelle Markel

Like many others, I learned briefly about the beginning of unions and the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire in a school history class, but I don't remember being taught about Clara Lemlich. She was an immigrant girl employed at the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist factory who proposed a strike at a mass meeting. Her words led to 20,000 garment factory workers walking out in protest. By the end of the strike, hundreds of garment factory bosses agreed to allow unions, shorten the work week, and raise salaries. This book does a great job of simplifying things without minimizing the importance of the story.

"And the strike convinces Clara to keep fighting for the rights of workers. Her throat is hoarse, her feet are sore, but she has helped thousands of people. Proving that in America, wrongs can be righted, warriors can wear skirts and blouses, and the bravest hearts may beat in girls only five feet tall."

Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors? by Tanya Lee Stone

Sometimes judging a book by its cover is a good thing. After seeing this whimsical cover and title on display at my library, I immediately snatched it up. This book is about Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman in the United States to graduate from medical school.  It tells Blackwell's story and teaches children how allowing women to attend medical school and become doctors has made our world a better place.

"I'll bet you've met plenty of doctors in your life. And I'll bet lots of them were women. Well, you might find it hard to believe, but there was once a time when girls weren't allowed to become doctors."

Just Being Audrey by Margaret Cardillo

I learned about this book when it was nominated for Utah's 2013 Beehive Book Awards. This book is beautifully illustrated and gives a wonderful look into the life of a woman who was so much more than just a pretty face.

"Audrey often played characters who went through some kind of transformation, both inside and out. But in real life, Audrey always knew just who she was, and just where she had come from."

Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart by Candace Fleming

Like Just Being Audrey, this book was a Beehive nominee. I wish this book had been around when I was a young girl. I had such a fascination with Amelia Earhart and could never find anything that expanded beyond the very basics of her story. Fleming writes about Earhart's life and disappearance in alternating chapters, including interesting tidbits from people who claimed to hear her radio signals.

"Amelia was excellent at math- even if she did refuse to show her work. "Why bother to write out the steps if I can deduce the answer in my head?" she asked. Wrote her obviously exasperated third-grade teacher, Miss Walton, "Amelia's mind is brilliant, but she listens to another drummer."

Bon Appetit! The Delicious Life of Julia Child by Jessie Hartland

I am amazed at the treasures one can find in a library, like this fun biography of Julia Child in graphic novel form. I love her story for many reasons. She broke cultural norms (such as marrying later in life and never having children) while still making a connection with women and mothers across America.

This book is just plain fun to read!

"They arrive in France on a rainy day in November 1948.

"Paul, how do you say 'I'm hungry?'"

A Little Mental Exercise

There's nothing like exercising your brain to make you feel lovely. It's easy to get so busy with all the little things in life that you forget there's a whole world of things going on outside, with important issues and things to think about.

For about a month now I've been in kind of a posting slump. The holidays kind of fried my brain, I guess; from the time that we took our holiday blog hiatus until about a week ago, I hardly posted anything that wasn't a book review on my personal blog, and the few things I posted here were quotes. I tried again and again to think of things to write, but came up with nothing.

Then I came across the current batch of books I'm reading. In case you don't know, I read pretty much more than I do anything else. So it isn't unusual for me to read a lot of books at once--what was unusual this time was the books themselves. They were books that made me think.

• The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver. It's a historical novel about a fictional writer who grows up in Mexico, lives with famous revolutionary artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, and works for Leon Trotsky, one of the leaders of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. When he's older, he lives in America during World War II and the subsequent horrors of the Red Scare.
• Empire, by Orson Scott Card. I got pretty worked up reading this book, which is about a possible future involving a second American civil war. And when I say future I don't mean Ender's Game-type future. It is terrifying because there is very little in it that couldn't happen tomorrow.
• Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: A Year of Food Life, also by Barbara Kingsolver, is on my nonfiction list for the reading challenge I'm doing this year. It's about a year during which her family lived off only the food they raised themselves on their farm in Appalachia, and it discusses the horrible food practices in the U.S. today. You would not believe some of the things that go on in our food industry--for example, the fact that the average item on the average American family's dinner table traveled 1500 miles to get there, and that if every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week that was only organic locally-grown food, we could save something like 1 million barrels (not gallons, barrels) of oil. How's that for addressing the oil crisis? And no one even has to buy a hybrid!

What I want to point out is that since I started reading these books, I am a posting fiend. I have ideas about things again; I have things I want to say, and I'm writing posts so fast that we have them scheduled days in advance. My posting slump is over.

So if you want to give yourself a boost and maybe remember that you used to be interested in things besides the newest episode of Ni Hao, Kai-Lan (or your newest homework assignment or project at work or whatever)... try picking up a book that will make you think. Grab the biography of one of those crazy politicians we always have an abundance of. Check out a book in a genre you've never read before. Ask a friend for a recommendation. Ask me for a recommendation! And if you don't have a lot of time to sit and read, look for some audiobooks at the library (don't buy them unless you know you'll like them, they're expensive) and listen while you're doing the dishes, folding laundry, or driving around. Give yourself the chance to think about some things that are going on in the world--it's amazing how quickly you can start to feel like a person again.

Dream Big

I've never really known what I wanted to do with my life, aside from wanting to be a mother. I've always known that it would happen for me, but I never knew it would take so long. In the meantime, I still don't really have a clue as to what I will do. I just do the best I can with what I have. I have a college degree and I have years of experience as a secretary/administrative assistant and I enjoy that work. It's good, solid work (when I actually can get hired) and I generally don't dread the week. But I am certainly not passionate about it. I don't look to file things in my spare time and I don't dream of the excitement of scheduling meetings and transcribing legal documents. I am passionate about art. I am passionate about creating things. I am passionate about taking something and turning it into something else, something better, something useful.

I found this quote* from Danica Patrick (a famous race-car driver):

Set your sights as far out as you can dream, then as you grow up you will have a solid goal that will guide you up the ladder of success. Find something that you love to do and you are good at, and make a career of it. I believe that the way you get to the top is to have such a passion for something that you are willing to do anything. It's a tough road, and if you don't have the heart and desire, then you'll be tempted to give up along the way. The only difference between one person and the next is how bad you want it.

My first thought when I read this was about the "as you grow up" part. I think there are several points in our lives where it would be easy to label yourself as "grown up." You could stop and be happy with where you are and what you are doing. Maybe you achieved your dream and now you are living it. I think my struggle comes in that I don't really believe we stop growing up and I don't really believe in having one dream. There is always something to build on, something to improve upon. If you achieve one dream, who says you can't start pursuing another? My ultimate goal in this life is to be happy. I don't want to waste my time doing anything that takes away from my happiness. I want to find a way to turn the things I'm passionate about into a career, something I can do that will make me truly happy, something that I can do while I am working in an office (secretary by day, crafting extraordinaire by night!), and most importantly, something I will be proud to share with my children.

The key is to not let anything stand in your way. Don't get discouraged if people aren't supportive, just prove those people wrong. If you want it bad enough and if you work hard enough, as long as you are pursuing the good things that make you happy, then you will be successful and you can do it time and time again.

*Taken from Exactly As I Am by Shaun Robinson