I have stumbled upon something fun. Old School Blogging at The Miss Elaine-ous Life. Each month, a new meme. Flashback to blogging old-school.

5 Things I Have a Passion For

1. Rob and our girls (see hands above)

2. Reading

3. Writing

4. Justice

5. Sunshine

5 Things I Would Like to Do Before I Die

1. Publish a book

2. Have a beach house

3. Plan a family reunion

4. Beat my sugar addiction

5. Become a morning person

5 Things I Say A Lot

1. You know..

2. I love you.

3. You are fine.

4. Have you read…

5. Where is the dog?

5 Books or Magazines I Have Read Lately

1. You Before Me

2. Eleanor and Park

3. The Paperboy

4. Matilda

5. A Sense of an Ending

5 Favorite Movies

1. Gone with the Wind

2. Sound of Music

3. Wizard of Oz

4. Bridesmaids

5. Almost Famous

5 Places I Would Like to Visit (or visit again as a grown-up)

1. Italy

2. Greece

3. Australia

4. China

5. Africa

 

 

 

 

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One day last week, I found myself reading the ‘business travel’ section in the USA Today. The headline of the article was “Don’t forget to pack a good book” and there was a side bar listing frequent fliers favorite titles. I figured I would record a few of the books and move on to other sections. I found myself, though, reading the entire article. Parts of it were obvious; frequent travelers would rather get lost in a good book than worry about the headaches of travel, busy people find flying the only time they can read and reading gives business travelers a chance to clear their head and come back to business projects with renewed energy.

What I found really interesting however were the comments that people made about increased Kindle use among fliers.

The article states,

“Frequent flier Bailey Allard laments their use. Allard a consultant in Chapel Hill, N.C., says she used to enjoy walking down an airplane aisle seeing what books in the hands of passengers were popular. She remembers being impressed by the number of adults, particularly businessmen- reading Harry Potter, for example.

“Seat mate conversation was often sparked by seeing your seat mate reading a book that you had read,” Allard says. “It was an opportunity for two traveling strangers to connect in conversation of mutual reading enjoyment.”

I sure do love my Kindle but I may just think twice before I bring it on my next flight. Who knows who I might meet if I bring an honest to goodness book.

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The other day, I was reading one of my favorite sites, A Mighty Girl, and stumbled upon this fantastic quote.

“The thing that is really hard and really amazing is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.”

I’m a bit unsure as to he source but I’m thinking Anna Quindlen. As I read the quote I thought immediately of two recent pictures of Katherine… the one above and this one.

And I began to realize that Katherine feels like she is perfect, right now.

I wonder if Caroline ever felt this way? Have I? Is it youth or is it personality?

Do I have the mammoth job of keeping Katherine’s sense of self exactly where it is right now? A job that will have me fighting with all my strength against the media and culture and friends and boys.

Or is this just who she it? A girl who is comfortable in her own skin. A girl who loves googles and cotton candy and isn’t afraid to show it?

I suppose only time will tell and for now, I am going to enjoy the ride.

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“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”

-F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

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I wrote yesterday about our recent re-discovery of picture books.

While we have found many great new titles, these stand out to me. In case, you too are experiencing a bit of a picture book slide, here a few to motivate you…

Open This Little Book: Written by Jesse Klausmeier and illustrated by Suzy Lee

A brilliant book about color, size and surprise that is impossible to describe with words. I had read many reviews before seeing it for myself and I was totally wowed.

Water in the Park: Written by Emily Jenkins and illustrated by Stephanie Graegin

We have read this book, that chronicles the life of a park throughout the day, at least five times. The writing is calming and the illustrations beg to be reviewed again and again.

How To: Written and illustrated by Julie Morstad

This book is a fun twist on a how to with the words saying one thing while the illustrations, perhaps, say another. I found myself imagining what each gorgeously illustrated page would look like framed and hanging on our walls.

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Last week, my wonderful children’s literature friend Jules, of Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, alerted me to a recent article in The Guardian called Modern life means children missing out on the pleasures of a good book. 

The most alarming part of the article comes right in the second paragraph that reads,

“Research presented to the Children’s Media Conference in Sheffield last week found that, while parents read to pre-schoolers, this later tails off, and by the final year of primary school only around 2% read to their children every day. Once children can read competently, parents tend to step back, and this usually happens at the age of seven or eight.”

The article goes on to describe a similar decrease in time spent reading aloud in the classroom as teachers suffer from the pressure of standardized testing.

What I find almost the most alarming about all of this is the fact that I almost fell prisoner to the same time demands of which we all complain. Over the winter, I stopped reading to both girls together, not having time, or so I perceived, to find a book that would appeal to both Katherine and Caroline. I was still reading to Katherine but only at bed time and I had completely let my reading to Caroline go. Fortunately, we were saved by the Penderwicks and I promise to not let this slip up happen again. And then I also stopped reading picture books to either of the girls. Katherine was loving the ‘big girl’ status of chapter books so I was letting her have at it. And then one trip to the library, a big canvas bag filled with books and two happy girls reminded me of how important picture books are to all children and frankly many adults.

I worry now about the future of the read aloud in family life. Clearly this article from The Guardian and my own actions support my fear. I have read Jim Trelease’s Read Aloud Handbook more than once and did a legitimate happy dance when the latest edition arrived in the mail last week. I have read and given as gifts Mem Fox’s Reading Magic and Daniel Pennac’s Rights of a Reader. I consider myself a passionate reader and yet I had run out of time to read aloud.

I know my girls are more than happy with our renewed focus on reading aloud and remembering our picture books. Here’s to continuing on, no matter how busy we get…

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I have been in many book clubs over the years and have loved each and every one of them. Each one had it’s own personality and it’s own percentage of time that was spent actually talking about the book. Last month, I joined a book club that is different from all the others. In this book club, we talk about the book nearly 100% of the time. Yes, you read that correctly. Nearly 100% of the time. There is no wine and no whine. Just talk about great books.

I discovered that a librarian who I like very much was starting a new book club. While I have heard good things about the other book clubs at the library, they have existed forever and I was nervous to join an already formed group. This new club seemed like a perfect opportunity.

The group has met twice and the beauty of it is that none of the members know each other. Somehow, every one who came, arrived on their own without a friend or an ally. We have no one to gossip with or trade stories with about our children. No on knows each other’s backstories and somehow we have decided not to share. The women are mostly older than I am but the age gap seems to be fine.

With no shared history among us besides the books we have read, we are left with only thing to talk about- the book.As a result we have had amazing conversations about two great books.

Our June selection, The Lifeboat,was a gripping tale of how survivors of a sunken cruise ship fight for leadership.

 

And our July selection, The Sense of an Ending, is a thought provoking study on memory, reality and perception.

I would highly recommend both books. They were page turners while still providing depth that was just right for a riveting book club discussion.

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Anne, at Modern Mrs. Darcy, hosts a wonderful monthly reading round up called Twitterature. In this link up, writers are asked to create short, Twitter-style reviews of their recent reads. What a fun and easy way to learn what people are loving and in some cases, leaving.

And on a related note, I am finally beginning to really use Goodreads and would love to find more friends to follow. If you use Goodreads, please leave me a comment so I can read some of what you are loving.

Here are a few of my most recent reads, Twitter style…

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes: A man looking back on a teen age relationship finds it was even more confusing than he first thought.

A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff: A newly released middle grade novel about magic and special talents that I really wanted to like but didn’t.

Wave by Sonali Deranivagala: If you can get through the first few chapters, this memoir of unbelievable tragedy is more than worth the initial pain of reading it. 

 

 

 

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“Sisters function as safety nets in a chaotic world simply by being there for each other.”
-Carol Saline

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I have read many great reviews of the middle grade novel The Paperboy by Vince Vawter.  In this story, the eleven year old narrator takes on his friend’s paper route for the month of July 1959 in Memphis, TN. The story is one of friendship, family and racial disharmony. Most interesting for me though, as a speech therapist, is the fact that the narrator has a severe stutter. Throughout the book, the reader learns what it must feel like to struggle to articulate the simplest of words. We watch as the narrator tells people only the simplest of his thoughts and feelings in order to avoid saying words that are difficult. We read on, almost with our eyes half closed, as the narrator passes out while trying to say his own name. My only regret after reading this book is that I am no longer seeing clients. I want the chance to recommend this book to the people who need it most. And I want the chance to give clients as much time as they need to say everything they want to say.

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