NPR story: Rule Of The Undead: Zombies Invade Bookstores

Thursday, October 22, 2009

I am never in my car at the right time or day to hear all the wonderful stories they air on NPR but I love them to I often scan NPR's website for new and fun things for my listening pleasure. Today I found a story on all the new Zombie books that are creeping onto bookstore shelves this Halloween season. Read it or listen to it for yourself by hopping over to their site, just click here.

Currently "Reading":
Magazine - This month's Parents Magazine
Book - Stop, Rest, and Think by Fuad A. Kamal
Audio - any day now I am finally going to finish that Studs Terkel book I have been listening to off and on forever.

Read - a - Thon Pile

I came upon Dewey's Read-a-Thon so recently that I haven't put much thought into what I was going to read, honestly I only had 5 days to figure it out from the day I learned of the thing so this is what I have so far. I have two books that I have already started but can't think of any good reason not to finish given this wonderful opportunity those are:

* A Wife's Guide to In-Laws (and if my in-laws read this I received this book to review I did not buy it, I love you guys)
* The Songbird in My Heart
* A Year in the Merde

Then on to other books I have on my list that have not been started yet:
* Critical Mass
* Rusty
*Difficult People
* Grey Apocalypse
*Don't Sweat the Small Stuff
*Backpack

And now to a special category see I have a 2 year old son who will be with me 99% of the day on Saturday. He sleeps well at night and takes a good nap but the rest of the time he will be mine to entertain luckily he loves books so on top of the collection of books he already has we went to the library today and picked up a ton of children's books for me to read to/with him when he is in need of love and attention throughout the day. It's a win/win I get to keep reading and he gets new books to enjoy while I read them out loud to him. That list is:

* Dinosaurs Before Dark
* Tales of Oliver Pig

* Mr. Putter and Tabby Feed the Fish
* Dinosaur Time
* A Tree is Nice
* Jenny Giraffe Discovers the French Quarter
* Jenny Giraffe and Streetcar Party
* Clovis Crawfish and the Patit Papillon
* Clovis Crawfish and his friends
* The Sweetest Fig
* Where the Wild Things Are
* Stellaluna
* The Lorax

* The Gift of the Magi

I think these will keep me busy and if we run out of children's books there are shelves of them in his room we can raid, there are also plenty more adult books laying around so I am not worried about getting bored or reading everything I have in the house. This list is just a place to get started.

New Look

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

What do you think of the new look for my blog? I wanted something bolder a little more edgy but at the same time professional. Do you think I pulled it off? I think, yes!



This image is designed by Jim Unwin and titled "Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes" a T-shirt with this design on it can be purchased as part of The Select Series by going here.

Currently "Reading":
Magazine - The New National Geographic Kids
Book - The Songbird In My Heart by Mark Steven Rhoads.
Audio - just downloaded Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! by Seth Grahame-Smith I can't wait to start listening to it.

Kid's Pick - 5 minutes for books

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

My son will be three years old this December. I have been reading to him since before birth and he has so far picked up my love for books. He has more books than anything else in his room and recently he has been picking out longer and longer titles to read at bedtime, nap time and any other time. For the past few weeks he has been hooked on a book I bought before I was even pregnant.

Mr. Peabody's Apples by Madonna. I worked at Barnes and Noble before becoming a stay-at-home Mom when Madonna's books came out I was able to pick up first editions of her first two titles. I bought them knowing I would have children some day, my love of reading is something I always hoped to pass on.

Well, here I am with an almost 3 year old and finally reading this book. This is one of the first books my son says the actual title when he wants to read it, he loves the illustrations and the story provides a great introduction and eventually conversation starter for stealing and not judging other people. I am a little afraid he will want to cut a pillow in half some day but, if he learns the lessons then it will be worth it in the end.

Find out what books other kids around the blogosphere have enjoyed (and link up your own) at 5 Minutes for Books' Kids' Picks carnival the 3rd Tuesday of each month.

Currently "Reading":
Magazine - none right now.
Book - The Songbird In My Heart by Mark Steven Rhoads.
Audio - getting ready to start Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! by Seth Grahame-Smith

Fairyland

Monday, October 19, 2009

Catherynne Valente author of many wonderful stories including Palimpsest
and The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden made an announcement today. She has sold one of her newest stories The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. Why is this such a big deal? Well, first of all she is a great author who produces story after story that will simply capture you and whisk you away to another time and place and secondly she has been making this particular story available on-line for months now. Adding new chapters wee k-by-week which you can read by going here. It is not the

traditional way of doing things for sure but with her presence on the literary scene already established, her wonderful writing skill and her fan base to support this title has been picked up by Feiwel and Friends, a Young Adult imprint of Macmillian. And for those of you who don't already know that is a huge deal. This is where books are headed, a blend of traditional publications and the world wide interwebs. It puts a smile on my face knowing that things like this really are happening. That a "traditional" publishing house can see the potential in working with the web and not against it listening to the people and giving a story a bigger chance in the world.
Not only is Feiwel and Friends picking up the current Fairyland story but they are going to take it to the next level with a sequel to the fairyland story which I can't even tell you how excited I am to experience, knowing Valente it will be a truly enjoyable continuation of her fairyland adventure.

You can keep in touch with Catherynne Valente through her website, facebook or twitter. Purchase her books on Amazon.com

Currently "Reading":
Magazine - This month's Parents Magazine
Book - Stop, Rest, and Think by Fuad A. Kamal
Audio - finally going to finish that Studs Terkel book I have been listening to off and on forever.

Harvard University to put 1000 year old Chinese books online

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

A piece taken from a story I stumbled upon online.

''We need to change the mindset that rare materials must be kept behind closed doors,'' said James Cheng, the head librarian at Harvard-Yenching. ''A library is not a museum.''

I love this guy. Of course we want to preserve the old books but why should the content of those books be lost forever or only accessible to a few people? I hope more rare and old texts become available online soon.



Currently "Reading":
Magazine - This month's Parents Magazine
Book - Stop, Rest, and Think by Fuad A. Kamal
Audio - finally going to finish that Studs Terkel book I have been listening to off and on forever. Any minute now minute now it will be done.

Book Review - My Goodness: My Kids by Nesta A. Aharoni

In the green bar across the top of this book are the words "No curfews, No timeouts - No violence, No drugs." An interesting idea but can it really be true? In My Goodness: My Kids: Cultivating Decency in a Dangerous World author Nesta A. Aharoni tries her best to make us believe it is in fact true but after reading the book I still have my doubts.

The idea is definitely a straight forward one be good and your children will be too, raise children to be "good" above all else and you will produce an honest, respectful and kind adult. There are tidbits of information in this book that could be used along your parenting path, like not paying for grades (expect their best and if they need help get it for them) or not being afraid to say you are sorry to your kids (it's only fair if you expect them to say sorry too) but you will have to unearth them from the mounds of gushing praise for her own children that is stuffed into every chapter.

Most chapters are short and can be broken down pretty much like this: first paragraph will open the chapter giving a brief explanation of what the chapter is about, the next two to three paragraphs will vaguely describe the parenting concept and will only occasionally have a real life example or way in which other parents might implement said concept, then the last page of the chapter will be devoted to praising her own children. At times the talk of her children is directly related to the chapter at hand and at other times it seems wholly unrelated but never fear it will always include many examples of how wonderful, honest, smart, respectful and kind they were as children and they are now as adults.

Nesta Aharoni raised three children and those children seem to be smart well adjusted adults now, according to her. But, there in lies the rub, since we the readers don't personally know her children we are constantly taking her word for what great children she has and I can tell you from personal experience a Mother's word about how wonderful her children are is at best slanted and at worst an all out lie. Unfortunately the ideas that are meant to help other parents in their parenting journey are overshadowed by all the motherly child gushing which any parent could spot a mile away thereby making the parental advice all the more unbelievable and difficult to find, let alone follow.

Don't get me wrong, there is good at the heart of this book, in the Appendix of My Goodness: My Kids Mrs. Aharoni asked her other family members to contribute a few words. A paragraph written my her daughter seems to sum up what I believe the general message of this whole book actually is:

My parents showed us time and time again, by buying us ice cream to celebrate a good day or taking us on a vacation to show us the world, that quality of life and doing the right thing are more important than money or possessions. They demonstrated to us that life experience and helping others are more important than a fat wallet or a prestigious title.

I just wish she could have told us this in a more honest realistic kind of way. Less about how wonderful her own kids are and more strategies for myself and other parents like me to implement her ideas so we can all have "good" kids.


Currently "Reading":
Magazine - This months Budget Travel
Book - Love Among the Chickens by P.G. Wodehouse
Audio - latest This American Life Radio Show