Category Archives: baby

The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton

For almost three years an amazing thing has been happening – I’ve been blogging.

And I love my blog, I really do.

I write, you read, it’s amazing.

Amazing and but for fifty years I could have been one of the women in the book:

Struggling to find time to hand write stories to bring to their friends to read and critique while surrounded by their collective children.

Typing copies up to be mailed in to magazines and editors just to get someone other than their best friends to read what they have to say.

And here I lay in my bed, no doubt killing my neck with my horrible posture, clicking away at my keyboard and then with the push of a button and the magic of the internet – there it is for anyone to read.

Amazing.

The Wednesday Sisters

Would I recommend it? Yes. This book is, of course, about so much more than a group of writing women. And while there are many, books about a group of friends going through life together the voice of the main character really struck a cord with me this time.

I am curious to know if you’ve read it if you felt the same. Was it really a good read or did it just speak to me?

The Olivia Books by Ian Falconer

First off I’d like to clarify that I am talking the Olivia books.DSCN0482-(sm)

The books by Ian Falconer.

The books where the first of them has that nice shiny silver Caldecott medal on it.

THOSE Olivia books.

(I have no comment on all other shows videos and books of a pig with the same name.)DSCN0484-(sm)

The books where the face of the Olivia’s mother is one of the best parts.

DSCN0488-(sm)

From Olivia and The Missing Toy.

Those Olivia books are my favorite picture books, and I collected most of them after I had children.

Olivia goes to Venice came out about a year ago and I liked it but not so much that I had to have it. This year when I saw the newest title was Olivia and the Fairy Princess  I rolled my eyes, thought the author was losing it but that Ivy would love it and brought it home from the library.DSCN0485-(sm)But, then I read it and was oh so pleasantly surprised.

Olivia, she’s got a problem with all the pink princesses.DSCN0486-(sm)

Olivia, I had no idea you could get any cooler but with the line “If everyone’s a princess, then princesses aren’t special anymore!” you became my all time favorite pig.

Ivy who has joined the hordes of girls (and pigs) who love pink princesses was unimpressed but I, I have a new favorite children’s book!

Diana Gabaldon

Start with Outlander and then keep going.

I’ve been re-reading them in between other books since Jane has been born and I’m on my 6th book of hers in a month.

I haven’t yet had the words “dinna fash” or “you’ll ken” come out of my mouth yet but it’s a good thing I’ve only got one book left or I’d be yelling “Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ” next time I burn dinner.

Would I recommend them? Having just stared blankly at the computer screen for a many minitues I have no tidy way to sum up the books nor why exactly I’d recommend them.

I think I’m in a Jamie and Claire induced stuper… and now I have to go read what happens next – even though I’ve read this one twice before.

Fallen Skies by Philippa Gregory

One of the many benefits of having a period of rest with a nursing baby is that there is a lot of time for reading. Some of it may be reading at two in the morning – but that’s never been something that has bothered me. In fact, this is about the only time I can be reading at two in the morning without mentally chastising myself and feeling guilty about being tired the next day. So without further adieu, here is my reading companion and book model showing off the last Phillipa Gregory book I read:

She looks fairly unimpressed but it’s Phillippa Gregory so the book was of course well written and pretty darn good (she is one of my favorite authors after all).

The book was set just post WWI and I liked that if only for the novelty of it. WWII books seem to be everywhere you look but I’ve read very few of this era, does anyone have suggestions for others?

Would I recommend it? I would except that early on I realized that the characters were all headed toward a gigantic train wreck of a catastrophe. The impeding doom of the wreck you know is coming but takes an entire book to get to could really get to a person. Fortunately for me, I had plenty of time in the middle of the night to read the book quickly and so I enjoyed it. Not a happy book, but a good book.

The Patron Sait of Liars by Ann Patchett

This is one of those books that I’ve always heard the name but never actually read.  Since reading State of Wonder  by the same author ( I thought I wrote a review on that book but just discovered that I didn’t. But I should have because it was one of my favorite books I have read lately, definitely a recommend read that one, check it out!  – anyway-)   I thought I’d read some more of Patchett’s books.  I’ve always heard this title come up and now I can see why, it’s good!

I like when books switch character perspectives, but I like it more when they go back. I enjoyed this book, I read it quickly, it was good, but I missed the characters voices when I never got to hear them again.

Would I recommend it? Yes.

(S)mythology by Jeremy Tarr

As I’ve said before I hate reading the back of the book, it always tells too much of what happens. Instead I like to read the first page. Standing in the library the first sentence in this book caught my attention, here it is for your enjoyment:

“Because this is ultimately a fairy tale, and because it is sacrilege not to begin all fairy tales with four simple words, and because I can think of no better words than these four to start off this particular fairy tale, because of all this we begin Once Upon a Time.”

Probably Jeremy had all his papers marked with big red R.O.’s in school too.

When the book took short funny and completly random tangents to explain things that didn’t need explaing I was hooked. Unfortunatly it got a bit long, while it made me laugh out loud at times it’s not something I can broadly recommend.

Unless you think things like this are funny:

“The Cabbie went red. He looks constipated, Sophie though. She was right, the Cabbie was constipated, he hadn’t had a constitutional in just under a week and though usually a pleasant man, one could understand why any mishap could cause him great rage.”

Then maybe you should try it.

Please excuse Piper, she was cuter than the book cover.

Would I recommend it? No

The Wideacre Trilogy by Phillipa Gregory

Wideacre

The most wonderfully written car crash of a book I’ve ever read. I couldn’t look away and I couldn’t stop reading even when I wanted to.

Would I recommend it? No. It’s well done, but I just can’t recommend a book full of incest, I can’t do it.

The Favored Child

One of those books where you know the end.  Right from the beginning you know the chances of a happily ever after are slim, very, very, slim. Then it gets worse, and you see the character falling into trap after trap and then end is coming and all of a sudden it’s back to the car crash that you just can’t look away from.

Would I recommend it? No.  See recommendation above and add in verbal and physical abuse and a barn owl that says “whoo, whoo”

Meridon

Wow.

Would I recommend it? Well, you can’t just go read the last book of a trilogy, it’d make no sense whatsoever.  This one almost made the rest worth it.

The end result:

While this won’t be a trio of books I’ll be highly recommending, my lack of recommendation is only due to the content. While they are clearly not for everyone I believe that they are remarkably well written, go read something else of Gregory’s I doubt you’ll be disappointed!

Black Heels to Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond

Have you visited The Pioneer Woman‘s website? She makes me want to eat large amounts of food, take better pictures, laugh a lot, and add a few more kids and dogs to my life. In addition to her very active blog she also writes books, first a cookbook and now this one:

Black Heels to Tractor Wheels is her and her husbands own true love story.  It’s funny, in a neurotic, cute, lovable sort of way.

Would I recommend it? Yes, although if you’ve read all her website there isn’t too much new here though it is fun to read it all at once.

Watermelon by Marian Keyes

Once you get through the first two chapters of  the main characters cringe worthy views on childbirth and nursing, you can settle into a “fluffy” yet enjoyable book.  That is as long as you don’t mind the adultery, drinking, drugs, depression, a baby thrown in the mix when convenient  and lots of soap operas.

Would I recommend it? It’s all about expectations. If all you are looking for is a mindless yet enjoyable read in the romantic comedy style that may make you laugh out loud and if you can ignore any of the items mentioned above that may offend you, then yes. Otherwise you’d better skip it!