Indie Lit Awards

As I'm sure you are aware, (from all the big pictures and flashing neon signs on my sidebar, if nothing else,) that I have a book blog in addition to my family blog.  (That's why you aren't being inundated with annoying posts about books anymore.)  It has been great fun; book bloggers are a fabulous crowd of people: diverse, yet overwhelmingly kind, and always ready to talk about books. (score!)

There's a possibility you may not be aware that back in September I was offered the opportunity to be involved with the Independent Literary Awards on their panel to judge the Literary Fiction nominations.  How exciting, right?  There is such a huge number of book bloggers, and it is only right that their opinions should have a unified voice.  Wallace, at Unputdownables, is the one who came up with the idea to accomplish this through an annual award, and then proceeded to create the website and team of bloggers to help launch nomination process.

A brief note on how the award process works: any book blogger may nominate one book in each category.  This list of nominations is called the Long List.  The top 5 most-voted-for books would move on to the Short List.  The panel would read all 5 books on the Short List, discuss, and decide which deserved the honor.

As the months passed, it was exciting to see the books start to add up on the nomination list.  It made me realize that I'm not very good at reading new books, (something I'm working on changing,) because I hadn't heard of many of the books.  Mid December came around, the nomination deadline passed, and there was a tie for the last two slots in the Literary Fiction Short List.  We voted on the tied possibilities, (a couple o' times because the first vote created another tie,) and finally had the list of books to read and judge.

It was fabulous to read the top 5 books of 2010, based on book blogger's opinions.  There was  such a variety!  Here are my reviews of the 5 in Literary Fiction:

• Room by Emma Donoghue
• Great House by Nicole Krauss
• C by Tom McCarthy
• Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
• Safe From the Sea by Peter Geye

The award went to Peter Geye for Safe From the Sea, published by Unbridled Books, and it was well deserved.  This is a book that I would encourage anyone to pick up.  It is a quiet book, in the sense that it is more about the characters and setting than a rip-roaring plot, but the plot isn't absent, and is written very well (evocative without being overly complicated).  It was a pleasure to find out about this book, and I will definitely be hoping for more from Peter Geye in the future.

If you are interested in the others genres, here is my post about all the award winners.  I had such a great time being involved in the awards, and hope to be involved with them in some capacity in future years.  And I've begun reading newly published books already, getting ready for those nominations at the end of the year!

(There was even a small announcement about the Awards in the Minneapolis Star Tribune--check it out!)

Nursery Rhymes With a Twist

Flashback to 1980...where bizarre combinations were all the rage. Let me introduce you to the tiny booklet: My Jesus pocketbook of Nursery Rhymes.




This small treasure includes all kinds of adapted nursery rhymes, but I have just the two best to share with you. The first, Little Miss Muffet, is kind of sweet, really.

Little Miss Muffet

Sat on a tuffet

Eating her curds and whey.

She's afraid of a spider,

She needs Jesus inside her

To take all fear away.

Aww. Right? The next, however, is a little funnier.

Wee Willie Winkie

runs through the town,

Upstairs, downstairs

in his nightgown;

What does he see?

The children don't have

time for Jesus;

They're watching TV.

Ouch! Strong feelings, anyone?

(this great bit of church history generously brought to you via my friend Sarah. Thanks Sarah!)

Back to School

Enough slacking already, it's past time for me to acknowledge that school is in full swing again.  This week is our home school's fourth week, and Timothy's third week of high school.  Everything is already starting to settle in, from the inevitable adjustments in schedule, structure, and curricula at home, to the decline in spirits of my teenager who has just realized that even with better teachers and less hormonal swings, school still requires responsible behavior and decisions.

Timothy seems to be adjusting to life on the high school campus fine.  Chris and I met his teachers on Monday night (Back to School Night) and found that he has:
   1 amazing teacher (Geography)
   1 very good teacher (Health)
   5 good/standard teachers (Band, Spanish, Science, Algebra, English)

The hard part is simply trying to help Timothy learn how to help himself.  How to not feel overwhelmed and put a little effort into getting through high school.  He's such a smart guy, but he really doesn't like school...except the social part.  (I haven't taken any pictures of him since I'm still bleary eyed when he leaves in the morning. Sorry. But take my word for it--he got a hair cut and looks quite handsome.)

School books--just a sampling. :)

It always surprises me that regardless of how much planning time I put into the home school year, it is always immediately apparent that some adjustments are needed.  I'm adding in a first grader this year (Audrey's kindergarten year was a little less formal) which has shaken things up a bit as far as scheduling the day goes.  I had some time this weekend to reorganize our history schedule, since all of my desire to use a pre-made schedule couldn't make up for the fact that my kids would be much happier (and learn much more) with some minor changes.

Looks more tranquil that it is--imagine leaf blowers, sirens...

Everyone has had a change in math and English, which has prompted Melinda to look for places to do her work that will help her to eliminate stress.  The adjustment in English has been small and easy for her, but math has really thrown her for a loop.  We are pressing on, however, since I made the change in order to help them adjust to how math is presented in brick & mortar schools (at this point we are planning for Melinda and Andrew to attend Valley Christian next year).

If there is to be a mess, let it be with books.

Andrew has done great with all of his changes.  He had a big change in English and Math, but he has adapted well.  He is currently reading The Fellowship of the Ring (of his own choice) which is something I've never done...he's almost done and loving it.  The thing Andrew has to work the hardest at this year is eliminating careless mistakes in his math, and being responsible in completing all of his work on time.

Audrey made sure to finish her K workbook before moving on.

Audrey is loving school.  Every once in a while she sighs about a specific task, but overall she is eager to do more than required.  She is speeding through her science and history especially.  She loves being read to and loves having a schedule just like the big kids.

Did I mention I'm actually doing better at cooking too?

As far as organization goes, I'm using a method similar to what I used last year: binders with weekly checklist/schedules for the kiddos, schedules for me (used rather loosely) and weekly folders for organizing some of our work.  We've been much better about timelines since I've organized them better, and maps are getting done regularly thanks to the Story of the World Activity Guide.  

I actually have "Completed Work" binders set up.

All of the kiddos got haircuts before getting pictures taken.  Most shocking of all is Andrew's hair cut, since his hair was so long before.  What a handsome guy!

Annual Book Memo

Hi!  My Name is Melody and I LOVE BOOKS.

I love to read them and hold them, buy them, borrow them, stack them, lend them, give them, touch them, talk about them, think about them, organize them by author, or by genre, or by most common reader, or by color, or by size...and typically in doses much larger than the people who surround me can handle.

So rather than inundating all you innocent people with my hefty post about the 110 books I read this year, I've decided to just link it for you.  You can read all about it right here.  (and just in case you missed those two links, here's another one here.)

Reading During the Holidays

Who knew it could be so hard to read a book or two during the holidays?  Maybe a better question would be: Who on earth thought it could be easy to read a book or two during the holidays?  Believe it or not, I did manage to read 10 books in November and December, bringing my 2009 total to 110 books!  Crazy, that.  Here's what I read in the final months:


-Tom Trueheart, Ian Beck.  Andrew has been bugging me for ages to read this book, and I finally did!  It was a fun adventure book that touched on many well known fairy tales, putting a new spin on them.


-Tirzah, Lucille Travis.  This was a reread for me; I read it aloud to my kids this time through.  I enjoyed the perspective on Old Testament history that the author provided in this book.


-A New Kind of Christian, Brian D. McLaren. Some interesting thoughts to consider for any Christian, or anyone interested in modern evangelical Christianity.


-The Johnstown Flood, David McCullough.  One of my favorite books of the year.  An incredible moment in American history detailed by a great historian and writer.


-Fairest, Gail Carson Levine.  By the author of Ella Enchanted, and written in the same style, Fairest was a very enjoyable book to read to my girls.  Thought you knew the story of Snow White? You may think differently after reading this story.


-The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami.  Totally not my style, but very well written and engaging all the same.  This was a Book Club pick--I love how the Book Club makes me branch out.


-Mayflower, Nathaniel Philbrick.  Apart from the misleading title, this book was well written, well researched, and informative.  I know more about King Phillip's War than I ever did before, now I just have to find a book to teach me more about the Mayflower.


-The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster.  This book reminded me greatly of Roald Dahl's BFG for some reason.  It was a great allegory surrounding a very bored boy.


-Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout.  I flew through this book.  I just could not stop reading it.  The writing was lovely; fluid yet to the point.  The characters very real to life, the stories heartbreaking but satisfying.


-Justin Morgan Had a Horse, Marguerite Henry.  This is the story of how the Morgan horse came into being.  I'm no expert on horses, but this was a great little piece of history to read, and a very enjoyable story.

Day-After-Christmas-Resolutions

Why wait until New Year's Day?  I feel like I've eaten so much sugar and junk in the last week or two that the day after Christmas is a great day to start a Better-Eating-Resolution.  Of course, this is the morning that Chris declares that he is going to make Eggs Benedict for breakfast.  Way to test my resolve, mister!  And so, to combat the yumminess, I have decided to post a couple of fabulous book quotes.  Maybe I'll print them out and tape them to my fridge.

First, is a depressing one (in case I find myself entering the happy delusion that fudge doesn't have calories and cinnamon rolls are practically vegetables)  from So Long See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell:

"Without meaning to, she has grown heavy but she eats so little that short of starving to death there doesn't seem much she can do about it."

And next is a funny one to cheer me up after being so depressed...from Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout:

"Olive is a big person. She knows this about herself, but she wasn't always big, and it still seems something to get used to.  It's true she has always  been tall and frequently clumsy, but the business of being big showed up with age; her ankles puffed out, her shoulders rolled up behind her neck, and her wrists and hands seemed to become the size of a man's.  Olive minds--of course she does; sometimes, privately, she minds very much.  But at this stage of the game she is not about to abandon the comfort of food, and that means right now she probably looks like a fat, dozing seal wrapped in some kind of gauze bandage."

And with that, my friends, I'm off to find something to eat for breakfast that will rival an amazing hollandaise sauce or the best cinnamon rolls on earth with a negative amount of calories.

100 Books

Somehow I've managed to reach 100 book read so far this year!  I don't really know how I've done it, except that I've been so busy that I've absolutely needed some down time, and most of my quilting stuff is 500 miles away from me right now.  These are the books that I read in October:

The Stranger, Albert Camus I picked this up at the book store without knowing anything about it (except that it was a lovely cloth bound book, a classic of some sort, and a very slim volume) and read it quickly. It is more modern in style than I usually read, but it was very interesting and thought provoking. Takes place in Algiers, written post WWII.

The Magician's Nephew C.S. Lewis
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe C.S. Lewis I think I actually enjoyed The Magician's Nephew more, but that may be because I was less familiar with it. It's been so long since I've read these that it doesn't even really count.

How to Read Novels Like a Professor Thomas C. Foster. I wish I hadn't spent money on this book, but even more than that I am glad I didn't have this guy as a literature professor. Severe bias and arrogance in a teacher is one of my pet peeves, and as this book went on I felt that more and more. Ugh.

Riddle of the Rosetta Stone James Cross Giblin. A great insight to hieroglyphics, easy to read.

A Separate Peace John Knowles. I actually had a hard time getting through this book, simply because I was completely uninterested in the characters. Perhaps I just wasn't ready for a coming-of-age story, I don't know. Well written though.

Adara Beatrice Gormley. I preread this for our history, but won't be using it. The writing was okay, the theme a little confused/confusing.

Earthquake at Dawn Kristiana Gregory. I bought this from SL, and wasn't disappointed. It's a great little book to learn about the SF earthquake and fires. It's fact mixed with fiction, based on true characters even. Good reading.

So Long, See You Tomorrow William Maxwell. This seemed to be a continuation of the family's story in They Came Like Swallows, and since much of Maxwell's work is autobiographical, it shouldn't be so surprising. I loved both books. Simple yet deep and real.

Peter Pan J.M. Barrie. Weird and dark. Much like all the movies out there about it, yet at the same time stranger and darker. I'm not much of a fantasy reader, so I'm sure my score is reflective of that.

On Fortune's Wheel Cynthia Voigt. YA fiction, somewhat coming-of-age/historical/fantasy. I really enjoyed it, thought it was well written and engaging.

Reading in September

Since July I have wanted to sum up my reading accomplishments for 2009 to date and set some goals for the remaining months of the year. Now in October I am no closer to achieving these goals although the desire has not waned. The point of doing this is rather dull now, with there being less than 90 days left of the year. (!!!) I would be much better served by practicing writing (typing?) "2010" instead of "2009" and coming up with New Year's Resolutions. Oh, and thinking about Christmas shopping somewhere in there too, I suppose.

Unfulfilled goals notwithstanding, I am happy with the reading I've done so far this year. I haven't read as much as I'd wanted--believe it or not--especially when it comes to books already on my bookshelf begging to be befriended. I have, however, read some amazing books and made some new favorite authors (Cather, Tolstoy). In September I finished reading:

-My Antonia by Willa Cather. This book didn't touch me quite as deeply as did Song of the Lark, but then I had to read it in such a hurry to finish it by my book club meeting that I probably didn't spend as much time on it as I should have. I love Willa Cather's writing, and My Antonia only served to solidify my resolve to read all of her works.

-The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Buchanan. I read this as a LibraryThing Early Reviewer book, and ended up with conflicting opinions about it. The story and the history in the book were enjoyable, but I felt that there was a lack of continuity in some areas.

-The Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. A great read.

-Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Who am I to review Shakespeare? Classic.

-Let It Rot by Stu Campbell. Great introduction and reference about composting.

-The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw. I read this aloud this time as a school book. It was exciting enough that I was coerced into reading for 1.5 hours in order to finish the book. A great intro to Ancient Egypt.

And with that, I think I'll sign off and curl up with a good book. Happy reading, all.

Favorite Quotes from War and Peace

I thought about putting this post over on my boring book blog (Vita et Veritas) but then I thought Nah! These are way too much fun!

I just read War and Peace, and was delighted with it. There were a couple of parts where his philosophical thoughts and description of military process had me skimming the page instead of reading, but not enough to get me down. I actually loved the way he combined the story and the philosophy; his writing spoke to me. This makes the 3rd Tolstoy piece I've read, and though I've liked them all (the other 2 were Anna Karenina and parts of The Kruetzer Sonata) this is my favorite. In fact, I think this makes the list of all-time favorites (yes folks, right up there with Jane Austen). And without further ado, here are a few of my favorite quotes:

"All we can know is that we know nothing. And that's the height of human wisdom."

At such moments Princess Mary would think how intellectual work dries men up.

"Your mother's milk has hardly dried on your lips and you want to go into the army!"

"Ah, my friend, it has of late become hard for me to live. I see that I have begun to understand too much. And it doesn't do for man to taste of the tree of knowledge of good and evil..."

Toward the end of the evening, however, as the wife's face grew more flushed and animated, the husband's became more and more melancholy and solemn, as though there were but a given amount of animation between them and as the wife's share increased the husband's diminished.

His words and actions flowed from him as evenly, inevitably, and spontaneously as fracgrance exhales from a flower.

For us with the standard of good and evil given us by Christ, no human actions are incommensurable.

But despite the fact that the doctors treated him, bled him, and gave him medicines to drink, he recovered.

Sometimes it seemed to him that other people were all as pleased as he was himself and merely tried to hide that pleasure by pretending to be busy with other interests.

...and by loving people without cause he discovered indubitable causes for loving them.

I Know This Much is True...

...this book is LONG!

One of the good things about being back down in Southern California is the opportunity to rejoin the book club I was in. It was a fairly small book club, consisting of 6-8 members. The choice of book cycled through each member, so each person would get to pick a book 1-2 times a year. Many times the book picked was one that I would not have chosen, but most often I ended up glad to have read it. It expanded my horizons. I tend to stick with American and British historical fiction...not so well rounded.

"I Know This Much is True" is the first book that I'll be reading with the book club, and I'll admit that I'm a little daunted. This thing is listed at over 900 pages! Not that I've never read a book this long, (or longer,) and not that the writing looks difficult to read (from what I've previewed on Amazon), but the subject matter doesn't look to be something I'd want to spend any time on, much less 900 pages. I don't have the book in my hands yet, and perhaps everything will change once I do, but just the thought of this hanging over me has completely sapped any desire for me to read. I haven't read anything since I found out about this book. I've been on such a roll with reading this year (and last) that I'm worried about the book club killing my natural motivation. In previous years the book club was motivation to read, because I wasn't making myself do it otherwise.

I may have to end up being selective in which books I join the book club in reading. I'd rather not do this, but that may be a better option than having my motivation zapped. I should have the book by Monday...we'll see how it goes! (Maybe I'd better make a goal of finishing my current books this weekend? ...goals always help.)

What's on Your Nightstand?

Mine is getting a little ridiculous. These are not just the books on my "To Be Read" list, these are the book on my immediate "To Be Read" list. Right--like that's all going to be read immediately. There are 5 non-fiction books, 6 classics, 2 modern classics, 2 Sonlight books, and 1 junior fiction book. Maybe it's time to get my fingers off the keyboard and put my nose in a book.

My Apologies to Owen Meany Fans...

But I just CAN NOT finish reading this book! When reading a book of 617 pages, one would expect to become somewhat interested in something before the halfway point, right? One of the characters perhaps? Part of the storyline maybe? The writing style? The font?

(can you tell that it isn't often that I actually read 300+ pages of a book and then decide to quit reading it?)

I have officially put A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving) away, and will not be picking it up again. It is done for. It is on it's way to paperbackswap.com or the donation pile.

I would love to hear from those of you who have read and enjoyed this book. Tell me what you enjoyed, what you got out of it, anything at all. You needn't be worried you'll spoil the ending for me, since I've no plans on picking it up again. I'm off to something vastly more wonderful--Jane Austen. *sigh*

Book Review: Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning

“An Approach to Distinctively Christian Education”

This book has a lot of interesting information, still applicable to schooling today even though it was written in 1991. The book discusses education in general, with a focus on what Christian Education should be, in the framework of the Classical Education model.

I really appreciated the depth of the discussion about what Christian Education should be. Much of the book was spent comparing a Christian Education to a Humanistic Education, exploring exactly why they are different. Basically, one must realize that a complete Christian Education is not accomplished by adding prayer and bible study to a Humanistic course of study. Christian Education is built on the framework of knowing that all study is connected to the Creator—they are not individual disconnected areas of study.

As much as I enjoyed and agreed with most of this book, I have to say that I remain unconvinced that a complete Christian Education is the only way to reform education in America simply because this is not the method employed by other countries whose educational systems far exceed that of the United States. It is probably true that countries whose students perform better academically do so in part because of societal expectations. Therefore, in a broader sense I suppose the argument could be applied that Christianity is (or was, or should be) America’s framework for such expectations. In that case the breakdown of the Christian faith in America would account for a degeneration of academic and moral expectations. I tend to think, however, that the problem is more likely to lie in the fact that we are a nation of immigrants tied together by the idea of freedom. Without any other unifying moral framework this ideal has evolved into a sense of entitlement which has had a detrimental affect on many different aspects of our country and government.

I don’t think that the answer to education, or any other government program, is to attempt to make it distinctively Christian. I do think, however, that it would benefit Christian families to put more thought into the issues that Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning raises. Overall, I have to say that it was an enjoyable, well written book. If you are in the mood to refine your educational philosophy, I suggest you pick up a copy and see where it takes you!

My 88th book on 8/8/08

Okay, I get a kick out of random number pattern occurrences, and this mono-numeric coincidence has me thrilled. I just finished reading my 88th book for this year. Today. On 8/8/08. I just don't know how you get any cooler numbers than that.

It was unplanned, but thankfully noticed. And before you think I'm wonder-woman for reading that many books, (or start worrying for the safety and well-being of my children that MUST be neglected if all this reading is going on,) please realize that most of these books are historical junior fiction. Many of them have been books I've pre-read for school purposes. In fact, if I took all the junior fiction out, my count would only be around 25. But I figure that many books sold as adult fiction contain less valuable, educational, edifying information than these junior fiction books contain, and are often written more poorly. Besides, how can A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle or Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield not "count"? They do, I say. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. And enjoying my beautiful row of 8's while I'm at it.