Why Charlotte's Web is the Perfect Book to Read to a Six Year Old

I've recently read Charlotte's Web out loud to two little boys, ages 4 and 6, and it was amazing. I then tried reading a couple different books to them and it wasn't quite a good. (I think the ideal place to read this book is with a child, actually. I'd read it as an adult before silently and it wasn't nearly as good.) Here is why Charlotte's Web is so good..

1. It is a simple story that isn't overly complicated but still grabs their attention.

2. The book is the perfect length...184 pages. The boys loved looking at page 100, for some reason, and they were always astounded at having read so many pages! Also, the chapters are the perfect length for two boys' attention spans. We read a chapter together during lunch and by the end of the chapter...they would always beg me to read one more!  I knew that I'd lose their attention if we did so I'd make them wait. By the next day they would be begging for lunch time so we could read more about Wilbur and Charlotte!

3. It is about basic things like loneliness and friendship. Being scared and being brave. There were multiple occasions that I'd  talk to the boys about their days at school and they'd be going through similar stuff to what Wilbur was going through! Once I picked up the six year old from school and he said no one wanted to play with him at recess that day. And I was reminded at just how hard all that friendship stuff is when you are little (and sometimes even when you're an adult!). You are constantly trying to figure out what a friend is, who your friend  are, etc. We had this great conversation about Wilbur feeling the same thing in the book--being lonely and scared. But that in a couple chapters, he was going to find a great friend! It was a very sweet moment to see the six year old identifying with Wilbur and feeling hope that maybe tomorrow he'd find someone to play with at recess!

3. The story is about a pig and a spider! The boys have always thought spiders were terrifying--just like Wilbur did when he first met Charlotte! It was so cute to see them change their attitude about Charlotte. They also loved the name Wilbur. One day the 4 year old ran up to me after preschool and he said..."We read a book about Wilbur! But today he was an elephant not a pig!" It was great to see him thinking and connecting with the story, too.

4. It touches upon death but does it in a safe way. The 6 year old is pretty scared of the idea of death. Whenever anyone mentions death, he usually covers his ears. I wasn't sure how he was going to take the threat of Wilbur being killed or even the end of the book. During those parts, I'd notice that he wasn't chewing his food anymore but rather staring intently at me as I read. Sometimes I'd put the book down and we'd talk about what was going on, but usually he'd accept that part of the book and could continue on. E.B. White makes the end hopeful and...warm. The last chapter is called "A Warm Wind" and it is just the perfect title for it. It isn't scary...it is a little sad...but still okay!

5. Its a fun one to read out loud....especially the chaotic parts involving the goose! The boys loved it when I did different voices and you could see them imagining everything going on. The book also has this simple, nostalgic feel to it.


I hope you are able to enjoy this experience, too! Don't rush through the book but take the time to talk about what you read and connect it to their lives. Its a good book to do that with!

Four Fun Book Recommendations

1. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

2. The Enneagram Made Easy by Renee Baron

3. A Wrinkle in Time (The Graphic Novel) Adapted/Illustrated by Hope Larson

4. Moloka'i by Alan Brennert

2013 Reading Goal: Frida Kahlo 1907-1954 Pain and Passion

My latest book on my 2013 reading challenge is Andrea Kettenmann's book on Frida Kahlo.

Rating: 4 stars

Image from Goodreads

For my 2013 challenge, I've been thinking a lot about self-portraits...what they mean and why they are important. I figured it would help if I started looking at female artists who delved into the realm of self-portraits. When I started brainstorming artists, Frida Kahlo was at the top of my list. I really didn't know too much about her before this book so I was happy to find a good introduction to her life and her work.

And what a life she lead! I had no idea about all of the medical problems that surrounded her life. The whole reason why she started painting in the first place was because she was cooped up in bed recovering from surgery.  They hooked up this canopy with mirrors on it so she could see herself. She said, "I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best." She often had to wear a steel corset to help support her back and she was almost always in constant pain. She had dozens of surgeries on her back and on her leg which were themes that often arose in her work.
 
Kettenmann did a nice job throughout the book on showing insights on her paintings. When you first look at her self -portraits, they often can look emotionless...mask like. Kettermann writes "Frida Kahlo's self portraits helped her to shape an idea of her own person; by creating herself anew in art as in life, she could find her way to an identity. This may explain why her self-portraits differ in only relatively small respects."

When she lost several pregnancies, she painted some gruesome paintings that show just how sad she was...even though her face stayed pretty constant. Every now and then she would paint tears going down her face. After one surgery on her back, she was discouraged by the lack of progress that was made so she painted her head on a deer's body. She then painted arrows all over the deer to show what she was feeling. It was amazing how much her inner turmoil was captured in her paintings--even with her wearing her "mask" in most paintings.

I was really surprised at the subject matter that she took on. Her miscarriages, death, her sexuality, her pain were all themes that arose in her work. Diego Rivera said about Frida, "She [is] the first woman in the history of art to treat, with absolute and uncompromising honesty, one might even say with impassive cruelty, those general and specific themes which exclusively affect women."She really did not shy away from what she was feeling and going through.

Towards the end of her life she had to have her leg amputated which lead to severe depression. She ended up dying young (in her 50s) because of pneumonia but the book hinted at suicide since her last entry in her diary seemed much like a good bye. It surprised me that once again, a talented female artist was at least somewhat tied to the idea of suicide.

Fourth lesson of the year: Self-portraits are important in the role of self discovery. Look at what is going on in my life...my inner life...and reflect that in my self-portraits. I am the subject that I know best...so paint! 

________________________________________________________________

As I mentioned in my 2013 goal, I’m reading mostly women lit that focuses on women authors or complicated, strong female characters this year. Here is the list of my previous book reviews that I've done on this journey:

First: Madame Bovary
Second: Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress
Third: Patron Saint of Liars 
Fourth: Bird by Bird

2013 Reading Goal: Bird by Bird

My latest book on my 2013 reading challenge is Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird.

Rating: 5 stars

For some reason, I have never gotten around to reading this book until now. I am a big fan of Anne Lamott...mostly only because I fell in love with the book, Traveling Mercies, several years ago. I've tried to read a couple of her other books but never connected with them as much. Even so, I still call myself a big fan of Anne Lamott. And this book reminded me why I do.

I checked this book out from the library and immediately regretted not owning it. I used 22 sticky notes to mark passages/pages/excerpts that I adored...and that was me being conservative.

This book is a guide to writing. A very helpful, funny, and practical guide. But Lamott is able to do so much more with it then just tell you how to write. She tells you why it is so important to write and to read. 

Throughout the book she tells these stories that are dark, haunting, and beautiful. She shows how important the process of writing is...both for ourselves and as readers. She writes, "Because for some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world...Books helps us understand who we are and how we are to believe....they show us how to live and die. An author makes you notice, makes you pay attention, and this is a great gift."

She inspires us to find the truths inside ourselves that need to be told. That need to be added to this conversation. She says, "You need to put yourself at their center, you and what you believe to be true or right. The core, ethical concepts in which you most passionately believe are the language in which you are writing. Telling these truths is your job. You have nothing else to tell us."

So much of what she says makes me love books even more. I love the idea of connecting with the truths that other authors have inside them. I love the idea that I'm seeing whats important to someone else...what they've noticed and seen to be true. Lamott writes, "Becoming a writer is about becoming conscious. When you're conscious and writing from a place of insight and simplicity and real caring about the truth, you have the ability to throw the lights on for your reader." I love those moments that I have in books and I love the idea that it comes from the author really caring about the truths inside and around them.

She wants us to wake up, look around, and care for the people around us in order so that we can be more truthful in portraying the world around us. She says, "I honestly think in order to be a writer, you have to learn to be reverent. If not, why are you writing? Why are you here?" So she shows us some examples throughout about the times when she has reverently watched and been apart of the world. From one especially beautiful story, she says, "...there is still something to be said for painting portraits of the people we have loved, for trying to express those moments that seem so inexpressible beautiful, the ones that change us and deepen us."

In the last paragraph she sums it up perfectly when asked the question of why writing matters. She says, "Because of the spirit, I say. Because of the heart. Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life: they feed the soul."

My 4th lesson of 2013 is:  Find the truths that are important to me so I can add to the conversation that I love so much. The best way to do that is by reading, watching, and listening to the world around me. And by being disciplined in writing. Every day!

________________________________________________________________

As I mentioned in my 2013 goal, I’m reading mostly women lit that focuses on women authors or complicated, strong female characters this year. Here is the list of my previous book reviews that I've done on this journey:

First: Madame Bovary.
Second: Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress.
Third: Patron Saint of Liars.

2013 Reading Goal: The Patron Saint of Liars

As I mentioned in my 2013 goal, I’ll be reading mostly women lit that focuses on women authors or complicated, strong female characters this year.  First book: Madame Bovary. Second book: Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress. And here is the third.

Rating: 5 Stars! (and an exclamation point)

Photo from Goodreads

 I read an interesting article a while back in the New York Times about the loss of faith in fiction. As a religious person myself, I’ve been thinking a lot about the fiction I read and if there are any books that tackle the depths and complexities of the religion that I know. I think it is incredibly hard to portray religion with truth and not have it seem hokey or overly dramatic. One book that I immediately thought of was, The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett. And lucky for me, it was on my list to (re)read this year. I've read a bunch of different reviews on this book and it really surprised me how little religion was brought up. Even with such a great, seemingly contradictory title! 

This story begins with the beautiful Rose, who has grown up in the church and believes so strongly that she is entitled to a sign from God that she looks everywhere for it. She says, "I did not ask for more than my share, one sign. That which was by rights mine because I believed and was so ready to listen." In the very next paragraph she says, "Nun or Wife, my choices loomed above me like giant doors, and I waited, listening for God to give me the word." She believes that those are her two choices and that God will clearly tell her what she should do.

So when a romantic, handsome man comes to her and tells her beautiful things...she assumes that this is her sign. She marries him and she is happy at her wedding. She believes she is doing what God has called her to do and she is happy about it. After a couple years of marriage, she suddenly could no longer breath unless she was out alone on the road...free in her car. She realized that she had "said yes to Thomas Clinton and later thought that I had said yes to God and later still realized I had said yes only to Thomas Clinton." She was nineteen years old and "knew so little that I took [sexual desire] to be a sign from God." 

Rose finds out that she is pregnant and she panics. She doesn't want this life...boring, routine life because she thinks that God has some other sign for her. She runs away from her husband and her mother and flees to a home for unwed pregnant women. She lies to all of the nuns, telling them that she wasn't married and that the father had died. Rose feels like she can leave her husband without telling him that she is pregnant because she will have to suffer herself by giving up her mother. That is her idea of penance...since she will suffer, she feels like she doesn't have to be remorseful.

It was also intriguing to me how all of her images of God are tied up in the men that she knows. She is so incredibly close to her mom, but she is always looking for the men to show her God. First she thinks Thomas Clinton is her link to God. Then she admits that whenever she asked for forgiveness at church, she really just asked forgiveness from her priest, as she often viewed him as her father.  Later at the home for unwed pregnant women she describes the maintenance man, who happens to be named Son, that he "seemed to bear all of our pains." Her language implies that she thinks of him as some Christ figure.

Rose fully intends on giving up her baby. She never picked out a name for her, she never made baby clothes...she really just shut her mind off to the fact that she was pregnant. At one point, she has a kind of exhaustion induced meltdown. She goes out to this field in the cold and demands that God gives her another sign because she misread the last one. She yells, "Your will be done. Okay? Tell me what in the hell that's supposed to be." Rose is so eager to do what God wants her to do but she is so lost at what that might be. Suddenly in her state of delirium, Son comes to save her from the cold. Patton writes, "The figure that came toward me in the whiteness was huge, big enough to be the Son of Man. He who so loved man He sent His only Son."  And suddenly, she decides she is going to marry this Son. She thinks that God is once again telling her to marry a man that she doesn't love. So she does it. She marries him so she could keep the baby. 

So she stays on and runs the kitchen. Somebody mentioned to her that suddenly, she was treated like one of the sisters. Rose replies, "That's an awful thought." And I have to wonder why is that awful? Is it awful because she always believed that she either had to be married or be a nun...and if now she is like a nun...she made terrible mistakes twice in her life? 

The book is divided up into three different parts, the first is Rose's story. The second is Son's and the third is the daughter's story, Cecelia. As the book progresses, Rose drifts further and further away. You begin to see just how closed off and weighed down from all her lies she really is. Rose cooks, raises her daughter, and is married to Son.  She barely has time for Cecelia and is definitely not the mom that Cecelia craves. Rose was looking for her own mom for so long that she couldn't even think about being a mom herself. I better stop there before I give any of the ending away!

As you step away from Rose, Cecelia takes a more center stage. Growing up among a hotel full of unwed pregnant girls and nuns, she has a unique upbringing to say the least. But in many ways she is lucky. She is growing up with religion but she has people that can help her negotiate the complexities of God. When she is dealing with something, Sister Evangeline tells her directly that "This isn't any sign from God." She is surrounded by various people who can teach and help her along her path. She isn't isolated and alone in her religion, like Rose. Yes, Rose was very close to her mom, but never did she mention that they were close in a spiritual way. They talked about make-up, beauty, marriage, movies, etc. Maybe this is why Rose was always looking to the men in her life for that spiritual void.

The first time I read this book, I naturally assumed that the Patron Saint of Liars was Rose. Her very first sentence mentioned how she was going to be a liar for the rest of her life. The word liar or lie must have referred to her at least a dozen times in the book. She was constantly lying to herself and the people around her. But the second time through, I couldn't' help but think of her daughter as the Patron Saint of Liars. Cecelia is surrounded by girls who lie about their lives--their pasts especially. She grew up with her lying mother. Even her father (Son) lies to her about being her real father. Yet, there is a part of the book where a girl mentions that all of the girls want to be her because she is different than them...but doesn't judge them. They all look up to her in a way. She is one of them but isn't one of them. She is guided by the nuns to see and have the touch of holiness that the town has in its water. 

And I can't help but think that if Cecelia really is the patron saint, then maybe her mother, Rose, was really missing her sign from God all along.

My lessons from this book: Learn from those around you. Talk to others about religion and God. Even when you can't articulate what you feel...try! Be open, be vulnerable.

A Love Affair with Bookbinding

Time: 2 hours
Listening to: Teacher

I took my first class at The Craft Center on Thursday and had so much fun! In an art class that I took back in 2005, I was given the overwhelming introduction to bookbinding by having to make my own sketchbook. While it was lots and lots of work at the time, I actually really liked it. Yes, my fingers were very sore by the end of it, but I enjoyed the process.  Over the years, I kind of stepped away from making books and I have missed it! I've been wanting to  take a class at the Craft Center and thought this would be a good introduction to the center and also a good reintroduction to bookbinding.

Here are some of the books that I made during the class:

Simple book with a hidden knot inside

Inside hidden knot

I forget what this is called but it actually has two different "books" inside it!

Write one book---flip it over---and you have another one!

I also learned the running stitch!

2013 Reading Goal: Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress

As I mentioned in my 2013 goal, I’ll be reading mostly women lit that focuses on women authors or complicated, strong female characters this year.  First off I read Madame Bovary. The second one I knocked off the list was Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars

Picture from Goodreads

I had a hard time getting into this book. Even after about 100 pages, I kept thinking...jeesh...300 more pages to go? Couldn't someone have edited this down some? But then things started to get interesting for me. While sometimes she'd be way over the top and I'd roll my eyes...other times she would hit upon  parts of her life that resonated with me. I loved the stories about how she wanted to be a feminist but she was still learning and struggling with what that all entails. She wrote about always believing that girls were just as good as boys...chanting on the play ground from a young age "Girls Smart, Boys Fart." She also "made a point of reading hundreds of biographies of famous women, then sprinkled my dinnertime conversation" about them. Then she would hit up her dad for money and not understand the ironies of that. She writes that her dad told her "I just think it's cute how you call me a patriarchal oppressor, then fifteen minutes later, you hit me up for money so you can go to the movies."

One of my favorite bits was about her first job as a coffee barista. Her boss was always giving the girls advice on how to get married. In one story she faced the idea of hairy legs..."I was chewing over the remark about 'hairy-legged women's libbers.' I'd always shaved my legs, and what did leg hair have to do with wanting equal treatment under the law, anyway?" I loved the moments in the book that were like that. Moments that really illustrate how a girl wanting to be a feminist suddenly is struck with the idea that she might be doing something wrong! Or just not understanding at all what something like a hairy leg might imply or symbolize. Gilman also tends to exaggerate and be over the top with things so some of the stories or moments of enlightenment are quite funny.

I also think that her struggle with becoming engaged and married were interesting. So many of the women lit that I've read in the past all have to do with women shedding the confines of marriage. Stories where the women can't breath or can't be herself because of the social constrictions on who a woman can be. While reading those stories as a young woman, I just assumed that I wouldn't ever get married. I've always been rather stubborn and not always the most "think of the other person before you" person so I figured I just would go solo through life. It seemed easier almost. But things turned out a bit different for me when my boyfriend at the time went away for a semester to another country and I was stuck behind...absolutely MISERABLE. I didn't want to live apart from this guy, this best friend of mine ever again. As I grew up, matured, and learned more about who I am...I realized that marriage did not have to be a box that I had to contort myself into. It could actually be more freeing. BUT it still was strange for me to suddenly be talking about weddings, dish sets, and linens. And Gilman does an excellent job on telling that side of things. She writes, "But as a feminist, nothing was as daunting to me as getting engaged. Because as soon as Bob slipped the ring onto my finger, it was as if we were instantly catapulted back into 1956. Virtually overnight, people stopped treating us like individuals and began relating to us instead as a traditional Bride and Groom--sex roles as shallow and reductive as the symbols on public restrooms."

She also tells the hilarious story about how much she resisted the white wedding dress...until everyone twisted her arm and guilted her into trying one on. So she goes into David's Bridal...puts one on and refuses to take it off because it makes her feel so good. She writes, "As I stood there, something else occurred to me: why did it take so long to have this experience? Every woman should have this experience--and not only if or when she gets married. Every woman should see herself looking uniquely breathtaking, in something tailored to celebrate her body, so that she is better able to appreciate her own beauty and better equipped to withstand the ideals of our narrow-waited, narrow-minded culture."

I gave the book a 3 1/2 overall...but I think I'd give it a 4 1/2 for the last 150 pages or so. I think she really hit her stride there---or maybe I was just able to connect more with it.

One last part I loved...she wrote about how she felt when her and her husband move to Switzerland. While I didn't move abroad...I did recently move 2000+ miles from my family and friends so I feel like its another country. She says..."Funny how glamorous stories about people going abroad always conveniently seemed to leave out this part--the unnerving schizophrenia of arrival--the panic you can feel in a strange city when you realize: whoa. This is it. You're not going home next week with a bagful of snow globes to hand out."


Lessons from this book: Embrace the contradictions! Don't be afraid to get everything right the first time. Be a life learner! (Insert other cheesy, motivating sayings!)

2013 Reading Challenge

Some of you may know that I am a sucker for reading. I almost always have a book in my hands, next to me, or on my mind. I'm focusing on women authors and/or strong, complex female characters this year.

Here is my not-set-in-stone list of books I want to read this year. 

1. Margaret Atwood--The Blind Assassin
2. Margaret Atwood--The Handmaid's Tale
3. Jane Austen--Mansfield Park
4. Jane Austen --Northanger Abbey
5. Lynda Barry--What it Is
6. Samantha Bee--I Know I Am, But What Are You?
7. Elizabeth Bowen--The Death of the Heart
8. Kate Braestrup--Beginner's Grace
9. Willa Cather--Death Comes for the Archbishop
10. Kate Chopin--The Awakening (reread)
11. Kathleen Davis--The Thin Place (reread)
12. Debra Dean--The Mirrored World
13. Simone de Beauvoir--The Second Sex
14. Emily Dickinson--The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson
15. Annie Dillard--Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
16. Rachel Dratch--Girl Walks into a Bar
17. Louise Erdrich--Love Medicine
18. Helen Fielding--Bridget Jones' Diary
19. Fannie Flagg--Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop
20. Catherine Gildiner--Too Close to the Falls
21. Susan Jane Gilman--Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress
22. Mary Gordon--Spending
23. Frances Hodgson Burnett--The Secret Garden
24. Frances Hodgson Burnett--A Little Princess
25. River Jordan--Praying for Strangers
26. Barbara Kingsolver--The Bean Trees (reread)
27. Anne Lamott--Bird by Bird
28. Jhumpa Lahiri--The Namesake (reread)
29. John MacArthur--Twelve Extraordinary Women
30. Carson McCullers--The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (reread)
31. Margaret Mitchell--Gone with the Wind
32. Liz Murray--Breaking Night
33. Irene Nemirovsky--Suite Francaise
34. Kathleen Norris--The Cloister Walk
35. Flannery O'Connor--Mystery and Manners
36. Flannery O'Connor--Three (reread)
37. Ann Patchett--The Patron Saint of Liars (reread)
38. Ann Patchett--Truth & Beauty
39. Dorothy Parker--Complete Stories
40. Sylvia Plath--The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
41. Adrienne Rich--The Dream of a Common Language: Poems 1974-1977
42. Marilynn Robinson--Housekeeping (reread)
43. Marjane Satrapi--Persepolis
44. Amy Sedaris--I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence
45. Lucy Shaw--Breath for the Bones
46. Alice Walker--The Color Purple
47. Sheila Weller--Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon
48. Edith Wharton--The Age of Innocence
49. Mary Wollstonecraft-- A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
50. Virginia Woolf--A Room of One's Own
51. Virginia Woolf--Night and Day

Let me know if you have any suggestions of books I should definitely add to my list!

2013 Goal: Reading Madame Bovary

As I mentioned in my 2013 goal, I’ll be reading mostly women lit that focuses on women authors or complicated, strong female characters this year. The first one I picked up to read was Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert…and WOW…what a good one.

Rating: Five Stars

The book centers on the ambitious, romantic and ever dreaming Emma. She marries young when she thought she was in love. But when “the happiness that should have followed this love not having come, she must, she thought, have been mistaken. And Emma tried to find out what one meant exactly in life by the words felicity, passion, rapture, that had seemed to her so beautiful in books.”  

She wonders what her life would be like if chance had brought her another man to marry. She imagines how different and wonderful it would be from her current life. When she gets a taste of a rich and elegant ball, she falls in love with the romance of it all. She wants her husband, Charles, to inspire the passions inside her, and teach her the beautiful, extraordinary things in the world, but he is a commonplace man who talks of normal, everyday things. Charles is very happy with their married life and is blind to all of Emma’s unhappy qualms. She never tells Charles any of her hopes and dreams…but rather keeps it all inside her.

So Emma begins to look to other men to fill this void in her. She first has an emotional affair with a young Leon. Then when he removes himself, another man, Rodolphe, steps in whose ambition is to conquer Emma. When she accepts, they begin a long affair…one which she eventually decides she’ll leave Charles and run away with him. When he backs out of their plan she becomes despondent and ill.  Her husband Charles is so out of touch with Emma that he always thinks she has this nervous condition…when really her heart flutters at the passions that she feels. Eventually Emma recovers and a chance encounter brings her back in touch with Leon. From there, they begin a passionate affair which Leon pushes for. Emma consents and eventually becomes more and more like her previous lover, Rodolphe…the wooer, the romantic…while Leon struggles to keep up with her.

Emma eventually spirals out of control…leading to a tragic end. Her life becomes full of lies and deceit and eventually it catches up to her and those around her.

I’ve thought so much about this book since I finished it. I’ve kept wondering if Emma really would have been happier if she had married into a rich and luxurious lifestyle to a man who was romantic and inspiring...like she dreams of. Would she have still found the unhappiness that always seems to find her? Would she have become bored with him, too, like she did of all her lovers?  

Or rather is the problem that she was never truly free? Even when she fought for freedom from Charles, she still always turned to another man. Even when she gained legal freedom, she still turned to another man (sleazy, con artist) to guide her with her finances which she has no clue how to handle. It seems like there is no place in this society for a woman like Emma. She tried religion, but she was much too romantic and sexual to be a nun. She tried marriage yet that didn’t suit her either. She never looked inside to what she could contribute or what she could do to make her situation better…instead she wants happiness to find her. She wants the men in her life to bring her the romance and passion to her. If she was living in a society where a woman wasn’t assumed to either be a nun or married…would Emma have been freer to dream outside of love and romance? Would she have been able to dream bigger?  

Lesson #1 of 2013: When you feel lost or unhappy...don't blame the people around you. Get involved, change your habits, and look inside yourself to see what you have to contribute to the bigger world. 

Part 3: Reading List of 2012

Here is part 1 and here is part 2. 

* indicates a favorite

** indicates a super favorite

 

53.   **The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath   Classics/Fiction
This book has been on my to read list for quite some time and I am so glad I finally got to it. Although it was written in the 50s, there are so many timeless elements to it. It is quite haunting...one that kept me thinking about it for some time.  
54.   The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchett     Fiction
55.   Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper     Young Adult Fiction
56.    Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs       YA Fiction/Fantasy
57.    **The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield       Fiction/Mystery
This is a great book for any book lover out there. There are several stories throughout this book, and it is quite nice when they intertwine. Great characters, a nice mystery, and so many great quotes about the love of books! Writing about this book actually makes me want to reread it again.
58.   **The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd       Fiction
I decided to reread this book again after I finished Kidd’s The Dance of the Dissident Daughter, which is about her journey with feminism. At the end of it she decides to start writing fiction....more specifically, The Secret Life of Bees. I LOVED reading this book knowing the story that lead up to it. I loved this book the first time I read it and loved it even more the the second read through.  
59.   *The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks      Nonfiction/Psych
I picked up this book randomly without knowing anything about it...basically because of the great title. It reminded me of a Gogol title so I was surprised when I started reading and found out that it is a collection of nonfiction story from a psychologist. I really loved the stories and kind of skimmed over his psychology talk sometimes. I tended to read a chapter or two right before bed so my poor husband was forced to listen to a recap as I was so enraptured with them!
60.   *How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran       Memoir/Feminism
On the cover of the book there is a quote that says “The British version of Tina Fey’s Bossypants.” so I wanted desperately to read it as I loved Bossypants. Boy, was I in for a surprise! This book was a lot cruder than I was expecting but once I got over my shock, I enjoyed it! She tells some very funny stories about her growing up and exploring what it means to be a woman. She is super funny and I enjoyed the many rants that she went on. I wouldn’t recommend this book to everybody (mostly because some of the topics she goes into in detail) but I am eager to read more of her work!
61.  Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen      Classics
62.  *The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey        Fiction/Magical Realism
This story is about a barren middle aged couple that is starting over in the undeveloped Alaskan Territory in the 1920s. In their loneliness, they build a snowchild and in the morning, it is gone and only one set of footprints lead from it. Soon enough a young girl is seen in the woods and they befriend her. As their relationship grows, they question whether they are crazy, if she is real, or if she is magical. A really terrific read. Quiet in many ways but quite powerful, too.
63.   **Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon       Nonfiction/Art
This is such a great little read. Very inspiring. A great book to inspire your creativity!
64.   *Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed       Memoir
I put this book on hold at the library and was #175 so I figured I’d never get a chance to read it! Fortunately, I did get a hold of a copy and devoured it. It tells Cheryl’s story as she is grappling with a failed marriage, her mother’s death, and being abandoned by her dad as a young child. As her life gets messier, she takes a break to reorient herself on the PCT and what follows is a great book about her journey. I’m not sure she inspired me to pick up backpacking (she tells some horrible stories about her sore feet), but she tells a powerful story of taking charge of your life when you desperately need to.
65.   American Primitive by Mary Oliver         Poetry
66.   Closing Time by Joe Queenan      Memoir
67.   Letters from Pemberley: The First Year by Jane Dawkins    Historical Fiction
68.   **Thirst by Mary Oliver       Poetry
A great collection of poems that deal with nature, sorrow, and spirituality. Her poetry is simple yet has so much depth. I’m planning on buying this book so I can reread again and again.
69.   *A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers       Memoir
I really was turned off by the cover of this book for a while. Something about it just bothered me. Finally I read some review of the book that made me give it a try...and I’m glad I did. It was a very interesting book. The writing  kind of reminded me of Kerouac's run on style, which seemed appropriate because it was his story as a young 20 something losing both parents and taking on the responsibility of his younger brother. It was wild and chaotic--much like his grieving process.
70.   *The Round House by Louise Erdrich        Fiction
This book deserves all of the praise it has been receiving. I was a bit nervous to read it because it is about a woman who is raped and how she, her family, and her community deals with it. I’m really glad I read it, though. It shows a family grieving and how each of them deals with it. The story is told from the perspective of the child as an adult which gives it a nice removed but personal feel to it. A great glimpse into the Native American culture and the difficulties that they face as a community.
71.   Ariel: The Restored Edition by Sylvia Plath      Poetry
72.   *The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe        Memoir/Nonfiction
As a book lover, how could I not read this book? Will Schwalbe tells the story of him and his mother starting a two person book club while she is going through a terminal illness. Not only does he talk about the books that they read, but he also tells his mother’s life story. It has a nice story with depth so it doesn’t end up being just a collection of book reviews. I would have given this a super 5 star but sometimes it got a bit slow.  
73.   **Just Kids by Patti Smith       Nonfiction/Memoir
Honestly, I didn’t know who Patti Smith was when I put this book on hold at the library. I did know the story of Robert Mapplethorpe so I was intrigued to know some of his back story. I really just loved this book. Patti and Robert were so apart of this amazing, creative movement in NY that I loved reading about. I just felt haunted by this era and I couldn’t stop thinking about it even when I set the book down.  As a powerhouse artist, Patti was in the throes of it all. She experienced so many highs and lows throughout her life and she articulates it so nicely.
74.   Unpacking My Library: Writers and Their Books, Edited by Leah Price  Nonfiction/Art
75.   The Hobbit

25 Good Books Every Woman Should Read

Ever since I made my ideal bookshelf on Day 351, I've been thinking a lot about what books I've read and how they have influenced me. Each of these books listed below have influenced my viewpoint on being a woman and what that means. As a recently turned 26 year old, I've been reflecting on the numerous strong, intelligent, and funny female characters and personalities that I've grown up admiring. I thought I'd pay homage to them in this post.

Listed in the general order that I first read them:

1. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
2. Their Eyes Were Watching God  by Zora Neale Hurston
3. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
4. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
5. Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
6. Alice in Wonderland
7. Mrs. Dalloway
8. A Girl Named Zippy
9. The Awakening
10. Jane Eyre 
11. Housekeeping
12.  Traveling Mercies
13. Autobiography of a Face
14. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
15. Room
16. Bossypants
17. The Patron Saint of Liars
18. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
19. Villette

20. Little Women

21.The Dance of the Dissident Daughter
22.  House on Mango Street
23. The Bell Jar
24.  How To Be A Woman
25. Wild

For the year 2013 I'm thinking about doing a challenge of only reading female writers. I think this could be very interesting and help push me along in my journey of becoming the woman that I want to be.

Day 351: My Ideal Bookshelf

My husband gave me this great book for Christmas (yes, we already exchanged presents...) and I was so inspired that I decided to make my own ideal bookshelf.

In no particular order:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
3. Tinkers by Paul Harding
4. Lovely, Raspberry by Aaron Belz
5. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
6. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
7. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut
8. A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel
9. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
10. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
11. The Second Coming by Walker Percy
12. A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen
13. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
14. The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland
15. Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott

Part 2: Reading List of 2012

So way back on Day 1of this blog, I wrote a long explanation of why I read so obsessively. I won’t rehash all of that again but feel free to check it out if you missed it. And then on this day I showed you Part 1 of my reading adventure for 2012. And now today I give you part 2! I originally thought my goal for 2012 would be 50 books but I passed that and now am striving for 75. We'll see...my tracker says I'm 2 books behind...

* indicates a favorite

** indicates a super favorite

32.        St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell                     Short Stories

I was so intrigued by Swamplandia! that I wanted to read some more of Karen Russell. This is a collection of her short stories—one of them being a short story that inspired Swamplandia!. It is very strange going from reading a fully fleshed out story to then going back to the original sketch of it. The stories themselves were unique and intriguing…just didn’t quite have the finesse that I was expecting. I loved the title story, though, and also the one about the sleep disorder camp.

33.       *Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai                               Young Adult Fiction/Poetry

My sister-in-law let me borrow her copy of this book and I took it home and read through it that very night. It is a very engaging story about a girl and her family fleeing from the Vietnam War and trying to adjust to life in Alabama. The book is written from ten-year-old Ha’s perspective in free verse poetry and really achieves that confusion and turmoil that she feels as she adjusts to her new life and deals with memories of the past.  

34.       **A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith                                        Classics/Fiction

This is a reread for me as I first read it in high school. I liked it then but LOVE it now. It is such a quiet story—but so strong. Francie Nolan is such a great character as she is always trying to find the beauty in the broken world around her. I feel like I can’t articulate much more about it without confining it, so all I can say is if you haven’t read this one…read it!

35.       Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You by Sam Gosling                 Nonfiction/Psychology

I was really excited about this book because I think that the subject is pretty fascinating! The author is a psychologist who pokes around dorm rooms, offices, and bedrooms to see what he can learn from them. The idea was there—but it just got to be a bit boring. It is such a FUN idea but I think he ended up trying to make the book more scientific/educational than I was expecting.

36.       **The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie by Mary Ann Shaffer             Historical Fiction

I felt so lost when I began reading this book because it immediately jumps into letters being exchanged from people who I had no idea who they were! The entire book is written in letters actually, but it surprised me how easily I picked up the storyline and the characters. After a couple pages in, I was hooked. The book is set in the time period of London trying to emerge from the destruction of World War II. It is about Juliet, a writer, who begins to correspond with a group of people who lived in Guernsey (a small island off of London) during their occupation by the Nazis. It is such a great story…both from a historical perspective but also from a reader’s perspective! It is so engaging—and what a cast of characters! Go read it!

37.       Casino Royale by Ian Fleming                                                                     Adventure/Fiction

So not my typical read…but my husband read it while we were on vacation and suggested it to me after I finished my own book. I decided to read through the first couple pages to see what it was all about…and low and behold, I ended up finishing it shortly after. It was fun to see James Bond in print and compare it with the James Bond of the 2006 movie version with Daniel Craig. It was a bit tough to put up with all of the 1953 stereotypes…lots of mentions on how women shouldn’t be in the professional world. Ugh!  Not sure I’d be up for reading the next one, but who knows!

38.       Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? By Jeanette Winterson      Memoir

What a great title! I could hardly pass this up with a title like that. I was really expecting a witty, gritty memoir but ended up being slightly confused during a lot of it. I never read her story, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, and in many ways this book seemed written directly for the Oranges readers. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read Oranges first as the stories inside this one are very powerful—just a bit disjointed without having the base of the first book.

39.       The Red House by Mark Haddon                                              Fiction

This book was a little confusing at first because Haddon jumps not only from character to character but he also jumps to excerpts from the books that each character is reading—all happening within paragraphs of a chapter. As I got into that style and got to know the characters better, I could settle into it a bit better. The book was a lot darker than I was expecting. I was expecting it to be a bit like This is Where I Leave You—but in a hard way to describe, it was heavier. The story of the book is about an estranged brother and sister spending a week together with their families in a house. The characters of the book seem pretty normal but somehow it seems like every possible struggle is being dealt with—insanity, affairs, sexual orientation, guilt, manipulation, and lots more. A book that made me think about it after I finished, but not necessarily in a good way.

40.       The World to Come by Dara Horn                                            Historical Fiction

I’m having difficulty writing about this book. When I finished it, I gave it a 4/5 but as I look back on it…I’m not sure I really did like it that much. It was a good read and I enjoyed the folklore, layers, and characters of the book. It just didn’t stick with me as much as I thought it was going to. The beginning was strong, but it just sort of petered out a bit.

41.   The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker              Science Fiction

This was a book that was really strange to go from reading it then back to reality. Whenever I put it down, I had to reorient myself to days that were still 24 hours long, birds still flying in the sky, and strawberries still being readily available. This is a coming of age story of girl who deals with normal stuff like boys, not being popular, and her parents fighting. Yet, there is nothing normal about her world as the “slowing” has begun. Nicely written and definitely thought provoking.

42.   Big Sur by Jack Kerouac                                                 Classic/Memoir

I think this is a book that intrigued me more in the idea of it than the actual book. Here is Jack Kerouac, the king of the Beatniks, growing older, darker, and more depressed. He got this wild fame from On the Road, and you see him trying to keep up with it. He runs himself ragged with alcohol and wild nights. There is a darkness in this book and it leads right into a breaking point of insanity. Few can write in his style—but the raggedness and sincerity of it only added to the heartbreak of the story.

43.   Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte                       Classics/Fiction

What a dark and moody story this is! It is a story of a passionate love that makes them and everyone around them miserable. It is nicely layered and could definitely be read over and over and still pick up new angles. Just not sure it will be me who will reread it…

44.   **Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin                    Classics/Fiction

I was poking around on my mom’s ipad one day when I stumbled upon the e-books that she has on there. I was interested to see if I could tell a difference between reading on an ipad compared to my nook. So I started rereading Pride and Prejudice. And then pretty soon I didn’t care at all about my experiment and was completely absorbed in reading it. The only thing that jolted me out of the spell was when the low battery alert came on. Then I ran downstairs and got my nook and finished it on there! I’m convinced that this book is more fun to reread than it is to originally read it. I knew that the good stuff was coming so I was pulled right through it. Ahh, what a great book. Ever since I read it, I just want to reread it, watch the movies, and then reread it again.

45.   *Villette by Charlotte Bronte                    Classics/Fiction

I have to admit—this is one of those books that probably a third of the way in, I wasn’t sure if I could finish it. I had loved Jane Eyre so much and this was...much harder to read. It was slow, I didn’t know if I liked/could trust the main character, and it kept refusing to give me all of the details that I wanted. BUT, I went online and started reading about the book to give me a little bit better understanding. As people raved about it, I decided to give it a 2^nd chance. I learned to appreciate the artistry which Bronte writes—that she chose to represent Lucy that way so we could see how restrained she is and how fearful of opening herself up to the world. As the book goes on, we start to see and understand Lucy better but she still often refuses to really show how she felt. Bronte deals with some heavy theology and philosophy in this book which gives it a rich feel to it. I’m glad that I stuck with it—but I wouldn’t recommend it to the faint of heart!  

46.   Mr. Darcy’s Diary by Amanda Grange                     Fiction

My sister-in-law is the biggest Pride and Prejudice fan that I know of. For her birthday I gave her this book which is the story told from Mr. Darcy’s perspective in diary format. I then borrowed it from her to read it myself! It started off and I thought it might be too hokey for me…like it was just not going to work. Then soon enough, I just got sucked right into it. It is a light, fun read. Having just read Pride & Prejudice a few days before, it was a nice salve for the itch for more Pride and Prejudice! No, it isn’t Jane Austen, but it is fun to see things from Mr. Darcy’s perspective.

47.   Emma by Jane Austen                                   Classics/Fiction

My least favorite Jane Austen story so far. I usually appreciate when an author gives their characters faults, but Emma was just a little too annoying for me to really embrace. I did like the 2^nd half of the book a lot better but jeesh, it was rough going there for a bit in the beginning!

48.   *The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle    Classics/Fiction/Mystery

I have to admit…the BBC miniseries Sherlock was what inspired me to start reading this. And I’m glad it did because the book is full of fun, short mysteries that reminded me of my love of Jessica Fletcher and Dr. Haledjian.

49.   *Little Women by Louisa May Alcott                      Classics/Fiction

What a great story of a family of girls coming of age! I really was not expecting to really connect with this book as it is kind of simple and full of morals. But, it is a quiet and peaceful read that has depth to it. It is a book that had me thinking about it many times after I finished it.

50.   *The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros                            Fiction

A great little book about a girl growing up in Chicago—trying to get a grapple on living in a house on Mango Street that isn’t everything her parents had dreamt and promised of. It is told from her perspective which gives it innocence. Cisneros gives the gritty but also the beauty.

51.   *Persuasion by Jane Austen                       Classics/Fiction

I really enjoyed this book because it had a sense of maturity to it. No, Anne is not a feisty Elizabeth Bennett, but she has had heartache and has learned from it. She’s a relatable character who is more level headed and restrained than some of Austen’s characters. Plus, I think the story line is great—how awkward to be in such a close social setting with a former fiancé! I’m not sure I like it as much as Pride & Prejudice but maybe with a rereading I’d put it up there…                                          

52.   *The Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd             Spiritual Memoir

This book has been so thought provoking for me. The book is about Kidd’s journey of being a traditional Southern Baptist that begins to realize how so much of her religion is from a man’s perspective. It is her journey of beginning to unlearn and relearn who she is and what she believes.  Throughout her own journey, she weaves fantastic quotes and stories throughout. I couldn’t always connect with every part of the book, but I do feel lucky to have read this book at this time in my life.