What I read in November

"Why Gender Matters" recommended to: Parents, people who think that gender is a social construction and want to be proved wrong or maddened.

I found this much more helpful than the book on gender that you'll find below. It contained information that I haven't heard a million times in stereotype form. I believe it will make me a better parent and it gives you information on how to help your children be more well-rounded because often parents/teachers have ideas of what the right on wrong way to learn are and that doesn't always work for both genders. This has caused some stereotypes like girls are good at english and creativity and boys are good at math and science.

"Birds of a Feather" recommended to: argghhhh, the problem with reading series is that I can't really recommend later books in the series, you have to read them sequentially and I'm getting tired of writing "if you've read..."
(this excludes Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot and Charlotte and Thomas Pitt which don't necessarily need to be read sequentially to be enjoyed.

If you are familiar with Maisie Dobbs and you liked it go ahead and read this.

"The Girl With the Pearl Earring" recommended to: those who don't mind slow as long as it's well done (note: I'm not necessarily saying this was well-written, I'm torn on that issue).

This ended up being fairly clean and it really could have gone a different way. If you are interested in the Dutch Mona Lisa and want a story to apply to that enigmatic smile you'll probably enjoy this. This is one of those where it's hard to know.



"The Female Brain" recommended to: Women who feel that they fit all or most of the stereotypes of women. Also recommended to men who are married to such women. You will find chemically based explanations for why you are the way you are.

If you don't consider yourself typical save yourself the time, headbanging and/or book throwing.


"Alice I Have Been" recommended to: Is anyone noticing some trends in my reading this month? Famous characters, mystery series, gender and coming soon: egocentric y/a.

Sorry, recommended if you love Alice in Wonderland... unless you are one of those people who are highly impressionable. For example: you read an unfavorable story about a movie star that you previously liked and now you refuse to see his/her films. If that's you this book is not for you.


"Uglies" recommended to: People who like dystopian novels for young adults. People looking for a light, easy albeit entertaining read. People who love to hate the main character.






"Pretties" recommended to: ditto






"Specials" recommended to: ditto






"I am Half-Sick of Shadows" recommended to: Lovers of Flavia de Luce. People who don't mind a flimsy mystery as long as it's well-written and has excellent characters.

What I read in October

"Walk Two Moons" recommended to: lovers of young adult fiction/coming of age books. This was delightful. However, I do think that adults might be more impressed with it than pre-teen readers, excepting the right kind of pre-teen reader. (I would have liked it at that age but I look at pre-teens I know now-a-days and wonder. Darn Twilight... don't get me started).




"All Things Bright and Beautiful" recommended to: People who have read and loved "All Creatures Great and Small". Those who enjoy lovable characters skillfully drawn. People who like to be happily surprised by a book whose premise might not sound as interesting as it actually is.





"The Tale of Despereaux" recommended to: anyone who has lost faith in the caliber of children's books in the past decade or so and wants their faith restored. Almost as good as "Edward Tulane".






"Don't Let the Kids Drink the Kool-Aid" recommended to: People who like Marybeth Hicks and enjoy her sound logic. If you are unfamiliar with her I would suggest reading "Bringing Up Geeks" first or perusing her blog for a while so you know what to expect.

Liberals and (possibly) teachers beware. I did feel like she was a little unfair to teachers in this book. They seemed to be characterized as unwitting propagators of the left's ideas. I doubt that the author seriously believes that the majority of teachers are this way (having read her before) and think that she got a little caught up in her anti-left angst. That being said I heartily agree with the majority of the material in this book.

"Heaven is For Real" recommended to: people who believe in an afterlife. I wouldn't recommend this to someone who is not religious- there are better "near-death experience" books out there for non-believers.





"Saving CeeCee Honeycutt" recommended to: women. Seriously, as with many southern/woman/coming-of-age books this is not particularly male-friendly. But look at the cover... honestly, what self-respecting male would pick this up anyway?
As for women: cute, a little cliche-ey, a little preachy, but all in all done in a nice, breezy, down homey, welcoming fashion.



"Fablehaven: Keys to the Demon Prison" recommended to: Once again... those who have read the first four books of this series. For those of you who haven't, in my opinion, this book makes a good case for reading the series. I was promised a good ending and I was not disappointed.

Any time I read a series that will interest young boys in reading I get really excited since it seems like there are many more options for young girls. This last installment was so action-packed that it would interest even the most easily bored young man out there. I guarantee it.

"My Unfair Godmother" recommended to: teen girls and women of any age who enjoy a good laugh and a good adventure.

I quite possibly liked this better than the first and I am anxiously awaiting the next book in this series. From the titles of this author's other books I'm not sure if I would enjoy them as much- but I would be more likely to give them a chance after having read these "godmother" books.

Favorite Books for October Part 1

Okay- we haven't gotten all of our library books in and I know that we are missing some that we love. The problem is that a year is quite a long time for my sad little brain and so I don't want to include a book until we have re-read it. SO when it gets a little closer to Halloween I will do a part 2 and hopefully you can put them on your list for next year OR some may still work for November AND everyone else will have turned them in (in theory).
"Bones" by Steve Jenkins. These books are in no particular order but this book has gotten the most attention at our house this year. I would say that it's a great book for little boys but my girls love it so much that apparently it has cross-gender appeal. Each page shows a human bone and some animal counterparts. It is SO fun for the kids to compare what their arm looks like next to an elephants (etc.) There is a full fold out page of a full skeleton and the kids tested my memory of bone names because they kept pointing to different bones on themselves and asking what they were called. Educational and fun (and not creepy in the slightest, if you were concerned).
"Too Many Pumpkins" written by Linda White and illustrated by Megan Lloyd. This one is probably my favorite and you could definitely save it for Thanksgiving if you wanted. The pictures really get you in the mood for the season AND give me the desire to buy a farm and grow some veggies. If only harvest-time lasted all year long.
Rebecca Estelle plants EVERYTHING in her garden except PUMPKINS. She does not like pumpkins since she was forced to eat nothing but pumpkins for a month as a child when her family had no money. One fall day a pumpkin truck drives by dropping a large pumpkin into her yard which smashes and makes a huge mess. Rebecca Estelle tries to cover the pumpkin up but unfortunately the next spring something begins to grow. She tries to get rid of the pumpkins to no avail and ends up with TOO MANY PUMPKINS. Then she makes the best of it, makes pumpkin pie and has a party with the village. She sends all of the leftovers home with the villagers except for a few pumpkin seeds for planting in the spring.
"Bats at the Library" by Brian Lies. The pictures in this book are absolutely gorgeous. If you are afraid of bats get ready for a revolution... these bats are so darn cute! This is a great book for anyone who has a serious addiction to the library (me) and who wants to instill this love in their children even further. When a librarian leaves a window to the library open the bats come and play. The best part is when the bats love the stories so much that they become a part of them. My kids had fun figuring out which favorite stories the bats had insinuated themselves into. (ex. "Winnie the Pooh", "Make Way for Ducklings", "Alice in Wonderland", etc.)
"By the Light of the Halloween Moon" written by Caroline Stutson, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes. We're venturing into slightly eerier territory. My kids are pretty hard to scare so to me this book was perfect. I LOVE the rhythm of this cumulative story akin to "I know an old lady who swallowed a fly...". A toe hangs from a dock and leads to more and more humorous events. I think the pictures are fun (award-winning) and one in particular makes me laugh out loud (a sprite bites a ghost and the ghosts face is priceless). Worth checking out to see if your kids can handle it.
"There's a Nightmare in My Closet" by Mercer Mayer. I have to admit I grew up with the "A boy, a dog and a frog" books so I love these earlier Mercer Mayer books. (nothing against little critter, some I love and some I don't) The first time we read this (years ago) my girls were a little scared of it. It's grown on them and it doesn't hurt that they now understand the plot. It is now one of our old standby's that is invariable grabbed about every 4th visit to the library.

What I read in September

"Unbroken" recommended to: people who find their books on lists of books that everyone should read at least once in their lifetime (because you should).










"Gift from the Sea" recommended to: mothers who need a moment of reflection but can't afford to leave their families for weeks at a time and don't mind that this marvelous woman could.









"Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary" recommended to: people who are reading this series.




"Matched" recommended to: Young Adults who liked Hunger Games and don't mind a little less action than that series. Adults who aren't that particular.





"Year of Wonders" recommended to: People who are interested in the psychology of plague victims and enjoy gorgeous writing. People who can overlook a strange ending when the first 80% of a book is wonderful.









"Maisie Dobbs" recommended to: lovers of mystery series and want one geared towards women. People who liked "#1 Ladies Detective Agency" but aren't from Africa and would enjoy someone they can relate to a little more.

A Very Tangled Birthday

Sugar Plum Fairy wanted a "Tangled" birthday party this year. SO, I did a little surfing of the net (this will link you to the blog that most of my ideas came from) and came up with a few ideas that turned into a lot of work. I am really not the crafty type. Birthday parties in the past have consisted of renting a bouncy castle and buying cupcakes at the local supermarket. This was fun, I'm still not sold on the merits of the Martha Stewart fever that seems to have spread to so many moms out there. BUT, I did learn a thing or two.
#1 lesson learned: Take pictures of the cupcakes for your blog post before the end of the party when they look a little dried out and dented. Still, you get the idea.

#2 lesson learned: Make the right friends. I have a wonderful friend named Kara who took a cake decorating course at Hobby Lobby. I've toyed with the idea of taking the class too. Domestic abilities is kinda my weak point (I made that sound like I only have one. Reminder to self: the purpose of this blog is not to belittle myself but to BETTER myself. Moving on...). We both made cupcakes and ended up with 5 dozen. I frosted the cupcakes and she did pretty much everything else. I LOVE the ivy on the tower. Isn't it gorgeous!
#3 lesson learned: You can never make too much food. These cute little boats in the water were the easiest part of the party. If you can believe it all 5 dozen cupcakes and the 22 jello cups were gone by parties end. We had 20 girls here plus 6 14-15 y/o girls for our beauty parlor experience. Which leads to...
#4 lesson learned: Have lots of help & be prepared with plenty of bobby-pins. Each little girl got the full treatment: manicure, face-painting and hair. I made a bunch of little hair pins which were so adorable I can't believe I didn't take pictures of them. There were bobby pins with purple and green gems glue-gunned to the end and tiny clips with little pale pink and white cloth flowers glued on. The idea was to have flowers/gems through their braids just like Rapunzel when she visits the city. (Okay, there were no gems in Rapunzels hair. Bling is in. Period.)
#5 lesson learned: Again, take a picture that really shows off your handy-work. This is a little sad but this is the best picture I got of the gigantic braid I made. I'm guessing it was around 16 feet long but I didn't measure it. It took FOREVER. Each section of braid was 30 strands (so 90 total) and the cutting of the thread was a little time-consuming but the real bugger was when I realized I had to braid these super long cords!!! Next time I'll go shorter (next time, ya right).
#6 lesson learned: Make at least one item that gives you ideas for the future. Honestly this was probably my favorite creation. I just took heavy cream colored paper cut it in half and then exacto knifed a design out of it. Then I super glued the to pieces together and placed faux tea lights inside (bought 3 for a dollar at the dollar store). I loved these and now I am looking for Halloween designs to cut out of paper for the month of October coming up.

#7 lesson learned: No matter how incompetent I think I am with the crafts I CAN do it. I don't have lots of fancy tools so it may take me longer but I DO have a creative brain to come up with bigger and better ideas for next time. Woo Hoo! I survived.

Where Did the Baby Go? To Kindergarten.

These are my two absolute favorite Eloise Wilkin illustrated books. These were my books when I was little and they have been very well loved.
"We Like Kindergarten" goes through all of the many things a child might do at kindergarten and can also be reassuring to the child who is going to start kindergarten soon. But really, the charm of this book is in the pictures. The children fingerpaint, make clay animals, swing at the playground, play music, drink milk (Jackie doesn't finish his. It spilled), rest on their own rugs and say goodbye to Mrs Hall.
When Carol leaves for kindergarten her little sister Laurie wants to go too, so do the pets and the stuffed animals. When Carol gets home she puts on kinderegarten for everyone at home. I love this because I did lots of role playing as a child and now I watch my daughter get home from school and do the same things.
"Where Did the Baby Go?" is my absolute favorite. I love the details. I love how it reminds me of my early childhood in the late 70's early 80's when there was a revival of these styles.
I LOVE this house. If I could find the interior of this house I would buy it.
A little girl finds a picture of a baby and wonders where the baby has gone. She asks her mother who tells her she knows this baby and see's her everyday. The little girl looks all over the house.
She finds lots of things but no baby. Finally she finds the hat the baby was wearing in the picture. She tries it on and realizes that SHE is the baby, just a few years older. She runs and tells her mother that she knows where the baby went.
"You do?" says the mother, "Where is she?" "Here I am" and she jumps into her mothers arms.

Chicken Pesto

This is a new favorite at our house. The kids cannot get enough of it. My favorite thing about this dish- it's so easy. First I get a rotisserie chicken and remove the chicken. Then I pick my favorite lb. of pasta- in this case penne, but you can use whatever you like or happen to have handy. While the pasta is cooking I take two packages of Knorr Pesto and follow the directions on the package. I drain the pasta and mix everything together in a large bowl along with some grated parmesan (I like parmesan so I use A LOT) put everything into a baking dish, cover it with tin-foil and place it in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes. Voila!