Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself

P.G. Wodehouse wasn't necessarily known for his deep thoughts, especially on love. Remember the "Ickenham Method" that Uncle Fred always proposed? Grab the lady by the wrist, waggle her about a bit, say something pithy like "my mate", and shower her upturned face with kisses. You have to admit, it's a bit on the short side of romantic. But last night I'm reading along in the first of the Blandings Castle novels, Something Fresh, and there of all places is a description of falling in love that I decide I simply must share. Mostly I wanted to share it with One, who needs to start socking these things away for future reference. A good passage like this may come in handy one day, 10 years from now, when he's wondering to himself: "Self, is it this young woman who I really love? What, then, is love?" And all those other thoughts that my Can I Overthink This Some More child will likely have about such things.

Here's the set up: Ashe and Joan, impoverished writers and neighbors in London, are traveling to Blandings Castle as temporary servants, the goal of which employment is only fully explained by reading the whole dang book (something I highly recommend, by the way). They arrive on the cold, dark, windy train platform, and while waiting for the cart to take them and the luggage to the Castle, Ashe sees Joan smile and has an epiphany:

"He did not wish the station platform of Market Blandings to become suddenly congested with Red Indians, so that he might save Joan's life, and he did not wish to give up anything at all. But he was conscious, to the very depths of his being, that a future in which Joan did not figure would be so insupportable as not to bear considering, and in the immediate present, he very strongly favored the idea of clasping Joan in his arms and kissing her till further notice. Mingled with these feelings was an excited gratitude to her for coming to him with that electric smile on her face; a stunned realization that she was a thousand times prettier than he had ever imagined: and a humility which threatened to make him loose his clutch on the steamer truck and roll about at her feet, yapping like a dog."

Do you think that's a good place for One to start, 10 years hence? Me too.

Fiction at Half Past Eleven

One continues to read more fiction than any one child should consume; when he's not reading a new book he's re-reading (and re-reading and re-reading) something like a Harry Potter or a Percy Jackson. Since my last post on his fiction habit, he has read:

The rest of the Hornblower series. We're thinking about buying him one of the Patrick O'Brien books to see if these are as much fun for him.

The Throne of Fire, the second of Rick Riordan's Kane Chronicles. I've read the first one and I think they pale in comparison to the Percy Jackson books, but One likes these quite a bit.

The Green Glass Sea, about children growing up in WWII-era Los Alamos. I had to badger him to start this one for some reason, but once he started it he ate it up.

My Family and Other Animals and Birds, Beasts and Relatives, both by Gerald Durrell. One loved the first and liked the second. Both are set in Corfu, where 10 year old Durrell moved with his family from England in the 1930's.

Frontier Wolf, set in Britain at the end of the Roman Era, and The Shield Ring, set shortly after the Norman Conquest. Both by Rosemary Sutcliff, who we love.

Black Horses for the King, by Anne McCaffrey.

The Eagle of the Ninth, The Silver Branch, and The Lantern Bearers. A trilogy by Rosemary Sutcliff about Roman Britain. One loved these, although we did miss the Eagle movie in the theater, unfortunately. We may have to catch it on DVD instead.

The Cabinet of Wonders and The Celestial Globe. A bit of a knock-off of Percy Jackson, but One enjoyed them all the same.

Cosmic, by Frank Cottrell Boyce, about a 12 year old boy sent into space. Another one of those "I'll give you a dollar if you read this next" books that One then turns around and loves. When will he learn, I ask you?

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate. Yes, a book starring a girl - and he still liked it. I see nothing wrong with encouraging him to read about strong-minded, intelligent girls. He's going to like girls someday - might as well start getting him interested in the right ones early on. Or that's my theory, anyway. Anything to stop him from getting crushes on cheerleaders...

The Wild West, by Henry Brook. A collection of western stories.

The Shining Company, set during a Saxon invasion of Britain. Yes, you guessed it: Rosemary Sutcliff.

The Unnameables, by Ellen Booream. One is really liking fantasy books these days, so this was well-received.

School of Fear, by Gitty Daneshvari. One loved this - it's been re-read several times by now. Very funny and cleverly done.

Nick of Time, by Ted Bell. History, time travel, adventure. What's a boy to not like?

Al Capone Shines My Shoes. The second book about Moose Flanagan, a boy growing up on Alcatraz. For me a bit of a hat tip to my dad, who was a prison guard himself in a prior life. One approves.

Dormia, about a sleepwalking hero.

Ring of Fire: four kids, four cities. That's all I've managed to glean, but One liked it.

Summerland, by Michael Chabon. Magical places, heroes - the whole gumbo that makes One happy.

Number 11 of the 39 Clues series.

When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead. I've had this in mind since Melissa Wiley recommended it, but I waited for the paperback to come out (same thing with Calpunia Tate). A good read that pays homage to Madeleine L'Engle, my favorite children's book author by far.

Adam of the Road. A 1943 Newberry winner that's still a good bet.

The Bronze Bow, by Elizabeth George Speare. A Newberry winner about a young Jewish boy at the time of Christ.

The Silmarillion and The Children of Hurin. He likes to read the genealogies aloud to his dad. It's about as exciting as the "begats" in the Bible, but does that stop him? Nope.

Now do you see why I had to do a half-year post on this child? He's reading even more these days, which I didn't think was possible. And none of this list counts what he picks up at the school library and I never see, or his still-inexplicable love of The Warriors series and other similar books. If you look in the dictionary for the word "bibliophile", you'll see this picture:

Oy.

Shopping in an Empty Box

I went to Barnes and Noble tonight to try to find something to read that might hold my interest. After all, why not? Husband and I are free of children this week, so 7:30pm trips alone to the bookstore seem like a good idea. There's only one problem: I forgot about the five main rules of shopping at a modern chain bookstore.

1. If they have a lot of it, it will suck. See Stieg Larsson, JD Salinger, and anything with vampires.

2. If you want to buy title A from a particular author, they will always have the inferior B and C, but never, ever A.

3. Whatever on your list you want the most, they won't have at all. They might not even have anything that author has written, no matter how prolific.

4. Browsing never solves anything. Otherwise known as: if the back cover review is written by Barbara Kingsolver, put the book down and back away slowly.

5. No matter how hopeful you are, books with dogs on the cover will always end one way: with a dead dog.

Me, I'm home now and (re)borrowing one of One's Percy Jackson's. Now that kid? He has a much better book selection in his room than any bookstore I've ever seen. Lucky boy.

Fiction at Almost Eleven

Writing about One’s fiction consumption is hard. He devours books like his brother eats carbs – turn around and the cupboard is empty. In the past six months he’s read so many new books it’s startling to me to have to put them all down in one place; but since I’ve started writing about what the boys read and how proud I am about it, it seems a little unfair to leave the champeen reader out of the picture all of a sudden, just because his mother is dang tired of typing things at the end of yet another fiscal quarter at work.

Two more things to note: more than half of these books he purchased with his own allowance. He divides his money into even thirds: save, spend and charity. The “save” sits there (because he is, after all, his father’s child), the “charity” goes in the offering plate at church, and the “spend” goes directly to Barnes & Noble. We insist on the division into thirds, but where the money goes after that is up to him.

Second, he’s reading so much these days he will frequently keep a book on his lap in class. This used to irritate the daylights out of his teacher, until she discovered she could sneak up and ask him a question on the lesson and he would have the answer. Now she likes to see how much he can read and still retain his 96% average. As always, he’s a little hard to get used to at first, but once you do, you like him.

So here we go: One’s list of what a boy might like to read if he were anywhere between 10 and 13:

The Peter and the Starcatchers series. One has read the first three that are in paperback; he’s waiting for the 4th to be released (we’re allergic to hardcover book prices unless absolutely necessary.

Books 5 through 8 in the Swallows and Amazons series. He will read 9 through 12 eventually, but he’s taking a break.

All ten of the 39 Clues books. He can read one of these in an hour. He frightens me.

Found and Sent by Margaret Peterson Haddix. These sounded a little scary to me when I first read the back, but he absolutely loves them, and for a boy who can get scared reading the Hardy Boys, wasn’t frightened at all.

Tucket’s Travels, by Gary Paulsen.

The Heroes of Olympus, Book One: The Lost Hero. Of course – did I even have to put this down here? I think he’s read it 5 times, but maybe it’s only 4.

The last of the Mysterious Benedict Society books, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma. A great series.

Basil’s Search for Miracles and The Purple Mantle. Orthodox Christian literature is thin on the ground in English; these are good ones.

Fair Weather, A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck. Lots of laughing went on.

The Hornblower series up to #8. He received several more for Christmas and can’t wait to get to them.

Code Talker, by Joseph Bruchac, about Navajo Marines in World War II. Realistic, but still fiction.

Escape from Warsaw, by Ian Serraillier.

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. This book kinda creeped me out in elementary school, but One just shrugged when I told him that. Boys.

The Watsons go to Birmingham – 1963 and Bud, Not Buddy, both by Christopher Paul Curtis.

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry.

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken.

The City of Ember and The People of Sparks, both part of a dystopian series written by Jeanne DuPrau. He adored the first one, and it started a number of conversations about the proper role of government, which is always a good thing.

Sounder, by William H. Armstrong.

B for Buster, by Iain Lawrence.

King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table and The Adventures of Robin Hood, both by Roger Lancelyn Green.

The Traitor’s Gate, by Avi.

Brisingr, the last (?) in the series by Christopher Paolini.

Al Capone Does My Shirts. I forced this one on him and he loved it. I love it when that happens.

Carry on, Mr. Bowditch, about Nathaniel Bowditch, the man who wrote The American Practical Navigator, what 18th Century sailors called The Sailor’s Bible.

Dune, by Frank Herbert. His father’s recommendation, which he loved.

The Homework Machine, by Dan Gutman.

Bob Flame, Rocky Mountain Ranger. A purchase at the RMNP bookstore that turned out well.

Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow. He’s in the middle of this now (What am I saying? I’m at work. He’s done with this by now).

He’s also been into the Guardians of Gahoole, Warriors, and Wolves of the Beyond series. I can’t say I love any of these, but he does, and I therefore hold my tongue.

Finally, he and his father finished reading The Count of Monte Cristo this fall. They both absolutely loved it. They took a break by reading The Code of the Woosters, which One promptly wanted to re-read as soon as they were finished. Now they’re deep in Don Quixote, which is apparently funny and full of potty humor. Who knew?

An Audible "Click"

Two likes to read. He reads pretty well for his age. Nevertheless, it is never his chosen activity. When he is asked to read, he reads, and he enjoys himself. We read side-by-side in my bed every night, and he likes his books and telling me about them afterwards. But I have never seen him voluntarily pick up a book and curl up in a corner to read. He is a doer and a mover. He rarely makes it through a favorite movie without getting up in the middle; he usually goes off to make something related to the show, and then comes back in time for the end.

Yesterday, something changed. I don't know if it's permanent: it may be completely specific to the book in question. But I brought him home the first volume of The Spiderwick Chronicles, told him it was the favorite series of all the 2nd graders when his brother was his age ... and he couldn't put it down. The child who proudly announces "I read one chapter!" and runs off to play read four chapters of that book in several hours time. He brought it in the car, he read at the dinner table at the restaurant, he sniffled when told he had to put down the book and get ready for bed, and then he read in my bed until I had to order him to stop. He brought it into his own bed, and blissfully ignored me as I kissed him goodnight, wanting only to get back to "the interesting parts".

Husband and I heard a "click". It may take a thousand more to turn him into a real book-loving reader; he may never get there at all. But we heard the click, and we went to bed happy.

A note on the picture: he's reading on the way to bed, trying to drag Knight with him. His get-up? You'd dress funny too, if you had 2% bodyfat.

Still Life with Books

The Book Review I Can't Write

I would love to tell you that I am about to write a fabulous, insightful review of Tony Woodlief's first book, Somewhere More Holy. I would love to think that I had pithy and important things to say about it - things that would even rival Tony's honesty and humor.

But I don't. I can only say this: if you don't read this book, you will miss something wonderful.

By "wonderful" I don't mean pie in the sky. I don't mean cheerful, riotously amusing, fa-la-la fun - I don't mean lots of things. By wonderful I instead mean real, hopeful, heart-wrenching, beautiful, mercy-filled, funny - all at the same time and sometimes in the same sentence.

Read. And know as you do: this is not a book by Beth Moore-with-a-beard. It's by a real person, who has experienced real pain, real grace, and (sometimes) our real God. So it's a real book. And real books should be read, just as real people should be befriended and loved and forgiven.

Read. And thank God for mercy and hope and pain and love and all that it means to be here, now, in this place.

That's all I have to say. Blessings, y'all.

Fiction at Ten

One has been reading a lot - as usual - this spring. Now that he has an allowance, he's enjoying the purchase of a book on a whim, as in "Mom, I brought some money with me. Can we stop at the bookstore on the way home so I can pick something out?" He's still content to read what I buy him as well. I do wonder when that will stop, but I plan on taking full advantage of it while I still can. Some of his favorite fiction reads this spring have been:

The Red Pyramid, by Rick Riordan. He went through this one twice already, and he purchased it on Monday. That says everything, does it not?

Goodbye, Mr. Chips. A quick read. "Pretty good" says One.

Two more Ralph Moody's: Man of the Family and The Home Ranch. One doesn't know if he'll continue the series or not, but he liked the first three.

The Switherby Pilgrims, by Eleanor Spence - an adventure set in 1800's Australia.

Linda Buckley-Archer's Gideon Trilogy. "Excellent" says our reviewer.

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin. He hasn't asked for any more of the Earthsea books yet. I read the first three in middle school; maybe they're more appealing then.

Holes by Louis Sachar.

Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry, by Mildred D. Taylor. A little hard to read (subject-matter wise, anyway), but One enjoyed it all the same.

The House of 60 Fathers and The Wheel on the School, by Meindert Dejong. Great classics.

All Sail Set, by Armstrong Sperry.

The Saturdays, by Elizabeth Enright. "Okay."

Red Planet for the first time on his own - this was a favorite read-aloud about 18 months ago, and he loved it on his own as well. Who can dislike Heinlein?

Eragon and Eldest, by Christopher Paolini. He's looking forward to reading the final one, Brisingr.

Tales of the Greek Heroes, by Roger Lancelyn Green. A good follow-on to the D'Aulaires' book of Greek Myths.

The London Eye Mystery, by Siobhan Dowd. I read this one as well and really liked it. The narrator is a young boy with high functioning autism, and he gives the book a great voice.

One and Husband still read aloud every evening before bed. Right now they are buried in The Count of Monte Cristo. Earlier in the spring they adored To Kill a Mockingbird (prompting me to read it again and fall in love with again, too) and also read and enjoyed All Quiet on the Western Front and Fahrenheit 451.

I think we'd all recommend all of these books - some with more enthusiasm than others, but recommend them all the same. Happy reading!

Meet Hiccup

Two's class had a book character day on Friday, and he decided to be Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, from Clarissa Cowell's fantastic book (and series) How to Train Your Dragon. Here is the little Viking in his mommy-made costume:

Catching up on Reading

I’ve actually been doing some reading these days – not all that usual anymore, with my schedule. Nothing weighty and important, but some good books nonetheless. Here’s a list of what’s been keeping me awake at night:

The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan: yes, I borrowed them from One and dove in, in part to console myself for having to miss the movie, since by all reports (including Kate’s) it was terrible. The books are anything but terrible. They’re exciting and fast-moving; I can see why One and his friends devoured them. More interesting to me are the messages implicit in them. The books make it clear that no matter what position you’re in, you never back away from a challenge. This is great stuff for kids to hear – boys especially in this day and age. The books also present a complicated and interesting picture of parent/child relationships. Someday when I have some free time (!) I want to have One write down for me whether he thinks those relationships are portrayed positively (overall) or not, and his examples for that conclusion. I think it would be an interesting exercise for him, especially since he’s getting to the age when he’s going to start asking that question about his own relationship with us. My conclusion? Overall the parents come off quite well in these books. There are some duds, but most of them seem to love their children and help them, given the constraints that bind them. For the parents in the books that are Olympian gods, this means “hands-off” most of the time – but when a child is in need even these parents manage to come up with a helping hand, even if it doesn’t look like that to the child at the time. I don’t want to be a spoiler and give lots of examples, so I’ll leave it at that for now.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan: I just started this, egged on by One and his love of the young adult version. Interesting stuff – and yes, I am ready to learn more about where my food comes from. I want to know because I’m perfectly willing to change where I get what we eat; I’d just like help knowing how to start.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley: This is a recommendation from Melissa Wiley (who you should all read regularly, like taking vitamins), and it is indeed a good one! I already have the next book in the series waiting in my Amazon shopping cart. A mystery with a young girl as detective: she makes some wild mental leaps to get to the solution, but overall those only add to the fun of the book.

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane: Another mystery, even better than Sweetness. The story takes place in two time frames: the 17th century, during the Salem witch trials, and modern times, where a Harvard PhD candidate is researching colonial American history. There’s mystery and danger in both story-lines, and the end is an explosion of “oh my goodness, I didn’t think it would resolve itself like that!” Fun fact: the author, Katherine Howe, is from Houston.

Midnight Fugue: This is the latest from Reginald Hill’s Dalziel and Pascoe series, a detective series as old as I am. It was as excellent as all of the books this long series are, and I would recommend the series to anyone who loves a good mystery. The character development over the life of the series has been one of the most fascinating parts of these books, but that doesn’t taken away from the fact that these are A-1 mystery stories as well. You could pick up any of them and enjoy it, or you could start at A Clubbable Woman and read forward, and wrap yourself into the lives of some fairly interesting characters.

On deck: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson and The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. I've owned the former for years and never gotten around to it; the latter is a James Lileks recommendation.

The Truth about Vampires

Is that they suck.

Ha. Just being funny; don't mind me.

If you prefer something more amusing than moi (I know, so hard to think what it could be) check out these 20 lessons girls can learn from the Twilight books.

Books like this make me realize (again) that all teen fiction should be pre-screened. Especially when one has girls.

Quote of the Evening

One: "Don't ever read Meriweather Lewis's journals at bedtime."

Books We're Reading

I’ve been doing a lot of lazy re-reading of things like Miss Marple mysteries (yes, I am aware that is nothing to brag about) but the boys are up to their usual stuff when it comes to books. Some favorites:

The Swallows and Amazons series – thanks to Melissa Wiley for this recommendation. One loves the first book, and is excited to know there are 11 more for him to devour. I am less excited about the fact they are imports on Amazon, but since he reads almost everything two or three times maybe that will justify the cost.

The Hornblower Series (or Saga, or whatever it’s called) – One has read the Midshipman book and has already asked for the Lieutenant – the next chronologically.

Danger in the Desert: True Adventures of a Dinosaur Hunter – a Sterling Point biography of paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews.

For history One has lots of books on the Civil War – so far he’s liked Fields of Fury best.

Huck Finn, a One read-alone while Husband reads Life on the Mississippi to him aloud.

Two’s latest read-aloud is The Wind on the Moon, a very silly book which I am sort of gritting my teeth through, but that the boys absolutely love.

there is no me without you – an amazing story of a woman struggling to stay afloat in a sea of orphans in Ethiopia. This one, obviously, is mine, sandwiched between Miss Marples. I love it, but I’m taking it in small doses.

Books for a Better World

My high school friend Volker (now known as Fr. Alkuin) told me about this amazing organization, and I have to share it with y'all - Better World Books. Here's their own blurb that best describes them:

"Better World Books collects and sells books online to fund literacy initiatives worldwide. With more than two million new and used titles in stock, we’re a self-sustaining, triple-bottom-line company that creates social, economic and environmental value for all our stakeholders. We were founded in 2002 by three friends from the University of Notre Dame who started selling textbooks online to earn some money, and ended up forming a pioneering social enterprise — a business with a mission to promote literacy."

Check out the site! You can buy books online, get involved in organizing a campus book drive, or find a library sale near you. I am an online book shopping fanatic; I have the feeling I'm going to be spending more than my fair share of time on this website. And to think: I can feed my addiction for book shopping and feel good about it all at the same time. Ah, sweet charity!

One Sentence Book Review: The Blessings of a Skinned Knee

I read a Jewish parenting book and it taught me how to not nag my children.

Boys and Books: The Nine and Six Year Old Edition

As expected we've been reading a lot around here. Well, I should amend that: the boys have been reading a lot, and we've been reading to them. Whether I am ever going to finish Bede is entirely up in the air.

Here's a list of what has been keeping them busy this school year:

What One has been devouring on his own:

The Redwall series. He's up to the 13th one now and no end in sight.

The Hardy Boys are still a favorite. He's up through 14. Again, an endless series.

The Percy Jackson series. One talked me into the hardback of the 5th and final book last Friday; he's read it twice since then. These are a favorite at school, so that's extra motivation (as if he needed it).

The Phantom Tollbooth. Two loves the movie, but One complains it's not true to the book. When are they ever true to the book, son? Lesson learned.

The Lord of the Rings. He stalled out toward the end of The Return of the King, but he picked it up yesterday when he visited 4th grade, so I expect he'll be finishing our copy soon.

The Mysterious Benedict Society and its sequel. Long books but very engrossing.

Under Drake's Flag. This was his first Henty and I really wanted him to like it. He didn't love it, unfortunately, but I still may buy him a few more to see if they catch on. In defense of Henty, One was reading and re-reading the 5th Percy Jackson around this one, and it's hard to match that in the non-stop excitement category.

Little Pilgrim's Progress. This was a gift from a teacher at Ecclesia. He's read it four or tive times now.

The Tales of Beetle the Bard

Boy, by Roald Dahl (non-fiction)

The Lost Island. This is from The New York Review Children's Collection. You can see below that Two is even more into these classics than One is.

Husband has been reading aloud to One this year. They've enjoyed Red Planet, The Red Badge of Courage, and are now in the middle of The Sea Wolf. On deck: The Black Arrow, Treasure Island, Kim, and White Fang.

One has covered a lot of history this year on his own as well. He continues to enjoy the Sterling Point biographies: this year he's read The Barbary Pirates, The Swamp Fox of the Revolution, Teddy Roosevelt, John Paul Jones, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. Three other books he enjoyed were A Young Patriot, The American Revolutionaries: A History in Their Own Words 1750-1800, and Our Island Story. The last is a children's history of Britian, covering ~2000 years. It draws much of its style from Bede (and some of its content in the early years, I think), is easy to read and moves quickly.

Two has entered read-aloud-novel-land with a vengeance! This year we have read together:

All the Hiccup Horrendous books. One has read these to himself as well and really enjoys them. Elizabeth tells me her boys recommend them too.

Some Roald Dahl: James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

The Magic Pudding. It's laugh-out-loud funny and full of fights. Made for boys to love.

The Box of Delights. This is one of the best children's books I have ever read. I had a hard time not reading ahead each night after Two fell asleep. Absolutely magical.

Carbonel: King of Cats

The last three are part of The New York Review Children's Collection. Two has loved each story more than the one before. The books are beautiful paper-covered hardbacks with original illustrations. With their bright red spines they are keepers! Grandchildren will borrow them someday.

Two and I are now three nights into The Hobbit. Next up are The Wonderful O, The Wind on the Moon, Best Stories for Six Year Olds, and The House of Arden. This last will be his first Edith Nesbit - my favorite Fabian Socialist.

The more we read to them, the more they want to read on their own. And the better the quality of the writing, the happier they are. I may have dreamed of reading books like this to my children some day, but I never really thought it would happen. Obviously, it's a pleasant surprise.

Prince Caspian

Getting tired of reading aloud until you lose your voice? Then treat yourself and your kids to this read-aloud podcast of C.S. Lewis's Prince Caspian.

Free Will

"The creation of man whom God in His foreknowledge knew doomed to sin was the awful index of God's omnipotence. For it would have been a thing of trifling and contemptible ease for Perfection to create mere perfection. To do so would, to speak truth, be not creation but extension. Separateness is identity and the only way for God to create, truly create, man was to make him separate from God Himself, and to be separate from God is to be sinful. The creation of evil is therefore is therefore an index of God's glory and His power. That had to be so that the creation of good might be the index of man's glory and power. But by God's help. By His help and in His wisdom."

--- Robert Penn Warren, All the King's Men

Thoughts?

It's a Little Late

To hear what I just heard above my head: the thud of a book hitting the floor. What does that mean? One just quit reading The Dawn Treader for the night and has decided to fall asleep.

Someone is going to be just so sweet first thing tomorrow morning.

Husband's Bookshelf

Lest you think that the boys and I are the only ones doing all the reading around here, allow me to take you on a short tour of Husband's booklist. He keeps piles of books by the bed - his favorite spot to read. Unlike One and I, he is not a fan of the read-and-eat method of sustaining oneself.

Anything by P.J. O'Rourke. My love for PJ is eclipsed by Husband's, who can tell you which piece appears in which book without pausing for thought. And he's always right.

The Bible in 90 Days. He's reading this now.

Mark Twain's non-fiction, including The Bible According to Mark Twain, Mark Twain's Helpful Hints for Good Living, Life on the Mississippi and Following the Equator.

Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael series.

Dumas, but especially The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo.

The Nasty Bits and Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson.

Jorge Luis Borges' Collected Fictions and Selected Poems.

He's also a fan of Tolstoy, Poe, Reginald Hill, Graham Greene, P.G. Wodehouse, Tolkien, Orwell, and Peter Mayle's early Provence non-fiction (before his move-to-the-Hamptons nonsense).

UPDATE: Husband tells me he has never read one word by Reginald Hill - I am so surprised; I would have sworn in court he'd read all the Daziel and Pascoe novels. But he did read Ngaio Marsh - that much I have confirmed.