Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Perhaps it is because of the hype and the closure since this is the last in the series, but I must admit that I LOVED IT! I've enjoyed all of the books in the Harry Potter series, but I wasn't moved by them necessarily. This one really got to me. I won't give any "spoilers" but will just say that, if I were still teaching, I would love to create a unit (well, with seven books, I guess it'd be a whole course) exploring the motifs, the symbols, the themes. What a way to draw kids into the world of literary analysis and appreciation.

MY DRY, SPOILERLESS COMMENTARY: I enjoyed the JC connection, really appreciated the resolution with Neville's character, didn't like the epilogue, was broken-hearted for Teddy. Loved Luna's dad, Xenophilius Lovegood (love of strangeness) -- my kind of guy!

TTE: Books for Toddlers

Looking for ideas of books to read to your toddler? You can get ideas from award lists, like Caldecott Winners, from The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease, from your librarian, from other families (like my list below -- a work in progress), or from just stumbling upon them. Make library visits part of your routine and check out a few books each week. I always have my list of to-reads in mind, but I like to get a book or two not on my list -- books that catch my eye or that Caroline pulls of the shelf and hands to me. I've stumbled upon some great ones this way. I've created an amazon list of our favorites.

Normalizing the Natural

After Caroline was born, when nursing consumed much of my time and thoughts, (as if it doesn't now!) I was surprised at how often nursing was mentioned in the fiction I was reading and on television. Was it always there and I just didn't notice? A discussion came up recently on a listserv for breastfeeding counselors to which I subscribe, lamenting the lack of breastfeeding in fiction. The other list readers and I compiled this list of books that do have breastfeeding characters. When you put together a care package for a new mom, be sure to include oatmeal cookies and one of these novels. :-)

Books I've read:
So, What do you do all day? by Amy Scheibe
Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
Life Studies by Susan Vreeland
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maquire
The Lucky Ones: A Novel by Rachel Cusk
Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott

Books others mentioned:
Ten Big Ones, Janet Evanovich
Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
The Wandering Hill, Larry McMurty
The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck
Into the Forest, Jean Hegland
The Summer of my Amazing Luck, Miriam Toews
The Singer from the Sea, Sherri Tepper
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Lives touched by Breastfeeding ed by Boas, Hazell, and Casey
Strange Fits of Passion by Anita Shreve
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea


Series that include breastfeeding as a given for their characters:
Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel
The Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Skye O'Malley by Beatrice Small
Royal Diaries (young adult)
American Girl (young adult)

Authors who often included breastfeeding as the norm:
Nora Roberts
Danielle Steele
Catherine Asaro
Julian May
Teri Levitson
Susan Elizabeth Phillips

**I have not read all of these books myself. This list is a collaborative effort. If you have books to add, please email me or leave a comment. I'll edit to add them!

Running with Scissors

My book club's choice for this month is Augusten Burroughs's memoir, Running with Scissors. I'm not a huge memoir fan, so I didn't vote for it the numerous times it came up in our polls, but after I saw a preview for the movie, I decided I might enjoy the book. It won our latest poll without my vote, regardless. I was even more intrigued to read it when I got this message from the paperbackswapper sending me the book:
"Hi Amanda,
I mailed your book this morning.
Normally I end my messages with 'enjoy'or 'happy reading' but this book is so sick, twisted and disturbing that neither of those seem appropriate. So instead I'll close with this...
Don't read this book while eating,
L"

Contrary to her message, I did "enjoy" the book. She is right, it is sick and twisted and disturbing. This guy had some really messed up adults influencing his life, but he survived with his sense of humor intact and has gone on to be successful. The concept of resilience is an idea that really stuck out in my mind during graduate school. We talked often about resilience being so important in social and emotional development, especially in gifted individuals -- it being a key in moving a gifted person to the talented level. I'd say Augusten Burroughs would made an excellent case study.

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

Often, how quickly I finish a book is an indicator of how much I liked it. This was not the case with Wicked: The True Story of the Wicked Witch of the West. While I usually devour books on roadtrips and over holidays, life with a toddler doesn't allow the same level of voracious reading. This book took me a good three weeks to read, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

I have a love / hate relationship with The Wizard of Oz. I really enjoy the movie and the songs, but I have strong memories of it because it prompted my first nightmare. Eerily, I had a dream while reading Wicked that was partly inspired by this book, too.

The story is just what the title says. Every person has a story, circumstances that shape who they are and how they feel and act. In our lives, we are usually just concerned with our story and maybe those of the ones we love and are close to. In fiction, it is the same. We all love Dorothy and know her story. In this book, Gregory Maguire gives us Elphaba's story. Yup, the Wicked Witch of the West has a name! (L F B, L. Frank Baum's initials, get it?) In fact, she's not even really a witch, she was just born green to the consternation of her parents.

I like seeing things from a different perspective, and here we get to see the story leading up to the infamous tornado, the tornado, and what follows.

I recommend the book and look forward to seeing the Broadway production someday.

Summer Reading

Caroline and I are both participating in the Cedar Park Library Summer Reading Club. We each have a log to track the number of minutes we read each day. Only library materials count, though. For every 200 minutes Caroline reads (or is read to) she gets a small prize. For every 400 minutes I read (and reading to Caroline counts), I am entered into drawings for prizes. We read anyway, but I love a little added excitement. We checked out a baby sign language book for daytime reading, and _Ten in the Bed_ for bedtime reading.

In other reading news, I am the "host" for my next book club meeting. Host is an odd term for it, as we meet in a restaurant. The host chooses several books and the group votes. I was very proud of my selections and am really enjoying the winner, which I checked out from the CP library, so it counts on my log.

My choices were:
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiquro **winner**
The Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
A Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris

Hands, Mind, Heart, & Soul

I usually have several books going at once, but last night I realized that each book represents a different part of my life -- my hands, my mind, my heart, and my soul.

My hands relate to my job. Caroline is my job, so my current work-related read is Baby Signs. We're introducing Caroline to basic signs -- like food, drink, nurse, dirty (as in diaper) -- as well as some fun signs, like the animals, in hopes to make communicating less frustrating for her.

My mind, well, that's pretty obvious. During grad school, this reading was dictated to me. Currently I'm reading a compilation of research articles compiled by one of the professors from A&M on breastfeeding. It's called Breastfeeding: Biological Perspectives. It examines breastfeeding in other cultures, the impact of artifical milk and its marketing in our culture and others, age of natural weaning, and such. Dr. Dettwyler was working on the book when I took her class my senior year.

My heart is my true love, FICTION! I have an extensive to-read list and check out a new book from my list every other week. I hit the jackpot this week and the two books I was wait-listed for at the library came in -- Amy Tan's new book, Saving Fish from Drowning and Zadie Smith's On Beauty, my book club pick for this month. I have them both now, but I may return the Tan book and get back on the waiting list for it. I hate to hog two good books.

My soul is my spiritual reading, devotional or whatnot. Right now, I'm neglecting this part of my being. Now that I realize it, I'll pick up a good book to feed my soul.

Divining Women -- SPOILER ALERT

Eerily, Divining Women hit closer to home than I expected. Since the setting is during the 1918 flu epidemic, I expected the baby to die from influenza. She did die -- but due to her cord being around her neck! That was one of Caroline's problems (the lesser problem actually since the cord being in a knot was much more of a problem.) I am so thankful that I live in a time when c-sections are possible, and I'm so thankful that my nurses were on the ball, and I'm so thankful my water broke early...God is good.

Motherhood has invaded my reading sanctuary

As an intellectual (in my opinion) expectant mother, I looked forward to continuing my voracious reading habits after the baby was born. Books, at least, would be my world to which to escape that didn't involve being a mother. Somehow pregnancy, childbirth, and nursing have invaded my reading world -- and I'm not even considering the expected Dr. Sears, What to Expect, Dr. Weisenbluth, or So That's What They're For -- books that I consult at least monthly. I'm talking about my reading-love -- fiction.

Caroline and I venture to the public library every other week for a new treasure. I have a list of books I want to read (mostly bestsellers and new releases), but those are often checked out. In those cases, I just wander the shelves looking for inspiration. I've just so happened lately, unintentionally (or perhaps subconsciously) to choose novels that significantly relate to motherhood.

First there was the book I chose because it's bookjacket description reminded me of one of my all-time favorite novels, Thorton Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey, because this novel (whose title I cannot remember) examined the ways various seemingly unrelated individuals' lives intersected. Upon reading, I discovered that the common thread was parenthood and parental adventures! Then, when looking for a Susan Vreeland book that the Milwood Book Club would be discussing and finding it checked out, I chose Vreeland's newest book, Life Studies, which tells the stories behind some of Europe's masterpieces -- including "The Wetnurse Angele feeding Julie Manet" painted by new mother Berthe Morisot of her baby with the nursemaid. At this point in my own motherhood, I felt much like a nursemaid. Since I enjoyed delving into the artworld presented in Vreeland's book, I choose The Girl with a Pearl Earring next. Though it isn't the central story, the mistress of the home in the novel is persistently pregnant, birthing about ten children over the course of the novel. I'm now reading Kaye Gibbons's new novel, Divining Women, about the 1918 flu epidemic. One of the main characters is an expecting mom.

Perhaps the books I've read and enjoyed throughout my life have had mother's as central characters and now I'm reading with my maternal literary critic hat on and noticing these women in a deeper way. Likely so.