Mommy Read: Sarah Addison Allen

I read through two of Sarah Addison Allen's books in early September: The Peach Keeper and The Girl Who Chased the Moon. I'll be perfectly honest, I picked them up because the covers are whimsical.

It is coming on the 50 year anniversary of the Women's Society Club and Paxton Osgood is determined to hold the gala celebration at the Blue Ridge Madame, Walls of Water's oldest grand home. The renovation is almost complete and Paxton's brother Colin, a landscape architect, has come home to put on the finishing touches. Willa Jackson watches the restoration from afar. The Blue Ridge Madame once belonged to her family, long before she was born, but was lost when the family hit financial ruin. Still she can't help but be drawn to the grand house. During the removal of a 50 year old peach tree, the skeletal remains of a man are found, with a few personal items. The discovery of this skeleton brings Willa and Paxton together to protect their grandmothers from incrimination and leads to the discovery of why the Women's Society Club was originally founded.

After her mother dies, Emily goes to live with her grandfather in her mother's hometown. There she discovers that her mother is universally despised for being the cause of a young man's suicide years ago. Unable to reconcile this story with the mother she knew, Emily tries to get the story out of the few townspeople who will talk to her. Julia is counting the days until her late father's debt is paid off and she can leave this town once more. Spurring her desire to leave is a man named Sawyer, whose actions toward her in her youth make it impossible for her to yield to his insistence that she go out with him now.

I'd describe these books as slightly heavier than chick lit with enough magical realism thrown in to make the novels feel whimsical but not ridiculous. These are not my usual fare, but I do enjoy this type of book from time to time, especially if I've been reading heavier fiction like Neal Stephenson or a long sci-fi series. Both of these novels are set in small towns and the mentalities that come with it. The Peach Keeper particularly struck a chord with me as Willa describes what it's like to feel like as an outsider in a small town even though you've lived there your whole life, which is something I definitely identify with; then conversely Paxton cannot understand what is so horrible about her hometown that every one she's grown up with is so eager to leave it behind, which I sometimes understand because not everything about living in a small town was horrible.

Whimsical Tea!

I enjoyed these books and I'd recommend them to anyone who needs a bit of light reading to clear their mind. Sarah Addison Allen has two other novels that I havent' gotten to yet, but I'll definitely pick them up next time I find myself bogged down by my reading list.

Baby Read: It's a Book

This is the first picture book I bought for my little man when I was pregnant for him. I ran across it as I was going through the new picture books purchased by the library that month. The story features a jackass who keeps pestering a monkey about what that thing in his hand is (a book, obviously) and his assumption that it must be some kind of electronic device. Of course the monkey replies that no, it's a book.

It's a Book by Lane Smith calls attention to the fact that our children have so many more options when it comes to entertainment. Kids don't have to rely on just print books and toys, there's now iPhones, iPads, tablets, ereaders, laptops and a plethora of other devices and media competing for their attention. I'm in no way technophobic, but I can appreciate the exasperation of the monkey in this book. Getting this for the little one will give me an opportunity to talk to him about different kinds of media and the advantages and disadvantages of each type. Below is a book trailer for the book, but it essentially has all the text of the book. Enjoy!

Mommy Read: The Night Circus

This cover inspired
my blog design.

I couldn't tell you exactly what prompted me to push Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus to the front of my 'to read' queue, but I'm so glad I did. This novel leisurely tells the story of two young people pitted against each other in a test of magical stamina. The playing field is the circus, which always shows up unannounced and only opens from dusk to dawn. As the contest advances over the years, the young magicians fall for each other, only to discover that the only way to win their contest is to outlive the other.

The real magic in this book is in the descriptions Morgenstern writes. One almost has the sense of actually walking around the circus and visiting the cloud tent, where circus goers can actually walk on clouds; or visiting the ice garden, where the ice never melts no matter the temperature. Each tent at the circus transforms from a strategic move in a game neither understands, to a wondrous love letter created from one to the other.

My cup of tea!

The pacing of this novel feels like taking a walk in the park on a cool autumn day. As such, I won't recommend this to those of you who like action packed, complicated plot lined novels. I will recommend this to people who like: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Baz Luhrmann movies (Moulin Rouge, Romeo+Juliet, Strictly Ballroom), and Big Fish.

Book Club: September Edition

First an introduction. I run the Book Club at my local library. It meets once a month and is open to anyone who wants to attend. Books are chosen by the members two months in advance (in September we picked November's book) and no matter how much I wish it, book selection is not solely my choice. The result of that is books I would not normally choose for myself. Sometimes I love them (The Help by Kathryn Stockett, despite the recent craze, actually is good), and sometimes I can't stand them, but can still see how they would appeal to some people.



It's a pretty cover at least.
Kinda.



Which brings us to September's Book Club selection:

Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy

Set in Dublin, Dr. Clara Casey is tapped to build a Heart Clinic using an existing building and limited resources. What follows is a story about the community of friends and the far reaching positive effects created by the clinic's staff and its patients.

While the idea of this novel is a good one, the weaving of a bunch of small stories into an overall community story doesn't work for me here. It didn't really for my book club either. Their major complaint of this book was that there were far too many characters to follow and that by the time you finished one person's story, you'd forgotten the previous ones. While keeping up with the characters was a challenge, I found that overall the stories in the book weren't really believable. Normally that wouldn't be a problem in a fiction book, however it seemed as though that that was something the author was going for. Also with her writing she tended to flat out tell me things about a character when I wish she'd just shown me through the characters words and actions.

Is this your cup of tea?

Obviously this book was not my cup of tea to begin with, so I won't over criticize an author for choosing to write about subjects that don't really interest me. And I will recommend this book for those of you who need a feel good novel about a community looking after each other and the stories of the diverse lives of the people in the community.

Essentials

In order to be an efficient reader as a mom you must have the following essentials:

I'm not from Austin, but I dig the look of this card!

A library card. People are always on the look out for free entertainment. Look no further, the public library has books, movies, cds, public computers, ebooks, programs (especially children's programs), and a team of people who are just dying to connect you to the resources you need. Here enters some bias, I am a librarian myself. But really, if you love to read books or watch movies then the library is a more cost effective way of pursuing those interests.

The next essential is only for those of use who have a smartphone, or an e-reader device:

This is the Overdrive App.

Overdrive is the software that allows libraries to checkout ebooks and audiobooks to its patrons. It will work with PCs, Macs, all ereading devices, smartphones, and mp3 players. Frequent users of this service will also be happy to note that digital libraries now play nice with Kindle devices.

Why am I plugging ebooks? Simple. The first couple of months of my sons life, I spent a lot of time rocking him to sleep. A book would have been too awkward to hold in one hand while also holding him, but my iPhone, fit nicely into my palm, and I usually had it nearby anyway to log his feedings or call my mom with a question. My iPhone also lets me read late at night when I'm up with my son without having to turn lights on and disturb my husband. I still read print books, still love the smelling and feeling of holding them in my hand, but if reading a book on a device is what I have to do to read a book conveniently sometimes, then that's what I'm going to do. 

Lastly, once you start reading books, you'll notice that over time you have a hard time remembering if you've read certain titles or only thought about reading them, and that entire plots of books will escape your brain. To counteract this:

This site just launched a reader's advisory feature that so far is pretty spot on.

Goodreads is a great place to log books you've read and books you want to read. Rate the books you've read, write up a quick review and magically you'll be able to at least remember having picked up the book at some point. It is also useful if you're stuck choosing which book you want to read next since you have access to user reviews, as well as the new reader's advisory feature. There are other websites like this out there, LibraryThing, Shelfari, but I enjoy the Goodreads interface. Also LibraryThing, while a great site, charges you after 200 books. This mom has over 500 books on her Goodreads and no money to spare, sorry LibraryThing.

Those are the bare essentials! Get reading!

http://www.goodreads.com/
http://www.overdrive.com/  (search for your local library)
AND GET A LIBRARY CARD! ONE FOR YOU AND ANOTHER FOR YOUR CHILDREN.