The Sounds of Authors

I've told you before, here, that I am not a fan of British authors and why.  My mom recently gave me a book that she enjoyed and thought I might like reading it to myself or to B - The Puppy That Came for Christmas: How a Dog Brought One Family the Gift of Joy.  I'd never heard of it, but since I was out of library books, I took it with me on our recent Thanksgiving trip to Boston.

I picked it up Thanksgiving night when I had some time alone and started reading it.  By the end of the 1st paragraph, I realized the author, Megan Rix, was British.  @@ Yes, I actually rolled my eyes when I realized she was British.  But it was the only thing I had to read so I plowed on.  I'm on chapter 2 and we have some things in common - infertility issues, in our 40s, never considered ourselves dog people - so I'm going to continue to read.

Once I realized she was British (BTW, it is PC to call them British?  Do they prefer English?  Do I, as an American, only call them British b/c that's what they are called in all of our American History books and movies?  Any thoughts?), I started "hearing" the words in my head with a British accent.  Does that happen to you?  It does to me every time.  I don't mean I read every book in my head with a British accent; I just do if the author is British.  Or English…  And if I actually know what an author's voice sounds like, I hear their voice in my head as I read.

I also read aloud to others with the same cadence and accent as an author, if I've heard them speak.  The first book I ever read aloud to the hubs was in 1996 on a car trip.  It was Couplehood by Paul Reiser and, since I was a fan of the TV show Mad About You, I knew how Mr. Reiser would sound if he was reading it.  It makes reading more interesting, don't you think?  When you read about the Hundred Acre Woods, don't you hear Pooh's voice in your head?  I would love to get a job recording audio books!

OK, that last statement was random.  I better quit while I'm ahead.  ;o)

The Flexibility of Homeschooling or Honoring My Child's Interests

I couldn't decide between the two titles for this post, so I used them both.  ;o)  After we spent a couple of weeks on the Knights and Samurai chapter of Story of the World, B decided to do something else for a bit.  He spent the next couple of weeks reading books he likes, drawing comics for the book he's decided to "publish" and sell and write some stories.  The freedom of homeschooling allows you to follow your child's lead and honor what he or she needs.  B only turned the TV on during breakfast to catch up on any Phineas and Ferb episodes that had taped while he slept and then he went off by himself the rest of the day.  He reread all of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, Captain Underpants books and Big Nate books he had.  He wrote fictional stories in the Write Your Own Story Book by Usborne Books.  He gathered together all the comics he'd drawn over the years, corrected the spelling, organized them and created a cover for the book he wants to publish.  There are so many articles and how-to's out there on how to get your children to read or how to instill a love of reading in children.  We've been blessed that our love and desire for books and the worlds they expose us to has been passed onto him organically.

There was no way I was going to deny him when he wanted to do nothing but read, write and create for a couple of weeks.  We honored his interests.  I love this boy and his appetite for learning and books and his endless creativity!  It's amazing how much my child yearns to learn and enjoys learning when he has a say in what we learn and how much of each topic he is ready to take in.  He's still a boy with impulses and self-control issues, who cries when he's frustrated, who wants his parents to tuck him in a night, who dissolves into fits of giggles when the words "pee", "poop" or "butt" are said.  But he is also mature enough to ask me if I need anything, says "yes, ma'am" and "no, sir", runs ahead and opens a door for someone with their arms full and appreciates the difference between a want and a need.  I am so lucky and blessed to be with him everyday, to learn along side of him and guide him to become the man he is meant to be.  Homeschooling was a gift we thought we were giving to B, but we have received so much from it, ourselves.

"The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming, A Christmas Story" by Lemony Snicket

Until yesterday, I had never read a Lemony Snicket book.  Do you read any of his books to your children or do your children read them?  After B's gymnastics class yesterday afternoon, we stopped at the library to pick up a book I had placed on hold.  B wanted to peruse the children's section, so we headed over there.  I found this book, The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming, A Christmas Story, on display and decided to check it out - it was short, I was intrigued and B kept laughing over his own attempts to pronounce the word "latke".  I read it as soon as we got home and we were both laughing hysterically!  Fun way for children to learn about Hanukkah and why it's celebrated.  I recommend you check it out!

Paper Back Swap

                                
I know I've written about www.paperbackswap.com before. It's even on My Favorite Things tab. I post books I want to pass onto others. I get a message when someone wants one of my books. I log into my PBS account, print off a shipping label, wrap the book and mail it off at the cheap media mail rate. I've only spent more than $2.48 to mail a book once. I get one credit for every book I send, which I use to receive books from others. The person sending me the book pays for shipping and I pay nothing.

Yesterday, I received 2 requests for books I own, one of which, I had receiced from another PBS user and am now forwarding it on since I'm done (Fifty Shades). I used to go to the post office to buy postage and ship the books, but now I buy the postage online through PBS and it is printed on the label for me!

I fell so happy, putting those books in the mailbox, closing the door and lifting the red flag for our mail carrier. I know the joy of opening my mailbox and seeing a book I've requested arrive. I really enjoy being united in the love of reading with total strangers, all over the country! One PBS member sent me a very nice thank you message last year. She lives in Alaska and said very few other PBS members will send her books due to higher postage for the greater distance (it was $3.28 to send that book). It brought joy to her by sending her a book and she brought joy to me by expressing her appreciation. We all need daily joy and can provide it to anyone, anywhere.

(Wrote this on my phone through the Blogger app while at B's last handwriting lesson. Don't think I'll be doing this often!)

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

I find a lot of reading material at Costco.  I peruse the many titles, read the covers and when I see one I want to read, I make a note of it and check it out of the library.  The Postmistress by Sarah Blake was my most recent find.  I was intrigued to find out what secrets the postmistress and the doctor's wife were hiding.  Unfortunately, there was a third female character, a reporter, and the plot was split evenly among the three women.  I did not care for the reporter's story line.  It was not until halfway through the book that her story got remotely interesting to me because a link between the reporter and the doctor's wife was established.  The last fifth of the book, when all three women were in the same town and interacting, was the most interesting part and I dragged my way through the first four fifths. The book gave me something to read while traveling this past week, but I would not recommend it.

I do want to share something from the book that stood out to me, though - how the reporter was told the job was done.  "Seek Truth.  Report It.  Minimize Harm."  Reporters' integrities were based on their unbiased observations.  They stayed out of the way, didn't get involved, and reported the facts, as they saw or heard them, to the people.  That's it.  I miss that integrity in news.  I remember when it still existed, when I was younger.  It is no more and we all suffer from it, in my opinion.

I Just Finished "I Don't Know How She Does It"!

W.O.W.  What a fantastic book!  I can't wait to talk about it with my readers who have picked it up since I started reading it.  As you know, I checked it out of the library and posted here how affected I was by just the 1st two chapters.  I was about to start chapter 26 when my own copy arrived in the mail from my brother.  My highlighter has been by my side and put to good use from then on!  Now that I am finished with the book, I am going to read it again from the beginning, so I can highlight what I want from the 1st 25 chapters!

Such a powerful book for everyone, not just mothers.  Dads, men who employ mothers, men employed by mothers, any man with a mother in his life can benefit from this book.  This is an accurate picture of what it is like.  Even I, as a mom, one who has been a SAHM and a WOHM, did not fully comprehend nor acknowledge how unequal we still are to men!  Not only in the workplace but also at home!

I can't recommend this book enough.

"I Don't Know How She Does It"

I am reading the book "I Don't Know How She Does It" by Allison Pearson.  When I saw the movie trailer it looked interesting, but not enough to see it.  I am very discriminating with my movie theater dollars.  I can be with how fast movies come out on DVD.  However, there are certain types of movies you should see on the big screen to fully appreciate: Star Wars, Harry Potter, The Avengers, Transformers and the like.  There are other, infrequent occasions to see something in a theater, too.  For example, making an evening of cocktails or dinner and Sex in the City or Bridesmaids with my girlfriends; my brother offers to sit for free and there happens to be a movie playing that both the hubs and I want to see but is inappropriate for B.

But in this case, it is a book turned into a movie.  I have a love/hate relationship with this scenario.  Hate: books are always better then their movie counterparts and most are better left alone on paper instead of put on the screen.  Love: Books I've never heard of are put on my radar and, subsequently, my reading list, when I see the trailer and I have enjoyed many of them.  Anywho, I heard over and over that "I Don't Know How She Does It" was much better as a book and the movie was a disappointment.

I was surprised to discover as I started reading, that Allison Pearson is from the UK.  I don't care for British authors on the whole.  Their tone, vocabulary and sense of humor (if there is one at all) is not to my liking.  In fact, JK Rowling is the only British author I like b/c she doesn't write like a "typical" British author.  I wonder if that is b/c her target audience was children or if she "Americanized" her writing style, knowing that if the book was a hit, more copies would be sold in the US than the UK b/c, well, we have more people?  However, Ms. Pearson is quite successful in getting me to relate to her on the primal level of being a "mum".  Maybe that's b/c she isn't British; she's Welsh.  ;o)  I find her dead on with her descriptions of the main character's feelings, predicaments, guilt, responsibilities, in-laws and the shameful, ever-present battle line drawn between WOHMs (work outside of the home moms) and SAHMs (stay at home moms).

I checked the book out of the library and am wishing I owned it; it is the kind of book I want to read with a highlighter in hand.  I am having Steel Magnolias stirrings inside me from this book and I have only read the 1st two chapters!  (In case you don't understand the Steel Magnolias reference, IMO that movie is to women what The Godfather is to men.  As Tom Hanks said in You've Got Mail, "All of life's questions can be answered in The Godfather.")  Steel Magnolias is the movie I quote the most in my life and I quote a lot of movies!  Here is a highlighter-worthy excerpt from "I Don't Know How She Does It" between the main character, Kate, and her father-in-law, Donald:

"Emily, Grandpa asked you to put that down."
"No, I didn't," says Donald mildly. "I told her to put it down. That's the difference between my generation and yours, Kate: we told, you ask."

Zing!  There are paragraphs titled, MUST REMEMBER, that are simply the constant stream of thoughts going through Kate's head.  And in the middle of each one this is thrown in:

"Pelvic floor squeeeze."

LOL!  I am looking forward to reading the rest of this book.  I'll let you know what I think on the other side.