My kids both have fall birthdays so we have moved through what I refer to as “the birthday season.”
When they were toddlers I started a tradition to begin celebrating as soon as they wake.
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I had a slow start to reading in 2022 and remember wondering if I would even find five new books to strongly recommend by the end of the year (as is my tradition).
But by early fall I was finishing one really good read after another, and I had to give some thought before narrowing it down to five of my favorites (published in 2022). Some of these books I finished so recently that I haven’t had a chance to post about them individually.
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Favorite Children’s Books – Part II
I was helping my 10-year-old clean out his room yesterday – I mean really clean it…it took us more than 2 hours and resulted in a full bag of trash, a pile of recycling, and several other piles to be relocated to other areas of the house. We even went through the closet and under the bed, Ick!!
And in the closet I found the tattered covers of a book I want to recommend.
A couple of years ago I wrote My Favorite Children’s Books Part I about my absolute favorite series of children’s books. I’ve been so focused on my own reading that I forgot to finish this series of posts, but I was inspired to do so yesterday.
Because what I found was obviously another favorite considering the state of this book…I have no idea where the pages went! It literally fell apart due to lots of reading over two kids!
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Decades ago I sat at a bar next to a older man who – with great pride – pulled a stack of library cards out of his wallet.
“I’ve moved a lot in my life, and the first thing I did in any new town was get a library card,” he said.
Writing this post triggered this memory I hadn’t thought of in years but it speaks towards the variety of people who use libraries. This man was a character although an intelligent one. And at that point in my life (early 20s) I wasn’t necessarily using my library although I had grown up visiting the library. These days, however, I am there at least once a week if not more. So when I heard great things about a book that is about libraries I had to check it out! And add it to my winter reading list.
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THREE BOOKS THAT GOT MY HUSBAND EXCITED TO READ AGAIN
When I met my husband 13+ years ago, he had a ton of books, including lots of Stephen King and other mysteries and thrillers, mostly paperback. Apparently he used to read a lot! But over the years I have known him he hasn’t read books too often, and more recently (like since I started this blog) he doesn’t seem to understand why I’m SO into reading. So I made it my goal to find books that would get him excited about reading again.
I succeeded by putting these three books in his hands:
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GILEAD
I haven’t posted in a couple of weeks because I have been reading a book that required a slower pace of reading, Gilead: A Novel
The lyrical novel reads as a letter from a dying 67-year-old minister, John Ames, to his young son. He reflects on his love for his family; he confronts his own perceived shortcomings and jealousies and moves towards forgiveness and acceptance.
Goodnight Moon (spotted on This is Us)
This week’s “This is Us” featured the children’s book Goodnight Moon
I, like many parents, read this book hundreds of times over several years. Seeing it on this show made me happy and sad (like everything on this show, right??) – sad because it has been years since I read Goodnight Moon but happy that I shared this experience with all the parents on this show (and real people around the world) across generations who have also read this book to their children at night. My copy of this book says 60th anniversary, and we’ve had it for about 10 years now!!
This post will take much less investigation than my previous book sighting on this show because I actually have this book in my bookcase though it hasn’t been off the shelf in years.
Rarely do I find a useful cookbook that is also fun to read, but this one is both: A Meatloaf in Every Oven: Two Chatty Cooks, One Iconic Dish and Dozens of Recipes – from Mom’s to Mario Batali’s.
A sampling of the passion these authors have for meatloaf:
“Show us a person’s meatloaf and we’ll show you that person’s soul. Meatloaf is a mirror: You are how you loaf.”
and
“Meatloaf is a metaphor: It’s life made loaf. You take what’s precious (in this case, the meat) and stretch it as far as it’ll go.”
This cookbook obviously focuses on meatloaf but it includes recipes from traditional to vegetarian to cultural favorites. The recipes include favorites from several famous chefs to politicians on both sides of the aisle. In total you get about 50 meatloaf recipes grouped into categories with dialogue and commentary included. There is a section at the end that includes yummy sides.
The book also provides helpful basic tips and techniques that span loaves:
Born to Run – Part I
I’m reading the new Bruce Springsteen memoir Born to Run
A third of the way through, I’m to the point where he has released his first album Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.
A tidbit of what he says about his Asbury Park album:
…the lyrics and spirit of Greetings come from an unself-consicous place. Your early songs emerge from a moment when you’re writing with no sure prospect of ever being heard. Up until then, it’s been just you and your music. This only happens once.
I listened to the album again and heard it differently than before – an awesome experience with this new insight.
So far I’ve learned about his childhood, his relationship with his parents and grandparents, his inspirations, and the source of some of his songs, for example “The River” is a tribute to his sister and brother-in-law.
I’ve learned how hard he truly worked for his first opportunities. Natural talent – yes he had that – but he worked his a$$ off to get better. He was so focused and he didn’t even have a drink of alcohol until after he recorded his first album (the funny story of his drinking Tequila for the first time is what I just read about!).
Beyond the Bookcase: The Hidden Life of Trees
One of my goals for the new year is to read at least six environmental books. My first was a beautiful book about how trees in a forest feel and communicate: The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries from a Secret World
The author Peter Wohlleben is a forester in Germany; his book was recently translated into English due to high demand.
The book starts out like a love song to trees and forests (and this was my favorite part!) and then it continues on like a layman’s textbook teaching how trees grow, survive, and die. Most interesting (to me ) is that the trees in forests work together for the success of all.