Hey, look! A new calendar page! Which means that we have passed yet another month in which I did a few of the things I thought I would. I read a bit. I wrote a bit. I played a bit. I sauteed a great many onions, when I come to think about it. I ate a bit. I saw a good movie or two. I played British Invasion board games with the Kids (the kind where all your words must be in an English accent, or you lose a turn). And I read a couple of books.
* WRITING DOWN THE BONES by Natalie Goldberg. This is one of the few books Husband held on to from his creative writing classes in college. I’ve read it a few times, and I love the hippie vibe with which Ms. Goldberg approaches writing. She regularly quotes Zen masters (or something), who help her get to the guts of her creative process, and the whole book is like sitting in a coffe shop just listening to her talk. That seems like a good way to spend a day. She’s a big proponent of writing with a pen (and yes, I recognize that the book was published in 1986, and she was having Mac fantasies much like my own, except she wanted a box and I want an Air) — but I’ve started writing with pen for some time almost every day, and IT IS AWESOME. Viva la pen. And writing from the heart.
* THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett. Reread. And passed it to Kid 1. Then went and saw the movie with my childhood BFF. Book is excellent. Movie, nearly as good (I think there’s an added sweetness you can get away with in a film, where everyone can turn out more “okay” than they do in the book, just to let us leave the theatre hopeful and full of popcorn). I love this book. I’m sure half the people in the country have read this, so you can trust me, it’s a good read. Strong characters, both the lovable ones and the hate-able ones. I cried (both times I read it) when the congregation gives Skeeter a book. In the movie I cried at different parts. (Not the Ugly Cry.) And was grateful for a scene that was left out of the movie.
* THE FOREST FOR THE TREES: AN EDITOR’S ADVICE TO WRITERS by Betsy Lerner. Was cool. Positive advice. Funny stories. Some strangeness (about how a “real” author needs to slice away all inhibitions, not care who he wounds, yadda yadda) but overall helpful and interesting. Talks about process in a way that is easy to understand, from querying to acceptance to edits to proofs to marketing and all the rest. If you’re looking to publish, you could find it helpful. I did.
*Every ELEPHANT AND PIGGIE book in the public library. By Mo Willems. We eat these up (not literally) [1]. None of my Kids are really picture book readers any more, but we SO LOVE MO. So we occasionally grab them all, for a week, and read out to each other. “Yes. I DO need help!”
And now I’m mid- Alexander McCall Smith. Guys, could you introduce him to me? If you’re friends? I’d really like to hang out with him for a week, eating food (he writes a great deal about food, and I love him for it) and listening to him speak. I love his style and his voice and his irony and his peacefulness and his hilarity. I’ll tell you about the book I’m currently in … in a month. But I’ll also tell you that I started several years ago with the NUMBER ONE LADIES’ DETECTIVE AGENCY and think that you can’t go wrong if you also start there. Then, Netflix the HBO show. Brilliant and gorgeous.
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[1] Only one of my Kids ever literally ate a book. The Boy. When he was small. Bite by bite he devoured our Very Hungry Caterpillar board book. I have not yet replaced it, but my birthday is coming up here in a couple of weeks, and I might just treat myself to a new copy. It has always been one of my favorites. And the literary irony of the whole experience is not lost on me. And please don’t bother calling Child Welfare. He’s 7 and 3/4 now, so the damage is past. Long past. And he no longer eats paper. Or boards. Only food and foodlike substances.
(16) Comments for this blog
That book must have looked delicious to him. 😉
Great list Becca! I love it!
That book must have looked delicious to him. 😉
Great list Becca! I love it!
HOw do you read so man books in a month. I’m lucky if I get one read a month!
HOw do you read so man books in a month. I’m lucky if I get one read a month!
All three of my children devour books, even the baby. That means my job as a mother is done, right?
All three of my children devour books, even the baby. That means my job as a mother is done, right?
We might be living the same book-life this month. I am 3/4 of the way through “The Help,” and our day isn’t complete without some Mo Willems. In fact, the next time you make it this way, I’ll have to loan you the two or three new ones that our library doesn’t have. My boy can recite all of them word for word.
Oh, and my copy of “The Help?” It looks like a dog gnawed on it for a while. Really it was my teething baby.
We might be living the same book-life this month. I am 3/4 of the way through “The Help,” and our day isn’t complete without some Mo Willems. In fact, the next time you make it this way, I’ll have to loan you the two or three new ones that our library doesn’t have. My boy can recite all of them word for word.
Oh, and my copy of “The Help?” It looks like a dog gnawed on it for a while. Really it was my teething baby.
Loved The Help and, really, you have to see that movie with a good girlfriend (I got Melanie J.)
Love Mo Willems. Have bought Knuffle Bunny a number of times because ours keep falling apart.
Love Alexander McCall Smith and Ladies Detective Agency. The HBO show was, indeed, wonderful.
Add our shared Bon Jovi love(?) and I think we need to get one of those Best Friends necklaces that can be split into two. I’ll let you have the best half.
Loved The Help and, really, you have to see that movie with a good girlfriend (I got Melanie J.)
Love Mo Willems. Have bought Knuffle Bunny a number of times because ours keep falling apart.
Love Alexander McCall Smith and Ladies Detective Agency. The HBO show was, indeed, wonderful.
Add our shared Bon Jovi love(?) and I think we need to get one of those Best Friends necklaces that can be split into two. I’ll let you have the best half.
I am lucky if I read one book a month. You are voracious!
I am lucky if I read one book a month. You are voracious!
Ooh, writing books! I’m in the middle of a writing book myself. I didn’t read as much in August as I’d hoped to read, but I think September will be a much better month for reading! 🙂
Ooh, writing books! I’m in the middle of a writing book myself. I didn’t read as much in August as I’d hoped to read, but I think September will be a much better month for reading! 🙂
I am so glad you said that the icky scene is left out. That was my biggest hang-up about seeing the movie. I hated reading that scene and couldn’t imagine watching it. I hated the guy…the girls were awesome.
Mo fan as well. He has a few of them 😉
I am so glad you said that the icky scene is left out. That was my biggest hang-up about seeing the movie. I hated reading that scene and couldn’t imagine watching it. I hated the guy…the girls were awesome.
Mo fan as well. He has a few of them 😉