Thursday, October 28, 2010

There is no one alive who is youer than you.

 BabyFruit Ticker

We made a human! Hence, I've been pondering children's books lately. As a child, my mother read to us every night until third or fourth grade. At first it was things like Golden Books and Dr. Seuss, and then we moved up to a chapter of Alice in Wonderland each night. I'm sure this is part of what fostered my own love of reading, and I want the same love for our child. I read some poetry (e. e. cummings) to my belly the other night, as they say it can hear in there now. I was born without the singing gene, so I thought I could at least give this- a rhythmic lullaby of beautiful verse. I hope he/she heard me and moved his/her tiny hands. ("nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands"...)

As I set about creating our wee thing's first library, I'm left wondering which children's books we should include in the baby's collection. Having slim-to-no contact with children in recent years, I'm not sure what people read to their kids these days. When I think children's books, I think Green Eggs and Ham (the first book I read by myself), Goodnight Moon, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs... One friend swears by How to Potty Train Your Monster and another by Click Clack Moo. There is much work ahead of us. So many books, so many gleeful trips to Borders...

Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.
-Dr. Seuss

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Reading maketh a full man

Hot Guys Reading Books: It's an entire blog dedicated to nothing but pictures of real men caught in the act of reading. The simplicity is beautiful. So are the men. Enjoy.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

50 Books in 2009

And by 50, I mean 41. Foiled again!

Unexpected enjoyment this year - Josh Bazell's debut novel, Beat the Reaper. I'm not usually into punch-em-ups, but Reaper's scrappy wit kept me on the edge of my seat and wanting more from Josh Bazell. I also really dug Brave New World. (You know I love me some dystopian fiction.) Expect more science fiction on the plate for this coming year. I have a hankering for space-y goodness in 2010. (2010! This is the future.)


1 - Endurance; Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
2 - The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
3 - Mozart’s Wife by Juliet Waldron
4 - A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire
5 - The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
6 - The Host by Stephanie Meyer
7 - Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
8 - Me : Stories of My Life by Katharine Hepburn
9 - The McSweeney's Joke Book of Book Jokes by the Editors of McSweeney's
10 - March by Geraldine Brooks
11 - Crazy Cock by Henry Miller
12 - Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire
13 - The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
14 - America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction by Jon Stewart
15 - Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
16 - Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
17 - Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
18 - Wifey by Judy Blume
19 - American Gods by Neil Gaiman
20 - The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin
21 - Year Zero by Jeff Long
22 - Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
23 - Emma by Jane Austen
24 - Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
25 - A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
26 - The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
27 - Possession by A.S. Byatt
28 - The Last Apprentice - Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney
29 - The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
30 - Storm Front by Jim Butcher
31 - Fool Moon by Jim Butcher
32 - Grave Peril by Jim Butcher
33 - The Pluto Files by Neil DeGrasse Tyson
34 - The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano
35 - Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
36 - The Widows of Eastwick by John Updike
37 - Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
38 - The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
39 - Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell
40 - The Songs of Distant Earth by Arthur C. Clarke
41 - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson