Mama Memoir

At least three times a year, I find a book that falls into the category of maternal memoir. Some woman, somewhere, writes about her mom life.

I have a mom life too. It’s actually the subject of my Master’s thesis, which is (hopefully) coming to a conclusion later this year.

So of course, when I find one of these books, I HAVE to pick it up to see what someone else is writing about her own maternal trials and tribulations.

Hell Is Other Parents is written by Deborah Copaken Kogan. It’s a humorous, light read guaranteed to give you a few chuckles as she relates her experience in the mother trench.

My favorite passage is her description of being  in the hospital to deliver her third child. She is forty, and has been in labor off and on for more than a month. Her roommate after her son is born is a sixteen year old girl who talks on a walkie talkie type phone with all her friends and blares the tv at all hours. Kogan was a lot nicer to this young girl than I would have been.

This book was refreshing, as it told both the lighter and darker side of motherhood in a humorous way. The competition between mothers, annoying people who try to give her advice about her own children, dealing with the dissolutions of her children’s friendships. She tackles a lot of  topics, and does it well.

photo from everywomansvoice.com

Reading Challenge 2010

Although there are a couple more days left this month, I went ahead and totaled my points that I earned for the Reading Challenge that I am participating in.

211 points.

Not bad. Most of my points come from reading to my son, because he will sit and listen to me read all day if I’d do it. I’ve already started a list of books that I plan on reading in the next couple of months. I’ve purposely looked for books within genres that I don’t read. For example, February is African American History month, so I put a book from that genre on my  TBR list. I also included a few non fiction categories that I haven’t touched.

Anyone have anything on their TBR list that they want to share here? I am open to suggestions!

How did your reading challenge go this month?

Ohm…Relax Into the New Year

I like yoga. One of my personal challenges is to get into it more this year. That is, I must make time to practice yoga, not just talking about wanting to practice yoga.

A few months ago, I was working at the bookstore and feeling kind of lost. Not the “where is the graphic novel section” lost. The “I’m not quite satisfied with myself, where do I go from here” lost.

Personally, I’m not that big on the Self-Help section of the bookstore. Once in a while I will snoop around to see what’s new. But I very rarely buy something from that section. But on that particular day, walking through the Self-Help aisle, this cover caught my eye:

photo from www.everywomansvoice.com

It wasn’t the photo that really caught my eye. (most of the time, it IS the cover art that lures me in) It was the title.

So I grabbed it off the shelf and read the back cover. It sounded interesting, so I started flipping through the chapters. Even more interesting. So I bought it.

I read it this weekend.

Katrina Repka moved to New York from Canada for something different. She could have stayed back home and gotten married and been a housewife. But it didn’t feel like the right thing to do. The chance to take some classes through an exchange program brought her to New York. She decided to stay.

Breathing Space: Twelve Lessons for the Modern Woman is a look into a year of Ms. Repka’s life as she struggles to put her past behind her, while finding herself and who she is meant to become. It tells the reader of her journey to Alan Finger’s studio where she becomes Alan’s student and learns how one’s breath can release the negativity holding you back.

Each of the twelve chapters gives us a look into Ms. Repka’s life and her personal struggles: Family dynamics, boyfriend issues, stress, etc. At the end of each chapter, Ms. Repka explains the breathing exercise that Alan taught her, step-by-step, and how it’s supposed to change you as you practice it. The reader also learns how the breathing exercise changed the author.

I was intrigued by the breathing exercises at the end of each chapter. However, I know I would find it hard to try them while having to read each step. Not very relaxing or enlightening. Last night, I was chatting online with a friend who runs a yoga studio here in town, and I asked her if she had read the book. She hadn’t, but was immediately interested in borrowing my copy. I told her of my issue with the breathing exercises and following the written instructions. She suggested that when I come by this week, to show her which exercises resonated with me, and she’d work with me on them.

Score!

I’ll keep you posted on what happens…

Before I go, make sure you check out this website for more information on this book, the author, and other books that might interest you. My copy came with a bookmark that included a link to this site, and I found a few other books to add to my TBR pile.

Happy Reading!

Meditating Monday

I’m home today, a bit under the weather. So I thought I’d come over here and keep my blogging goal in check.

I joined a reading challenge for this year, as you can see by the badge on my sidebar. There are lots of neat challenges out there for people who are wanting to expand their reading horizons. Feel free to check out Book Blogs if you are up for one, or a dozen.

I decided to join Take the Journey 2010 Reading Challenge because I didn’t want to focus on just one genre. I really wanted to try different types of books this year. Granted, I love my fiction, my chick lit. It helps me lose myself in another world. But sometimes a girl’s gotta branch out a little.

So this challenge that I’ve gotten myself into…I’m keeping track of everything I read. We have a list of different challenges within this challenge: Reading favorite authors, reading new authors, new genres, reading to a child, buying books as gifts, and even reading to someone who can’t read themselves. We earn so many points for each book that falls within these categories. Every month we post our total points for other members of the challenge. I’ll be posting my monthly point total here as well.

I’ve already earned over 100 points for my first week, so I’m now a member of the 100 Club. Really, the points aren’t that big a deal…but in my own mind I am challenging myself to be a point whore.

So grab a cuppa something and join me. I’ll let you know what I’ve been reading…

New Year New Read

I’ve had this book for a few months now. I started reading it in the fall, and put it aside when life got hectic. I picked it up on New Year’s Day for a couple of reasons.

First, I wanted to finish it.

Second, babies have been on my mind lately,since one of my best friends is ready to have number 4 ANY.DAY.NOW. and I have the honor of being there as her officially unofficial doula. (I missed Baby #3’s arrival by mere seconds)

Third, New Years is all about starting fresh, renewing ourselves, having a better year (hopefully) than the year before. So I thought that these points all tied together nicely. If you don’t see the connection, well, that’s fine too.

When I was pregnant with my son and for the many months after his birth (while nursing), I read many books about birth, babies, and parenting. I got into autobiographical books about motherhood. I wish that THIS book had been around a few years ago.

Photo from randomhouse.com

*sigh* I love baby feet, don’t you?

Mark Sloan, M.D. is a pediatrician out in California. I know, what does a pediatrician know about birthing babies, right? After all, pediatricians take over after the child is out.

Fair enough.

What Dr. Sloan has done in Birth Day is put together a fantastic look into childbirth from various angles: The history and evolution of childbirth, his observations as a doctor witnessing the birth of many babies, and first-hand experience from the Dad-to-Be.

While it sounds like a lot of different areas to absorb in one book, Dr. Sloan does it in a way that makes you feel like you’re taking a journey into a new world while chatting with him over coffee.

If you’ve ever wanted to know how or why certain childbirth related items came to be, you will find it in this book. For those of you who always wondered why women have had to labor lying down, with our feet in stirrups. It seems that  Louis XIV, King of France was the person responsible. Back in those days, men were not allowed in the room with a laboring woman. But apparently King Louis wanted to watch in the front row, so he had a special viewing table built so he could watch his mistress give birth. (page 19) Don’t you wish we could go back in time to smack him?

Ever wondered who started the whole “medicated birth” phenomenon? It’s in here. (and I’m not giving any more spoilers, so read it yourself)

Curious about the evolution of a baby’s head compared to its mother’s pelvis? That’s in there too.

I really enjoyed Birth Day, because I learned about a lot of topics related to birth that I didn’t find in other books. I also appreciated a look into childbirth from the male perspective, both as a doctor and as a father. It made me look back on my own birth experience to try to see it through my husband’s eyes. I’m sure it must have been overwhelming to see me in labor.

I had the chance to meet Dr. Sloan when he came to sign copies of his book at work, and chat with him about the book and his research while writing it. I also had the chance to meet his children, whose births he describes in clear detail in the book. There is even a picture of his son John, right after the c-section that helped bring him into this world. I wish that I had a picture of my own son right after my c-section.

This is a must-have for anyone who has had a baby, is pregnant, or thinking about becoming pregnant. Anyone reading this book will take some new knowledge from it.

Happy New Year

2009 was a hectic year. I started off pretty good in the reading and blogging department. And then I got busy with other things.

*hangs head*

So here is a snapshot of what happened last year…

186 books checked out of the library

Only 10 of those returned without finishing them, because they just didn’t grab my interest.

Read the entire Twilight series in May. (boy, did THAT fry my brain, I read NOTHING for the next two months)

Read the Sookie Stackhouse Series. (another one coming out this year)

Read The Luxe series. (there’s a fourth coming out this year)

And I’ve read a bunch of knitting books.

I have one goal this year regarding my reading.

Okay, two.

One: to post more here.

Two: to participate in a challenge on Book Blogs.

What are you going to do this year?

Mom, Can You Tell Me…

Happy New Year! As my first post of 2010, I wanted to chat about a book that I’ve had for awhile, and have been taking my sweet time going through because there are so many interesting things contained in its pages.

Thanks to Lisa Roe, Online Publicist ( http://onlinepublicist.blogspot.com/) for the opportunity to read this book.

The Handy Answer Book for Kids (and Parents) by Gina Misiroglu is a great reference tool for adults with questioning kids in their lives. If you fall into this category, you know what I mean. My son is not yet five, and he has already come to me with questions that have stumped me. Now, I can take a look in this book and find an answer that teaches us both something new.

The book is divided into sections with the following topics:

Outer Space

Planet Earth and Our Moon

Creatures Big and Small

Plant Life

People Around the World

Politics and Government

How Things Work

Math, Time and Measurement

All About My Body

Daily Life

I’ve already jumped into All About My Body, Plant Life, and How Things Work, looking for answers to my four year old’s burning questions. I would rate this book as a decent reference for kids in elementary and middle school. Some of the information would be over a younger child’s head, as is the case with my son. However, having the answer right in front of me helps me to then put the answer into language and concepts that my son CAN understand. And that makes him happy, because now he has an answer, instead of my saying, “I don’t know.”

There are also really cool pictures in the book that kids can look at. This summer was filled with : “Mom, what do a fly’s eyes look like?” Well, I know the answer, but trying to explain it to someone who has never seen a fly under a microscope is a bit tricky. But the Handy Answer Book has a close-up of a fly and its compound eyes. Now he has a better understanding of what I was trying to explain to him back in July.

Another question we’ve dealt with recently is the “What is my belly button for?”  Even though I gave him an answer, he wasn’t to sure I wasn’t trying to pull a fast one on him, so we went to the book and I read the passage about belly buttons. Now he knows that I wasn’t just making something up. (My son is funny like that.)

If you have a child who is constantly questioning everything in his or her world, you might want to pick up a copy of this book. I seen that there are other Handy Answer books out there, so I may actually check out a few others to see what they contain. I need to keep up with this child and his questions…

Stumbled

I joined the legion of stumblers a while back. I used to click on the stumble icon pretty regularly and found some really cool sites.

For the heck of it I started back up again today, and found this nifty little site:

Book Browse

I checked out a few reviews of some books that are coming out in the next couple of weeks. Then I pasted the titles into my local library’s browser. Voila!  They are on order at my local branch. And now they are on my hold list, so I can pick them up as soon as they arrive.

I am still currently reading the Sookie Stackhouse series that I started last month. I finished Dead to the Worldyesterday. I plan on getting the next two, Dead as a Doornail and Definitely Dead sometime this week.

I have a couple of other books on my pile that I am trying to work through. Trying in the sense that I am finding time to read, not trying that they are hard to get into.

What are your reading these days?

AWOL: Back in the Saddle Again

Funny thing happened to me back in May.

As you know from my last blog post on May 3rd, I got sucked into the Twilight series.

And I haven’t said anything more since then.

I am ashamed.

I’ve had an unusual summer.

I did finish the entire Twilight series by the end of May. And I really liked it, even though Bella did get on my nerves, and so did Jacob.

Evidently reading THAT many pages in one month did something to my brain cells, because even though I DID go to the library numerous times this summer, and I DID check out books, and my TBR pile DID get taller…

I just could not sit down and read more than a chapter of anything.

It drove me bananas.

Even my favorite authors did not entice me.

Not even the ARCs I got.

I read plenty to my little guy over the summer, so Iguess that is something, but reading for my own pleasure took a back seat to other things.

Like joining Weight Watchers ( lost 19 pounds so far).

Exercising.

Knitting.

Going to Philadelphia.

I am happy to report though, that after this terribly long hiatus, I picked up a book and have gotten back into reading.

Thanks to a couple people on Facebook.

And wouldn’t you know, I got pulled into another vampire series.

I kept reading these posts on Facebook that some friends were yammering about some chick named Sookie Stackhouse. After seeing these various posts for at least a week, I wandered over to our new library branch (within walking distance of home!)  and did a little online search.

I took this little baby home and read it.

Pretty darn quick.

Then I called my friend to sarcastically thank her for getting me into another vampire series, and she gave me the next three to read.

I’m on number 3 now.

I’m not fond of the artwork on the cover, but hey, I like the stories.

So stay tuned, because I am back.

So…What Did You Think of Twilight?

I finally bit the bullet this weekend.

photo from http://www.stepheniemeyer.com

I picked up a copy of Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. I’ll admit, it’s been on my TBR list for quite some time. Everyone at work has been telling me to read it. I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to commit myself to reading it.
It’s not that I’ve never read books with that many pages before. After all, I’ve visited Harry Potter in all of his years at Hogwarts ( more than once, I might add).

So why did I finally cave?

Book Club.

Thanks ladies, for making this our May read.

Now, to answer your question: “How did I like it?”

I’ll agree with Julie on two points.

1.Great storyline. Wondering where things were going is what kept me turning the pages. I was convinced for awhile that Bella was actually some mutant form of a vampire, and it was for that reason that her mother left town with her years ago. I thought it was a possibility because of her  acceptance of the Cullen family. And the description of her made me think so as well.

2. I found Bella annoying ( at times). Now  for all you die hard Twilight fans out there, there’s no need to flame me. I think maybe a part of it is that I am no longer a teenage girl. The pining for Edward, the brooding, the feeling of not fitting in. (insert “old lady some day you’ll look back on this…” eye rolling here)

That being said, I CAN remember when I was that age and crazily attracted to a guy, wanting to be with him 24/7, sitting as close as possible, loving the smell of his cologne and memorizing the color of his eyes.

But he wasn’t a vampire.

I think.

So Bella served to transport me back to that time to remember that first exhilarating feeling of new love. It also caused me to think about that brooding phase of my life.

I had my moments, but I never wallowed in it the way Bella tends to do.

That’s the part of Bella that drove me nuts.

But fear not, vampire fans. I did enjoy the book. I even went out and got this:

photo from http://www.stepheniemeyer.com

And for those of you who have been prodding me to read these and cheering me on…

I finished BOTH books in under 24 hours.

And for awhile in New Moon, I began to think Bella might be part werewolf. Or maybe a distant relative.

Maybe.

See what you people are doing to me?!