Me in Place

Here’s a book update of books read since April. I officially reached 50 books read, and looking over the list, it looks as though non-fiction is more to my liking this year. Does that mean I’m getting old? Again, I’ve highlighted in bold the books I’d highly recommend.

31. Why We Love the Church – In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion; DeYoung, Kevin and Kluck, Ted; 229; 4/25
SASR: Excellent book discussing the importance of church and being involved in a church. Especially in today’s culture, where it is cool to bash church and find “community” outside of church. Also focuses on what’s important – preaching the gospel. Much of the book is defending the church against authors and books that are seeking to “find a new way to do church”. If you spend all your time trying to reach the “seekers” and water church down, and if you remove the gospel, you have nothing.
Rating: 9.5
Mom Rating: 0 kids (concentrate and listen!)

32. Handle With Care; Picoult, Jodi; 477; 4/29
SASR: One of the most depressing stories I’ve ever read. Discusses a little girl who has OI (otherwise known as brittle bone disease). The mom sues her OB Doctor – who happens to be her best friend – because she says the Doc should have told her about the disease earlier in the pregnancy. Obviously, this means she has to declare in court she would have had an abortion. How this affects the little girl, the older sister, the parent’s marriage and everyone else on this depressing earth, is the rest of the story.
Rating: 7
Mom Rating: 3 kids – but you’ll constantly be grabbing them and giving them hugs, so they might get tired of being in the same room with you.

33. The Endurance – Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition; Alexander, Caroline; 210; 5/1
SASR: Loved this record of Shackleton’s expedition – it included beautiful black and white photos taken by the crew’s photographer, which made the story all that much more interesting. Although a little harsher – because after you see the cutie patootie sledge dogs, you then have to read how they shot them all. But the true amazing story is in how Shackleton kept the crew together and led to their rescue after over a year on an ice floe. Amazing. (Also amazing to realize they couldn’t reach the South Pole, but a couple of the crew were alive when man walked on the moon!)
Rating: 9
Mom Rating: 2 kids – you don’t want lots of kids being around when you’re crying about the dogs.

34. The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith; Keller, Timothy; 135; 5/3
SASR: Great exegesis on the story of the prodigal son. Are you an elder son or a younger son? Interesting insight.

Rating: 8
Mom Rating: 0 kids. Focus.

36. Though Waters Roar; Austin, Lynn; 428; 5/4
SASR: Story of a grandma who was involved in Temperance Laws and the granddaughter who was just jailed for carrying bootleg alcohol.
Rating: 6
Mom Rating: 3 kids.

37. The Great Wheel; Lawson, Robert;192: 5/10 (kids)
SASR: Novel about a boy who immigrates from Ireland and ends up helping build the great ferris wheel for the Chicago World’s Fair. While not my favorite read-aloud book, it was interesting to learn more about the construction of the giant ferris wheel – and we’ll be taking the kid’s downtown to ride the Navy Pier one this summer, for sure!
Rating: 7
Mom Rating: Read aloud to 3 kids

38. The Hole in Our Gospel; Stearns, Rich; 320  5/12
SASR: Reviewed here. Couldn’t go along with his theology, but agree we need to be nice and helpful to people.
Rating: 6
Mom Rating: 2 kids

39. The Hunger Game; Collins, Suzanne; 384 5/28
SASR: A girl volunteers to enter the hunger game in place of her sister. 24 candidates are brought to a giant “arena” in which they need to fight to the death. The winner brings much honor and respect to her/his district. The story centers on Katniss, a girl from District 12, who makes friends and… You’ll have to read it to find out!
Rating: 8
Mom Rating: 3 kids (and appropriate for maybe age 12 and above)

40. Just Do Something:How to Make a Decision Without Dreams, Visions, Fleeces, Open Doors, Random Bible Verses, Casting Lots, Liver Shivers, Writing in the Sky, etc: DeYoung, Kevin; 127
SASR: Using the wisdom of God to make decisions. That’s all there is to it. (One reason I reviewed an above book so low was because she insisted on showing kids to look for God in the little things, like getting the dinosaur comforter you wanted. However….in my opinion, this only leads to issues like looking for dreams and visions and disappointment in God the first time someone looks at you in a way you weren’t expecting or something serious happens, like, oh say, your dad dies of cancer and where do you turn your anger? Toward God who didn’t come through on the big one – but somehow that’s okay, cuz at least you can cry into your dino comforter??– both books were published by the same publisher, which makes me so weirdly angry, I can’t explain it. But, don’t worry, I used my evil thoughts for good and did some behind-the-scenes maneuvering to get this authors’ books promoted. Maw ha ha. I’ll never tell my secret plan in action. )

41. This Time Together; Burnett, Carol; 266; 6/6
SASR: The older I get, the more I enjoy biographies and autobiographies. Maybe because I want to know how people go where they are and how they dealt with lifes ups and downs. Isn’t it fascinating how things affect us? Carol follows up on her original memoir with further stories of her career, including hilarious stories of her fellow cast members like Vicki Lawrence and Tim Conway (second only to Bob Newhart in my Comic Crushes Book).
Rating:7
Mom Rating: 3 kids and some idiot cutting down his tree across the street while you’re outside trying to get a tan while reading.

42. So Long, Insecurity; Moore, Beth; 350; 6/10
SASR: Good and encouraging book on how to find your security in your standing in the Lord. A little feel-good, woman’s-Bible-study-let’s-all-hold-hands emotional for my personality – but that doesn’t mean it’s not good!
Rating: 7
Mom Rating: 3 kids

43. Gregor the Overlander; Collins, Suzanne; 308; 6/14
SASR: Gregor and his 2 year old sister fall down a vent in a laundry room and find them in the Underworld, where he finds himself part of a prophecy foretold long ago. He meets members of the Underworld, including rats, humans, spiders and cockroaches and battles to free them from the rats. Good fantasy/sci fi read for teens. There are hints of evolution being the smart, scientific answer.
Rating: 7 (I liked Hunger Games by the same author much better)
Mom Rating: 3 kids

44. The Game From Where I Stand; Glanville, Doug;
SASR: I read good reviews of this book and decided to go off my no-book-buying-diet and order it. I’m glad I did. Glanville does not focus a great deal on the game itself, but rather gives insight into the life of a pro baseball player with topics such as the family room, hiring/firing/being traded, and travel. He was critiqued as a player for being perceived as too “laid-back,” and actually, the book kind of took on that personality as well…laid back and easygoing. And somehow that makes him seem more real and approachable. (And it brings up my question of what and how exactly do you tell someone you admire their work without seeming like a ditzy fan?? I need to know in case I ever get to talk to Mark DeRosa.)
Rating: 8
Mom Rating: 3 kids

45. Uncharted TerriTORI; Spelling, Tori;
SASR: More stories from her life. (This is her third book.) I do like her and can’t imagine being critiqued as a celebrity in today’s day and age. Very hard.
Rating: 6 (her others were more interesting)
Mom Rating: 3 kids

46. Finding It; Bertinelli, Valerie; 272; 8/18/10
SASR: More stories of her life – especially dealing with her weight loss and (as I saw it) her search for meaning in life.
Mom rating: 3 kids

47. Me Talk Pretty One Day; Sedaris, David; 272; 8/18/10
SASR: Hilariously sardonic.
Mom Rating: 2 kids

48. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress; Janzen, Rhoda; 241; 8/21/10
SASR: Torn on this review. Janzen is a hilarious and great writer. I like a book that makes me laugh out loud. But on the other hand, it’s another book by a pastor’s daughter who has given up, not just the faith she was raised in (which does seem to focus a great deal on works…), but all faith. Which just ends up making my heart ache. Rating: 7
Mom Rating: 2 kids and a workout

49. Into the Wild; Krakauer, Jon; 207; 8/10/10
SASR: Krakauer is a wonderful author – remember he’s also the author of Into Thin Air about the tragedy on Everest – and this book was an interesting story of a young man who gave up his money and all communication with his family and wandered about America. He ended up in Alaska – and starved to death. Both my husband and I decided the book left us with a spooky feeling – don’t know why – but we both enjoyed the writing. Rating: 9
Mom Rating: 0 kids.

50. Spoken From the Heart; Bush, Laura; 464; 7/25/10
SASR: I always saw First Lady Laura Bush as an elegant, classy lady who guarded her family carefully and tightly. Turns out, I came away with the same opinion after I read her book. She gives a good review of her early life/growing up years and I found these interesting…Interesting to read about 9/11 from her perspective. She gets a bit defensive in the end chapters regarding her husband and his decisions – but, frankly, I would defend my husband too! Rating: 8

51. The Sweetness At the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia DeLuce Mystery; Bradley, Alan; 416
SASR: 11 year old science prodigy, Flavia, finds a dead body in the garden and goes about her small English village finding the murderer. A well-written protagonist is what sparkles throughout the book – Flavia’s escapades and retorts are hilariously written. Kudos to Bradley for writing such a fun, lighthearted mystery – a perfect summer read. Rating: 8

52. The Weed That Ties the Hangman’s Bag: A Flavia DeLuce Mystery; Bradley, Alan; 384
SASR: Flavia finds herself involved in solving yet another mystery. Again centered in a small English town, the book centers on the precocious 11 year old and her talks with other members of the village. Rating: 8

53. A Beautiful Blue Death; Finch, Charles; 324
SASR: A maid is found dead – the quiet free-lance detective, Charles Lenox, attempts to solve the mystery of who solved her. The writing of the detective’s character is the great part of the book – sort of along the lines of how well-written Nero Wolfe is in Rex Stout’s mysteries. Rating: 8

The Hole in the Gospel is written by Rich Stearns, President of World Vision. His main point is that our hole in the gospel is not caring for the poor and needy.

And here’s my conundrum: I wanted to like this book. I wanted to go along with what he’s saying – mainly because every other kind, sensitive, new “missional” Christian loves this book. And I totally agree about helping out the poor and needy as he describes in the book. We are sponsors of a child through World Vision. However, I cannot support Stearns’ theology. He suggests that caring for the poor will usher in the Kingdom of God on earth and continually quotes scripture out of context to support this idea. (Forgetting that the Scripture he’s using are the words of Jesus spoken to the Israelites – yes, if they accepted Him as their Messiah, the Kingdom of God would have been ushered in immediately. However, they did not.) Also, I hesitate to say that caring for our neighbors or the poor is a hole in our gospel. It might be a hole in the way we reach others, and it might be a hole in the way we respond…but it’s not a hole in the gospel. Assuming you see the gospel as the message of Christ coming to earth to die for us and be resurrected in order to save us from our sins…I think the way we reach people with the gospel – whether they be rich and well-fed, or poor and needy – is not part of the gospel. It’s like here’s point A – the gospel…Here’s sub-point 1., 2., 3. “how we reach others with the good news.”

Now…that being said, of course I enjoyed his biographical chapters and found his leaving his presidency of Lenox to be the president of World Vision to be inspiring. I also thought he gave good ideas for what we can do as our part of reaching the poor and needy and appreciated his insight. And using Bono as our spiritual leader in all things socially spiritual…well, how can any of us stand up to that? (wink, wink)

(The other book similar to this is Wess Stafford’s book, previously reviewed. Just my own humble opinion, but I’m going to side with Stafford on why we reach out to others.)

Last week Mr MIP brought home a book entitled Too Small to Ignore: Why the Least of These Matters Most by Wess Stafford and Dean Merrill. I canNOT express enough how much I want you to read this book. I also feel I don’t have the words to properly explain his book, but I wish I did! Using the story of his life as a missionary kid in Africa – all the way to his life as President of Compassion, Int’l, I came away respecting Stafford immensely and had insight into his heart and passion to help the children suffering in poverty in this world. Here’s the link to order the book (or I’m totally willing to loan it to you if you live by me):

Or,if you just really can’t bring yourself to read a book, please consider sponsoring a child through Compassion International. The charge is $38 a month to sponsor a child. We have tried to explain to our kids a little about ways they can help and we have them contribute to the sponsorship and help write letters or draw pictures to our sponsored children. I searched until I found a girl born on the same day as our middle child, in the year our oldest was born. And our second sponsored child through World Vision has a birthday quite close to our oldest. (Finding children with similar birthdates makes it even more interesting to our kids.) I’m still searching for a little birthday buddy for SuperBoy!

So, consider sponsoring a child, please?

Here is the book list for January 2010. It was a good month of reading, but none were standouts, except the very first one.

NB: I did not buy one single book this month!  I determined I would only get books from the library or read ones I already have on my shelf. Which leads me to my next point, which is THANK YOU! to reader Mike who, when I found out he and his family, including reader Kris, were in Vegas and had eaten at The Burger Bar and I emailed and said, OH! The Burger Bar! That’s Chef Hubert Keller’s restaurant! (The fact that I know this and not basic geography facts would be why I’m only a 69% Jeopardy player). Anyway, I said, hey, if you see an autographed cookbook by Hubert Keller, pick it up and I’ll pay you back. Kind Reader Mike got the book for me and then even said I didn’t have to pay him back – it was a gift. How kind was that? Here’s the book:

Sorry it’s blurry, but still…how fun is that? Maybe this should be the start of a new collection – autographed cookbooks!

Here is the rest of the booklist for January. The only one I’d recommend to you is the second one, The Informant, which I own, so if you live by me, you’re more than welcome to borrow it.:

1. Across Five Aprils; Hunt, Irene; 224; 1/4 (school)
SASR (Short Attention Span Review): This was my third time through the book, and each time it just bored me more. Just rambles. But! A great intro to what it would have been like to live through the Civil War as a kid. Rating: 5)

2. The Informant; Eichenwald, Kurt; 567; 1/3
SASR: Wow. What a crazy, crazy story! I really enjoyed this book – definitely the best book I’ve read this year. (Little joke there for ya.) Although the names can be hard to keep straight at times, this is a book about the price fixing schemes of a large corporation located close to us (ADM in Decatur). A man is used as cooperating witness with the FBI – but is he really helping? Or just confusing the matter with his lies? Made into a movie starring Matt Damon (which we haven’t seen yet – but I’m definitely looking forward to seeing it.). Additionally, here’s a Link to article in World Magazine. Rating: 8

3. Storm Surge; Gutteridge, Rene; 348; 1/5
SASR: Third book in a trilogy of mysteries written by a Christian author. Good, light entertainment. Creepy and suspenseful. A little too much focus on the romance stuff. No man I know would notice whether a girl was wearing mascara or not – and this guy kept noticing it… which, instead of being “sweet”, I found rather creepy.
Rating: 7

4. Juliet, Naked; Hornby, Nick; 390; 1/12
SASR: Book by author of High Fidelity and About a Boy – if you liked either of those books or movies, you’d like this. The title is in reference to an acoustic CD released by a musician who hasn’t done anything in about twenty years. A man and woman who are living together review the CD with two totally different views on it and….then the story happens!

5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Larsson, Steig; 590; 1/14
SASR: I read this because I kept seeing it everywhere. Heavy on the R rated torture scenes, it was also a good mystery and definitely a page-turner. It centers on a journalist who is hired to write a history of a large family and to attempt to solve the mystery of a girl’s disappearance many years before.

6. Chateau of Echoes; Mitchell, Siri; 384; 1/15
SASR: I always enjoy Siri Mitchell’s books. They’re light, escape reading, but better written than most Christian lit. This one focuses on a recently widowed lady who lives in a chateau in France. Journals were found on the property written by a girl in the 1500′s. How do the two women’s lives intertwine?

7. The Other Queen; Gregory, Philippa; 438; 1/24
SASR: I have read most of Gregory’s books and have previously enjoyed them, but this one was scattered and not that interesting and  – if you know even a little English history – you know what’s going to happen, so there’s no suspense. However, I don’t want to disparage Gregory’s writing! She usually is much more interesting, so if you want a good English monarchy book to read, try her “The Other Boleyn Girl” (or rent the movie).

Total Pages January: 2,941

Every four years or so, I’ll randomly pick up a book and soon discover it’s one of Those Books. The ones you read at just the right time, just the right place, just the right frame of mind.

That happened this last week and accounts for my absence from blogland. The book is East of Eden by John Steinbeck and it’s now a Top Ten Favorite Book for me. The book itself covers decades in two families’ lives: the Hamiltons and the Trasks. And the theme of the book is Timshel – the Hebrew word for “Thou mayest.” Using the story of Cain and Abel, the author presents the idea of thou mayest choose to do wrong, or thou mayest choose to do the right thing. (It’s right now I wish I could write a deeper analysis of the book, but I’d bore you and frankly, the fact that I can’t write a deeper analysis is why I’m just me in a suburb and not a great classic author such as Steinbeck)

I highly recommend the book, although some of the topics and language are rather harsh. But the overwhelming story of sin and redemption is powerful, to say the least.

And while books like these are so great to stumble upon, it’s always a major disappoint when they’re done.

This is why I read.

Here’s the books I’ve read so far this year. It’s been kind of a “meh”/so-so year in reading. Sadly enough! If you have any recommendations, let me know!

(I’ve highlighted the ones I would recommend to you.)

1. The Winter of Her Discontent; Haines, Kathryn Miller; 324; 1/8/09

2. I Was Told There’d Be Cake; 1/11/09

3. Still Life With Chickens; Goldhammer, Catherine; 179; 1/24/09

4. Girl Perfect; Strickland, Jennifer; 194; 2/2/09

5. Nurtured by Love; Suzuki, Shinichi; 107; 2/5/09

6. Outliers; Gladwell, Malcolm; 285; 2/7/09

7. Jaywalking With the Irish; Monagan, David; 240; 2/10/09

8. The Truth About the Irish; Eagerton, Terry; 2/16/09

9. McCarthy’s Bar; McCarthy, Pete; 338; 2/20/09

10. Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love, and the Search for Home; Sunee, Kim; 370; 2/22/09

11. Super In the City; Uviller, Daphne; 295

12. Eat, Pray, Love; Gilbert, Elizabeth; 2/28/09

13. There’s No Traffic on the Extra Mile; Minor, Rickey; 179; 3/2/09

14. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society; Shaffer, Mary Ann and Barrows, Annie; 278; 3/6/09

15. O Come Ye Back to Ireland: Our First Year in County Clare; Williams, Niall & Breen, Christine; 233; 3/11/09

16. Around the World in Eighty Trades; 3/23/09

17. The Associate; Grisham, John; 3/25/09

18.Death of Riley; Bowen, Rhys;  325; 4/2/09

19. Forgive and Forget; Scanlan, Patricia; 4/5

20. Johnny Tremain; Forbes, Esther; 322; 4/9 (school)

21. For the Love of Mike: Bowen, Rhys;  3234/12/09

22. A Little Bit Wicked; Chenoweth, Kristin; 232; 4/18

23. Girls in Trucks; Crouch, Katie; 241; 4/20

24. In Like Flynn; Bowen, Rhys; 321; 4/22

25. Tuesday NIght at the Blue Moon; Thomas, Debbie Fuller; 366; 4/26

26. Oh Danny Boy; Bowen, Rhys; 323; 4/28

27. A Homemade Life; Wizenberg, Molly; 5/11

28. The Secret Life of Becky Miller; 5/12

29. The Man Who Ate Everything; Steingarten, Jeffrey; 494; 5/14

30. A Skating Life; Hamill, Dorothy; 238; 5/15

Just so you know, I’ve decided to give the mind the upperhand. Nothing in life is accomplished if your mind isn’t engaged. It brought to mind the song from Winnie-the-Pooh:

Dum da-dum da-dum da-dum da-dum
Now the time has come for proving
What a diet did for Pooh
And since we pledged he’d be unwedged
That’s what we’re going to do

Think heave-age, think ho-age
And out the Pooh will go-age
For mind over matter
Will make the Pooh unfatter

*The first book I’ve finished reading in ’09 is The Winter of Her Discontent, the second in a series written by Kathryn Miller Haines. Rosie Winter is the name of the heroine. She is an aspiring stage actress, but keeps getting mixed up in solving murders. The setting is 1940′s New York during WWII. I’ve enjoyed both books in the series so far and would recommend them to you. Haines does a great job of portraying what it would have been like during the War.

(I’ve highlighted the ones I would recommend to you.)

1. The Winter of Her Discontent; Haines, Kathryn Miller; 324; 1/8/09

2. I Was Told There’d Be Cake; 1/11/09

3. Still Life With Chickens; Goldhammer, Catherine; 179; 1/24/09

4. Girl Perfect; Strickland, Jennifer; 194; 2/2/09

5. Nurtured by Love; Suzuki, Shinichi; 107; 2/5/09

6. Outliers; Gladwell, Malcolm; 285; 2/7/09

7. Jaywalking With the Irish; Monagan, David; 240; 2/10/09

8. The Truth About the Irish; Eagerton, Terry; 2/16/09

9. McCarthy’s Bar; McCarthy, Pete; 338; 2/20/09

10. Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love, and the Search for Home; Sunee, Kim; 370; 2/22/09

11. Super In the City; Uviller, Daphne; 295

12. Eat, Pray, Love; Gilbert, Elizabeth; 2/28/09

13. There’s No Traffic on the Extra Mile; Minor, Rickey; 179; 3/2/09

14. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society; Shaffer, Mary Ann and Barrows, Annie; 278; 3/6/09

15. O Come Ye Back to Ireland: Our First Year in County Clare; Williams, Niall & Breen, Christine; 233; 3/11/09

16. Around the World in Eighty Trades; 3/23/09

17. The Associate; Grisham, John; 3/25/09

18.Death of Riley; Bowen, Rhys;  325; 4/2/09

19. Forgive and Forget; Scanlan, Patricia; 4/5

20. Johnny Tremain; Forbes, Esther; 322; 4/9 (school)

21. For the Love of Mike: Bowen, Rhys;  3234/12/09

22. A Little Bit Wicked; Chenoweth, Kristin; 232; 4/18

23. Girls in Trucks; Crouch, Katie; 241; 4/20

24. In Like Flynn; Bowen, Rhys; 321; 4/22

25. Tuesday NIght at the Blue Moon; Thomas, Debbie Fuller; 366; 4/26

26. Oh Danny Boy; Bowen, Rhys; 323; 4/28

27. A Homemade Life; Wizenberg, Molly; 5/11

28. The Secret Life of Becky Miller; 5/12

29. The Man Who Ate Everything; Steingarten, Jeffrey; 494; 5/14

30. A Skating Life; Hamill, Dorothy; 238; 5/15

31. Just Take My Heart; Clark, Mary Higgins; 322; 5/16

32. Her Royal Spyness Solves Her First Case: Bowen, Rhys; 324; 5/21

33. Same Kind of Different As Me; Hall, Ron & Moore, Denver; 245; 5/28

34. In Dublin’s Fair City; Bowen, Rhys; 282; 6/5

35. East of Eden; Steinbeck, John; 601; 6/11

36. Ender’s Game; Card, Orson Scott; 6/20

37. Prairie Tale; Gilbert, Melissa; 365; 6/27

38. My Life in France; Child, Julia; 333; 6/29

39. Tell Me, Pretty Maiden; Bowen, Rhys; 304; 7/3

40. French Milk; Knisley, Lucy; 195; 7/8

41. The Missionary; Carmichael & Lambert; 376; 7/12

42. How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph; Weddle, Linda Massey; 220; 7/15

43. Sick Girl; Silverstein, Amy; 297; 7/16

44. June Bug; Fabry, Chris

45. Walk a Mile in My Flip-Flops; Carlson, Melody; 8/8

46. Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Comedy, Tragedy and Fairy Tale; Buechner, Frederick; 97; 8/9

47. A book too embarrassing to admit I read after Buechner; 273; 8/25

48. Alice in Wonderland; Carroll, Lewis; 76; 8/25

49. Master Your Metabolism; Michaels, Jillian; 248; 10/31

49. My Little Red Book; Nalebuff, Rachel Kauder; 198; 9/8

50. The Year of Magical Thinking; Didion, Joan; 227; 9/1

51. The King’s General; DuMaurier, Daphne; 440; 11/20

52. Godric; Buechner, Frederick; 178; 11/24

53. Lincoln: A Photobiography; Freedman, Russell; 144; 11/30

54. Half Broke Horses; Walls, Jeannette; 272; 11/30

55. Twenties Girl; Kinsella, Sophie; 435; 12/8

56. Cake Wrecks; Yates, Jen; 191; 12/9

57. Jesus With Dirty Feet; Everts, Don; 124; 12/14

58. Boo; Gutteridge, Rene; 12/15

59. The Splitting Storm; Gutteridge, Rene; 359; 12/19

60. Storm Gathering; Gutteridge, Rene; 343; 12/20

61. Claire; 12/30

62. Wait! I forgot number 62! It’s Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella. For some inexplicable reason, I love this book and read it every year. I do not ever repeat read books – so yeah, this one is definitely a favorite!

A couple weeks ago, I asked you what your favorite Christmas songs are… but I never introduced you to my embarrasingly embarrassing Christmas Favorites List. So, without further ado, MIP’s List:

1. How can it be Christmas without the Carpenter’s? The whole album is great, but “Merry Christmas Darling” is my first choice.

2. Amy Grant’s latest Christmas Collection has some of her older songs on it, but a couple new ones that are good… worth it to get this album if you like her. “I Need a Silent Night” is my new favorite of hers.

3. Any Windham Hill collection is great…just be aware that they recycle older songs and put them in “new” collections. So make sure you’re buying an album with music you don’t already own. That being said, Carols of Christmas Volume 1 and Volume 2 are great to play during dinner all through December (and November…and possibly October, if you dare).

4. Michael Buble has a collection out this year. Get it. Enough said.

5. Harry Connick Jr has great Christmas albums out, but this year’s is the best so far (if only I had thought to look earlier – he’s playing in Chicago tonight and tomorrow! Boo-hoo! I would have gone in a heartbeat.):

6. James, James, James. How you can sing those songs.

7. And, most embarrassing of all: This album brings back a veritable Santa-sized Sack O’ Childhood and Teenaged memories, it’s not even funny. I burned my fingers making our family’s traditional hard rock candy (which we made every Christmas) so many times to this song, that when I hear the bass singer sing those mournful tones, my fingers immediately start hurting. Ready? Don’t laugh until you’ve heard “The Carols Those Kids Used to Sing”:

The Statler Brothers Christmas

It all started back in October when we went shopping for Halloween costumes at Target. SuperBoy chose to be a Star Wars Clone Trooper and 6yo wanted the  “Queen Elizabeth” costume, but 9 year old had a harder time deciding. Finally we found a costume that was perfect. It was Lucy from The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (movie). She loved being Lucy, but having not seen the movie or read the book, she didn’t really understand why I kept gushing,
“Oh, but you’re Lucy! That’s so cool! Once a queen of Narnia, always a queen of Narnia!” The fact that I kept saying this in a lame British accent definitely helped irritate her.

(I added this photo so you could see the front of the costumes – Target has beautiful princess/queen outfits. Perfect for 6 year olds! And I didn’t have to sew one little stitch.)

So I just HAD to start reading it out loud to them. “Oh, but there’s a faun named Mr Tumnus and there’s the White Witch and Aslan. Aslan is… oh, you’ll have to wait and see.”

We just finished reading The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe yesterday. It was my third time through the book in my life, but, really, this book never loses its greatness. I was so excited to introduce the girls to Narnia and Aslan. And thrilled when they understood what his sacrifice meant for Edmund and the others. (Which, in my opinion, shows what a great writer CS Lewis was – that even kids can understand the allegorical nature of his writing.) For the rest of the day, a lovely cloud of Narnia fantasy world enveloped us all. (yep, I said that in a British accent, too.)

What books did you love as a child? What book(s) would you be excited about introducing your child to?