Warning: Twilight Spoilers below the fold.
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A few books that I’m reading right now.
Parenting by Heart: How to Stay Connected to Your Child in a Disconnected World by Ron Taffel with Melinda Blau (2002)
Highly Recommend
A book whose central idea is to approach parenthood realistically, as a PERSON, rather than from some ideal as a PARENT. Taffel emphasizes that we should spend more time nurturing ourselves as parents and stop focusing all of our emotional energy solely and squarely on our children. I really liked his perspective and it actually made me excited about parenting an older child. (I was initially a little unsure about this book because I wasn’t a big fan of Melinda Blau but her writing style was nowhere to be found in these pages).
Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler (2007)
Recommend
An interesting vampire novel by a black female science fiction writer. Told in the first person, it’s an interesting read on the inner workings of a secret society hidden within our own society. I found it a quick and easy, engaging read. Sadly, Butler passed away just recently - it seems a loss to the sci-fi genre. I’m eager to read The Parable of the Sower next.
ScreamFree Parenting: The Revolutionary Approach to Raising Your Kids by Keeping Your Cool by Hal Edward Runkel (2005)
Haven’t Read
It got nearly 5 stars on the Amazon website, so I got it based soley on the title. 
The Counterfeits by Leo F. Kelley (1967)
Do Not Recommend
A really, really not-very-good pulp science fiction novel. I love pulp sci-fi novels, but this just wasn’t that entertaining.
Parenting Beyond Belief edited by Dale McGowan (2007)
Recommend
It is not an instruction manual, but rather a collection of insights from parents who have raised their own children without religion. Contributors include Julia Sweeney, Richard Dawkins, and Penn Jillette, as well as a number of others. Still reading this, but I can tell it’s a edifying piece whose underlying message is that it is possible to raise decent, responsible and moral children without needing to wrap those messages in the fabric of religion.
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (2006)
Haven’t Read
From Amazon: “Fat Charlie Nancy’s normal life is turned upside down when his father dies and a brother he never knew he had shows up at his doorstep. When that brother, Spider, starts to wear out his welcome, Fat Charlie learns that his father was not a man but the trickster god, Anansi, and both he and Spider have inherited some of Dad’s godliness.”
I’ve gotten several nice books from friends over the course of my pregnancy. Thank you all!
What to Expect when You’re Expecting
From more than one person!
The Parent’s Guide to Family Friendly Work
From our good friend Julie.
Belly Laughs
From Monica.
The Happiest Baby on the Block
From Monica. Actually, this one is one that Lindsay recommended to me when she had her first baby. When Monica had her baby last year, I got her the book and the DVD on the promise that she’d turn them over to me when it was my turn.
Those all added to the collection we had amassed at the last two Library book sales.
Been meaning to post a picture of our new bookcase for a while now.
It’s enormous, and gorgeous, and flawed in subltle ways that only loving craftsmanship can manage. It’s amazingly heavy. It’s got almost an entire shelf dedicated to sci-fi paperback novels. I love it!
We had it handbuilt by a guy named Jon Shriver. I will give you his number if you want him to build a beautiful bookcase of your very own.
Currently reading Labryinth manga, courtesy of Cristin.
It’s really lovely. You know how you want to read more Harry Potter, but you don’t want to read fanfic or some lame substitute for the real thing? Well, Labyrinth is sacred ground. You wouldn’t want to see a Labyrinth II so much, would you? OK, if we’re being honest here what you really want to see is if what should have happened did happen, but that’ll never happen so… meh.
My point is that this is really good! It’s a lovely continuation from the perfect point of view and with all the little added touches that long-time fans will want to see. I finished Vol. 1 last night and I’m reading Vol. 2 now. Thanks, Cristin!
Still waiting for the books I requested from the library. It’s been almost one month since I requested them. The audio book is taking longer than the book book. I’ve moved from #367 to #234 for the audio book, but from #1195 to #186 for the book.
Since I’ve both read the book and listened to it, I think I’ll remove myself from the list now.
Well, I finally finished! I read about 300 pages of the book Cristin so kindly loaned me in the three days before I took my trip, and then I listened to another five hours on the flight over to England. Still, I hadn’t finished by the time I landed. I intended to finish on the trip back home, but sat next to an engaging conversationalist. I only got about 1-2 hours read on the 6+ hour flight. I was able to listen to more during my several hour layover in JFK, but still didn’t finish the whole thing until a day after I got home.
So, what did I think? I guess I’m not really sure how I feel about it. There were several things that I found quite confusing, and it took some internet reading to understand what they meant. So when I closed the book, I didn’t quite have closure. Now I understand, but I’m still not sure I liked it as much as Cristin. More details below.
If you have already read the book, or have no plans to, I cannot highly enough recommend this synopsis. Really, really funny. Worth the read, and shorter than the book if you’re feeling intimidated by its length.
Also, I liked Ryan’s account of the book. Thanks for the comment!
*****************SPOILER ALERT*****************
Tonight, Cristin was kind enough to lend me her copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. She didn’t want me to wait until I was 82. She’s the sweetest friend. And yes, I know own the audio book, which I plan to listen to on my long flight, but still, the chance to seek my teeth into right now, I couldn’t resist.
I also found this at the comic store today - I’m so excited!
My friend Alicia published a book!! How cool is that? You can buy this book here: http://tinyurl.com/2qazfy
It’s full of pretty pictures. Dave and I spent time reading it in bed the night we got it.
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