What I Love

I love books and I love hot chocolate.  Sometimes at the same time.  I like my hot chocolate extra strong made with half water half milk and then cooled down with just a little skim milk.  And I really like to dip my nine-grain toast with butter in it.  Mmmm.  (I think I'll go have some right now.  Seriously.)  But that's not really what I wanted to write about and since there's not much more to say about hot chocolate, let's just talk about books.  I think that is one of the reasons I have been lagging in my blogging, I have been finding so many good books and then I start reading them and then that leads to more books and I can't get enough!

You can read more of my reviews on my Goodreads account. (If you're not on Goodreads, you should be!  I would really love to hear what you are reading and what you thought about it.)  But lately I have gotten hooked into a couple REALLY good, life-changing type books . . .

One Million Arrows: Raising Your Children to Change the World

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide



When I finish, I will review them on Goodreads, but I already love them and highly doubt that it will go downhill from here.  So I highly recommend them.

I am hosting book club this month and we are reading a book called Moloka'i.  I'd call it historical fiction.  It is a sad, but endearing story about a girl at the turn of the century who is banished, at the age of 7, to a remote leper colony on one of the Hawaiian islands.  I haven't finished this one either, but I would say it is a "must-read" to keep us aware of these atrocities that have happened in our past.  I have had a tear or two at least every other chapter.

And onto this coming year, in one of my book clubs, we decide the books almost a year in advance.  So here's the list, tell me if you have read any of them and what you thought...

The Girl in the Green Raincoat by Laura Lippman
My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
Moloka'i by Alan Brennert (yes, I will be reading it with both book clubs this year)
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
These is My Words by Nancy Turner
Decision Points by George Bush
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathon Safran Foer
Matched by Ally Condie

Books that were cut from the list because of questionable content (as we are all good Christian women) - Shanghai Girls by Lisa See and Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay.  Have you read either of those?  What did you think?  I think I may still read them to determine for myself, especially the latter as I have heard rave reviews about it.

Oh, and one other book I got from Cody's preschool teacher - Use Your Words - totally altered my parental thinking.  Even though it is written for teachers, I would highly recommend it for parents of preschoolers or toddlers.  Like did you know that you actually shouldn't tell your little ones to "say sorry"?  The best little snippet I took from it was - when giving directions to your child and they are not complying, assume that they didn't understand and go from there.  This has saved alot of frustration for both mother and child in this house, and I have come to see that often it is quite true.

I would love to hear what you're reading and any recommendations you have . . .