Category Archives: Books

Favorite Books

The Read-Aloud Handbook, Go Buy it Now

I just checked out the seventh edition of The Read-Aloud Handbook, by Jim Trelease. I read an earlier edition when Calvin was an infant but decided it was time for a re-read. I was impressed by how much additional content had been added to the seventh edition, mostly in the area of eBooks.

The basic premise of The Read-Aloud Handbook is that it is essential for parents and teachers to read aloud to their children. Being a librarian, it’s not surprisingly I’m a firm proponent of this message. However, I’m an adult librarian. Before having Calvin I was absolutely hopeless with children1. After graduate school when I was desperately looking for jobs I never applied for a children or young adult librarian position even though those positions seemed relatively plentiful at the time.

Before Calvin was born, I spent years researching pregnancy and various stages of early childhood. It wasn’t until Calvin was here that I realized I, the librarian, had no idea what sort of books I should be providing Calvin and at what points in his life. I went to the library and checked out stacks of books about books and children. Most of them were good but the book that stands out the most in my mind is Trelease’s book. It contains a ton of practical advice nicely balanced with both anecdotes and research.

A significant port of the book is available online through Trelease’s website However, if you are a parent and have not read this book yet, run to your nearest bookstore or library and procure it.

  1. I suspect I’m still hopeless with every child except Calvin. ↩

Reading Goal: Update 8

Most of last week was spent preparing for our camping trip to the Great Sand Dunes. However, I did manage to read a couple of books over the weekend.

Books I’ve finished recently:

  • Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending, by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton – This was a pretty interesting book. Most of it I’d already heard in pieces but I thought it did a nice summary. Their basic premise is the way to maximize happiness, after necessities, is to
    1. Buy Experiences
    2. Making indulgences a treat, not an everyday affair
    3. Buying time -things like robotic vacuum cleaners, moving closer to your job so you don’t commute, etc
    4. Pay Now, Consume Later – People feel emotional pain paying for items and their enjoyment of an event is decreased if they have to pay for something right before getting/doing something
    5. Invest in others – donate to charity, etc
  • Juvenile Fiction: Crispin: the Cross of Lead, by Avi – This book won the Newbery Medal in 2003. It’s set right after the Black Plague in England. It’s the story of a boy who has to flee his home due to a falsified crime. He meets up with a man who teaches him to be more than a serf. Good story with an ending I found a little unexpected.
  • Juvenile Fiction: The Vengekeep Prophecies, by Brian Farrey – This fantasy centers around a family of professional thieves and con artists. Unfortunately, Jaxter, the protagonist, is no good at it. It’s a coming-of-age story about how Jaxter saves his family even though he isn’t a good thief.

Currently Reading:

  • Bestseller: Inferno, by Dan Brown – I’m still working on listening to this one. I got tired of Robert Langdon, the protagonist, talking and had to take a break. I might have better luck if I try to read it because then I could get through it faster and each monologue doesn’t sound so long.
  • Poetry: Love Poems, by Nikki Giovanni – Still planning to finish reading this one also. Just haven’t picked it up recently.

Current Goal Counts:

Category Goal Number Read
Best Sellers 2 1, 1 in progress
Biography, Autobiography, Memoir 2 2
Fiction Books Jaeger Recommends 2 1
Christian Fiction 2 2
Graphic Novels 2 2
Historical Fiction 2 1
Informational 2 2
Juvenile Books 12 7
Literature 2 1
Mystery 2 1
Poetry Anthologies 2 1, 1 in progress
Realistic Fiction 2 1
Short Story Anthologies 2 2
Total 36 24

Reading Goal: Update 7

Books I’ve finished recently:

  • The Shambling Guide to New York City, by Mur Lafferty – Fun urban fantasy book.
  • Historical Fiction: Heidegger’s Glasses, by Thaisa Frank – Historical fiction set in Germany during WWII. Good but also, given the subject matter, appropriately disturbing.
  • Realistic Fiction: Wildflower Hill, by Kimberley Freeman – This is probably considered “women’s fiction”. It’s the story of how two women, in different time periods, survived. It reminded me how ghastly women’s lives have been in previous time periods that aren’t that long ago.
  • Mystery: Fingerprints and Facelifts, by Rick Copp – A fun mystery with a hint, but not too much, of chick lit thrown in.

Currently Reading:

  • Bestseller: Inferno, by Dan Brown – I’m listening to this one. We’ll see if it makes it to the end. I also listened to most of The Da Vinci Code but the book was due and I returned it with about 10 minutes left.
  • Poetry: Love Poems, by Nikki Giovanni – I started reading this on the playground today. I’m not sure poetry is suppose to be read in between watching a preschooler run around a playground.

Current Goal Counts:

Category Goal Number Read
Best Sellers 2 1, 1 in progress
Biography, Autobiography, Memoir 2 2
Fiction Books Jaeger Recommends 2 1
Christian Fiction 2 2
Graphic Novels 2 2
Historical Fiction 2 1
Informational 2 2
Juvenile Books 12 5 and 1 in progress
Literature 2 1
Mystery 2 1
Poetry Anthologies 2 1, 1 in progress
Realistic Fiction 2 1
Short Story Anthologies 2 2
Total 36 22

Vacation

On Friday Jaeger and Calvin left for New York City to visit Jaeger’s sister as well as doing some site-seeing. Originally, I was planning to go with them. However, 3 plane tickets are more expensive than 2 and I didn’t think all of us would fit in Bethany’s apartment, at least not comfortably. So, I told Jaeger that if he didn’t mind, I’d prefer staying home. To my surprise, he agreed. As a result, the last couple of days have been the first time, since Calvin has been born, that I’ve been by myself and didn’t really have anything scheduled that I needed to do. It’s been very, very relaxing.

I spent a fair amount of time pottering around in the yard. As I’ve probably mentioned before, our yard was loved by someone at one point but it’s gotten completely out of hand. The cat mint, which was planted on purpose, is particularly problematic. I’ve lost count of the number of hours I’ve spent yanking every shoot I can find out. I’ve been trying to get as much of the root structure as possible but it’s wily, and there’s a lot of it.

I was also planning to start digging a 4′ x 6′ x 2′ hole for a sandbox I want to get for Calvin. When Jaeger was growing he had a sandbox that was about 3′ high but 2′ of it was sunk into the ground. I was planning to do something similar for Calvin’s sandbox. However, only a couple inches down from where I was hoping to put the sandbox I struck large tree roots. Given how many trees we have on our property, I probably shouldn’t have been surprised. The spot I chose is still the best spot for a sandbox. There’s nothing worthwhile there at the moment and it’s nicely shaded for hot summer afternoons. So, I’m not sure what we’re going to do. I need to talk to Jaeger about it. I suppose we could still do a 3′ high sandbox there, we’d just have to provide a ladder or something.

The project I did successfully complete is assemble our planters. Our house has a small deck at that back that goes down to a large concrete pad. The pad use to have a hot tub on it but neither Jaeger nor I wanted to deal with a hot tub so the prior owners took it with them. However, that leaves us with an awkwardly big piece of concrete. It’s not particularly good for outside dining or playing because it gets full, very hot sun1. To add insult to injury, it’s the only place that gets full sun that good enough for tomatoes and herbs. So, we bought a couple planter kids from Naturalyards. They aren’t cheap but they were relatively easy to put together and I think they look nice. I haven’t figured out what we’re going to do with the rest of the space yet.
planters

I went shopping on Sunday and spent way too much money of books and also bought some clothes. The rest of the time I’ve gone for walks, read, or watched DVDs. Jaeger and Calvin should arrive back from their visit tonight. It’s been very pleasant being by myself but I’m ready for Jaeger and Calvin to come back now.

  1. We have yet another spot on the side of the house, next to where I want to put the sandbox, that works better for dining. ↩

Book Buying Spree and Reading Goal: Update 6

Today I had the luxury of spending as much time as I wanted shopping without having to hurry back home to cook supper or do some other chore. However, there is danger in having the time to thoroughly examine everything at The Bookworm and my favorite thrift store. I ended up buying 15 books.

My haul today:

  • The Killing Moon and The Shadowed Sun, by N.K. Jemisin – Ms. Jemisin is an amazing writer. I’ve been meaning to acquire the two books in the Dreamblood series for quite a while but my expenditure allocation has been a bit pinched after my piano required a major tune-up. So, I was pleasantly surprised to find her books at The Bookworm.
  • The View from Saturday, by E.L. Konigsburg – This book won the 1997 Newbery Medal. Calvin and I just finished listening to this as an audiobook. It seems a little old for him but he claimed to enjoy it1.
  • From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by E.L. Konigsburg – This book also won a Newbery, in 1968. I remember reading this when I was elementary school and loving it. Unfortunately, I don’t remember a thing about it now. However, I’ll probably read it again and count it toward my Juvenile Fiction goal.
  • Heart of Gold, by Sharon Shinn – I don’t think I’ve read this one before but I’ve enjoyed most of Ms. Shinn’s books so I decided to go ahead and buy it.
  • Summers at Castle Auburn, by Sharon Shinn – I have read this one before, I think right after I first moved to Boulder. However, I don’t remember anything about it. I vaguely recall that I enjoyed the book but it was a quick read, not very deep. Sometimes a fluffy comfort book is just what I need so I went ahead and bought it. Hopefully I wasn’t horribly mistaken. :)
  • Heartless, by Gail Carriger – So, it turns out I already had this book . . . I try to keep track of all of my books in my LibraryThing catalog but apparently made a mistake. I’m not sure how as Jaeger and I just did an inventory back in October and caught a huge number of books that had never been entered. However, apparently I missed this one.
  • Iron Kissed, by Patricia Briggs – It gets better. I bought a copy at The Bookworm and then went to the thrift store and completely spaced and bought it again. On the upside, the thrift store copy is in slightly better shape2. This is one of the few paranormal series I like. Patricia Briggs writes very engrossing books.
  • The Sugar Queen, by Sarah Addison Allen – Sarah Addison Allen writes lovely books. I read this one a couple of years ago but remember it as a sweet book with a startling end.
  • What Angels Fear, by C.S. Harris – This is the first book in one of the few mystery series I really like. The series is set during the regency period in England but has a much different feel than a romance novel set in the regency period.
  • A Civil Campaign, by Lois McMaster Bujold – This is one of my favorite Miles Vorkosigan books. Miles picks out his wife but decides to woo her covertly, not even telling his prospective bride he’s interested. This results in a lot of confusion for everyone.
  • The BFG, by Roald Dahl – Calvin loves Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and I’ve been thinking of trying some other Dahl books but it’s hard to figure out which ones are suitible for a preschooler. A teacher at Calvin’s preschool suggested I should try The BFG so I’m going to read it and then decide whether or not I should introduce it to Calvin.
  • Mirror Mirror, by Marilyn Singer and Josee Masse – I don’t appreciate poetry but I feel this is a flaw so I keep trying to introduce Calvin to poetry in hopes he’ll end up more cultured than I am. This poetry picture books is very clever. On each page is one poem and then the poem lines are reversed. That is, the first line becomes the last line, the 2nd line becomes the 2nd to last line and so on. With some punctuation modification, you can end up with two entirely different poems.
  • Chinese-English Frequency Dictionary, by Yong Ho – I’ve been dabbling in learning Chinese characters. So far I’ve only learned 70 of the thousands so I have a long, long way to go. I picked this book up because it contains a lot more explanations about how to properly use a word than we have in the other resources we own.

Whew, on to my reading goals.

Books I gave up on (at least for now):

  • Realistic Fiction: The Expats, by Chris Pavone – This was an ebook and my loan ran out. I wasn’t motivated enough to check it out again3. Maybe later.
  • Juvenile Fiction: Into the Wild, by Erin Hunter – Another ebook I’ve given up on for now because my loan ran out.
  • Realistic Fiction: Sushi for Beginners, by Marian Keyes – I don’t have anything against the book, I just got distracted by other audiobooks. Maybe I’ll come back if I get desperate.

Books I’ve finished recently:

  • Short stories: Epic – I finished a short story anthology! I’m still not a huge fan of them but this one did have some interesting stories in it.
  • Juvenile Fiction: A Confusion of Princes, by Garth Nix – I loved this book. It feels a lot like a juvenile Heinlein novel4. I think I’m going to buy it because I think it’ll be a great book for Calvin when he gets a bit older. The protagonist starts as a prince who knows he’s special and better than everyone. The book is a coming of age story when the prince learns how to be a better human.
  • Informational: Not My Kid, by Sinikka Elliott – This was a fascinating book. It’s not a book about sex ed or the best way to talk to teens about sex. Instead, the author focuses on the parents’ perceptions of teens and sex. For the most part, the author just interviewed parents. However, there was one amusing case where she talked to a teenager with his mother. The teenager is relating the experience one of his friends had when his mother tried to broach the subject of sex, “He [the friend] was in a moving car with his mom when she asked him — she’s like, ‘I think it’s time to talk to you about sex.’ And he just unbuckled, opened, and tucked, and rolled out of the car . . . ‘”
  • Informational5: Let Them Be Eaten by Bears, by Peter Brown Hoffmeister – I really enjoyed this book. The book strongly encourages parents to provide many outdoor experiences for their children. I particularly liked the chapter of safety tips. He even provides a suggested adult to child ratio for excursions.

Currently Reading:

  • Juvenile Fiction: Crispin: The Cross of Lead, by Avi – I’m on vacation at the moment so I’m mostly reading fluffy stuff. However, I’ve read the first chapter or so of this book and think I’ll probably continue it. It won the 2003 Newbery Medal.

Current Goal Counts:

Category Goal Number Read
Best Sellers 2 1
Biography, Autobiography, Memoir 2 2
Fiction Books Jaeger Recommends 2 1
Christian Fiction 2 2
Graphic Novels 2 2
Historical Fiction 2 0
Informational 2 2
Juvenile Books 12 5 and 1 in progress
Literature 2 1
Mystery 2 0
Poetry Anthologies 2 1
Realistic Fiction 2 0
Short Story Anthologies 2 2
Total 36 19
  1. I wish I could figure out ahead of time which audiobooks Calvin is going to enjoy. I know he must be getting something out of this book because he never hesitates to tell me to stop an audiobook when he doesn’t like one. I strongly suspect it has something to do with the narrator, or perhaps how the audiobook is produced, because he usually makes up his mind within the first 5 minutes. ↩
  2. The Bookworm copy wasn’t bad but has a spine crease. ↩
  3. At the moment, there doesn’t appear to be an easy way to do one-click renewals for every ebook I have checked out. I suspect I’d finish a lot more ebooks if they stayed around long enough for me to finish them. ↩
  4. I’m dubious about some of Heinlein’s adult novels but for the most part I really like his juvenile fiction. ↩
  5. Yes, this would be my 3rd informational but this book and the one above came in at the same time and I wasn’t sure which one I should pick for my goal so I read them both. ↩

Reading Goal: Update 5

I haven’t been reading as much as usual recently. I went out to Washington last week and spent the time socializing with Calvin and my mom, working, and going to bed when Calvin did. This didn’t allow much time for reading.

I only took two physical books with me and those were for Calvin on the plane. The rest were ebooks. I did get through one of them and started, but have not finished, two others. However, on the way home I got a craving to read a “real” book. I have never seen myself as being a snob that is hung up on the format of a book. I have always considered Audio books to be “real” books, perhaps even more real than print books since storytelling predates written language. However, while sitting in the Portland airport waiting for our plane I had an overwhelming urge to feel a traditional print book in my hands. As soon as we finished our supper I dragged a protesting Calvin over to Powells 1.

After arriving at Powells I browsed the sale books and then moved toward the back of the store to peruse the SF and Fantasy books. However, nothing was speaking to me so I decided to wander over to Young Adult. On the way, Calvin convinced me to buy him Otis and the Puppy. Once we made it to Young Adult I was delighted to see that a hardback copy of Graceling was available for only $6.98. I had been meaning to buy it so I grabbed it up and happily re-read it on the plane ride back to Denver.

I would have read more this week except I got side-tracked watching Going Postal which was a British TV movie based on the fantastic Going Postal book by Terry Pratchett2. I thought the TV adaption was decent. I liked some of the modifications they did but not others. I was particularly distressed by the decision to leave out Annoia, minor as her role might have been.

Books I’ve finished recently:

  • Short Stories: More Malice Domestic – This had a decent number of mysteries that I enjoyed. Some more than others but it was still fairly pleasant to listen to. Now I should go back and find the names of the authors whose stories I particularly enjoyed. Maybe that’ll help me fill my mystery quota.
  • Christian Fiction: Vicious Cycle, by Terri Blackstock – The plot resolved around drug addiction and abuse, not my favorite subjects, but I did like the story better than the first Christian Fiction novel I read.
  • Poetry: Ekaterinoslav: One Family’s Passage to America: A Memoir in Verse, by Jane Yolen – I was browsing the Erie library poetry section in hopes of finding something I’d be able to muddle through when I came across this volume. I have trouble getting poetry, too prosaic I think. However, I have read some of Yolen’s stuff before, most recently Briar Rose, and have found her to be a very good writer. Plus, the book was thin, only 53 pages. Ekaterinoslav is the story, in poetry form, of how the author’s family came to live in the United States. It was good. I particularly liked 3 the poem titled “Cholera”. Yolen wrote in the introduction that her grandmother had two or three children, she’s not sure of the exact number, who died in a Cholera outbreak that only left her with one child. She felt God was punishing her. Then she had twin girls and many more children. Yolen says, “Then she was convinced that G-d had forgiven her . . . though I am not certain Mina ever forgave G-d.” This provides context for the poem which ends, “How could she get up,/ now knowing God’s casual mathematics, / the subtraction that so divided/ her uncountable heart.”

Currently Reading:

  • Short stories: Epic – I requested this anthology from the library after giving up on Gaiman. I requested it because N.K. Jemisin has a story in it and her stuff tends to be really good. Plus, it has a lot of other short stories by famous authors whose books I haven’t read yet. I figured it might provide a nice sampling to see if I want to try any of the novel-length works of the other authors. However, what I had not noticed until I got the book is that it’s fairly large at 607 pages. I had considered taking it to Washington with me but eventually decided I didn’t have the luggage space for it. As a result, I’m only to page 150. I do think I’m going to make it all the way through though. I like some stories more than others but haven’t hated any of them yet. I haven’t gotten to Jemisin’s short story yet.
  • Realistic Fiction4: The Expats, by Chris Pavone – The premise kind of interested me: an ex-CIA operative who decides to become a “normal” housewife and move overseas to support her husband in a new job only to discover things aren’t as they seem. However, I’m a fourth of the way through and not entirely sure if I’m going to stick it out or not.
  • Juvenile Fiction: Into the Wild, by Erin Hunter – I’ve heard my manager’s daughter is (was?) really into this series so I decided that was as good a way as any to find juvenile fiction books to fill my quota. It’s a fantasy based in our world but written from the perspective of a former “kittypet” who decides to abandon his “twolegs” owners and join a wild cat community. I’m about half-way through. I could definitely see the appeal to a juvenile audience but I think I might be too old to truly appreciate the book.
  • Realistic Fiction: I just started listening to Sushi for Beginners, by Marian Keyes – This is chick lit. Chick lit is suppose to be lighthearted and fun. However, the first chick lit book I read left me feeling really stressed by the protagonist’s inability to prioritize financial independence over shoes. *gah* I read a couple others after that but they all seemed to have a fanatical devotion to fashion at the cost of practically everything else. It drove me nuts. However, I was needing to get another audiobook so reluctantly decided to give Sushi for Beginners a try. So far, I’ve been pleasantly surprised. Yes, fashion does appear but so far it hasn’t usurped the show. Plus, so far the women seem fairly sensible, though I suppose that could change.

Current Goal Counts:

Category Goal Number Read
Best Sellers 2 1
Biography, Autobiography, Memoir 2 2
Fiction Books Jaeger Recommends 2 1
Christian Fiction 2 2
Graphic Novels 2 2
Historical Fiction 2 0
Informational 2 1
Juvenile Books 12 4 and 1 in progress
Literature 2 1
Mystery 2 0
Poetry Anthologies 2 1
Realistic Fiction 2 2 in progress
Short Story Anthologies 2 1 and 1 in progress
Total 36 16
  1. Every airport should have a Powells. I get so tired of visiting airports where the only reading selection is whatever is on the current NYT Bestseller list. ↩
  2. To be honest, I don’t like reading Terry Pratchett’s books. However, I love listening to all the audio versions of his book. Perhaps I need a translator to get the humor right? ↩
  3. Like isn’t the right word but I’m not sure what is. ↩
  4. So, I called this category “Realistic Fiction” but what I really meant is a book that a random person might pick up in the library wherever “general fiction” is shelved. ↩

Reading Goal: Update 4

Books I’ve finished recently:

  • Memoir: Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons in Life, Love, and Language, by Deborah Fallows – I picked up this book over six months ago and read the first chapter before giving up, mainly because there were so many other books that I wanted to read more. However, I needed another memoir so decided to give this book another try. My second try was much more successful. I started it yesterday and finished it today (it is fairly short). I think the last time I was intimidated by all the pinyin Fallows kept throwing around. This time, I didn’t find it as intimidating and it also offered some insights into how the language is constructed that I hadn’t heard before but make sense.
  • Graphic novel: Unwritten Vol. 1: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity, by Mike Carey and Peter Gross – The first graphic novel I’ve read in years. The story was interesting but short . . . Yeah, it’s only volume 1 but I think I might have the same problem with graphic novels as short stories. I’m mildly interested while reading the graphic novel but lose interest as soon as I finish.
  • Graphic Novel: Saga, Volume 1, by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples – This graphic novel did a better job of catching me. It still feels awfully short but I’ve requested the the 2nd volume. Library Journal Review does a good job of summing up the graphic novel, “Imagining that Juliet came from Star Wars and Romeo from Grimm’s Fairy Tales might get close to nailing the genre mashup delight of this interplanetary romance.”
  • Memoir: The Journal of Best Practices, by David Finch – A really good book. I think it’s the best relationship book I’ve read in a long time. The whole book is the author over analyzing how he can change himself to make his marriage better. It’s a fascinating read and I see small bits of both Jaeger and myself in his reaction to various things.

Books I gave up on:

  • Biography: Jobs, by Walter Isaacson – What I read was mildly amusing but it was really big and I wasn’t committed enough.
  • Christian Fiction: Veiled Rose, by Anne Elisabeth Stengl – This was an ebook which I had checked out for 7 days. My loan period ran out before I could finish and I wasn’t sufficiently interested to go back and check it out again.

Currently Reading:

  • Short Stories: More Malice Domestic, short stories by various authors – I’m listening to this a an audio book and think I might make it all the way through. I really liked the first story, the others I’ve listened to so far are ok.

Current Goal Counts:

Category Goal Number Read
Best Sellers 2 1
Biography, Autobiography, Memoir 2 2
Fiction Books Jaeger Recommends 2 1
Christian Fiction 2 1
Graphic Novels 2 2
Historical Fiction 2 0
Informational 2 1
Juvenile Books 12 4
Literature 2 1
Mystery 2 0
Poetry Anthologies 2 0
Realistic Fiction 2 0
Short Story Anthologies 2 1 in progress
Total 36 13

Reading Goal: Update 3

Books I’ve finished recently:

  • Juvenile Fiction: Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson – I’ve owned this book for years (decades?). I bought it because I found it used and it was a Newbery medal winner. So, I finally decided to read it. It was good but sad.
  • Informational: Accidental Systems Librarian, by Nicole Engard with Rachel Singer Gordon – I got this for free via the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. I was innocently reading along when I suddenly ran into a quote I had given when I took a library-related survey a while back. That was unexpected. Many librarians are quoted in this book but it was still fun to run across my name in a real book.
  • Juvenile Fiction: Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke – I started out listening to this. Objectively, I knew it was interesting but it wasn’t working for me as an audio book. Finally, I checked out a physical copy at the library and managed to finish it off. Good story but I’m relieved to finally be done with it.
  • Juvenile Fiction: Dead End in Norvelt, by Jack Gantos – Won the Newbery in 2012. Good book but everyone in it was crazy.

Books I gave up on:

  • Short Story Anthology: Fragile Things, by Neil Gaiman – I stopped listening to the audio and started reading a chapter a night. It still wasn’t working for me. So, I’m going to wait for my copy of Epic: Legends of Fantasy to come in. I’ve loved almost all of N.K. Jemisin’s novels and she has a short story in this anthology. (Which reminds me, I really, really, need to buy the two books in the Dreamblood series.)
  • Mystery: Buried in a Bog, by Sheila Connolly – Also gave up on this one. I suspect I’d like it better as an audio book but an audio version doesn’t appear to exist.

Currently reading:

  • Biography: Jobs, by Walter Isaacson – I’m not sure if I’m going to make it through this book or not. It’s obviously well-written but it’s huge and I’m not entirely sure if I care enough to make it to the end. We’ll see . . .
  • Memoir: The Journal of Best Practices, by David Finch – So far I’ve read the introduction and I think I might actually be able to make it through the whole book.
  • Christian Fiction: Veiled Rose, by Anne Elisabeth Stengl – I was looking for something to read on the weekend and downloaded this from the library. It’s Christian fantasy (allegory?). It’s ok so far. At the very least, I like it better than the last Christian fiction book I read. I believe it’s the second in the series but it sounds like the first book doesn’t have to be read in order to read the 2nd.

Current Goal Counts:

Category Goal Number Read
Best Sellers 2 1
Biography, Autobiography, Memoir 2 2 in progress
Fiction Books Jaeger Recommends 2 1
Christian Fiction 2 1, 1 in progress
Graphic Novels 2 0
Historical Fiction 2 0
Informational 2 1
Juvenile Books 12 4
Literature 2 1
Mystery 2 0
Poetry Anthologies 2 0
Realistic Fiction 2 0
Short Story Anthologies 2 0
Total 36 9

Reading Goal: Update 2

I’ve made some progress on my reading goal.

Books I’ve finished:

  • Literature: Life of Pi, by Yann Martel
  • Jaeger Recommendations: Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi – pretty good, will probably read the next one
  • Juvenile Book: Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen – this is my first Paulsen book and I was pretty impressed by the book
  • Best seller: The Innocent, by David Baldacci – an addictive thriller. However, I’m not sure if I’ll read more, it doesn’t lend itself to calmly drifting off to sleep.

Currently Reading:

  • Short Story Anthology: Fragile Things, by Neil Gaiman – still working on this one . . . I think maybe I should give up on the audio version and try reading one story every night. Neil Gaiman, as always, is a great narrator but I’m still having trouble listening to it.
  • Juvenile Fiction: Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke – I’m listening to this and I think I might have better luck if I just read it. I’m a couple hours from the end. The story seems compelling but it’s not quite working for me as an audio book.
  • Mystery: Buried in a Bog, by Sheila Connolly – I checked this one out because I like listening to cozy mysteries. However, I appear to be having the opposite problem as the two above with this book. I’m about half way through and considering finding a different one. Unfortunately, this book does not appear to be available as an audio book.

I just finished The Innocent and I haven’t decided on my next genre yet. I feel like something different. Maybe I should try a graphic novel . . .

Current Goal Counts:

Category Goal Number Read
Best Sellers 2 1
Biography, Autobiography, Memoir 2 0
Fiction Books Jaeger Recommends 2 1
Christian Fiction 2 1
Graphic Novels 2 0
Historical Fiction 2 0
Informational 2 0
Juvenile Books 12 1 and 1 in progress
Literature 2 1
Mystery 2 1 in progress
Poetry Anthologies 2 0
Realistic Fiction 2 0
Short Story Anthologies 2 1 in progress

Book Bins for Calvin

A couple of weeks ago Jaeger and I decided we needed to do something about Calvin’s books. I do not feel like Calvin has an excessive number of books. However, they were spilling randomly out of his shelves and we were running out of places to stuff them.

Because I don’t monitor Calvin closely in his own room, I don’t want bookshelves that are high enough they could topple onto him. My first plan was to buy a 3rd shelf that matched the two he has now. However, it turns out they don’t make this shelf anymore. So, I started to look for alternatives.

I found a lot of very cute bookshelves that were unsuitable because they couldn’t handle the number of books we have. Eventually, I decided I should take inspiration from an organization that specializes in having vast quantities of picture books available for browsing: the library. Most newer libraries have “book bins” that allow for easy browsing at the child’s level and have shelving underneath the book bins for extra storage.

I found some book bins from Jonti-Craft that I liked. However, they cost a bit more than I wanted to spend for furniture that would last a relatively short time. Once Calvin grows taller and graduates away from picture books, the book bins will have limited functionality. Calvin’s favorite was a taxi book bin. It is very cute but would have an even shorter lifespan than the basic book bins.

After a while, I stumbled across some modular storage cubes. These are meant to be stacked on top of each other, along with other furniture in the set. However, I realized I could rotate one of the divided storage cubes and create makeshift bins. I ordered two to see how feasible my idea was.

The first set of cubes arrived. As “promised” they are hollow-core and definitely not superior quality. However, my idea worked fairly well and the manufacturer even included brackets to bolt the two pieces together1. The only thing that I hadn’t realized was how deep a 15″ bin is. The good news is it easily handles Calvin’s largest books. However, Calvin has to stand on his tiptoes in order to flip through the books. I tried thinking of a variety of ways to fix this problem. The “easiest” solution would have been to cut the boards down to the correct height. However, the hollow-core construction made this seem like a bad idea. Eventually, I decided a step stool worked well enough2.

Having decided the prototype worked well enough, I ordered 4 more divided cubes. Since each divided cube is about 30″ wide, three sets fill one side of Calvin’s room almost perfectly. The cubes arrived yesterday and I spent most of the evening putting them together.

Like the rest of Calvin’s room, the book bins are very white3. This evening I let Calvin decorate the book bins with some Lightening McQueen stickers. It wasn’t until he had the stickers on that I realized we had inadvertently created a Lightening McQueen theme in his bedroom. Calvin’s sheets, step stool, and stickers are all related to Lightening McQueen.

I’m fairly happy with the bins. There’s enough space to fit all Calvin’s picture books in the top bins. The far-right bin is reserved for library books and can accommodate them all. The lower shelves contain his board books, chapter books, and beginning readers. As Calvin gets older, we can unscrew the book bins and flip them around to provided additional book shelves for beginning readers and chapter books.

Calvin poses with his new book bins.

Calvin poses with his new book bins.

  1. Screwing the bracket to the back of the cube is tricky because the wood kept trying to split. However, screwing it into what normally would be the “bottom” of the cube worked flawlessly ↩
  2. During our earlier brain-storming sessions, Jaeger suggested, mostly in jest, that we should get Calvin four-foot high shelves that spanned the entire wall and came with a ladder on wheels. I’ve always wanted something like that for myself. Too bad it isn’t very practical, at least for us. ↩
  3. When we first moved into this house we gave Calvin the option of picking his room color. The prior owners had painted the room green with a purple accent wall. I thought Calvin was going to decided on purple but he surprised us by insisting on white. ↩