Spies. Food. Weddings. Marriage. Kids. 100 Year Old Men.

Friends!  It's been such a long, long time.  I've been sorting out life with two ever-growing but still pretty small guys as well as diving back into my (paid) job.  It has been a crazy, lovely winter and spring.  And now summer is fast upon us and I realized how long I had gone without spending time with all of you.

I've gone through blogging/reading slumps before, but this slump was really just blogging.  I've been reading devouring books.  Lots and lots of books -- reading 2 or 3 at a time.  And it has been amazing.  I've loved having my world filled out by characters both real and fictional, and some in between.  I've been reading books with friends, books with book club and books with my kids.  I've spent time with my Bible and been reading work-focussed books.  And you know what I found?  That I speak more aptly, respond more slowly and think more clearly when I am reading.  Such a good thing.  So here's a very brief overview of some of what I've been reading (and the settings I've been reading in!):


Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy (Eric Metaxas) This book fully rocked my world.  I'm a bit of a history nerd (and here and here) and so I like reading about history.  Not everyone does.  But my book club, whom I read this with, all agreed that it was pretty epic.  Epic in the way that you watch a man decide he is going to help assassinate Hitler without (somehow) compromising his deep set faith.  I really loved this book.  I actually had bought the e-book and then got the paperback (kind of unheard of for me) because I wanted to hold the book and flip the pages and remember significant things.  




The 100 Year Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared   (Jonas Jonasson).  Yup.  Most Descriptive Title Ever.  And that is what the book is about.  Light and lovely, this book weaves a magnificent tale through history while matching it with a fun and present story line replete with characters that you can't help but like, no matter how rough their edges may be.  Also, I totally quit on The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series, so this book redeemed Swedish lit for me...which sounds pretty flaky, but 'tis true. 

My Life in France (Julia Child)  I am perfectly, perfectly aware that Julia Child has died.  I am.  I knew that it was coming.  Nonetheless, after finishing her jaunty and endearing memoir, I was unprepared for her death.  (Bonhoeffer from above also dies, which I knew, but I finished both books in one week and it was painful.)  I really wanted some of these people to live because their lives were so very real to me and I want to know them.  Julia's story is full of foie gras and friends and France, all lovely and jumbly and delicious.  At one point she talks about how she and her husband had decided that people were more important than time.  I loved that.  What a brilliant starting point for making decisions.  Choosing people first and then busy-ness second. My compliments to the chef. 

Wedding Night (Sophie Kinsella) I've admitted before to Sophie as one my guilty pleasures.  And I did really like I've Got Your Number which she released last year.  But Wedding Night wasn't that good.  I'd even say weak -- disappointing!  I'm definitely prone to like her; yet this novel was thin on plot and character.  A little piece of me grieved that I might be outgrowing Sophie -- but I'm not willing to give up just yet.  

The Meaning of Marriage (Timothy Keller)  I'm reading this one in company of my husband and four other married couples.  Together, we are walking through some of the issues and ideas around marriage so that we can grow in our marriages and our relationships with one another.  Marriage should be our priority relationship and so we need to manage it like it is.  The book is good but the conversations and people are better.  If you are married, or thinking about it, find people to be with who will challenge and encourage you.  Marriage can do incredible things but it can also hurt incredibly.  Find places and people who will help you (and your spouse) on the journey. 

Knuffle Bunny (Mo Willems)  Yes, a children's book, but my oldest son love loves this book.  He loves the family running through New York and he loves the search for Knuffle Bunny.  I like to read it as though I am auditioning for different kinds of movies -- romantic, scary, funny, drama, gangster, etc.  It's incredible how much one book can change.  And I love watching my kids grow to love books -- they remind me each day how significant a little time with our imaginations can be.  And I just keep learning.  

That's a quick overview -- some highlights (and a few lowlights). 

I'm off to try to pace my reading of Juliet Stories by Carrie Ann Snyder.  Her prose is magical.

Happy reading,

sw

The verdict is in! Food, Glorious Food!

Friends!  

The food from The Homemade Pantry is amazing!  I have made the cornbread, hummus, granola bars and a few other recipes and I have to say -- amazing.  Just delicious.  If I could give you food, I would...but as we are Internet friends, I'll use a story.

Here's my example...

DIY Granola Bars tend to be some epic compromise.  Either they aren't chewy or they aren't crunchy, generally they aren't delicious and seem like a lot of work when the ones in the wrappers are soooo good.  You can disagree with me, it's fine, but in my experience of making granola bars, I hadn't found a recipe that outstripped the ease and yumminess of the store bought brand.  Until Alana Chernila's Car Snacks #3 The Nutty Granola Bar blew my mind.  It is perfect.  Sweet, salty, crunchy, chewy, filling, portable--perfection.  They are on my weekly to-make list and when I'm eating one my little 22 month old buddy says, "More! Share! More! Please!"  That's probably the highest praise there is.

This book is officially on my to-buy list.  Added bonuses: great storage tips and the canning method is integrated into the recipes so you it is all spelled out for you.  Anything I can freeze, can or shelf is a win in my world.  

I am about to make a advent calendar that is about doing something each day that prepares our family for Christmas, reflects what it means to us and helps us spend time with each other in quiet, significant ways.  One day is definitely going to be making homemade marshmallows and hot chocolate.  Actually, maybe more than one day!  

Quitters Sometimes Prosper: Books I've stopped reading & others I should have stopped

I generally like to see things through to the end.  Especially food.  Chocolate should never be left unfinished.  Or these maple covered nuts.  Just sayin.

And I do like to finish most books. But every once and a while, I quit.  I just do.  My need for public confessions makes it clear that peace has not been made with these abdications.  I would love to know if you have ever finished one of these books, if you have loved it and even why I might try again.  (And I am totally up for trying again...that is how I fell in love with Margaret Atwood.  Long story.) I used to think that I would never quit a book--I would always see it through.  Then I became a parent and I learned that words like "never" and "always" are just plain foolish.  

So here is my confession.  I have quit some books. 

(Spoiler alert: At the end are some books I am looking forward to reading, lest this post feel too woe-is-me.)

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Series (Stieg Larsson).  I read the first book and part way through I started skimming.  A) I was (very) bored.  The characters ate way too many sandwiches.  B) I didn't like the violence.  I didn't feel the story was powerful enough to merit the amount of violence involved.  C)  EDIT (and I may be one to talk, but this is a blog, not a book).  So I quit on the whole series.  There was no way I was entering into another long, poorly edited, graphically violent book that seemed to be gruesome just for the sake of it.  But I'm willing to listen to another side of the story.

 

 

Middlemarch (George Eliot) A classic, right?  Have you read this classic?  I tried.  I QUIT.  It was too deep for me.  I don't balk easily at long sentences.  I like to think that any sentence, read properly, is understandable.  ERRONEOUS.  I had to read and re-read sentence after sentence.  It was hard for me to do so--this book as serious theological underpinnings and I have done some schooling in theology.  So I wanted to understand.  My pride wanted me to get it.  But I couldn't follow it.  And yes, it haunts me.

Vanity Fair (William Makepeace Thackery).  Again, a classic.  And while I could follow this story--I just got bored out of my skull.  I wasn't engaged.  Bigger confession: watched the movie just to see the ending. Terrible, I know.  

Lord of the Flies (William Golding).  I'm not sure I quit this one *per se* but I didn't really read the whole thing.  I read the beginning (in grade 11), got busy, saw the movie, read the end for a project (still grade 11) and then never got to the middle.  I feel like a Lord of the Flies flake.  I hope I can't retroactively fail grade 11 English.  

Uh-oh.  This list is getting longer the more I think about it.  Maybe I'll stop.

After all is said and done, I do think it is worth sticking most books out until the end.  That being said, here are a few I wish I had read differently:

Little Bee (Chris Cleave).  This book has a great beginning.  I loved it.  And then the whole thing falls apart.  My book club all felt the same way: great start, riveting and interesting...but then...blurg.  Everything goes downhill.  It is either a brilliant comment on the contrast between Western-suburban culture and rural African life OR it is just not that great.  I think the latter might be the case. 

 

The Expats (Chris Pavone).  I didn't mind this book, I just wish I hadn't started reading it while I was home alone with my kids.  It was midnight before I went to bed because I had to know what happened.  Good read, Bourne-like mystery...but don't read it home alone.  Consider yourself warned.  

 

State of Wonder (Ann Patchett).  This book is added to the list hesitantly because I like Ann Patchett's writing, especially Bel Canto (it is a go-to recommendation for me).  However, this story was too thin or almost too thick--I'm not sure which.  It was well-written but weakly told.  Great moments but too long before anything happens.  However, if you are looking for an exercise in character writing, you could check this book out.

Most books I have read from start to finish, whether I like them or not.  But sometimes, you just have to give up and let a book slide.  Not to worry.  Behind each disappointment is another book waiting to wow you.  I'm off to start Divergent (Veronica Roth), Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card)  and The Virgin Cure (Ami McKay).  I'm sure my high hopes will be met!

Books, babies and teething...

Monday morning: it's been a week and our little guy, A, has decided that he is above sleeping.  Or napping.  Or being content.  He has good moments, sure, but he certainly is not himself.  For the first time in 14 months, I feel pretty confident saying this little patch is teething.  Afterall, I can actually see molars and eye teeth pushing through with white little points and I'm guessing that can't feel good.  What also doesn't feel good?  Not sleeping.  Any of us.  And being nine months pregnant & not sleeping = a deep sense of worry.  What will I do when there are two babies?  So, as I cuddle A to sleep and remind myself that all of parenting is more or less a 'phase' I ask myself, what am I modelling for this child?  What am I teaching him?  I hope he is learning that he is deeply loved.  On top of that, I am trying to show him that we read, that we play outside, that we snuggle and that there is no greater gift than love.  But when all you want to do is drift off to sleep all day long, it is hard to remember parenting is an amazing honour and not a tiring burden.

Pride and Prejudice is far and away my favourite book.  But when Elizabeth and her Darcy don't fit the bill, I often turn to another life long friend--Anne of Green Gables.  Particularly Anne of Avonlea and Anne of Ingleside, two in the 7 book series about Canada's favourite willowy red-head.  It was a good thing that I re-read (okay, skimmed for the parts that make my heart swell) Anne of Ingleside last week.  Now a mother, Anne finds herself living with the big adventures of little souls (as well as some classic Anne-Gilbert interaction) and spends a good deal of the book reflecting on motherhood.  She talks of chubby knees, velvet elbows and grasping hands that are so incredible, so lovely and so worth loving.  When A is crying in his crib and B and I are both living in sleep deprivation I listen hard to the words of Anne as she reminds me that this little man (and his soon-to-be sibling) are worth every minute.   What are a few hours of my night?  What are long hours of my day?  What else is more important than nurturing this little soul? Yes, my sanity is up there because that is what I need in order to do the nuturing, but motherhood has made me find that sanity at a deeper level.  Strength from new, deeper sources.  Although Anne Shirley and her little brood are ficticious and not a terribly well balanced look at motherhood, they are nonetheless an example of seeing beyond the precarious moment and remembering that this second is fleeting and worth savouring.   

Not that I think he needs to be spoiled--his newest baby sign language sign is 'please' and we are pretty insistent on responding to 'please' over the point-and-grunt that A so prefers to use.  I also know that sometimes he just has to cry and that you don't learn to walk without falling.  But when he is in pain, a little fevery and distressed, what else can I do?  Perhaps you have ideas.  But in the moment, all I have is my instinct. Thank goodness for books that remind me of truth beyond myself.