This is another book from the Bayern series written by Shannon Hales. While I've loved all of her books thus far, I have to admit that I did not like this one as well. The main character is a whiney, scaredy-cat, good for nothin girl. I was so sick of her by the end of the book that I was almost tempted to stop reading the book. The other characters are interesting because it's the favorite Isi, Enna, Dasha and the boy what's his name...my mind has just gone blank...anyway, I wanted to finish it because of them. And, the villain in the book was a total surprise to me! I just had to find out how it ended, not really minding if the main character didn't make it out alright.
Sorry, I don't mean to be harsh. I would recommend all of Shannon's other books to people, but this one I just might "forget" to mention.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Cheaper By the Dozen
I've never seen any of the movies that were made about this book but I LOVED the book! It is so funny and I couldn't put it down. Can you imagine twelve kids? This book is written by two of the older children. Frank Jr. Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth.
So, the Father, Frank, is really smart and well educated and gets into this idea of efficency. Cut out all the stuff you don't need to do and stop wasting your own time. If you don't need to do something-don't do it. I loved that he called the daily activities that had to be done "unavoidable delays." These are things like, eating, bathing, sleeping, getting dressed, things like that. He was constantly teaching his children and I just had to laugh at some of his methods. For instance, taking a bath. He felt that there was no reason why you should be in there more than five minutes and to illustrate this he took a bar of soap in his right hand and started down the left arm, left leg up the stomach and passed the soap to his left hand and started down the right side and finished up. He taught the boys this in the tub, the girls he did it fully clothed in the living room on the floor. Hilarious! He wanted to save time even doing those unavoidable delays and tried to do this shaving. He had a shave brush in both hands and then tried shavers in both hands. He was upset because while he did save 44 seconds using both hands, he lost two minutes taking care of the cut on his neck! The children had to listen to French and German language records when they were in their bath and to teach them about morse code he painted messages on the walls and on the ceilings so that they would constantly see them even as they went to bed. If they uncoded the messages it could lead them to a prize! Anyway, these are just a few of the things I loved. Without writing the whole book here! I totally recommend it. It's small and easy reading. It made me want to teach my children in some of these creative ways. One member of the book club pointed out that this book is truly a gift to the younger children of this family because the father died when the youngest was only two. They never knew him and didn't know what life was like for the older children. He ran his house like a business and had the "purchasing committee" to help with the shopping and other things like that. Preparing them to be able to take care of themselves so that their mother wouldn't have the burden of providing for twelve children on her own. And he did a great job. I loved this book! Read it...just writing about it makes me want to go out and buy it and read it again!
So, the Father, Frank, is really smart and well educated and gets into this idea of efficency. Cut out all the stuff you don't need to do and stop wasting your own time. If you don't need to do something-don't do it. I loved that he called the daily activities that had to be done "unavoidable delays." These are things like, eating, bathing, sleeping, getting dressed, things like that. He was constantly teaching his children and I just had to laugh at some of his methods. For instance, taking a bath. He felt that there was no reason why you should be in there more than five minutes and to illustrate this he took a bar of soap in his right hand and started down the left arm, left leg up the stomach and passed the soap to his left hand and started down the right side and finished up. He taught the boys this in the tub, the girls he did it fully clothed in the living room on the floor. Hilarious! He wanted to save time even doing those unavoidable delays and tried to do this shaving. He had a shave brush in both hands and then tried shavers in both hands. He was upset because while he did save 44 seconds using both hands, he lost two minutes taking care of the cut on his neck! The children had to listen to French and German language records when they were in their bath and to teach them about morse code he painted messages on the walls and on the ceilings so that they would constantly see them even as they went to bed. If they uncoded the messages it could lead them to a prize! Anyway, these are just a few of the things I loved. Without writing the whole book here! I totally recommend it. It's small and easy reading. It made me want to teach my children in some of these creative ways. One member of the book club pointed out that this book is truly a gift to the younger children of this family because the father died when the youngest was only two. They never knew him and didn't know what life was like for the older children. He ran his house like a business and had the "purchasing committee" to help with the shopping and other things like that. Preparing them to be able to take care of themselves so that their mother wouldn't have the burden of providing for twelve children on her own. And he did a great job. I loved this book! Read it...just writing about it makes me want to go out and buy it and read it again!
Un-Lun-Dun
This is a fantastic book! It is written by China Mielville (not sure on the last name). It's like an Alice in Wonderland story where things are not as they seem. Hence the name. It's London...but Un. I had a hard time getting into at first, I kept thinking "when is this going to get to the point?!?" And then when it finally got to the story, I was hooked! I Loved the main character. At book club we talked about the author and why he wrote some of the things he did. He said that he hated certain books when he was younger because the "Hero" of the book was stupid and ordinary the "sidekicks" or friends he had with him did all the work and made him who he was. I agree!! I have a real hard time with Frodo in LOTR. He was a whiney baby, weak, and did absolutely nothing but get a lot of people killed. If it hadn't of been for Sam that ring would have never been destroyed!
Anyway, there are a lot of things in this book and it's definitely worth reading and rereading because I think it's like Harry Potter in that you will discover new things that you didn't catch the first time. Basically the story is this, there are two girls one a blond the other a brunette. I can't remember the blonde's name so we'll call her Kat for now and the brunette's name is Deeba. Strange things keep happening to Kat and Deeba notices them too. They get lost through a secret passageway that they stumble across while chasing a suspicious umbrella. They end up in Un-Lun-Dun and everybody thinks that Kat is the "Chosen One" or the "Schwazzy" come to save the people from Smog.Well, things don't turn out how they were supposed to and Deeba complains about home and so she helps her friend get home. But the more Deeba thinks about it, the more things start getting a little confusing and making sense all at the same time. She realizes that the people in Un-Lun-Dun are in serious trouble because the very thing they've been given as protection is actually the very thing that will kill them. She knows that she has to go back and save them. And that's where the adventure kicks in! With the aid of a Tailor, a Half-Ghost boy, a Bird cage head guy, A Conductor, a few careless words, an unlikely weapon and a Deep Diver guy, among many others, Deeba goes back to Un-Lun-Dun to uncover the truth. Read it you will love it! Oh, but a word of caution: Watch out for the giraffes!
Anyway, there are a lot of things in this book and it's definitely worth reading and rereading because I think it's like Harry Potter in that you will discover new things that you didn't catch the first time. Basically the story is this, there are two girls one a blond the other a brunette. I can't remember the blonde's name so we'll call her Kat for now and the brunette's name is Deeba. Strange things keep happening to Kat and Deeba notices them too. They get lost through a secret passageway that they stumble across while chasing a suspicious umbrella. They end up in Un-Lun-Dun and everybody thinks that Kat is the "Chosen One" or the "Schwazzy" come to save the people from Smog.Well, things don't turn out how they were supposed to and Deeba complains about home and so she helps her friend get home. But the more Deeba thinks about it, the more things start getting a little confusing and making sense all at the same time. She realizes that the people in Un-Lun-Dun are in serious trouble because the very thing they've been given as protection is actually the very thing that will kill them. She knows that she has to go back and save them. And that's where the adventure kicks in! With the aid of a Tailor, a Half-Ghost boy, a Bird cage head guy, A Conductor, a few careless words, an unlikely weapon and a Deep Diver guy, among many others, Deeba goes back to Un-Lun-Dun to uncover the truth. Read it you will love it! Oh, but a word of caution: Watch out for the giraffes!
Joan of Arc
That isn't the complete title of the book but I can't remember it. I read it a few months ago for bookclub. Surprise-It's written by Mark Twain!! It was a really good book but I did have a hard time reading it. I LOVE the story of Joan of Arc being a sorta-kinda femi-nazi. I love stories about women who take a stand for what's right and come out above the rest. Even though she gets burned at the stake...you find out the REAL reasons why in this book and makes me even more upset!!
The part I had a hard time dealing with was the angel part. Not that she saw an angel or was counseled by one, but the truth and reality of it. Being LDS I want to know why it's not recorded in any part of the Book of Mormon, Bible, Pearl of Great Price or any other LDS material as happening. It seems to me that this is something designed by God and there is no question in my mind that His hand was in this war and her being a part of it...I just don't know what is fact from fiction in this book. I had to keep reminding myself that this was written by a fiction author and not presented as scripture.
Either way though, it was written beautifully and I loved it. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone! One thing that shocked me was that my husband said he had never heard this story before. What?!?! Not even in your history classes?? And to add insult to injury some of the members of the bookclub had never heard the story either. Boy, I love her and admire her and think of her when I am faced with difficult times and choosing right from convenient. So to those who do not know the story of the sixteen year old girl who saved France and ended a horrible war and then was burned at the stake and accused of witch craft I DEFINITELY recommend this book!
The part I had a hard time dealing with was the angel part. Not that she saw an angel or was counseled by one, but the truth and reality of it. Being LDS I want to know why it's not recorded in any part of the Book of Mormon, Bible, Pearl of Great Price or any other LDS material as happening. It seems to me that this is something designed by God and there is no question in my mind that His hand was in this war and her being a part of it...I just don't know what is fact from fiction in this book. I had to keep reminding myself that this was written by a fiction author and not presented as scripture.
Either way though, it was written beautifully and I loved it. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone! One thing that shocked me was that my husband said he had never heard this story before. What?!?! Not even in your history classes?? And to add insult to injury some of the members of the bookclub had never heard the story either. Boy, I love her and admire her and think of her when I am faced with difficult times and choosing right from convenient. So to those who do not know the story of the sixteen year old girl who saved France and ended a horrible war and then was burned at the stake and accused of witch craft I DEFINITELY recommend this book!
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