About Carmen

Wife, mother, and avid reader

Rain of Ruin

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Carmen

For my book club last night, we discussed Mark Kelley’s Rain of Ruin. He joined us for the evening.

Rain of Ruin is the fictionalized account of Mark’s mother, Agnes, and her experience as a secretary for the Manhattan Project. Mark explained last night that he had wanted to write a biography, but instead chose to write a novel because his mother did not share all details with him. (Her work was obviously highly-classified, and most records have been destroyed.)

In school I learned about the Manhattan Project, but I never thought about the individual people who were involved. Many of the people had no idea what they were working on, or the potential dangers. Rain of Ruin made history more personal for me, especially since Agnes was from Pennsylvania. Mark mentioned a recent book along similar lines- The Girls of Atomic City that I think I’m adding to my list.

In Case You Wanted to Learn How to Knit

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Carmen

I’m working on a knitting project. Before you get too impressed, let me tell you about what happened last night. To summarize, I ended up having to start completely over. I was not happy. I’m slightly scared to try again, but I guess I really can’t go backwards any further.

I took a beginning class at our local library, but to supplement my learning, I also checked out some beginning knitting books. These are not to blame for last night.

Knitting 101 is my favorite. I actually decided to buy it. (It was either that or keep checking it out of the library until I am no longer a beginning knitter.) This book includes basic instructions with helpful photos and projects that build on each other. (And the projects do not look like they came from the 80s.) There is a DVD too, but I haven’t used it yet. I know there are resources on Youtube and knitting websites, but sometimes I still find books most helpful in learning new skills.

Right now I’m working on a lace neck-warmer thing (not sure of the technical term). I think part of what I need to learn is how to correct myself without taking out too much work. Guess that’s what my knitting group is for. That and moral support and chocolate.

Here are two other books from the library: Getting Started Knitting and Simple Knitting. They were fun-looking, but I liked Knitting 101 because it seemed more user-friendly for some reason.

David’s Library Bag: Books about the World

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Carmen

How do you instill a love for the world in children? I know that a lot depends on the child, but one thing I try to do (besides having David try a variety of foods, and having him play outside) is by reading him books that deal with these very topics. Here are two favorites from this week:

Work by Ann Morris. Morris writes about how people all over the world work- alone, away from home, with their hands, etc. Morris includes photos from different countries; in the back of the back Morris explains a little more about each photo. Morris has written other books with the same concept; Bread, Tools, and Hats are some of my favorites from the series.

All Things Bright and Beautiful by Ashley Bryan. David likes when I sing this one. Yesterday I played it on the piano (music is included in the back of the book), and he grinned from ear to ear. Bryan made the illustrations using cut paper, and the result is bright, cheery, beautiful pictures.

2 Favorites from David’s Library Bag

Posted on October 2, 2013 by Carmen

These two books were a good fit for both David and I. I didn’t have to paraphrase, and he didn’t lose interest. (I can’t say that I never lost interest. . . but that’s because I read them several times a day!)

Building a House by Byron Barton. Barton uses simple languages and simple pictures to show how a house is built. I would have loved to have this book while our neighbors were building their place.

Road Work Ahead by Anastasia Suen. This is perfect for a little boy who loves cars, diggers and anything construction-related. Colorful pictures and simple sentences give glimpses of different types of road work.

The Cellist of Sarajevo

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Carmen

Our county and several other counties have a program called the One Book, One Community. This is the featured book for the year: The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway.

I highly recommend this novel. It’s terribly sad, although that is no surprise considering the setting of war-torn Sarajevo. But, Galloway does not just write a book that makes you cry. He makes you want to dream, choose hope, and live with purpose.

I’m still wrestling with the fact that Sarajevo is not the only place that hatred has affected. Ugly things are happening all around the world, right now. And, hatred can breed in our own hearts. Lord, have mercy.

Camping with Kids

Posted on September 23, 2013 by Carmen

We’ve been wanting to take David camping before it gets too cold. . .and after skimming through this book, I’m even more excited by the prospect:

The Down and Dirty Guide to Camping With Kids: How to Plan Memorable Family Adventures & Connect Kids to Nature by Helen Olsson.

To be honest, I didn’t take the time to read this book thoroughly, but what I did find was informative, helpful, and fun. Helen includes recipes, game ideas, nature crafts, packing lists, resource lists, and general tips. I grew up camping, so a lot of the information was not entirely new to me, but I did appreciate the focus on how camping changes with little ones. One suggestion Helen gave was to have a small “play tent” that the kiddos can wrestle and play in, instead of getting the sleeping tent all dirty and rumpled. I also love how she includes a list of camping-related picture books to read before the trip.

2 Apple-Picking Books

Posted on September 16, 2013 by Carmen

I’ve been doing a lot of reading. . . . but mostly for school, so that is the reason for no adult book posts. I’m also reading through some of the “classics” but I’m not motivated to write posts on any of them; I just finished The Portrait of a Lady, and I’m currently reading Anna Karenina. Both are long books!

Here are 2 books that David enjoys. Both of them remind me of fall, and both of them make me hungry.

The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall. This book shows what an apple tree looks like in all four seasons, and it includes the life cycle of a robin family for fun. One of these days I need to make an apple pie. The book has the recipe, and I have all the ingredients, just not the time. Great book, great illustrations.

If You Give a Dog a Donut by Laura Numeroff. I didn’t know that this book existed. I thought I had read all the “If You Give a _____ a _________” series when I taught preschool! David loves it, probably because he loves donuts. And he just went apple-picking like the dog did. Too bad there is not a recipe for donuts in the back of this book.

David’s Library Bag: Trains, Flowers, and Denise Fleming

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Carmen

I’m having a lot more fun reading to David now that he can sit through more picture books. I don’t know who has more fun picking out books at the library. . .

Here are last week’s picks:

Trains Go by Steve Light. David picked this one – we always manage to find our library’s new board books. We both enjoyed this one, although some of the train sounds turned into tongue twisters for me. I want to try out some of Light’s other works.

Planting a Rainbow – Lois Ehlert. Ehlert is turning into a favorite author of mine – she has beautiful illustrations and captivating story lines for toddlers. David loved this book because he remembers helping me plant flower seeds. Now he wants to plant some bulbs (me too!). Although, I think I would like to try forcing some for indoors this year (and because we keep looking at properties and may or may not be living here in the spring!)

Time to Sleep – by Denise Fleming. Fleming has created so many great books! We’ve read Lunch and Sleepy, Oh So Sleepy already. I think I have several of her other works from my preschool-teaching days. This book is actually about winter coming, and not going to sleep, as I had previously thought.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Posted on September 2, 2013 by Carmen

It has been awhile since I loved a fiction book as much as I loved this one: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.

Jamie Ford‘s novel touches on many things I love to read about: history, family and culture, and friendship. Henry Lee, a Chinese American, looks back on his childhood in the 40s, and his friendship with a Japanese girl. This is during a time when anti-Japanese sentiment was high in the U.S.

This book helped me survive horrendous traffic while traveling this weekend. The only problem is that I wanted to eat authentic Chinese and Japanese food. Immediately. Guess I’ll have to check out a cookbook in the near future.

Current Toddler Favorites

Posted on August 24, 2013 by Carmen

I believe that we have checked out most of the board books in our local library. (Except for the Disney movie spin-offs which I will not check out). So, the other day we actually picked out some non-board books. No ripped pages yet. My little boy is growing up!

Fish Eyes: A Book You Can Count On by Lois Ehlert. (Great author!) The highlight of this book is that the fish eyes have little holes in them. And anything related to numbers is always a big hit.

Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney. I am not sure who liked this book more: David, or the 9 year-old we had on respite these past couple of days. Between the two of them, I’m not even sure how many times I read the book. This book teaches waiting on Mommy, and includes fun rhyming phrases. I see why the Llama Llama books are so popular. (For parents and children!)

Corduroy by Don Freeman. This is a classic. I own this book, but I included it here because David loves it. He seems to really like the idea of Corduroy looking for his button and falling off the bed. (By the way, as I was searching for this online, I found other Corduroy books besides Corduroy and A Pocket for Corduroy. I never knew Freeman wrote more!)