Goodnight iPad....a Book for Everett (and his parents)

Oh this really made me chuckle....and I'm the worst one to put away my tech at night!

In the bright buzzing room

There was an iPad

And a kid playing Doom

And a screensaver of ....(turn page)

A bird launching over the moon 

There were three little Nooks

With ten thousand books...(turn page)

And a huge LCD Wi-Fi HDTV

With Bose 5.1

Six remotes, and 3-D (turn page)

and a  blackBerry ringing

With Eminem singing

And a new Facebook friend

And texts with no end (turn page)

And a viral clip of a cat doing flips

and the bings, bongs, and beeps

Of e-mails and tweets  (turn page)

And a fed-up old woman

Who was trying to sleep

OK, That's it (she says)...(turn page)

Goodnight iPad

Goodnight Doom

Goodnight bird 

Launching over the moon

Goodnight Nooks

And digital books

Goodnight Eminem

Goodnight Facebook friend

Goodnight LOLs

Goodnight MP3s

Goodnight LCD Wi-Fi- HDTV

Goodnight remotes

And Netflix streams,

Androids, apps,

And glowing screens

Goodnight plugs 

And power lights

That guide us to pee

In the darkness of night

Goodnight buzzing

Goodnight beeps

Goodnight everybody

Who should be asleep

Goodnight pop stars

Goodnight MacBook Air

Goodnight gadgets everywhere

Recently Read....Theodore Rex

I listened to this on Audible and it was fascinating....such a window on this period of American History...the Panama Canal, Sherman Antitrust Act, Teddy Bears, Booker T Washington, "Speak softly and carry a big stick", Yellowstone Park, "a square deal", Chinese Japanese War, Edward Arlington Robinson, The Jungle, William Randolph Hurst, spelling reform(!), Cuba, the Supreme Court, the "yellow peril", National Parks, child labor, William Jennings Bryant, Conservation,...I love "reading" these big books on Audible because I would never have enough "sit down time" to get through them...this is the second of Edmund Morris's trilogy on Theodore Roosevelt. The first is The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt and the last is Colonel Roosevelt.

Recently Read: Moonwalking with Einstein & Born to Run

So in addition to wedding planning...here are some books I read during May and June(mostly listened to on Audible while driving around or doing boring office work)....




Born to Run
An epic adventure that began with a simple question: Why does my foot hurt?

A Short History of Nearly Everything
A really fascinating book! Basically the history of science. After listening to it on Audible I bought the illustrated version.

The Double Comfort Safari Club
Another in the Ladies #1 Detective series...always enjoyable if you've been reading the series.

State of Wonder

Ann Pachett is a joy to read...this is a fascinating book with a captivating story line.

Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson

I've always enjoyed Kate Atkinson mysteries ...Behind the Scenes is her first book...not a mystery other the the mystery of family relationships...she's kind of a quirky British author.

Started Early, Took My Dog

This is the 4th book following the "sort of" detective...Jackson Brodie. Kate Atkinson's books usually start about 3 story lines and by the end of the book they all intersect in some way.

Case Histories
This is the first Jackson Brodie "mystery"....

One Good Turn
This is the second Jackson Brodie book...

When Will There Be Good News
and this is the third...

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
This reminded me of Practical Magic...both with subject and writing style...it's good once you deal with the fact that these women are living in today's moral world!

Guilt By Association by Marcia Clark

I read this because it is the debut novel from Marcia Clark, the head OJ prosecutor...

Moonwalking With Einstein
This book explores the task of memory...and is pretty fascinating...Joshua Foer, a science journalist actually became a participant in the US Memory Championship...this details how he acquired the skills...and goes into the history of memory training and some pretty good strategies for improving our own memories.

Recently Read...Shanghai Girls

I didn't read this when it was first published, and it's probably a good thing since most of the reviews I've read are really critical of the abrupt ending. I saw the sequal, Dreams of Joy, and wanted to read it, so decided to read Shanghai Girls first...
And even though Val told me she threw it in the garbage when she finished...I quite enjoyed it...first as a very compelling story of the two sisters, Pearl and May. Second as a great way to learn about a period of history I knew little about..pre WW2 China and the US. Third as a look into a very different culture...and the Chinese/American experience in California. Learning about the anti-Communist movement of the 50's and the "Confession Program" was both appalling and fascinating.
Another criticism of the book is that it is unrealistically dramatic towards the end(although it's pretty dramatic in the middle too!). But I think Lisa See was trying to share a lot of the experiences she knew from her own Chinese American family and combined them all in the characters of Pearl and May...
I would definitly recommend reading it if you are interested in historical fiction. She also has some sweet insights into the bond of sisterhood.
So now I'm reading Dreams of Joy...

One More Book...recently read...A Murderous Procession

The 4th book in the Mistress of the Art of Death Series....A Murderous Procession.

If you like history and mystery and medicine...you might like this series...unfortunately, this will be the last in the series....Ariana Franklin passed away in January...

Recently Read: The Goose Girl & I Capture the Castle

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

This is our book club's selection for this month...I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would...Ani is a much better role model for young woment than Bella (Twilight)...When reading LDS authors I always thinks it's interesting to look for LDS themes...Ani's knowledge that she started out as a Princess (I am a Child of God) even though in her present life she is "only" a Goose Girl gives her the strength to continue acting like a Princess who may one day be a Queen...

I Capture the Castle

This book, published in 1948, was written by Dodie Smith...the author of 101 Dalmations...it's a charming book...I'm amazed I had missed this one. Dodie Smith was a well known playwright in the late 30's....I loved this thought....

...When I read a book, I put in all the imagination I can, so that it is almost like writing the book as well as reading it -- or rather, it is like living it. It makes reading so much more exciting, but I don't suppose many people try to do it. (p.26)

Snag these kids books if you run across them...

I was looking for copies of a few kids books that were favorites in our family years ago and was shocked at the cost of some of these out of print titles: The Hungry Thing...a USED paperback copy is about $40...a LIKE NEW copy is $165!

A used Gunniwolf is $46 and a LIKE NEW copy is $276!

Another favorite that I was able to get reasonably used is Where Did My Mother Go?

Recently Read: Operation Mincemeat

Operation Mincemeat (How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis)...was a successful deception plan of the British in WW2. This book reads like a spy novel...not surprisingly, since several British "spys" became famous authors...Ian Fleming, Graham Green, John le Carre...but this plan to divert Nazi attention from the D-Day invasion in Sicily, reads like something out of the "Keystone Kops"!!!...dress a dead guy in military garb, transport him to the coast of Spain in a submarine, float him ashore where he is "discovered" by the pro Nazi Spaniards who forward his "secret"papers to Hitler before returning the body to the British...

Amazingly...it worked! Scary to think how the outcome of WWII might have been very different without this crazy scheme.

This is Fun....The Day You Were Born

The Day You Were Born....

Click here to see what was being read on the day you were born....
http://www.biblioz.com/best_sellers.php

What famous people were born on your birthday?

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/welcome.html

What happened on the day your were born?

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/on-this-day/#july

What was the world like the day your were born?

http://www.dmarie.com/timecap/

On 24 July 1945....bread was .09 a loaf; gas was .21 a gallon; average income was $2807 a year; a new car cost$1250...the minimum wage was .40 and the DOW Average was 193. The "hot new toy" was the Slinky

Diamond Life...(Sweater Quest)

I just finished Sweater Quest: My Year of Knitting Dangerously

This is sort of a "wooly"Julia & Julia book. The author, after a few years of standard knitting...scarves, hats, etc., decides to challenge herself to knit in a year a very complex Fair Isles sweater called the Tudor Rose...the pattern book was no longer in print and all the yarns needed had been discontinued...so accomplishing this was a bit of a task!

Anyway, I chuckled my way through the book, resisting the urge to underline passages as is my wont since I had, in the interest of not further adding to my enormous book stash, checked it out of the library...(but I finally did cave in and order it on Amazon today since it was only $6...for some reason I just need the physical presence of books I like! And I can loan/share them out.)

She describes how knitting soothed her while in the throes of post partum depression,

"Now the whole event feels like it happened to someone else...time is a great balm, of course. So are high-grade pharmaceuticals. But what really helped turn the tide was knitting. Now most of the drugs are a distant memory. The yarn, however, is still with me. So are baskets of knitted hats, scarves, sweaters, and socks."(p. ix)

And"...knitting surprises are subtle and enduring. Making stuff with my very own hands has enriched my life in innumerable ways. Both kids and craft have taught me how to deal with frustration so acute that I'd want to bite the head off a kitten. Both are great courses in expectation management. Both have given more than they've taken--and introduced me to a community that I otherwise never would have know."(p. xi)

And she she writes about the joy of any hand work... Sewing, quilting, crafting, gardening, cooking, etc...the pleasure of touching and seeing beautiful colors, textures, etc.

As well as her commentary on all things "yarnish"...she wanders off on many tangents (which you can easily skim if you are so inclined) but also offers a few choice bits of philosophy...knitters tend to be philosophical...here was one thought that seemed a great image regarding Choice and Accountability....


from Sweater Quest (p147)
"I read somewhere - and one of the signs of getting older is that I can no longer remember where - that life is shaped like a diamond. At the start, your choices are few. They get greater and greater each year until forty or so, when the choices you've made start to limit the ones you can make - until you die, which is generally as much of a choice as being born is.
I don't find this bleak, actually. I'm fairly content with the choices I've made and the ones I'm not at ease with are minor. The knowledge that my diamond is getting narrower just makes me more careful about my time and likely to enjoy where I am more. Besides, I'm tired of deciding and, welcome having less big stuff to think about. Your mileage of course, may vary..."



Beware...you probably can't read this book without going out and buying more yarn(or supplies for whatever your craft obsession)...I did.
(Yarn and sock started while reading SQ)

Recently Read: Healthy At 100

Healthy At 100

So, yes, this book is pretty interesting to those of us getting past "middle age"....but since so much of our health depends on how we live in the first half of our lives it has great info for every age.

This book describes the lifestyles of of four of the world's cultures that produce some of the healthiest old people...such as the Vilcabambans in the South American Andes...and he goes on to describe healthy exercise and nutrition styles that we've probably heard before...what's unique about this book is the last third of the book talks about how the biggest determiner of health as we age is the quality of our human relationships!

Interesting my link on Facebook this morning from lds.com was about Elder Ballard's talk on Strengthening Families...

Here are a few interesting ideas...

...four hugs a day are necessary for survival, eight are good for maintenance, and twelve for growth!

...the strongest predictor of which men would get cancer decades later turned out not to be smoking or obesity, but rather the lack of a close relationship with their fathers fifty years before.

...in a heart disease study it was found that men who used the first-person pronouns the most often had the highest risk of heart trouble...self-absorption leads to weak hearts...It seems that the less you open your heart to others, the more your heart suffers...Listen with regard when others talk. Give of your time and energy to others; let others have their way; do thing for reasons other than furthering your own needs.

...In the 4 healthiest cultures, "Instead of going shopping, they go visit one another. They have need of few belongings, for they belong to each other."

...the main determinant of bone strength in women is not calcium intake...it's the amount of exercise they got between the ages of 12-22!(Hurray for girls sports)

...lack of emotional support was a greater risk factor for disease than smoking.

...when his daughter-in-law expressed her gratitude for the author and his wife's many hours of help with their twins, his wife said...you're welcome...but do you have any idea what it would cost if we had to go out and rent grandchildren!

Recently Read ...The Demon Under the Microscipe

A couple of interesting medical histories....

The Demon Under the Microscope

The subtitle says it all...from battlefield hospitals to Nazi labs....one doctor's heroic search for the world's first miracle drug....Sulfa...

The Knife Man Blood, Bodysnatching and the birth of modern surgery...

In an era when bloodletting was considered a cure for everything from colds to smallpox,surgeon John Hunter (1728-1793)was a medical innovator... and he crosses paths as friend or doctor with so many famous historical figures....he advised Benjamin Franklin about bladder stones, treated King George III, James Boswell, William Pitt, David Hume, Adam Smith, lived next door to Joshua Reynolds,Joseph Haydn, advised the infant Lord Byron's mother to fit her baby with a corrective shoe...his home in London was a combination home/natural history museum, and dissecting lab...with a backdoor specifically for bodysnatchers to bring him fresh corpses...Robert Louis Stevenson used it as a model for the home of Dr. Jeckle/Mr. Hyde.


After reading The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, I was interested in reading his first two novels....very different from Racing...but I enjoy his writing style...When I read the descriptions of them on Amazon, they didn't sound very interesting, but I was drawn into them from the first pages and read each in only a couple of days...

How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets

Raven Stole the Moon

Recently Read...Unbroken

Unbroken...

This is an amazing true story!!! And truly deserving of the title...the inspiring story of Louie Zamperini...a juvenile delinquent-turned Olympic runner-turned Army hero. During a routine search mission over the Pacific, Louie's plane crashed into the ocean and what happened to him over the next three years of his life will keep you glued to the pages...just when you think things can't get worse....they DO!!! But he emerges from these horrific experiences with such nobility of character.

Recently Read

My Name is Mary Sutter

This is about a woman in the 1860's who is a midwife, but wants to be a surgeon...but no one will let her into medical school...the the Civil War begins....a bit of a soap opera, but well researched about the Civil War and the state of medicine at the time.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Henry Lee is a 12-year-old Chinese boy who falls in love with Keiko Okabe, a 12-year-old Japanese girl, while they are scholarship students at a prestigious private school in World War II Seattle. Henry hides the relationship from his parents, who would disown him if they knew he had a Japanese friend. His father insists that Henry wear an "I am Chinese" button everywhere he goes because Japanese residents of Seattle have begun to be shipped off by the thousands to relocation centers. This is an old-fashioned historical novel that alternates between the early 1940s and 1984, after Henry's wife Ethel has died of cancer

A Painted House

Not your typical Grishom novel...there's not a lawyer in sight....this takes place in the south in the 50's on a small cotton farm...it's told from the point of view of the 7 year old boy...

The Facebook Effect

Written with the full cooperation of founder Mark Zuckerberg, the book follows the company from its genesis in a Harvard dorm room through its successes over Friendster and MySpace, the expansion of the user base, and Zuckerberg's refusal to sell. The author is at his best discussing the social implications of the site, from the changing notions of privacy to why and how people use Facebook—increasingly it's to come together around a common interest or cause (the eponymous Facebook Effect)
This was pretty fascinating to see how the world can change in 4 or 5 years! Interesting issues of privacy, transparency...the future world???

Recently Read

A few books I've read (actually in most cases, listened to) in the past couple of months...

The Good Son
A political thriller that centers in Pakistan..





Girl in Hyacinth Blue
A unique concept for a novel. Susan Vreeland traces the history of a supposed Vermeer painting from the present back to each previous owner...sort of like Girl With a Pearl Earring...



61 Hours
Jack Reacher, the roving ex-military cop, is in action again!




What Mothers Do

(Especially When It Looks Like Nothing)

A wonderful book on what mothers do...every mother has felt the frustration at the end of a day of feeling like she hasn't got much to show for all her work...when her husband comes home and asks, "What did you do today?" he often gets a blank stare or tears!
The most important skill mothers have to have, according to the author, is INTERRUPTIBLITY....



The Immortal LIfe of Henrietta Lacks
I enjoyed listening to this book...I don't know if I could have actually read it....
This is the story of cells taken from a poor black woman who died of cervical cancer in 1951. The unique thing about her cells was that they were the first cells that would continue growing in a lab...they led to the development of the polio vaccine, gene mapping, cloning, how viruses work and many cancer treatments...the author spent 10 years researching both the science involved and the people involved. It was a fascinating history of medicine...



Mind in the Making
Another interesting book on how childrens' (and adults') brains develop...



Oxygen
The story of an anesthesiologist who has a patient die...how it impacts her and how she finally finds out what really happened.




Brooklyn
I really enjoyed this book while I was reading it...Colm Toibin is a skilled Irish author...it's gotten wonderful reviews...but at the end I sort of felt like "so what" ...



Life Expectancy
I'm sorry...I really like Dean Koontz books....the ones written after about 1987...before that he was sort of a hack...you have to be careful because a lot of his early work is being reprinted...known as a Sci Fi, horror writer...Life Expectancy is a book about family and good vs. evil...it's also quite funny...

The "I Hate to Cook Book" by Peg Bracken (Fancy Tomatoes)

This book if 50 years old! I used it a lot in the late 60's...70's...
One of my favorite recipes I just made the other day when the tomatoes were proliferating....
(I'll have to add a picture later...they were so yummy we ate them all before I could find my camera!)

Fancy Tomatoes

Sliced tomatoes (if you want to be REALLY fancy you can peel them first by dipping in boiling water for 30 seconds)

Layer:
tomatoes
Sprinkle with:
a drizzle of oil
a glug of vinegar
a sprinkle of sugar
a shake of salt
a grind or two of pepper
a smattering of chopped basil
a bit of chopped garlic

Then put down another layer of tomatoes and do it all again...three or four layers is good, depending on how many tomatoes you have. Cover and refrigerate a few hours if you can. Flip the container a couple of times to recoat everything.

Recently Read: Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
(or how my mother raised 10 children on 25 words or less)

For anyone who grew up in the 50's or 60's this will bring back a lot of memories...for anyone else it gives a great picture of growing up in simpler(and poorer) times...it was hard to see the difficulties caused by the alcoholic father...but inspiring to see how a mom's wonderfully positive attitude pulled her family through hard times...it's amazing the prizes she won "back in the day" when "contesting" was a way of life

Evelyn Ryan's writing wasn't great literature but her life is the essence of "indefatigable."

Fielder's Choice
There are moms who can cook,
And moms who can sew,
And moms who will come
When they're beckoned;
But give me that pearl
Of a mom--type girl...
A mom who can slide
Into second.

(She won $5 from the Denver Post)

An entry into a Dial soap contest:

I'm glad I use Dial;
Hallelujah,
Now I don't smell
So peculiah.

Another poem:

Fitting Advice
Of all sad words,
Give these the prize:
"My dear,
You'll need
Our larger size."

A week before her death (at age 85) she wrote:

Every time I pass the church
I stop and make a visit
so when I'm carried in feet first
God won't say, "Who is it?"

Recently Read...

If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.....(African proverb)



Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection

It's too bad the title is sort of a "downer"because this is a really positive, thought provoking book...insight into the many "connections" in our lives and the importance of them...family, friends, team, wards, scout troops, knitting clubs, book clubs, play groups, blogs...life is all about our connections!

Recently Read: Cutting For Stone

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese...here's the NY Times review....thanks, Val, for the loan of a great book....I was a little frustrated reading it because most of what I read is pretty light and this book is deeply written and mostly takes place in Ethiopia in the past...so I had to Google a lot...but we always gain most from books we invest more time in....