Required Reading List

So, a friend asked what I was reading lately, and i couldn't really think of anything that blew me away.

So, what are you reading right now? What have you read lately that blew you away?

!Outlander Graphic Novel!

So anyone who knows me or reads Dogwood Girl knows that I seriously heart Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series of books. You know the Twilight series? I was pretty addicted. I am ten times more addicted to Outlander than Twilight, and these are actually smart and well-written!

Well, it seems that Gabaldon is doing an Outlander graphic novel, loosely following events in the first book, Outlander, but from Murtagh's point of view. Love me some Murtagh! First of all, holy crap. Second of all, this guy is doing the illustrations, and he looks like a great artist. It comes out next year, and so does the next Outlander series book, An Echo In The Bone. Not only that, but Echo won't be the last. Praise sweet Jesus on a pogo stick!

I just can't wait to see what his interpretation of Jamie will be. Or Black Jack for that matter. It's like a train wreck. I want so badly for it to be good, but I'm scared to look, but I can't not look. You can see some early Claire illustrations here.

Disaster

Kind of. . .

My IBook just doesn't seem to want to turn on. I am posting from Todd's today. Not sure when I will be back online, but I have an appointment at the Apple store later to check out the problem.

Me: "Can we afford that?"
Todd: "It's cheaper than therapy for you."

Good point.

In case you're wondering, I'd rather chop off my own hand that spend an hour with MacGeeks who call themselves "Genius." The whole Mac persona really annoys me. So hoity toity.

I am sure this is bad karma and my laptop will never be fixed now, but i am really not in a good mood. On the positive side, while I am there, i am finally going to pick up Breaking Dawn, and i will have plenty of reading time, with no pesky internets to divert me. Oh, yeah, i never went to get the book Friday night.

I wanted to finish the other one I was reading, On Agate Hill. I loved it, and would highly recommend it to others. A great story that reminded me a little bit of Toni Morrison's Beloved or Alice Walker's The Color Purple in style, with an imperfect heroine, a bittersweet love story, a smidge of magical realism, a cast of memorable characters, a great display of late 19th century southern culture, and a soaring ending, the kind that makes you feel kind of high as you are reading it.

In the Principal's Office

I registered Rollie for school yesterday. I had met his pre-K teacher at the open house in May, and I liked her very much. Yesterday, when we went in the office, there was only one other family (incidentally, a little boy who will also be in Rollie's class). The Principal was working the office and he remembered me from the Open House a month earlier, and explained all the paperwork to me. (I'm pretty sure that it is easier to buy a handgun than to register a 4-year-old for pre-k.) I liked him immediately.

Anyone who knows me is probably aware that I have some serious doubts about how America educates (or fails to educate) her children these days (don't we all, to some extent?) and how much we have agonized over where to send our child to school, where to move, etc. How would we find a school that had decent to good test scores, racial and cultural diversity, but not so affluent that my children would be so sheltered that they wouldn't know that not everyone lives like they do? Most of all, the school had to be safe and in a decent middle and high school district.

Todd and I have decided to have Rollie repeat pre-k this year, since it will not seem to him like he is repeating, as he is going to a new elementary school, and will have a new class. He was having some problems keeping his frog on the lily pad last year, which basically means that while he did fine with the "academic" parts of school, he was struggling to control his behavior, follow directions, and generally play well with others. His teacher thought that it was probably just emotional immaturity and an inability to control his impulses, and that holding him back wouldn't harm him, and might help.

I talked to tons of parents of late-summer boys about the holding back issue: Those that didn't hold their boys back were split down the middle concerning their feelings about it; About half of them regretted not holding the boy back. On the other hand, not one single parent I've talked to regretted holding their son back. It just felt like the thing to do for us.

Fast forward a month to Rollie suddenly reading whole books. We started having doubts about how he would fare in Pre-K if he could read and other kids couldn't. Would he be bored? Would he be a frustration for the teacher? Would he languish without attention or challenge?

This parenting thing, it's pretty complex, and it is a game of stamina, like some mindfuck marathon that you just keep running, with diverging paths, and a finish line that keeps on slipping in and out of sight. Honestly, I think it has finally sunken in that there is no finish line.

I decided to talk to the Principal about my concerns (also making sure that if he needed to, Rollie could move up into Kindergarten.) I was so happy after my discussion with him: He said that they see kids across the spectrum in the Pre-K; that some come in not speaking little English, or not knowing their ABCs. Some know letter sounds. Some are starting to sight-read words. And that some can read sentences and books.

My favorite part? Every Friday, the kids who can read in the Pre-K and K classes come into the Principal's office and read books with him. I like the idea that my child won't be bored or ignored, and that he will be put into a group that is on his level, and that his accomplishment will be rewarded and acknowledged.

Anyone know if this reading group thing is common practice in elementary schools? Does anyone else have experience having been held back, or having held their child back? I'm curious what others have experienced.

My Little Engine

Lately, we've been reading The Little Engine That Could. Not the short dumb versions, but an old complete edition that was mine as a little girl, with brilliant illustrations and lots of repetition of the phrase, "I think I can."

So, the other day, a neighbor brought by two small girls' bikes that her daughters had grown out of, to see if Tiller might be interested in them. Um, yeah, she's interested!

I planned to go back in and finish some work, but the kids saw the new bikes and any idea of working was out the window on two wheels. "NEW BIKES!!! BIKES FOR ME? MOM, NEW BIKES!! MAMA, DID YOU SEE THE NEW BIKES!? WHY DID THAT LADY LEAVE TWO NEW BIKES? WHY SHE NOT WANT BIKES?"

Indeed, why would someone not want a bike? Certainly not because of the complete chaos-inducing nature of bikes upon those under five.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon in the driveway, Tiller practicing a loop that involved arcing through the back of the garage, down the slight incline of the drive and into the sharp right turn of the sidewalk leading to the front door. (I am not sure what they do once they are at the front steps, but it usually is imagined as Grandma's house, or the bakery, or the MACDonald's drive-through. Frighteningly, Rollie can do an exact impersonation of me at the drive-thru, down to all of our exact orders.) Then Tiller would come whipping back around the corner, with a big grin under her Hello Kitty helmet, ready to fly back into the garage for another loop.

Except that when she came off that sidewalk onto the drive, she would slow down, her little legs struggling to crank up the incline into the garage, and, i realized after a few loops, whispering to herself, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can . . . " and "I did it!" (Dora the Explorer-style, of course) when she made it to the peak and into the garage.

Tiller: My Little Engine The Could

Apple Book

We started reading "The Giving Tree" to Rollie when he was around two. It was a staple in our evening story time for over a year, was the book that he most loved (so far) and is probably in the top three books that I will forever associate with reading to him as a baby.

There were nights when I was exhausted, and I would think, "Please, God, anything but the Giving Damn Tree." Sure enough, he would toddle over with it in his hands, would always ask for it, the book that he called "Apple book." For months on end, we read it every single night. Todd and I could both recite whole sections in our sleep.

And then one day, just like The Boy in the story stopped visiting the Giving Tree, Rollie started to pick The Giving Tree less and less; His tastes changed, and he wanted to read about trains or cars or Curious George.

Tonight, I asked him to pick out a book to read, and that is the book he picked out. I was pleasantly surprised - I no longer think of it as a monotonous chore, as I once did - and told him I would be in when I finished tucking Tiller in. When I went into his room, he was sitting up, reading aloud the page he was on.

I asked if he was ready to read the book. He said yes, and I laid down next to him and went to take them book from him.

"No, Mama. I'm gonna read it to you."

And he did. And it was pretty damn special.

Book Recommendations

So, I've been slack about updating my "What I'm Reading" section. I finished The Lies of Locke Lamora a while ago, and then went out and bought the sequel, because it was such an enjoyable read. They are pretty light fantasy. Not groundbreaking, but have a pretty interesting fantasy world that is similar enough to our world to be believable, but with some cool imaginings that stretch over into the fantastic. (Bondsmagi are way cool! And kind of mean!) I loved the main characters - They are lovable, incorrigible thieves and con artists, with wonderful self-deprecating senses of humor. The demises of some characters are downright nasty and gory, but i love that kind of stuff. I love that Lynch isn't scared to kill off some major characters either. I cried a couple of times. (Yep, i cry over books.)

The characters do have love interests, but there's not a lot of mushy crap, and in the first two books, one character is alluded to as a love interest and we never even see her, although I was constantly thinking she would show up sooner or later. Speaking of women, they are strong and cool and complete badasses in the books. The world Lynch imagines is one where men and women work and fight next to one another every day. The setting is a strange Mediterranean-style water world, with sharks, and gladiator-like sporting events, and enough magic and ancient history to make it fantasy, without spilling over into the annoying side of fantasy. The second book, Red Seas Under Red Skies hits the high seas, the landlubber characters learning the ropes (and the crimes) from the pirate world.

Anyway, I loved the books for the fact that they were the fun reading that reminds you why you first loved to read in the first place: You find a world that captures your imagination and stays with you long after you finish the read.

Highly recommended for reading right after finishing some pretentious or difficult read, when you just want to remind yourself that reading doesn't have to be a struggle to be good.

I'm sad they are over and I can't wait for the third.

p.s. Thanks again to Kat and Mike for sending it!

This Little Guy

Has grown into a little boy who can sound out words. I almost cried last night, I was so proud of him. He sounded out "Volcano" and "Valley" and almost got "Village" in our Caribbean Alphabet book. (Thanks, Lissa and Addie!) He would have gotten "Village" right, but that whole hard G/soft G (oooh, sounds dirty!) thing threw him off, so he thought it was pronounced "villagh." I never realized how difficult and screwy English was until trying to explain the pronunciation of certain words to Rollie.

None of this would have been possible without the Best Bedtime-Story-Reading Daddy in the Whole Wide World, a Daddy who consistently reads to the kids almost every night, and does it with the most wonderful, sweet, indulgent temperament, when I am just ready to have the day be over, throw their asses in the bed fully clothed, and pour myself a glass of wine.

Parenting is a thankless job, but every once in a while, they throw you a bone. It is a nice day as a parent when you can say to yourself, "At least I know we are doing at least one thing right."

Life as Competition

I've been really slack about the blogging of late. We went to the beach, and for some reason, summer in general makes me want to be doing stuff, instead of writing about doing stuff. Which then makes me feel guilty because I'm not being the blogger I want to be.

I'm not being the runner I want to be, either. On the running front, I have been a total slacker the last week. To be fair, the workout after my 7 miles was yucky, and then ever since then, I have been having both knee and ankle pain. So, I felt guilt and more guilt about not running while I was at the beach, but then ran 4.02 miles today in my normal 45 minute workout. That is the fastest pace I have finished it in, so interesting that I could take almost a week off and come out and do better than I thought I would. The other weird part was that I walked parts of it because it was so sucky, and then I ran faster than normal on the running parts. Also, no knee or ankle pain, so maybe the days off were for the best.

Other stuff going on: I meant to blog about it, but didn't. I finally read Life of Pi, which came out years ago, but has been on my to read pile for ever. Holy shit was that a great book. Instant classic, and a book that really sticks with me. I think about it probably once a day, in some way or another. If you haven't read it, i highly recommend it.

Also on my rec list: The Shadow of the Wind. Amazingly fun read and the most enjoyable book I've read in a long while. It is like a love letter to literature, a little fantastic, but in that space of fantasy that is real enough to seem plausible and tangible. Daniel, the protagonist, is lovable and endearing. His foibles (damn it, Sarah Silverman!!) are so everyman that you feel like they happened to you while you are reading. Maybe they did happen to you. Or will. Very difficult to describe what i mean by that, but the line between the novel itself, The Shadow of the Wind, the characters in the novel, the book by the same name that is its own character in the novel, and you the reader is all very blurry; While reading it, you feel as if you are a character in the novel, and in a way, you are. It is a fun and smart book with memorable, personable characters, not the least of which is the City of Barcelona. (Must. go. there. now.) Thanks to Mike for mentioning it. Now I am in that state where i wonder if it will become a movie, then realize what foolishness that would be to hope for, and then start thinking to myself who the cast should be.

Now I'm reading The Crossing, by Cormac McCarthy, because I was the one who loved All The Pretty Horses first, Todd. I told you and told you to read it, and you wouldn't, until McCarthy pulled the old apocalypse novel card, and only then was it considered cool enough for you to give it a whirl. Of course, for you and your ilk, that coolness has now been canceled out by virtue of McCarthy being an Oprah pick. Ha! The cruel hands of fate. . . Anyway, point being, Todd finally picked up All the Pretty Horses, and I can't let him get ahead of me in the race.

Yes, everything is a competition with me.

On the Cusp of A New World

More often than not, Todd will read to Rollie before bedtime, and I will read and put Tiller down. When I do get the opportunity to put both kids down for the evening, like last night when Todd went out with friends, I am always amazed at how far Rollie has come in his reading.

Okay, he can't really read, but he already knows his ABCs (big whoop, right?) and he knows all of the sounds that the letters make which is a little more impressive. He is driving me crazy asking what letter words start with, and in addition to being able to spell his own name, he can also spell mine. (He doesn't forget the E, either.) Last night he wowed me, though.

Damn can that boy memorize. I mean, when I think about the fact that I know every word to "Licensed to Ill" and "Paul's Boutique" and will probably be on my deathbed and still remember them, well, that kind of amazes me, because I was one class away from a minor in French, and the only thing I remember from that is how to say cheese. ("Fromage." Impressive, no?) I think I thought that repeated listenings while smoking cigarettes and drinking heavily were responsible for my remarkable memorization skills, but maybe it was just my inner child that accomplished the searing of whole albums' lyrics across my brain.

Because my little man can recite Where the Wild Things Are from beginning to end, with little to no prompting. He is a wonder. And there is nothing sweeter or cuter than a three-year-old reciting Where the Wild Things Are from memory. Must get on video. Must show the world my child genius.

In all seriousness, I am so proud of the boy. He is sweet and smart and funny and compassionate. And the three things that I want most for my children is to be happy, healthy, and lovers of the written word. I can feel that he is just on the cusp of making the leap from memorization to reading, and I am so excited for him that this whole world is about to open up for him when he cracks a book.

I think we are doing pretty good so far. Yay us. Yay Rollie.