Literally literary.

Staying home with my precious baby girl has allowed a lot of my old self to come back- 

the one who spends time with girls and has the time and opportunity to truly invest in them,

the one who anxiously awaits Brian to get home from work... or from the many many trips he continues to have to go on,

the one who develops new hobbies and enjoys the ones she already enjoys,

the one who gets to read... not because she has to for graduate school but because she wants to.

Besides taking pictures, the past few weeks have been full of loving on my sweet girl, having lunch with friends, sewing delicious new skirts for EA and some of her friends, and reading.. lots and lots of reading.  

The first series I enjoyed Smart Chick Series by Mindy Starns Clark.

These Christian fiction books had a little bit of love, a little bit of mystery, interesting characters, and fun story lines. I checked the first book out at our church's library a few weeks ago and went back a week later to get the other two. 

But the REAL quencher came last week when I heard from the hundredth person how good the Hunger Games Series was and how they just couldn't put it down, etc, etc. 

I went home, bought it on my Kindle, and never looked back.

As a friend of mine said, this is no Harry Potter or Disney movie but the plot keeps the reader holding on until the very end. You fall in love with the characters, hurt for them, hate for them and desperately want to know what happens to them. Brian started reading the book this week and is almost finished.. a sign in itself of how great the books are. We hope to see the movie this weekend! If you haven't read the books, seriously, you must.

What are some of your favorite books or series? I am itching for something new and would love suggestions!

Happy Hump Day!

Read Across America

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!!

This is one of my favorite weeks of the whole school year! 

So far, I have read 15 Dr. Seuss books to my class, including his biography, The Boy On Fairfield Street. We have several more to go- I can't wait!!

Here are some random facts about the birthday boy--

His first book was And to Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street. It was rejected 27 times before it was finally published.

He attended Dartmouth College where he was voted Least Likely to Succeed by his peers.

He began his doctorate at Oxford but dropped out to focus on writing and illustrating.

His real name is Theodore Geisel. He goes by the pen name Dr. Seuss (duh, I know.) Seuss was his mother's maiden name and the Dr. part was a label he put on himself. Occasionally he goes the pen name Theo. Lesieg, which is Geisel backwards. He used this name when he wrote, but didn't illustrate a book.

His dad was a zoo keeper, hince the book If I Ran the Zoo.

Dr. Seuss won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for outstanding contributions to children's literature.

Same Kind of Different As Me

Last June, as we headed out for Israel, my sweet friend Sarah let me borrow the book Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. The trip ended up being MUCH more exhausting than I originally expected, so I didn't read... well.... anything. 

After we got home, the book sat on my bedside table, beckoning me to read it. 

Only, I wasn't  interested.

It wasn't that I thought it would be a bad book- several people in our Sunday School class had read it and talked about crying over it, men and women alike. It was just the fact that I couldn't find the time to make it a priority. In retrospect, it was really God preparing my heart for it.

This fall, our good friends Rob and Jared started working with a ministry called Urban Purpose. This ministry was started by a man in our church who had a heart for the homeless. As he was driving to work one morning, he stopped to help a homeless man. The man made a comment that he was just like the others- it would be the last time he saw him. This sparked an opportunity to serve differently. Since then, he has been working with Urban Trek to provide meals for the homeless each Sunday. Sunday school classes provide the food while different men (and women), like Rob and Jared, meet the people and build relationships.

Lucky for Brian and me, Rob and Jared are Brian's accountability group members. After several weeks of going to serve, Brian started to join them. He changed. The men on the street were no longer people who deserved it or people who made bad choices, now they were real people with real personalities. They were people with a story and people who needed Jesus.

Enter me. 

As Brian was going every Sunday afternoon to build relationships with these men, I was making excuses. Grad school was too much. I had just finished with the Women's Ministry event and needed a break. I needed to focus on my job. Excuse, excuse excuse.

At this point, my good friends Ashley and Jennifer had been going to The Village to lead Bible study with some of the women in the ministry since August. But my excuses kept me away. It was outside of my comfort zone. Then some things started happening with my family and the Lord began to draw me in. He began changing my heart and my desires. I started going to the Village and building relationships with the women and my life has been changing. Praise the Lord.

After going to the Village for a couple of weeks and hearing awesome stories from Brian, I looked at my nightstand and saw Same Kind of Different as Me. This time, I was excited about it.

I read the book and got a whole new perspective. God has changed my heart. The book is eye-opening, heart changing, and tear drawing. 

Check it out. Your will love it.

Have a blessed Tuesday my friends!

HP 7- I'm impressed.

Have you seen Harry Potter yet?

 I have been pumped about this movie for ages, reread the entire series to be prepared, watched tons of trailors and assumed the worst.

You see, I'm a skeptic.

Not on all things.

But because of past let downs with the Harry Potter movies, I planned for the worst.

As a a student more than 3/4 the way through an educational media program (aka school librarian), the book always trumps the movie. I am a firm believer in reading the book first so you can visualize and create the scene in your head.

Then I generally watch the movie, am critical from the beginning to the end, then reread the book just to confirm the truth.

I was horribly let down by HP and the Half Blood Prince. I actually left angry, so I wasn't sure what to expect with 7.

Ya'll, it was so good. There were some tiny changes, but for the most part, it was very close to the book (though I would advise reading 1-7 first as to not ruin the real storyline.)

Congrats Warner Brothers, you handled this one well.

Happy Weekend my friends!

John Grisham- Children's book author?

*A perfect murder.

A faceless witness.

A lone courtroom champion knows the whole truth . . . and he’s only thirteen years old.

Meet Theodore Boone

In the small city of Strattenburg, there are many lawyers, and though he’s only thirteen years old, Theo Boone thinks he’s one of them. Theo knows every judge, policeman, court clerk—and a lot about the law. He dreams of being a great trial lawyer, of a life in the courtroom. But Theo finds himself in court much sooner than expected. Because he knows so much—maybe too much—he is suddenly dragged into the middle of a sensational murder trial. A cold-blooded killer is about to go free, and only Theo knows the truth. The stakes are high, but Theo won’t stop until justice is served.*

(Quote taken from the book jacket.)

I am SO excited about this book. I love John Grisham's adult novels, so I can only imagine what a children's book will be like. I bought it last week, but am TRYING to wait to read it until our BIG trip coming up soon. I will let you know how it is- or you can beat me to it and see if you like it yourself!

*

By the way, have you seen Amanda's latest blog update? Brian and I are trying to find a time to go. PLEASE check out the post and look at the pictures. God's creation is amazing.

Have a blessed week my friends!

The 39 Clues

When I am reading, there are generally two ways to describe me... I either don't put a book down or can't put a book down. Mostly, I don't put it down, whether it is truly holding my attention or not, but every now and then I find that rare book that is excellent and is impossible to stop reading.

When I started The Maze of Bones, the first book in the 39 Clues series, I wasn't sure what to expect. A friend of mine from school had suggested it, so I picked it up while I was at the library. It was fabulous. It is a story of an orphaned brother and sister who's grandmother died. In her will, she left a challenge to the remaining members of her family. The challenge was to search the world in for the result of 39 clues. Once they found the solution to the clues, they would become the most powerful person (or people) in the world. Throughout the rest of the story, the brother and sister are in search of the result of the first clue. I was at the edge of my seat throughout the entire book and checked out the next 5 in the series the next day. :) I would definitely recommend it for elementary students and have already suggested it to a couple of children in my class!

Happy hump day everyone!

Book Goal #2- The Higher Power of Lucky

For my second Newbery Award Winner this year, I read The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron. The media specialist at my school mentioned it as a book that was controversial, so I checked it out and found out more for myself. This book was the 2007 Newbery Award Winner.

After reading the book for about 1 minute, I discovered why it was controversial. The book begins with a 10 year old girl standing outside an AA meeting, listening in. She hears the people talking about their "higher power" (their inner strength that allowed them to get over alcoholism) and decides that is what's missing in her life. This "higher power" is referenced throughout the entire book. I think that the Susan Patron did a good job reflecting the confusion and simple-mindedness of a child who is bordering between childhood and adolescents. The setting was vivid and easy to imagine, but I did not enjoy reading the book. As I was reading, I was more than a little frustrated that this book meant for children was discussing adult topics that would give children too much information at a young age. I kept wishing the "higher power" they were discussing were Christ. If children/ young adult authors were as focused on Him as they are on alchohol and sex, imagine where our world would be. The only Higher Power we need is knowing Christ, His sacrifice for us, and the love that He gives. Any other "higher power" is a waste. Once again, I felt that the book was inappropriate for children and wouldn't let the students in my class read it.

Book Goal #1- The Graveyard Book

One of my goals for 2010 was to read at least 6 Newbery Award Winners. Brian and I drove to Tampa two weeks ago. For the car ride, I checked out several books from the library- a Nancy Drew, a Hardy Boys, two books by Francine Rivers, and A Graveyard Book. We listened to Unshaken by Francine, a great book based on the story of Ruth. Rivers goes in to incredible detail and helps you understand the background of where these men and women from God's Word are coming from. They are great "quick" reads. We also listened to The Hardy Boys #1- The Tower Treasure.

When we got home, I still had the 2 weeks to keep the other books, so I put The Graveyard Book in my CD player and listened every time I got in the car. The Graveyard Book is by Neil Gaiman and is the 2009 Newbery Award winner. It is a fantasy book about a boy who's entire family is murdered, but he escapes by luck. The boy finds himself in an old, abandoned cemetary where he is adopted by it's inhabitants and made at home. The story continues as the boy grows up and finds adventures both in and out of the cemetary.

I enjoyed the book, though it is not something I would normally be interested in. As I progressed through the book I started bringing my CD's in the house with me so I could listen while I was cooking or while Brian was playing Madden. The plot was dark, but kept you on the edge of your seat and was pretty entertaining. If you like older children's/ young adult books, you should read it, but I would probably look through it before suggesting it to a child.

Graduate school has started back and I already feel like I am in over my head, so it is back to the grindstone for me!

Have a wonderful evening my friends!