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Book club with no assigned reading

I have been thinking that I want to be part of a book club but 1. I don't do well with assigned books (or timelines for that matter) and 2. I don't want another evening commitment away from my family.

So I have created the genius solution and I love it. The at-work-book-club-with-no-assigned-reading. It's awesome!

I invited two friends/co-workers who I know are fellow readers. We chose a local restaurant and spent our entire lunch break talking books. What we've been reading, what we liked/didn't like and then riffing from there giving each other reading suggestions. Now we are also all friends on Goodreads so we can store up questions/conversations for our monthly meetings. We also all listen to What Should I Read Next podcast so we are getting the same weekly recommendations from Anne and that leads to further conversation.

Our first meeting was SO FUN. I really should have posted this the day of our meeting because I can't even remember a few of the books we discussed but we genuinely spent the entire hour on books (and movies adapted from books). 

I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of this format for a book club but wow is it perfect. Hooray!

Reading, lately

It's Summer Reading time at the library again and once again I am on a (doomed) quest to beat the kids. I am thiiiis close to done with the audio version of The Graveyard Book as recommended by Tim Ferriss (of all people) on his podcast. It is really compelling. I need to listen quick as my library loan expires soon and I'm into it!

I just finished reading Mr. Splitfoot, recommended by Swistle. If not for her recommendation I definitely would have given up on this one. A bit too confusing/mystical/hard to follow for too much of the book. BUT I'm glad I stuck with it.

I've already downloaded the ebook The Girl in the Spider's Web which is the fourth book in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series. (officially the called the Millenium (good gravy I CANNOT SPELL THAT WORD) series. Anyway, the original author died so this fourth book is by another guy. I can't tell if it's been too long since I read the first three or if his writing is super annoying but so far, not awesome. We will see.

On audiobook I've got Thunderstruck by Erik Larson. I've been on a bit of a binge of his books lately. Read In the Garden of the Beasts if you'd like to be seriously stressed/disturbed about our current American political situation (the book is about the rise of Hitler/Third Reich). But it was fascinating. Especially after  listening to Dead Wake about the Lusitania. I got my early 1900s war stuff out of my system so now I'm going back in time to the invention of the "Marconi Wireless" system in Thunderstruck. I am mostly reading (listening) because I live near Marconi Avenue so it seems that learning more about Mr. Marconi would be appropriate.

I'm looking forward to my number coming up for The Gene by the author whose name I am not even going to TRY to spell and am far too lazy to google. I was completely fascinated by The Emperor of All Maladies so am totally getting his next book.

Related to all this book talk, I've got until September 21 to finish my #saclibraryquest (follow on instagram @mdhaworth). I'm trying to check out a book from every library in the Sacramento system. I haven't been very focused so we have a lot of territory left to cover but this is the summer and we're going to do it. Oscar* is into it. Biscuit is not. He and I hit two downtown libraries on Saturday and it was great. One was in a cool old two story house with the bedrooms converted to meeting rooms and reading rooms. The other was next to a park with a fabulous playground. He has 23 books checked out in his card so we need to do some returning and keep going.

*yes, he is wearing eye shadow in these photos. He found his sister's play makeup in the car and worked on eye shadow application while I drove. Whatever. It looked good with his too small tank top and too warm blue jeans.

PS just as I finished this post and was about to publish when Firefox crashed. Sadness! Annoyance! BUT a little thing popped up about the "restore" button. I clicked it and the post came back! A modern internet miracle. My mediocre post was saved. Just in case you still blog (hi! share your blog in the comments!) and haven't left Typepad for Wordpress like the rest of the remaining bloggers I thought I'd let you know. Hooray for Typepad!

Lately

I was out for a (slow, painful) run today and realized that I've been blogging (inconsistently) for 10 years! Whoa.

So a few updates from these parts.

Gardening: We had a hot spell and then rain and today was just lovely. It's been a perfect spring. I'm so, so glad I planted a winter garden. It's the first time I've really done that and it's so fun to pick peas, beets and carrots. The potatoes are growing, the daffodils were lovely and it's been all around fabulous. The most annoying part of gardening is the irrigation and, this winter, the rain did it for me about 80% of the time. Oscar is a great age for the garden and getting good about not stepping on the plants. It's been a lot of fun. In other good garden news, I had a bumper load of compost so the soil in the beds looks great and my rhubarb that I thought I killed last year seems to be coming back. In addition to the winter veggies I just put in some tomatoes, a pepper, bean seeds, strawberries and flowers. Now if the slugs would stop eating the strawberries I'd be all set.

Biscuit: She has been busy! Last weekend was the Science Olympiad competition. It's always a fun day. It was a bit rough for her team and she wasn't totally satisfied with one of her events so there was a little sadness but she got a 4th place medal in Write it, Do it which exciting. It was fun to cheer on the team. She also had her final choir concert with several schools from the district and that was really great. All the choirs sounded so good and the big, group number was very cool. She's still playing trumpet and getting better every day and is in the Running Club. Fortunately, just as she was starting to get really stressed about being busy things started wrapping up for the season. It's hard to believe the school year is almost over.

Entertainment: I just finished All the Light We Cannot See. I know, everyone read it last year but I'm always behind. It was recommended a few times in the What Should I Read Next podcast and my name finally came up on the library queue. It was good but I read it practically back to back with The Book Thief and seriously need a break from World War Two Germany right now. So, for lighthearted entertainment, I started Mozart in the Jungle (on Amazon Prime TV) while I was waiting for season 2 of Catastrophe (also on Amazon). Then Catastrophe finally became available so I got our taxes done and started watching it last night so was up far too late.

Productivity: ha ha ha. I got nothin'. Well, I did read some books and watch some tv and everyone has clean sheets on their bed. I'm calling that a win. Oh wait, I have clean sheets but they aren't ON my bed. I best go handle that (while watching TV of course). I'll check in soon with more about getting in shape and planning for Oscar's 5th (5th!!) birthday.

 

Fall mantle

I decided to update the picture framed in the window on our mantle. I wanted something Fall-ish but it needed to work in black and white and not be too Fall-ish since I am 100% sure I'm not going to be updating this thing seasonally. I decided to print out the scan I made years ago of a decayed leaf I found by the river. I think I like it. But the edges of the mantle need more work. Something tall, I think.

Related: Kinkos charged me $4.50 ($0.75/square foot) for this 25x32" print. OfficeMax was going to charge their "minimum charge to print a photo" of $19.99. Glad I called around.

Unrelated: I'm on a non fiction audio book kick (free, from the public library, downloaded automatically to your phone, seriously best thing ever). My current book Trust Me, I'm Lying by Ryan Holiday is equal parts fascinating and depressing. And a weird contrast to my last audiobook The Innovators by Walter Isaacson. I'm on some sort of internet theme with my reading listening.

Final tip: Audio books (and podcasts) can be played at 1.5 speed and are just as comprenhensible as at regular speed. Except Ryan Holiday who must be a naturally fast talker--I have to play his book at 1.25 speed.

Thought provoking books

I've been listening to Being Mortal on audiobook. Just finished it during a long work commute today. I love, love, love getting audiobooks on my iPhone for free from my local library. Best service ever. Except the part where Chapter 20 inexplicably didn't work. But still. I have the attention span of a gnat these days so I do best listening to, rather than reading, non fiction.

So, as I was listening, it kept reminding me of Lean In which I also enjoyed. Both authors seem to be trying to start a national conversation about a topic that is inherently difficult to discuss (sexism, death) but is also important. Both certainly got me thinking and I think each seems to have at least partially succeeded in their aim. Being Mortal reminded me a lot of my grandma who was extremely organized about her own death and, in many ways, seemed to epitomize what the author was talking about. It might sound weird to be organized about death but my grandma was an early advocate of living wills and documents you would create to outline your wishes at the end. She also planned herself an excellent memorial service. We're all going to go, may as well make sure your friends enjoy your favorite chocolates and catering at your service :)

Being Mortal also reminded me of the audio book I listened to last year The Emperor of All Maladies. (Apparently I like medical non fiction by doctors/authors of Indian descent.) Another very thought provoking book with a ton of fascinating history about randomized drug trials and other things I didn't think were interesting but turns out they are. I've thought about this book many, many times in the last year. I definitely wouldn't recommend either book if you or a close friend/relative are dealing with cancer right now but on the off chance you don't have a loved one with cancer, it's worth a read.

On a more positive note, I've decided to take a flower picture every day for the month of March. Granted we're only a few days in but I'm loving this challenge. And loving living in California. Sorry, East Coast :( We would like your water but eh, could do without the endless winter.

 

 

Want to make a bag?

I'm trying to get into the groove of teaching monthly. It sounds so easy. And yet. Months go by quick! So in a few short weeks it's time to learn to make bags! I was originally thinking wine bags but one of my star pupils is in middle school so I expanded to bags. The concepts are the same if you're making a wine bag, tote bag or gift bag. Boxed corners. Lining. Using your machine. Sewing straight. You can learn all that on a wine bag or tote bag or any bag so students get to choose what they want to make.

Do you want to make a bag? Sign up here. Space is limited to 5 and the class is a total bargain at $35 for 3 hours! And I'll even bring scraps for you to use.

<Imagine a photo here.>

It's late and I can't find the image I want. It was a picture my sister sent me of the wine bags she made after taking one of my classes. She's become a wine bag making machine :) It's so incredibly gratifying to me when I teach a class and that person goes on and continues to use that skill I helped them develop to make more things outside class. My sister also made pillows and curtains! Happy. Happy.

P.S. The word "bag" starts to look really weird if you type it too much. Bag. Bag. Bag. Looks like hag. Or snag. Really, a rather unpleasant word.

P.P.S. I just finished reading One More Thing (on recommendation from Cup of Jo). Free from 3M Library Downloads. Unexpected and not what I'd normally pick up but I really liked it. Short stories. Hmmm. And if you read on your phone/iPad and aren't using 3M Library thing you should totally check it out. If your library has it. Which it might not. But Sacramento Library does. So....

P.P.S.S. I totally made a button to link to the class registration website. It now lives in the right sidebar over there ---> right at the top. No, it isn't very pretty but it should work. Only 4 months into this monthly class thing. I'm on it!

Over and out.

Itty bitty books made of art

Oscar is really into painting. Or, as he would say, painTING! He loves to dip the brush for watercoloring and now we have a little collection of abstract 2-year-old works of watercolor art. The other day I was looking through the book How to Make Books (LOVE this book) and got reinspired by her instant books. Immediately I knew I wanted to make some out of Oscar's painTINGs.

A perfect little 5 minute project, fold, cut, fold.

I love how making it into a book cuts up the art and the 2-year-old abstract looks even more abstract. I decided the other book could use a little something in the white space so I copied in some quotes from a book my friend gave me when we graduated from college.

i'm not so good at lettering but it was fun to try.

Such a fun little project. And if you like 5 minute projects I noticed Elise just started a new series of them. Love her first one.

 

Stream of conciousness

I find that when I'm working on projects I think a lot of blog posts. But rarely post. I've decided the month of May is my month to catch up on scrapbooking/photos etc. I'm trying to do a little each day pasting photos into books, printing photos, organizing/deleting photos on my computer. Ideally by the time Oscar turns two (later this month) I'll have is first year scrapbook done. Heck, my standards are low right now, I'm not doing fancy layouts, just pasting photos to pages in a book so maybe I'll catch up to the present day.

In trying to catch up on scrapbooking I've found this blog is useful for reminding me when we did what so I feel I should note that this weekend my sister and her fiance stayed at our house. We spray painted Goodwill vases gold for wedding centerpieces and then spray painted terra cotta pots with laquer for birthday party favors. So basically it was a weekend of spray paint. Oh, and wine. We went wine tasting and then did a good bit of wine enjoying. It was an absolute delight to have them in town.

They formally asked Biscuit to be their flower girl (she accepted) and Oscar to be their ring "bear"er (he will do it) and me to be a bridesmaid (bridesmatron?). So it should be a good wedding. But then Oscar threw a series of little tantrums today leading me to worry about him fulfilling his important ring-related duties. Maybe if he doesn't have a cold and gets lots of sleep the night before we'll be okay. Fingers crossed.

In unrelated news, I made 14 jars of strawberry jam this evening and I'm reading the book Gone Girl. Have you read this book? My friend heard I was reading it and is anxious for me to finish so we can discuss. I'm about 2/3 done and I understand her eagerness. I want to discuss. It's crazy. I'm off to read and really, it's time to stop this rambling.

Good night :)

What she's reading

Biscuit has always been a strong reader. She figured out reading when she was four and by the time she started kindergarten she could read simple books and knew her sight words. For her it seems the challenge has always been following the plot of a longer book where she can read the words but can't manage the narrative arc. Mysteries seem to be a mystery for her.

Now, in second grade, she's getting more into chapter books and I'm figuring out what she actually likes to read and together we can usually find several winners at the library.

Basically, she likes the American Girl book series. She likes books about children that are "real" (ie not fantasy or mystery or especially unusual situations). She doesn't tend to like historical fiction (like most of the American Girl books that tie into the historical dolls). She likes ones set in more modern times.

So, lately, she's been reading:

• The Julie series of American Girl Doll books set "historically" in the 1970's which makes me feel old.
• The companion books to Julie about Ivy, Julie's friend and the Chrissa books
• Judy Moody books (which, I JUST NOW while putting in Amazon links realized are written by the same author as the Julie books. I think Biscuit knows this but I missed it. Apparently she likes books by Megan McDonald! And apparently Megan is a prolific author!)
• The Amelia books which were published by American Girl some time ago and are written in a journal format by Amelia (my mom gave her these and she's read them over and over)
• Fancy Nancy picture books. She has loved these for years and recently went back and reread them all. She has picked up lots of fancy tips from Nancy.
• Non fiction books (the Usborne lift the flap series) about Pirates of all things. Although she's less into them lately she tends to return to non fiction if it's written with lots of little factoids.
• Random picture books she pulls off the shelves.

Tonight I asked her about her favorite book so I could put it on the blog and she said, "mom, you're going to be surprised, but I would say The Magic Treehouse books."

You could have knocked me over with a feather. She owned many of these books (they're always $0.50 at the thrift store) and I finally gave them all away as she never, ever read them. And she has never asked for them so no idea where that came from today.

While she and I don't have the same taste in books (c'mon, read Harry Potter already, kid!) it is fun to chat books with her. And if you know a 7 or 8 year old girl who doesn't like scary books or mysteries, may I recommend the American Girl doll series? They seem to be at every library.

Summertime

Yesterday was one of those perfect days I imagined when I started working part time.

No plans so we lounged on the "beach" under our shady "beach umbrella." Biscuit and Oscar ate plums off the tree. When they got dropped, half eaten, onto the beach Biscuit threw them overboard and requested replacements. Lucky our tree is having a bountiful year.

Oscar will not eat plums cut up but whole plums? He can't get enough. Eats all the way to the pit, gives it a disgusted look for being so inedible, throws it and begs for more. Any minute now he'll discover the ENTIRE OTHER SIDE of the plum. Assuming he doesn't drop it on the beach first.

We followed the plum gorging by taking a bag of plums to the neighbor's and stopped on the way to eat blackberries of their/our canes. I think Oscar likes blackberries more than plums. .

How much do I love having fruit? Growing! like wild! in the yard!? A lot, that's how much.

While plum boy slept Biscuit and I put our toes in the sand and read. She's reading Sideways Stories from Wayside School (I think I got that right) by Louis Sachar (author of Holes). She likes it. I'm trying to decide if Holes is too grown up for her. I read it and I'm thinking it'll be too much for her but maybe she should try it and decide herself?

I'm reading a long list of trashy/ridiculous/fun books and totally loving it. But tonight I"m between books as I've finished what I've got on hand and my library requests won't arrive until tomorrow. God forbid I choose something from my shelf. I'm all trash all the time and my bookshelf is not quite trashy enough today.

So, basically, it's a perfect summer: cute kids, sand, sun, fruit, books.

If only Mr. H didn't have to work so much. Sorry, Mr. H! And if only every day was Monday (my day off!)