More Borrowed Books

Posted on February 15, 2005 by Katy K.

Reading these reminds me that, even though I try to keep my readers abreast of the latest publications, there were good books published before 2000.

Framed in Lace by Monica Ferris A quick little cozy mystery, again borrowed from my mother. It’s the Needlecraft Series, so all the books in the series include details on some form of handicraft, with a pattern. This particular novel focuses on bobbin lace, but I guess figures that not that many people can do bobbin lace, so the pattern is for cross-stitch instead. But again, digressing. Betsy Devonshire, still in Minnesota running her murdered sister’s needlecraft shop, is starting to settle in and getting to know the locals. They’re all excited about the raising of an old ferryboat, sunk in the forties, which is to be restored and put back in service. But when the boat is raised, there’s a skeleton on it – and an old lace handkerchief. Once again, Betsy finds herself drawn into the search to find out whose the body was, and who killed her. It’s a fun little world, with lots (maybe too many) of colorful village people and details of everyone’s current projects. Read if your interests include fibers and comfy mysteries.

The Little Country by Charles DeLint Loaned from yet another friend, as I really like DeLint. The are two storylines, both set in a small village in Cornwall, one at the turn of the last century, the other in the late 1980s (which would have been the present when the book was written.) Janey Little is a piper, contemplating her next tour, when she finds an old book in her grandfather’s attic. It’s a book she’s never heard of, written by her favorite author. As she reads it, strange things start to happen. In the corresponding story – which might be the one that Janey is reading – Jody is working for her uncle, a scientist, when the Widow transforms her into a Small, only a few inches tall. Music is woven throughout the book, with the chapters named after traditional tunes. I have always loved DeLint’s ability to intertwine magic, suspense, and the everyday world. For me, this book was no exception, though putting the two stories together does slow the action down somewhat.

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Borrowed from Superman

Posted on February 12, 2005 by Katy K.

Are you surprised that Superman likes graphic novels? He brings them over to our house regularly – what fun! Too bad I couldn’t convince my library to let me start an adult gn collection.

Hikaru No Go by Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata This is a series of Japanese manga, the comic books where the characters have huge eyes and small mouths and their emotions splatter ever-so-cutely all over the page. If they’re done right for the aficionados, they read from right to left, which does take a little getting used to. I’ve read the first two volumes in this little series – the third should be out this month. The first was a gift for amnachaidh’s birthday; good enough for him that he went out and bought the second one himself. I think the title translates to “Hikaru and Go” – Hikaru being our main character, and Go being the ancient Asian game. So Hikaru is a typical cool middle school kid, not interested at all in something so old and uncool as Go. But he discovers a haunted Go board in the attic, and now is being followed around by the ghost of an ancient Go master. This means that he can honestly say that he knows nothing about Go, while still beating the best players. It is a lot of fun, probably more fun if you (like amnachaidh) are nuts about Go. On the other hand, it’s credited with single-handedly starting a Go revival in Japan.

Astonishing X-Men Vol 1: Gifted by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday I guess my primary interest in this book is that it’s written by Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy and Firefly, two of my favorite TV shows ever. Ok, growing up without a TV, that may not be too hard, but I digress. While I enjoyed the X-Men movies, I’d never before read any of the comic books. They’ve been going on for a long time, so there’s a lot of back-story that I just don’t have. It took me a while to figure out who all the characters were, since (gasp!) they didn’t all appear in the movie. Once past these hurdles, however, it’s fine story – somebody’s created a vaccine to make mutants normal again. The moral issue: is this moral? Can a mutant accept that not all mutants want to be that way? The adventure: who’s behind the scientist, and the large-scale attacks using obviously mutant powers? Plus, lusciously beautiful full-color art on glossy pages. I guess this is standard now, but that doesn’t make it less enjoyable.

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Drool….

Posted on February 9, 2005 by Katy K.

So this baby thing has really been killer on my baking. If I’m honest, I was usually too busy to get much baking done anyway. But now, I decide I’m craving fresh homemade bread or chocolate pudding… no sooner do I start than Mr. Froggy Pants decides that he’s also craving goodies, of the sort that only I can provide. Fortunately for me, my beloved amnachaidh has always taken over for me, leaving tummy satisfied, if not creative impulses. I only flipped through this book on the new book cart, but I will be checking it out as soon as it’s available:

The Weekend Baker by Abigail Johnson Dodge This book features yummy recipes for people who are really too busy to bake. It includes tips on baking faster, and how to stash your weekend-made goodies so you can enjoy them throughout the week. The recipes are divided into three sections: Section 1, recipes that can be made in a hurry, including Blender Cupcakes, for when you discover you need them for tomorrow morning at 10 pm. Section 2, recipes that can be made in stages, in between your errands and chores. Section 3, for when you have a little more time and want to make something Really Impressive (but still, she assures, not too difficult.)

I’m still drooling.

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Books my Mother Loaned Me

Posted on February 4, 2005 by Katy K.

I didn’t make it to the library to check out books even once while I was off – imagine the deprivation! Fortunately, my mother brought me nice books to read. Thank you, Mommy!

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi Though I’ve been a reader all my life, I’ve never really gotten into too much Classic Literature – mostly, it just seems so depressing. This book might just convince me to go back to those classics, as Nafisi describes her experiences leading a small group of women in reading English classics. (And we though those books were hard going, as native English speakers!) Throughout the lives of the women, their lives in the restrictive society of post-revolutionary Iran are seen through the prism of Lolita, Pride and Prejudice and The Great Gatsby. This book has been hanging out on paperback bestseller list for a while now, and it deserves its success. It really is phenomenal.

Brave New Family by G.K. Chesterton, ed. Alvaro de Silva I must confess, as a Protestant, and raving liberal Protestant at that, I was at first hesitant to read this book of essays by the acclaimed Catholic author G.K. Chesterton. It turns out that Chesterton and I have more in common than I’d thought. I really enjoyed reading his thoughts on the value of family and small town life – namely, that one must learn to get along with people different from one’s self. In the city, he argues, one naturally gravitates towards similar people. I also agree with his emphasis on the value and importance of motherhood, though not that any other employment a woman could have must be less fulfilling. But then again, if the choice at the time was factory worker or staying at home, he’d probably be closer to right. I had to stop reading when he started talking about the evils of birth control, though. And yes, I am willing to see myself as part of the surplus world population. The introduction by de Silva, about how nobody has values anymore, I also skipped. If you’re less liberal than me, or are willing to read selectively as I did, you too might find some nice food for thought in this book.

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Two Baby Books

Posted on February 1, 2005 by Katy K.

You’d think that sometime in my three months off, I would have found time to post, but no. So now I’m back to work, and I’m sure that I don’t even remember everything I read anymore, but the Show Must Go On, so I’ll type up what I can remember, and hopefully keep up with my current reading, too. Anyway, first installment, yet more parenting books.

Mothering the New Mother by Sally Placksin Amusingly enough, this the last book I finished before Mr. Froggy Pants made his arrival. But this is a really great book that I’d recommend for any new parent, and selective bits for anyone whose friends are having children. It starts out by going over customs for taking care of the new mother in other cultures – with the point that modern America is pretty much alone in expecting new mothers to be able to take care of themselves plus the new baby by themselves within days of having the baby. It talks about how to take care of yourself, and how to recognize, prevent (as much as possible) and treat postpartum depression. It also has chapters devoted to the challenges of dealing with staying at home, working at home, and going back to work. All of the chapters have large lists of resources, all given twice – once with extended annotations, and once just with contact information. I somehow got the 10-year-old edition, but I’m sure that the new edition includes urls as well as phone contacts.

Infant Massage by Vimala McClure Another great book, which my sister gave us for Christmas. I’ve read lots of places how important touch is for babies to develop properly, but how to do it? We tried once from the instructions in The Baby Book, and found them not really complete enough. Not the case with this book – complete photos with detailed instructions on individual moves and suggestions for building up a massage routine with your baby. It also includes background information on the benefits of massage – although the photos of calm and smiley babies could be convincing enough – and special chapters on routines for colicky babies, preemies, working with siblings, and teen parents. Whether you fall into the cry-it-out camp or the attachment parenting camp, or somewhere in between, you and your baby will benefit from this book.

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Protected: I’m not a Republican!

Posted on January 22, 2005 by Katy K.

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Diapers

Posted on January 4, 2005 by Katy K.

Well, I’m stil way behind on my book reviews, but amnachaidh suggested that I post reviews of the cloth diapers we’ve been using here. And, since someone else emailed me asking for the same info, here it is:

We’ve tried four kinds of diapers so far, and five different covers. Here’s the breakdown:

Diapers:
Kissaluvs size 0 – these are soft terry diapers with snaps, and cost about $9 each. We loved them for the first two or three weeks because they were small enough to fit, and they can snap down to be out of the way of cord stump. Now, though they still fit at the biggest place, they’re just not absorbant enough for him anymore. I’d say great for newborns, not so great afterwards.

Snugglebottoms and Snugglebottoms with Velcro – these are flannel contour diapers, with or without velcro (hold in place with a cover if there isn’t velcro). They cost about $17 a half dozen, which makes them the cheapest non-prefold diapers I’ve seen. These work just fine, though I prefer them with velcro. I don’t like them as well as some of the other dipes, I think because they look worn and crumpled all the time. It’s irrational, but there it is. For the long haul, I don’t think flannel will last as long as some of the other fabrics out there, and velcro tends to go sooner than snaps. Also, they have more sizes than some of the other diapers out there, which makes them a little more expensive per diaper, though still cheaper than premium diapers.

SugarPeas 2 size – these are usually hemp blend fitted diapers with snaps, and run about $12 each (or $14 for organic cotton). They have a snap-in doubler, which we like to get with the microfleece topping that keeps the moisture away from baby’s skin. These are our favorite fitteds. They are really absorbant, very pretty. The two-size concept means that they have lots and lots of snaps, so you’d need only two sizes of diaper all the way through, while getting a better fit than with a one-size diaper. The snap-in doubler means they still dry quickly. The only bad thing I’ve ever heard about these diapers is that they aren’t the trimmest fit out there, though this doesn’t bother me. They aren’t the cheapest option, but you can get a bulk discount some places, and they will last forever.

FuzziBunz – this is a pocket diaper with a waterproof outer layer, and a microfleece inner layer. You put your own filling in the pocket these two layers make. The diapers are $15 each, plus whatever you put in them ($4.50 for a good hemp insert.) This makes them the most expensive diaper we’ve used, but they are really nice. No cover means only one layer to put on a wriggly baby, and they are quite trim. They come in 3 sizes. They are especially great for night, when you can double stuff the pocket. Again, the microfleece keeps baby feeling dry. Happy Heineys are a similar diaper, but with velcro – haven’t tried them, but I’ve heard the fit isn’t quite as good. FuzziBunz have two rows of snaps, one to adjust the fit at the leg and one for the waist – we’ve not had a leak yet. They have a high resale value (around $10), too, so if you don’t want to save them, you can get most of your money back.

Covers:
PUL covers:
Litewrap – I guess it’s fine, but neither of us really like it. No reason why – maybe it leaks more, or is harder to put on?

ProWrap – This is the basic cover, and it does work just fine.

Bummis – This one we really like, though it will soak through if the diaper is too wet.

Bumkins – This is nice too, though it can leak out the back vent if the diaper is too wet.

Wool covers
We didn’t want to try wool at first b/c they do absorb the pee, and this sounded gross. Also they run around $20 each, which is pricey. But now we’ve tried a couple, and they are our favorites. They just don’t leak, and you don’t have to be as careful with the fit. With a PUL cover, if any of the diaper underneath is showing, it will leak, so you have to get it nice and tight with nothing showing. Wool just holds the moisture in no matter what. We’ve used both the SugarPeas Wool Cover, which works with snaps like the diaper, and the Aristocrats Wool Soaker, which is a pull-up stretchy thing. We love them both.

Buying the diapers
Everything I mentioned above except for the Snugglebottoms is available from Naturalbabies.com. They have a kind of confusing web site, but the owner lives in Northville, and I always get things super fast. Everything she sells is also available on other sites, so you can look around and sometimes find better prices (though she does price matching, too.) The Snugglebottoms are only available from http://www.babybunz.com/ Check out diaperpin.com for diaper and store reviews, and to find stores carrying specific diapers.

I haven’t bought any cloth diapers used. Some stores, like http://stores.punkymoms.com/ have exchange programs, where they’ll give you store credit for used diapers you send them, which they then sell for you. I have just figured that even if we buy the most expensive diapers we’ve used so far – SugarPeas and FuzziBunz – we’d probably spend around $900 (as opposed to $400 for prefolds). With the cost of disposables at around $2000 per child, and the cost of cloth spread over two babies, we’d still be spending a quarter of what we would on disposables.

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Birds and Bees

Posted on October 24, 2004 by Katy K.

Well, OK, so this first one looks kinda like it’s about that S thing, and the second one definitely has lots of stuff about bees in it… is that reaching too far? Anyway, both mainstream fiction of the sort typically marketed to women.

Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner *Warning to my ttc friends: a major character in this book is pregnant.* (I couldn’t tell from the book description, honest!) This book was described as “chick lit, but deeper”, which does pretty well as a highly superficial description. That is, you won’t feel your brain cells either being numbed by the shallowness of characters or plot, but neither is it so dense that you’d need extra sleep and a study guide to get through it. So. Cannie is a moderately successful journalist, fairly content with her life. Then her ex-boyfriend – whom she dumped – publishes an article in a major women’s magazine called “Loving the Larger Woman” in which he describes the difficulties of dating a fat woman. Meaning her. Suddenly her life seems to be falling apart, and her mother’s newly lesbian identity – complete with gravelly-voiced girlfriend – isn’t helping. And then things get more complicated. The characters are genuinely funny, and the plot manages to be amusing and still say something about the important things in life.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Kidd Monk So I finally read this book after probably dozens of library patrons told me that I must read it. It is a really good book. It also has a plot that sounds so improbable as not to function, yet somehow, the story flows so smoothly that I didn’t notice until I tried to describe it. Here’s the outline: 14-year-old Lily Owens lives with her emotionally abusive father and a black nanny, Rosaleen, in the south of the 1960s. She’s burdened with the guilt of having killed her mother in a horrible accident when she was four. When her nanny gets into trouble trying to register to vote and her father won’t do anything to help, saying only that Rosaleen will probably be killed, Lily decides it’s time to leave. The pair run away and find refuge in the house of three black beekeeping sisters. Told in beautifully poetic language, it’s a thoughtful portrayal of Lily’s coming of age amid the tense race relations of the 1960s.

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Lord of the (Teething) Rings Part III

Posted on October 23, 2004 by Katy K.

OK, only one book reviewed this time. What can I say? I’m still reading.

Guide to Natural Family Living by Mothering Magazine This was another attempt to find a really liberal parenting book for my friend Teb. I think I (or actually, my husband) did pretty well finding it. Though I couldn’t find the title she requested, Liedloff’s The Continuum Concept, it is quoted here. Unlike most of the books I’ve read so far, this book covers everything from pregnancy through the teen years, with special sections on Difficult Issues like death and divorce. But liberal. Or is it conservative, when the book tells you not to take even Tylenol during pregnancy, and that you really should do the best you can to stay home with your child. Another concept I found a little radical: the no-punishment method of child-rearing. Not that nothing happens when they misbehave, but that you should first try to understand them, and then, if they were deliberately misbehaving, you should reason with them, or help them come up with a good way to make up for what they did. There’s plenty of good advice in here, too, from dealing with sexuality at different stages of life to alternative healthcare and schooling options. This book won’t tell you when your baby should be crawling, but it is a good resource for instinctive and attachment parenting styles. It shares one of the features I most admire about Mothering magazine, which produced it: even when I disagree with their conclusions, everything is meticulously researched, with citations given for multiple studies on both sides of an issue.

This leads me to an update on Babywise and Gary Ezzo Again, my dear husband was disturbed enough by what I told him of this book (recently reviewed) to do some background research. This has forced me to take back my half-hearted semi-commendation of the book. Turns out, the man has no medical background, and not even an undergrad degree. The book has lots of flat-out medical misinformation, and has led to a couple of hundred cases of Failure to Thrive and dehydration in babies whose parents followed the advice. The American Association of Pediatrics has issued warnings about the book, but it’s still really popular. Holy cow! We will be pulling all his books from our library, though, which is a small step. My current advice: don’t read the book. If your friends are reading it, pass on a warning. You can find more info at www.ezzo.info

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Escape

Posted on October 11, 2004 by Katy K.

Once again, I try to prove that I can think of things besides babies. So, two alternate reality fiction books, and escape by retail therapy.

The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde This is the third book (of four so far) in a series of literary science fiction starring our heroine, Thursday Next. The books are action-packed and hilariously funny, full of subtle and not-so-subtle references to classic literature. “Science fiction” here means alternate reality, not spaceships, as Thursday is from a 1980s England where history and the rules are just a little different. In this book, though, Thursday is hiding from the evil Goliath Corporation in the world of fiction – taking over the part of a character in an unpublished mystery, while continuing her apprenticeship with Miss Haversham of Great Expectations as a JurisFiction agent. Even here, though, it looks like someone is out to get her. Her husband was eradicated by Goliath in the previous books, and now she’s struggling to keep her enemy, Aornis, from erasing her memories of him as well. I’m afraid I’ve simplified things a great deal – Fforde seems to add another layer or two of complication to the world with each book in the series. If you’ve read the previous two books, you won’t want to miss this one, and it may even make sense. If you haven’t, avoid getting lost in this one by starting with the first one, Lost in a Good Book, in which Thursday sets out to rescue Jane Eyre, who has been kidnapped from her book.

Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling The year is 1998, and the world is our own. Mike Havel, a former Marine turned private pilot is flying a family to their cabin in Montana when his plane – and his watch, and their guns, and all the city lights around – stop working. Meanwhile, in Oregon, folk musician and coven leader Juniper MacKenzie is playing a tavern gig when the same thing happens (except she’s happily not in a plane.) The technology of the past couple hundred years has all stopped working, and only those who can adapt will survive. Yes, it requires a major leap of faith to believe that the principles that make our technology work could change overnight. This improbability is brought up several times over the course of the book, but it’s not the focus of the book. Instead, it focuses on what makes a society stripped down to the bare bones work. Our two heroes pick up a bunch of followers with useful skills – a Tolkein fan whose Legolas delusions are suddenly essential, rodeo hands, SCA members with knowledge of fighting and metal crafting. Besides practical skills, the book looks at the importance of myth and belief, as our heroes adjust to being treated as such, and the leader of a small coven suddenly finds her previously marginalized religion in demand. I enjoyed the characters, reflecting on the deeper issues, and was pulled in by the action. And yeah, as a Scadian, it’s pretty funny to read a book where SCA membership could be a life or death matter.

thepurplebook by Hillary Mendelsohn And for a complete change of pace – shopping. Ok, you might think, as I generally do, that a guide to internet shopping is pretty superfluous when you have Google. But if you do shop – or want to shop – on-line, this book is pretty darn useful. It’s divided by major shopping categories, and gives brief one or two sentence reviews of different on-line retailers, along with telling what they sell and icons saying how expensive shipping is, how easy the site is to use, etc. I do wish that her icons included general price ranges for the store, not just shipping, but this is a relatively small quibble, as one can generally tell from the reviews how high-brow a store will be. While some of the retailers were familiar to me, many of them were not – whole worlds of cool sites to browse opened up! I don’t plan to buy it for myself, especially as they come out with a new edition every year, but it’s definitely worth checking out at the library.

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