2006
there are leaves in the trees
maura @ 7:08 pm
We’re in the home stretch now with this crazy NaBloPoMo thing, woo hoo! Looks like I might even make it to the bitter end, despite the poorly-timed fact that I have two (2!) class projects due at the end of the week. Sleep is for the weak!
Taking yet another page from the Book of Anne, here’s what we’re reading right now:
Absolutely, Positively Alexander, by Judith Viorst (Gus)
We’d been talking about the no good horrible very bad day book (Gus had read it at school), then they had this threefer when I went to check it out of the library. Quality stuff for the parents too, like carpooling in an old VW bug with a kid in the front seat! And a very good reason NOT to have gum at bedtime.
Adverbs, by Daniel Handler (Me)
You know him better as Lemony Snicket, but he has a real name and writes for grown-ups too. This is his new novel, though the library stuck a “short stories” sticker on the spine. Each chapter name is an adverb. It’s funny, light, sweet, and a little chewy, just like the delicious coconut meringue cookies my mom makes at Xmas. Mmmmm, I’m hungry.
Her Smoke Rose Up Forever, by James Tiptree Jr. (Me)
I’ve only read the first of these short stories, but man, it was good. James Tiptree is the pen name of Alice Sheldon, and these are some really great scifi stories.
Hold on to Your Kids, Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Mate (Me)
I keep hearing good things about this parenting book so I finally requested it from the library. Though I guess I didn’t read the subtitle too closely (“Why Parents Matter More than Peers”) because it’s more about today’s tween problems than the tantrum my 5-in-less-than-a-week yr old threw last week on the B71. I may just return this to the library unread.
A Little History of the World, by E. H. Gombrich (Me)
I started this at the beach over the summer and shamefully have left it lying on the shelf since school started. But since it’s a story that I already kind of know, it’s not like I’m losing the thread of it. It’s so nicely written, everyone should read it!
True Names by Vernor Vinge, and the Opening of the Cyberspace Frontier, edited by James Frenkel (Jonathan)
I don’t know anything about this book, but Jonathan seems to like it. The Publishers Weekly blurb on Amazon says: “This remarkable anthology reprints Hugo winner Vinge’s (The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge) “True Names” (1981), the story that began SF’s cyberpunk revolution, with 11 essays showing its effect on science as well as fiction.”
Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories, by Dr. Seuss (Gus)
Everyone loves these three classic stories of bluster, bragging, and vanity. Gus has been particularly into people getting their comeuppance lately, so he is all over these.
Also Jonathan says he’s reading “A Ruby book and another programming book,” but he didn’t tell me their names. Maybe it’s for a secret project! A secret project to raise my traffic numbers. He installed Google Analytics on our websites recently which revealed that his hearts server is completely kicking my ass.
4 comments on “there are leaves in the trees”
It’s more likely to be “Programming Ruby” or “Agile Web Development with Rails”, both useful but maybe not so good for bedtime reading.
OH. Well, it sounds as though it might be good for putting people to sleep.
Yes, Lisa guessed it, I just checked J’s desk and it is Programming Ruby. I don’t know that he’s reading any fiction right now. I think programming books would definitely put me to sleep!
I keep forgetting about Babar — we don’t own any (and Gus has been less into going to the library lately, sad for me!). But we should get some Babar because I’m sure he would like it. With a Max and an Alexander you have a million books to choose from if you want books with their names! We have a fun book called Gus and Button (by the Play with Your Food guy with the crazy Scandinavian name). But we also have a book called Gus was a Friendly Ghost which I remembered fondly from my childhood (it has a bright purple cover!) but on current reading has turned out to be kind of lame.
Wow, now that this daily posting thing is over I actually have time to comment! :)
Ruby as in Max & Ruby? We like the Pandora’s Box one (even with the happy but still…a little disconcerting, check the expression on Ruby’s face…ending!) Have not read that particular Viorst book but we ALL love the terrible horrible one. Everyone does! Universal theme! That carpool thing *is* funny/scary/dated, as is the office equipment and dad’s 70s moustache. Contrary to our love of that book, we named Alexander after Babar’s child (Max’s idea).