Love and Kisses

Hearts and flowers are just about attacking us as we walk into stores these days. 'Tis the season of Looove. For the past few years I've been trying to track down Valentine's Day picture books that will be suitable for our family. The large majority of Valentine-related storybooks involve:

1. The issue of boyfriends and girlfriends (which I'm not interested in promoting to our children); and/or

2. The characters are in a schoolhouse setting (i.e., characters exchanging valentine's with their classmates.)

Due to the fact that my children are five and under and given the fact that we intend to home school, I'd rather find books that deal with this holiday in a way which has the characters sharing or showing love to and with family members and close friends. It is easier to identify the holiday as it relates to family members at present.

When I saw the following two titles available from Candlewick Press, I knew I wanted to check them out. I had high hopes that they'd suit us well -- and I was right! They do!



First of all: Maisy. We love Maisy around here and visit with her and her friends on a regular basis. Maisy's Valentine is a sticker book which can make it feel like it's a "one time use only" sort of book. But really that's not so. Of course, the fun for the child is in deciding how to help illustrate the scenes in this book with the provided stickers. If you are, um, kind of fastidious about where you put the stickers, you can read and enjoy this book several times over. (Even if you randomly stick them places, I suppose you could still find a way to enjoy this story!) In Maisy's Valentine we find Maisy baking treats for her friends. Cyril gives balloons to Eddie the Elephant. Eddie has presents for Ostrich. And in the end?! All of the characters go on a train ride together! (So you know that this book is a hit in our house!)

Another cute story involving Maisy!



Love and Kisses is available both as a paperback and a board book. (We were sent a copy of the board book for review purposes.) In this positively delightful story we explore what happens if you start a kiss going. Kiss your cat and your cat might then go and kiss a cow who might then go and kiss a giggling goose and so on and so forth. The kiss circles 'round back to the cat who will likely come back and kiss you! This book is simplistic and sweet. (It's even illustrated by a gal by the last name of Sweet so you know it can't go wrong!) I think this book is very friendly and fun to read. I'm glad to add to this our home library as it is perfectly suited for who we are as a family.

Thank you, Candlewick Press, for sending a copy of these books in our direction! We love them!

Love My Shoes! (or, Books I Never Expected to Add to Our Home Library)

Apparently I had a girl baby. Not that I should find this terribly shocking after a year of living with her.

Ok, seriously now... she loves shoes. She has a shoe fettish. I don't have a shoe fettish and so I'm not sure where this was inherited from. But the more interesting the shoe, the more my little girl, Bookworm3 (age 10 months) loves it. Her brother's house shoes are her particular favorite, although she is partial to rain boots as well. Truth be told, the house shoes have spent far less time on feet than they have in baby's mouth. (And I've put them through the washer a thousand times, least you fret!)She even sleeps with them. See here for proof:



I may own roughly 10 pairs of shoes. (That includes my house shoes, old garden tennis shoes and dancing shoes.) I think my daughter owns just as many but I fear she may own more than I ever have in my whole entire lifetime by the time she turns five years old. She is attracted to shoes! So, when I saw a copy of Love My Shoes!, by Eileen Spinelli, well, I just couldn't pass it up!



It is a very girly board book which is bound up in a nice and sturdy manner that includes a pink ribbon woven into the binding. The book is a very loose "story" about a little girl who loves shoes. Rhyming text allows the reader to delight in the following:

Old shoes.
New shoes.
Red shoes? Blue shoes?
Shoes to run in,
chase the sun in.

Et cetera, et cetera.

Holly Conger provides three dimensional illustrations for this book which makes it interesting to look at. Then, of course, there are the shoes. From high heels to hightops, this book is full of brightly colored displays of happy feet. (They are happy, of course, because they are wearing amazing shoes. Not Crocs, of course, because I have it on good authority that Crocs are a big fashion no-no.)

(If it matters, I wish it to be known that I have never actually worn Crocs because I was warned against them when they were becoming a rage.)

I think this book is funny and cute but mostly because I don't really care about shoes and find it fascinating that my daughter does. We shall see what the future holds (or perhaps what her closets do) but for now we're enjoying this book, courtesy of Ideals Publications, who sent a copy in exchange for my sharing my honest opinion of this book. And now I have done so. (MY fettish is in having to overstate the obvious all of the time, thank you very much!)

P.S. Shoes for Oregonians?! What do you think? ;)

Dishing Up Oregon (giveaway)

First off, let me say that even if you aren't from Oregon you can absolutely enjoy Dishing Up® Oregon. Why? Because it's chock full of recipes using fresh veggies and wines, cheeses and other things that are terribly delicious and can likely be found in your neck of the woods. If you are from Oregon, you are likely to find this title more intriguing than your average American. (*snicker*) The subtitle of this book is 145 Recipes That Celebrate Farm-to-Table Flavors. It's fresh and it's delicious. I mean that in both a literal and a hip sort of way. (Ha!)

Dishing Up® Oregon might go down as being my favorite recipe book of all time. No, I'm not kidding. Every recipe that we have tried from here has been positively delicious! We've tried several of the recipes within including the Mixed Green Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette (picture of my personal salad included here on the right!), the Fettuccine with Caramelized Onions, Zucchini Ribbons, and Walnuts in Yogurt Sauce (using my own homemade yogurt to boot!), and the Molasses-Ginger Stout Cake using local Stout. (W-O-W!!!) We might have also dumped some fresh homemade icecream on our cake, because that's just how we roll here.

This book sort of takes you around Oregon, to the farms, wineries and coastline and offers recipes from each region. I have to say, I don't even like seafood but I'm seriously tempted to give some of their seafood recipes a go. (My five year old would adore me forever if I would!) You can find simple recipes in here as well as much more time-consuming ones. It includes everything from how to roast tomatoes to Lamb Meatballs Stuffed with Swiss Chard and Goat Cheese.

I'm looking forward to peaches being back in season around here, for then I shall try out the Peach-Herb Salad with Pickled Red Onions and Balsamic Viaigrette. (YUM!) This next week I'm planning to make the Pear-Pepper Chutney (with a few spare pears I found at Trader Joe's) and I'm fairly certain that's going to be well-received around here. Happily, I also recently discovered a source for lamb so I'm going to have to give those meatballs a go. Yes, yes! SO many yummy things to make and eat! I love creating things in the kitchen for my family to enjoy and this book helps me do just that! I'm lovin' it! (And so is Jonathan, for the record!) The kids are eating along with and can at least say that they are being well-fed if nothing else! (They didn't complain too loudly about that fettuccine dish though, let me tell ya!) We have them try it all alongside us to broaden their palates and so we can all enjoy a fine meal. It's fun.

We have seriously enjoyed Dishing Up® Oregon and now I'm delighted to share that the publisher, Storey Publishing, has offered to give away one copy of this recipe book to one of my readers here at Reading to Know! Care to win? Simply leave a comment below. (Please include a valid e-mail address for me to contact you, should you be selected as the winner.) This contest is open to U.S. Residents only and will be open through Thursday, February 9th.)

If you would like to leave one extra comment for an extra entry, you can "Like" Storey Publication's Facebook page. If you "Like" them, leave another comment on this post saying so.

Thank you, Storey Publications, for sending me a copy of Dishing Up® Oregon to try out on my family. We appreciate it!

Reading to Know Bookclub :: February 2012

Well, here we are in February already and already I feel like the year is running away from me! But we completed our January read, with the discussion of Beyond Opinion being ongoing. In February, "the other Carrie" from With All That I've Been Given, is leading us in a discussion of the following:



Running Away to Home, by Jennifer Wilson

Here is what Carrie has to say about this read:

******

I really enjoy travel memoirs, so when I saw Running Away to Home featured in a magazine, I knew I wanted to read it. Author Jennifer Wilson is an Iowan (my current home state!) who decides to move to her ancestral homeland of Croatia for a year in hopes of reconnecting with her past and present family. I did enjoy certain aspects of the book, though it won't become a favorite. For those who plan to read it, I want to give a warning that the use of language and alcohol is quite prevalent. Of course much of it is cultural since it is a travel memoir, but the author certainly participates and even relishes her participation. (I was unaware of this when I chose the book, and want that to be clear.) Despite those pieces of the story, I think reading this kind of book is a refreshing reminder that the world is a diverse and fascinating place. Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in my own environment, and I find it fun to be "an armchair traveler." I hope that some of you will decide to take the trip with me!

*****

I certainly plan on doing a little armchair traveling with Carrie. It sounds like it's going to be a(nother) thought-provoking read!

You have until Friday, February 24th to read this book. At that time I will post the concluding post for the month of February. On the 24th you will be invited to link up your post/share your thoughts on this title. I look forward to seeing what everyone has to say about this one at the end of the month!

Just a reminder, feel free to pick and choose which months you would like to participate with this bookclub. You are not obligated to read along with the group every single month. Not every title will appeal to every person all year long. Just do the best you can and read as many as you like. We look forward to discussing each individual monthly title with you on the last Friday of every month. Hope you'll "play along" with us every now and again through 2012!

March's title: The Pilgrim's Progress

Keeping House: The Litany of Every Day Life, by Margaret Kim Peterson

Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life has to be one of the most thought-provoking books on keeping home that I have ever read (and was, in fact, part of the inspiration behind Living Like a Narnian.) A friend of mine from church kept telling me I really ought to read it and I kept saying I would and that I wanted to. At the beginning of the year I finally told her I'd take the time to read her copy and once I cracked open the covers I seriously wondered what was wrong with me for having taken so very long to get to this read! As I told some people, if I were in the habit of saying that certain books made my soul sing, this would have been one of those books and one of those occasions! It really made my soul sing!

It isn't a book about being a wife or keeper of the home. It isn't about organizing your closet or making a delicious dinner. It also is all about those very things and why they are so important - whether you are married or single, have children or are an empty nester. It is a book about housework and why "having to" do it should not be viewed in a negative light. Quite the opposite in fact! It is positive encouragement to tackle the laundry with joy and gladness, with plenty of good Biblical examples as to why this should be so. Author Margaret Kim Peterson is straight-forward, easy to understand and completely practical.

Instead of telling you why you should read this book, I'm just going to quote from it. This is not a book I have thoroughly thought-through and applied. It is in the process of being mulled over. Perhaps some of these quotes will cause you to give pause and give thanks for the daily chores which are full of meaning, even when they disgust us. I hope I never clean a toilet bowl in the same way again.

So what really matters? Well, housework, among other things. It is not the only thing that matters, but it does matter. It matters that people have somewhere to come home to and that there be beds and meals and space and order available there. Whether we do a lot of housework or a little of it, whether we keep house only for ourselves or for other people as well, housework forms part of the basic patterning of our lives, a pattern that we might identify as a kind of "litany of everyday life." (Chapter One, What's Christian About Housework, page 18)

~~~~~

"Children themselves benefit from being made part of the team that does the housework. Children long for connection with the real things of the real world, for work that is real and satisfying and that can help them become creators and producers rather than simply spectators and consumers of the labors of others. When we take time to teach a child to crack an egg or set the table, when we allow a child to fold the laundry or wash the floor, when we respond to the contributions of children with appreciation rather than criticism, we encourage the child to see himself or herself as a worker and a contributor to the economy of the household." (Chapter Two, A Place to Live, page 36)

~~~~~

As one writer* notes, "The front door of the home is the side door of the church." (Chapter Three, Sheltering a Household, page 45)

*I cannot tell from the notations who the writer that she is references is.

~~~~~~

"Wearing, and providing others with, clothes appropriate to the season of the year is a way of living in harmony with the God-given character of our surroundings. We all know small children who resist wearing a jacket when it is cold out and have to be reminded that in winter, we dress for winter. But adults can find this a challenge too. I read a newspaper article once about a fashion trend that involved adult women wearing short, thin dresses in the middle of northern winter. I don't remember how these women were said to have avoided frostbite, although presumably they didn't spend much time outside in these outfits.

Fashion statements like these may seem trivial - why should it matter what people wear in the cold as long as they're happy in it? But if a person's choice of clothing seems to reveal complete disengagement from the climate in which she lives, what does this suggest about that person's degree of connection in other aspects of her life? The more our clothing relates us directly and comfortably to the specific times and places in which we live, the more likely it seems that we will be able to relate directly and hospitably to the other persons who lives touch ours." (Chapter Four, Clothes to Wear, page 70)

~~~~~

"Handwork is an art that binds people together across generations.

. . .

The things we make can also form bridges between individuals and generations.

. . .

It is this capacity of handwork to make room for joy, room for grief, room for hope and waiting and process, that makes it so valuable a practice in a world that increasingly has no room for any of these things. Many of us have less and less experience with anything that unfolds over time; we expect everything to be instantaneous and are indignant when our e-mail takes more than two seconds to arrive in its recipients' in-boxes. But life is not instantaneous. It takes time, and handwork can be a way to weave temporality and process back into our lives." (Chapter Four, Clothes to Wear, pp 79-80)

~~~~~

"Is laundry so different from other kids of work that it cannot be seen and experienced as worthwhile rather than worthless? Christian reflection on work emphasizes the value of work that serves the bodily necessities of those around us, the ways in which work can bring people together as they learn from and care for one another, and the pleasure in a job done well as people imitate God's own persistence in perfecting His creation." (Chapter 5, Clothing a Household, pp 82-83)

~~~~~

"As we thus obey and imitate Christ in caring for people in these basic ways, we remember Him and His ministry and presence among humans, and we anticipate the day when we will see Him face to face in God the Father's house. Remembering both Jesus and Eden itself, longing for Paradise, living faithfully with one another between the times - these are the things that people do at home. As we participate with one another in the litany of daily life, we foster these memories and these hopes." (Chapter 8, The Well-Kept Home, page 165)

Yes, I will be returning to this book many times in the future, I'm quite certain.

Lucy Maud Montgomery Reading Challenge :: 2012 Conclusion

It just went by too fast, that's what! I regret to say that it is indeed over though. I was hoping to be able to re-read much more Montgomery than I was ultimately able to, but I did enjoy the two books I was able to visit with (both of which are linked to my reviews:)

The Story Girl
The Golden Road

I managed to watch a single episode of Road to Avonlea while walking on the treadmill one evening! Lastly, I managed to throw an Anne of Green Gables brunch (linked). (First Annual?) The brunch didn't go exactly as I was hoping (wait? life?) but my friends were incredibly gracious about the whole thing and we enjoyed some yummy food and good soul encouraging fellowship which I'll take any ol' day of the week!

Over all, this month has not gone as I expected. It is what it is, I guess! I'm very curious to discover what all of you read this past month. There have been a post or two which have popped up in my Reader as we've gone along. Looking forward to seeing all the posts I might have missed! Please leave a link in the comment section below so that we can all see what you read and talked about! In a week or so I'll share all of the links in a single post for easy referencing for those who would like it, as I have done in the past.

I hope you have enjoyed your time with Montgomery this month and we'll "play again" next January!

By Design, by Susan Hunt

Well, to be honest, I wasn't all together impressed with By Design: God's Distinctive Calling for Women, by Susan Hunt. I think this is the second or third time I've approached something by Hunt and had some difficulty. Her manner of expressing herself just doesn't jive very well with me and I struggled through the book as a result. That, even though I was prepared to like it and agree with it whole heartedly.

The argument in this book is that men and women were created differently and are designed by God to do different things. Hunt does not believe that men are superior to women, but that they do have a different role to play in life than women do. In all of this, I agree with her. Her argument is that women were designed to be helpers and she goes on to define and describe her view of Biblical womanhood through scriptures and various examples. She makes her point but it's hard for me to conclude the she makes her point well because I just don't connect to the way she goes about attempting to clarify what Biblical womenhood should ultimately look like and/or be.

The main point she stresses is that women are to be helpers. By this she means that we are designed by God to be nurturers and to feel emotions and have more compassion than men. In this way, she says, we are able to hear and see needs when men frequently overlook such things. Because women are designed to be more emotional, they have compassionate hearts that wish to reach out to the poor, the lost, the needy and the weak among us. The whole of her book is filled with example after example of women who heard about or witnessed needs and then went about working to fulfill the described need.

I see what Hunt is trying to do by arguing in this manner and I agree with her basic points. But as she pointed out so clearly, women are much more emotional than men. And this book came off as an emotional plea to use emotions to work in the home, church and society at large to bring about change. Again, I see her point and I rather agree with it. However, as I read through it I kept thinking about how a few specific people I know would react to reading this and I think that Hunt would have a terribly hard time getting through to them to argue herself out. Mostly because she doesn't really "argue" or present factual information.

For instance, she tries to make one of her points but using the game of chess as an example. To begin making her point, she says, "Now, I don't play chess but a friend told me..." (Given that I married into a chess playing family, I rolled my eyes at this example and wished she had decided to relate what she was trying to say to something that was familiar to her. That old adage about "writing about that which you know" was running through my brain as I read on.) Hunt also stated at one point: "my unscientific observation is that..." which made me want to shut the book, quite honestly.

Due to the fact that she discredited herself and her observations so many times (albeit unintentionally), it made it hard for me to want to read it or to even talk about it online. Why? Because I agree with her that society has a serious problem when it comes to defining and supporting the individual (and different) roles of men and women. I do believe that the feminist movement of the 1960's was detrimental to the family and the home in many ways. That said (and this is an In All Honesty Post) I don't know that I can articulate my reasons why I believe that the church, primarily, and society, secondarily, needs to acknowledge that men and women were created to be different. I do believe that men were called to be leaders and women were called to be their helpers. I do not believe women are dumb, are supposed to be silent on all issues at all times and are lesser than the males. I believe that they are designed to compliment the men and do great things in their own right. I have a multitude of thoughts all jumbled up in my head about this which I'm working on ironing out and thinking through so that I can better articulate my belief system. Therefore I am on the lookout for books which helpfully spell out the arguments a bit so that I can work through my own thoughts in an orderly way.

Towards the end of last year I started reading Countering the Claims of Evangelical Feminism: Biblical Responses to the Key Questions, by Wayne Grudem. I interrupted the read to finish up some other books but I really ought to go back to it because in it Grudem lays out a Biblical argument in a clear, concise manner which is easy to understand and make sense of. It is far more academic than Hunt's book and has the ability to argue bad theology out of you. (This is more what I am looking for.)

I would say that By Design is a call to action to women who are in the church and believe that they have a unique design and purpose in conjunction with men. If you agree with Hunt already, there are a few things in this book to be encouraged by. But if you don't agree with her, or if you are sorting through your thoughts in order to better articulate them, you will likely find this book lacking. It feels more like it is "preaching to the choir" -- which I am a part of -- with a little too much song and dance and not enough thoughtful, Biblical argument.

It's definitely back to Grudem for me!

Beyond Opinion :: Reading to Know 2012 Bookclub

Sky chose Beyond Opinion: Living the Faith We Defend which is edited by Ravi Zacharias for our January book club read. I'm blaming her for the read and thanking her at the same time. To be perfectly honest, this book was a lot to take. It's meaty in a most fabulous way. It's scary looking too, and that's unfortunate because it is an incredibly worthwhile read. Still, it is difficult. (I am seriously intimidated by it, truth be told!)

To continue on in the vein of complete honesty, neither Sky nor I were able to finish the book. It's just plain difficult to muddle through. (She got much further than I did. My C.S. Lewis class got in the way of my ability to read as much as I'd like of this book or my Montgomery choices this month! I'm telling myself not to feel guilty but to just keep doing as much as I can. That said, both Sky and I have every intention of finishing Beyond Opinion over the course of the next few weeks (hopefully.)

If you either started reading or (gloriously!) finished reading the book, please write up your post sharing your thoughts and link your post in the comment section. If you do not have a blog but want to comment on the read, we welcome you to do so! Join in and share your thoughts below!

This post will remain up as-is, so you can feel free to link your thoughts up in the comment section at any time.

Sky kindly wrote up some thoughts to share of the book but then we both read my friend Tim's post about this book over on his site, Diary of an Autodidact and we agreed to just point you off in his direction.

Tim makes the statement early on in his review that, "We as a culture have forgotten how to think." Reading his complete thoughts encouraged me to keep pressing on through this book and wrestle with the hard thoughts and arguments which are presented within the pages of Beyond Opinion. We have forgotten how to think and we don't like being forced to do it.

Let me rephrase that.

I have forgotten how to think and I don't like being forced to do it.

But if I do not exercise my brain and wrestle with these very issues then my faith will be weakened and watered down. And what, then, will I be passing down to my children?

I'm going to finish this book and I not only invite you to do so, but I encourage you to do so. For your own good. Even if it is hard.

Again, check out Tim's post HERE. Link and/or share your thoughts below in the comment section and we'll get this conversation started!

LMM Giveaway #4

The winners of the following contests, as selected by Random.org, are as follows:

Tales of Avonlea DVD - Shonya (Who will no longer be a verybadperson.)
Pat of Silver Bush - #1 Annette

Congrats, ladies!

Now, on to the last Montgomery-related giveaway for this particular Reading Challenge . . .




Here's another set I picked up this past year . . .

The Story Girl and its sequel, The Golden Road.

These books are Don't Miss titles, especially if you are a fan of the Road to Avonlea television series. If you've watched the series on tv then you might run across a familiar episode or two in the reading.

Would you like me to ship these books your direction? Simply leave a comment below. (If you are participating in the Lucy Maud Montgomery Reading Challenge and have written up a post linking back and telling me so, please feel free to leave a second comment for a second entry.) This contest will be open to U.S. and Canadian residents and it will be open through Monday, January 30th. (This contest will only run the weekend so that I can wrap it up, along with the LMM Reading Challenge, on the 31st. We're in the home stretch now!)

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. THE WINNER IS #3 - BerlinerinPoet

I hope you have (participated in) and enjoyed this Reading Challenge! I hope that if you haven't had a chance to read Montgomery, you'll give her a chance. Perhaps this contest will provide you with that opportunity. Happy Reading!