Light Refreshments Served

As previously mentioned, I like to get my kids something to read for Christmas. So does my mom, so this delights the nerdy English teacher in me. I hope it delights you, too and doesn’t stress you out. In order to help alleviate some of the pressure to find just the right book, I’ve made a collection of my recommendations (click on the title to order online=even easier!):

For Miles (11.5), who loves a good series and who regularly devours a good book in a day, he, and consequently his brother, Owen (9.5), recommend these:

Fablehaven

Diary of a Wimpy Kid (The movies are coming shortly! Be ready!)

Leven Thumps

Owen’s favorite book of the year, The Candy Shop War. (They’re making a movie about it soon!)

For Phoebe (6.5), a beginning reader, she loves:

The Jewel Fairies

Hugh and Margaret have so many handed-down books that are new to them, so they’re good.

And, finally, DON’T FORGET TO GIVE THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW (VISITING TEACHERS, NEIGHBORS, REGULAR TEACHERS, TEENS, FRIENDS OF ALL AGES, PEOPLE WHO LOVE TO LAUGH, PEOPLE WHO NEED TO LAUGH, PEOPLE WHO YOU KNOW):

STALKING SANTA

Have I mentioned before that I’m in it? Or that my husband stars in it? Or that William Shatner does the narration?

I know that a lot of mom’s have special “formulas” for buying Christmas presents for their kids, but I can’t actually stick to anything like that. But one thing that I always have in the back of my head is from my friend Jenny who sticks to the “something to wear, something to read, and something to play with.” I like that idea and I will add, “and something they’ve really want, but you’ve convinced them they’ll never get.” That’s fun, too.

So I’ve been thinking about my oldest son, Miles, who is eleven and a half and who reads everything. What to get HIM “something to read.” This April he turns twelve and will receive the Priesthood, which I’ve been thinking a lot about. I take it seriously, and I know he is, so I’ve been looking for a way to prepare him for what it all means.

Some of the best parenting advice Kacy gives (featured in September’s issue of Parenting Magazine 2009) is to give your child deodorant before he needs it. I think that same advice applies to other parenting issues. Give them the advice/wisdom/information before they need it. After a little research, I found this book:
Why? Powerful Answers and Practical Reasons for Living LDS Standards by John Hilton III and Anthony Sweat
I know this book is intended for teens, but my 11 year-old loves it (Nope, I didn’t save it for Christmas–See? I’m bad at this!) and has read it all cover to cover a couple of times. I put it out on the counter and let him “discover” it. He sat down and read it and continued to read it night after night. He took it to church and he’s recommended it to a lot of friends. Also, the layout looks like a Guinness Book of World Records with cool pictures and facts, so it’s easy to read and process. Since this was a big hit, I thought I must share it with you!

Why I (MOM) likes it:
*Because it gives specific quotes from the prophets as well as scientific evidence from experts in their fields.
*I know that it is intended for an LDS audience, but I think it has important application for any teen/youth.
*The questions are real. Some of the questions addressed (and there are a lot): Why does it matter who my friends are? Why shouldn’t I date until I’m 16? Why can’t I watch whatever I want? Why should I keep the Sabbath Day holy? Why should I serve a mission? Why should I repent now and not later?
*It looks cool and the information is dead on.
*We (parents/leaders) can do better than “Because (I/the prophet/your leaders) said so” when asked “Why. . .?” and here it is, all together.
*It uses technology to enhance the information given in the book. I hate the “technology is evil and so lets avoid it” prevalent in a lot of adults. It’s great–President Monson is grateful for it, and so am I! So lets use it as an effective teaching tool.

Why Miles (YOUTH) likes it:
*It’s interesting and fun to read.
*It has stuff I’ve wondered about (Miles used the word “stuff.” I would have used “information”).
*It’s just really funny.
*It’s not preachy.
*It has these cool “DO try this at home!” bubbles that send you to cool websites for more information (which he totally did).

Miles just saw me writing this and said “Oh, and I read that there’s this link to download the conference talks and music and stuff.” (What?) You can look at the book HERE (and even take a look at what the pages of the book actually look like! ) And you should. And get your kids to look at the blog HERE.
Hurry and buy it HERE!

I was listening to NPR and this interesting interview came on about “consequential strangers.” Listen to it here, or read it. And buy the book Consequential Strangers by MELINDA BLAU and KAREN L. FINGERMAN.

What struck me about this story was that it confirmed what I’ve felt for a long time (I love to be validated), and that is our seemingly unimportant interactions with people everyday really do affect the quality of our life.

Joel Stein started this idea after reading the proposed 2006 list of most influential people and wrote an essay on who, after family, he couldn’t live without. The article takes excerpts from the book and tells us:

Stein didn’t anticipate that his tongue-in-cheek essay would be taken seriously, no less strike a nerve. But the Joel 100 reflected an unspoken truth: Who we really care about are the countless everyday people who touch our lives and influence us personally.

So, who are the people in your neighborhood? The nice Target lady who chats you up, the grocer who gives your toddler a banana every time you see him, your postal worker who always smiles and waves, or the school secretary who knows your kids by name? What kind of significance do they bring to your life? Why do we want to make connections with everyone in some way, or is that just me?

Again, from the book:

As human beings, we harbor an innate desire to connect to others who make us feel safe. We seek ways to feel surrounded by people who are familiar. Thus, many anchored relationships are touchstones of our daily or weekly routines. We unconsciously anticipate the presence of these people, so much so that not seeing them or encountering them in a different place can be jarring. You run into your mechanic and his family at the mall and initially experience that frustrating where-do-I-know-him-from feeling.

If you think you’re different from me (okay, you may not talk to strangers all the time or wave at everyone you know like a lunatic), reconsider your attitude about the strangers who are playing a side character in your life sitcom. In the article, Blau and Fingerman suggest:

If — until now — you’ve never thought about, or appreciated, these supporting players, in part it’s because many of them skirt the edges of your social consciousness. You might even take them for granted … until you begin to jot down names for your holiday card list.

This NPR segment and rereading excerpts from the book got me really thinking not only about the everyday people who have a positive affect on my daily life and routine, but also about the “consequential” role I play in others’ lives.

I’m noticing a trend on various blogs wherein the blog author posts along the sidebar about what he/she is currently reading.  It’s like marijuana, “everybody’s doing it”.  Except, it seems, for me.  I’m comfortable feeling inadequate, but I just don’t understand how you guys are reading all the time.  Everyone around me reads numerous books a month, and I know for a fact that they are a heck of a lot busier than I am.  (Hey Kacy, what’s up?)  What I need to know is, how do you fit it in what with Sonic happy hour from 2-4 and new episodes of “Jon & Kate Plus 8”?  There’s a WHOLE WORLD out there outside of reading, and I’m afraid you guys are missing it!  I’m just trying to look out for you. 

Anyway, I was reading a friend’s blog today where she listed numerous books she has recently read.  Each was accompanied with a short synopsis as well as frequent suggestions for a better book within that genre.  Such as, “This one’s okay, but if you’re going to read a book about Cambodian slavery I recommend blah-blah-blah-blah-somehow-missed-Oprah’s-book-club-of-crappy-depressing-novels-blah.”  I sorta got lost right around the part about slavery.  Another book on her list was this one:

Her summary reads:  This 1960’s Russian novel follows a man through a day in the Soviet Gulag.  (Digression:  I think “gulag” should be the new “barf”.  It’s not enough to be associated with Russian oppression, it’s worthy of daily usage.  What?  No, I’M not barfing every day, but think how handy it would be for all the bulimics to have a new word.  Nothing against bulimics – I’m one too, I just forget to purge.)  Through a series of flashbacks you learn Ivan’s personal story and how his experience tells the greater story of life under Stalin’s Russia. 

At this point I am feeling guilty because I should care about that, right?  But, really?  No thanks.  Not interested.  There’s no happy ending in a book about Stalin, and if at the end of several days invested in a book the good guys don’t win, or the guy doesn’t get the girl, or the poor, abused, drunken child of 13 illegitimate siblings doesn’t find a good job and live happily ever after I don’t want to waste my time. 

And THEN I thought, “Hey, I should write a book about a day in MY life!”  But then I realized, “Hey dummy, it’s called ‘blogging’.”  Seriously, though, don’t you think that would be a good book?  “A Day In The Life of Kristy at LRS”.  Catchy.  The forward would have to be written by Ben & Jerry, you know, the dudes from Vermont who New York’ed my Super Fudge Chunk?  Yeah, THEM.  I could talk about a day in the life of a woman under the Suburbian Rule, and how when I park at Wal Mart I come out and can’t for the life of me figure out which freakin’ silver minivan is MINE, and how I am a failure at keeping flowers alive, and that none of the women in my neighborhood have seen the inside of an Oreo in decades and I resent them for it.  Then I could have all those cool flashbacks that Ivan did, and we could explore my fascinating childhood of wondering if our crotchety neighbor Mr. Barker would let us into his bomb shelter in the event that the cold war turned hot, or how my best friend’s mom taught me ballet and thought I was going to be a dancing prodigy, or the day I dressed up like Inspector Gadget for Halloween.  Then there’s the story about ditching my 8^th grade Harbor Cruise, or how I went dancing in a gay bar in Austria with a very straight Greek, and how I narrowly escaped death parasailing in Mexico.  (We paid two teenage Mexicans to sail us off a platform in the middle of the ocean, anyone who survives that narrowly escapes death.  Sure is a nice view, though.)

I think the hardest part about writing that book would be having to thank all the people who helped me.  I’d probably mention my therapist and forget to list my mom and then all hell would break loose.  Yeah, on second thought, you should probably just read about Stalin.

It seems like all I ever hear about kids and books these days is that “kids don’t read” anymore. And they certainly don’t read “for pleasure.” So I love a book that bucks that trend.

On Tuesday night, a couple of thousand kids and parents and other assorted people gathered at Cottonwood High School in Salt Lake City for the launch of the fourth volume of the Fablehaven series: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary. Some of those kids stood in line for three hours just to meet the author, Brandon Mull, and have him sign their books. Is that the behavior of people who aren’t excited about reading?

The great thing is, Fablehaven is truly a worthy read. I love Mull’s style, which is to not pull back on rich vocabulary, to throw in surprises that even his editor (me) failed to foresee, to create characters that truly feel alive, to incorporate all kinds of glorious mythologies from the various legends of the world, and to weave a plot so intricate and unexpected and gripping that I have trouble putting the books down. I love that he visits schools all over the country, leaving kids starry-eyed over the world of imagination available to them in books. I love that he’s really, truly a nice guy, a pleasure to work with and a skilled wordsmith who works hard at his craft and improves with every volume.

I love feeling that reading will never quite die as long as there are books like this being created.

Randy (remember Randy–Rachel’s other half who brought us four writing gals together? Hi Randy!) sent me this link and it’s really interesting and validating. I knew books and music tastes had something to do with intelligence. . . and, of course, facebook. Seriously, facebook has something to do with everything now, right?

In this article, Marisa Taylor explains that Virgil Griffith, a Caltech graduate student, used facebook data about favorite books and music and looks at a “tongue-in-cheek statistical look at taste and intelligence.” Griffith’s background is interesting. His “Wikiscanner” which is a “database that tracks the sources of anonymous edits to Wikipedia entries” has embarrassed a few corporations and such. (I’ve been reading up on all of that and it’s very entertaining) Now he’s validating my musical tastes. (I’ll take whatever validation I can get.)

What I love about “Books and Music That Make You Dumb,” is how it’s a joke, but not really. I know, especially in college, I would “evaluate” a person largely based on their taste in books and music. I ended a blind date quickly once when I, as an English major, went out with a guy who admitted he thought reading was “a waste of time.” I know, I know, but “did he have a good personality?” Well, he was 15 years older than me and rented a white Sebring convertible with maroon interior, leaned against it and said, “Do you want me to drive around so your friends can see you?” I did not.

Hey, Kacy, do you see that your obsession with love of U2 is high on the smarty-pants scale? Way to go!

I’ve got to go listen through Topher’s complete collection of Radiohead which I like, but don’t love, (and edit some stuff about myself on facebook, because apparently that’s where it counts), but I’m too busy listening to Sufjan Stevens, you guys. Rock on!

If you could write a book, what would it be about and what would you call it?  I’ve asked myself these questions before, but upon contemplation I’ve learned more about what I’m NOT qualified to write about rather that what I am.  So here you go – a list of BOOKS I WILL NEVER WRITE:

1.  “What Skinny People Know”
2.  “Food Storage for Dummies”
3.  “Making the Most of Your MOTAB:  Your Road Trip Music Guide for Crossing Wyoming”
4.  “Practical Personal Progress – How to Share the Gospel While Wearing Your Medallion”  (click here for a more detailed review of my hypocrisy as a YW leader)
5.  “The Eternal Scrapbooker:  ‘Just Put A Button Where His Face Is’ and other tips for manipulating your pictures from a horrible family vacation into a book of treasured memories”
6.  “To Some It Is Given To Watch Others Do All The Work – A Guide for Recognizing Your Spiritual Gifts”

Not to be left out is the one book I feel qualified to weigh in on.  Here’s what I would call it:

“FHE for You and Me – Where Charity Sometimes Faileth and Love at Home is Optional”. Tell me that wouldn’t skyrocket to #1?

Read In your face, books!

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