Knuffle Bunny

Knuffle Bunny is another fantastic children's book by Mo Willems - I cannot remember who recommended it - maybe Catherine or Krista? Somewhere, someone recommended this and I say THANK YOU! The pictures are cute- real sepia photographs of what appears to be NYC with colorful cartoon characters drawn on top. Lauren loves the pictures and thinks that the people live in a castle (brownstones in NYC with bars on the windows- she cracks me up!) The story is about a little girl named Trixie who cannot talk yet, and she goes on an errand with her daddy. They forget her stuffed bunny at the Landromat, and she attempts to communicate this with her daddy, but he has no clue. In an attempt to get him to go back, she turns "boneless" - I burst out laughing when I read this- so true! Don't all kids do that, turn floppy so you cannot make them come with you? Anyway, as soon as they get home Trixie's mom immediately knows what the problem is (also so true) and Trixie gives her dad the "I told you so" look. Lauren always makes me read the story 2 or 3 times in a row, and this is actually a book I don't mind reading over and over- it makes me laugh too. Also, the pigeon appears in each of Mo Willems' books- and this is no exception- we love to find him and point him out!

The Help

I recently finished this book, seems like everyone is reading it and I am not one to be left out on such things. Quite intriguing, and I really liked it. Didn't love it, maybe it was all the hype- maybe it just needs to marinate in my mind. But, certainly worth picking up for a quick read. If you are planning on seeing the movie, I always recommend reading the book first- I find the characters I create in my mind are more exciting and vivid than the characters in a movie- if you watched it before reading the book I suspect you would loose all that.

The story is about the lives and complex relationships between black women who work as maids for white women in Jacksonville in the 1960's. It is thought provoking, and relatively light-hearted although it deals with some difficult topics such as racism and class divisions in society. I would be interested in hearing what you all thought of this book (since everyone is reading it, I am guessing you have too!!)

Dont Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

This is an excellent children's book! We actually have this one, "Don't let the pigeon stay up late" and "The pigeon finds a hot dog". Lauren and I both enjoy all three - her favorite is the hot-dog one. It is very simple and funny, and tickles your sense of humor. The pigeon shows a lot of emotion (for a cartoon pigeon) and I think it is great for a toddler who gets frustrated sometimes, to discuss the pigeon's feelings. I actually am thinking about getting another book by Mo Willems - he has a series of Elephant and piggie books that are supposed to be good, and recently read about  "Hooray for Amanda and her alligator" and it sounded good too.

Born to Run

I just finished the book "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall. Loved it! The general premise, it is a story about running and ultramarathoning and how we are physiologically created to run long distances. There are many references to the Leadville 100 (Jeff's dream race I hear about all the time) and many of the characters in the book are very entertaining.  A bit of a change from my usual genre, but I really enjoyed it~ although I find that non-fiction books take me a lot longer to read usually.  I told Jeff that he must read it, and he is not really loving it so far. I have had so many people recommend the book to me, I cannot imagine him not loving it- we will have to see.
If anyone does decide to read it, check out some of the blogs of the author and book characters, I found it really entertaining to see pictures of everyone.

Book Review- Room

Last weekend I read the book Room by Emma Donogue. I have had several people recommend it to me, but the story sounded disturbing so I was hessitent. Well, it was disturbing, but I loved it none-the-less. The story is about a woman who is kidnapped and held prisoner in a small room for years, it is based on a real-life story of a woman held captive for 24 years in Austria. The story is told from the perspective of her 5 year old son, who was born while she was captive. The woman is so imaginitive in the ways she teaches her son life lessons, and makes the best of a terrible situation for his sake. I read it in about a day and a half- it is a super quick read and not as disturbing as it might sound. If anyone checks it out, please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Good reading

So, no surprise to anyone who knows me- I am an avid reader. As in, I DEVOUR books. Before Lauren was born I was at the library 2-3 times per month to pick up a stack of books. I certainly have slowed down since I had Lauren- not just enough time in the day. My friend at work Amy clued me in to a good series of books- The Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. Amy isn't a huge reader, so when she claimed to be hooked, I figured I should check it out. I am on the 3rd book in the series- Eclipse (4 total) and I am totally hooked. They are a bit juvenile (think teen angst and romance) and very fictional, but really entertaining. I am not used to things quite so fictional- as in teenagers falling in love with vampires, but I am really enjoying these books. They are a lightening fast read, too. I certainly recommend.

ps- the books are being made into movies, too. I am NOT going to see the movies, I have a strict policy of not watching movies of books that I have read because it kinda ruins the imagery I have developed.