It is Monday, What Are You Reading?

Dorothy Parker, boy I cannot wait to read about her life. I've never done any in-depth biographical reading about Dorothy Parker, or even read much of her work, though I've always considered myself a fan. Why? Here's a little taste:

"You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think" Dorothy Parker on being challenged to use the word "horticulture" in a sentence.

"Lips that taste of tears they say/Are the best for kissing"

"That would be good for them to carve on my tombstone: Wherever she went, including here, it was against her better judgment."

As you can see, I'm in for a fun 'unit study' on Dorothy Parker!

This week I'm going to read I So Don't Do Mysteries from last week. Additionally I have ordered an entire study on Dorothy Parker from the library. I do not know how much of it I will get through, but I am hoping to know much more about this most interesting poet/author by week's end. I may also choose a book from my collection of audio books on my MP3 player for a little break in my school routine. I am leaning towards Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, by Dai Saijie, but I may opt for Everything on a Waffle, by Polly Horvath, from the J-Fic collection. Lastly, the book club at my library is reading Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. I think I am going to start that one tonight.

Last week I did finish the Elegance of the Hedgehog, watch for my comments tomorrow.

113 Things to do by 13, by Brittany Macleod, is a book that will universally appeal to tweens. I read about half of the book, which was enough for me. The good: there are some excellent resources listed in the book, such as websites with information on volunteering, babysitting, and health. They also advocate for sweet and understated make up techniques. There are many good things promoted such as good study habits, personal hygiene tips, and talking to your mother about important issues. The bad: The book promotes pulling pranks (they advise to be sure that no one is hurt or humiliated but the examples were not the type of thing I'd want my tween to pull), Truth or Dare (never a good game), and they encourage a bit of boy-craziness, which in my opinion, tweens don't need any help in that area!!

Brown Bag Success: written by two dieticians Sandra K. Nissenberg and Barbara N. Pearl. My tween daughter read through this book and marked her favorite recipes. She wants to try the Very Berry Muffins, several of the trail mixes, the chocolate zucchini cookies, and she really liked the idea of the graham cracker, peanutbutter and banana sandwiches! She also made sure to tell me some of the soups looked pretty darned good! My daughter was also intrigued with the idea that mommies write notes on napkins when their kids go to school, things like riddles and messages. We home school, so I guess maybe I should do that for her sometime, I think she'd be thrilled! One thing I liked was a mini-chapter called, "Monthly Cycle Menu" which combines recipes from the book with typical staples found in every home to help you plan a month's worth of menus. I love anything that would get me organized for a whole month!!! Overall, this is a great little book, go get it out of your library to see if your kids would like the menus, if so, you may want to think about purchasing this handy guide.

I am pleasantly surprised that I managed to get as much reading done as I did last week. I've been so focused on school that I have been putting my reading on the back burner. Thank you to the blogger world for reminding me how much I love to read!! By committing online, I'm trying to stick to it. Making time for me is always low on the priority list, I'm glad to have managed some time for me this week!!