Tome's 500 page book challenge

From a fellow blogger -- Chose a book with 500 or more pages to read during the month of May.  I know I'm getting this to you all a bit late, but that just means you have an alibi to not be quite finished by the end of the month.  ;)

I wasn't sure what book to choose -- I thought about re-reading The Time Traveler's Wife, but Marion Nestle's What to Eat has been on my shelf for a while, so I think I'll pick that up.

Mother Reader's 48 Hour Book Challenge -- June 4- 6, 2010

Find all the details here! 

I need to talk to my husband and daughter some more and figure out exactly how we'll work it this time (and which 48 hour span I'm going to choose), but I'm looking forward to it.  I'm sure I'll be making all sorts of ridiculously overly detailed plans. 

Who's in?  :)

Protecting the Gift: Keeping Children and Teenagers Safe (and Parents Sane) by Gavin de Becker

So I'm pretty sure that book bloggers are supposed to have nice concise little reviews -- not rambling streams of consciousness and/or bullet pointed excerpts from the book they are reviewing.  Luckily, I've never completely identified myself as a book blogger -- or at least not as solely a book blogger.

Whew, glad we cleared that up.

So this book.  It is truly not an alarmist book, though the title would give one that impression.  The author has an impressive resume -- the book flap bills him as "America's leading expert on predicting violent behavior" -- he has advised Supreme Court justices and the C.I.A. 

We live, in the U.S. and perhaps in the West as a whole, in a culture of fear.  De Becker's first book was The Gift of Fear.  I haven't read it but I have the impression that he feels that our intuition uses fear to warn us and that warning comes for a reason.  In this book, he encourages parents to trust their intuition.  He also educates the reader about what fears are unwarranted -- thus freeing up the emotional energy and time to focus on those dangers that are more likely to occur.  This book is filled with anecdotes (all taken from actual incidents) to illustrate his points.

The rest of this post will most likely be me blathering about specific parts of the book I especially liked.  Feel free to stop reading now, but do know that I recommend this book to all and sundry.

Chapter titles:
The Search for Certainty
Intuition - The Source of Safety
Worry
Survival Signals
Talk to Strangers
The Changing of the Guard
Baby-Sitters and Nannies
Children away from Home
Sexual Predators
Children at School
Protecting Ophelia
Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn and Smith & Wesson
Friends as Enemies
All in the Family
Protecting the Village
Protecting the Gift

Actually, I've decided that there's too much good stuff in here and it's too late at night.  I've put this on my re-read list and I'll leave it at that for now.

Goodnight and good luck.

WWW Wednesdays -- May 12, 2010

Hosted by Miz B

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

* What are you currently reading?
* What did you recently finish reading?
* What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading? 

Eaarth by Bill McKibben

Good stuff.  McKibben's main premise is that the planet we live on is no longer the planet upon which we evolved -- Eaarth is his name for this new world.  "It still looks familiar enough -- we're still the third rock out from the sun, still three-quarters water.  Gravity still pertains; we're still earthlike. But it's odd enough to constantly remind us how profoundly we've altered the only place we've ever known" (McKibben, p.3).

What did you recently finish reading?

A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George

A new mystery series -- new for me, that is -- this is the first in the series and it was published in 1988.  So I'm looking forward to more from this author -- I need to remember to figure out which is next in the series.  

What do you think you'll read next?

The Monsters of Florence by Douglas Preston -- It's my book club book for this month.  Non-fiction.  It's about a serial killer in (go figure) Florence.  I'm not super looking forward to it, but a friend who has already started reading it says that there is quite a lot about the culture and how every generation/country/culture has its own serial killer but that the type varies accordingly.  That sounds like an interesting idea.

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own WWW Wednesdays post, or share your answers in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks! 

The Simple Woman's Datebook -- May 11, 2010

 From Peggy at Simple Woman's Daybook -- post yours here

FOR TODAY

Outside my window...cheerful cheerful birds and cool morning air

I am thinking...about what kind of new camera I'm going to buy with my birthday money

I am thankful for...all that my husband did to give me a lovely Mother's Day

I am remembering...that my friend Lisa's birthday was yesterday


I am going...to make brownies with Fiona and freeze them for this weekend


I am reading...Eearth:Making Life on a Tough New Planet by Bill McKibben (that really is how the title is spelled.;))

I am hearing...Pandora playing Margaritaville

Pondering these words..."He had never thought of himself much as a praying man, but as he sat in the car in the growing darkness and the minutes passed, he knew what it was to pray.  It was to will dreams into existence and spectres into reality.  It was to will an end to anguish and a beginning to joy."  From the last page of A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George

A few plans for the rest of the week: Assembly meeting at Alpine Valley School tonight, meet a woman from Jazzercise tomorrow to talk about potentially swapping childcare for unlimited workouts, physical therapy on Thursday, on retreat with Alpine Valley this weekend

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...my brother Seth with my daughter six years ago.

Teaser Tuesdays -- Five things you are thankful for

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
  

To remind myself of this, as soon as I wake up each day, I write down five things for which I am grateful.  I have found that rather than just think about what I'm appreciative of, if I write them down, it sets a tone of gratitude for my entire day.  
~p. 167, A Complaint Free World by Will Bowen

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your 2 ‘teasers’ in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

The Simple Woman's Daybook - Sunday, May 9, 2010

http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

FOR TODAY

Outside my window... it's continuing to look more and more like spring!  I love this mild weather.

I am thinking...about spending my birthday money to buy myself a digital camera.

I am thankful for...my husband going grocery shopping yesterday.

I am wearing...a slight sunburn on my face.

I am remembering...my mom and other mother figures in my life.

I am creating...a stash of images & words to use for making collages

I am going...to enjoy Mother's Day

I am reading... A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George -- I've not read her before and this is her first one.  I may have found a new mystery series.  :)

I am hoping...that my husband hears back about the three jobs he's applied for

I am hearing... the cats gallop through the hall like horses

Around the house... 15 minutes of closet decluttering

On my mind...what life will be like in another 4 months

Noticing that...the banner from last year's Father's Day is still up on the wall

Pondering these words..."What would happen if we listened to children as much as we talked to them?" ~Gloria Steinem

One of my favorite things...having a cat curled up on my legs

A few plans for the rest of the week...calling Medicaid about my daughter's application, getting ready to go on retreat with my daughter's school, celebrating my friend Gemma's birthday

Here is a picture for thought I am sharing... three generations of women