I didn't get as much reading in during our vacation as I thought I would. It turns out Lydia rules the universe when it comes to family car rides. She pretty much dictated what everyone did or didn't do. And she let it be known to the rooftops that she did not. I repeat, not want me to read in the car. Ever. But despite our tyrannical two-year-old, I still managed to read a few books in the last two months. Here's the line up for June and July:
Bake Sale: 3.5 stars
This graphic novel is charming and sweet (no pun intended). It's on the Houston "Name That Book" list for next year otherwise I probably would have never picked it up at the library. Turns out, after taking turns reading it, we all enjoyed it. Even Eliza couldn't stop toting this book around and thumbing through it's "cute" pictures. When we went back to the library we checked out another Sara Varon book (Robot Dreams) - that's how hooked we are. I especially loved the recipes at the end, including one for candied flower pedals.
Shooting Kabul: 3 stars
This book made me think really hard about the political, cultural, and economic problems in Afghanistan and the Middle East. It really opened my eyes to the difficulty of immigrant life. I loved the references and descriptions of photography throughout the book. It made want to learn more about photography. I also appreciated the good examples of strong family relationships even through the toughest of times. It tells the fictional story of a family and their illegal escape (to the U.S.) from Afghanistan. In the chaos at the rendezvous point in Pakistan, six-year-old Miriam is separated from the rest of the family and is left behind. The grief each family member goes through for the remaining of the book, is unbearably sad. Too sad for me actually - I finally had to just peek at the ending - otherwise I wouldn't have been able to make it through the rest. It wasn't until after I finished reading this book that I realized the title, "Shooting Kabul" actually refers to shooting pictures with a camera and not a gun. And for my own heart's sake, I'm so glad this book (despite all odds) ended happily.
Evening in the Palace of Reason: 4.5 stars
Okay, I loved this book. Loved it. Gaines paints two parallel histories here - one of Frederick the Great and the other of Johann Sebastian Bach - culminating in one brief encounter between the two toward the end of Bach's life in 1757. A pinnacle moment in history where two views of humanity, faith and cold reason, collide. Frederick, enamored with the new art and philosophy of the Enlightenment ("man is a machine without a soul"), attempts to humiliate the "old-style" Bach by giving him a succession of impossible musical challenges. To each, Bach responds with unthinkable genius - producing his final and crowning work, Musical Offering. Gaines does an amazing job recreating life, thought, and politics in 18th century Prussia. I learned so much about German history, Martin Luther, The Seven Years War, and the Enlightenment. I thought I knew and loved Bach before. But after reading about him in context, I admire him and his music all the more.
"The beauty of music, of course, what sets it apart from virtually every other human endeavor, is that it does not need the language of ideas; it requires no explanation and offers none, as much as it may say. Perhaps that is why music coming from a world where the invisible was palpable, where great cosmic forces played their part everywhere and every day, could so deeply move audiences so far from Bach's time. Whether in the thrilling exuberance of his polyphonic Credo or in the single voice of an unaccompanied cello, in works extravagantly expressive and as intimate as a whisper, Bach's music makes no argument that the world is more than a ticking clock, yet leaves no doubt of it."
The Screwtape Letters: 4 stars
This book is worth reading more than twice. The last time I read Screwtape Letters I had just graduated from college. And before that, I was in high school. I think I got more out of it this time around. So cleverly written. I've never read anything by C.S. Lewis I didn't thoroughly appreciate and enjoy.
Summer of the Monkeys: 5 stars
I would read this book out loud every summer if I could. It's written so well, the words just seem to roll off your tongue. It might be my number one favorite read aloud. I started reading it with Brigham in June but the other boys, who've already heard this book, (and sometimes Eliza when she was awake) seemed to always gravitate within earshot whenever Brig and I opened it. My 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Weller, read this to our class and it changed my life. She cried at the end. My beautiful, blue-eyed, barely married teacher cried like a baby in front of our whole class. That was the first time I'd ever really really loved a book. Wilson Rawls (who also wrote Where the Red Fern Grows) is magic with words. Unlike Where the Red Fern Grows though, Summer of the Monkeys has just about the happiest ending of any book imaginable.
Love's Labour's Lost: 4 stars
Nate and I saw this play at the Shakespeare Festival last month. It was so well performed! There were scenes that were gut-wrenchingly funny. And it wasn't the first time we'd seen this play either. However, this is the first time I've read the play. How did Shakespeare do it? How do you write a comedy that's just as clever-funny as well as college-roommate-funny four hundred years later? Genius. Truth be told though, I enjoyed watching the play more than I enjoyed reading it. Shakespeare is meant to be seen. Not read.
Waiting for Magic: 2 stars
This book is also on the "Name That Book" list for our school district. I guess I can see why it might end up on a grade school reading list. Newbery Award Author. It's about a family on the verge of splitting up but who eventually come together with the help of 4 dogs and a cat. Something about it really rubbed me wrong though. The only loveable characters in the book are the animals (maybe the author did that on purpose, who knows) and all the others treat each other with such disrespect, that it's hard to feel sorry for any of them. I'm glad this family mended their relationships in the end (which was the most charming part of the book), it just took a lot of slogging through to get there. Also, because the animal "voices" are supposed to be silent (not everyone is supposed to hear what they're saying) it wasn't a great book to read out loud.
Wonder: 5 stars
I wrote a review about this book in April (you can see it here). I just read it again with Clayton and Isaac. So glad I did. It's still 5 stars. My boys loved it. They cracked up at all the 5th grade humor and I think they learned a little empathy as well. About halfway through the book Clayton said, "I know why this book is called Wonder. Because it makes you wonder how you would have been, how you would have acted or treated others, in each of those circumstances." Like I said, so glad I ever met this book.
Picture Book Spotlight:
I think about this book every summer when we load up our minivan with kids, coolers, and suitcases and head out cross country to visit our relatives. The illustrations are just delightful. I love them so much I could frame them. But I love this book mostly because it completely captures the way I feel about visiting (bombarding) all the people I love - eating up all their popsicles and root beer, sprawling out anywhere we can find enough beds, and turning everyone's lives upside down temporarily.
I love this picture of the car crashing through the fence - Ha! And everyone smiling and waving! We've never wrecked a fence, but this is still so us.
And then it's into the house for laughing and shining faces and hugging in doorways.
and supper two or three times around.
I love this picture of all the relatives whipping out their instruments - again, so us!
And this is my favorite page. Because this is how it is for me. It's hard to think about Texas much. We're always so busy hugging and eating and. . . breathing together.
And when we leave, we always leave like this. With fourteen arms waving from every window. And once we've gone, everything is so much quieter.
And when we're finally back home in Texas, we crawl into our silent, soft beds and dream about next summer.
No comments:
Post a Comment