October Book Club Selection

Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall. — F. Scott Fitsgerald

Happy first day of fall! It was a crisp 84 here in Vegas today and I almost reached for a sweater. Considering it was 104 a week ago, I'll take it. This post was supposed to be up hours ago but life happened and then The Blacklist started up again and well...here we are pushing midnight. So pardon me if I keep this short and sweet. 

I was downright giddy when I saw Amor Towles had a new book out. I'm an ardent fan of his first novel: Rules of Civility. Let's just say he had me at this line: "It is a lovely oddity of human nature that a person is more inclined to interrupt two people in conversation than one person alone with a book." Amen, Amor. Here's hoping A Gentleman in Moscow will be every bit as lovely. The folks over at Refinery29 are calling it "the perfect fall book to curl up with while the world goes by outside your window." Sold.

Posted by Rachel

Home Is Where Pax Is

 “So which is it? You going back for your home or for your pet? They're the same thing, Peter said, the answer sudden and sure, although a surprise to him.” 

Rachel is a dog lover, through and through.  Me, not so much.  I’m babysteppin’ with this retriever of mine. Despite my animal-lovin’ deficiencies, I could understand the way Peter felt about his pet fox Pax. Their relationship, brimming with loyalty and trust, is simply breathtaking—especially when juxtaposed to the volatile backdrop of war and human-inspired chaos. You’ll find yourself completely engrossed when Peter strikes out on his own, despite the encroaching war, to find the fox his father forced him to return to the wild.  

This book will long be remembered and read.  The extraordinary friendship between a boy and his fox is bound to resonate with all ages. Much like Charlotte’s Web, this novel will make you feel deeply. (You’ll get emotionally attached.) If you don’t believe me, just ask my nine-year-old son Jonah. When I read the final page, I looked up to see his chin quivering and his eyes watering. I hugged him close, and tried to think of a time when a book left as powerful a mark as this one did.  

P.S. It’s hard to imagine Pax being enchanting beyond words, but Jon Klaussen’s illustrations are pure gold.

Posted by Tracy

Good, But Not Great

We share a quiet kind of love. The simple things in life now bring me pleasure. My days of searching are over. I no longer have a desire to be anywhere but home. And my home shall be with him.

Call me charmed but not captivated by The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper. I wanted captivated; I wanted to swoon. It feels like we're due for a swooner. That being said, it's a sweet story and a good read. Just not a hit-it-outta-the-park kind of read. This book is like the friend you go to prom with because the boy you're crushing on asked someone else: fun minus the spark.

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper felt very much like the first-time novel that it is. The writing seemed a bit choppy and characters too often seemed out of character. Maybe my expectations were just too high after the comparisons to Major Pettigrew's Last Stand and A Man Called Ove. This is no Pettrigrew and most certainly no Ove. And we all know how I feel about my Ove

Bottom line: a love story that reminds us that quiet lives can be every bit as beautiful as more adventurous ones. I just wanted it to be told a little better, that's all.

Posted by Rachel

Make Reading Great Again

“Things usually work out in the end.”
“What if they don’t?”
“That just means you haven’t come to the end yet.”

I heart Ms. Gibson. Anyone who comes close to pulling off a teenage miracle is one part uniquely competent, one part highly devoted and one part purely magical. I wish she’d run for President; she’d have my vote. Rachel and I took a poll and her list gets all A’s. And although it’s past midnight and throwback Thursday is officially over, I’m electing to flash back this Friday to one of Gibson’s picks.  

The Glass Castle is an astonishing memoir. Jeannette Walls describes her hardscrabble childhood marked with neglect in unsentimental, honest terms. In her father we see the complexity of human beings: a brilliant man and consummate dreamer who could lasso imagination for his children when he wasn’t sozzled—when he wasn’t destructive, dishonest, and overtly dysfunctional. Her mom was at times despicable too. An “excitement addict” who would rather make a painting that would last forever than cook a meal for her children that would disappear in 15 minutes. Your jaw will hit the floor as you encounter the Walls’ dubious parenting practices.  And yet, despite frequent clips of homelessness, hunger and depravity, the author also experiences contentment and adventure.  Remarkably, she neither demonizes or romanticizes her parents. She reminds her readers that everyone has redeeming qualities that deserve our attention.

Way to go Ms. Gibson! Everyone loves a rags-to-riches story.  I have no doubts Ben Boyle will want to turn The Glass Castle’s pages. Better yet, he’ll realize that his lit-lovin, chocolate-sharin’ mama is as fine a parent as she is a friend.  

Posted by Tracy

A High School Miracle

“There are two kinds of teachers: the kind that fill you with so much quail shot that you can't move, and the kind that just gives you a little prod behind and you jump to the skies.” —Robert Frost

My boy just announced that English is his favorite class this year...and that, my friends, is a high school miracle. He's always had a head for math and science, which clearly did not come from me, and pretty much either abhorred and/or tolerated his English courses. Talk about a dagger straight to this mama's lit-lovin heart. Enter Ms. Gibson and in two weeks' time she's been able to do what his past teachers weren't able to do all school year: get Ben excited about reading.

How'd she do it, you ask? What secret strategy does she have that the others didn't? Choosing books kids actually want to read. Groundbreaking, I know. Yet it's a concept that managed to elude his past two teachers. Pretty sure he's still recovering from one of last year's picks: Siddhartha. A book like that will cure a kid of a love for reading by page two. My apologies if you loved it but we're talking 15-year-olds here.

This year's list? Golden. She's also showing the corresponding movies (if there is one) in class when they finish. Which officially makes her Ben's favorite teacher and my favorite person.

*Below is Ms. Gibson's reading list minus her summer pick, Ready Player One, which Ben loved, and Unbroken, above. How fun would it be to do a book club based on these books and their corresponding movies?

Posted by Rachel

5 Ways To Get Your Teen To Ditch The Screen

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” —Dr. Seuss, I Can Read with my Eyes Shut!

My sister-in-law sent out an S.O.S. a couple weeks ago looking for a book, any book, for her teenage son. He'd just learned he had to read one at least 200 pages in length and, in her words, you'd think he'd been told he was having four teeth pulled. That text came on the heels of my own son announcing he had 4 days to read the 400 page book (Ready Player One) he'd been assigned over the summer. Sigh.

Ben finished his book in time (gave it a thumbs up) and my nephew found a book that wasn't akin to dental torture. Crisis averted...this time. When it comes to reading, some kids are naturals and some not so much. I've got one of each in my family and one in between. Here are some tried and true tricks I've found that get a certain kid of mine to ditch the screen and pick up a book instead:

FIND BOOKS ABOUT THINGS THEY LOVE

The first thing Tracy asked when my sister-in-law sent her text was "What does your nephew love?" That's an easy one: football. Which made Tracy's suggestion just as easy: Brady vs Manning: The Untold Story of the Rivalry that Transformed Football by Gary Myers. And just like that he went from pained to pacified. I'd like to say pleased as punch, but that would be over-selling it. Baby steps.

LET 'EM READ WHAT THEY WANNA READ

Within reason, of course. Depending on the kid, that could get a little sketchy. (insert wide-eyed emoji here) Trying to force your kid to read books they have zero interest in will only backfire. Remember, we want them to enjoy reading. Does the book snob in me cringe a little when Ben ranks Robot Wars as one of his favorites? Absolutely. But it gets him away from the screen and hopefully helps develop a life-long love for the page. Winning.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A CAPTIVE AUDIENCE

Audio books are made for family road trips (aka hours trapped in a car with nowhere to run). Just be sure to choose wisely or they'll think you've invented a new form of torture (this isn't the time to introduce them to War and Peace). Here are some guaranteed crowd pleasers.

READ AS A FAMILY

Those audio books we love? They'd also make great books to read aloud as a family. To pique there interest further, find books soon to be made into a movie and when you finish go see the flick together. Some friends of ours used to read Harry Potter by flashlight on their camping trips. The idea of reading Harry under the stars almost makes me want to be a camper. Almost.

IF ALL ELSE FAILS, BRIBE 'EM

Tracy's mom, or as we affectionately call her, Lady Di, has been paying her grandkids a penny a page for years now, which officially makes her the best grandma ever. News flash (if you've been living in a cave): money motivates. So does competition. Combine the two and you've hit the motivational jackpot. 

Posted by Rachel

Throwback Thursday

“All I'm saying is, kindness don't have no boundaries.” 

Game on!  Football season started tonight. I’m watching the Peyton-less Broncos and feeling downright blue about it. I don’t know if football will ever feel the same. This is not normal, is it? No, not normal in the slightest.  Maybe my oddities have something to do with the year (which will remain numberless) I was born?  Thanks to our trusty intern who may or may not have a birthday today, I discovered the most popular book in the year I was born was John Updike’s Couples. This explains a lot, doesn’t it? I mean really…in an elite collection with champions like To Kill a Mockingbird, The Color Purple, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Of Mice and Men and The HelpCouples? I officially feel cheated.  

Nevermind all that.  If it’s Thursday Night Football, it’s also Throwback Thursday. And where I’ve mentioned The Help, let’s celebrate that book’s unmistakable greatness.  Kathyrn Stockett’s debut novel is one of my favorite reads of the past decade.  Yes, you read that right. Of. The. Past. Decade. I no longer remember what occasion inspired Rae to give me such a gold star.  But I took an immediate shine to Stockett’s unforgettable characters, which include sassy Minnie (I love her), gentle Aibileen (I want to be like her), and Skeeter who’s a bit of a misfit (I admire her). The Help is a poignant reminder that friendship and love can bridge the most unlikely divides, even deeply engrained ones brought on by prejudice. There’s no limit to what love and kindness can achieve.  

Posted by Tracy

Weekly Wrap-Up

“The only meaningful thing we can offer one another is love. Not advice, not questions about our choices, not suggestions for the future, just love.” —Glennon Doyle Melton

WHAT WE LOVE THIS WEEK

We don't read a ton of self-help books around here, in fact we can probably count them on one hand. Gretchen Rubin and Brené Brown have pretty much been our go-to girls. With her book Carry On, Warrior, Glennon Doyle Melton may join the make-me-better party. Ordering it up now. 

Speaking of Brené, Daring Greatly is also in my stack of books.

I'm counting on Better than Before to change my life. No pressure, Gretchen. 

Been meaning to join the podcast party for a while now and Happier with Gretchen seems like the perfect place to start.

Books still rule.

Your coffee table needs one of these.

COMING NEXT WEEK

Review of The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper

Tips for getting your teen to ditch the screen and pick up a book.

Posted by Rachel