French Kids Eat Everything - Karen Le Willow

This book has the unfortunate distinction of being published about four months after Bringing Up Bebe - it focuses on many of the same themes and reaches the same conclusions about the differences between spoiled and pampered American children, and their perfect French counterparts.  Of course, I'm joking, but I couldn't help but have that negative reaction while reading this - and feeling a little bored only because I had just read it all in Bringing up Bebe.  I agree in general that many American children these days seem to rule the roost, throwing tantrums that their parents invariably succumb to, and in general behaving badly.  And, because I have three children who are relatively picky eaters, I'll read anything that has suggestions about how to overcome this.  I didn't really learn anything new from this book - but it did reinforce for me the idea of introducing foods to your children over and over - and just because they turn their noses up once, twice, twelve times, doesn't mean you stop.  As someone who didn't really start eating vegetables myself until my late 20s, I believe that our palates change as we grow older, and that we can train them to enjoy new foods.  So, I try it with my children, but I draw the line at being too strict about it, or denying them food that they will eat, if they refuse to eat the ones I've initially served.  While I am not in the business of running a restaurant out of my kitchen, I do think there needs to be some give-and-take with kids when it comes to food.  I also enjoy snacking, I think it's fun, and it gives me enjoyment.  Does it sometimes mean I'm not that hungry for my actual meal?  Yes.  Do I think that's the end of the world?  No.  So, my kids are also snackers, and I think that's just fine.  I don't expect them to be able to sit quietly through a three-hour meal.  I can do that as an adult if I have to, but I don't want to, and they shouldn't be forced to either.  Bottom line, I appreciated many of the ideas of the French that were shared in this book (and Bringing up Bebe), but I don't generally see a need to overhaul my way of life - despite the fact that my children and I are hardly the model of healthy eating.  I want my kids to have a healthy relationship with food - to enjoy it, but not depend on it.  I don't want them to feel ashamed of eating or feel like there are a million rules that surround it.  Cooking and eating and sharing a meal with friends and family are some of my greatest pleasures in life.  I hope that I can impart that to my children - while throwing in a few vegetables here and there for the ride.

Poser: my life in twenty-three yoga poses - Claire Dederer

I am admittedly a sucker for these self-improvement memoirs, and I am a fan of yoga, so I picked this one up about a mother who takes on yoga and uses it as a vehicle for reflecting on her life.  In general I liked the idea - trying to slow down a bit and appreciate life - even with all its imperfections and hassles.  But, there were moments in this book that really turned me off - I felt like part of her purpose in tackling this subject was to become more open-minded and less-judgmental, but it seemed like in many of her descriptions of life and the people around her that she looked down on others who didn't seem to have it as together as she did.  She also seemed so intent on keeping up appearances in terms of only serving her children organic products, buying the right kinds of toys, and even practicing a certain kind of yoga - that I really felt that she was shallow and insincere.  I just read a slew of reviews of the book - mostly positive by people who felt they could really identify with the author.  I just couldn't and found the book a bit repetitive and self-indulgent.  Not quite the experience I'm looking for from my yoga.

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio - Terry Ryan

As I struggle to keep my household together with only three children, I find myself drawn to books about families with large numbers of children - if only in the hopes of gaining some advice about how to make it all work.  Evelyn Ryan, the heroine of this story, is the mother of ten children.  And while she is married, her husband is an alcoholic who squanders his meager income.  So, Evelyn turns to jingle writing - entering any and every contest she can get her hands on - coming up with clever phrases and rhymes just to earn a few extra dollars to keep her family afloat.  This is one of those truth-is-stranger-than-fiction stories to me- that one woman could win so many of these contests is pretty amazing, but that this sporadic unpredictable income is the best means she seems to have for keeping her family from the streets is incredibly odd.  This was an incredible story of how people facing difficult odds can dig deep to really come up with creative ways to keep a roof over their head and food in the refrigerator.  Fascinating on many levels - and the contest entries, while I didn't always understand them, were really quite entertaining.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore - Robin Sloan

Ashley always seems to have spot-on recommendations for me. I applaud her for this choice because it has the obvious – a bookstore which speaks to my love of books – but it also has a little sci-fi mixed in, which I appreciate, but she always seems to mock.  Perhaps it is the San Francisco setting, and the other world nature of the novel, but even the writing of this one reminded me a great deal of Christopher Moore’s “You Suck” – which I very much enjoyed.  Lost in the web-design world of start-ups, the protagonist here finds himself working the night-shift as a clerk in North Beach.  There are definitely strange things afoot as buyers come to borrow obscure volumes in secret, and appear to be on the brink of figuring out the answer to an elusive problem.  The protagonist then becomes obsessed with figuring out the answer himself, bringing his friends along on a literary adventure that takes him on a journey both exciting and absurd.  This book was just a lot of fun to read.  At times, it got a little too space-time-travel-weird for me (not that there is space time travel, but just that same feeling of interesting yet far-fetched).  A quick read that definitely put a smile on my face. 

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake - Anna Quindlen

Reading the memoirs of writers I like sometimes disappoints me (Anne LaMott, I'm looking at you), and other times it endears me to them even more.  Anna Quindlen's musings about everything from love to motherhood to girlfriends to all the random things in her life, falls in the later category.  The chapters are written like columns in a magazine - all about her life, but not chronological or straightforward.  There were so many beautiful quotes here and there - many of them I could relate to in terms of learning to love myself and being so grateful for the support around me as I get older (and obviously wiser).  Quindlen's observations are poignant and often quite clever.  I thoroughly enjoyed a quiet afternoon with this book - and a reminder that while we can't always get what we want, it makes the most sense to throughly enjoy all that we have.

Baby Catcher - Peggy Vincent

I have had two high-risk pregnancies.  Before, during, and after, I never would have considered a home-birth and thought that anyone who did was crazy and really asking for trouble.  But, reading this book definitely changed my mind.  Sort of.  I delivered my children at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley, California - the same hospital where the author of this book worked before becoming a licensed midwife. At Alta Bates, women labor (and usually deliver) in individual rooms.  Only when there is an issue, or a need for a c-section, is the woman moved to a more sterile operating room.  I was moved both times - the first because they thought I might need a c-section, and the second because I was delivering twins (which by protocol are always delivered in the OR).  But, each time, before I was moved, I appreciated being able to labor in a room with my friends and family, where I could watch TV or listen to music, have my blankets from home, and generally try to be as comfortable as possible.  So, given that during this process I wanted to have all my creature comforts, why wouldn't it make sense to labor and deliver in my actual home, where I am the most comfortable?  Vincent's memoir chronicles the birth of many many women - most go smoothly and seem much less difficult than I felt my birth was - but perhaps it was the attitude of these women that helped it go more smoothly?  Or perhaps it is self-selective in that the women who can afford to deliver at home (not financially, but logistically) are the ones who have not suffered any difficulties in their pregnancies.  Of course there were times when Vincent did have to take her patients to the hospital when complications arose - and I felt she laid out the interesting and ever-changing dynamics between the doctors and the midwives well.  This book definitely opened my eyes to the beauty of the home delivery - and in working with a midwife (or doula or other such person).  There is so much that is very personal about pregnancy and delivery - the choices that one wants to have, a birth plan, and contingencies - in this area I feel like there is a lot of pressure to be "all natural" and that women are often made to feel "less than" when medical conditions or unforeseen complications necessitate the use of drugs or a c-section.  It is unfortunate because every birth, no matter how it comes about, is an amazing, difficult, and treasured experience.  I think Vincent did a good job in her book of not being judgmental, but of presenting an option for women, and one I would certainly consider if I ever had another kid and my medical conditions allowed for it.

The Spark - Kristine Barnett

When the author's son was about two years old, he stopped talking and developing at a normal rate.  After taking him to a number of doctors, he was diagnosed with autism and his parents were told that he would probably never talk.  He was viewed as mentally retarded and his parents were counseled to manage their expectations. But, his mother knew that there was something else going on.  As Jacob spent hours staring at sunbeams or creating complex designs out of yarn, she knew there was something inside that she just needed to unlock.  A daycare provider by profession, Barnett began opening her home to other children with autism.  Instead of forcing them to abandon the areas they were interested in to focus on practical life skills, Barnett found ways to incorporate their true passions as a way to unlock their hidden genius.  In her son's case, he truly was a genius.  As the years passed, it became clear that during all the time staring silently seemingly into nothing, Jacob was actually working out complicated theorems.  By the age of 12 he began working on an original theory in astrophysics.  While every child (or hardly any) actually possesses this type of genius, it is really Barnett's attitude about how children learn that shines through in this book.  This is a great book for anyone who has a child or who works with children - an excellent reminder that sometimes we need to let go of our ideas of how children are "supposed" to learn or what they are supposed to be learning - and just let them explore. I went to an elementary school that really gave students the freedom to explore the things they loved to learn, and several of my friends from that school are now parents who are homeschooling or unschooling their children and really allow them to pursue their passions.  I am one for a little bit more structure of traditional schooling, but think there is a lot I can be doing at home to help my children really unlock and pursue their inner passions.