10.12.2006

Booking It

Cal and Henry have started to "read" their favorite books. They really just tell about the pictures or repeat phrases (or the whole book) from memory. (This is where "murky depths" came from - Cal liked how it sounded when his Dad read it to him.)

Well, just now Henry was perusing his recent must-read, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" This is how he read it:

"Whatsu lookin' at, Teatso? Whatsu lookin' at, tsilwen?" (Instead of, "Teacher, teacher, what do you see?" and, "Children, Children, what do you see?"

***

Here's a little update on my Fall Into Reading goals:

The Devil Wears Prada - an enjoyable read, but I think I really liked the movie better. Which is surprising. In the book Andrea doesn't toss her cell phone in a fountain in Paris at the end, but she does do something very clever with the designer clothes (rather than giving them to her mentor assistant in the office). I don't know - they both have their merits. It's a fun story.

My Antonia - If you have never read this book, do. It is beautiful and so much more my speed than the fashion runways of DWP. I cried for pretty much the whole last chapter of Antonia and her children. So much of it evokes my love for the American west and, interestingly enough, Ukraine and Eastern Europe. This book is just wholesome and touching and rich and I love it still.

The Long Winter - The story of the boys who kept their wheat in the wall - That's what I remembered it as. I read it two or three times before I was twelve, but not since, and so much more of the parenting and the surviving and the great simple values stood out to me this time. And I noticed that Laura Ingalls Wilder actually wrote quite poetically. The Little House books ruined me for modern life early on. After reading this one again, I want to start over with Little House in the Big Woods. It's America's childhood and mine, all in one...

I've started Washington's Crossing, and it is well-written and quite fascinating but a more demanding read than I am willing to sink into right at the moment, so I'll get back to it. Before the autumn is over, I promise.

I'm well into Jane Eyre right now, and I'm really enjoying it.

My mother-in-law sent a package today which included a copy of To Kill A Mockingbird. She recommends it as one of her favorite all-time books, as she has taught it for many years in high school English. I've never read it, so I'm adding it to my list.

What books do you love?

8 comments:

Super Happy Girl said...

You are a fast reader. Out of the ones you mentioned, I have read only "To kill a Mockingbird" it is excellent, I love LOVE Scout and her dad Atticus, they totally rock the world.

I'm going to start "The Devil" and "jane" as soon as I wuit playing on teh Internets.

The Roaming Southerner said...

I love books too. I can recommend a ton, but my very very favorite is "a prayer for owen meaney" by John Irving. It will reaffirm that there is a reason for everything and life is good.

Unknown said...

You're doing a good job on all that fiction.

Brown Bear was one of our favorites here too (years ago with the 8 yo, and now with the 2 yo). I like Henry's version.

Katrina @ Callapidder Days said...

You are really moving right along through those books! Good job.

I read Jane Eyre ages and ages ago, and cannot, for the life of me, remember any specifics about it. I must not have been paying very close attention...

And I just love Henry's rendition of Brown Bear, Brown Bear...

Millie said...

Jane Eyre is literary perfection. (Or I guess I could just say that I really really like it.)

I don't read a lot of fiction. Every so often I'll check out one of the classics and try it out. The last time I did that, it was "War and Peace." That lasted all of about five minutes - I didn't look inside the book until I got home, and before the story itself even started, there was this huge historical explanation of what was going on in Tolstoy's world when he wrote it, blah blah blah... I was like, JUST START THE (BLEEP) BOOK ALREADY. Heaven knows the things long enough without having to read what it's about. I mean, duh. Tolstoy's Russian, so right away I expect some conflict. It's not like I'm an idiot.

Jane Eyre, though... yeah. Good stuff.

Millie said...

Wait - Tolstoy did write "War and Peace," right?

The Amazing Trips said...

The Red Tent was an awesome read I finished last summer (?)

Kite Runner was an awesome read I did this year. If I can pull myself away from blogging and knitting, I might actually finish Shogun. At this rate, I'll be finished in 2022.

someone else said...

You've inspired me to read My Antonia. I've never read it, but my daughter calls it a favorite of hers.

To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my all-time favorites and I've read it more than once and watch the movie whenever it comes my way. I love it.