Some Beach-Read Reviews

Fresh off a plane from the Dominican Republic, I give you a couple book reviews:

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The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. was highly entertaining.  It took me a couple chapters to get past the sullen, misogynistic superciliousness of the main character, but once I endeared to him just a bit, I was hooked.  Probably because I've known men like him.  And women like the women he describes. (Hell, I've been like those women at times in my life).  I will definitely be reading more of Adelle Waldman in the future.

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This one was passed on to me by my cousin who had to read it in a class on Middle Eastern history, I think.   Girls of Riyadh is an interesting look into the lives of modern young women in Saudi Arabia; still trapped by the stifling patriarchy and arranged-marriage-society in which they find themselves, but largely yearning for a more western-modern love life.  A bit chic-lit-ish, but with just enough social commentary to make you feel like you learned something. A good beach read.

What should I read next? My friend Katherine Yon of Eat, Shop, Love has some pretty great book reviews on her blog, if you're searching for a new one.
Happy Friday!

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A Word (and a Book) for Wednesday

 


ynecdoche: (pronounced si-nek-duh-kee) a part of speech in which a part is used for the whole, or the whole for a part

As in: Author of Poser: my life in twenty-three yoga poses, Claire Dederer, describing her escape from the house to practice yoga: "I left them food as though it were a piece of me. Synecdoche: a part representing the whole.  A sail representing a fleet.  A crown representing a king.  A chicken representing a mother."

I recently found this book while searching for books on yoga.  I quite enjoyed it, as evidenced by my reading it in 2 days.  Very poignant for a mother of babes just starting out in the world of yoga.

My 2014 goals include attending as many yoga classes as I can fit into my schedule.  I just feel too damn good afterwards to not.  While practicing yoga, I want to also learn more of its history and teachings.

Any yogic-friends have recommendations that aren't too incredibly heady?  I'm thinking maybe this or this.

Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische.

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On the Bedside Table

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Little Bee by Chris Cleave

I am enjoying this one so far.  Took me a minute to get into it, but about halfway in, it's now the first one I pick up when I settle in to read.

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Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne & Lisa Ross

Yes, this one is still in my stack...it has taken me a little longer than usual to get through it, but what I have read is good.  I am seriously still working on purging and simplifying our house and specifically the toys and activities that Jones has to play with.  

I am looking more and more into Montessori-type activities, and finding that many of the "practical living" activities are things he already enjoys the most anyway- like sweeping, pouring his own cup of water, and "threading" items--the boy adores fitting things together!

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Just ordered Blue Nights by Joan Didion from half.com.  After reading The Year of Magical Thinking, I am enamored of Ms. Didion.  

And, after reading this book review by a friend of mine, I am really wanting to read Gone Girl.

What's on your reading list for the rest of this fleeting summer?

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The Great Gatsby

I'm pretty excited for The Great Gatsby movie, due out this Christmas.  From the trailer, it is very obviously directed by Baz Luhrmann--the fast-paced scenes and dialogue, the music and dancing, fireworks, Bollywood-ish feel--much like his adaptations of Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge. 


I, for one, enjoyed those films and Luhrmann's style. And I adored The Great Gatsby when I first read it in school...mentally putting it on my summer reading list right now.  And the movie is on my Christmas to-see list, for sure.  Will you see it?

Also love the book cover:

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Reading Lately

As life settles back into a new-but-familiar-normal, I've found great comfort in again reading before sleep each night.  While I was pregnant I was so sick and tired all of the time, that upon day's end, all I wanted to do was sleep.  My mind barely focused on anything superfluous of work and child-rearing.

Excited to read again, here's what is on my bedside table right now--all holding my attention pretty equally so far:

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 My boy is 15 months old already...

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I got interested in re-finding this one on my bookshelf and actually reading it after watching Midnight in Paris a couple weeks ago.  Really liked the film, and loved all the references to literary and art figures from the 1920's.  If you dig that sort of thing too, you should also read this.

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 And, for a light beachy-read, this one is easy and enjoyable.  I loved Giffin's Something Borrowed and Something Blue, and this one is pretty good so far too.

These 2 are en route to my home as we speak:

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This one intrigues me because I went to summer camp for 2 weeks once in my life and was terribly homesick the whole time.  Then, I went off to college and, again, was terribly homesick for the first semester of Freshman year.  After that, something clicked and I haven't been homesick more than a day in my life since, never again during college, and never during my year living in San Francisco.  As a parent, I want to learn how to cultivate a sense of adventure, and to save my child from the homesickness I endured...or learn if that's possible.

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Feeling the need to purge our lives of so much stuff these days...hoping this one can help.

What are you reading?  One of my favorite things about summer is having more time to read in the sunshine...I need some more to add to my list, so please, comment away.

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Summer Books

Warning: this post is asking a favor of you, dear reader: please comment. 

As a reader of tons of blogs, believe me, I know the drill; rarely do I comment.  But please know as a writer of a blog, it means the world when you get a comment.  Truly.

Anyway, I would love any and all comments on this post in particular because I am planning my summer reading list and have basically nothing to start from.  So, please tell me what to read!  I like anything--fiction, non-fiction, chic lit, biographies, how-to/self-improvement, even a little sci-fi is ok once in awhile. 

Here is the only book that is on  my list so far that I plan on reading this weekend while I'm at the beach:

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"The central premise of this book is that many of modern society’s strategies for nurturing children are
in fact backfiring – because key twists in the science have been overlooked. Nothing like a parenting manual, NurtureShock gets to the core of how we grow, learn and live."
Sounds interesting, huh?  Not sure what to think of this, but I will definitely let you know my review!

So, please...give me some good book ideas for the summer?
XO, Becca

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