October 2011 Book List

24. License to Pawn by Rick Harrison

If you've watched any of Pawn Stars on the History Channel, you know a lot of the day-to-day running of their store, but this book gives more insight into the lives of Rick, Old Man, Big Hoss, and Chumlee.

One of my favorite things from the book was learning how Rick gained his vast wealth of knowledge that makes him so interesting on the show. He may be a high school dropout (for health reasons mostly), but he loves to read and learn things the average person finds difficult.

I also have a new respect for Big Hoss and Chumlee after reading about the difficult lives they led for a while. They have made huge strides to be where they are now, and they're determined to not go back.


25. Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

This was my first experience with a Kristin Hannah novel, and it was a touching one. Firefly Lane follows the lives of two unlikely best friends from junior high school through college and beyond. One girl comes from a traditional family and hates that her mother wants to be involved in her life; the other lives with her drugged-out mother who frequently abandons her. They have their ups and downs, but one betrayal causes a division between them that seems like it'll never be bridged.

My few big complaints with the book were the author's style (run-ons, comma splices, etc.) and the fact that the book seemed to go on too long. A more minor complaint is the author's too-frequent use of dropping pop culture items into the storyline. Sometimes they fit, but after a while, it was annoying. It was kind of like someone name-dropping to impress...

Still, the last quarter of the book had me in tears. I don't mean a trickle here and there; I mean sobs and streams of tears and a running nose. If you read this book, which I highly recommend despite my complaints, have a full box of tissues nearby.

September 2011 Book List

23. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

I can't say enough good things about this book. Hillenbrand did excellent, extensive research in her biographical study of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner-turned WWII airman whose plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean. Weeks later, he and one fellow crewman washed up on a Japanese-controlled beach, where they were taken into captivity and later moved into POW camps. Just when you think things can't get any worse, they do.

While reading this book, I couldn't help thinking about my grandfather, who was a navigator in WWII. He flew missions all over the world. Thankfully, my grandmother plotted all his flights on a map, then later had it framed and displayed on a wall in her house. My daddy has that map now, and he's going to make a copy of it for me. Anyway, I wondered what type of plane he flew in, but I'm not sure anyone knows that. The war just wasn't talked about then like it is now. I never gave it much thought, but they didn't have all the technologically-advanced equipment that we have now. I wish I knew more about it...

It's not a fast read, but it's a good one. In fact, I bought my own copy, which a friend borrowed to read with her husband. They're thinking of getting their own copy as well. I also gave two copies as gifts. Yes, it's that good.

I sort of hope they make a movie about it, but it's going to have to be an extraordinary effort to stay as true to the book as it should be.

Weight Loss Revelation

I watched The Biggest Loser for a while. I've read some diet books and weight-loss blogs and articles. Still it's something I read in a Biggest Loser cookbook just the other day that has really sunk into my brain. I don't know why it's taken seeing/hearing that little tidbit so many times before it finally stuck, but I'm so glad it has.

Here it is: The best way to lose weight is to watch what you eat. Exercise is good, but if you don't put the unwanted calories in, you won't have to work them off! Duh!

I just need to change my thinking. If I want that chocolate chip cookie, just how much will it take to work it off? What about all those little bites of random bits here and there? Those add up, too.

So tonight we'll celebrate Thanksgiving one more time with leftovers: turkey and dressing and cranberry sauce; ham and sweet potato casserole; corn casserole and black olives; and pumpkin cake with spiced pumpkin pecan ice cream. I'll limit my portions of everything, but enjoy what I do eat. Then tomorrow, it's back to the portion control - and mindfulness of what I eat.

Texas Virtual Academy

The boys (and I) will start our new school year tomorrow. A teaching job never came available for me, so we're homeschooling again this year. Thankfully I found a program that takes a big load off me - Texas Virtual Academy (TXVA).

TXVA is an online public charter school. The boys will receive all their books and supplies (minus paper and pencils) next week sometime, and we'll be on our way! In the meantime, I'll be doing "Learning Coach" training and new family orientation, and they'll be testing in math and reading proficiency for the beginning of their year. (They'll test again at the end of the year and their progress will be measured.)

They each have a teacher who plans their lessons, conducts online classroom sessions, and grades their work. All I have to do is follow her plans and guide the boys through their lessons. The burden of planning and searching for curricula I'm happy with is no longer on me!

Jacob will study math, English/language arts, science, social studies, health, PE, art, and music.

Caleb will study math, English/language arts, science, social studies, health, PE, art, and Latin. He has music on his schedule, but I'm going to have it changed to Latin, which he'll study for the next 3 years if we stay with this program. (Jacob will start Latin when he reaches 6th grade.)

Since it's public school, the boys have to "attend" 180 days, and they're required to work approximately 6 hours a day on schoolwork. I will have to be diligent with recording their attendance and progress each day, but that's just something I'll need to work into our daily schedule.

It's going to be interesting to see how this works out. The boys are excited, but I'm not sure they're grasping the amount of work they'll be doing now. When I homeschooled them on my own, I taught the basics: math, English/language arts, science, and social studies. Now they'll have health, PE, art, and music/Latin thrown into the mix - things I never really felt much like pursuing on my own.

Stay tuned!

August 2011 Book List

20. American Idol: The Untold Story by Richard Rushfield

As a big American Idol fan, when I saw this book prominently displayed in my library's "new" section, I snatched it right up. I wasn't sure if it was one of those "unofficial" tell-all books or if it was from a truly legitimate source (which it is). Rushfield, as a reporter for The Los Angeles Times, had full access not only to the creators of the hit phenomenon, but to the crew, the stars, and the contestants.

The book begins with a semi-interesting history of American Idol, introducing Simon Fuller, Nigel Lythgoe, and Simon Cowell. From there, the book follows a logical progression of the quickly-thrown-together first season, the second break-out season, all the way through to Simon's final season (season 10) - all the while highlighting the various forms of contestants that paraded through them.

Interviews with Idol semifinalists sheds a lot of light on the rigorous schedules the contestants must face and the bonds they form with their fellow competitors.

There's also a chapter devoted to dealing with the Idol-hater website, Vote for the Worst. Amid cries every year of conspiracies and faulty voting, VFTW also gets its share of the blame for great singers being sent home while the more mediocre one get to stick around week after week.

The judges and host are also highlighted: Simon Cowell's attitude, Randy Jackson's congeniality, and Paula Abdul's. . . incoherence. When Kara DioGuardi was introduced as a new judge, there was quite a rivalry, not just between Paula and Kara, but between the three original judges and the "freshman". After Paula's departure, Ellen Degeneres' stand-in (and stand-up) did nothing to help ratings in Simon's tenth and final season.

There's so much more here, as well. If you're an Idol fan, this is definitely a book worth reading.

21. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

The title of this book intrigued me every time I saw it, but I never picked it up to read the inside cover. After seeing the movie previews on TV, I decided I wanted to read it, but by then I had to wait to get it from the library. When I first put it on hold, I was somewhere in the low 30's in line for it. It was finally ready for me last week. Once I got started, it was extremely hard to put down.

Jacob Jankowski is an old, old man - somewhere in his 90's, but he can't really remember. He's living in a nursing home after falling and breaking a hip, and he's alone. A circus comes to town and sets up next to the nursing home, causing Jacob, a former circus vet, to remember his first stint as a circus worker - and the secret he's been keeping for over 70 years...

He is preparing to graduate from Cornell University with a veterinary science degree when tragedy strikes his family. In a stupor, he leaves school and jumps aboard a train - the Benzini Brothers Circus train. An old man takes pity on him and saves him from being tossed off. Before long, he's placed in charge of the care of the menagerie, a mix of horses, giraffes, big cats, an orangutan, and a chimp, among others. He is immediately drawn to the lovely Marlena, wife of August, a madman. And there the trouble begins...

I'm really looking forward to seeing the movie and seeing if they can do the book justice. It's on my Netflix queue, but they haven't released it into circulation yet. Once they do, it'll go to the top of my list!

22. Jeannie Out of the Bottle by Barbara Eden

I loved watching reruns of I Dream of Jeannie when I was growing up. I wish I could find some now, but we don't have cable and it's not on Netflix streaming. Maybe one day...

Barbara Eden is a breath of fresh air in the whirlwind mess of Hollywood lives. Though she's had plenty of heartache in her life, she's still a beautiful person inside and out. She hasn't become bitter or tried to drown her sorrows in drugs and alcohol. Instead, she tried her best to "rise above it", as her mother often told her when she was a young girl.

She shares her rise to fame before her role as "Jeannie", her work on that series, and how that one role has defined much of her life after the show ended. She doesn't shy away from detailing her romance with first husband Michael Ansara, or the traumatic events that led to their separation and divorce. She's also candid about a marriage she entered with blinders on and how she eventually came to her senses and escaped before something horrible happened. Her only son Matthew, the child she wanted for so long and loved so much, struggled with addiction for much of his life. Yet, through it all, she found a strength to go on - and love with a man who has stood by her during some of her darkest moments.

The thing that bothered me most was her frequent use of the term "Jeannie blink" when she wanted to fast forward or flash back to a different time than what she was writing about. Thankfully that was used mostly during the prologue and only a few other times throughout the book. I honestly don't know if I could've read it if she had kept it going any more. Other than that, it's a great book.

Lessons Learned (Hopefully)

Jacob has had quite an eventful week - and it's only Wednesday morning.

Lesson One
Sunday at church, he got the bright idea to stick his name tag on his bare leg. Maybe if he had peeled it off immediately, it wouldn't have been such a big deal. But he didn't try until Billy picked him up after church, and by then it was stuck and stuck good. He had to soak in the tub for a while, with a good covering of soap over the name tag, to get it to peel away. And even then, the sticky part still stuck. We tried rubbing alcohol to get it off, but it didn't. He's going to have to go around a few days with sticker residue stuck on his leg until it finally wears off.

He always likes to be "funny" with his name tag. I think he won't bother with it anymore. I asked him where he always puts his name tag to begin with, and he said, "My shirt." I told him I expected it to stay there every Sunday from now on.

Lesson Two
Last night he was too "lazy" to take his dirty clothes to the hamper in my bathroom, so he left them in a heap on his bedroom floor. He assured me he'd take care of it in the morning. When he woke up this morning, the first thing he said was, "There are ants all over my clothes from last night." I asked how he could see them since the boys' room is always pretty dim in the mornings. "They're obvious," he responded.

Not sure what I'd find, I eased in and tiptoed to the light pull on their fan. Before I turned the light on, I could see his white shirt was covered in ants. Big ants. Oh, no!

I sprayed an empty clothes basket with Raid, then did a quick spray on his clothes before dropping them in. I lightly sprayed the menagerie of books, MP3 players and headphones, and miscellaneous LEGOs, then took his clothes to dump in the washing machine for a quick, super hot wash. When I went back in the room, I checked around the window, the most likely place they'd be coming in. Nothing. I looked all around the baseboards and the ceiling/wall corners, but I didn't see any there either.

Now my stomach is in knots because now I have to look under the bunk beds. That entails taking Jacob's bottom mattress off, removing the support boards, and pulling out all the tubs of toys stored under there. I really hope I don't find any more ant-infested clothing! I have a fear there may be some ant-infested Webkinz, though, since they shove them between the bed and the wall at night. Other stuffed animals get bedded down there, too, but they usually don't come out again until I do my big cleaning.

Speaking of big cleaning, I'm afraid that's what I get to do today. Here goes...