07 June 2009

Sunday Salon: Poetry and Peaches

Any of you familiar with the picture book Bad for Them, Good for Me by Aaron Zevy? It springs to mind whenever I have a situation that means different things to different people, and I thought about it this morning. You may have noticed that my blogs have been suffering from lack of attention, mainly because I've been working 45-50 hours a week. Well, that will be changing soon because I will be unemployed again as of 19 Jun 2009. No job is bad for me, but hopefully more posting will be good for you!

(By the way, if you haven't read Bad for Them, Good for Me, it is a cute book for kindergartners. I believe it is out of print, but if you have free access to Tumblebooks through your local library's website you can find it there.)

READ:

Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd -- I downloaded the audio version from my local library, and the reader definitely pulled me through it. This book was suggested by my reading buddy LS, and I think she enjoyed it more than I did. Even though the ending is supposedly happy, I found the book melancholy all the way through. Besides the enchanting voice of the reader, I stuck with the book because I thought that it was on the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list. LS and I were both disappointed when we checked the list again and found that it's not.

The Urban Homestead by Kelly Coyne -- I mentioned this book in my last Sunday Salon post and my first impression held true. Most people I know would be able to find at least one project that they want to try in this book.

ABANDONED:

Whatever, Mom: Hip Mama's Guide to Raising a Teenager by Ariel Gore -- This book wasn't exactly what I was looking for. The word "guide" in the title is a stretch. It is filled with essays detailing how Gore feels about being the mother of a teen, how her daughter feels about her mother, and how other moms and teens feel about their family life. That isn't a bad thing, but I wanted something that gave me suggestions on organizing chore schedules, setting up an allowance, etc.

CURRENTLY READING:

The 100 Best Love Poems of All Time edited by Leslie Pockell: Each poem in the book is by a different poet, except for two poems by Shakespeare. There are several familiar poems but I've also discovered a poet I hadn't read and requested one of his books from the library.

How to Pick a Peach by Russ Parsons: This book is not as preachy as some other books about eating locally and in season. Parsons just lays down the facts of why commercial produce tastes the way it does and how to make the best of it.

TO READ:

Who knows? In looking over my old posts, I've found that whatever I mention in this section isn't what I actually end up reading. I do know that I will be checking the 1001 Books list for another book to read with LS. I also have two writing books and The Dirt on Clean on loan from the library, but don't hold me to any of those!

4 comments:

JoAnn said...

Oh dear, sorry to hear about your job! I hope something else turns up soon. I'll have to check out The Urban Homestead.

mee said...

I try to read more books from the 1001 Books list too. But lately I've been reading more newer books *sigh*

~Mee

Yvonne said...

I'm sorry to hear about your job :(

I haven't read any of those books, but I've been wanting to read Secret Life of Bees.

Dani In NC said...

JoAnn: I highly recommend The Urban Homestead. The authors talk about environmental responsibility without being too preachy.

Mee: You are not alone. I'm having trouble working my way through the 1001 Books list because I seem to add a cool new book to my TBR list every day!

Yvonne: Secret Life of Bees is pretty good. If you like audiobooks, I would recommend trying it that way because the reader is really great. The only reason I feel lukewarm about it is because I am burnt out on stories set in the racist deep South.