May's Books

I've figured out that I don't much like waiting the whole month to tell you about the books I've read. I think in June I'm going to try writing it every two weeks instead. Still, this was a great month for reading! I read a lot of books I think both boys and girls would enjoy, which is always a plus for me. I hope you enjoy them!

A note about my rating system.

1=I couldn't finish it. Blech.

2=I finished it, but I wish I hadn't wasted my time.

3=I finished it, and I don't regret it, but I probably won't search out anything else by this author.

4=I loved it!

5= It is nearly impossible to get a 5. To get a 5 would almost always mean that it has taken its place among my favorites. Occasionally, to get a 5 might mean that it ought to take its place among my favorites, if only I had slightly better taste.

 

The Emperor of Nihon-Ja

by: John Flanagan

438 pages

published in 2010

 4.5/5 stars

This is a Book For Boys!

This is book 10 in The Ranger's Apprentice series, which starts with The Ruins of Gorlan. 

This is a great series for all YA teens, especially boys. I have no idea if the sword fighting is true to life, but I'd be surprised if it was not, it's so well thought out. I love the intelligent, interesting characters and their interactions, but it's really the action that makes these books exciting.

It took a book or two before I got used to the omniscient point of view. John Flanagan is from Australia, and writers from outside the US are not nearly as locked into the limited third as we are. I'm not sure whether the author's writing has actually improved, or if  I've simply gotten used to it.

The books are about a boy named Will who becomes apprenticed to the ranger named Halt in a magical world based on European medieval history.  The rangers are a select group of men who serve as the intelligence force and police for King Duncan. They are masters of camouflage and certain kinds of fighting, especially the saxe knife and the long bow. These stories are Will's adventures. In each book he is older and travels somewhere new. In this particular book, he is in Nihon-Ja, a country that reminds me of medieval Japan, though the fit is not perfect.  I highly recommend the series, but I think you need to start at book one.

 

(I read this for the Once Upon A Time Challenge)

 

A Tale Dark and Grim

by: Adam Gidwitz

192 pages

published in 2010

There is some confusion in my mind about who this is for. It's definitely for middle grades and up, but it's recommended as a read aloud for ages 6 and up. More on that in a moment. 

4 stars  (I loved it!)

This is a Book for Boys!

My oldest daughter started reading this to my younger children before I read the book. They were all completely entranced. I kept hearing little pieces of the story, and I would say, "Are you sure this is appropriate to read to little kids?" She would assure me that it was. Plus, every place I could find on-line said it was a great read for school age children. So I let it go.

And it was probably completely fine. This book is "“...well... awesome. But in a horrible, bloody kind of way." As if poor Hansel and Gretal didn't have it bad enough, Gidwitz has taken their story and added some of the more obscure and horrifying Grimm fairy tales and tied them into one gruesome tale.

In a world where most of the original tales have been softened and most of the uglier parts have been taken out, Gidwitz has "bloodied them back up." But his narrator has such a snarky sense of humor that it comes across as funny. Every gory scene has a warning in front of it, like this example: "Are there any small children in the room now?” he asks midway through the first tale, “If so, it would be best if we just...hurried them off to bed. Because this is where things start to get, well...awesome.” In addition, adding the horrific pieces back brings the meaning of the fairy tales back, and the narrator makes sure we get it.

So, as I read it, there were times when my eyes got big, and I turned to my daughter and said, "You REALLY read this part out loud?" But mostly I think it was great. All my kids, even my six year old, have picked that book up to read parts of it again.

The Magic Thief (Books 2 and 3)

by: Sarah Prineas

416 pages and 384 pages respectively

Lost: published in 2010

Found: published in 2011

For middle grades, though I think YA readers would like them too!

These are Books for Boys!

4 stars

In April I reviewed the first book in this series. I had listened to it as a book on tape and I said that although I enjoyed it, I thought it went a little slow. I read the sequels instead of listening to them, and it completely solved the problem. These are such fun books! I finished them both in less than a day, and when I was done I wished I'd read them to my younger kids. 

This is the story of Connwaer after his locus magicalicus is destroyed. Without it, he can't communicate with the magic, and the magic desperately needs him. I especially enjoyed book 3. The magical world in these stories is so complex for a middle grade book. I love it when an author doesn't dumb things down for kids. I'm especially fascinated with Connwaer's relationship with Kerrn--the captain of the guard, who obviously respects Conn, yet doesn't flinch to have him arrested if that is her duty.

 

(I read this for the Once Upon A Time Challenge)

Waiting For Odysseus

by: Clemence McLaren

published in 2000

160 pages

Young Adult

2 stars

This is the story of the women who loved and waited for Odysseus--his nurse maid, Penelope, Circe, the king's daughter (whose name escapes me at the moment) and Athena. I love books with strong female protaganists, and I was excited to read more about the stories of these women. But this was not the story of these women. This is the story of them waiting around until they hear a story about Odysseus. It was just his story of them hearing stories about Odysseus, meeting him, falling in love with him and then pining away after he was gone. And you know, there was a lot of sex in the Odyssey, which is remarkably more obvious when being told from the point of view of the women he had sex with. Blech.

 

Pirates

by Celia Rees

374 pages

published in 2003 

Young Adult (Mature)

4 stars!

Nancy Kington is a wealthy merchant's daughter living in Bristol, England in the early 1700s. She has promised to marry her childhood sweetheart, William. When her father dies, she is sent to live on her plantation in Jamaica, where she meets Minerva Sharpe, a black slave. Their lives entwine as they live through an attempted rape, an arranged marriage and a brutal murder. Together they escape to the high seas, where they live as pirates.

This book was exciting and well researched. I love stories set on ships, and found this to be a rollicking adventure. It's more mature in theme than a book like The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, and yet it has that same strong willed female protaganist that I love so much. The one thing I didn't like was that the overarching plot sometimes took a backseat to the action. 

 

 

Death Cloud: Sherlock Holmes, The Legend Begins

by: Andrew Lane

306 pages

published in 2010 

Young Adult

This is a Book for Boys!

4 stars

When Sherlock Holmes is fourteen, he spends the summer with his eccentric aunt and uncle, and spends his days wandering the English countryside with an orphan named Mattie. When two local people die with symptoms resembling the plague, Sherlock Holmes begins his investigative career. This is the first book about a teenage Sherlock Holmes to be endorsed by Conan Doyle's estate. It's attention to detail is remarkable. I love thinking about how Holmes became the man he was. 

I enjoyed this book every bit as much as I enjoy a good Sherlock Holmes story--which is to say, it's an occasional pleasure for me. The story was far fetched, as Sherlock Holmes stories often are, but the character development was well thought out and fun.

 

You know who you are...

Someone forgot to knock on wood.
Ah, well...back to the drawing board.

My House

Good old-fashioned superstition has kept me from posting a follow up to Help Me Find A House!

We found one, and I'm still afraid that by letting that information loose on the internet I will provoke some spiteful little nixies and the whole thing will fall through. Drat those little nixies. Hopefully, if everyone knocks on wood while they are reading this, the nixies will be none the wiser. Go ahead.

Thank you.

I love the house we've chosen. Not as much as I love the one we're in right now, but I like the location loads better. Hopefully we'll learn to love the new house as much as we've loved this one. It's on a great street, in a neighborhood I've never heard a bad thing about. A neighborhood! The stuff of dreams. There is a girl in the same grade as my oldest daughter right next door. Does that give you chills? And...she has a younger sister in the same grade as my oldest son. And...you won't believe this, I'm sure, but I swear it's true. They are not the only kids in the neighborhood.

We can walk to the library, or if my kids want to take karate or dance, we could walk there too. We could ride bikes to school, if we so desired, and we won't have to get up at 3:30 a.m. just to get to seminary on time.

In the words of  the famous scientist, Dr. Ray Stantz, "Wow. This place is great. When can we move in? You gotta try this pole. I'm gonna get my stuff. Hey. We should stay here. Tonight. Sleep here. You know, to try it out."

In later posts, I'll probably moan about all the things we're leaving behind--including my swimming pool, a great neighbor or two, and the hiking trails my dad built in the backyard. But for now, I want to celebrate where we're headed. A gorgeous backyard, a lovely sun-room and a music room. And people. I might not be able to stay in my pj's on computer mornings anymore. Who knows? A neighbor might stop by!

Hawthorne or Alcott?

When my husband and I went to Boston for the weekend, we hiked on the Battle Trail--a 5.5 mile trail that marks the path taken by British soldiers marching from Boston to Concord.

It's a gorgeous trail in early May, especially if you're coming from Maine, where green hasn't yet asserted itself as the dominant spring color. All the trees along the trail are arrayed in the vivid greens of brand new leaves, and the meadows are covered in spring wildflowers. It's a feast for my winter weary eyes. We pass tourists and joggers, and one incredibly tough woman jogging uphill while pushing two children in a stroller.

On the map of the Battle Trail, it mentions a place called The Wayside, where you can visit the home of authors Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott and Margaret Sidney. I love Louisa May Alcott, and so we decided to stop there. I was expecting a little neighborhood--and I thought how incredible that one neighborhood could boast of so many famous authors. But it wasn't one neighborhood. It was one house. Seriously. The Wayside is the name of a home that was originally built in 1717. And not only famous authors lived there. Samuel Whitney was living there in 1775. He was the Muster Master for the Concord Minutemen during the Revolutionary War, and munitions were hidden in this house.

 Bronson Alcott bought the house from him and named it The Hillside. I never thought that I had much of a problem distinguishing fiction from reality, but as I looked around the house, I couldn't figure out exactly where Teddy's grandfather's mansion would have been. To the left of the home were paths through a woods that had been there since before Louisa's time, and to the right was an old barn. Teddy couldn't have looked through his window to spy on the March's house. O.K. Melanie! No matter how similar Louisa's personality was to Jo March, it doesn't make Little Women an exact autobiography. Get over it.

Nathaniel Hawthorne bought the home from the Alcotts for $1,500. After buying the house, Hawthorne wrote, "Mr Alcott... had wasted a good deal of money in fitting it up to suit his own taste—all of which improvements I get for little or nothing. Having been much neglected, the place is the raggedest in the world but it will make, sooner or later, a comfortable and sufficiently pleasant home."^[1] Nathaniel renamed it "The Wayside" 'because it stood so close to the road that it could have been mistaken for a coach stop.' Doesn't he sound like a pleasant fellow?

Daniel and Harriet Lothrop bought the house in 1883. Harriet Lothrop used the pen name Margaret Sidney, which didn't mean anything to me until a few minutes ago when I was doing a little research for this blog post. Margaret Sidney is the author of Five Little Peppers and How They Grew! I love that book! What an awesome thing to find out the author wrote it while living in Louisa May Alcott's house.

I loved seeing the home and thinking about its unique history. Look at this picture though:

Notice how Nathaniel Hawthorne's name is written in big block letters? Humph.

My husband says I need to reread The Scarlet Letter before I say this, but in my opinion, Louisa May Alcott's work is so much more important to our society today than Nathaniel Hawthorne's books are. His works are definitely valuable! Yikes, I don't want to start that battle. But Louisa May Alcott is a voice our children need to read today, to be transported back to a time when people spent time with each other and played together.

I wish I knew how old this sign was, and why his name is so much larger than hers. I suppose he may have been much more famous at some point in his life. But is he now? Or maybe it was because he was a man. Or maybe my perception is just skewed.

What do you think?

Help Me Find A House!

I knew I wasn't going to be writing as much for a while, but I didn't expect to stop so abruptly. My mind is so confused lately that I'm finding it hard to complete sentences, let alone blog posts. In spite a lot of prayer, the heavens seem determined to wait until I make a decision on my own. So I'm opening up my mind to that collective conscience called the internet. How do people cope with this thing called moving?

There are two truths battling for supremacy in my mind. We've found a house that will cost us almost exactly the same amount as we're paying right now. We're not exactly house poor, but we say no to a lot more things than I wish we had to. I'd hoped to buy a house that would free up some money. I have dreams of buying new furniture, and a new-to-me car. We'd love to have money to spend on doing things and going places. And don't forget the days of college and missions, which are marching inexorably closer.

So we could keep looking for a house that costs less. But I've seen what's out there. To have a house cost less would mean giving up a great location, giving up a nice yard, and that we'd have to spend a lot of time on fixing up a house with problems. I honestly don't know what the best choice is.

If you were me, what would you do?

April's Books

In an earlier post, I came to the conclusion that writing book reviews and travelogues in the same blog wasn't such a grand idea. But then I came up with this brilliant plan--why not write up all my books at the end of each  month in one crazy long post?

A note about my rating system.

1=I couldn't finish it. Blech.

2=I finished it, but I wish I hadn't wasted my time.

3=I finished it, and I don't regret it, but I probably won't search out anything else by this author.

4=I loved it!

5= It is nearly impossible to get a 5. To get a 5 would almost always mean that it has taken its place among my favorites. Occasionally, to get a 5 might mean that it ought to take its place among my favorites, if only I had slightly better taste.

(I read this book for the Once Upon A Time Challenge)

Alcatraz and the Shattered Lens

by: Brandon Sanderson

published in 2010

292 pages

For: Middle Grades and Up! This one needs stars and trumpets to announce that it's a book boys would enjoy.

Rating: 4/5 stars (I loved it!)

If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing Brandon Sanderson's less serious side, you're really missing out. This is book 4 of the Alcatraz series, so you should start from the beginning with Alcatraz Versus The Evil Librarians. Alcatraz doesn't realize that his propensity for breaking things is actually a talent--all the Smedry's have talents like that. He'd have found out a lot sooner if his grandfather's talent wasn't always being late for things. Now that he knows, the future of the human race rests on his shoulders.

A quote from the book: "Being a Smedry--I was coming to learn--was like being a mix of secret agent, special forces commando, diplomat, general and cheese taster."

And a great quote for all you authors and theater people: (from page 260)

"Anyway, what just happened is something we call a teddy bear on the mantle. This is an ancient storytelling rule that says, "If there's an exploding teddy bear that can destroy people's clothing in a given book, that teddy bear must be used to destroy someone's clothing by the end of the book."

YOU On A Diet

by: Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz

published in 2006. (There is a newer version, but this is the one I read.)

370 pages

Rating: 4/5 stars

Some time ago, I told myself that I'd never read another diet book. I'm so glad I didn't listen to myself. I'm a real sucker for science mixed with humor, so I would have enjoyed this book even if I didn't have any weight to lose.

A random quote: "Technically, (CCK) stands for cholecystokinin, but for our puposes, let's think of it as the Crucial Craving Killer because its main purpose is to tell your brain via the vagus nerve that your stomach feels fuller than a Baywatch swimming suit."

This book is full of great wisdom for people who are sick of dieting but don't know what a healthy lifestyle would look like without it. I just wish I'd found it before I signed up for 3 useless months of Weight Watchers. Oh well...

Switch: How To Change Things When Change Is Hard

by: Chip Heath and Dan Heath

published in 2010

305 pages

Rating: 4.5/5 stars (I really loved it!)

The first time I heard about this book was during a marriage class at a Women's Conference at church. It caught my fancy, so I checked it out from the library. What an amazing book! Whether you want to change your interactions with your family, lose weight or change the direction of a multi-billion dollar company, this book is for you! But it's not just your typical self-help book. It was as hard to put down as any action-adventure novel could claim to be. I wanted to take notes, but instead I read it from start to finish. Luckily there's a handy-dandy section at the back for people like me.

The Alchemist

by: Paulo Coelho

This book is an English version of O Alquimista the Portugese original edition. which was published in 1988. It was published in English in 1994.

167 pages

rating 3.5/5 (I liked it)

From the back cover: Paulo Codlho's enchanting novel has inspired a devoted following around the world. This story, dazzling in its simplicity and wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids.

The beginning of this story really spoke to my soul. In the beginning, it's a story about change--and how we can't continue to grow if we become too content with our lot in life. It's told like a fable--only one person is actually given a name. Everyone else is called something like "the shepherd" "the old man" and "the Englishman". I'm going through a time of change in my life right now, and it's simple message quieted my soul.

The end was disappointing. It stopped being about personal growth and became more a search for something that seemed to me to be nirvana. It just got kind of odd. I still liked it, but the ending made it drop from 4 stars to 3.5. This would make SUCH a great book group book. If only I belonged to one...

(I read this book for the Once Upon A Time Challenge)

 Eyes Like Stars: Theatre Illuminata, Act I

by Lisa Mantchev

published in 2009

368 pages

For: Young Adult and up.

rating 3/5 stars (I liked it)

What a quirky book! It's quirkiness is one of the strongest things it has going for it. Someone who had a love for the behind-the-scenes part of theatre would probably be completely smitten. It's the story about all the characters from all the plays that ever existed, who live inside the Theatre Illuminata, and act when they are called upon. Ariel, from Shakepeare's The Tempest, is the only character who doesn't like his imprisonment, and he wants to figure out how to free everyone. Beatrice must stop him, and find a way to convince the theatre manager to let her stay. I was bothered because Beatrice never took the time to think "Am I doing the right thing?" I'm not convinced she was, but there was no room for a moral dilemma. The writing was great, and I'd love to find out what happens next, but I'll probably just read the spoilers on wikipedia.

The Magic Thief

by Sarah Prineas

audio version recorded in 2008

For: Middle Grades and up! Another one that needs to be circled and trumpeted because boys will enjoy it.

 4/5 stars

I listened to this on CD, and the story was a trifle too slow for listening. If I'd read the book, it probably would have been a much more solid 4 star entry. I can't wait to read the sequel. Magic is somewhere underneath the ground, and cities have been built on the places where it bubbles up to the surface. Magicians have a locus magicalus--a stone that helps them harness the magical power. Conn is a homeless boy and a pickpocket, and when he steals Nevery's locus magicalus it ought to kill him--but it doesn't. Intrigued, Nevery takes him on as an apprentice. Meanwhile, the city's magic seems to be disappearing, and Nevery has to find out why.

City of Fallen Angels

by: Cassandra Clare

published in 2011

432 pages

1/5 stars

Yep. You read that right. My very favorite Mortal Instruments series, and I didn't even finish reading the fourth book. Let me rant for a moment.

I HATE IT when an author decides to push the envelope once she's got her readers hooked. We're pretty fastidious readers, and the Mortal Instruments series was already a little close to the edge. But I loved Jace so much--there was such a pure, shining spirit inside that sarcastic, gorgeous hero. I am one of Cassandra Clare's most devoted followers. But I won't follow her here.

Luckily, I was pretty happy with the way book 3 ended anyway. It seems a bit sadistic to throw these characters back into the action. I got through about page 75 before I stopped reading, and even more luckily, I really wasn't that into it. Jace had some nightmares, and Simon was perched to get involved in a turf fight between 2 vampires, and that's all! I wasn't hooked, except by my previous love of the characters, so it was not too gut-wrenching to stop.

Here's where I stand for the Once Upon A Time Challenge:

Finished:

Fantasy:

Book 1: Alcatraz and the Shattered Lens

Book 2: Eyes Like Stars

Still to go before June 20:

Folklore: Mists of Avalon

Mythology: Waiting for Oddysseus

Fairy Tales: A Tale Dark and Grimm

and A Midsummer's Night Dream

Jordan Stream Loop In Acadia National Park

Our family went to Acadia on Monday and walked the Jordan Stream Loop, which is 4 miles long, unless you have as much energy as our family did. By taking side paths and running back and forth we managed to turn that 4 mile trail into a 5.5 mile adventure (and some of us did much, much more). That's the beauty of Grampy's GPS tracking system--we could see how far we really walked.

To begin this loop, we started at the Jordan Pond Gatehouse.

As you can see, the trail isn't muddy at all.

At this point, my two youngest crossed a bridge like this:

and started hiking on the other side of Jordan Stream. There were several more bridges across the curves in the stream, but nothing that brought them back to our side. Finally they disappeared from sight. I panicked and ran back to the first bridge, crossed it and chased them down. They were finally able to cross on some rocks and downed trees with the help of my husband and me. But the downed tree didn't look strong enough to support my weight, so I kept going. Finally I took off my shoes and waded across one of the shallower sections. The water was much deeper and faster than usual, and it was great fun. My hero, D stayed on the other side of the stream the whole time to make sure I was safe. (The carriage trail had veered off some).

That brought us to the Cobblestone Bridge (where, incidentally, I could have crossed, if the other side of the trail would have let me get there. This is the only bridge in Acadia made of cobblestones, and it's even covered in cobblestones on the underside (the middle picture).

  

 Jordan Stream

 Jordan Pond with a view of The Bubbles

 There was still a little bit of snow in places.

Shhhh!!! Don't tell...

Ahhh...That was a much needed blogging break. I had time to breathe, read a little, do some hiking and panic.

Last summer I got inspired to write a list of 20 things I wanted to do before I turned 40. I just looked at it and felt my stomach lurch, because I took the winter off and forgot almost every single thing on the list except number 16: Walk, bike, horseback ride or take a carriage through all 45* miles of carriage trails in Acadia National Park. This one really captured my imagination, and although I'm behind, this goal is still within reach. To see the entire stomach-lurching list, you can click here.

Probably everyone reading this needs a small refresher course about my love for Acadia National Park, the place where forest meets ocean; nature meets sophistication; the beach meets the mountains. I particularly love the carriage trails for being the place where hiking meets walking. If you want to find out more about the carriage trails you can click here.

Shhh! Don't tell, because yesterday we hiked the Jordan Stream Loop at Acadia National Park. There were still signs up saying that the carriage roads were closed due to spring mud, but lots of people were hiking and no one seemed too bothered about it. The carriage trails were as dry as a bone. Am I making excuses? Yeah, maybe, but we'd driven for over 2 hours so we could mark a trail off my list. No little sign was going to hold me back.

I'll tell you more about our adventures on another post, but for now, I'm just getting you up to date on the progress of goal 16, the only goal I've actually started.
1. Eagle Lake Loop - 6 miles(bike)
2. Aunt Betty's Pond Loop - 5.9 miles
3. Witch Hole Pond Loop - 6.8 miles
4. Jordan Bubble Loop - 8.6 miles
5. Jordan Stream Loop 4.0
6. Day Mountain loop - 5.5 miles
7. Little Long Pond - 3.5 miles
8. Redfield Loop - This is one of 2 trails you have to hike to get to. I can't remember the other trail. This trail is 4.3 miles, but when you add in the additional hiking, it's closer to 5.5
9. Hadlock Brook - 3.9 miles 
10. Ampitheatre Loop - 4.9 miles
11. Giant Slide Loop - 8.2
Total so far: 23.5 miles

In case you were wondering, I turn 40 in October. It's going to be a busy summer.

*You're exactly right. The numbers really don't add up. How smart of you to notice. That's because although there are 45-ish miles of carriage road, the loops double back on each other. For example, a big chunk of yesterday's hike was also a part of the Jordan Bubble Loop, which means I have hiked that section of trail twice so far. There's no way to get around it--if I want to hike the loops, I've got to do some sections twice. I am skipping the Around the Mountain Loop, which is almost entirely made out of pieces of trails I'll have already been on. I don't know how many actual miles I'll have hiked before I'm through, but it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 65.

30 Day Blog Challenge--Day 30!!!!!: Something I Have Learned (about Blogging)

Pièce de résistance: A French term from the early nineteenth century. Translated literally, it means "piece of resistance." It originally referred to the highlight of a meal which 'resisted' common conventions and practices, making the whole creation special. It is meant to give the sense that the item referred to is the most outstanding piece of the collection.

This blog post is not that. 

This is what I've learned from the 30 Day Challenge--

1. Blogging is fun.

2. It's a lot of work. It takes up a much bigger chunk of my writing time than I thought it would--like all of it. In reality, I might have to choose...do I want to be a writer or a blogger?

I started this blog to give myself an on-line presence, because publishers and agents agree that it's an important part of getting published. If they have two equally brilliant novels, they are going to publish the one by the author who has a ready made fan base.

And if I decide to self-publish, a blog and the friends I've made in the blog-o-sphere will be my biggest assets. But it doesn't matter if I don't have any time to write fiction.

3. Blogging and writing require my creativity to be in different states--kind of like water. Blogging is more like ice, while writing fiction is more like the gaseous state. So far I haven't figured out how to make it morph quickly enough to be able to do both in any kind of productive way.

4. It's harder than I thought it would be to keep some anonymity for my family. Granted, if anonymity was my goal, naming my blog "melaniecrousesblog" was probably not the wisest of choices. But if you were a fan, who'd read one of my books and wanted MORE, having an easy way to find my blog seemed like a good idea.

Since then, I've read lots of information about protecting your children's identities--how important it is not to give out info, and I've tried. No pictures of my kids, no names, just initials. But the detective in me cringes, and knows that it wouldn't take a lot of effort for someone to figure out a lot about us based on the things I've said and my oh-so-discreet blog name.

5. And maybe I'm overreacting. Not many people, even famous ones, seem to worry about giving out personal info, especially in a blog post that's supposed to be about their own family. It's a conundrum.

6. I love blogs about book reviews. I have two or maybe three that I check on a daily basis for new book ideas. If they blogged about other things in the same space, I'm almost positive I wouldn't be as devoted a follower. So, although I could probably get away with writing an occasional book review, sharing an occasional music video or writing an occasional essay here, if I want to blog about them in any regular sort of way, they deserve their own blog space. Am I saying I want to start another blog??? Well...

7. Blogs about books take even more time to keep up than this one does. Because you have to read. Another conundrum for me, because although reading and writing both use up my creativity in its gaseous state, page for page, reading uses up as much creativity as writing does, and can quickly turn the creative places in my mind into the Sahara Desert.

8. There is money in blogging. It's hard to get started, but eventually this could be a good part time job.

Some interesting statistics:
Since starting this challenge, I've more than quadrupled the number of people who look at this blog. Granted, that's still not an astonomical number of people, but it is promising. It feels like such an honor that you took time out of your schedule to spend with me. Thank you.

My most popular posts are still the ones from the very beginning--the ones about hiking in Acadia National Park. (Yay! It's almost summer and hopefully I can add a few more.) I'm not sure why that is exactly. It must have something to do with the query searches, but it's all too complicated for me.

It took me 54 days to finish the 30 day blog challenge.

So, I learned a lot of things, but I'm still not sure how it will all play out in the end. If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear them.

AHMIR

I can't believe I'd never heard of this group before. They're amazing. A friend of mine just posted this song on facebook, and I have to share it. A girl in our community committed suicide last week because of cyber-bullying. I didn't know her, but it has affected the kids at the high school and middle school profoundly. This song is for them:

 

30 Day Blog Challenge--Day 29: Paintings I Love

My kids have been blessed with a fantastic art teacher. The pictures on this post are of paintings he has helped middle school students create over the past three years. Each picture has two requirements--he assigns them a famous artist. They must study that artist and use his style in the picture. But the picture must also depict something about the small town we live in.

Making these pictures has become one of the most popular things to do at our school. I feel very attached to this project, even though very few people know I had anything to do with it. One day, three years ago, my amazing friend Lisa came to me. Even though her kids weren't even in school yet, she was already thinking about the drab, ugly halls at the middle school they would be going to in nine or ten years. The artist in her knew that something had to be done.

She contacted Mr. Tompkins, the art teacher, who recognized a great idea when he heard one. He adjusted it to fit his curriculum, and ran with it. Where do I come in? Well, three years ago I was the president of the PTO here. This art project is the thing I am most proud of accomplishing during my two years as president, so I stayed as involved as I could.

My favorite picture is based on the work of Mark Rothko, a Latvian born American painter. Although I like his work, I think the three students who worked on this one surpassed him in excellence. I could stare at it all day. Through the lens of my camera, it seemed like the water was rippling. (I should take this opportunity to point out the obvious--I am not a great photographer, and my camera is as bad as I am.)

In the style of Mark Rothko

My daughter worked on a painting using Giacomo Balla's style. He was an Italian painter who died in 1958. His Futurist style depicted light, movement and speed. Again, I like this painting better than anything he did. He was a strange duck. (He named his daughters Propeller and Light. Enough said.)

In the style of Giacomo Balla.

These paintings remind me so much of my Aunt Donna. I always wanted a picture like this in my house when I grew up.
In the style of Pier Mondrian

I don't know the artist who inspired this one. More research!*

*Andy Warhol--duh, duh, duh! Feeling embarassed now.

In the style of Jackson Pollock

In the style of Andre Derain

In the style of Picasso

I ought to know this one...I'll let you know after I pick up the kids today!*

*Victor Vasarely

In the style of Louise Nevelson

In the style of Joan Miro

In the style of Rene Magritte

Another one in the style of Rene Magritte

One more to research...*

 *Gustav Klimt

This isn't all of the pictures, but it's most of them. At a later date, I'll probably add the rest, including some from the primary school, just because they are all fabulous.

I'm sorry I couldn't tell you the names of all the wonderful artists who painted these works. They deserve recognition, but they also deserve anonymity, unless they choose to divulge their names.