Another new blog!

The new blog replaces the other new blog I just started. LOL So if you want to go to my "OLD NEW" blog to find out why I started a "NEW NEW" blog, you can read my post at:

CoffeeBean's Corner

and then put my (final? it better be!) new blog in your Bloglines or whatever you use:

Eileen's Blog (I decided not to spend the time thinking of a catchy title, what can I say).

Hope to see you there! Please leave me a comment if you visit!

My new home!

I started my new blog. Come visit me at CoffeeBean's Corner!

It's going to take me awhile to get things just the way I want them but I hope you will come and say hi. Please comment here or there and let me know if you stopped by!

Changes brewing...

I have 4 blogs right now - this one, one for general family news, one for knitting, and one for sewing. I can't keep up with any of them. LOL I'm sorry I haven't been posting here or commenting in other blogs much lately. Life has just been busy and as usual I am so behind on everything. I am still reading your blogs though!

Anyway....

In September I will start homeschooling Lindsey (Kindergarten), and I've been thinking about doing a blog with more of a homeschool focus - what we're learning, accomplishments, struggles, and misc. ramblings. But I still want to write about reading, knitting, and occasionally sewing so I've decided to combine everything into one blog. I've decided to start this blog at Homeschool Blogger. I haven't decided on a name yet so I don't have a specific URL to share with you. I would LOVE suggestions on what to call this new blog! I am so uncreative. I don't want the word homeschool in the title since the blog will be about more than that. The same goes for any one subject such as reading, knitting, etc.

I'm thinking I may lose some readers when I go to this new blog but I may gain some too. I would love to have you follow me there, but I understand if you're not interested.

I hope to have my new blog started in the next few weeks and when I get a URL I will let you know! Thanks to the faithful readers/commenters of my many blogs.

Books In, Books Out

On Sunday I finished New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. I liked it a lot until about 3/4 of the way through and I liked the ending but I don't like the intense vampire battle stuff. :-) Not my thing. I like the relationships aspect of these books more than the vampire stuff. I already put the next book on hold at the library though. 4/5

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks - I wanted to like this - it looked fascinating and interesting. I just couldn't concentrate or something though so I put it down. Maybe at a later date....

Busters Diaries: a true story of a dog and his man as told to Roy Hattersley - Didn't finish

Laughing in the Dark: A Comedian's Journey Through Depression by Chonda Pierce - Started out okay but I got bored and skimmed to the end

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig - reading this one next....

KnitLit: Sweaters and Their Stories.... by Linda Roghaar and Molly Wolf - then this one after that....

Went to the library again yesterday and got:

Things I Learned from Knitting - Whether I Wanted to or Not by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee - This is her newest book and my library didn't have it yet so I requested they purchase it, and they did! This isn't the first time they've bought a book I asked for - did I ever mention how much I LOVE the library? :-)

Sisterchicks Go Brit! by Robin Jones Gunn - I've really liked all these books except one. I don't remember why or which one but there was one I just didn't like as much as the others.

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - Yikes! This one is almost 1000 pages! I've heard so many great reviews of this book and can't wait to read it. I hope it isn't another one of my "couldn't get into it, didn't finish" books. We'll see.

I also got 4 knitting magazines to browse through. :-)

More Books

I go to the library so often and get more books before I finish the pile I have - it's making my "great idea" (ha!) of listing the books I get on each trip and then reporting on them when I'm done somewhat difficult. So I think rather than list the books I get on each visit, I'll just take a few at a time when I get a chance and give my thoughts or whatnot. I'm a horrible reviewer - I wish I had the talent that many of you have. So you'll have to settle for "I loved it" or "I hated it" or maybe a bit more occasionally.

The last 2 books I had mentioned that I hadn't read were Embrace Me by Lisa Samson and The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry. I loved the first book I ever read by Lisa Samson which was The Church Ladies. After that I started to like each book by her less and less (while still enjoying each one to some degree), with the exception of Quaker Summer which I liked a lot. Embrace Me was just okay for me. 3/5

I read a few chapters of The Lace Reader and couldn't get into it, so that one goes into my ever growing "didn't finish" pile.

I just started New Moon by Stephenie Meyer this morning. I'm sure I'll like it.

Other books in my pile right now:

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

Busters Diaries: a true story of a dog and his man as told to Roy Hattersley

Laughing in the Dark: A Comedian's Journey Through Depression by Chonda Pierce

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig

KnitLit: Sweaters and Their Stories.... by Linda Roghaar and Molly Wolf

Two More

I am now down to 2 books in my library pile (Embrace Me and The Lace Reader) but I'll be going to the library later today which means my pile will most definitely grow again. :-)

I am 1 for 2 with these last 2 books:

A Good and Happy Child by Justin Evans - I'm not really sure how this ended up on my TBR pile. I usually try to write next to the title where I got the book idea from (usually a blog! or from my friends on the Sonlight Bibliovores group). The blog I had next to this one wasn't the right one. Anyway, this book was too strange for me and I only read one chapter. Didn't finish

The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty - LOVED this one! After the first chapter I was thinking maybe I wouldn't like this book and about 2 paragraphs after thinking that I started getting hooked and I couldn't put it down. 5/5

Happy reading!

Four More Books

I'm finished with the next 4 books from my last library visit:

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris - I liked the first chapter and thought it was going to be good then I lost interest quickly. Didn't finish.

The Interloper by Antoine Wilson - This was a strange book, a little creepy. It was okay. 3/5

The Speed Queen by Stewart O'Nan - I liked his book The Good Wife which is the only book by this author I've read. This one is about a woman on death row - after the last book I was in the mood for something more uplifting so I didn't get past the first few pages of this. I skimmed through it though and I'm glad I didn't read it. I still want to try some more of his books.

Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson - I started this last night and laughed out loud already in the first chapter. But I quickly got bogged down and didn't feel like reading it. I think this would be a great book to listen so I'm going to see if the library has an audio version. But for now I'm not going to finish this one either!

I also paged through the socks knitting book. I have enough sock patterns to last me a lifetime so I don't think I'll ever buy this one but you never know. There was one really complicated pattern with a really crazy chart to follow. It just boggled my mind!

So nothing too exciting to report today. I hope I can really get into one of the four books I have left from my last big list.

Two Done and Two More in the Pile :-)

I finished 2 books from my last library visit:

The Kid Turned Out Fine - This was a little more of what I was looking for in the book about toddlers I recently read. A few more war stories in this one. :-) 4/5
We have had to resort to duct taping our daughter's diaper on at naptime and nighttime otherwise she is taking it off every time and peeing on the floor or in her bed. It.is.maddening.

Doesn't She Look Natural? - Finally another book by Angela Hunt that I loved. Almost exactly 2 years ago I read her book The Awakening and I loved it. I then read 2 more that I liked fairly well, and since then have tried 4 or 5 other books by her that I just couldn't get into. This one ended that streak thankfully. I really enjoyed this and am looking forward to the sequel. 4.5/5

I also paged through 2 of the 3 knitting books I got on my last visit. There really wasn't anything in the book Two Balls or Less that I would want to make, but I really like Soft and Simple Knits for Little Ones. I might consider buying that book in the future.

Two of my "hold" books were in again so I picked those up a few days ago:

Embrace Me by Lisa Samson

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

Happy Reading!

I Got Nuthin

I didn't like any of the last 4 books I checked out!

Love Walked In by Marisa De Los Santos - didn't like the writing style (hope you like both of your copies though, Jane! LOL)

Fireweed by Mildred Walker - LOVED her book Winter Wheat - couldn't get into this one

A Woman in Jerusalem by A.B. Yehoshua - Didn't grab me

Matrimony by Joshua Henkin - Too strange for me or something


As you can see now that I'm doing these library visit reviews, I probably start and DON'T finish more books than I DO finish. Is anyone else like that or is it just me? I know some people can't bring themselves to put a book down once they start it - I obviously have no problem with it. :-) I figure I am probably missing out on some really great books by abandoning them so quickly, but on the other hand there are SO many books out there that I do love right from the start, (I'll never run out of great books!) it's a chance I'm willing to take. (One of my favorite books of all time, Some Wildflower in My Heart by Jamie Langston Turner, was a book I *almost* put down after about 50 pages. Good thing I stuck with it!)

So I took those 4 books back and got these:

The Kid Turned Out Fine: Moms fess up about cartoons, candy, and what it really takes to be a good mom by Paula Ford-Martin

Doesn't She Look Natural? by Angela Hunt

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

The Interloper by Antoine Wilson

The Speed Queen by Stewart O'Nan

Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson

A Good and Happy Child by Justin Evans

The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty

And these 3 knitting books:

Two Balls or Less by Jenny Hill

Soft and Simple Knits for Little Ones by Heidi Boyd

Socks, Socks, Socks by Elaine Rowie

I think I will just review 2 or 3 at a time as I finish them so it's not forever before I post about them.

Happy Reading!

June 21 Library Visit

I only checked out 4 books this time.

Love Walked In by Marisa De Los Santos
Fireweed by Mildred Walker
A Woman in Jerusalem by A.B. Yehoshua
Matrimony by Joshua Henkin

As always, I'll let you know what I thought of these when I finish them!

June 4 Library Visit Review

I finished both of these.

Toddler: Real-life stories of those fickle, irrational, urgent, tiny people we love
I didn't like this one as much as I had hoped I would. I was really hoping for lots and lots of stories of people struggling with their toddlers as much as I am**. :-) 3/5

Still Alice by Lisa Genova - LOVED this book! Thanks Lynne! The book is about a 50 year old professional woman who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers Disease. Each chapter is another month in her life so you really see the progression of the disease. So sad. The book really fleshed out for me what this would be like, moreso than if I just read an article or something about the subject. I highly recommend this book - 5/5


**As I was writing this post, my 2 year old woke up from her nap. I opened the door to her bedroom to find her stark naked. She had taken off her clothes and diaper and peed on the floor (NOT for the first time, sigh). She had also taken all the clothes and pajamas out of 2 of the dresser drawers. Sometimes I wonder if this 43 year old mother will survive the toddler years. :-p

That Was Easy (June 12 Library Visit Review)

On June 12 I checked out two books that had come in off hold. Both were short loans (2 weeks instead of 4). It wasn't hard to finish them by the time they were due (6/26) because I didn't get into either of them.

The first one is The House at Riverton by Kate Morton. It wasn't bad but it just wasn't grabbing me. It was moving too slow or something. I gave it a good 100 pages but then decided I just wasn't that interested. Again here's a book I expected to like, I wanted to like, but I didn't.

The next one was The Appeal by John Grisham. I used to love his books. Maybe I've read too many, maybe he wrote too many. :-) It just didn't feel that original and didn't grab me.

So I moved on to Still Alice by Lisa Genova (recommended by Lynne) which is a fictional account of a 50 year old woman with Alzheimers. I'm really enjoying this one. It's really giving me a good insight into what it would be like to be diagnosed with this disease, especially at such a relatively young age.

I'm going to the library later this morning, can't wait! :-)

May 19 & 27 Library Visit Review

I just finished Twilight, and have one more book from these trips to read yet, but I think I will post about that one separately after I finish (or don't finish) it so I can finally post about these. I feel like I finished some of these SO long ago! Carrie you asked what I thought of Twilight - I literally finished the book, checked my email and saw your comment. My brief thoughts about it are below.

So here are my ratings of the books I checked out on May 19 and May 27, in the order I read (or didn't read) them:

The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer - 4/5

Astrid & Veronika by Linda Olsson - As I wrote before, I didn't care for this book very much! Once again I didn't agree with all the great reviews I'd read. 2.5/5

The Secret Between Us by Barbara Delinsky - This is the first book by Delinsky that I've read. Any suggestions for another good one by her?4/5

An Absolute Gentleman by R.M. Kinder - I couldn't get into this one. I think at a different time maybe I could have, but I tried to read this in the middle of a difficult time (my dad died on 5/30*) and it just wasn't the right book.

The Ghost Writer by John Harwood - I didn't understand all of this! I certainly did not really understand the ending. I liked the book though and would have rated it a "4" if I understood it better. 3.5/5

Skin by Ted Dekker - I read 2 chapters then quit. First of all I was a little spooked from reading The Ghost Writer, my husband was out of town, and it was pouring rain and storming like crazy the day I started it. I decided it wasn't the right time to read this. :-) Also, I think after The Ghost Writer I wanted something a little lighter to read.

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell - I didn't even give this one a chance. I think I quit reading after 5 pages. :-) I think I may have checked this out once before and didn't read it. First of all, sci-fi isn't really "my thing". I really prefer a story about something that really did or really could happen. But once in awhile I will read a book that doesn't fit this bill and really enjoy it. But again, after reading The Ghost Writer and then starting Skin, I realized I wanted to read something lighter, something that didn't require me to think so hard about who was who, and how everything might fit into the storyline, and find a book that I could just "read" and enjoy, if that makes sense!

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan - THIS fit the bill! I loved this from page 1! I had to put it down after reading the first 3 chapters and go to bed (it was already late and my husband was out of town all week and I knew I needed all the sleep I could get to take care of my very active little girls by myself for a week!). I probably could have read it cover to cover in one sitting if I had the time. This book replaces Year of Wonders as my favorite read of 2008 so far. 5/5

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer - I really enjoyed this book. I read so many great reviews on it, but as Carrie from Mommy Brain said about her reaction after reading the reviews, "I just shrugged. Not my thing." I've never read a book or seen a movie about vampires. But after reading Carrie's review along with so many others, I decided to give it a try. I thought it was very good, I can't wait to read the sequels! 4.5/5

Parenting is Heart Work by Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller - This is the one I didn't read yet.

So there you have it, I *finally* wrote about these!

**********

*I hate to just mention my dad's death in passing like this, but as this is my book blog I didn't know how to bring it up here. I blogged more about it on my family blog. His passing is certainly not just a "blip in my life" as it seems to come across by the way I mentioned it above. He was the most wonderful dad, I loved him so much and I miss him dearly. I am so blessed to be his daughter. My parents gave me and my sisters an idyllic childhood and have been very supportive as we've become adults and have our own families. My mom died last July so this has been a hard year for my family. Thankfully I have 3 sisters, we all live near each other, and we have each other to lean on. My dad wasn't much of a reader though! Nor was my mom. Not sure where I got it from. :-) I love you mom and dad!!!

June 12 Library Visit

My husband was out of town all last week and my sister said she would come over for awhile on Thursday night and watch my girls so I could get a little break. So where does a book lover go? To the library of course! :-) Actually, I hadn't planned to go. Instead I was going to run to a few stores and then to Starbucks for a frap (and a book !) But then I realized Lindsey's videos were due and once again I had books on hold that had to be picked up by the next day, so I decided to go to the library. I only got 2 books for myself, the ones that were on hold:

The Appeal by John Grisham
The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

I am almost done with the May 19 and 27 books, 50 pages left in Twilight and the whole book Parenting is Heart Work. I just keep piling up more books without finishing any one trip's worth! I'm going to try to finish one stack before starting another. But that's hard when books that I've put on hold come in and need to be checked out by a certain date. I'm sorry if I'm boring you with all this!

Big Dog, Little Dog

I never talk about children's books here, although I read a TON because every night I read to Lindsey for 15-30 minutes and we read about 4 or 5 books a night. We've progressed way beyond simple board books, but we come back to this one every once in awhile because they are SO CUTE and FUNNY. I'm talking about the Big Dog, Little Dog series by Dave Pilkey. There are 5 different books in the series:

Big Dog and Little Dog
Big Dog and Little Dog Making a Mistake
Big Dog and Little Dog Going for a Walk
Big Dog and Little Dog Getting in Trouble
Big Dog and Little Dog Wearing Sweaters

There is also The Complete Adventures of Big Dog and Little Dog (all 5 books in one) which is what we have out from the library right now. One of my favorite parts is in the "Getting in Trouble" book, they want to play but have nothing to play with. Then, "Big Dog and Little Dog are playing. They are playing with the couch." They rip it all apart, get in trouble, but then..."Big Dog and Little Dog are sorry. They will be good from now on." The looks on their faces are so cute.

Let me know if you've read these!

P.S. I am LOVING Mudbound!!!!!

June 4 Library Visit

I still had a stack of unread books when I had to make a library trip last week to return some videos and get more books for my daughter (again!). There were 2 books in that I had reserved so I had to pick them up:

Toddler: Real-life stories of those fickle, irrational, urgent, tiny people we love

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

I have 2 or 3 books to finish before these, will be reporting on those soon!

May 19 & 27 Library Visits

I forgot to post the list of books I checked out on May 19:

The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer
Astrid & Veronika by Linda Olsson
Parenting is Heart Work by Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller
An Absolute Gentleman by R.M. Kinder
The Ghost Writer by John Harwood
Skin by Ted Dekker
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

I finished The Lost Boy but none of the others yet.

Then yesterday I got 3 more books! LOL First of all Lindsey was out of books and her videos were due back yesterday, so I had to make a library trip. I had these 3 books on hold and they were in so I had to pick them up too:

The Secret Between Us by Barbara Delinsky
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

I'm currently reading Astrid & Veronika and, well, um, I don't care for it that much! Once again I read great reviews but it's not living up to what I expected. It started out okay, but by about halfway through I was wanting to stop reading it. But I really want to find out more about their "secrets" so I'll finish it. But I'm not loving it or even liking it all that much.

Happy reading!

May 12 Library Visit Review

I finished these 4:

The Ghost Writer by Philip Roth - As I said in an earlier post, the book called The Ghost Writer on my TBR list is actually written by John Harwood. I got the wrong book. :-) But it had great reviews on Amazon so I decided to give it a try. And try I did, but I couldn't get into it.

Consider Lily by Ann Dayton and May Vanderbilt - LOVED it! It had a few flaws, but overall it was great. 4/5

London Holiday by Richard Peck - Couldn't get into this one either.

Knitalong - Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together by Larisa Brown and Martin John Brown - I love everything about knitting....I love reading about it, listening to podcasts about it, talking to others about it, thinking about it, and of course actually knitting. :-) This book was just "ok" for me though. 3/5

May 6 Library Visit Review

My review of the books I checked out on May 6:

The Fortune Cookie Chronicles by Jennifer 8. Lee - I was interested in this book since I have 2 daughters from China and I've been there twice. I couldn't get into it though, and didn't finish. I do NOT like Chinese food. :-) One time for supper, during our second trip to China, I had a donut and some french fries. :-) One time this was my meal while most of the rest of our group had the Peking Duck Dinner. The plate was about 8 inches in diameter if I remember right. In other words, this was not a big plate of food. LOL



The Challenging Child by Stanley Greenspan - I just skimmed this book. I have a hard time getting into this type of non-fiction book sometimes. This one is pretty long. It probably has a lot of good info I could use though.

A Child Call "It" by Dave Pelzer - Difficult book to read, left me with many questions. The author says questions will be answered in the next 2 books. I'm not sure if the questions I have are the ones he answers. I'll be checking out the sequels soon and find out. 4/5

The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer - I really enjoyed this book. (I know, not much of a detailed review, LOL!)4/5

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman - I really wanted to like this book since it got so many good reviews. I'm not a fan of fantasy though, and I couldn't get into it. It started out okay and I thought maybe I could read this one. And maybe at another time I could, but right now I just didn't feel like continuing with it.

Forever Lily by Beth Nonte Russell - This book made me very MAD. The author goes along with a friend to China to adopt a child. The friend doesn't want the child from the very beginning and her attitude made me so mad, as if this wasn't a child's life, as if you "shop" for the perfect baby and if you don't get exactly what you wanted then you can just put her back. I admire the author greatly for loving this baby and eventually adopting her when they got back to the U.S., but I didn't agree with much of her assessment of China and some of her own attitudes. Also she was into mysticism and other things I totally do not agree with. A big part of the book is dreams that she was Chinese in a past life (if I understand that right - I skipped most of the dream parts).

A few other quotes that bothered me:

"The Chinese government insisted on thousands of dollars for a baby that someone had literally thrown away. What, or whom, was the money for, exactly?"

The author is referring to the $3000 orphanage "donation" every adopting parent is required to make. This money goes to the orphanages. I look at it as payment for all the things they did for my daughters up until we adopted them, and for the children who currently reside there. Sure maybe there are corrupt officials here and there who misuse the money, but for the most part, the money goes to help support the orphanage and the children there.

"I look at the label; it reads MADE IN CHINA. Isn't everything? They are exporting everything, including their unwanted girl babies."

I think that is a crass way to look at it and I don't agree with that attitude.

But at least she understood this much:

"Besides, I think, anyone adopting from China knows that sometimes you do not get the individual baby that has been promised to you; you don't choose. It is part of the deal to accept that there will be unknowns."

I could go on and on about the things I didn't like about this book, but it might be more appropriate on my adoption blog rather than this one. But if you want a good overview of what adoption from China is like, there are much better books than this one. One of these days I will post a list of my favorites.

Rating: 3/5

China Ghosts by Jeff Gammage - MUCH better than Forever Lily! I enjoyed this book. 4/5

I Haven't Done THIS in Awhile Either!

In fact, I don't think I've ever done this. What is "this" you ask?

I cried when reading a children's picture book to my daughter!

I could barely choke the words out. The book is The Forever Dog by Bill Cochran. It's about a little boy named Mike who gets a dog, Corky, as a puppy. He teaches and trains the dog and loves him as his best friend. "One day Mike and Corky made a plan. Mike told Corky that the two of them would be best friends forever. Anything and everything that Mike did, Corky would do with him. Forever. That was the plan."

After a few years, Corky gets sick and dies. Hence my tears. Maybe it was because my sweet dog was on my lap while I was reading? Maybe it was the adorable illustrations? Mike's sadness just did me in! And he is angry at Corky for breaking his promise about their "Forever Plan". In the end Mike's mother helps him see that Corky will be with him forever in his heart. Mike cries some more, tells Corky he's sorry he was angry with him, and the lets Corky "all the way into his heart. And it felt warm inside." What a sweet book.

Lindsey was out of library books so we made a trip last night to get more. The Forever Dog was one of them. Of course I couldn't go to the library and not get a few books for myself! I'm not done with my latest library pile, so I just got 4:

The Ghost Writer by Philip Roth (Oops! This is the wrong book. The book on my TBR list was written by John Harwood. I'll try this one anyway!)
Consider Lily by Ann Dayton and May Vanderbilt
London Holiday by Richard Peck
Knitalong - Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together by Larisa Brown and Martin John Brown