The Holiday Grind… and its aftermath
During the Holidays, I get overwhelmed. The decorations, the obligations, the cold… it just gets to me. But after its all said and done, when gift giving, chores, and the extreme traffic isn’t constantly flooding my daily routine, when its ripped away from me and I am denied it, I get a little bit nostalgic for what I previously despised.
Its perfect timing too, because everything is on sale. You go to your favorite bookstore, what do you find? All the holiday titles are on clearance. You check out any of your favorite retail items for winter, and it’s all so much more affordable than it was the previous months.
So, it’s the tail end of January and beginning of February that I find myself reading titles like Holiday Grind by Cleo Coyle, and stocking up on Scentsy fragrances like Honey Peared Cider, Comfort & Joy, and Pumpkin Roll before they are replaced by Spring and Summer appropriate smells.
Cleo Coyle’s Coffeehouse Mystery Seriesare short, sweet, and cozy. They are the kind of book I either enjoy in a hot bubble bath, or under a pile of afghan blankets, but either way you must have a hot cup of coffee to enjoy them properly. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next: Roast Mortem.
When reading these books, whether it’s a holiday edition or not, its always best to have some café-like scents warming in your burner – like Baked Apple Pie or Hazelnut Latte, typically available from Scentsy year round; or just your usual suspects for fall and winter – like Pumpkin Marshmallow, Central Park Pralines, or Cozy Fireside, scents often only offered during the Holidays.
Despite the disappointment I have that these latter fragrances won’t be available to me during the Spring and Summer months, there is one thing that consoles me: During the month of February, a good portion of them will be 10% off. Between a Scentsy sale and clearance holiday books, I’m quite certain that January and February are the best parts of Winter.
Purchase your Scentsy products today at AKKlemm.scentsy.us. There’s a party open.
The Weekly Low Down on Kids Books 1/28/12
Hippos Go Berserk – Sandra Boynton
Excellent kid’s book, whether you get the board book or the picture book edition, as we read from both this week, the kids love this! It’s a great counting book, as it counts both up to nine and down from nine, and it introduces the concept of addition with its final page, referencing the fact that all the hippos mentioned on each previous page put together would make forty-four hippos. Originally copyrighted in 1977, this should be considered a classic.
Little Dog Poems – Kristine O’Connell George and June Otani
This is a great introduction piece to different kinds of poems and how often times poetry can get away with putting words all over the page. What is unique about this poetry, is that its all over the page with purpose as its mimicking the dog featured in the over arching story. We have dogs, and Ayla is around them a lot even at other peoples’ houses, so you could tell she really related to this book.
Toot & Puddle – Holly Hobbie
This one made me sad, in that I adore Holly Hobbie, but Ayla wasn’t really feeling it. Which tells me to try again when she’s older. Toot goes on a wild adventure, while Puddle stays at home, so in the course of the book the story happens with what Puddle is doing and then the alternate page has a postcard from Toot. I found these kinds of things really cool at about 5 and up, whereas the postcards were kind of lost on my 15 month old.
Molly Who Flew Away – Valeri Gorbachev
We read this over and over again this week! Ayla loves the illustrations, and is completely captivating by any story involving mice. I’m not exactly sure what it is she loves about them, but she was in love with this book.
Pip & Squeak – Ian Schoenherr
Another mouse story, Ayla would get super excited on each page and point to the mice. You could see the recognition on face, “I found it!” her eyebrows seemed to say every time as she jabbed the little mouse illustration with her pointer finger. This was also my personal favorite for the week as well, its got an adorably clever twist ending, which is fun when you’re a parent reading baby books all week.
The Adventures of Odysseus – Hugh Lupton, Daniel Morden, Christina Balit
This is obviously way to old of a book for my kid right now, but I checked it out as research for the classical education I’m planning for my daughter. In the classical education style you present topics to them every four years on age appropriate levels. This book will be the perfect first introduction to The Odyssey, and Ayla already loves the illustrations even if she can’t sit still for the story yet. Its also done by Barefoot Books: Celebrating Art and Story, for which I have a personal soft spot.
Penguin Books bring Human Happiness
Title: Human Happiness
Author: Blaise Pascal
Publisher: Penguin Books
Genre: Non-fiction, Theology, Philosophy
Length: 106 pages
“Men are so inevitably mad that not to be mad would be to give a mad twist to madness.” – Blaise Pascal
There’s something magical about reading the thoughts and opinions of someone who died three hundred and twenty some odd years before you were born. To experience theology, reason, or even the lack thereof, through the eyes of someone so ancient is exciting. That’s why I love Penguin’s Great Ideas series.
I’ve mentioned this love before in my Conspicuous Consumption review, but every time I pick up one of these pocket sized source documents, I’m reminded of what a treasure knowledge and books can be.
Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves – and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched live – and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are. – Penguin Books
I love that Blaise Pacal was included in this group of writers and definitely find his material that of the “enriching” nature. It was extra special, to read this particular author knowing that my oldest nephew was named after him. And as usual, upon completion, I can’t wait to read my next Great Ideas book.
“Bad” Habits and Edna
I have a really bad habit, that I have no intention of breaking, of judging books at a glance, by their cover. This habit our parents and grandparents warned us against, is justified to me by two things: my marketing degree and a blurb Paul Collins wrote in his book Sixpence House: Lost in a Town of Books.
Regardless of that justification, it has led me to some horrible mistakes (I thought Rudolf Steiner’s Festival series was going to inform me of the historical significance and establishment of festivals, not be metaphysical ravings of his take on religion butchered by an editor) but also to many happy mistakes.
Directly, it led me to Tanya Egan Gibson’s (Yes, I have a writer crush on her right now, forgive me) How to Buy a Love of Reading, whose cover is amazing, but what’s inside is unexpectedly ten times better. Indirectly, I have discovered the delightful Edna St. Vincent Millay, and that story is a little more intricate.
You see, I once belonged to an online book club. It was lovely place that I adored, where as a group, we read lots of British things. We had fabulous nicknames (I was Lady Klemm of Deasa Manor) and were only required to read the selections and maintain our character. At first… later there were a whole host of requirements, like reading and participating more each year than you did the last and agreeing with the admin of the group on every particular. I was kicked out- “expunged” the admin liked to call it – indirectly for getting pregnant and having a child, directly for knowing the proper definitions of literary terms.
In this group, the Mitford Sisters were often referenced, Nancy the most often for her Pursuit of Love. Browsing my favorite bookstore one day, I saw a book which I presumed was by Nancy Mitford, but only at a quick glance, and impulsively added it to my stack of purchases. I took it home without further survey.
You will laugh when I reveal that instead of Nancy Mitford, I had grabbed a book by… wait for it….
but didn’t realize this until months later as I was reading through my TBR pile, something every voracious reader has stashed about the house and never seems to diminish no matter how quickly you pluck through it.
Alas! It was a biography of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford. Well, who is this? I asked myself. I can’t read a biography on a person without reading their work first. I want to have a feel for the quotes, I want to understand their mood they were in while writing my favorite piece, and I can’t get the full picture without having a favorite piece!
So, back to the bookstore I went and found myself a hardback of Edna’s poems, a collected works. It’s been heavenly. Reading her poetry has made for some of the sweetest moments with my baby.
Late at night, when she’s teething and can’t sleep, we rock in the glider and in the lamplight of my library I whisper lines from Edna. When the kiddo is at her crankiest, she sometimes crawls into the chair ahead of me and points to the white spine, she is aware that she is soothed by the rhythm of these poems. When it’s raining, like today, and we’re feeling scratchy and feverish, all the singing and hot tea in the world is no match in comparison to the calm that is offered by reading Edna aloud.
Poetry is not something I read often; it’s not my “go to” genre. But I appreciate it, usually the sarcastic and simple like William Carlos Williams, a pre-teen favorite of mine. Edna St.Vincent Millay has changed that for me, I think. I’m prepared to seek out more poetry in the future, especially as I raise this kid, my beautiful daughter, in hopefully the most literary household anyone has ever seen.
Coffee Dating and Honey Shacks
The Coffee Date
I’ve been watching a lot of comedians on Netflix lately, and inevitably each one will have a few minutes devoted to dogging the Coffee Date. Women will comically lament: Shouldn’t a man spend money on dinner? What’s with only shelling out a few bucks for coffee? Men talk about how it’s the worst idea ever because you’ll both have bad breath and diarrhea. And so on. I always laugh, because I see their point – kind of, and of course, they say it in a way that forces one to laugh – which is why they get paid to do what they do. But when all is said and done, I think: I love coffee dates. I loved them when I was dating, and I love them now that I’m married.
See, the coffee date is the perfect date. You just met someone; you don’t know them well enough to know whether you’d like to suffer through dinner. You can dodge out of a coffee date 10 minutes in, and its no big deal, you only met for coffee after all. Not so with a dinner date, where you have to at least wait for the bill to be dropped off, or you’d be considered an absolute jerk. Or, if things are going well, you can sit for hours and no one cares, you can have intimate conversations in typically comfy chairs in a very cozy environment. And with most coffee shops, if you get hungry while you’re there, its easy to order something to snack on for a bit without gorging yourself on food. It also offers the easiest chance to turn coffee into something more than coffee: We’ve enjoyed this coffee, let’s take a walk. After dinner walks tend to be a bit awkward and anticlimactic. You’ve already eaten too much, your outfit doesn’t fit the way it did when you got in, and you’re more likely to have to pee halfway through the walk, because you already sat through dinner and now you’re digesting.
I find coffee dates exceptionally more interesting and better for ‘dating’ than even the movie date. The movie date, to me, is the worst kind of date. This date is the date that says, ‘I don’t want to talk, I don’t want to know you, I just want to put in two hours of time so I don’t look like a slut when I make out with you.’ It says: I don’t put much time into thinking, and just want to sit with you in a dark room, where I can cop a feel. It says: my thoughts on dating haven’t progressed passed high school. Movie dates are for married people, who don’t need to talk, and just want to get out of the house for a change of pace, not for people just starting out.
But if you’re truly trying to get to know someone, which is what ‘dating’ is supposed to be, getting together for coffee is awesome. It’s possible that it’s just the book nerd in me, and we tend to be coffee/tea folk, but I just really feel like half ofAmericalooks for the wrong thing when they date. ‘How much money is he spending on me?’ is just not a suitable date night criteria.
Side Note for My Tea People
I was contemplating this blog rant on my way home from church today when I stopped at my local honey stand. As a huge coffee and tea drinker, I go through a lot of honey. What’s tea without honey? And in doing so, I’ve chosen to “support my local bees” as Bob’s sign proudly announces at the bee shack on Kuykendahl and Spring Cypress.
The bees are from A.C. Bees, here in Spring, and the stand is Bob’s Local Honey. The honey is the best you can buy, and when you bring his glass jars back, he’ll give you a $1/ jar cash or towards a purchase. My family goes through tons of this stuff, so I wanted to share. He’s there at the stand Tuesday through Sunday and his phone number is 713-628-4774, call if you have any questions.
The Weekly Low Down on Kids Books 1/18/12
Come Back, Cat – Joan L. Nodset and Steven Kellogg
How to love a cat: Hold him gently in your lap. But don’t panic if he bites – he’s only playing. Be careful not scare him away. Listen for his ‘motor.’ He’s telling you he loves you, too.
Nodset writes a simple and easy to understand story of trial and error as a little girl chases the cat she wants to play with and how he react. She presents a very basic and child-like dilemma: “I like you cat. Why don’t you come? Don’t you like me?” with answers the child can derive from the next step and the illustrations “Then I’ll come to you, cat.” Throughout the book, you learn to pet softly, don’t squeeze too hard and a number of useful lessons for a soon to be young pet owner. Ayla loved pointing out where the cat was on the page, and of course, my meow sounds.
The Night Pirates – Peter Harris and Deborah Allwright
I love this one! And Ayla thought it was pretty great too, which is always a plus. Reminiscent of Where the Wild Things Are, Tom goes to sleep only to be bombarded by girl pirates and taken away to a treasure island via his floating house. Its pretty awesome and the illustrations are fun and colorful.
Pooh Loves – Classic Pooh Board Book published by Grosset and Dunlap
Ayla is a sucker for all things Pooh, even though I didn’t really introduce her to him. She picked out a Winnie the Pooh book on the first shopping trip to a bookstore we had together after she was walking and I allowed her to pick stuff up off the shelf. She handed it to me and was very excited to get to take it out of the store with her. Then, this Pooh book she picked out at the library all by herself as well. There’s something about Pooh, forever and always, and this one is exceptionally sweet.
The Lion and The Mouse– Jerry Pinkney
This is one we’re going to have try another time. It’s all pictures and no words, but it’s a picture book and not a board book. Ayla kept demanding that I read to her, but I had to kind of just tell her a story. The illustrations are based off of Aesop’s Fables and it’s been too long since I’ve read them to recite the tale. If you pick this up, be familiar with the tale so that you’re prepared to help walk your kid/baby through the book. Your kid makes you feel like a pretty crappy parent when they open a book and all you can say is “Uhhh, that’s a lion…”
Blog Recommendation
I don’t have a review of my own prepared for today’s blog post. But! Never fear! I will not leave my followers and subscribers hanging! I have a blog post for you to read.
http://bookinginheels.blogspot.com/2012/01/review-good-omens-by-terry-pratchett.html
I send you to this review, because I, too, would like to “take a picture of myself licking the book and call it a review.” It is that fabulous.
Kudos Hanna of BookingInHeels and congrats on winning the cafepress pillow for the dreaming of books blog hop.
Evenings With Agatha
Title:Murder on the Links
Author: Agatha Christie
Genre: Mystery
Length: 173 pages
One of the most wonderful parts of January has been the cold – and Agatha Christie. At the start of the year, I committed myself to a 23 month plan to read all of the Agatha Christie Crime Collection, of which I own a beautiful black and red leather set.
In the evenings, my daughter and I light the fire in the fireplace, turn on the radio (its one of those old school looking wooden ones from Target, complete with turntable, cd player, and tape deck) and jazz immediately warms the living room with sound.
I keep my Scentsy burners on constantly and this month we’ve had a lot of Honey Peared Cider, Weathered Leather, and Cozy Fireside going.
Ayla, my daughter, is 14 months old. The jazz comes on and suddenly its dancing time! We sway and swing until the tea kettle is ready (it doesn’t whistle to my utter chagrin), and then curl up together and I read aloud the selected Agatha Christie for the evening.
This is the one time of day that we spend in the living room, most of our ‘living’ happens in the library where all my books and Ayla’s play mats are. How silly of us that our living room is where we do all our reading on death and murder.
This arrangement is everything I imagined would be wonderful about spending time with my daughter, and Agatha always lives up to her end of the deal, with all the excitement of a three ring circus.
In this second installment of the Poirot investigations, Poirot cleverly and humorously antagonizes other detectives as he and the narrator, Hastings, solve the crime together. If I said anything more, I would give away all the best parts!