"The Swiss Family Robinson" by Johann Wyss

Well, the book wasn't really "written" by Johann Wyss. It was written by his father and later edited by his son Johann before publication. But I digress...

I don't quite know how to sum up this book. At times I found it very interesting and enjoyed the family's grit and knowledge that helped them survive on a deserted island. But much of the book included the unnecessary killing of many animals of every sort - in nearly every chapter; their bodies left to rot without being used for life-sustaining food or provision (I am by no means a foe of hunting but it really was ridiculous).

With all that in mind, this was a book written by a father in the 18th century to entertain his four sons. Boys running wild with pistols packed at their sides, coming across all sorts of exotic animals and being able to tame some and hunt others must have been a thrilling read for his sons. While reading this book, I think it is important to keep the author's place in time and his intention to entertain HIS sons, in mind. The plot is slow going, but so are many other books of a coeval nature. The pirates depicted in the Disney movie never showed up; there was no pump organ in the treehouse to sing "O Tannenbaum" by.

I do plan to read this book aloud to my children in the near future. So many animals are described in each chapter that I think it would be fun to keep our animal encyclopedia close at hand to look up pictures of those creatures named in the book. The ingenuity and hard work of the family, including long-lost skills were fascinating to read about (although it seemed that the father especially had some unrealistically fantastic abilities and knowledge about the natural sciences).

I marked one paragraph in the book that summed up the parts I enjoyed about the book: "The more there was to do the better. I never ceased contriving fresh improvements, being fully aware of the importance of constant employment as a means of strengthening and maintaining the health of mind and body. This, indeed, with a consciousness of continual progress toward a desirable end, is found to constitute the main element of happiness."

I have to admit that I enjoyed the Disney movie better than the book (that is a very rare admittance). This is probably due to the fact that I am a product of the 20th and 21st centuries and must have constant adventure/plot development/excitement in what I view and read.

My 5 favorite books read in 2010

1. New Deal or Raw Deal? How FDR's Economic Legacy has Damaged Ameria by Burton Folsom, Jr.

2. The Real George Washington - National Center for Constitutional Studies (Parry, Allison, Skousen)

3. The Real Thomas Jefferson - National Center for Constitutional Studies (Allison, Maxfield, Cook, Skousen) - I really finished this book at the beginning of 2011.

4. Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freeman

5. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

"The Birth Order Book: Why You Are the Way You Are" by Dr. Kevin Leman

This is one of those books that you pick up and read quickly - I skimmed here and there as I went. I found the information interesting, but took much of it with a grain of salt because many of his main points were explained away when exceptions came up. The tone of the book is very entertaining and I appreciate his use of personal experiences, but the personal experiences seemed to take up the bulk of the book.

According to his prescription of an oldest child I fit the mold to the T and found a couple of chapters on perfectionism (a classic trait of first-borns) very helpful. I may pick up another book of his that deals specifically with this problem. Overall I found this book helpful as a mother and was able to take some time to think about my children's personalities and how I react to them as a parent. I'll end by giving it three *** stars.

"Have a New Kid by Friday," by the same author is a book I highly recommend. It deals with using reality (or "authoritative") discipline with children; resulting in children who learn to take responsibility for their actions and develop healthy relationships with their parents. I constantly refer to this book or discuss similar tactics with my husband when disciplining our children.

"Austenland" by Shannon Hale

Most women who have watched the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice have fallen in love a little (or a lot) with Colin Firth - er, I mean Mr. Darcy. Only yesterday week I selected this DVD set to watch while working on a sewing project; patiently watching disc one but all the while anticipating the moment I could insert disc two and watch THE SCENE of the miniseries. You know, the one where Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth look at each other across the music room at Pemberley; Mr. Darcy's pleasant but subtle smile and gorgeous eyes gazing longingly at me (I mean Elizabeth Bennett), the violins swelling in the background at just the right moment, making your heart beat a little faster? And I have to say I have always felt a little akin to Miss Elizabeth Bennett through the means of sharing her first name (although I am named for Beth March from Little Women - yes, the one that dies) so I feel I have more right to insert myself in her place than most women.

Well, the prologue to Shannon Hale's novel Austenland was a teasing reminder to the universal circle of womanhood and our collective obsession with Colin Firth - er, Mr. Darcy - er, Pride and Prejudice and all things Jane Austen.

Jane Hayes, the female heroine of Ms. Hale's novel, has a disturbing obsession with Mr. Darcy, a long trail of past boyfriends who have broken her heart, a biological clock ticking, and a rich great aunt, who, at her death, bequeaths Jane with a three week vacation to Pembrook Park, a role-playing regency era-filled destination for women seeking to fulfil their Austonian fantasies in.

Due to her infatuation with Mr. Darcy, an actor playing the part of a Mr. Nobley (a Mr. Darcyesque character), steps in making Jane feel utterly contemptuous - but only at first. She also encounters a servant who works as a gardener at Pembrook Park. Will she get trapped in the fantasy land of role-playing an early nineteenth century single woman and fulfil a romance with Mr. Nobley, go "slumming" by falling for the gardener, or will she return to her senses and rejoin the real world?

I have to admit, I found this book refreshing because it is NOT the kind of novel I generally pick up to read. It peaked my interest because I have read other books by Shannon Hale that she has written for young adults, I am myself an adoring Pride and Prejudice fan, and I am willing to laugh at my own silly adoration of Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. What I did not appreciate about his book was the harlequin nature of it - one of the many reasons I have not been tempted to read the Twilight series. I live in a rated G world and I love it. So in rating this book I feel I have to end up giving it three *** stars instead of four or five. I am also left with no desire to read Shannon Hale's other novel for adults, The Actor and the Housewife. This is mere personal opinion. I can appreciate thematic material in a book, but make-out scenes and fluff leave me feeling a little empty.

Back to Reading

My book reading has slowed down a bit as I have been mustering through a few weeks of morning sickness - a blessing in disguise. During the next few months I will be reading several 5th-6th grade level story books/novels about ancient history (Egypt, Greek and Roman myths, myths from around the world, etc) with my daughter as she does her homeschool reading.

I am currently reading The Real Thomas Jefferson and plan to read George Washington's Sacred Fire by the end of the year (maybe). After reading Inkheart and Inkspell I am waiting to read the final book in the trilogy, Inkdeath - the only problem being that I can't seem to pry it out of my daughter's hand and will have to wait until she is done. Obviously there has not been a mass of book reviews on this blog in the last few months; between moving cross-country, starting homeschooling and then mustering through the first few weeks of a pregnancy it has been pretty crazy around here!

"Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson

I read this book aloud to my nine-year-old daughter and was surprised that she really got into it (my five-year-old son didn't really understand it and usually left the room). While researching this book a little I found out that it includes about 200 words that are no longer in common use in English so we had to spend a lot of time looking up words in the dictionary as we went along. My copy of this book that was published by Puffin Classics and it includes a glossary of common pirate terminology in the back along with a list of characters with a short bio about each.

Also, we checked out a couple of children's non-fiction books about pirates that included pictures of ships that labeled different parts of the boat. This was a difficult book for reading out loud because of all of the dialogue that includes pirate slang (not really my expertise) - I would love to hear this book on an audiobook by an expert!

The author did a great job of making the reader step into the life of the lead character, a fourteen-year-old boy, named Jim Hawkins. A definite page turner, I found myself anticipating how Jim would get out of each intense moment. One reason I enjoyed reading this book out loud to my daughter is that it does contain some very scary moments - including gun fighting, descriptions of less-than-wholesome living, and murder. This gave me an opportunity to talk about these things with her and discuss them as needed.

This book is broken down into six parts; each including about five chapters. Each chapter is about 8-10 pages long making it very easy to sit down and read a little bit and set it down for later.

**** Four stars

My Top-Five Book List for 2009

Here are my top five book picks from 2009:

1. The 5000 Year Leap: A Miracle That Changed the World by W. Cleon Skousen *****

2. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens *****

3. The Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox *****

4. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte ****

5. Going Rogue by Sarah Palin ****

Favorite Picture Books for November

Fat Cat: A Danish Folktale retold by Margaret Read

**** I think my son liked this one more than me because he got to burp out loud to help out with the story. I like the spunky mouse in the story.

What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page

*****A very fun book that shows pictures of a part of a body of an animal (you are supposed to guess what kind of animal). The next page shows you the animal and how they use that part of their body (tail, eyes, ears, etc).

A Child's Calendar - Poems by John Updike, Illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman

**** A poem for each month of the year. Fun poems describing outside conditions and holidays. My son had fun letting me know what the next month would be after each poem. The illustrations are beautiful (but don't get this book if you have a real problem seeing a bare bottom of a child at the beach in August).

Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

**** This is clearly my pick. The illustrations were fantastic - leaves are used to represent animals and other things throughout the story! My son wanted the book to be over though.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Lauren Child

***** I did not think my son was going to sit through this one with the photographs of dolls and stuffed animals throughout the book. I was wrong. The story is very fluent and well told with some words written smaller and larger depending on how you would naturally stress them. A fun read-aloud book.

Cowboy Slim by Julie Danneburg and Margot Apple

*** This cowboy doesn't quite fit in with the others - he wants to write poems. At the end of the story he finds out his poems are useful. Very fun. This book has a lot of text but kept my son's attention.

A Million Dots by Andrew Clements

***** Just a fun book to look at. You get to look at a million dots over the course of the book (the dots are inside the pictures on each page). Fun facts about numbers. Everyone at home loved this book!

Poetry for Young People by Robert Louis Stevenson

***** These poems are taken from A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson and are very imaginative. My husband and I used to read only silly and funny poems (like Shel Silverstein) to our children with the thought that they would not like any other kind. Not so.

There are several titles out there with collections of poems by Robert Louis Stevenson (author of Treasure Island and Kidnapped). But I particularly like the illustrations in this version.

The Wizard, the Ugly, and the Book of Shame by Pablo Bernasconi

*** This ended up on my favorites list but now I can't quite remember why other than it was fairly clever and funny. Both my kids laughed while reading this.

Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson

***** This is my favorite Halloween picture book ever! Look for it at your local library next October.

If you Give a Pig a Party by Laura Numeroff

*** I love these cute stories by Laura Numeroff that come right back to where they started. Just like dealing with a three-year-old!

The Pumpkin Man From Piney Creek by Darleen Bailey Beard

**** Very nice fall-time story about a girl who wants to make a jack-o-lantern and learns about honesty.

Child's Guide to Common Household Monsters by James Otis Thach

**** This is a very cute monster story, especially if you've got a child who is scared of them. Reall, they are quite scared of us!

Now and Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin by Gene Barretta

***** Fun and educational for the entire family - I did not realize he invented so many things. Cute illustrations. Can't wait to read Neo Leo (about Leonardo Divinci).

Turkey in the Straw by Barbara Shook Hazen

**** The kids thought this story was funny. I was expecting the book to actually go through the words of the song "Turkey in the Straw," but it didn't.

Imagine a Day by Sarah L. Thomson

***** Get this book! The paintings are stunningingly beautiful and full of imagination. This is one of those books that you can spend an hour just looking at the pictures and allowing yourself to enter the world of "what if..."

"The Continuous Atonement" by Brad Wilcox

"Redemption is more than paying justice and bringing everyone back to God. It is mercifully giving us the opportunity of being comfortable there. Not only can we go home, we can also feel at home."

Read this book. If this is the only gospel-related book you read this year you will not regret my suggestion. Brad Wilcox has written a book filled with his own personal insights on the atonement and how it is an every day force in our lives.

This book helped me discover a new appreciation for the atonement and all that it makes possible.

My favorite chapter of the book is number 6, After All We Can Do; a very insightful essay discussing 2 Nephi 25:23 which reads, "For we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."

"Being Enough" by Chieko N. Okazaki

"What you have to give is enough - if you give it with all your heart."

What a wonderful and uplifting book! I had previously read Lighten Up and Sanctuary both by Chieko N. Okazaki before purchasing this more recent book. Sister Okazaki has a talent for presenting womanhood in a realistic and down-to-earth way and at the same time sharing how we can experience holiness and spiritual growth in our day-to-day living.

This book is broken down into 12 chapters; each chapter being a mini-sermon on a specific topic. "Being Enough" is the title and subject of chapter one, and one of my favorite sections of the entire book. In this chapter she reminds us that we as women ARE doing and being enough if we are truly doing the best we can and relying on the help of our Savior:

"It is probably true that our own wisdom is inadequate, our own love too quickly exhausted, our own patience in short supply, our own resources too scanty, our own capability too limited, our own talents too stunted. But the good news of the gospel is that we are not alone. This mortal probation is not a test of any of those things. It is an invitation to walk with faith with the Savior, and his promis is that he will make up all of our deficiencies. That's what grace means. That's what grace is for. If we will give Christ our trust, then he will provide everything we lack..."

Another chapter that I loved was entitled "Sparrow Prayers." I believe we have all experienced the feeling that a prayer has gone unanswered or unlistened to. Heavenly Father DOES hear our prayers although they may not be answered when or how we would like them to. Sister Okazaki reminds us that our prayers are listened to and answered - Heavenly Father sometimes sends some sunshine into our lives before we even ask for it and at unexpected times - these are blessings she calls sparrow prayers.

"It's been my experience that sparrow prayers are delightful surprises, happy little 'I love you' messages from God. And since one of their characteristics is that they're not the kind of answers that finds a cure for cancer or stops a war, they're always astonishing because they didn't have to be answered. So they're also always characterized by pure grace and love. They're unbirthday presents. They're surprise packages."

I give this book **** stars. This is the kind of book that you can sit down and read any chapter, take some time to think about it and feel good about the things in life that you are accomplishing.