Check it out

This week I am going to be a guest tipper at the Tip Spot. Check it out. I am going to be blogging about books and reading.

p.s. This awesome blog was created by my friend Christy and her sister Lizzy

Autism awareness month

April is autism awareness month. Working at a school with children with autism has opened up my eyes to a whole new world. I read Born on a blue day by Daniel Tammet as a means of awareness. Tammet is a savant who has aspergers, a form of autism that is on the milder side. His abilities include being able to recite over 20,000 integers of pi, remembering any day for any year and having a photographic memory.

Too often it seems that we are afraid of autism and fear that our child will be autistic. But for those who live with autism it is their reality. Tammet is not depressed or angry that he's autistic, rather he celebrates his talents and gifts. This was an extremely interesting book that I would recommend you check out.

Baby, baking, books and blogs

I have not posted a book review in what seems to be forever! I have been reading, but have also been busy with a 10 week old baby, baking and discovering new blogs. I wanted to let you know about some of the blogs that I have discovered since I now have more time to peruse the Internet:

http://www.foodblogga.blogspot.com/
This is a great foodie blog with unique and interesting recipes. I recently made the fennel risotto and it was out of this world! In fact I made it twice in one week!


http://creativeorganizing.typepad.com/creative_organizing
A website/blog with great tips on how to get organized! I consider myself fairly organized, but it seems that everything always gets messy again as soon as I clean it up. But as my husband says it all goes back to the 2nd law of thermodynamics which states: "all systems tend toward disorder and randomness." Ahh such is life!




http://familystylefood.com/
This is another food blog that has fun recipes. The woman who writes the blog has won a number of food contests. Recently I have made her chocolate chai snickerdoodles (I brought them to our iServe meeting last night and they were a huge hit)! I am also planning on making her chickpea and sun dried tomato hummus. I love hummus and I finally bought tahini!


http://www.pickypalate.blogspot.com/
The recipes here are easy and yummy (although rather fattening....oh well it's not swim suit season yet). I have made her snickerdoodles and am planning on trying out her mac and cheese recipe tonight! Thank you to Sarah for mentioning this blog!


http://www.theperfectpantry.com
This is a fun blog that shows what a food writer is currently working on for her cookbooks. She writes about the origin of spices, unique cuisine and food history. Every Sunday she has a fun feature which shows unique pantries from around the country.

http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/
I am not from Texas nor have I ever been to Texas, however, I love country music, ribs, barbecue sauce and the Southern drawl. Ya'll this is a fun blog of a woman who lives in NYC, but who is a true blue Texan!!


http://thefuturelibrarian.blogspot.com/
This is a book blog created by Steph, my college roomie! She is studying to be a librarian and she is one of my best friends. She also has a fun and fresh way of writing and making you smile and laugh!!

Now I will share with you what I have been reading. It is a rather odd assortment of books but here goes:


The Silent Partner by Dina McGreevey-This was a rather blah read. Dina McGreevey's husband Jim was the former governor of New Jersey. He announced suddenly, near the end of his term, that he was gay. Dina writes about how this affected her life. Jim wrote his own book and Dina wrote this book to "set the record straight" (no pun intended).

Escape by Carolyn Jessop-This is written by a woman who formally lived in a polygamist fundamentalist cult in Colorado City, Arizona. I couldn't believe this book was real the entire time I was reading it. It was quite shocking and disturbing...especially since people today are still living this kind of life!

It Takes a Village by Hilary Rodham Clinton-Okay I know what you're thinking... no I will not vote for Hilary in 2008, but I did enjoy this book that she wrote back in 1996. It is a good read about how our country needs to take a more proactive role in caring for the physical, mental, spiritual and emotional needs of our children. I agree that it takes a plethora of people to care for our children's well being (family, friends, priests, community members, etc.).

Eric Rex and the Monsters of Otherness-This is Kaza Kingsley's book 2 of the Eric Rex series. I just started it and I am really enjoying it! Kaza emailed me to let me know that she just finished book 3 and that should be out by the fall! You go Kaza!

Eats, Shoots and Leaves: the zero tolerance approach to punctuation by Lynne Truss is a book I am halfway through reading. It does seem that in the age of the Internet many of us have forgotten how to write and use proper punctuation(I apologize in advance for any punctuation errors this post contains). Sadly, children are not learning how to use proper English punctuation. This is a fun read that discusses how we can all help to promote and proclaim proper punctuation!!



I have also been loving being a mom to Jacob. He's the love of my life and I can't wait to see him grow up and become a little man!!

My tribute to love

I know that my blog is usually devoted to the discussion of books, but I am going to diverge from this topic for the time being.....(what you are reading I submitted as an entry for the February write-away contest at http://scribbit.blogspot.com/)

A Mother's Love
Love is a word that is often thrown around in a variety of contexts. Love is discussed in movies, books, diaries, on television and within the confines of a romantic relationship. Since becoming a mother, however, I have discovered a love that is unconditional, uncompromising, unpredictable and admittingly frustrating at times. A love a mother has for her child is unique and completely unexpected. It is a love that has no boundaries, limitations or expectations. We cannot expect a newborn baby to say "I love you" back to us in the usual terms. However, it is in the simple touch, a sudden smile and in a baby's vulnerability, that daily we come to discover how much we are loved.

At times a mother's love for her child can be fraught with insecurities, frustrations and feelings of helplessness. Daily, we ask ourselves if we are doing everything right, we seek validation and encouragement. However, love is constantly present when we're breastfeeding and satiating our little one's hunger, when we're rocking our baby to sleep and when we're down on the floor singing and playing with our baby, the list is virtually endless.

There are no boundaries or limitations to the love a mother has for her newborn. The love comes from a desire to provide the best possible life for our child. We never want our child to suffer pain, go hungry, be rejected or see the harsh and dreadful realities that all too often comprise the human experience. But part of love is the ability to let go. As a parent we have to let our children fall so that they can learn to walk, let them cry so that they learn to self-soothe and be left alone to think and feel on their own. To love is not to ensnare but to set free.

As my baby boy continues to grow both intellectually, physically and emotionally I cannot wait for the love I have for him to continually change. Love is not stagnant but constantly redefining itself like the ebb and flow of the tide. Someday he will leave home and he may become the father of his own baby whom he will love. Our love will change as he becomes more independent and self-sufficient. Someday I will probably rely on him for the things I now do for him. However, the bottom line is that I am proud to be a mother and I love my baby boy

Dedicated to Jacob-the baby boy that I love to love

2008 Resolutions

I know it is almost February, but I have been a little busy taking care of our baby (born 12/21/07). I decided that I need to make some reading resolutions for 2008. So here goes.

1.) Read more non-fiction. I love to read fiction books, but it is time to expand my horizons. I did enjoy reading The World is Flat and The Walk Across America (by Peter Jenkins). I would like to read a few biographies, some political books and I always enjoy books about personal achievement (i.e. walking across the U.S., beating the odds, etc.)

2.) Read all of this years Caldecott and Newbery Award winner books. I was able to do this last year and I really enjoyed all of the books. For those of you who are not familiar with these awards here goes. The Caledcott is an award giving to an artist of an outstanding children's book. The Newbery Award (the first children's book award in the world) is given to the author of an outstanding children's book. Go to www.ala.org for more information on these awards.

3.) Read more news sources. Currently I read articles from National Public Radio www.npr.org, I'll go to CNN, The Buffalo News and occasionally the BBC. I'd like to expand my horizons and read a plethora of diverse news sources. It doesn't hurt to get the news from a multitude of angles.

4.) Read at least three books I myself would never normally choose to read. How you might ask am I going to do this? Well I am going to visit the "virtual bookshelves" of all my friends on shelfari and choose a couple of books that I myself might not have picked to read, but that would expand my mind.

Well now I better get to these resolutions and begin reading! Happy New Year!

Blog Tour

Kaza Kingsley's Blog Tour: Day Eight.

Below are interview questions submitted by Kaza:

Have you worked any real people or experiences into your books?
Only one real person. My friend, Steve, is not a fiction reader, and definitely not a fantasy reader. I convinced him to read a few chapters of The Dragon’s Eye. He assured me he would not finish the book. Well, not only did he finish it, but he loved it! So, when he asked me to make him a character in Book Two, how could I say no?So Steve is a character (I used the name “Steve”) in Monsters of Otherness. He doesn’t have a big role. And … Steve was surprised to find his character was not even human! (I couldn’t resist…) See if you can spot him in Book Two. He has some of the characteristics of my friend.

Do you ever dream about your characters and their world?
Most definitely. The deeper I get into the writing process, the more lost I get in my fantasy world. Sometimes the ideas I get in dreams are actually useful in my writing. Usually they’re just glimpses, though. Another interesting thing that happens when I’m immersed in writing is that I start to feel like I’m living with a foot in two separate worlds. When things go wrong in one of them it seems to matter less – I always have the other.

I know it sounds strange. But if I hear something bad on the news, and I’m immersed in writing fantasy, it tends to feel less real, somehow. I just think, well, Erec’s also in danger, and that’s almost closer to my everyday reality. Then again, you have to realize, I write eight to ten

hours a day. I get really immersed.

Does it help to listen to a particular kind of music while you write? Or, do certain songs or themes come to mind when you think about your story?
Interesting – I cannot listen to any music when I write! It’s a darn shame, too, because I love music! I just end up hearing the lyrics in my head, and it pulls me out of where I am in the story. (I guess I could listen to classical music, just never was drawn there.)
I wrote most of Book One at my local Borders store. A certain spot in their café had just the right amount of white noise, with people chatting in the distance and music speakers far enough that I couldn’t hear lyrics. Other stores that had louder music made it too hard for me to write. And if people sat next to me and got into an involved conversation I had to look rude and move! Since words are my medium, other people’s words just get in my head and mess me up.

What music do you like to listen to?
I love Jack Johnson, especially his “On and On” CD. Blue October is spectacular, I love their “Foiled” CD. I also love Nancy Griffith’s music – and so much more! Music is a great release for me. Before I got used to radio and TV interviews I had to listen to certain John Lennon songs to get in the right frame of mind!

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
I love movies, and try to go to as many as I can. Funny, because at the same time, I rarely watch television. When I do, I like the Daly show and Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central, as well as stand up comics! I love hiking and spending time with friends, cooking up goodies when I have time.

Kaza at the age of 5

Kaza Kingsley's Eric Rex Series Book Blog Tour

I just finished reading Eric Rex: The Dragon's Eye, a wonderful young adult fantasy book by Kaza Kingsley. Starting next week Kaza is going to be going on a blog tour to promote the second book in her series entitled Eric Rex: The Monster of Otherness. My blog is one of the stops on Kaza's tour. I am very excited to have been asked to participate in this event.

Check out Kaza's awesome website: http://www.erecrex.com/moo-excerpt.htm

Kaza will be checking my blog daily to answer any questions, comments, etc. that are posted to my blog. So start asking questions!!!!

Here is a listing of the other blogs that Kaza will be frequenting and touring throughout the month of January:

January 7th- A Fort Made of Books - http://afortmadeofbooks.blogspot.com/2008/01/prepare-to-meet.html

January 8th-Books4Ever-http://kamannix.wordpress.com/

January 9th– Baseballs and Bows-http://baseballsandbows.blogspot.com/

January 10th- Fanatic Space Blog-http://www.fanaticspace.com/blog

January 11th-Bibliophile's Retreat-http://www.forstrose.blogspot.com/

January 12th– Children's Literature Book Club-http://www.childlitbookclub.blogspot.com/

January 13th – Stephanie’s Confessions of a Book-A-Holic-http://www.stephaniesbooks.blogspot.com/

January 14th – A Year of Books-http://www.sarah-yearofbooks.blogspot.com/

January 15th-Author Chris Rettstatt's blog -http://rettstatt.wordpress.com/

January 16th- Deliciously Clean Reads-http://cleanreads.blogspot.com/

January 17th – Into the Wardrobe-http://peteredmundlucy7.blogspot.com/

January 18th – Real Gurlz Magazine-http://www.realgurlzmag.blogspot.com/

January 19th- Chauceriangirl-http://chauceriangirl.wordpress.com/

In the upcoming days I will post questions and answers from Kaza regarding her books, life as an author, etc. So continue to check out my blog for updates!