Book Review: Knitting for Good

This is a lovely little book for any knitter's library. It jumps around a bit but provides a very pleasant read and a good deal of support and community building. Greer writes of her thoughts on knitting as a personal journey as well as an opportunity for both creativity and activism. Knitters can influence their own personal growth through knitting and particularly though not exclusively through knitting for others. She also profiles a number of other knitters (including bloggers, writers, designers, teachers, activists, and others), with their thoughts on knitting, fiber arts' place in the world, and what knitting means for them personally. The book includes simple patterns for a variety of projects which can be knit for oneself or for donation purposes, including basic survival items like scarves, hats, and blankets; toys and pet beds; and baby clothing. I would recommend this to the thoughtful knitter wanting a supportive volume on knitting's potential for positive personal and community change.

Knitting for Good!: A Guide to Creating Personal, Social, and Political Change Stitch by Stitch by Betsy Greer, Trumpeter, 2008, ISBN 978-1590305898

Book Review: The Yoga Zoo Adventure

A cute book and valuable resource for parents and preschool teachers. This book has a series of exercises suitable for ages 3-7 which are based on traditional yoga poses and activities. The individual activities are designed to engage young children at home or school. They are presented with stories, parables, music, and toy prop suggestions to make them more engaging than simple introspective yoga might be for this age group.The animal themes allow for incorporation with unit studies and related teaching tied to zoos, nature, wildlife, farm life, travel and similar ideas. A section of animal parables is included at the back, and animal facts of interest to young children are sprinkled throughout the book alongside the exercises mentioning those animals. Also included in the concluding sections are brief essays on the importance of zoos in general and on select animals (listed alphabetically) of interest to children, from caterpillars to zebras.This is a worthy addition to the home or early childhood education library, and would make a good gift to preschool educators or primary school physical education professionals.

The Yoga Zoo Adventure: Animal Poses and Games for Little Kids. By Helen Purperhart, illustrations by Barbara van Amelsfort. Hunter House, 2008. ISBN 978-0-89793-505-0

Book Review: Run by Ann Patchett

I almost never read contemporary fiction, yet couldn't put this compelling novel down.   It's a masterpiece of weaving threads of lives, thoughts, ambitions and moralities together into a fabric of prose.

Bernard Doyle has lost his wife to illness, his oldest son to get-rich-quick-at-the-expense-of-others morality, his older adopted son to academia and his youngest to dreamy hopes of priesthood.  Yet one night after a Jess Jackson speech to which he drags the younger two, all the Doyles' lives are changed when Tip is pushed out of the path of an oncoming vehicle by a passing woman.  In a moment not only does the younger Doyles' birth mother enter all of their lives, but so does her 11 year old daughter.  This spurs changes in everyone's inter-relations, and changes how they think of themselves, their futures, and their dreams.

This examination of hope, personal growth and the real meaning of family proceeds to investigate what it means to be a parent, what is owed to family, and what is owed to the self.

I highly recommend it.

Book Review: Live Your Road Trip Dream, 2nd ed.

Carol and Phil White were retirees with a dream: to travel around the country on their own, for a year, without running out of money or energy. They planned, they budgetted, they kissed their children and grandchildren farewell, and they headed out.This newly revised manual and travelogue tells how they did it, both in practical and human terms. They provide budget plans, recommendations on transportation choices, insights into travel decisions, and suggestions for websites (including their own) which provide more information and tools. The first half of the book provides the planning tools and suggestions; the second is the diary from their own travels.Anyone interested in long travel, RV use, or travelogues should consider this readable, useful volume.

What books obsessed you as a child?

I have been talking in LibraryThing with many, many people I could never have met anywhere else, and meanwhile or course thinking more consciously about books. Of course anyone who knows me knows that I always seem to be thinking about books, but at the moment it's quite overt.
In order to divert myself from book aquisition (right now it's spinning and weaving books; what are you buying, hm?), I'm turning my thoughts to what I read as a child. One of the great things about parenthood for me has been introducing my children to books I knew and treasured myself at their ages. Yes, today they have Harry Potter and The Quiltmaker's Journey and many other worthwhile reads which hadn't yet been written during my childhood, but I can't tell you the joy I have felt when they've read (or listened to) and loved Heidi, Charlotte's Web, The Secret Garden, The Velveteen Rabbit, and The Hobbit. It doesn't bother me that none of them get the least bit excited about The Happy Hollisters, Malory Towers or Cherry Ames; I guess those really are once and for all dated.
The one book which I read, and read, and read as a girl, though, was A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I had multiple copies which I kept in my room. I don't know when I discovered it, but once I had devoured it once I returned to it regularly. I never stopped crying when Sara fed Anne; I never got over the cruelty of the rich girls; I never felt much sympathy for Lottie; I always felt for Ermengarde. Oddly, Sara Crewe herself seemed less a human figure to me than some of the secondary characters; she was too perfect, rather like Mary Ingalls always seemed in the Little House books. The rat and the monkey always amused me quite a lot, though.
While The Secret Garden is a beautiful story hidden within a children's tale, A Little Princess is more a pre-adolescent's paradise story; a tale of a child who is important not because of who she is, but what she is inside and what she can do. Her riches at the end have more to do with what she has accomplished as a person than what the diamond mines her father has left her will offer. Every adolescent girl sympathizes with Sara because every adolescent girl (boy too I imagine, but I think it's more prevalent among girls) feels underappreciated, undervalued, and holds a child's self-absorbtion within a persona expected to express an adult's selflessness.
Of course, it would be nice to wake up one morning and find you own diamond mines, wouldn't it?
So what are your favorite childhood book memories, or childhood books? Which ones did you treasure as opposed to the books you now as an adult value?

Book Review: Dr. Rob's Guide to Raising Fit Kids

Not a diet book, not an exercise manual, this is a family guide to all-around fitness. While there is healthy eating advice, this direct, simple book is more concerned with encouraging activity and wellness for the whole family.Specific areas include casual activity; focused sports proper techniques, equipment, and concerns for younger athletes; coaching and motivation; safety; and youth substance abuse prevention. Healthy diet for active lifestyles is substantially covered as well, in simple, basic terms with specific examples and sample menus and choices.There is a positive message that every family can find ways to improve their overall wellness together, without coercion or pain. However, I would have prefered some mention and contact information for organizations which can assist in finding activities for special needs family members (such as Special Olympics, The ARC). To be fair, the fact that the book includes URLs to some related organizations is appreciated and is more than commonly included in similar books.The psychological, nutrititional, and medical advice all seem sound and up-to-date (which is to be expected given the author's background, but which is nevertheless gratifying given how much misinformation is frequently published in other works).Overall I recommend this as an excellent addition to the home, school, or public library.

Book review: Stay Healthy, Live Longer, Spend Wisely

Whether or not you agree with some aspects of the book's premise, you can't argue with the value of a volume dedicated to helping you make health insurance and health care choices and decisions.This book offers straightforward information on insurance plan choices, medical practices, common medical concerns and situations, medications (and their development and marketing), scams, and wellness. Not a true self-help book (and I mean that as a complement), rather this presents information so that the reader can better understand what is going on around him and behind the closed doors of medical practices and insurance providers.With modern medicine and insurance company practices both changing daily, with federal and state mandates conflicting with policies and written plans, with advances in technology and medication regimens no one can keep up with all swirling around every American today, a book like this one is a valuable addition to the personal, healthcare or public library.

Particularly positive is the emphasis on wellness and minimizing one's use of unneeded resources while not avoiding necessary medical consulation and services.

Stay Healthy, Live Longer, Spend Wisely: Making Intelligent Choices in America's Healthcare System, by Davis Liu, M.D.; Stetho Publishing, 2008

Book review: Safe Dieting for Teens, 2nd ed.

Safe Dieting for Teens, second edition, by Linda Ojeda, PhD

Better than most of the genre, this well-rounded, conversational book will at the very least have teens thinking about their food choices. Fairly accurate information is presented on diet choices, the importance of exercise, diet balance, and fast food choices. Missing are more complete nutritional advice (beyond recommendations to get a general number of servings of food and vegetables a day), specific portion recommendations, and any discussion of how the body digests nutrients and stores energy. Inaccuracies and inconsistencies include the author's misunderstanding of the difference between nutrisweet and sucralose, and a switch in language from telling readers that there are no bad foods to a "Restaurant Food Guide" which lists foods "usually not okay (a better choice might have been "eat in moderation" or "higher in calories per portion").

Still, overall, the messages that getting up and moving is a big part of the weight loss battle, that moderation and mindfulness are the keys to success, and that self-esteem and looks are separate concepts make this a winner for teenagers concerned about overweight.

Sadly, in this genre a book can be considered good if it simply offers no harmful advice. Here is a volume several steps above that, and worth reading. This book, with positive advice and a far-reaching outlook, can help many young people if they read it, carefully consider the contents and ideas, and put the suggestions into place in their lives.

Book Review: The Jerusalem Diet

I've written a review of this book at LibraryThing. I'm not going to copy the whole thing here, because frankly I don't recommend the book. I got it as an early review copy, so I do feel I should mention it here.

Book Review: Black Ships

New author Jo Graham enters the realm of historical fantasy with a triumph in her first novel, Black Ships. A retelling of Virgil's Aeneid as a portrayal of the lifetime of a woman oracle and priestess, the book is painstakingly researched and fully evocative of the Bronze Age. Born as Gull, the daughter of a slave captured in the wars on Wilusa (Troy), Pythia finds her destiny as a Sybil of the Lady of Death. Joining the last few hundred survivors of Wilusa on their journey to find their future as a people, she becomes the beloved friend of Prince Aeneas and the lifetime lover of one of his captains. As she gains in insight, maturity, and wisdom, Pythia follows her people across the Mediterranean, where ultimately they discover their future and the embodiement of her dreams. Well-crafted, with full-fleshed characters and an introspective but not self-absorbed protagonist, this first novel brings to life an age and a set of peoples rarely so clearly put in context. I feared at first the novel might be one of personal obsessions or personal biases but instead found it to be an open, imaginative portrayal of lives seeking meaning and purpose in a time of political, religious, and social confusion. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical or fantasy works.

Note: This book will be available for purchase March 10, 2008. I had an early review copy from LibraryThing!