organized chaos

Shauna over at Shaunarumbling posted a reading challenge. And you know I’m all about reading, so I signed on. I won’t go on and on about the specifics of the challenge. You can hop over there and inform thyself if you wish. On to the book review.

I read The Hidden by Kathryn Mackel. Under the Christy Nominees, it’s listed under the Suspense category and I’d much rather choose something a little weird. I’m not much for romance of any kind or historical fiction with some exceptions like Angela Hunt.

ANYWAY. I’ll be honest. It took me several chapters to really get into this book. It was not boring, per say, but I took the beginning of the story to be your run-of-the-mill bitter woman goes home and gets tangled up in her past sort of story. To me, this gets overdone.

But then the author threw a few touches of the supernatural in there, and WHIZ BANG, I was hooked. She has a way of revealing answers you hadn’t even asked the questions to yet. And I enjoyed that. Surprisingly. And by the last third of the book, I couldn’t put it down.

The Hidden deals with, well, what’s hidden. Emotionally, what we hide from others and ourselves. And how God has a way of revealing all things. Then it deals with what is hidden from our physical eyes. A.K.A. The Spiritual World. And in the context of this book, the Mackel does a nice job of keeping the believability intact while dealing with the sticky issue of not letting your “fantasy” read too much like fantasy. Because I’ve read some Christian fiction where the unseen world just seemed really over the top.

Which leads me to one of the aims of this challenge. Did it change your view of Christian fiction and all that? my paraphrase

I’ve been reading Christian fiction for 11 or 12 years and have even written some of my own (not published). A few years ago, I experienced a deep depression. The kind that people without God and probably some with, end their lives over. Most of my life changed, for the better, after that. I started listening to secular music again, and reading other books-besides Christian fiction. I had got to the point that all of it just seemed the same.

And I found God in so many places I wouldn’t had ever thought to look for Him.

Since then, I’m very choosy about anything with the label “Christian” that is sold to the public. Since then, I have found a few Christian authors that really shine in an industry of formulaic art.

The Hidden didn’t change my life. It was a good read. It swirled some brain cells and fired some neurons. But it didn’t smack me over the head with formula either. For that, I’m grateful.

Yesterday, while at the library, I scanned the new books briefly as I whizzed by with The Cuteness in the stroller.  My eyes snapped to attention towards a book I was surprised to see in our small town library.  Those guys are getting better about all that lately.

It was Skin by Ted Dekker.  I threw it in my stroller and went on my way.  When we got home I did some things, fed the gremlins (it was still before midnight), changed a few diapers, and then started the book.  Then I tried to sleep, but Commando Demando demanded I help her scoop her ice cream since it was too hard for her. So I got up, sour cheery attitude and all to perform my motherly duties.

Then I did some laundry, and actually matched socks and put clothes away, (usually a monthly occurance) and eventually made dinner.  After all that I settled down to read some more.  It was around 7:30.  I read and read, and I couldn’t stop.  It’s a sickness I have.  Obsession.  By 12:30 I was done with the whole book.  I’m still not sure how that happened.  We’re talking about a 395 pager here.  I knew I could read fast, but geez a Pete.  I got so sucked into the story I didn’t even realize how fast I was going.

I guess by now you know I’m going to say, “Go read this book.”  And you’ll probably say, “Why? Just what makes this book so gosh darned different than the other 50 books I know I need to read, but just don’t have time for?” (more…)

Since we homeschool, we really depend on life to teach the gremlins some lessons in the place of traditional bookworks. Yesterday was no exception.

Yesterday Socrates learned how not to change a bike tire. We bought the tube the night before. After months of no bike riding, it was winter anyway, I finally got my keister over to the bike supplies and he paid for his own tube. The next morning, I made it a priority, after my java, to get that bike going. I stepped out onto the front porch with my long flat head screwdriver and proceeded to put the tube on the rim first and try to pry the tire onto it.

If you know anything about changing a tube or are having trouble picturing what I just described, suffice it to say, it’s one of the most stupid things I could have done. I tried to be extra careful not to puncture the new tube with the end of my screwdriver, but that last few inches of tire did not want to go on. Then when it did, the tube was still sticking out. So I poked it back in. With the screwdriver. DUH.

Not a big surprise that after loading all three gremlin’s bikes into the van, they all needed air don’t you know, and high tailed it up to the gas station with the free air, that the air swooshed right out of Socrates’ new tire like the air swooshes right out of my brain.

And to really make me feel smart, some old guy in his pick up, with nothing better to do than sit by the air pump and watch dumb blondes trying to fill holey bike tires, decided to banter with me over how I’ll have to watch the gremlins now that I’m getting their bikes going. No sir. I’ll be dropping them off by the highway to ride, just as soon as I’m done here.

Anyway, I had all four in the van already, and the energy it would take to go home, take the baby out, then load back up again at some other point in the day, not to mention the whining I would hear from Socrates over his wanting to ride his bike, was not worth it. So we buzzed up the street to pick up another tube.

After looking up the directions online, I got the new tube on in about 5 seconds. And the neighbor even let us use his air compressor to air it up.

Another lesson Socrates learned yesterday was that the passage of ten+ years makes commercials look really old.

I found my high school graduation tape from 1994 and we watched what little there was of it. After the ceremony, regular tv programming came on as if the ceremony had been taped over some obscure Sunday afternoon movie, complete with commercials. After watching a few of them, Socrates was wowed.

He said, “Commercials were weird back then.”

Me: “Commercials are still weird.”

He said, “That was thirteen years ago. Those are really old.”

Me: “Come on, they’re not that old.”

Him: “They look like they’re from way back when.”

And so do I right? Go ahead, say it. No, better not. It’s been a looong day.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Climbing the family tree

Posted in Book Learnin

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

PBS and other news

Posted in Book Learnin

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Roots and The Good Earth

Posted in Book Learnin

These are two books that I recently read, don’t be too impressed, I started Roots when I was seven or eight months pregnant and didn’t finish it until a month ago.  It’s very long, but very worth one’s time.  A little background: My husband, in the last couple of years, has decided to collect The Classics of literature.  And read them.  Now, in theory, I’d like to think I was an expert on all things classic literature, that I could converse with esteemed professors and whatnot.  But I’m not.  In fact, every time I crack open a volume of Dickens or The Idiot by Dostoyevsky, I get two pages in and give up.  My husband says I don’t give it a chance.  I’ve always been a reader.  In Jr. High, I would spend whole weekends in our fold out lawn chair reading adult level science-fiction that my mom had recommended, and finish these huge books in two days.  I read fast, and if something doesn’t catch me right away, well, that’s my downfall I guess.  I just don’t have the patience for a plot that starts in chapter eight. Back to Roots and The Good Earth.  Obviously they caught me right away. Obviously they were excellent stories, or I would’ve given up.  Just read them.  Two different cultures: one in America about slavery, and one in China, not sure of the year, but about poor farmers that endure extreme poverty and then extreme wealth, and what happens to a family in that situation. Both got me thinking a lot about our freedom, about the lack of class in our society.  What I mean is even though we don’t have a lot financially, the only people looking down on me are snooty parents who think my kids are too loud in the grocery store.  I’m thankful I live in a time and place where I don’t have to worry about being sold to another family because I’m a female and the crops didn’t grow so my family will starve if they don’t sell me. (The Good Earth) So I didn’t really remember Roots, the miniseries, very well, so we got it from the library.  And we let the kids watch it for History.  Good times.  Lots of questions and good discussions.  I’m glad we did it.  Of course I had to explain why the African women in the beginning were topless, but they took it ok.  I think. There’s my two cents for the day.