BlogHer - books - Comments

Great Suggestions

kristendom — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:51:00 -0500

Wow, I'm really glad I posted about this - these are all great suggestions. I'll have to try some of them (or all of them) out. Hoping to turn this slump around soon - there are too many good books out there to waste time not reading :).

I'm not sure I've ever been in a slump

Denise — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:42:04 -0500

I've been too tired to read but that's not quite the same thing as a slump.

Maybe re-reading an old favorite would help? Exploring a new genre? Try a graphic novel? Or a book written by a blogger. ;-)

~Denise BlogHer Community Manager
Flamingo House Happenings

What do you love?

AnExtendedVacation — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:10:53 -0500

I was in a reading slump a year ago and none of my usual reads were doing it for me. So I stepped out of my usual reading and picked up some books that were about cooks, food and their experiences. I read six books in a month that month! I could not get enough of it because the books matched where I was at my life. All of the writers were at turning points in their lives and so was I. I was also obsessed with cooking since I had the time (unemployment does that to you).

Maybe you just need to scope out some books outside of what you normally read. You might surprise yourself with what you enjoy!

You're in a slump

sassymonkey — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:36:45 -0500

It's happens to me at least once a year, sometimes more. Sometimes I find rereading favourite books helps. I went through a particularly long-lived rereading slump this year - almost two straight months. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes you just need to wait until a really, really good book hits your path. Good recommendations can help. Do you read book blogs? Book blogs often pull me through slumps with their recommendations.

The Welcome post and the help a blogher out post in the BlogHer Book Club have some good recommendations.

I'll see if I can't send in a posse with some more suggestions for how to kick your drought. ;)

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

My daughter asked...

Leighbra — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:30:48 -0500

us "how are babies born?" at a busy family dinner...knowing then wasn't the best time to go into it, my husband said...

"Head first"

Frankly, I thought he was madly brilliant for coming up with a child appeasing answer on the spot like that (with oh, 40 family members wondering what we would say), and I assure you, she now knows the other more important details.

There is great value in knowing how much detail your child is ready for and catering your answer to fit the age.

Will try to remember the books we had in the office in my midwifery days.

The thing with Atwood

sassymonkey — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 07:30:06 -0500

Is that when I see her in person and hear her read from her own stories, or just talk, I'm enthralled. (Yes, I've been lucky enough to meet her and attend several readings. Sigh. I really miss living in Toronto sometimes.) But when I actually read her works it's just not the same. To me, and I'm pretty sure I'm in a minority, I think of her as a storyteller more than a writer and I want her to tell me the story. Not words on a page, even though they are very fine words on a page.

Though this is a very good reminder that Moral Disorder has been languishing on my shelves for a very long time.

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

Atwood

Denise — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 06:26:41 -0500

Sometimes I'm a fan, sometimes I am not. I am clicking to read the full post because I'm thinking about reading Bluebeard's Egg.

~Denise BlogHer Community Manager
Flamingo House Happenings

I adored those books

sassymonkey — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:40:07 -0500

I had a Disney collection, including a Disney record player that I believe had Dumbo on it. I loved it. It had all the classic Disneyfied stories. Sleeping Beauty was my favourite. You had to turn the page when your heard Tinkerbell.

I do believe that one of my nephews "inherited" the collection and promptly destroyed it. Sigh.

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

Listening to stories on records, tapes, cds & ipod

Willful Woman — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:01:19 -0500

Rita,

You brought back such memories! I'd completely forgotten about that bell! And waiting ( a little impatiently) for it to sound so that I could turn the page. I'd sit cross-legged in front of our family's stereo and listen to The Frog Princess over and over again. The story was a little creepy actually but the magic was in the fact that the voice on the record matched the words on the page. I loved it! Thanks for bringing that memory back.

I listened to all the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and Magic Treehouse books on tape and CD with my kids driving from Bethesda, MD to Connecticut to see family for years when they were little. They made the miles fly. Books on tape are magic. Instead of a movie in the car, they make your child use their imagination to put images to the words they hear and the experience is so much more satisfying. We've since moved and even our small town library has tons of books on tape and CD. It's a must-stop before any long car ride. Charlotte's Web was a tearjerker on our way to the beach one year. And, although I'm no technical genius, in emergencies I can even download stories off the internet onto my iPhone to play in the car...provided I'm not the one driving.

Thanks! Willful Woman www.besidethestonewall.com

I totally agree that any

yellowlemon — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:01:16 -0500

I totally agree that any child who asks you this question is definitely old enough to know the truth. Making up stories is a wrong approach.

3 Minutes of Family News

Britt Bravo — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:22:15 -0500

Hi Lori,

I'm with you. That's why I watch the Daily Show with Jon Stewart (:

I don't think the news would have to be all positive . . . it would just have to be presented differently . . .for example, take a look at this timeline for the U.S. in Iraq on TIME for Kids or their coverage of Obama's trip to the Middle East.

Love happy news!

loriluna — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:16:04 -0500

Britt that is a fabulous idea - pitch it!

I think people are sick of negative news wouldn't it be awesome to have something positive even if it were only 3 min? And I don't even HAVE kids and I like the idea - I'd watch!

Young people are awesome

Britt Bravo — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:13:44 -0500

I'm glad you liked the video, Lori!

I agree, Virginia. It would be cool if the network news had a "watch with your family" section of the news every night that was reported in a more young-person friendly way. I mean, if they can report international news in 3 minutes flat, they can create a 3-min kid-friendly segment!

Kids can do some amazing things

Virginia DeBolt — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 08:31:26 -0500

This video is a good example of that. I think we can also help kids by helping them understand the news.

Virginia DeBolt
BlogHer CE
Web Teacher
First 50 Words

Wow!

loriluna — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:00:32 -0500

Amazing post - great video!