These past two months have flown by, and during them I’ve managed to do a good bit of reading. Here’s what I’ve enjoyed:
-
How We Love by Milan and Kay Yerkovich
. Steady Eddie heard an interview with the authors of this book and decided he needed to read it. He read it and recommended it highly to me, so of course I read it. I’ve read several marriage books over the years, and I have to say that this one has resonated in terms of its practicality the most. The Yerkoviches discuss the different “ways” of loving, and they narrow it down to a few categories: the Avoider, the Vacillator, the Pleaser, and the Controllor and Victim (these are known as the Chaotic Love Styles). A person’s love style is something acquired early in life through observation and experience during childhood, and this “intimacy imprint” has far-reaching impact into his or her adult life. This is something I’ve always known intuitively, so this book really gave me lots of evidence and examples to support that. A workbook is available to help couples put into practice the skills necessary to heal these relational deficits brought about by their individual styles; I think we’d do well to order it. I give this one a Highly Recommended. (WaterBrook, 2008)
I purchased Carrie Rocha’s Pocket Your Dollars for my Kindle months ago when I saw it on sale on some FB group that we’re both a part of. Steady Eddie and I have some financial goals that we have made little progress in over the past seventeen years of our marriage, and this little book gave me a lot of insight into the power of our attitudes toward our finances. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the Rochas’ story and Carrie’s can-do attitude. I have Victoria at Snail Pace Transformations to thank for reminding me via one of her blog posts that I even owned this book; her blog is another resource in my mental and emotional arsenal in trying to change my mindset about money. (Look! Carrie has a blog, too!) Highly Recommended if frugality is your thing or if it needs to be your thing! (Bethany House, 2012)
- A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck in audiobook. If you haven’t read Peck, do yourself a favor and read him ASAP. Richard Peck in audiobook is even more fun.
- A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck, also in audiobook. The sequel is just as poignant as its predecessor. Both of these books were re-reads, but oh how I love love them!
- Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech. This was a re-read for me from years ago, but it made me cry more this time than the last time I read it–probably thanks to the fact that now I’m the mama of a girl approximately the same age as Sal in the book.
- Shabanu by Suzanne Fisher Staples. This is yet another re-read from my pre-blogging days. It was just as colorfully descriptive and shocking to my Western sensibilities as I remembered.
- Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt in audiobook. If I love Richard Peck, I adore Gary D. Schmidt. Don’t miss either one.
- “The President Has Been Shot!” by James L. Swanson in audiobook. Riveting.
- Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie Tolan. I enjoyed this one better than I expected to.
- The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt in audiobook. This might be my favorite piece of JF/YA literature ever. This one is yet another re-read because I love it so much.
. Steady Eddie heard an interview with the authors of this book and decided he needed to read it. He read it and recommended it highly to me, so of course I read it. I’ve read several marriage books over the years, and I have to say that this one has resonated in terms of its practicality the most. The Yerkoviches discuss the different “ways” of loving, and they narrow it down to a few categories: the Avoider, the Vacillator, the Pleaser, and the Controllor and Victim (these are known as the Chaotic Love Styles). A person’s love style is something acquired early in life through observation and experience during childhood, and this “intimacy imprint” has far-reaching impact into his or her adult life. This is something I’ve always known intuitively, so this book really gave me lots of evidence and examples to support that. A workbook is available to help couples put into practice the skills necessary to heal these relational deficits brought about by their individual styles; I think we’d do well to order it. I give this one a Highly Recommended. (WaterBrook, 2008)
Read-alouds:
The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog by John R. Erickson. This seemed like the right read-aloud for the boys at the time. I’ll admit to not loving it; I think Hank translates much better to audiobook. The DLM hung in there, though, and we finished it, and I daresay he’d sit and listen to book two right now if given the chance. That’s a pretty good recommendation.
- Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery, a continuance of our Year of Anne. Not one of us–neither I, Lulu, nor Louise–consider this one a favorite. However, we do love Anne, and of course, this book does give us Rebecca Dew. It took us a long time to read it, but when we finished, I think we can all say we’re glad we revisited it.
The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog by John R. Erickson. This seemed like the right read-aloud for the boys at the time. I’ll admit to not loving it; I think Hank translates much better to audiobook. The DLM hung in there, though, and we finished it, and I daresay he’d sit and listen to book two right now if given the chance. That’s a pretty good recommendation.I also shared a few picture books that we enjoyed in August and September in the following posts:
- Burt Dow, Deep Water Man by Robert McCloskey
- Some new titles, one of which I nominated for the Cybils!
The DLM listens to audiobooks daily, but I don’t even try to keep up with what he listens to. I do know that he discovered the Magic Treehouse books via audio this go-round. I’m not sure if I’m happy or sad about that. 😉
And that’s it! The next couple of months should be busy in terms of reading, and I already have a backlog of reviews to share (after I write them 😉 ), so stay tuned!
