Children's books

Julia Alvarez really  nice children's books. We have checked out two of her books. I don't know if she has more, but I really enjoyed them, and I am going to assume that Joe did too. Check them out.

totally unrelated

I know we only read books by and about women here, and you are all probably ahead of me and read this one already, but I am reading (listening to, but after years of internal struggle, I've decided that's the same thing) Little Children, and I just had to share with you how drawn by it I am. It's eerily making sense. I don't relate to any one character all of the time, but it feels like such a perfect book for people with little kids. Have you seen the movie? I haven't, but I am sure I will after I am done with the book. 

Eat, Pray, Love Discussion

The meeting was at Bridget's house on Saturday morning. Erin, Analisa, Rachel, Kelly, Ksenija, and Bridget were present. Here are some of our thoughts:

-Many people had different favorite and least favorite sections of the book. Kelly enjoyed India, Bridget stuggled through it. Others disliked Italy, but loved Bali and so on. We wondered if we were liking/disliking the stage she was at emotionally, the actual place, or how she traveled though each place and what she was doing.

-We discussed her decision to not have kids. We all agreed that it is a bad decision for people who do not want kids to go ahead and have them anyways. How about the decision to have kids? Is it the ultimate selfish act or selfless? We do know that a lot of the pieces that follow after having the kid are not selfish, i.e. changing diapers, up in the night, etc. Some felt that you become less selfish from having a kid.

-We all agreed that she is pretty self-absorbed....understatement of the year! While this did get tedious at times, that is also sort of the point of the book. She made these choices to have this certain life and now has a best seller. Good for her for making that happen. What is her original ex-husband thinking at this point?

-Her and Felipe: What is going to happen now? Will it last? Many of us want to read her next book just to know how it all unfolds. She sure had her life work out well for her. She went on this trip and fell in love with someone who gives her a sex injury? C'mon!

-Felipe's perspective on Wayan and the house: Some knew Wayan would try something sneaky all along. Others were naive up until the point where Felipe explains it to us. We thought his perspective was pretty insightful.

Overall, while we thought this book got a little preachy and self indulging at times, most were happy that we read it.