Favorite Reads of 2009

I read a lot of books this year. A lot of books that were not in any way related to my school work. And so, on this last day of the year, I leave you with some of my favorites.

Favorite Book Club Read: East of Eden by John Steinbeck

A perpetual favorite East of Eden details the lives of two families living in the Salinas Valley, the Trasks and the Hamiltons. Beautiful characterization. I loved Steinbeck's use of repetition and his layering of Biblical themes.

Runner Up: The Known World by Edward Jones

 

Favorite Series Finale: Tap & Gown by Diana Peterfreund

The 4th and final edition of Diana Peterfreund's Secret Society Girl Series is the best conclusion to a series that I've read in a long time. Diana Peterfreund concludes her series with the perfect combination of new story-line and loose end wrap-up, and I really appreciate that because I find I am too often disappointed by series finales.

Favorite Audio Books: Terrier and Bloodhound (Beka Cooper #1 & #2) by Tamora Pierce

Set in Pierce’s much chronicled kingdom of Tortall, Beka is in training to become a "dog," slang for the police (more or less). In this part fantasy, part detective novel, Beka searches for clues in the usual manner as well as getting a little help from the pigeons who carry the ghosts of the dead. I love Pierce’s use of language, and Susan Denaker’s narration only adds to the richness of the tales related to us in diary format.

Favorite New Release from a Beloved Author: The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale

Shannon Hale can do little wrong in my opinion. Her newest book for adults, The Actor and the Housewife, made me laugh, cry, and sigh. The premise, a Mormon mother of four with a man who just happens to be a handsome actor for a best friend stirred up some controversy. Some of my favorite reviewers hated it and some loved it. I loved it.

Favorite Sequel: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games was one of the most talked about books of 2008. So intense I dreamt about it. With the sequel, Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins once again delivers an intense read. I really liked the new characters that Collins introduced. And, after a reread of both books, Team Peeta has secured my loyalty. The wait for the 3rd book is going to be too long.

Favorite Historical Novel and Children's Book: The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt

It's 1967 and Holling Hoodhood is in the seventh grade. Life is tough when you are a seventh grader. Holling contends with bullies, diagrams sentences, is confused about girls, and thinks his teacher hates him. On top of all of that the Vietnam War is in full swing and affecting everyone. The Wednesday Wars is really about all the little moments that make a person who he is. Granted there were several plot points may have made me predisposed to liking this book--Shakespeare, cross country--but I loved it. Recommended to me by my mom, The Wednesday Wars has joined the ranks of some of my all time favorite kids’ books.

Favorite New Author: Maggie Stiefvater, author of Shiver, Lament, and Ballad

This year I read three books by Maggie Stiefvater. Shiver is about Grace and Sam, a girl and werewolf. Lament and Ballad tell of Deirdre's and James' dealings with The Fair Folk. All of these books feature the real world with a little bit of weird (my favorite). But, there are lots of books that do just that. What makes them extraordinary is Stiefvater’s language and writing style. Beautiful, engrossing, and heart-wrenching. Stiefvater is an author to watch.

In August I read Maggie Stiefvater's book . I was so engrossed with the book that I immediately went to find other books by Stiefvater..

Grace lives near the woods in Minnesota. Every winter she watches the wolves out her back window, one wolf in particular. Every summer the wolves are gone. Sam spends his summers in town doing odd jobs. In the winter he pines for Grace through wolf's eyes. When the two finally meet they have to figure out how to stay togeth...mo

Favorite Baby Book: But Not the Hippopotamus by Sandra Boynton

Beckett’s favorite book is definitely Goodnight Moon. But I really love But Not the Hippopotamus mostly because I think this page is hilarious. It says "Now the hog and the frog hurry out for a jog with the cat and the rats in their new running hats."

Book I’m Most Proud of Finishing: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

I’m still immensely proud of myself for finishing this 1200-page (OK so it’s only 1163 pages) book in time for the book discussion while caring for a then 3-month-old baby and writing a dissertation. I found Rand’s ideas interesting, if not always feasible, and I’m always happy to boost my cultural literacy

 
Book I was most Surprised that I Loved: Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke

I was not a huge fan of Inkheart. I liked Inkspell a lot more. However, by the time that Inkdeath was finally published I couldn't really remember what happened in Inkspell so I wasn't in a hurry to read the conclusion of the series. I finally got around to reading it, and I am so glad that I did because Inkdeath is, in my opinion, by far the best book in the series. I am so impressed by the world and the characters that Cornelia created. Inkdeath is certainly more about Mo than Meggie, which I could see as being a disappointment to some readers. However, I find Mo to be a much more interesting character.

Best in Show: Fire by Kristin Cashore

Kristin Cashore’s Graceling was one of my favorites of 2008, and I eagerly looked forward to its companion novel Fire. I was not disappointed. Fire Kristin Cashore's takes place in the land east of the seven kingdoms introduced to us in Graceling in a country called the Dells. The Dells is populated with monsters of every kind--animals that look like their normal counterparts except for their brilliantly beautiful markings and their ability to read and influence human emotions. There is also one human monster left in the Dells, a seventeen-year-old girl named Fire. Fire is the type of novel that I want to spend all day reading on a gloomy day. The characters are well-wrought, and Cashore's language rolls like the green hills of the Dells.

Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow

A snowy Kansas greeted us after our trip to Colorado. The day before we came home our neighborhood got 14 inches of snow. That's a record--largest snowfall in December in like 16 years or something. Poor Nate. After driving all day long he went out and shoveled the driveway.

Today it's snowing again.

I suited Beckett up in his cozy warm coat (a Christmas present from Grandma Dorothy. Thanks again. We love it.) to take a couple pictures.

A Matched Set of Cousins

My mom got Andrew and Beckett these darling matching Christmas outfits. We had to have a photo-shoot. Here are some of the best of the best.

Beckett spent most of the photo-session playing with his shoes. Andrew thought this was a good idea and followed suit.

Then Andrew decided it might be more fun to play with Beckett's shoes.

Andrew's already giving Beckett a shoulder to lean on.

My camera made Andrew blinky. This is just one of many shots of Andrew with his eyes shut and mouth open.


What cute boys. We took tons of pictures. It's so tricky to get a good shot of one baby, let alone two. Just one more reason to be grateful for digital cameras.

Cousin Stats:
Andrew: 11 mos., 19.5 lbs.
Beckett: 6 mos., 18.5 lbs.

White Christmas in Colorado

We journeyed to Colorado for Christmas.

Where we saw:

Andrew, Paige, and Peter:



Taggart and Danielle:

And, of course, Mom and Dad:


We got to Colorado early enough that I was able to help prepare the house for the holiday festivities. I made cookies, wrapped presents, and helped my mom make tarts.

The boys enjoyed their sit-n-play piano, hanging out with grandma and grandpa, and checking out each other.




Beckett and Nate showed off their baby tricks.

On Christmas Eve Beckett opened his first present. Yum. Wrapping Paper.

On Christmas Morning:

Dad made breakfast.

Mom put out the stockings.

And the boys posed in their Christmas pajamas.

Apparently all that Beckett or Andrew really wanted for Christmas was this packaged nerd's rope.

But we gave them other presents anyway.


On Christmas night we ate dinner and played games with the Danahers, and Sean treated us to Avatar in 3-D on the 26th.

Beckett did pretty well on the car ride there and back. However, he struggled a little with the time change, the pack-n-play, and sharing a room with his parents. We were really tired for some of those days.

Little B also gave himself a present--one bottom tooth. Happy First Christmas, Beckett.

Hanging Out at Home

Reading a book.

Eating a book.

Toes.

Checking out the cat.

Already into technology.

Zephyr wanted in on the photo-shoot. This angle make her look enormous.

Thanks for checking us out.

A Good Read

The other day I peeked in on Beckett during his nap to find this:

Looks like he's already falling asleep while reading.

Thanks again to Jen and the Hinze kids for passing these books along to us. Beckett loves them and plays with them everyday.

New Food

I fed Little B some cereal for the first time a couple days ago. He was not sure what to think about the experience.

But he did think the camera was pretty cool.

Time to Pull out Your Christmas Sweater

Black Friday

Some people go shopping on Black Friday. We went to the zoo. I am not at all sorry about our choice. The weather on Friday was fabulous, and with very few beautiful days left before winter sets in, we decided to make the most of it by heading to the KC Zoo. When we didn't make it to the zoo until 1 pm we feared most of the animals would be snoozing, but yesterday turned out to be our best visit to the KC Zoo yet. Everyone was awake and active.

We saw the sea lion show and then headed to Australia because we love the kangaroo exhibit.

We almost skipped Asia in favor of Africa, and that would have been a mistake. The red panda was pacing; the tigers were growling; the monkeys were hopping around (no surprise there), and the baby orangutan was hanging with his mom.

The baby orangutan is super cute. This is a pretty crummy picture because of the reflection from the glass, but notice how the little guy is sucking his thumb.

Well, apparently Beckett thought that was a good idea because this is what he looked like when we peaked into the stroller on our way out of Asia.

Next we checked out the new Tropics building on our way to Africa where our good luck continued. All the African animals were also busy and active.

We always love watching the hippos.

We hung out at the chimpanzee exhibit long enough to see the baby chimp make an appearance.

Even the Serval was up.

Nate said that yesterday's lions were the best he'd ever seen.

And, we always feel super lucky when we get to see the cheetahs awake and aware.

We stopped to see the elephants on our way out.

Here's Little B's reaction to the afternoon.