I'm not a feminist, but....

Reading "The Heart Specialist" by Claire Holden Rothman was a glimpse into life before women were treated as the equals that they are today. Agnes White is passionate about all things scientific and aspires to be a doctor like her father. However, the year is 1882 and things like that are just not done. Women don't even go to university, let alone spend many years there learning. They just aren't made for stuff like that. This book is inspired by the true story of one of Montreal's first female physicians, Dr. Maude Elizabeth Seymour Abbott. It was a page turner and I highly recommend it. Many twists and turns.

Do you ever read any of the blogs in my sidebar? Josh Harris's "Mark Driscoll's: Church is not a restaurant" video clip is right on the mark. Take a few minutes to listen in.

We are having a new baby in our church next month. I made a baby sweater that will hopefully fit in the winter. It's made with a yarn that will be washable for the new mom - Red Heart Eco-Ways, in a soft light teal colour. So soft after washing.

Traveling to other times

Science fiction - you've got to love it. SF stretches your mind with possibilities that are sometimes brain exploding. I find time travel to be that way especially. What are the ramifications of traveling backwards in time? What if you change something? What if you step on a butterfly or save a life or merely have your atoms share space with a world that didn't have your atoms in it before? When you mix questions like these with a rousing good plot, the result is a story that begs to keep you up late at night. "Doomsday Book" by Connie Willis (my current favorite author) was a delight to read. Set during Medieval times, it had all the historical accuracy and engaging tidbits I love to learn about, coupled with interesting plot turns and complex characters. These were characters you became close to, laughed with and ached for. We are not solitary creatures wandering the earth - we're meant to live in community. Sometimes that isn't easy, but strengthing our understanding of other people is highly worthwhile.

Are you green? Do you carry around a reusable shopping bag? I find that the more bags I have, the more likely that I'll have one when I need it. To that end I knitted a simple bag out of soft cotton that I will feel very trendy carrying to the farmer's market, should I ever get there. Knit Picks Simply Cotton Organic Worsted yarn; Fantasy Naturale Market Bag.

Racism strikes at our hearts

"The Help" is an exceptional first novel by Kathryn Stockett. I haven't read a book that captivated me like this one for a long, long time. Well, in actual fact I didn't "read" this book at all. I listened to it being read by some incredible narrators. That added immensely to the experience. "The Help" is a story that takes place in Jackson, Mississippi during the early 1960's. Black housekeepers and nannies are known as "help" in that state. In this novel, a group of them are interviewed by a white journalist and their stories are compiled into a book. These stories will draw you in, make you laugh, make you cry and make you ache for the evil that is racism. I did not want to stop listening; I wanted to put my life on hold till I found out what happened to the women involved. A good book should make you a better person and this one certainly gave me a much greater appreciation of the race situation, relationships, friendships and much more. A minor take-away from the reading - one of the characters was in the habit of writing out her prayers every day. It ended up making her a better writer all round. I think this would be a great habit for me to get into.

Do mothers still put hand-made sweaters on their babies? I hope so because I've found them very satisfying to make - quick and so adorable. I recently finished another yoked cardigan for a baby shower gift. Made out of Moda Dea washable wool, it should be an easy item to take care of.

Life moves along

A reading blog should have some book reviews on it. Well, how about a list of books read? Better than nothing, and proves that I have been doing something these last few weeks. These are the books I actually finished. The list would be a lot longer if it included those I started and abandoned. Time is too precious to finish a book you're not enjoying.

Oolong Dead - Laura Childs (knitting themed mystery)

Tea Time for the Traditionally Built - Alexander McCall Smith (detective)

Far North - Marcel Theroux (science fiction)

The Liberation Diet - Kevin Brown (health)

Home Safe - Elizabeth Berg (slice of life)

Blackout - Connie Willis (science fiction)

Passage - Connie Willis (science fiction)

Knit Two - Kate Jacobs (knitting/slice of life)

The Raphael Affair - Iain Pears (mystery/historical)

The Kalahari Typing School for Men - Alexander McCall Smith (audio book - great for learning the correct pronunciation of the African names)

And I've been knitting too. But not a lot. A pair of socks are taking me an age to finish. 1 1/2 shawls that I'll take pictures of soon. And the cutest little baby sweater that was so easy to make. I can't stop looking at it - it's that sweet. Fits my son's baby doll - so it's newborn size. (Bernat Worsted; Yoked Cardigan by Hannah Fettig)

And the knit goes on...

My latest knitting project must remain unseen for the moment. You never know who is reading this blog. Suffice to say - I now know the attraction of Addi Turbo needles. They were there; I bought them; I loved them. They made the mystery project really fly along. So...this item required a 16 inch circular needle and also involves a pompom. Say no more. Oh, yes I will say more. All the colours in the pompom were used. Ah huh, a stranded something or other. Be impressed.

Since I've been knitting so much, the reading has been listening. "The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette" by Carolly Erickson was fascinating. I'm trusting that her historical details are accurate, because this is how I will always think of Marie now. My French history was a little hazy before, but this book cleared things up somewhat. It is written in diary form, which I usually avoid, but in a spoken form it was fine.

This weekend is Thanksgiving in Canada. It’s fitting that at least once in the year we take some time to reflect on what we are thankful for. As Christians, of course, we should be expressing our thanks to God daily. I am thankful for a God who loves me and brought me into his family at a time when I was most needy. My attitude towards life changed, even though my life circumstances didn’t right away. The bible tells us to acquire wisdom. I am thankful that today I am wiser than I was 24 years ago, pre-Jesus. But it’s humbling to realize that the “growing in wisdom” never ends.

I am also thankful today for my hard-working husband who puts up with my ever-eccentric interests. I’m thankful for my children, who are all developing as interesting individuals and who all are following the Lord in their individual ways. I’m thankful for the rest of my family, all living close by. What a blessing that is! My good friends are also something to be thankful for. They keep me grounded. God’s grace is sufficient for my needs and I am eternally thankful for what He has provided.

It is fitting that I read The Book of Negroes this week. This tale is a reminder of the suffering that Africans went through for so long in the slave trade. I was on the wait list at the library a long time for this book – it’s obviously popular, and for good reason. It is well written and engaging. My heart broke all along the way and finally on the last page my tears came. This book is not for the faint of heart and is very graphic in its descriptions of what went on. But you will finish it having developed a relationship with the main character and will keep her with you for a long time. What really struck me as we followed Aminata through her life is how long the slave trade went on. When she was captured as an eleven year old and taken to America, there were slaves there who had been born in the United States. And then when she was old and working to end the slave trade, there were still Africans being kidnapped and exported; generations of people forming a tide of suffering, shame and humiliation. We must continue to read books like this one, so that we will never forget and hopefully, never repeat what went on.

One of my WIP (works in progress) resembles a Thanksgiving cornucopia. Can you guess what it’s eventually going to be?

Chivalry is not dead

Picture a crowded medical clinic waiting room, everyone clutching their precious number in their hands. Seats are at a premium - being juggled, as one by one, numbers are called and new people enter. There is rarely a free chair.

In the door walks an elderly Chinese man and woman, clearly husband and wife. True to their time, the wife defers to her husband and he sits in the only available seat. Immediately an older gentleman jumps up and offers his place. She motions, "No, no, no", and goes into the corner to lean against the wall. He says, "Sit, sit." No, she will continue in her corner. The polite gentleman settles on his part of the wall, opens his book and begins to read. Someone else enters the clinic and takes the open seat. A number is called. A chair becomes free. The reader motions to the woman to take it. No, she'll stay where she is. This interchange goes on a few more times. Finally, the woman overcomes her natural instincts and upon a final motioning from Mr. Chivalrous, she laughingly sits down.

It turns out she is the one that needs the medical attention.

But I'm sure there was never any bitter feelings on her part. Cultures can be so different.

Which brings me to an interesting but a little weird, book I read this summer.

The Hundred Secret Senses was written by the well-known author Amy Tan. Dealing with the occult, I several times almost set the book aside. It was just strange sometimes. But the story-line did pull me in and was written well enough that I kept going. All ghost-like stuff aside, the culture and customs of China were what drew me to keep reading. The characters are well developed and complex. If you have any interest in China, you'll probably like this book.

Socks on the needle: Meilenweit Mega Boot yarn, with contrast heel and toe in Waikiwi. I was going to gift these at Christmas, but just realized today that the contrast is not a machine dryable yarn. Drat! It's back to Opal for gift socks, and these will either have to be for me or someone I know doesn't toss socks in the dryer.

A while back I read and reviewed a book called "Shackleton's Stowaway", by Victoria McKernan. Her writing impressed me so much that I bought "The Devil's Paintbox". I tried to borrow it from the library first, but no luck. Once it came in the mail, the cover illustration was enough to convince me it is a book I want on my own library shelf. But that might just be rationalizing a purchase :).

This story is set in the late 1800's, as a wagon train sets out on the Oregon Trail. It was well researched and thoroughly fascinating as a brother and sister encounter page after page of new adventures and set backs. Three stars.

I forgot to mention in my last post on the bunny toy - a new technique I learned was double knitting. To do this you slip every other stitch on one row and then coming back you knit (or in my case, purl) the slipped stitch and slip the knitted stitch. This results in a double fabric. I did it for the bunny head and was then able to stuff the head in the pocket created. Cool! I see online that there are other ways to double knit as well that involve two colours, but I'm not there yet.

Daughter sized hole

My daughter has gone on an exciting trip to another province to sing in a choir competition. This is a wonderful opportunity for her to experience new places and challenge herself. For me - not so great. When any of my children are away, I feel a gap that is the shape of the particular child. It doesn't last forever, but it does make for an uncomfortable feeling for a while. Fortunately she will be home soon. 

Latest book - Shackleton's Stowaway. Excellent! (three stars) It was so good, I'm reading it to my two youngest now along with a study of Antarctica. Great "boy reading". For them, I'm editing some language and objectionable content as we go. Those sailors were a little rough around the edges!

On the knitting scene I'm challenging my patience and math. I began a baby blanket that I was anxious to make, but I wanted it larger than the pattern called for. So I cast on more stitches and thought that the pattern would work out. It's not working. The pattern calls for a plain centre with feather and fan edging added on. The edging numbers are not matching my centre square. So back to the table to refigure. At least all my knitting up to this point would not be in vain, as I could just decide to do a more simplified border on the edge of the garter stitch square.

Oh what a difference a voice makes

I have finished "The Appeal" by Robert Ludlum and enjoyed it very much. Shall I tell you where I finished the last two CD's? In the car...late at night...on my way to Abbotsford...to rescue my son and his broken down car. Truly an adventure of love, but the book made the trip much more enjoyable. Listening to professionally-made audio books makes you appreciate the amount of work that goes into them. This narrator had dozens of different characters to deal with and every one had a dialect or inflection of their own. No doubt he had to read the book a number of times and just keeping track of the changes boogles the mind. 

Audio books are probably worth the big bucks that goes along with them, but personally I appreciate the lower price of audible.com or the even lower price of the library.

A pen and paper book that is well worth reading is "I am Rembrandt's Daughter" by Lynn Cullen. While this is a fiction novel, most of the facts are historically true. The author used the technique of changing between time periods in alternating chapters, which took me a little while to keep straight. But it was a fascinating glimpse into life in the 1600's in Amsterdam/Europe and the life of a master painter, Rembrandt. A man out of step with his times, creating art from his heart rather than what was commercially desired. A man (apparently) of God, yet a man of weaknesses. We can all be used by God in whatever we do and four hundred years later, this man is still impacting people.

OTN I have a small puddle of colour that, hopefully, will shortly become a stunning, blocked shawl. That's the thing about circular needles and lots of stitches. It keeps you wondering until the project is finished. The yarn is Kureyon Sock Yarn and the pattern is the Gaia Shawl.

On your mark, get set, START!

Today I started three new books.

1. In paper: "Raising a Modern-Day Joseph" by Larry Fowler. This promises to be a break-through book in terms of raising up children who are true to their faith and life-long servants of Jesus. It uses the example of the Old Testament Joseph as a model of someone who was put into adverse circumstances at a young age and didn't waver in his love for God. This will be a great book for churches hoping to come along-side parents in raising their children to be strong Christians.

2. Audio: The Pilgrim's Progress. The version I'm listening to uses the old English, but I'm managing to handle that. Probably because I've read it several times before.

3. Audio: "The Man in the High Castle" by Philip K. Dick. This was recommended somewhere in my wanderings online. It's science fiction/alternate history. The write-up sounded interesting, but so far I haven't gotten hooked. My mind wasn't completely on it, however. I may start over and give it another chance.

On my needles: I finished the first sock of the after-thought heel pair. They fit really well (although they aren't for me). The yarn is Felici from Knit Picks. Love it! Effortless, even stitches.

I put the button on a calorimetry I made last night which will be winging it's way to Surrey ASAP. It's for my niece who had a birthday at the end of January. The yarn came from a HUGE ball of Bernat Worsted (acrylic) that I bought to make the pig puppet because it was the perfect colour. I may be knitting projects from that for years.

Walking the pages away...

I listened to the last third of "Red Prophet" while clocking miles on the treadmill. So far New Year's resolution #9 is working - going 2-3X a week to the gym. Listening to a book on my ipod certainly helps to pass the time there. Yes, I know I'm getting exercise, but if I wasn't listening to something the time would seem somewhat wasted. To a certain extent I'm a multi-tasker, as long as the tasks don't take too much concentration. Putting one foot in front of the other on a treadmill certainly qualifies.

The author of Red Prophet, Orson Scott Card, is a storyteller extraordinaire. He weaves a complex plot with characters that come from an phenomenal imagination, backed by extensive research. The story is rich in morals and opinion, but they are so integrated into the storyline that it doesn't come across as preaching. So the book can be read merely as a good tale, or examined more deeply for a message the author wants to impart. It also sends you delving for more outside sources if you are so inclined, because you never know what parts of this alternate early America are true and what parts come straight out of Card's mind.

Caveat: He includes magic and fantasy along with scripture verses, so discernment is needed. This is not a book for the gullible or easily swayed.

I give this book a three-star rating.

Peace amongst the pandemonium

In the midst of a totally hectic day spent running around, I had the opportunity to halt everything and immerse myself in the beauty of Mozart's classical music. Performed by a top-class orchestra, no less. Even though we were surrounded by a theatre full of wiggly children, the excellence of the musicians and the exquisiteness of the timeless pieces managed to transport me for a short time beyond the hustle and bustle of everyday life.



The Secret Wish of Nannerl Mozart by Barbara Nickel is an interesting take on Mozart's life, told from the perspective of his sister. This is a book for older elementary children, but I enjoyed reading it myself. Three stars.

So I cracked another book cover already!

Or at least, I popped the CD in the computer. A novel even! "The Chrysalis" by Heather Terrell and Timothi Graham was a very interesting "read".

Loving historical fiction as I do and enjoying also the technique of combining the past and present in alternating chapters, this book satisfied both of these and went one more. It spanned three time periods. The Chrysalis is a painting done by an obscure painter in the late 16oo's (if I remember correctly). Therefore one chapter takes place there with the development of how the painting came to be. The second time period is just previous to WWII when the painting mysteriously disappears when its Jewish owner has his property confiscated (or does he???). The third time period is the present day story of an art auction house that is investigating the true owner of the painting. So there are many layers of plot development to the storyline and much to be learned about art, WWII, art auction houses, investigation and more. It carried me along nicely with my knitting click, click, clicking away.

The one thing that disappointed me was the fact that the artist and painting were fictional. There really was no painting called the Chrysalis that I could find.

More of Ted Dekker

"THR3E" is a thriller with a message. How great is that?!! I won't say anymore - lots of surprises, twists and turns.

"The Martyr's Song" asks the question "what would you die for?". Very thought-provoking and challenging. Short little book that comes with a CD of the song.

Kickin' back on the beach...

I look forward to summer days at the beach when all there is to do is read, read, read. It's nice to have uninterrupted stetches of time. Usually I have to limit myself to bits and pieces amid schooling and housework and errands. In the last month and a half I have read some really good books. But now I have to get back to reality, so I don't have time to give an indepth review of them.

Here's a listing:

"A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini (5 stars - must read. The story of several women in Afghanistan. There's an interesting video interview with him online somewhere. I bought this but it's available in the library)

"Prey" by Michael Crichton (3 stars - a page turner, but WAY too technical for me. I skipped over all the jargon and scientific explanations. This is in the library)

"Enter Three Witches" by Caroline B. Cooney (4 stars -a novelized retelling of MacBeth from a young girl's perspective. Library)

The Circle Trilogy, "Black", "Red", and "White", by Ted Dekker. (4 stars only because I was starting to get a little tired of the series by the end of it. Great theology lessons - these books will stretch your spiritual mind. Library)

"Irish Chain" by Barbara Haworth-Attard (4 stars. The story of a girl with dyslexia during the time of the Halifax explosion in 1917. I own this book)

"A Part of the Sky" by Robert Newton Peck (4 stars. Sequel to "A Day No Pigs Would Die". Library)

Book theft, book madness and cheese...

Books about books - what more could a booklover want? "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak almost slipped through my fingers. In the first few pages we learn that the narrator of the book is Death himself. Weird, I thought. Worth my time? Give it a few more pages, I decided. And I was hooked. This book bursts with words and word pictures. Some authors use the technique of personification to add color to their stories. This book has personification on every page. It's alive with it. If you love words and the images that words conjure up you will love this novel. At the same time it is a heartbreaking story of a young girl growing up in Germany during WWII. "The Book Thief" touched my heart. Take note that Chapters rates this for ages 10 - 12. I found it in the Young Adult section of the library. I wouldn't want my 12 year old son to read it. The language is sometimes questionable and it's too sophisticated a storyline. There are plenty of other books on this time period that would be more suited to this age group.

"The Bookwoman's Last Fling". A murder mystery about books! I love it! John Dunning obviously loves books and horses, as that is the framework of this book. Can we ever have enough books? Is there such a thing as too many? This book will probably give you a bit of a twinge if you're like me and have books everywhere. I finished it in several days and consider it a great summer read. I'll definitely look for others in the Cliff Janeway series.

So that's the book theft and book madness. Where does the cheese come in? In this fast paced world you MUST read (and reread) or in my case, listen to the audio of, "Who Moved My Cheese?" by Spencer Johnson. The short parable speaks about change and how we react to it in healthy and unhealthy ways. His amusing metaphors will linger with you and cause you to rethink your reactions to the unavoidable changes that come along in life.

The darkness of Night...

I finally finished another book. There were several false starts in the last few weeks, but "Night" by Elie Wiesel was not one of those.

Mr. Wiesel is the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for 1986. His book "Night" (which has been translated from French) is the story of his experiences during WWII in concentration camps. He tells with chilling and surprizing detail the accounts of being rounded up, separated from his mother and sister, and his loyalty to his father throughout their time in the camps. Wiesel describes the loss of his faith during that time, but then seems to have regained it again by the time of his Nobel prize acceptance speech at the end of the book. So perhaps we can assume that the faith was not lost completely, but just challenged. I'd like to hear more of THAT story.

The chronicle of Wiesel's time in captivity isn't new to anyone who has read other WWII stories, but we MUST keep this time period fresh in our minds and hearts and pass it on to the next generation. Our children must be as horrified as we are, lest history repeat itself.

End of the year juggling act...

Egyptian jugglers

Every year at this time it's the same story. Many balls in the air and they're going faster and faster. My arms are getting tired and my head is spinning. Added to the regular routines of house and schooling and children's ministry, is the demands of the yard and planning for NEXT year's schooling. Everything in and of itself is interesting and good, but when combined it makes for a situation pushing overload. No wonder I haven't had much time to read for JUST pleasure!

I did discover a new author. Frederick Beuchner (pronounced Beekner). "The Wizard's Tide" was a delightful story of a few years in the life of a young boy living in Winnipeg. It's the story of a family and their struggles through the depression. Beuchner says that it's "mostly a true story". I wonder if it's HIS story. In any case, the depth of emotion and clarity of recall is amazing. I just wanted to scoop up the main character, Teddy, and give him a big hug. The library has several of Buechner's books and I have reserved them. He has been compared to C.S. Lewis (although on the cover of one of his books of sermons he looks more like Anthony Hopkins to me!). The forward to "Secrets in the Dark" is by Brian McLaren, so that tells you something. I look forward to gleaning some life wisdom from this man.

Another author that was recommended (from a CBC radio program) is Carol Shields. On the program her husband was talking about the book "Larry's Party". So I promptly ordered it from the library. Well!! This book was SO intriguing. I moved from chapter to chapter really wanting to know what was going to happen next to Larry. However... I finally couldn't get past the bad language and the crudeness. I made it to almost half way. Nope, sorry, can't do it. I skipped to the last section and kind of got the drift of what had happened to Larry in the intervening years. It was really a sad story in a way. The story of a man who just missed the mark it seems to me. So much potential, but pushed about by the tides with no intentional directing of his life. Shields has written a number of other books, as well. I'll give one more a try before abandoning her.

A quick read for me these last few weeks was The Vikings by Elizabeth Janeway. I bought it at the homeschool convention with thoughts of it being for the kids. I have a fascination with Vikings so I read it myself before passing it over to them. It's a Landmark Book which is supposed to be a mark of excellence. And this WAS a good book. It's the story of Eric the Red and his son Leif. Well researched and substantiated. I learned a lot about the Vikings from this book. My 12 year old son, however, got about half way through and abandoned it for Bone Dry by Kathleen Karr. Oh well, maybe he'll pick it up again another time.

Can you see me as a Viking maiden???

Getting inside someone else's skin

My sixteen year old son and I both enjoyed "Zack" by William Bell. We probably got different things out of it because of the difference in our ages and life perspectives. I'm sure he related to the main character - a teenage boy just starting to stretch his wings and crave independence. The historical aspect of the novel was significant, with a lot of research having gone into it. Basically, this is the story of a young black youth coming to terms with his ancestry - his father a Jew and his mother African/American. I felt it gave me a better understanding of the race issue especially comparing Canadian to American outlooks. This is definitely a young adult book - there are girl/boy episodes that younger children shouldn't be exposed to. And there is a little bit of "language". All in all, though, this is a book well worth reading for the development of the concept and even for the poetic language he includes. Bell paints many mental images through his use of words that certainly add to the depth of the book.