Jen's Mental Scribblings

I don't have time to read them, so i'm taking them back to the library

The killing moon NK Jemisin
The Throne of the Cresent Moon by Saladin Ahmed

I like trashy novels. They are great light-weight reading. But! I don't read many of them anymore. Why? The really boring ass cliche's. So if I'm going to read a trashy novel, it has to have something interesting about it. Magic, time travel, sci-fi, vamps...something. I'm bored with bodice rippers.

So I found a new series. The Warriors of Atlantis by Alyssa Day. Atlantis, vamps, magic, shapeshifters, random Gods. That works! I can read one in about 2 hours. And the heroines aren't automatically virgins (since I don't read much trash, this is a first for me) which is really kind of awesome.

New book read to the Ike at bedtime.

251. Skippyjon Jones in the Dog House by Judy Schachner
Okay, if you like picture books and you haven't read this series...do yourself a favor...go and find one. We LOVE this series. Its about a siamese cat...whose alter ego is a chihuahua named Skippito Friskito and has adventures in his bedroom closet. Skippito Friskito speaks in his best Spanish accent. His Mama, Mama Junebug Jones, is always sending him to his room trying to get him to think Siamese Cat! She also speaks in a southern accent...in fact, Joe pointed out that I channel Holly Hunter when I read her bits. It seems appropriate. We still don't own any of these...mostly because there are soooooo many copies at the library and the kids just keep checking them out.

The audio version.

I love my MP3 player. I listen to lots of books on it. We also listen to books in the car...well. Why not?

225. Excuses Begone by Wayne Dyer
His latest book. Very good, but basically a rewrite of Katie Byron's "the work"

226. Human Values in Eduction By Rudolf Steiner
A lecture series by Steiner...I listened to this so long ago, nothing is popping into my head about what's in it.

227. Inutitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path By Rudolf Steiner
Also known as the Philosophy of Freedom. The bedrock book of Anthrosophy. And its also the What book.

228. Love and its meaning in the world by Rudolf Steiner
A lecture series by Steiner. A bunch of lectures about Love and how it works. Its Divine Manifesitation, how it works upon humans...some of the stuff in this series was WAAAYYYYYYY out there (current humans descend from a single sex bipedal mammal? WTF?).

229. Knowledge of Higher Worlds by Rudolf Steiner
This is the How book. i.e. how to be an Anthroposophist. There's also some Why in it as well.

230. Spiritual Solution for Every Problem by Wayne Dyer
One of his older books, but I LOVE this book. Very uplifting and positive.

231. The Childs Changing Consciousness by Rudolf Steiner
Another lecture series. This is a deep look at the ages and stages in regards to teaching.

232. the Education of the child
Lecture series (notice a theme here? I have a hard time reading Steiner...I find its easier to listen and absorb what's being said) This is one of the pedagogical series.

233. Kingdom of Childhood by Rudolf Steiner
LOVE this one. The only one delivered to an English auidence...so its not translated from german stenography...this one was translated on the spot by an translator. Another of the pedagogical series.

234. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Classic of Western Civilization. Kids loved it.

235. The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Book 2.

236. Barefoot book of Princesses by Caitlín Matthews
Princess stories...need I say more?

237. The Story Tree by Hugh Lupton
Barefoot book of stories intended for the younger set. Read by the author. Sounds like Christopher Eccleston is reading stories to us.

238.Barefoot book of Fairies by Tanya Robyn Batt
Fairy Stories on 2 CD's

239.Barefoot Book of Knights by John Matthews
Knight Stories. Read by Anthony Head "Bad Doggie!"

240. Tales from Celtic Lands by Caitlín Matthews
Tales from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany.

241. Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

242. The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne

243. Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Berry
a how Peter Pan became Peter Pan story. Awesome!

244. Peter and the Shadow Thieves by Dave Berry
Book 2! Again Awesome!

245 Practical Advice to Teachers & 246. Discussions with Teachers by Rudolf Steiner
I put these two together because they are the transcripts of the TWO WEEK crash course Steiner held right before starting the Waldorf School in Stuttgart. Practical Advice is the morning lectures, Discussions is the discussions they had in the afternoon. I personally would love to see the two books put together in one book. So I could read the morning lecture, and then read the discussion section. Rather than having to flip back and forth.

Alright that's all the audio books I can either think of or find somewhere that I know I've listened to. But there's probably more.

208. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
Believe it or not, I've never read this story before. Duh. Its good. And it got left out in the rain last night. that's going to hurt when I take it back to the library tomorrow.

209. Parenting for a Healthy Future by Dotty Coplen
Love this book. It articulates many things I believe about parenting in general and will bring out its own blog post. Coming soon.

210. Little Bee Sunbeam by Jakob Streit
I saw this at RSC bookstore in August so I grabbed it. Lovely book. Its a story about a young bee and hides an amazing amount of information about bees appropriate for the younger grades.

211. Beginner's Grace: Bringing Prayer to Life by Kate Braestrup
I saw this in the new books section of the library and snapped it up. Really good book. Its not often that a book will cause me to laugh out loud...much less several times. It took me till about halfway through the book to realize she's a UU Minister. (the Minister part is upfront...took me awhile to figure out the flavor) Lighthearted yet serious look at prayer.

197. Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz
I've been wanting this book for awhile. Its a "cookbook" of fermenting foods...all sorts of foods! I am looking forward (as is Joe) on using the Kimchee recipe!

198.Magic Wool: Creative Activities with Natural Sheeps Wool by Dagmar Schmidt & Freya Jaffke
Cool book! I see all these neat wool roving pictures and I've never known how to make them. This book shows how to make them. I can't wait to use it!

199. Get Me Out! A History of childbirth, from the Garden of Eden to the Sperm Bank by Randi Epstein
This one caught my eye in the non-fiction section at the library.  Not bad...quick read

200. The Nature Connection: An outdoor workbook for kids, families, and classrooms by Clare Walker Leslie
I love reading the other books she's written and this is one is one I've looked forward to seeing being produced. Its a workbook based on the months of the year with lots of activities. I am looking forward to using this with the kids in a couple of years.

191. The Vanishing Pumpkin by Tony Johnston
Cute story, read many, many, many times right before Halloween. Love the artwork (but then again, I'm a huge fan of Tomie dePaola)

192. Bullet by Laurel K. Hamilton.
Latest Anita Blake book. Another excuse to write sex scenes. Very little character or plot development. (okay some character development) and an interesting look at mistakes made in polyamourous relationships. A good example of the assume principle.

193 Developing the observing eye: Teacher observation and assessment in early childhood education. by Cynthia Murphy-Lang
I was a little disappointed by this book. I got the impression not only by the title but the review by the bookstore owner that this book would be very helpful for someone attempting to develop the habit of child observation. Exercises and things. What I got was a part on Steiner education and then a second part that consisted of a lot of checklist assessment pages and their meanings. Not at all what I was looking for. Good stuff was still there...but the meat of the book was not what I wanted.

182. Loving What Is: Four Questions that can Change your Life by Byron Katie
'Nother self-help book. Mentioned by Wayne Dyer in one of his lectures so I decided to swipe it from the library and read it. Good stuff and useful I think.

183. A Warm and Gentle Welcome: Nurturing Children from Birth to Age 3, The Gateways Series Five Edited by Trice Atchinson & Margaret Ris
Gateways is a publication by WECAN (Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America) and this is a series of articles pulled from that publication and republished around a theme. Although it wasn't on the required reading list for Lifeways, it seemed like it would be a good read when I spotted it at the Rudolf Steiner College Bookstore. So I grabbed it. I was right, it was a good read. And I received photocopies of 4 articles in it during my last class. Awesome articles. And some things are not only applicable to working with that age group, but with children beyond. I enjoyed this one very much.

184. The Ugly Pumpkin by Dave Horowitz
I thought this was a Halloween story. Wrong! Its a Thanksgiving Story. Very cute.

I'm doing a very bad job of keeping up on all the picture books I keep reading. I keep returning them to the library before I blog them down. Bad Jen.

185. Divine Misdemeanors by Laurel K. Hamilton
An excuse to write Fairy sex. Lightweight and a fun read.

Today's entry is brought to you just so I can turn this one into the library today.

178. Knitting Rules by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Okay, first off, if you are going to write a book about knitting, it helps to have a last name of Pearl. This is another blogger turned book author. I saw this  one on the bookshelf at the library last week and started skimming it and decided it needed a full read. Its cute. And funny. And there are some good knitting tips in it too. Borrow this one from the library...not really worth owning IMO. But still an amusing read.

169. Lily Quench and the Dragon of Ashby by Natalie Jane Prior
Cute kids book about a strong young girl. Writing was a bit too juvenile for my taste. I also did not like references to drinking and face lifts....not appropriate for a juvie book. Other than that it was cute.

170. Hold on to your Kids: Why parents need to matter more than peers by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Mate
Okay, here's a book for mollygm. This one answers the question on why young kids don't really need socialization outside of the family sphere. Really, really good read. A lot of lightbulbs went off in my head while reading this one. Not just about my parenting but about society in general.

171. Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes you Knew by Ellen Notbohm
Awesome book. One that needs to be read by every family member, teacher, specialist, or anybody else who is around children with autism. Google the title of the book and you'll get the essay that inspired the expansion to book form. Some people may be getting this for Christmas from us this year.

172.The Tale of the Turnip by Brian Alderson
Beautiful Illustrations. I have to admit its what caught my eye. Basic premise, snooty bastard gets what he deserves. Cute book. I think I've read it 4 times today alone.

173. The Five Chinese Brothers by Claire Huchet Bishop
Cute chinese fairy tale. After the second page I dropped the word chinese in front of the word brother. The two are inseparable. The drawings are primitive and somewhat racist. Then I took a look at the publication date. 1938. Okay, that explains a lot. Still a good story.

174. The Uncle Wiggily Book: The Rabbit Gentleman's Adventures by Howard R. Garis
I grew up with the Uncle Wiggily game. So when I saw this book at the used bookstore I snapped it up! I never realized the game was based on a book! Cute stories! HORRIBLE writing. How in the world did this thing ever get published? Its awful! Where the hell was the editor's red pencil. Illustrations are awesome though. Bre'r Rabbit would kick his sorry ass.

175. John Henry by Julius Lester (Dammit, already did this one...#129)
Speaking of Bre'r Rabbit...American Tall Tale about John Henry. Just go ahead and google it if you've never heard of him. I had never heard of him until I met Joe and he kept singin' this silly song. "When John Henry was a little baby! Wham!" And then he'd slap his hand on the table. WTF? (BTW if you need a copy of "Trains!" Joe's got the MP3's) whatever. So when I decided to do American Tall Tales for school, I knew I had to do John Henry because it was new to me. And when I found this one at the library I just had to read it to him. This reading went really, really well. Good story, good illustrations.