My Favorite Books

I read every night to Scarlett before she goes to bed.  I love that time we spend together.  Right now we're really into Sandra Boynton books - But Not the Hippopotamus, The Going to Bed Book, Horns to Toes and In Between.  We also have a little Eric Carle (The Very Hungry Caterpillar) and a bit of Dr. Seuss (what was that man smoking?), and of course Goodnight Moon.

These books don't make much sense to her now (or to me sometimes..seriously Dr. Seuss!), but I'm hoping they are the beginning of a love for reading.  I started thinking my favorite books as kid and which ones I can't wait for her to read as she grows up.

The Story of Ferdinand
Where the Wild Things Are
Harold and the Purple Crayon
Alexander and the Awful, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Peter Pan
Where the Sidewalk Ends
Charlotte's Web
The Boxcar Children
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
James and the Giant Peach
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
A Wrinkle In Time
Black Beauty
Nancy Drew
Little Women
The Black Stallion
To Kill a Mockingbird


By the time she's old enough to read these books, there may be a whole new list of 'classics'.  She will probably even think that Miss Nancy Drew is lame or not really appreciate the history of Little Women.  Nevertheless, I will have these and many more books on the shelf...I mean downloaded on some sort of device.. for her to read.  What else should I add to the list?

The Night Circus

When was the last time you read a book that you just couldn't put down?  Could you tell me what it was? Because The Night Circus was not that book for me.

The premise sounded great - two magicians forced into a duel but wind up falling in love.  David Heyman, producer of the Harry Potter series, is rumored to have picked this up for a big screen adaptation.  The story is beautifully told - lots of imagery.  The story is intriguing in the beginning, but about halfway through, the story felt like it was wandering aimlessly.  And it just kept wandering.

I love to read and often finish a book in a couple of days.  It took much longer to get through this one, but I can't stop reading a book, no matter how boring it is or how much I don't like it.  I have to know how all the stories end...even the bad ones!

Now that I'm done with this book, I can get back to what I've been avoiding - a textbook called American Urban Politics in a Global Age.  I'll spare you the review...

I Heart Tina

I have been a Tina Fey fan for a long time.  She has the kind of wit and humor that I wish I had all the time.  I read her book Bossypants a few months ago and it really just made me love her more.  There are just too many things that I was able to identify with as a working mom with a very young daughter.  "A Mother's Prayer for Her Daughter" still makes me laugh and I just have to share it.  If you're a working mom, I recommend Bossypants for an easy read that will relieve you to know that we're not alone in trying to manage it all.

A Mother’s Prayer for her Daughter

First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither the Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the the Beauty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered,

May she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half

And stick with Beer.

Guide her, protect her

When crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the nearby subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock N’ Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance.

Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes

And not have to wear high heels.

What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit.

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.

Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen.

Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long,

For Childhood is short — a Tiger Flower blooming

Magenta for one day –

And Adulthood is long and Dry-Humping in Cars will wait.

O Lord, break the Internet forever,

That she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers

And the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister,

Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends,

For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.

And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord,

That I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 a.m., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back.

“My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck.

“My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental note to call me. And she will forget.

But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.

Amen.