Friday, March 27, 2009

A budding Picasso

B-man completely freaked me out yesterday by suddenly drawing something that was recognizably human. Wild, huh?



I was cracking up at the gigantic body that completely swallowed the head...

N-man is my budding Pollock, which is a-okay with me. He used to love coloring, but at school most days they do coloring where they are supposed to color inside the lines (a fine motor skill), and N-man hates to be confined so now he's not a huge fan of coloring time. So at home I just let him do whatever he wants crayon-wise, which is still normally a huge fixation on "whirlpools" and "mazes" and "lots of circles". All those pictures look alike...I need to take a photo of those as they are so neat and spin-y!

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I did remember to go to the dentist this morning, you'll all be happy to know (in case you haven't memorized my past blog entries, I had mentioned a few days ago I was worried I'd forget my appointment. I won't even bother linking it in as it's not exactly the most interesting reading ever. But I figured you'd appreciate a follow-up. Or not. At least I'm keeping it short!)

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I almost bought Talk Talk by T. C. Boyle the other day. It's my book group book this month, but I've been hearing it's not that good, and while I love Boyle, this book just doesn't sound appealing to me so when faced with the $14 price tag, I decided just to get it at the library.

Okay, fine. Of course I haven't checked to see if it's at the library or if I need to reserve it, but whatever!

So this morning, I was looking for something new to read. I used to have a "to read" area on my bookshelves. It was a couple of piles that sat in front of the books on one of the shelves. It looked kind of messy, but I knew right where my books to read were.

When we cleaned up the house to get it ready to list, we had to address our bookshelves. We donated a ton of books, moved a zillion boxes of books to storage, and now have very neat, kind of empty bookshelves. They sure look nice, though I worry to have only about 200 or so books in the house! I know, it's a strange thing to have anxiety about, but I'm always worried I'm not going to have something to read.

And even worse, we shelved all our "to read" books in among the other books we'd left on the shelves. It looks so much better to shelve the books by size than by "have I read it" status. But it's not exactly convenient when I need a new book.

This morning, when I was perusing the shelves for something to read, imagine my surprise when I discovered I have a copy of Talk Talk that I just haven't read yet. I remember now! It had been in my to-read pile! I picked it up at a used book sale a few months ago for a couple bucks.

Pleasant surprise. Now I just hope I'm pleasantly surprised by the book itself...

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful drawing! Does it more resemble you or TK?

Luckygirl said...

ACK! I am living your anxiety - my pile of books to read is empty! And I have no books requested from the library. And no suggestions for books to read. So, should I check out a Boyle book? I can't handle scary. It can't be any darker/grittier than Sue Grafton books. If his aren't too scary, which do you recommend?

Threeundertwo said...

That's funny! What luck that you happened to have it. I've actually bought the same book twice by mistake.

Only 200 books in the house would make me twitch.

Ronnica said...

I have a to-read shelf, except the fiction is all housed together. It works, I suppose.

Are you sure that's not your picture? It could be the baby inside of your tummy! (just a thought...)

What A Card said...

Jongirl, I suspect the giant belly is me. :)

Luckygirl! My favorite question! I love T.C. Boyle. I think you couldn't go wrong with any of his short story collections. They're all really good (though not EVERY story is a winner, many are. He's one of my favorite writers of short fiction). If you're looking for a novel, I'd probably go with Tortilla Curtain or Friend of the Earth (though that's a tiny bit end-of-the-world-scary). He's not a horror writer.

If you look down the right side of my blog, I list all the books I've been reading and if I liked them, if you're looking for further suggestions. The link to the 2008 books, I have my recommended books highlighted. There's also a link to the Book Nook Club, where a number of people (including me, very, very rarely) post book reviews. So that might help too.

Or tell me 5 or 6 of your favorite books, and I'd love to recommend some books to you! Ooo, can you tell you hit on one of my very favorite topics??? :)

What A Card said...

Hee, Ronnica, I was writing that I figured it was me right at the same time you were :) We're definitely on a wave-length!

Anonymous said...

ooohhhh crap! If you can't get through this book I have no hope!

Debbie said...

I love little coincidences like that!

The Rambler said...

Thanks so much for visiting me on my SITS day :)

Luckygirl said...

Oh fun! Okay, I love Girl w/ a Pearl Earring, The Shopaholic series, The Year of Living Famously, The Secret Garden and Like Water for Chocolate... suggestions? :)

Heather said...

LOVE the drawing. :)

i absolutely HATE to get rid of any books. my dream is still to one day have a library in my own house, although i have a feeling that might not ever happen.

when b and i moved in together, he was astonished at the number of books i have. we had to put most in boxes in the garage, and i just started going through them. i was devastated to find that some mice got in a few of the boxes... i'm trying to think about which books i should honestly get rid of and which i should keep. it is very hard for me.

i must say i have a huge pile of to-read books on my nightstand though and several others on my list...so i don't think i'll run out of any any time soon. just when i think i am catching up, i add about 10 more... :)

What A Card said...

Okay Luckygirl, you've thrown me here, as I've only read one of those books (The Secret Garden), though that happens to be one of my favorites. So here goes:

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Okay, honestly, this one isn't based on what you like, but on my opinion that everyone should read this book :) It's really good, though don't let the description throw you. It's set in the future...a young boy is conscripted to an international army being trained to fight an alien threat. I know, it sounds stupid, right? It's such a great book, so engaging. It happens to be sci-fi, but it's sci-fi for people who don't like sci-fi.

If you haven't read them, then how about Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books? Light and silly and really funny mysteries! You've probably read them already, though.

Again, if you've somehow missed it, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen...the original chick lit :)

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See might be a good choice for you. I loved this book about two friends from different social strata (one on her way up, one on her way down) set in 19th century China. Really excellent!

You might also enjoy The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. The narrator is an elderly woman, reflecting on the decline of her powerful family. Interwoven are the tales of her sister, who committed suicide many years previously, the narrator's life as a child/young woman, and the tale of two young lovers. It's brilliantly done and so interesting!

Okay, how'd I do? Any of those sound interesting to you? Any interest in non-fiction books...I could recommend some non-fiction as well :)

Luckygirl said...

I actually HAVE read Stephanie Plum books :)

Okay, I put a hold on Ender's Game and Blind Assasin at the library. Really hate sci-fi, but I'm willing to give it a chance...

You HAVE to read Girl with a Pearl Earring - make that your next book club choice, or just go read it right now - it's SOOOOOOO good!