A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN

I finally finished it! I have been reading this book FOREVER! It took me at least a month to read the first half and then I finally got into it and read the last half in about 2 days. I have no idea why it took me so long to get into it. I think it had more to do with me than the book.

Written by Betty Smith in the 40's, this book is considered a modern classic. There is nothing spectacular about the plot--it's just a story about a girl growing up in Brooklyn around 1914. I found the description of Brooklyn at that time fascinating. I've never been to New York, but I could definitely imagine it during that time.

The main character, Francie, grows up in poverty. Her parents are children of immigrants. Her father is an alcoholic and ultimately dies from it, although she absolutely adores him. Her mother works as a janitoress and wants her children to be educated so they don't end up like her. The division of classes in the country during that time seemed inescapable, yet somehow, poor people managed to get an education and make better lives for themselves.

I think one of the themes from this book is that education is the key to a better life. I have to agree. We are so lucky to live in a country that has student loans, grants and other ways to fund education. I think Americans totally take for granted the opportunities they have. Of course, I still think there is somewhat of a class system; how many Harvard grads have at least one parent that was a Harvard grad? I'm sure the percentage is something they don't want published! (Watch the documentary "Born Rich" for some interesting insight into that world!)

Anyway, I did enjoy the book, but just wish it hadn't taken me so long to get into! Let's hope the next one doesn't take that long!

The Lion's Game

I finished Octavian Nothing early last month, so I thought I'd squeeze in a Nelson DeMille before I started on the next book. Usually these only take me a few days because they're quick reads and captivating. Not anymore! With a new baby it took me forever to read! I think it was about a month and it should have taken a week. Oh well! Now I know. I will definitely not finish A Tree Grows in Brooklyn before book club, but I can try.

This book was written in 2000 and is about a mideastern terrorist who kills over 300 people on a plane. Kind of scary that Nelson DeMille wasn't that far off. Obviously 9-11 killed over 3000 people, but the fact that planes were involved indicates to me that it was known our airlines weren't that safe from terrorists and that they could easily use them.

That aside, it's a book with a recurring character, John Corey, an NYPD dectective that now works for an anti-terrorist organization of the government. Corey is a crass male chauvinist, but it works and you like him for it. For a Nelson DeMille, this book didn't have too much language or sex. They can get pretty explicit sometimes, but this one was good.

I enjoy the mystery and the chase, but this book was slow for me, not just because of Jack, but I think it was because of the writing. DeMille usually keeps the books from Corey's perspective (written in first person), but in this book each chapter went back and forth betweent the terrorist in first person and Corey. I don't think it worked as well. There are other Corey books I have enjoyed more.

So, I won't ruin the story for you by telling you how it ends, but I will say this: if the CIA is anything like its portrayed in this book, I don't trust them and don't think they should get away with the things they do. Let's just leave it at that!

Octavian Nothing

This was our book club book for this month. Apparently it is a young adult fiction, but there were so many vocabulary words in it that I didn't know, I can't imagine how difficult it would be for kids to read. Anyway, it's written by M.T. Anderson. It's a historical fiction set at the time of the American Revolution in Boston.

Octavian Nothing is a slave that was bought by an academy of professors. Actually, his mom was bought and she was pregnant with him. He and is mom are treated like royalty and given a royal education as an experiment to see if black people can have the same intelligence as white given education. He doesn't even know he's a slave until he's 7 or so. The professors are very scientific in their approach to him, but since he doesn't know any better, he thinks this is normal. He even has to weigh his bowel movements!

Anyway, it was an interesting book, but a little slow moving for me. I generally enjoy historical fiction, but I just wasn't buying it from this author. I'm not really sure why. I think historical fiction requires a ton of research, and maybe he/she just didn't do enough. There was a part when the philosopher makes a comment that included the word "atom" and I noticed right away that atoms weren't even known about during that time period. I guess things like that bother me and then I don't enjoy the book. I'm too much like my mom in that way. Oh well!

MY NEW BLOG

I've been wanting to do a blog about just our family and finally set it up! I doubt I'll update it as often as I'd like to, but I wanted a safe place to post pictures and happenings of our home for people to see. It is private, so if you weren't invited to read it and would like to, just email me and I'll invite you!

BABYWISE

I told you my next post was going to be about Babywise! I'm sure this is no news to many of you, but this is THE book for parents as far as getting kids on a schedule. Now, Jack is only 4 weeks old, so it hasn't really proven itself worthy yet, but I'm hoping if I stick to the book, I'll get him sleeping at least 6 hours at night by the time he's 8 weeks.

Everyone has their different parenting philosophies, which you quickly learn once you become one yourself. This book operates under the premise that you as the parent set the schedule for your child (eating, sleeping, etc.) Now, that doesn't mean that you must absolutely stick to the schedule and have no flexibility. It's just a guideline. I found the book to be extremely helpful to me, being a first time mom. Jack pretty much eats on a 3 hour feeding cycle; which means he eats somewhere around 3,6,9 and 12, give or take. Last night he sleep for 4 hours (between 9 and 1). It was so nice to get that extra hour! It won't be healthy for him to sleep longer than 5 hours at night until he's about 8 weeks or so. Most Babywise babies sleep through the night on their own, but some need a little help. I'll let you know if Jack is one of those! ;-)

Speaking of feeding, Rusty has agreed to help me with one night feeding a week (Saturday or Sunday), so I can get a longer stretch of sleep on those days. I have borrowed a pump from my sister (thanks Jel) and so have a storage of milk in the freezer. Rusty just defrosts one of those and feeds it to Jack in a bottle. He takes the bottle no problem, and I just pump the side I would have fed him with when I wake up. We've only done this twice, but it's been nice that Rusty has agreed to help me out. I never thought he'd do something like this. Diapers, on the other hand, are a different story!