Three Day Dog

I needed your encouragement to go to the doctor because I was afraid if I explained that I am dizzy (without actual unconsciousness) and nauseous (without throwing up) and my vision is strange (without blindness) that my primary care guy would dismiss my wooginess with a casual wave of his hand and chalk it all up to hysteria. And I would feel like a dummy dope. 

But he did not; largely because my primary care guy was not able to give me an appointment until the week after next so it was the PA I saw Monday who did the hand waving. And she did not say "hysteria" she said "migraine" but when I asked if there was anything I could do about it or if there are possible triggers to avoid or if it would be worthwhile to see a neurologist she said, "No." And when I asked if she would consider testing for Lyme's (per the considered opinion of my secret doctor - Noelle's husband) she said, "No."

To quote Miss Marple she was a bit like the young lady at the boot shop who wants to sell you the black pair because she has them in your size even though you tell her you wanted brown. So the visit was a complete waste of time and I am still feeling gross and I finally did what I should have done in the first place, which is I asked my friend Noelle whether she likes her primary care doctor and I am going to schedule an appointment with her. Nothing against my current doctor; I just never get to see him because he is never there. I assume he has a second home that he visits regularly. In Greenland. Which means that whenever I have something come up (the post-influenza sinus infection that lingered forever; the time last year when half my face went numb) his scheduler despairs of my seeing him before October (unless it is October, in which case he is booked through Thanksgiving) and I wind up in urgent care explaining to some jaded stranger that if my lips were always numb I would not be there.  

In the meantime I have spent every afternoon for a week feeling like I am in the middle of a rough Channel crossing and I have started avoiding my computer because something about the light from the screen makes me feel like the Morning After. Oh, and I am taking your advice and starting a headache (excuse me, a "headache") journal.

I was serious when I said the other week that there have been good things about going without any income for most of the past year. We were fortunate (or prudent, I guess, a little, but it was mostly just luck) that when Steve's business flat-lined we were debt free (except for our mortgage but what are you going to do?) and we had savings. We were unfortunate, true, in that much of these savings were in the form of investments that went belly up at the same time Steve's business started pressing its hands to its temples and saying it... it didn't feel well; but... it was abrupt, you know. Over the course of about three months we went from feeling nicely comfortable to wildly uncomfortable. Like, backseat of a Volkswagen uncomfortable.

*** Digression ***

I was writing this down in the basement where the light is easier on my eyes and Edward and Caroline can frolic in the enormous - and I do mean enormous - toddler habitrail that Patrick constructed for them out of play tunnels and couch cushions and blankets and chairs and a pet carrier.

 

Which is why this little girl spent most of the morning in a cage.

We came back upstairs for lunch and Steve mentioned with modest pride that his first ever eBay sale has a bidder. Oh! Not so much of a digression after all. Our finances are not so dire that we have resorted to selling our pants in desperation but as we have learned to live with less new junk (one might almost say no new junk but then one would be exaggerating to the point of falsehood) we have begun to assess the need to hang on to quite so much of our old junk. Among the items currently littering Steve's various work spaces are something something and something (heavy cable? a blue box full of wires? a weird white cone thing?) that were purchased in an attempt to boost our ability to get cell signals here in the valley of the elves. It did not work. Not only did it not work; it will never work. Not ever. So the cable and the box and the cone that originally cost umpteen hundreds of dollars are sitting on a shelf in anticipation of the last judgment. That seemed like a waste so Steve set up an eBay account and now he has a bidder and he is like a kid with a lemonade stand. When I came upstairs with the twinkles Steve showed me his sale page and I read it for the first time and laughed aloud because it is really witty. Truly. Who knew that Steve could write all funny like that?

I said, "Oh! We should write something together! We should write a romance novel with a wry but tender hero and gamine heroine with wide feet and it will be for men and women and it will sell a hundred billion copies in fifty languages and we'll get our own Wikipedia entry and... "

Steve said, "And we will call it... Butt Rompers."

So much for that idea.

** Digression Sort Of Over **

In the absence of new stuff I have been enjoying the process of taking our old stuff (that which Steve is not selling on Ebay - I hope he doesn't get too into this; we'll have nothing left to sit on or play with or wear) and shuffling it around the house. You know the HGTV shows in which they remove everything from the living room and then the designer finds some pieces by André-Charles Boulle in the homeowners' garage and they swap those for the Ikea TV stand after painting the walls a nice terra cotta and you think, "Oh that really does look better"? It's kinda like that only my sole objective is to get the giant plastic toys out of my bedroom and to hell with a unifying theme. 

We went to visit friends when Patrick was a newborn and they had turned their dining room into a play room for their two-under-two complete with a baby gate to block the entrance (or the exit, depending upon your point of view.) I thought this was very clever and when we moved into this house we did the same thing. In the beginning we used the space to contain Patrick as needed - a sort of jumbo sized playpen - but eventually we took the gate down and it was just his play room. Most of Patrick's project stuff was in there: Legos, Knex, science experiments, my old computer that he inherited... that sort of thing. Years passed, twins were born, Patrick was thoroughly entrenched in play room so when the twins started to become mobile we put the gate back up again; this time to keep the babies away from all the chokables and the breakables and the don't touch that-ables. And it was fine. We had Patrick's play area on one side of the kitchen and Baby Jail on the other and peace reigned. Sure, sometimes Caroline and Edward would stand outside the gate and gnash their gums in impotent fury at being denied their right to swallow 2x2 bricks like Pez but for the most part it was a system of segregation that served us well. But as the twinkles have gotten bigger and their toys have gotten both bigger (kitchen) and smaller (Duplos) it has begun to suck. The house is divided into Patrick play areas and Twinkle play areas with literally nothing in between. Every night Steve and I move the plastic house that has gotten shoved against our bed during the day and pick up the billion little trucks and books and whatnots that are scattered all over the first floor. The living room looks like there was an explosion at the Fisher-Price plant (In Pomato, in Pomato you will find no meat... .)

So I told Patrick that I wanted to make the play room more toddler friendly but I wasn't sure what to do with all the itty-bitty pieces covering every surface in there; not to mention my concern that Caroline and Edward might accidentally smash one of his masterpieces to smithereens. Did he have any ideas? And this is what Jeeves called following the psychology of the individual because Patrick took the need to tear down that wall as a given and focused his attention on how to protect his belongings after the hordes arrived.

He suggested that we move the Legos up to his room and leveraged his agreeableness to gain exclusive bedroom rights to the multicolored bin rack that is currently in the living room full of baby stuff. He has been coveting it for some time. In his rich fantasy world he thinks he is going to use the bins to organize his Legos by color which... ha. Good luck with that project.

To make a long story even longer we all agreed weeks ago that we were going to turn the area off the kitchen into a space that everyone could use and I determined that first we would need to clear out Patrick's room, then we could shift his toys upstairs and finally we could get the xylophone out of my bed. So almost every day since then I have said to Steve or Patrick or Steve and Patrick, "Hey! Who's ready to go upstairs and sort books into piles? Hah? Who's with me? Who's ready for some fun?" 

But somehow both of them have been wildly disinterested no matter how many times I promised that after we finished sorting we could redistribute the books by category and then clean out the closet. 

I am reminded of the Simpsons in which Apu was part of a bachelor auction. When asked to describe himself he says, "I am not much of a talker but I love to listen. I also like to design and build furniture and then to have a discussion about where it could be placed in a room."

All of the women gave a collective sigh of appreciation and started a bidding war.

Steve is no Apu. Not only does he possess the ability to tune me out even when I am holding both of his ears and speaking, very slowly, directly into his face but he seems to have no interest in moving the file cabinets. In fact, you would have thought I was asking him to give up his only kidney when I finally (after many weeks and zero cooperation on the parts of Finks 0 through 3) finished organizing the books and clearing the closet and I asked if he wouldn't mind moving Patrick's bed to a different wall and carrying a couple/four bookcases downstairs. OK. If he wouldn't mind moving Patrick's bed again since I didn't like the first two arrangements.

Did this have a point? No, I guess not. Maybe an answer to the question nobody asked: what have I been doing to entertain myself as winter stretches into its sixth month (damned pomegranate)? Moving furniture and toys around.

Patrick has been lukewarm on the new setup. First, he hates change. Second, he realized after we took all of his Legos upstairs that he had reduced his total Lego play space by about 7000 percent. Bummer. Caroline, however, has more than made up for his lack of enthusiasm by being so! excited! about! the! new! space!

"Welcome in! Welcome in!" she says. Or maybe that is "Well, come in!" I'm not sure. One of her very most adorable habits is to say "um" and "well" and "hmmm" while tapping her chin as if she is thinking things over when I am quite certain she is just giving the audience (me) more time to appreciate how cute she is (very) before completing her thought.

Then she tells me to sit! sit! sit! on the rug while she brings over pretend food.

Edward is happy that they inherited all of Patrick's letter magnets which was sort of like an art enthusiast being told that the Met called and it will be shipping over its entire collection in the morning. Patrick has a staggering assortment of magnetic letters and numbers and Edward likes both letters and numbers and the play room has a bulletin board at just the right height. Edward has spent two days putting up letters in pairs, "Mommy E," he says sticking up an uppercase, "Baby e."

He's cute.

Unlike a similarly aged Patrick, though, his interests (wasn't I just talking about this?) extend far beyond letters and their various serifs. As Daimler said to Chrysler, there are always cars.

 

I was interested to see that so many of you think the accelerated reading program was designed by demons. Since I had never heard of it prior to three weeks ago I cannot say I have put much thought into the subject but it seems harmless enough to me? Are there different ways it is structured? Patrick's class has their in-class group book (they just finished "The Whipping Boy" and are starting "Sign of the Beaver" prior to that they read "The Phantom Tollbooth") and then they have the opportunity to read books for AR points outside the class. I did notice that when I looked them up online there seemed to be AR quizzes for almost every book I could think of (Patrick's favorite Number Devil among them) but when I helped Patrick get setup for his first quiz in the school library I realized that his school only has access to a teeny tiny fraction of them (Number Devil not among them.) I guess schools have to pay for specific quizzes? A few of you mentioned on that post that you thought limiting the kids this way sucked the joy out of reading but, I dunno, isn't all mandatory reading joy-sucking on some level? Or not as the case may be. I once took a class on writing women of the Renaissance and I hated every single word (sorry Aphra Behn it wasn't personal) with the surprise exception of the colloquies of Erasmus which I loved so much I still read them. Not that Erasmus was a woman, of course, but he did have that humanist/feminist thing going on... my point was that you never know what you might like and isn't it nice to have a way to encourage children to look at different things to read by bribing them with a party? This is a sincere question. Patrick started the Order of the Phoenix last night specifically because it is worth a billion AR points; otherwise he would have probably re-read one of the Murderous Maths. I did warn him that book five of Harry Potter gets pretty dark and he stared at me blankly and I said that people start to die rather a lot. He asked if Ron or Harry or Hermione die in the fifth book

*SPOILER*

and I said no and he said well ok then and I thought well yeah but

*NO SPOILER*

------ ----- does die and I am still upset about it.

Speaking of books I always like it when we recommend things so I might as well end with asking whether you and/or any small people you know are reading anything good. I noticed that "Sign of the Beaver" was written by the same person who wrote one of my all-time favorite elementary school books "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" so I'll start with those two, also "Constance" which is another early American historical fiction book that was terrific with the slightest little hint of romance to it. Which doesn't make it a girl book necessarily although... Butt Rompers. Enough said. I think I have now mentioned the Septimus Heap series in every post but it is really such a fun read/listen. We started the fourth book yesterday. I am eying both Percy Jackson and Eragon next; any thoughts on those two? Caroline and Edward are moving beyond board books into a desire for more complicated picture books and their tastes are kind of eclectic. Edward likes the Chicka Chicka books (letters and numbers) and this old book of Patrick's that consists entirely of songs for beginning recorder. He likes the way the music looks ("Note?" he says, "Note note note two note?") and he keeps asking me to read it and I am, like, um, doh doh doot doot doh doh... oh Edward go find Mommy a book with WORDS. Caroline is a crazy obsessed Mo Willems groupie fanatic and vacillates between asking to read Leenard the terrrrrrrrribuh monstuh five hundred million times and sighing and saying, "Ahhhh PUPPIES" and then asking to read one of the pigeon books. Five hundred million times. And me, I just started "The Collected Works of TS Spivet" out of which I am determined to make either a head or tail but I think it is too clever for me and maybe I should just go back to the sweet soothing treacle of the Regency (I read Tessa Dare's debut novel "Goddess of the Hunt" last night when the diagrams became too much for me with Spivet - it was ok.) Speaking of Regency and then I swear I am done (Caroline is just finishing lunch and keeps saying, "Take a naaaaaap pleeease. Take a naaaaaap please") I saw "Secret of the Pink Carnation" at the library and took it home with the idea that I had heard it was good. It was only later that I realized that I had "heard it was good" from an ad on my own sidebar. Word of mouth marketing at work, right there. I seem to be running quite a few ads right now so feel free to be similarly subconsciously influenced; I'm sure my nice bookish advertisers would appreciate it.

Anyway, are any of you (bigs or littles) reading anything good?

Comments

[Shes]

Well, my just turned three year old is in between your chillen's ages, but she just loves (and has for quite awhile now)'The witch under the stairs'. She can about recite the whole thing from memory. As for me....well, whatever is a quarter at arage sales is about my speed. Trashy romances, murder mysteries. I love that Edward knows Capital and Lower Case letters already. Am slightly concerned that maybe my daughter doesn't....letters-yes. Big or little-maybe not so much. Love your stories and your blog! thanks for sharing with us.

[Kathleen]

Just finished "The Help" and loved, loved loved it.

[Tine]

Oh yes. I'm ever so slowly (a few pages per night, then I conk out) working my way through the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I finished The Two Towers last night.

I'm loving the experience, even though I've seen the movies (also loved, but they pale next to the books) and read The Hobbit some 20,000 years ago and can't quite remember the whole history of Middle Earth, which would be very helpful. :)

[TeacherMommy]

Oh, I big puffy heart you. I really do. And I am in the middle of a rather alarmingly large number of books that never quite seem to get read because my social life has become surprisingly distracting. In a very good way, although this whole New Man situation (yes, a completely New Man different from the other Man who is now very much out of the picture; dear God I'm starting to sound like a slut but really I'm not) is also scaring the hell out of me because he just might require complete surrender (as in heart) which I've never done before.

All to say, I highly recommend (if you're into alternative history type things) Eric Flints Ring of Fire series which begins with the book 1632 and which is fascinating and funny and educational and romantic All At Once.

[TeacherMommy]

Also: what is wrong with me? I just committed apostrophe abuse. Make that "Eric Flint's" and please absolve my sin.

[Shes]

OH, and did they at least give you migraine meds to try?

[Ellie]

Well, I read this. It was good.

That's not helpful, is it?

I read a novel called The Stepmother, and it was okay. Can't remember the author's name; she also wrote something called The Godmother; haven't read that. I read it oddly: the first bit, then the end bit, and then the middle. I know. But I haven't been able to read since I lost someone very dear to my heart almost a year ago, so that fact that a modern/romance/family life (messy) novel held some of my attention was significant. There was even sex. Heh.

What bothered me most about the Harry Potter books was that she (JKR) really flaked out on the ending. It could have been so much better, and I'm still pissed off that it wasn't.

Picture books the twins might like: The Runnery Grainery (utterly fabulous, my spelling might be off); pretty much anything by Mark Teague, especially Sweet Dream Pie, and Funny Farm (main character named Edward, so bonus points there); Five Minutes Peace.

[Nancy]

I loved the Septimus Heap books! I highly recommend the Percy Jackson series, but do NOT see the movie, just awful! My kids love the Redwall series by Brian Jacques and the Warriors series by Erin Hunter. They are not too crazy about Eragon, but I haven't tried that one yet. Also they liked the Kathryn Lasky series. There is one about owls which I havent read, but I liked the wolf story. For grown-up books, I am in the middle of the Lord Peter Wimsey series which I love!

Happy reading!
Nancy

[Jana]

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley was one of my absolute favorites from last year.

Starring "eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison. It is the summer of 1950—and a series of inexplicable events has struck Buckshaw, the decaying English mansion that Flavia’s family calls home . . . Hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath . . . 'I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life..'"

[Lisa B in Seattle]

Did you read the Pride & Prejudice as mysteries series? I came across one in the stacks at the library and found it entertaining. I think the first is Pride & Prescience. I like my society a bit less female-downtrodden, however, so I wasn't entirely taken by the series. I just finished Darker Angels by M.L.N. Hanover, which is urban fantasy, and a bit sexier than Darcy et al. Oh! Did you ever see the "Lost in Austin" series on PBS? Find it, rent it, you'll love it. I did. I think that's how I moved on to the Austin mysteries series, actually ... And I wonder if Patrick is old enough yet for the Witch World novels by Andre Norton? You may want to check them out.

[Rbelle]

I am feeling obligated to read nothing but pregnancy and parenting books now, but a few months ago, I was reading Tender Morsels, by Margo Lanagan, which was shaping up to be pretty keen (stupid library due dates, I haven't gotten to finish it). Oh, and though Caroline's a little young and Patrick a little ... well, boy, I can't recommend The Princess Academy enough for YA reading. Just a really sweet and special book.

[Bianca]

Will have to look into that Beaver book, I loved, loved, loved Witch of Blackbird Pond. Still have my old copy, though I can't quite convince my 9 year old step daughter to read it. Might steal it back from her and give it to my bio nine year old daughter who's just now at that reading level.

I'm late I know, but I just started the #1 Ladies Detective Agency books. Just finished the first book- I loved it. I also love PD James. I'm just about done with all her stuff. Do you read detective mysteries? I really adore her Dagleish novels. Also, I don't know if I have ever recommended this book, but I loooooooooove Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. It's one of my all time favorite books. I love it, love it, love it. I recently reread a bunch of Edith Wharton short stories.... Roman Fever is the BEST. I could read that 1000 times.

I love Mo Willems just like Caroline. I read the pigeon books to my baby boy. He's not quite nine months, so not sure he's getting any of the jokes yet.

[Spinoff]

Oh, please hang in there with T.S. Spivet! I loved, loved, loved it, and felt like I was one of the first to discover a new kind of writing. The ending (SPOILER) kind of goes in a different direction than I was expecting, but I still sighed happily when I turned the final page.

[Sally]

Stick with T.S.! The ending was a little eh for me but the rest of the ride made it worthwhile. May I recommend "The Financial Lives of Poets"? Great book and laugh out loud funny.

No suggestions for Patrick (my kids are 5 and 2) but you cannot go wrong with ANYTHING by Mo Willems: Edwina, Naked Mole Rats, Knuffle Bunny, Elephant and Piggie (the 5 yo likes to read these as dialogues and its awesome).

[Jan]

Reading your post is like dipping into a sack of JellyBellies or of gumdrops that include European flavors like violet and quince. Ahhh! I can't find anything new to read lately, and I'm not at all into light or romance novels (sorry), but I do love to reread old children's and young adult novels. Am reading A Girl of the Limberlost for the millionth time. Overwrought here and then, but wonderful descriptions, and yes, a romance, and it takes place vaguely in your neck of the upper mid-West woods (Wisconsin, actually).

[Sarah]

I discovered Chris Van Dusen about 18 months ago and the picture books he has written and illustrated: If I Built a Car, Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee, A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee and The Circus Ship are FANTASTIC. The rhythm is great, the vocabulary is refreshing and they are quite clever. I think your family would LOVE them!

[Carrie]

I love the picture book Rattletrap Car by Phylis Root. It might be a little long for the twinks, but maybe not. It's just fun to read.

As a former teacher I am torn on the AR program. There are some really good points to it, but it can also suck the soul out of reading. It just really depends on the teacher and how the teacher uses it (doesn't it all come down to that?). I was subbing in detention one day and wanted to punch a teacher in the face when she told a little girl that she couldn't read the book she was reading because her AR level was above the book.

[Shannon]

My husband and I are finishing the Percy Jackson series (we have no kids, but work with them and gotta keep up!), and really enjoyed them. I love things that make me learn more about Greek mythology.

My absolute favorite kid's book is Skippyjon Jones, if you haven't read it already. I think there is a series, but I've only read the original. Frankly, I don't really care if the kids I read to don't like it, because I have such a darn good time reading it aloud (see above: no kids, but work with them). However, the three years olds of my acquaintance love it, so maybe get it, see if the twinkles like it now, then reintroduce later if it's too much? Great word play, fun story. (Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is another favorite of mine, for the read-aloud-ness)

[Jessica]

oooh great reference! The tale of Persephone was always may favorite Greek Myth.

[Jodi]

We are enjoying Michael Chabon right now. For me, The Yiddish Policeman's Union. For my third-grader, Summerland. Both excellent stories, both fun to read.

[NGS]

I just read the Percy Jackson series. It's less involved than Harry Potter, but still pretty cool. I recommended this series to my brother-in-law and a good friend and they've both enjoyed there series, too, in a mindless sort of way. I bet Patrick would enjoy them!

[babelbabe]

My 9yo LOVED Eragon and its sequels. He just gobbled down all the Percy Jackson books. But damn, I have a tough time keeping him in books. So I am no help.
Howveer, my two year loves this book my brother bought us, called Alphabeasties. It's a type/font nut's dream book, so I like reading it too.

I just started AS Byatt's The Children's Book (love), and finished The Vampire Diaries (fun if fluffy) and am halfway through The Little Giant of Aberdeen County (surprisingly good).

[Denise]

I'll second The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie for a fun mystery. I also really loved People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. It sounded a bit dull on the cover but I was hooked by all the details on book restoration and also the neat way the story was constructed.

I'm listening to Ethan Frome (my fourth Wharton novel in the last 6 months, 3rd audio-Wharton - I am gaining a new appreciation for her), and I also just finished an out-of-print book by John Marquand, a local author who was rich & famous back in the day but basically unknown now. (He wrote Mr. Moto which was turned into a film series, and The Late George Apley which has gotten some good press.

[mar]

Jasper Fforde Thursday Next series - it is funny, well written, calls upon the classics to intertwine their characters in everyday life, and did I mention funny?

As for the reading program, for years our public library's summer reading program had you read something from different genre's - non-fiction, science fiction or mystery, biography, etc. I absolutely loved it (they let the adults do the summer reading along with the kids, which I think is great - having the kids see their parents do it is great incentive!)as it made both me and my kids read things outside of our normal comfort zone. It's not like they suddenly loved biographies, but I think it opened their eyes to the possibilities of other books that didn't have to do with dragons or wizards or magic or princesses or ...

[Aunt Becky]

I hope that your My Grains get better. I have them myself and they're now getting tolerable thanks to a lovely cocktail of meds. Which? Really do help.

[Alison M]

Ooooh I love it when the small people get into more complicated story books. My Sarah is a year older than Caroline, and reading about her is like a blast from the past, they are so similar.

Anyhow, at 2 Sarah was seriously into Mo Willems, the pigeon books but especially Knuffle Bunny. She was also getting into Mercer Mayer's Little Critter. Other isolated favourites were Click Clack Moo, Llama Llama Mad at Mama, and Froggy Gets Dressed.

At 3, we are now rediscovering the board books (Sandra Boynton, Gossie and Gertie Gosling, etc) with Sarah learning to read the words herself. What fun!

[T.]

Our book club just read The Help by Kathryn Stockett and The Widow's War by Sally Gunning, and I loved both. I also just finished The Gurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shafer and Annie Barrows, and that was a book I never would have picked up on title alone - but there goes judging a book by it's cover for you, because I loved it.

[Owlfan]

When my older son was in 4th and 5th grades and reading above that, he was bored with the AR books he could find. He was reading Lord of the Rings at the time, which the elementary school didn't have AR tests for as they were "above the reading ability of any of our students". I finally broke down and donated the cost of 10 AR tests ($2-3 each at the time I think) so that they would buy some specific AR tests of books he wanted to read. Since then, the school has gone to a system where they pay a license fee to have access to all AR books. Works much better and it means that my younger son could take LOTR AR tests. Both my sons LOVE to read and having the AR program has not hurt them in the slightest (in fact they have enjoyed it and relish getting lots of points), but I understand those who don't like it.

If Patrick enjoys puns, he might like the Xanth books by Piers Anthony.

[T.]

Oh, and how could I forget to recommend these? The Bridge by Doug Marlette, which is set in my current state of North Carolina, which I am currently reading and enjoy... and some favorites - I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith and I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb... Fantastic!

[alyson]

i ADORED all the percy books and also the eragon series (so far). i dont know if they're too "young" for patrick, but what about the series of unfortunate events by lemony snickett? (snickett is hilarious and has other kids books that are equally funny, see the latke who wouldnt stop screaming). i've also heard good things about cornelia caroline funke.

[Davida]

Do you like mysteries? I can't remember even though I've been reading since the dawn of time (Patrick was 2 I believe). If so, then I recommend the series of alphabetical books by Sue Grafton ("A is for Alibi," "B is for Burglar," etc.). They are great and star a woman detective, Kinsey Millhone. (Also she has written through at least U so there are a lot of books in the series.)

For the twinks, at that age we loved Chuck Murphy's pop-up books. We own Color Surprises and Animal Babies A to Z. Very nice paper engineering.

[ali]

I'll third The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, and when the first person recommended it, I thought, "Yes, Julia would love that!" as thought I really know you. But from following you and your reading habits over the years, it does seem like the quirky heroine, British-y type of book you would like. I also recommend The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, translated from the French and The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid. Both wonderfully written, thought provoking books.
For Patrick - Percy Jackson is great and a series (possibly Canadian)by Kenneth Oppel called Silverwing.

[Lise]

My apologies if someone has already suggested this, but a friend with severe migraines swears by magnesium supplements. She works in a hospital and has convinced the E.R. doctors to try a magnesium shot for patients who are there for migraine pain and she swears it works. In the absence of a doctor willing to adminster a shot (or in addition to it) she says to take magnesium supplements until your digestive system shouts out a "NO!" via loose bowels and then back off the dosage. I have infrequent migraines, she got me to try it, and I've had no episodes since. (Although I just take one a day - no testing the digestive system for me.) Your mileage may vary, of course.

[cris]

My daughter is the same age as your twins, and we are BIG fans of the Donut Chef (which I can recite by heart, so if you can't get your hands on it, just call and I'll recite it over the phone :) We also really like Peeny Butter Fudge by Toni Morrison. We're also going through a big Jan Brett phase, particularly The Mitten and the Gingerbread Baby.

[Julie]

I just wanted to say that when you slip in something like "damned pomegranate" and I actually know what you're talking about, I feel so freaking smart that it makes my whole day.

The end.

[lizardek]

For the twinkies, though maybe you have these already? Little Bear, Frog & Toad, the What do you do, dear? and What do you say, dear? books ---Maurice Sendak illustrations in all: AWESOME.

Definitely thumbs up on the Percy Jackson (and thanks for the tip on the Ranger's Apprentice, by the way)

For you: The Little Book by Selden Edwards, Resistance by Owen Sheers, Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger, Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier, ANYTHING by Geraldine Brooks.

[ChrisinNY]

For Patrick-
My Side of the Mountain
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Frindle
Children of Greene KNowe
Sideways Stories
The High King
The Graveyard Book
A Series of Unfortunate Events
The Mysterious Benedict Society
The Mad Scientists Club
Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher
Gone Away Lake

All really good in their own ways.

[Hannah]

A Series of Unfortunate Events. Pay no attention to the movie; the books are wonderful and I love them. The audiobooks (narrated by Tim Curry, except for a few which are read by the author) are SO GOOD. They are exactly dark enough (which means: way more than usual) and funny and...swoon. Also there are 13 of them.

[el-e-e]

I just read Audrey Niffenegger's latest, Her Fearful Symmetry, and it was interesting. Slighly implausible, but then again I suppose she's known for that.

My 5-y-o can't stop the Magic Tree House series, which I am tiring of, but hey, he's reading them On His Own and who am I to come between a boy and his bookmark! I love that he's reading at all.

My 2-y-o received a "Barbie Loves Pets" book from the spinning rack at B&N recently, which I thought I would HATE -- okay, I'll admit I bought it, she wouldn't let go! It is pink. -- but it's actually sorta cute. We're reading that, and "Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What do You See."

Doesn't get much better than this. :)

[Christiana]

My darling 2-yr-old Caroline is obsessed with books about families. She likes to point out the Mommy and the Daddy and the Fuss (her nickname/what she calls little girls in books).
I am still traipsing through the collection of Karen Kingsbury books (she has a bunch - and there's like 12 different series) but honestly, a they are starting to become more and more the same. I also picked up Wicked after seeing the musical, but I'm afraid I then put it down about halfway through when it got so far away from the story the musical told that I could no longer stand it. Maybe others will like it? It takes the world of Oz into a whole new level of fantasy, be warned!

[Anne]

Identify completely with the Fisher Price explosion in your living room. I love that you asked Patrick what to do about the play room and that he was so accommodating.

I am not sure if this was the AR program since it was twenty years ago but I have this mildly traumatic memory of a reading-bribe my school used in third or fourth grade: when it came time to line up to go to the ice cream party my class had earned with all the books we read (to which I no doubt contributed significantly since I never needed bribes to read, just to play sports (I got a doll every year for agreeing to stick with AYSO another season)) I was talking in line so was told to sit down while the other kids were called table by table to get in line and then the teacher forgot to tell me to get in line again so off my class went to the ice cream party and I was left sitting alone in an empty classroom ... and I got such a perverse enjoyment from my martyrdom and the thought of how bad my teacher would feel when she came back and found me that I actually hid in the coat closet for a while lest any teacher walking by notice me sitting there alone. Sad and funny and a little disturbing perhaps? I turned out ok. I think.

[Katie]

My 2 1/2 year old girl adores the book I recently purchased off your sidebar: Ladybug Girl and Bubmblebee Boy. She does not like the original Ladybug Girl because the big brother is not nice to the little sister and that makes her sad.

[Anne]

Forgot the main reason I was commenting -- get thee to a doctor by all means, and what anyone thinks of you be damned. I am no medical professional but it seems to me that dizziness and vision issues could mean something serious (not to scare you, it's unlikely but why take chances?) and you should pursue it until you're sure it's nothing, if only for your peace of mind.

[MJ]

Definitely the Redwall series by Brian Jacques for Patrick - my boys who were similarly intellectually inclined loved them - and Jacques even answered my son's fan letter. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is a very intelligent mystery, and since I don't usually read mysteries that's a high recommendation indeed. I read The Help and have decidedly mixed feelings about it (my concern being that it is patronizing), although maybe it's good for those too young to have lived through the civil rights era to read the story. If you'd like to read some really well-written non-fiction, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, is great.

[Jen]

My 2.5 yr old LOVES, scratch that, he LURVES Daisy the Doctor & Vicky the Vet all from the Jobs People Do line w/ US Bourne Books.
http://www.myubam.com/ecommerce/details.asp?sid=G3261&gid=93546209&title=Jobs+People+Do+Set&sqlwhere=submit%3Dsearch%26search%3Ddaisy%2Bthe%2Bdoctor

[alyson]

i'm sorry to comment a 2nd time, but OMG YES RE: My Side of the Mountain and From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Both of those may have been my favorite books (along with the Phantom Tollboth) when I was little. I ADORED those books.

[Vicki]

I think that you (meaning Julia singular and not plural--sometimes English lacks the grace notes of other languages) might enjoy On the Edge by Ilona Andrews. It's urban fantasy (actually, the authors have called it "rustic fantasy") mixed with a decided dash of regency romance. The blurb and an excerpt of the book are on the authors' web site here: http://edge.ilona-andrews.com/books/on-the-edge/

[Catherine]

Shannon above mentioned Skippyjon Jones and I cannot agree loudly enough. They're not a series with a continuing story but there is more than one story. In short Skippyjon is a Siamese cat that thinks he's a chihuahua and goes on great adventures.

Are you familair with the bookfinder on sholastic's website? It's lead me to some new books for my kindergartner reader. It's a great guide with lots of different sort options.

As for grown up reading I'm reading the original paddington bear (vetting it for little ears), lion among men (part of the wicked series) and the titanic magic tree house novel and research guide (I lead a 2nd grade
book club). I highly recommend the wicked series.

[Elizabeth Hosto]

My big boy when he was younger loves the bear books by Karma Wilson (Bear Snores On, Bear Feels Sick, Bear Wants More, etc.). My little boy is fascinated with anything with flaps and anything with elephants so that is no help, sorry. I vote for Percy Jackson over Eragon, I liked Eragon OK but Percy is wonderful. I would also recommend the Spiderwick series, lots of fun too.

[Jess]

I agree that the Redwall series might interest Patrick. I loved them as a kid.

I've also read the Secret History of the Pink Carnation series, and the first two books are not bad at all. I highly recommend them if you're looking for treacly fluff.