That Uncomfortable Hugshake

Starting a blog post after a prolonged and unnecessary (it's not like I was doing anything wildly interesting that prevented me from reaching my keyboard) absence is always awkward for me. It's been over a week... do I mention the morning that Caroline projectile vomited all over the couch and Edward spent the rest of the day doing an excellent impersonation of Steve's reaction?

["And then Daddy said, 'Aaaaauuuuugggghhhhh!'"]

We had a weekend guest. Steve turned 44 and I threw a birthday dinner for him. Patrick seems exactly the same after two weeks of Augmentin (maybe even a little puffier around the eyes?) so I have a call into his doctor at the Mayo to get instructions before I refill the prescription.

Patrick's sinus infection epitomizes my parental worry that something will be wrong with my child and I won't know it. I mean, obviously I know it on some level or we wouldn't be treating him at all but it really chops my onion that I have to guess all the time. His nose never runs and he never sounds congested. He never runs a fever. His bloodwork looks normal. When a practioner pokes a scope up his nose they never see anything concerning. Most frustrating of all when I ask Patrick how he feels he says, "Fine" unless he is curled under a blanket with his fist pressed over his right eye in which case he says, "How do I look like I feel?" And I can't even descend upon him with maternal wrath for the sassmouth because clearly he's ill and he probably doesn't realize how annoyingly preteen he sounds.

Where was I?

Right, wringing my hands over the fact that the only time we are able to absolutely confirm that he is still swimming in infection is when he gets a CT scan and unless he wants to pursue the supervillian career we discussed as Day-Glo Boy I would like to try to limit his xposure-eay to all that adiation-ray. But if the antibiotics aren't working at all then we need to stop them and figure out what to do next but it is impossible to know if the antibiotics are working... see above.

I am biting my thumbs waiting for the doctor to call back. I am also biting my thumbs because I had my repeat chest x-ray this morning and even though I am fairly sure the lung nodule is gone and/or nothing to worry about I keep remembering my childhood in the asbestos mines of Brazil and by "childhood" I mean "high school/college/ several years post college" and by "asbestos mines" I mean "Camel Lights." Yes I was stupid and yes I regret it but there you go.

Change of subject and tone: books. Books books books. Books!

Patrick and I finished listening to the Keys of the Kingdom series by Garth Nix. I confess I was a little disappointed by the end. Without spoiling it for you I got all excited by the last book trying to figure out how he was possibly going to resolve the arc and... huh. I suspect he wasn't totally sure how he was going to resolve it either.

We are now on the latest book of the Angie Sage Septimus Heap series (Darke) and all I have to say is... swoon. I really really really love this series. I had been thinking of audiobooks mainly in light of the fact that they made commuting to school less boring but it recently occurred to me that listening to a story together is an experience unto itself. Patrick and I and the characters kinda hang out for the duration of the book and my reactions and his reactions get incorporated into how I feel about the book. It's a nice bond.

I have Eragon set to go next but I am hesitating. It is massive and that's just book one. Is the series good? Is it worth it? Will we like it? Anything else to recommend? I am contemplating the next whatever it is by the guy who did Percy Jackson but just between you and me I thought those books were dopey. Patrick liked them (which counts) but Greek mythology was My Thing in elementary school and I cannot help but feel it could be done so much better. Also, forgive me, he's not that great of a writer. Decent storyteller, yes, but meh on the prose. 

So book recommendations, please, for Patrick and me (yeah I know, AGAIN) and for you and the younger set I have something special. For the first (and probably last) time ever I am facilitating a book giveaway. And not just any book, but one which has been written, illustrated and self-published by one of my readers. It is a retelling of the princess and the frog and it is called The Golden Ball by Katelyn Sinclair.

To be honest I would probably give her a plug regardless because she leaves me helpful comments and I am supportive like that but it's nice that I can do it without violating my strict ethical code because the book is REALLY GOOD. I think you and/or the smallish person in your life will really enjoy it and you can check it out in its entirety here (this links to a movie-let of the book being read - quite fun) or you can see the book on Amazon here.

She is giving away ten copies (eleven, actually, as Edward and Caroline are getting one too - apparently I can be bought with the perfect execution of kickass iambic tetrameter) so if you would like one just leave a comment to that effect along with an actual email address that will reach you. I will do one of those random number generating things to select the ten and that's it. Oh, wait, no, it isn't. If you get a copy of the book I'd love it if you would come back to my blog at some unspecified time in the near future so that we can have a little online focus group for the author. Give her some constructive feedback. Deal? 

To sum: I'll come back and let you know what the Mayo says. Ditto whether I still have my lung thing. You will let me know what Patrick and I should listen to next and whether you would like to be included in a drawing for Katelyn Sinclair's book.

I think that's it. I promise to write more often, even though it's just fiddling life stuff. Life is in the details after all.

PS Oh! Witch and Wizard by James Patterson. Patrick is reading it and he LOVES it. I haven't read it personally so I am not absolutely certain it doesn't contain illicit drugs, foul language and naughty sex but as far as I know it is appropriate'ish for a nine year old.

PPS Holy cats, I didn't realize I had so many book ads up. Please check them out, too.

Comments

[Vanessa]

Could Patrick have an MRI instead of a CT scan? My last sinus infection was diagnosed with an MRI. It would at least limit his potential career as Day-Glo Boy.

[Mellie]

The book sounds great! Count me in for the free drawing please. Is Patrick too young for "The Eyes of the Dragon" at this point? Have you talked about that book before...

[Christina]

De-lurking for potential book swag! I have a 3 year old who hops everywhere she goes and a 6 year old princess-type so it is a good fit for our kingdom.
Hope the doctor has wisdom and the nodule was but a fleeting figment.

[Jenn]

Hope everything clears up SOON on the health front.

Sam is reading the Pseudonymous Bosch Secret series and is really into them.

He also loves all the Horrible series -- Horrible Science, Horrible History, Horrible Geography. Claims to give kids the nitty gritty on these subjects without sugar coating them. They also use lots of British vernacular which Sam finds charming.

Oh and he says the new Percy Jackson books are better than the originals, and he liked the originals.

[Kerrie]

I'm a sucker for better versions of fairytales; please count me in. Have you guys read the Lemony Snickett books? I can't remember, but I think Patrick would enjoy them if he hasn't already.

[Bopper]

Eragon isn't bad...but after you read them you realize it is what you would get if Star Wars and Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings and some other story had a baby and then a 15 year old wrote it.

[Mary]

Would love the chance to win a book for my princess obsessed little boy!

Thanks!

[Ryan Wilkins]

I hope Patrick feels better soon! Have you considered a topical treatment for him? There are some great ones out there, that even offer no side effects! Check out Sinus Dynamics when you get a chance :) http://www.sinusdynamics.com/

[Amy in CO]

The book sounds great! I think my daughter would love it.

[Sandra]

No book recommendations here, but I would LOVE a new book. Fingers crossed!

[Jan]

Eragon and Harry Potter, etc., are beyond derivative and flabby. Try the actual Lord of the Rings. "The Dark is Rising," about an 11-year-old-boy, the first of Susan Cooper's brilliant series, might be great for him. I think you are at a juncture here -- he is too old for broad market children's crap but perhaps too emotionally young for beyond. How about "Ender's World" -- much fodder for thought.
Just a thought, but if he is into animals, all of the Albert Tersun Pahoun novels about dogs and cats might be interesting to him. Not sure...

[Karen]

My 11 year old started the Eragon series a year? year and a half? ago. He ADORES them. The last book just came out and a teeny part of me was hoping he wouldn't be aware until, well, Christmas, since Grandma always gets them a book of their desiring for Christmas. But he saw it in the grocery store (WHY do they sell books in grocery stores nowadays? she said grumpily) and, well, he had enough money so he bought it.

Eragon was written by a teenager, who was inspired by JRR Tolkien. Tolkien is like our own personal household god around here, so I was concerned Eragon might be a ripoff. Not so, said my 11 year old, who has also read The Hobbit and other works.

Oh! There's a recommendation for you. The Hobbit. BUT get the unabridged version, pretty please? It's worth it.

Also books by Edward Eager are very charming (Half Magic) if it's out on audio. I don't know. The only audio books we have in the house are Tolkien. But we did rent the Narnia books on CD from the library, the kids--even my 11 year old--adored listening to those.

[Caroline]

Would love a copy of the book - Just had all three of my kids listening online.

re Patrick: Hope you get some answers soon!

[Lisame]

Of course you have lots of book ads! Your readers ARE readers.

I would love to read that book to the boys! Count me in the randomness.

[Alchemilla]

Cressida Cowell's Hiccup the Viking series (on which the excellent film 'how to train your dragon' was loosely based). Brilliantly read by the swoon-inducing Scot, David Tennant. With characters called 'Gobber the Belch", Alvin 'the Poor but Honest Farmer' and 'Durbreath the Dogbrain' and dragons, treasure, treachery, derring do, and farting.

From the above, it may not come entirely as a surprise that our household will not be entering the book giveaway.

Eragon, meh. My husband read it but then [modestly] he is much less discerning than I am.

PS I indulged in the same vice for a bit longer than you, a lifetime ago. Lots of us did. It does add an extra helping of guilt and doom to the anxiety of waiting for test results. Teeny tiny odds, old thing.

[Jackie]

count me in on the book drawing :)

[LMM]

I would love to win the book!

As for Patrick - I forget, has he read the Narnia books? How about the Wrinkle in Time series? My Side of the Mountain?

Finally, I liked the Percy Jackson books but read the first of the Egypt series and thought it was just terrible. I wouldn't waste your time.

[KatieV]

I'd love to get that book--sounds really good!

I'll be waiting to hear about the medical updates.

[Erin]

I have been recommending the Theodosia series of books by R.L. LaFevers (the first one is Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos) to every bright, late-elementary/early-middle schooler I know... Set in the early 1900s, Theodosia Throckmorton is the 11 yr old daughter of the head curator of the Museum of Legends and Antiquities in London and is the only one who can see (and disarm) the ancient curses that remain on the artifacts that her mother, an archeologist working in Egypt, sends back to the museum. It is a great series - adventure, intrigue, history, myths/legends... I don't feel like I'm explaining the books very well, but they are really well written.

I would love a chance to win the book! My 5 year old daughter is really into fairy tales...

[victoria]

I'm so sorry about Patrick's cryptic and stubborn health problems. I can see how a chronic invisible unreachable infection would be a mother's nightmare.

Anyway, hon, you do NOT have lung cancer. The shadow on the X ray is more likely the trace of that old alien abduction that was wiped from your memory than lung cancer.

My understanding is, lung cancer and breast cancer usually take, like, 40 years to develop. (The book "The Emperor of All Maladies" focuses mostly on blood cancers, especially leukemia and lymphoma, but it also discusses lung cancer and breast cancer in great detail in a way that a layperson can understand and it's compulsively readable. I recommend it although obviously not as something you would share with Patrick). People just don't develop those diseases until they're in their fifties or sixties.

Yes, there is the occasional freak who gets breast cancer at age 19 or lung cancer at age 38 but that's just really, really, really rare.

Radiologists see shadows on EVERY chest X ray. EVERY x ray has some murky bits in it. It's not a perfect screening device. Maybe the shadow is real, you probably should follow up on it, but please don't worry that it's cancer.

[Colleen]

Oooh! I would love a copy of this book! I have 3 girls under five, so I'm pretty sure it will be well-loved for years around here...

[alianora]

I think it's funny how you say a week is an abnormally long time to go without blogging. Usually, if I've updated in the last month, I feel pretty good about myself.

Books for Patrick is a difficult one. When I was 9, I was reading Gone with the Wind, which is neither appropriate nor a good idea, but I did it and loved it. So, hmm. Have you tried any Tamora Pierce? The Lioness saga is amazing. And Diane Duane's Young Wizard novels are awesome, too.

And yes, we always need more books!

[Eliza]

Audiobook: Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke. Really long. *Really* good! Also, the Circle of Magic books by Tamora Pierce, done by Full Cast Audio--different actors doing all the parts. Great stuff!

[Angie]

The Witch and Wizard by James Patterson is good, a bit gritty and written from a teens perspective but good. His Daniel X series is also good. Eragon, haven't read it but my niece and nephew both loved them and couldn't get enough. Good luck!

[Chive]

Much sympathy for all the medical stuff you have going on right now. Wish I had some useful information to pass on, but have only sympathy.

Books for 9 year olds I may actually be some use.
Have you tried the Mortal Engines books?
Or William Nicholson?
The BBC radio adaptation of Lord of the Rings is very good. I first listened to it week by week when I was 9. It might be a bit much listened to each day with less time to digest it in between. But it is a proper radio play, not just one person reading it, and amazing.
Can't remember if you've done Wizard of Earthsea yet.
I was really disappointed by the end of Keys to the Kingdom too.

[BabyKMama]

Would love a new book, please enter us in the giveaway! We're stuck on Three Little Pigs this week... I'm grateful my son loves books, but I'll be glad when he's older and loves more variety...

[Kirsten]

We love books. I have no current good ideas for Patrick but at the moment I'm reading Drop City by T.C. Boyle and loving it. Also, have you read any Murakami? The Wnd-Up Bird Chronicle is such an investment but crazy and weird and amazing. Like changing what you know about fiction amazing. We'd love to be part of your giveaway, too.

[Julie]

I, er my 5 yr old, would love a copy of the book!

[Patrick]

Another option for audiobooks is Librivox: free volunteer-created audiobooks of public domain books. Not quite sure Patrick's ready for Mark Twain, but it's a good place to start.

[resh]

I would love the book!

[Toria]

Yes yes to trying anything by Terry Pratchett!
Well written, funny, action, thinking, satire, philosophy!
As well as the Tiffany Aching series (starts with "The Wee Free Men" & is set in his Discworld universe) he has other kids series set in various universes, including "ours" with main characters that are boys, or even creatures.
"Only You Can Save Mankind" is the start of the Johnny Maxwell series with a young boy in our world (but a bit dated as it was written in early 90s), "The Amazing Maurice" is a ratcatching cat (set in Discworld),  and "Truckers" is the start of The Bromeliad Trilogy (tiny "nomes", main char is a boy nome).
His YA standalone "Nation" is amazing & powerful.
But his "adult" Discworld series has less violence/drugs/romance than many other YA books so are mostly pretty big-kid-friendly. The best place to start is "Guards! Guards!", I think Patrick would love it. Or for the Discworld version of Christmas, try "Hogfather".

For sci-fi with dragons and an early-teen boy as main character, try Timothy Zahn's Dragonback  series, first one is "Dragon & Thief".

Blue Balliett has a series of kid art mysteries, starting with "Chasing Vermeer", with some lovely illustrations by Brett Helquist. (I just checked and it is available as audiobook, even though some of the clues in at least some of the books are visual. I have no idea how that's handled)

I tried Eragon years ago, which was marketed at the time as "OMG a kid wrote this!?" but urgh, you could tell. I found it painful, honestly. But maybe being written by a teen makes it more accessible for kids? I don't know. Perhaps his books improved as he got older. I have probably read too many fantasy books to enjoy Eragon. Better for newcomers to fantasy who have less to compare it to (which includes kids, lucky enough, and probably most regular people). But if people find it a gateway into the fantasy genre then yay!

My son is the same age as your twins, so I have no idea about actual kids reading these kids books. I've read (& enjoyed & bought & still own, well except for Eragon) them all as an adult, despite them being "kids books", so I think they would be stories that both of you could enjoy. But I don't know which ones are available as audiobooks, sorry (a quick look on amazon has most of them available as Audible downloads).

[Gigi]

I hated Eragon, but I think it´s the type of book you either love or hate, no in between. I liked Witch and Wizard and they´re ok for Patrick but I´m only half way of book 2 (I read a lot of YA because my sister keeps asking me to read ahead of my niece, which is stupid because I don´t believe in censoring books, although it would´ve been nice if I had had a heads up before I read Twilight, ugh) Also I think he´d enjoy the Maximus Ride series (James Patterson) even if it´s only to point out the imposibility of some of the issues :)

[Liv]

Would love to check out the book! I'm also sending you positive vibes that you are able to sort out Patrick's health issues soon, how nerve wracking! My email is jgrubin2003@yahoo.com.

[Katherine]

We love books around here and would love a copy! You know you go to the library a lot when they see you coming and already have your held items on the desk and notice when you get your hair trimmed... like I said, we like books. I'd love to know what else you recommend for the preschool set.

For you, I recently read and loved The Story of Beautiful Girl.

[Kelly H]

Now I don't know whether to spend money on the Keys To The Kingdom Series. Worth it- not worth it? You were the one who suggested Nix's Abhorsen trilogy, which quickly became three of my very favorite books ever (and I'm not a spring chicken). I finished reading Sabriel to my very-advanced-reader 9 year old daughter last week and she loved it as well. I can't wait to start Lirael with her, but Sabriel came in the middle of the Artemis Fowl series when I couldn't locate my (yes, MY)copy of AF & the Opal Deception and had to wait for said daughter to remember to check it out of the school library. Anyway, thanks again for mentioning that trilogy :) I agree about The Mysterious Benedict Society- I've only read the first one but liked it immensely. Have you read 100 Cupboards? Also pretty good.

[Cara]

Have you and/or Patrick read Stephen King's The Eyes of the Dragon? Its the book he wrote because his daughter wouldn't read any of his scary books, and its amazing. I read it when I was about Patrick's age, again as a teen, and quite frankly I'm ready to read it again. I don't know if there's an audio book version.

Hubby loved Eragon and read at least one of the others in the series. My reaction was 'meh.' I might just not have been in the mood, though.

Oh, have you and/or Patrick read any of Anne McCaffrey's dragon riders of Pern books? My mother and I read those when I was about his age, and we have great shared memories from it. Mom called me the other day when she heard Anne McCaffrey had died. She said it made her sad to hear it, and I was the only other person she could think of that would understand. 20 years later, and its still a bond for us!

And I would love the book for my little one.

[Kirsten]

I did not like Eragon - I found it incredibly derivative - but you know, people's experiences vary. As someone said above, it's a best-seller, so *someone* out there liked it. (And yes, the last one was just released.)

I would also second the mention above of Lemony Snicket. Awesome funny stuff.

I've been (re-)discovering Diana Wynne Jones lately, and she is totally hilarious! Might be a good fit for y'all.

Also, I'd love to be considered for the book giveaway!

[Kim]

I'd love the book ~ although the Random Number Generator hates me, so I know I have absolutely NO shot at winning one...lol!

I'm finishing the Eragon series as we speak, and while I am *ahem* forty-something, I can say that I really like it. Not perfect, but good, and I think if I was a younger person I'd really love it. :)

[Elaine]

Why isn't anybody recommending the "Bartimaeous Trilogy"?? It was marketed as YA and features a young boy wizard and the very, very snarky demon he calls...the demon is hilarious and the alternate world both scary and believable. And the ending is amazing! Maybe it's not on audiobook, though.

I could not get through Eragon. I thought it was boring and derivative.

[Kate F.]

To this day I still pick up the David Eddings two series, Bellgarid and The Mallorean. Never seen them on audio but you will cry when you finish all 10 books because they are so good!

[Laurie A.]

Count me in on the book giveaway!

I always wait to see what others post re: books as I have a 6 year old boy who, while not nearly as advanced as Patrick, has an awesome imagination! And his reading comprehension is exploding in leaps and bounds!

[Claire]

I found Eragon pretty trite when I read it, but I was a lot older than Patrick is, so maybe that will go over his head. (Wicked, I think, would be inappropriate for a kid, and this isn't the first time that I've felt compelled to say that to someone online after seeing it recommended for a young person. It's the orgy that does it, you see.)

[Alyson]

Your commenters are super helpful. I love reading their thoughts. Also, we LOVE books and my 2 year old needs a transition from Curious George. PLEASE HELP US TRANSITION FROM CURIOUS GEORGE!!!

[Franziska]

I would very much be interested in the book give away. My girls are 17 months and 4 years and absolutely love books.

[Ronda breseke]

Is Wally the wordworm by Clifton Fadiman too juvenile? And how about Sherlock Holmes? Quirkfarms

[Erin]

Is Patrick too young for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? I remember loving that audio book when I was a kid riding in the car with my mom. I don't remember how old I was though. Such an awesome series.

Please enter me in the draw! My little ones will love the book I'm sure.

[Alexicographer]

I'd love a book, and I regret that I have no useful advice for you and yours regarding books, proof positive that I must need one (or more).

In my defense I'm surprisingly prone to reading non-fiction, myself (and thus a reader but not often good at recommending for others, many of whom seek fiction as I assume you are), but I still need fictional stuff for the little guy and am doing poorly on that. Though I tried him on James & the Giant Peach and he seemed not quite ready for it, so maybe I just need to be patient.

[Terrill]

I loved Lloyd Alexander's Prydain series and Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series back in the day, but maybe they are outdated now! And, please add me to your book drawing!

[Allison]

OOh I would love to have a copy of your reader's book!

I second the Benedict Society books. Also have you read the Charlie Bone books?

I also recommend Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, the Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins, Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld (first in a trilogy).

Happy reading!

[Christine]

His Dark Materials trilogy? I liked them a lot, but I wasn't reading with a potential child in mind.

Also, you won't find on audiobooks, but the old Three Investigator books were favorites from about that age, if Patrick likes mysteries. They show their age, but the puzzles were fun.

We're in princess central here. Would love the book.