Book Review: Geography of Bliss - Eric Weiner (also my daughter as a tick)

I am happy today, and that is not a word I throw around lightly.  This mood that gave me the idea for today's post.  Well, that and Vienna's homework.  She asked for help with her Sociology: learn about a culture that is different from ours.

Side Bar: As I write this, she is reading over my shoulder.  In her words, she is, "like a tick, always watching" ....not creepy or anything...

As I sorted through my knowledge of other cultures (sociology is my favorite subject), I thought of the perfect book:  Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner. 



Bill Kuffrey publicdomainpictures.net

I got very excited and explained to her that Eric Weiner, a Foreign Correspondent for National Public Radio and a self-proclaimed Grump, had decided to spend a year traveling the world to visit the happiest, and least happiest places in the world. 

Side bar: I also told Vienna that I can't concentrate while she is watching, and she said to pretend I don't know she is there because most people that have a tick, don't know. . .ok....creepier still. . .

We looked at the table of contents, each chapter covers a different country.  Which one to choose?



Piotr Wojtkoski publicdomainpictures.net

Chapter 5:  Iceland: awesome!  Visiting Iceland is now on my Bucket List because of this book.  Icelanders love chess and writing (heaven), and they go months without seeing the sun.  I'm from Seattle, I'll fit right in.  When I go to Iceland, I will NOT eat harkarl, rotten shark, but I will think of Mr. Weiner's description of it:

"The harkarl has an acidic, unnatural flavor.  Worst of all is the persistent aftertaste.  It lodges on the roof of my mouth and resists eviction, despite my attempts to flush it out with many glasses of water, a bag of honey-roasted cashews, an entire wheel of gouda cheese, and two bottles of beer.  By the time I return to my hotel, an hour later, the taste has, ominously migrated to my throat, and shows no signs of leaving soon.  I feel sick."

A local man explained to him that the only way to get rid of the after taste is to drink svarti dauoi, or black death, the Icelandic national drink.  Weiner says the very nasty hang-over was a price he was willing to pay to get rid of that taste.  Harkarl, anyone?

Side bar: Vienna went to class, but not before warning reminding me that she, like a tick, will always be watching. Rotten shark and ticks...I think I'm going to have nightmares tonight, how about you?

Chapter 6: Moldova..ewwwww.  It is said to be the least happy nation in the world.  Maybe the problem is their music.  You know how uplifting music can be, right?  Well apparently it works the other way as well.  According to Weiner:

"Russian pop is--how do I put this diplomatically?--bad.  Very bad.  So bad that it may have contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union."

There you go.

Chapter 7: Thailand...ah, don't read that chapter Vienna.  Their morals are..um...different than ours.  The chapter begins with how despite his best intentions not to go, one night at 1 am he found himself in a bar. . .yeah, that is not the essence of the whole chapter, but enough for me to have Vienna skip it. 

Chapter 2: Switzerland:  I can't forget Switzerland.  You know the saying one man's trash is another man's treasure.  Well Switzerland shows us that one man's misery is another man's happiness.  Or something like that, read this and decide for yourself:

     "Why are the Swiss so happy?"  I ask Jalil.
     "Because we know we can always kill ourselves," he says with a laugh, but he's not joking.  Switzerland has one of the world's most liberal euthanasia laws.  People travel from all over Europe to die here.
     The strangeness of it all sinks in.  In Switzerland, it's illegal to flush your toilet past 10:00 p,m, or mow your lawn on Sunday, but it's perfectly legal to kill yourself.
    
And so Switzerland has one of the highest suicide rates in the world.  How can a happy country have a high suicide rate?  There is a theory in the book. . .

If you like humor, sociology and philosophy, you will love this book as I did.



Vera Kratocvil publicdomainpictures.net

What?  Oh, you want to know which country she choose for her project?  Why Moldova, of course.  She read this line:

""Getting to Moldova turns out to be nearly as tricky as finding it on a map.  It's almost as if the Moldovans are off sulking in their corner of the globe.  'Leave us alone.  We're not happy, and we like it that way.  We said go away!'"

"You should move there," she said.

I had to laugh at that.  Evil girl. I guess she chose it for her report since she thinks I should move there, and she's planning to visit...or wait, if she is truly a tick as she claims, she will just go with me.

We'll send you a postcard.   

Book Review: A Girl’s Gotta Do What A Girl’s Gotta Do

A Girl’s Gotta Do What A Girl’s Gotta Do by Kathleen Baty  (a book review of sorts)

I recently checked out a book about safety, self-defense etc.  for my daughter.  Well possibly for her, I wanted to look it over first.  I didn’t tell her.  I just brought it home.  I read part of it and found it very interesting, then I left it on the shelf to come back to later.

The following day, my daughter said, “I found the book you got for me."

“Huh?  How did you know that was for you?”

She rolled her eyes.  “It was obvious.”

“So do you like it?”

“Yeah, it’s great.  I  read the first chapter about how to be safe in hotels, and then I started thinking, ‘this probably isn’t the best thing to read before going to bed.  I might have nightmares.’  So I skipped to the back of the book and read the part about self-defense so that if I did have a nightmare I could defend myself.” 

So funny and yet so practical.

I want to share the book with you as well.  It is written for teenage and college age girls.  The style is fun and engaging as my daughter has illustrated.  Did I mention she took it to her room and I haven’t seen it since? 

The point of the book is not to scare young women, but to help them be more savy, aware, and safe.  Isn’t that what we all want for our daughters. 

My daughter is 13 (going on 18, I don’t mean that in a bad way, I mean she is mature for her age. Still…) I wondered if she was old enough for this book yet.  I didn’t want to scare her, or introduce her to subjects like “date rape” too early.  Perhaps you have the same concerns, but unfortunately we can’t shelter our children as much as we would like to.  For example, tonight she said to me, “You know the story about the bath salts?”

I thought, “You mean the story I have intentionally avoided because I know it has something to do with cannibalism any kind of violence is pretty triggering for me right now.  The same story that I would never have wanted YOU to read or be aware of?”    But she did know about it.  I just nodded.

She went on, “Well they’re saying now it wasn’t bath salts, but marijuana.”  Clearly she had read the news articles and knew more about it than I did.  Thanks news media for telling my daughter about someone eating another human’s face.  Really appreciate that. 

So we can’t shelter them…

I also tried to rationalize (as you might) that she doesn’t need this book (or this sort of info) because she will date young men who have our same religious values.  Surely that makes them safe, right?  Wrong.

I have to share a story from my job.  I work in a residential treatment center for teenage sex offenders.

SIDEBAR:  An odd occupation for a survivor of childhood sexual abuse like myself.  I feel I should explain that I work graveyard.  While I am proud of the work that my co-workers do, I am not involved in it.  I don’t do groups with the boys, or treatment or anything of that nature.  I would not have lasted in this job if I did. . .

One morning as the boys were getting ready for school, one of them told me how he had gone on pass, the day before.  He went to church and met a girl.  They hit it off, and she asked for his phone number.  He laughed as he told me, “I didn’t know what to say.  I couldn’t give her the number here.”  The residents  do not have cell phones. 

He continued, “So I asked her for her number instead.”

He was quite pleased with himself, and reminded me of any other teenage boy I have known talking about girls…with one big difference.  He is a registered sex offender. Later I thought about this conversation and wondered if this girl’s parents had any idea WHOM she was talking to at church.

Now, we can give this young man the benefit of the doubt.  Perhaps he was rehabilitated in our facility (that is the goal after all) and will go forth in the world and “sin no more.”   The point remains though, that just because you meet someone at church doesn’t mean they are safe.

So yes, I decided I want my daughter to read this book.  I want her to be savy, aware and safe.

Now, can I get some volunteers for us to practice our self-defense moves?  Anyone?  Anyone?

Silence Promotes Violence

Since I have been sharing my journey of healing from childhood sexual abuse, several people in my life have confided in me: either their own stories or their children's. I am stunned and saddened to be made aware of what a rampant problem this is.  I admit I also feel frustrated that as serious as it is and as widespread...no one is talking about it. 

Ponder this for a moment.  If you have a facebook page, you know that nearly every time you log on you will see on someones status: 'repost this if you know someone who has cancer'.  I asked a friend once, what is the point of me reposting it. (Yes, I was a little cranky that day, but fortunately my friend didn't take it personally.)  She said, "awareness".  Oh...because cancer is a big secret?  Pink ribbons for breast cancer, red dresses for women's heart health and it goes on and on.

I don't mean to trivialize cancer or heart problems, certainly.  The point I am getting at is 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer, 1 in 3 will be sexually abused.  And yet where are the facebook posts and the ribbons for awareness of this problem?   According to Boy Scouts of America, "More than 3 million reports of child abuse are received each year, including half a million reports of child sexual abuse."  Half a million a year!  And those are the ones that are reported.  How much would that number grow if every case was reported?  I shudder to think...

There ARE some out there trying to raise awareness.   Recently I saw a car magnet with a ribbon that said, "Silence promotes violence."  The point being that we need to talk about it to help prevent it.  So let's talk about prevention for a moment.

There are websites out there that tell you where convicted child molesters live when they are released from prison. While I do think that is valuable information, I suggest that it is the "unconvicted" abusers that we should be more concerned about. Most victims are abused or molested by someone they know and trust. So what can we, as parents, do to protect our children? Knowledge is one of our best tools.  Here are a couple books I have found helpful.

BSA Pamphlet for preventing child abuse: http://www.scouting.org/filestore/ypt/pdf/46-015.pdf  (until you can get to the library...)

Out of Harm's Way by Sandy K.Wurtele PhD 

A short book that you could read in an hour, but is packed with information.  I learned a few new things from reading it.

Stolen Innocence: The Jan Broberg Story by Mary Ann Broberg 

Once several years ago, I was with a couple of friends when one of them casually mentioned, "When I was kidnapped as a child, they found me in a basement." Ahh...excuse me, did I just hear you correctly? You were kidnapped?  My friend's mom wrote a book about their experience.  Jan was kidnapped and sexually abused by a family friend.  I mention this because the foreword of the book is written by a police officer that worked on the case and he said, Mrs. Broberg, was very brave in asking him to do this because what he was going to say was that my friend's did "everything wrong". There were warning signs, and red flags that the parents missed. Mrs. Broberg was willing to put her pride aside, admit her mistakes in order to help prevent us from making the very same mistakes.

So Sexy So Soon by Diane E. Levin PhD and Jean Kilbourne EdD 

I haven't read this one yet, but one of my favorite blogs did a fabulous review on it.  You can read the review (and other great reviews) here: Reading for Sanity  I am interested in this book because I am very concerned about this trend.  Not necessarily from the point of view of the authors, but in a world of half a million reports of childhood sexual abuse is it wise to allow our daughters to dress "sexy".  Do we really want to attract the lustful eyes of pedophiles? 

Finally, we need to talk to our kids about abuse.  I know, I know we don't want to scare the kids.  I have that same fear.  I was discussing that with a friend recently and she said, "It depends on how you present it.  When you ask your child to wear a bike helmet, you don't tell them that it is to they won't hit their head and spread their brains over the sidewalk."  Point taken.

My friends, lets start talking about this problem.  Talk to one another, talk to your children.  Through talking about it we can educate ourselves to prevent it.  Through talking we can support survivors and their families.  And through talking about it we can help victims to come forward...this is especially important for those that are being abused right now. 

Let's do what we can to stop the abuse.  Start talking...Silence promotes violence.

THE Chess Klutz speaks on Chess

I love chess.  I hate chess. I am a chess fanatic.

Reading that you probably assume that I am also, therefore, good at chess.  Wrong.  I'm pretty terrible actually.  (Don't tell my chess students!)   I know this is a real dichotomy.  I love chess and teach it, but I am not very good at it.  How can that be? 

The answer is more simple than you think.  I love chess for a multide of reasons that I will explain more in depth shortly.  I hate chess because it is like a diabolical butterfly.  It taunts me.  It hovers just out of my reach.  I read about it.  I study the rules, but I can't seem to keep my focus in a game long enough to keep me from making stupid mistakes.  ("Ah, so the problem is YOU, Leslie, not the game," you say...shut up this is MY blog!)  I can teach chess because I have mastered the rules and basics enough to help beginners.  I give them their chess wings, so to speak, and then watch them quickly out grow me!

Sabine Sauermaul

So why do I continue to torture myself with this game that eludes my clumsy attempts at mastering it?  Why do I teach it to all my children and anyone else that I can persuade to learn?  I do it because at least for a short time I will have an opponent I can beat studies show that the benefits of playing chess are amazing, especially for children (hopefully me, too!)  There have been numerous studies done and the results have shown again and again that chess helps children improve in math, reading, and vocabulary.  It develops logical thinking, imagination and creativity.  Chess teaches independence, inspires self-motivation and rewards hard work.  There is an excellent, readable article about it here: The Benefits of Playing Chess.  Chess can benefit special needs kids as well.  You can read more about that here: Chess and Special Needs Education.

Because my whole family plays chess, my almost 5 yr old has recently decided he wants to play.  He is something of a computer nerd and has already tried computer chess.  He was very upset that he kept losing.  He doesn't realize most of us lose to the computer! 

"But 5 yr old is too young to play chess!" you say.  (where are your manners today?  I was getting to that...)  Each child is individual, so it depends on the child certainly, but yes many children can learn to play as young as 5 yrs old.  I'm going to share the best resource for doing that.

Chess for Success by Maurice Ashley

I read his book a few years back and a still use the ideas I got from him regularly to teach young people to play chess.  He has great ideas for simplified chess games to help learn the rules and begin to develop your chess skills such as: Pawns Asleep and another one my family nicknamed Dessert Chess (I can't remember what Maurice Ashley called it...Giveaway Chess...something like that.)  Anyway, amazing book.  I highly recommend it.

Now if someone could just recommend a good book for me so I can beat my teenage boys. . .

__________________________________

Photo Attibution: Sabine Sauermaul

Ashes of Abuse: On the Bookshelf

I have loved reading for as long as I can remember.  I read for fun, of course, but I have also always read when I wanted to learn something.  As a kid when I wanted to know about "the birds and the bees", I was too embarrassed to ask my parents we didn't talk about that sort of thing and I guessed my friends didn't really know much more about it than I did...I found a medical book and read about it...complete with illustrations!  When I wanted to learn to knit...I got a book.  When I started having serious health issues (all of them are much better right now), I turned to the Internet and read about it.  So, naturally, with this new challenge in my life, I have a million questions so I turned to my old standby....reading.  Of course, reading does not and should not replace therapy but while it is not the "main course" for my healing, it is a good "side dish".

The Body Remembers by Babette Rothschild

When I first started therapy it was for anxiety.  One day I was telling my therapist about the anxiety that I get at the dentist and that I had figured out that it was not the needles or the drill, but the CHAIR.  I hate the chair.  It makes me feel very vunerable, and that is an uncomfortable feeling.  I told him I feel the same way about his couch.  "My couch?" he asked confused.  Well, yeah, in the movies people always lie down on their therapist's couch.  That made him laugh and he promised he would never ask me to do that.  Then he added, "Don't do it, but in your mind's eye imagine you are lying on the couch and pay attention to how your body feels."  I did and instant anxiety...shortness of breath, dizziness etc.  Wow!  Anxiety on cue.  I was amazed by that but my therapist wasn't.  He simply said, "Your body knows why you are uncomfortable with the couch."  I was astonished by this.  How could my body know something my mind didn't.  I pondered this a lot and later at home I asked myself how this could be. 

Then one night in one of those moments between being awake and asleep a voice in my mind said, "if you really want to know, imagine yourself as a child lying on the couch."  I did and OH! My first flashback!  I won't give you the details.  It was awful.  It felt as if I was there with all the physical feelings and emotions (read: fear) of that moment.  I wanted to know more about how "body memories" work so I started googling and came across this book.

Though it is scientific, I also found it to be quite readable for a "lay person" like myself. She explains body memories, PTSD, somatic pain and other related issues. Highly Recommended.

The Stranger in the Mirror by Marlene Steinberg

I'll never forget the day my therapist started asking me some questions that I could tell were intended to see if I have Dissociative Identity Disorder (previously called Multiple Personality Disorder.)  This disorder is more common than I thought affecting approx. 10,000 people in the US.  As I understand it, it is generally not as "sensational" as what Sybil experienced.  After all the whole "system" works to hide the memories of the abuse from the person themself and the multiplicity from the public.  More about this in another review.

Anyway, I didn't think that I had DID, and my therapist later told me that he doesn't think I have DID either, but I do "dissociate".  Of course, I was then driven to learn everything I could about dissociation.  That is how I found this book.  It was an answer to prayer and answered my questions very well!

She explains clearly what dissociation is, the different ways it affects us and because we all dissociate to some degree, what is mild, moderate, or severe dissociation. It is scientific, but readable for us "lay people".  Highly recommended!

Courage to Heal by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis

When I first realized what my 'real' issue was, not anxiety but childhood sexual abuse, I had a million questions surrounding "what will healing be like and how long will this take?"  This book has been a wonderful resource for giving me an idea what to expect, and comforting me that what I am feeling is normal.  Though I am a huge fan of the library (my bookshelves are already overflowing with beloved books..it's nice to have the library 'store' books for me!), this is one I will need to purchase.  It is not something you just sit down and read through but rather a book that you read in parts, and refer back to it as a resource in healing at different times and different stops on the journey.  Highly recommended

A Fractured Mind: My Life with Multiple Personality Disorder by Robert Oxnam

Though I do not have DID, I now find myself with a fascination with this topic.  As I mentioned before, not all DID cases are as 'sensationalized' as the story of Sybil.  When I saw this book about Robert Oxnam who was an international authority on China, I had to read it!  After all, how does one become so highly educated and appear so "normal" with this disorder.  I had to know.  The book, a courageous offering on the part of Mr. Oxnam, was fascinating, enlightening and touching.  At the end, I wanted to meet this amazing man and give him a hug!  Hearing his story, and vicariously sharing in his healing, gave me hope that my symptoms of dissociation, which are not as severe, can be healed as well.  Highly recommended, thank you for having the courage to share Mr. Oxnam!

I should have named this post "On the Bookshelf and the Favorites List" but that title would be too long!

I like blogs (obviously since I write one). So recently I got an idea to look for blogs written by others who are dealing with the challenges I am (both to hear their stories, and to find people who might be interested in what I am writing.) And wowzer, you can find most anything you want on the internet! I found the perfect thing...a blog carnival!

A blog carnival, in case you are not familiar with the term, is basically a blog post that listed a bunch of other blogs they think their readers might be interested in. This particular blog carnival is published by various volunteers, once a month. They have been doing it for four years. All you have to do to join the carnival is write them and ask to be included, so you will see that I have an entry there too. I found a few new "favorite" blogs there.  Check it out!

http://survivorscanthrive.blogspot.com/2010/06/blog-carnival-against-child-abuse-four.html

What's on your healing bookshelf?

Yippee! Orion is back!

Orion, the name likely brings to your mind "Orion's belt" one of the more commonly known constellations. That is exactly what I am talking about, well not the belt but the whole constellation. I love it!

When I come home at night and he is right there over my house, it is as if he were a neon guardian angel. There are months that I don't get to see him though. You see the stars move on a a rotation about 4 minutes different than ours so there are times that I can't see Orion because he is "up" during the day. After a few months of his absence, I am always thrilled to see him again.

I have been fascinated with the stars for a long time. My fascination has its limits though. I want to look at them as a hobby, not a serious scholarly study. Most books written about constellations and astronomy are way too wordy and scientific for my taste. I just want to know the basics, you know, the fun stuff.

For years, I looked for a "good" (by my standards) constellation book. Notice I didn't say 'astronomy', I didn't want to get that complicated! I had heard a story about one of the constellations, and I wanted more of that sort of thing. It took awhile but finally I found it the perfect constellation book!

This book taught me many interesting stories about the constellations like this one: in Greek mythology Orion was killed by a scorpion. Asklepios, a physician who never lost a patient tried to bring him back. However, this alarmed Hades, the God of the Dead. (He didn't want to be laid off!) So Hades asked his brother, Zeus to dispatch Askleios. Apparently, Zeus was happy to help out, but in recognition of Asklepios' good work (sorry, you were great at your job, but I have to kill you anyway) he was put into the sky and his constellation is known as the Serpent Holder. Zeus also placed the scorpion near by in the doctor's honor. He was careful though to place the Serpent Holder and the Scorpion far away from Orion so there wouldn't be any more problems. Thus the Serpent Holder and the Scorpion are never seen with Orion because they are on opposite sides of the sky (that is a long time out!)

There are many other constellation stories like this one. To me that is part of the fascination of the constellations, first to know that I can look at Orion and a friend a couple states away can see it too amazes me, but then to know that people hundreds (thousands!) of years ago saw the same constellations and created stories about them, wow! That is better than an antique show any day!

Another thing that I found complicated about other astronomy books was the pictures. They show drawings of the constellations that look nothing like the arrangement of the stars! How could I remember that?! My "perfect constellation book" presents the constellations in a "dot to dot" formation so they actually look like their names! Genius! With "the perfect constellation book" in hand my children and I have spent memorable hours lying on the grass looking at star charts and the sky, making friends with Orion, Cassiopeia, the Big Dipper, and others.

THE perfect constellation book was written by the same man that brought us Curious George! Isn't that something? Yes, H.A. Rey was a scientist. And yet he is best known for his darling children's books. I'm not very comfortable with what that implies about our society...but that is a discussion for another day.

The book is called simply, "The Stars: A New Way to See Them" by H.A. Rey. You can get it used for about $5.00 (including shipping). I can't think of a better way to spend $5.00. While I was checking out the price, Amazon reminded me that I bought this book in 2004, and I still recommend it to everyone who will listen. Not bad!

Orion, Cassiopeia and the others are waiting for you to pay them a visit!

The Culture of Healers

Lately I am fascinated with the culture of Doctors, nurses...healers. Years ago (we won't talk about how many) when I was 17, I took an EMT class. I turned 18 by the time the class ended and was able to take the test and become an EMT. I loved the class. I love medicine.


Working on the ambulance (which I did for about two years) however was a different experience. I was very uncomfortable with it. When I was under pressure (and being on an ambulance IS pressure!) it seemed that everything I had learned evaporated from my brain and I was left clueless, helpless, and hopeless. In my own defense, when I turned in my "two week notice" and explained this concern to my boss he encouraged me to stay and said he had no complaints from my partners. Whew!

Still that was not the only problem. I also found out that I am rather shy about touching strangers. Definately a problem for an EMT. The biggest problem though was the emotional attachment. I wanted to take everyone home with me, and when we lost one...that was too much. An EMT certification needs to be renewed every two years. When my two years was up, I didn't renew.


The company I worked with did transports as well as emergency calls, so we did a lot of transports for people to and from radiation treatments and from the hospital to the nursing home etc.


There was one teenage boy who had cancer and every day he needed to be transported for some treatment. I remember the first time I saw him lying there in bed, he had to have been 6 ft tall, and I thought, "oh this boy needs to be playing basketball, not lying in a hospital bed." We were all rejoyced with him as he began to get his strength back and the nurses put up a sign "speed limit 1 mph" trying to urge him not to overdue it. Eventually he left Tucson, where I worked and returned to his home town.


One day, we had a transport to the town where this boy lived. We dropped off our patient at the hospital there and as we were getting ready to leave I saw this boy's family. I was happy to see them again, and rushed over. I asked them how he was doing, without speaking they took me to his room, where he lay in bed. He was in a coma. I went to his bedside and held his hand. I started crying; I couldn't help it. I am crying now as I type this. His family came over and hugged me and we wept together.

This and other experiences helped me decide that the medical field was not the place I wanted to be. I am still fascinated with medicine, but like a tourist on safari for me it is better observed from a distance.


So I am curious what motivates people to work in the medical profession? In search of answers to these questions, I turned to books (by now you are not surprised at that, right?) I am still pondering, but for now I wanted to share a couple books I have found helpful and interesting.


My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor is a fascinating memoir by a brain scientist who had a stroke and recovered. Your initial thought might be that that sounds boring, but trust me it isn't. If you look up the book at amazon.com, they have a link to an excerpt of her giving a presentation about her experience. Just watch it and you will see that she is not boring at all. Highly recommended!


How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman This book really answers some of my "doctor culture" questions and his style of writing is very enjoyable. As a patient, I found it a little eye opening and a little disconcerting. Definately a worthwhile read.


Anatomy of Hope by Jerome Groopman I like this one better than his other book and I would call this a "must read". It was uplifting and inspiring. It gave me much to think about.


On Call: A Doctor's Days and Nights in Residency by Emily R. Transue I just picked this one up from the library, so I haven't read it yet. Though if the dust jacket is a reliable indicator, this book may have more answers to my questions. At any rate it looks interesting.


Since I am really getting interested in memoirs, I turned to blogs. Here are my two favorite "doctor" blogs:


http://itsabooger.blogspot.com/ I love the variety in this blog. The posts cover a wide range of topics, ranging from medicine, family, to rants about the neighborhood slum lord. It is very well written and engaging. Funny too, which is always a nice breath of air. My only complaint is that it is too short. I hope that there will be more posts forthcoming.

http://badakerecrao.blogspot.com/ This blog is by a 67 year old, some what cantankerous old doctor in India. Of course, it speaks to me in two ways. I love the posts about his patients, but I also really love the cultural experience his experience being in another country. You know he has his patients keep their medical charts with them, and bring them when they come in? He does a lot of house calls to, can you imagine?

History Classics

Now we come to History. History was my least favorite class when I was in school. It is now one of my favorite subjects. How could I not love it, its all about people. People doing great and courageous things, people doing dumb things, people living and learning. . .great stuff.

A Children's Book of World History by V.M. Hillyer I cannot recommend this wonderful book highly enough! It was written in 1951, and it is still a treasure. It is a little difficult to find,
but well worth the search. Mr. Hillyer has a wonderful style of writing that both informs children and entertains them. Along with history of the world, he teaches word origins. A book I could read again and again. Even more importantly, my children love it too!

I just learned that V.M. Hillyer wrote a book on American (Canada, US and Mexico) history as well. I have to get that!! AND he wrote a book about Art that I am salivating just thinking about. I would like to learn more about great art, and share that with the children. I have to get that book!!! But I digress....

Horrible Histories..."history with the nasty bits left in". My oldest son is a whiz at history. If you ask him what his favorite "school topic" is, he will tell you history. And if you ask him what his favorite history books are he will tell you Horrible Histories. We have about 10 of them and he has read them all, and keeps begging me for more! He tells me things I didn't know about history all the time!! He knows more about Romans, Saxons, Normans, Vikings, Egyptians and Greeks than I do! These books got him hooked on history then he branched out to other books. What more could a mom ask?!

You wouldn't want to be a............ This is a series with many titles. You wouldn't want to be a Roman Soldier, or a Pirate etc. My oldest son, the history buff really enjoyed these. Though they are full of pictures, they are not something you want to read to younger children, history can be gruesome.

Learning Through History....this is a magazine that again my oldest has fallen in love with. Thank goodness...when I first got it he wasn't interested, so I just read it myself and waited for him to come around...he did. It doesn't have any color pictures, but it is fabulous. Each issue centers on a certain time period, and it has great articles, often recipes from the time period and web links. My son loves the web stuff. One time he found one where you "make a mummy" (it was from a museum somewhere) that we all enjoyed and laughed over. You can find out more about it at learningthroughhistory.com

Personally my favorite way to learn history is through Historical Fiction. My oldest son is not interested in this genre yet. I guess it just goes to show that sometimes different styles of writing can engage different people. So for those, like me, who like Historical Fiction, here is my personal list of classics sorted by themes. Some of them I have not read yet, but put on my list to get to eventually, though I realize my reading list is longer than my potential lifetime! In case you are interested the ones with an * are the ones I have read and recommend.

Early American History and Revolutionary War
Johnny Tremain, Ester Forbes*
Witch of Blackbird Pond, Elizabeth George Spear*
Fever 1793, Laurie Halse Anderson*
A Peculiar Service, Corey Ford
The Story of Liberty, Charles Coffin
Sweet Land of Liberty, Francis S. Fox
The Boys of '76, Charles Coffin
My Brother Sam is Dead
April Morning

Ships - Voyages - Survival
A Long Vacation, Jules Verne
Robinson Crusoe
Treasure Island*
Call It Courage, Armstrong Sperry*
Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O'Dell*
Julie of the Wolves, Jean Craighead George*
Naya Nuki

Native Americans
Sign of the Beaver, Elizabeth George Speare*
Last of the Mohicans*
Waterlily
Naya Nuki

Pioneers
Little House on the Prairie*
Little Britches*
Summer of the Monkeys*
Old Yeller*
Where the Red Fern Grows*

World War II
The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom*
The Watchmakers Daughter, Corrie ten Boom
The Devil's Arithmetic, Yolen*
Children of the Promise Series*
Diary of Anne Frank*

Civil War
Stealing South, Katherine Ayres*
Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beacher Stowe

Medieval/Crusades
The Door in the Wall, Marguerite DeAngeli*
Adam of the Road, Elizabeth Janet Gray*
Morning Star of the Reformation, Andy Thomson
The Midwife's Apprentice, Karen Cushman*
Crispin and the Cross of Lead, Avi*

Time of Jesus
The Robe, Lloyd C. Douglas*
The Bronze Bow, Elizabeth George Spear*
Ben Hur, Lew Wallace
Quo Vadis, Sienkiewicez

Folk Tales
Paul Bunyon*
Mike Fink
One Grain of Rice

Science Classics

Science was never a favorite class of mine in school. As a homeschooler, I wanted to make it more appealing to my children. The key I found is to get the right mentors. . .or in this case books.

You are familiar with Curious George right? But did you know, that the author, H.A. Rey is a scientist? (who knew?!) For a couple years I searched for a book about the constellations that would give me the info I wanted, but not overwhelm me. I just wanted to know some constellations and the stories behind them not a lot of other technical details. I almost given up when I found H.A. Rey....bless him!

The Stars: A New Way to See Them by H.A. Rey...I love this book because he tells the stories about the Constellations, and he has redrawn them dot to dot style, rather than those pictures you find in other astronomy books. His pictures are so easy to remember and find in the sky. And he tells the stories about them that I had been searching for!! The writing is simple enough for children, but not "dumbed down". It is a book that we refer to again and again.

Find the Constellations by H.A. Rey...this is a much shorter (about the same length as a Curious George book) and simpler book, but just as wonderful in its own way. This book is for a younger audience.

For us moms or teenagers serious about science If you like Constellations, you have to check out the writings of John Pratt at Meridian Magazine about how the Constellations testify of Christ!!

Creepy Crawlies and the Scientific Method by Sally Kneidel...I stumbled on this treasure at a library. One of my sons is a very hands on learner, since I'm not this has been a challenge for me. This book is perfect for both of us. This lady really knows bugs! She give great info about where to find bugs, and how to keep them alive once you've caught them. Dehydration is the death knoll for most captive bugs apparently. Then she has suggestions for experiments to do with the bugs (99% of which do NOT harm the bugs). She also talks a lot about the Scientific Method, and I found that very helpful. This book is directed to school teachers, but easily adapted to home use.

Horrible Science...this is a series by those wonderful people in England that brought us Murderous Maths and Horrible Histories...both which my family love. We haven't actually read any of these yet, (so many books so little time!) But I am breaking my rule of only talking about books I have read because we love the other Horrible books.

Junior Master Gardeners...this is a 4-H program that is wonderful. They offer a book that is filled with wonderful, fun lessons about gardening. You could just buy the book, you don't need to do the whole 4-H thing if you don't want to. The kids love the activities in the book and I am amazed at how much even I have learned about plants and gardening!

Magic School Bus...this is an oldie but a goodie. If you can find copies of this show, they are awesome. Entertaining and educational, who could ask for more?

Myth Busters....this is a fun science show we currently watch. Each show they take a myth (sometimes more than one) and prove or disprove it. (Remember learning doesn't have to be an 8am to 3 pm project...we learn whenever the opportunity arises!!!)

Stop Faking It: Finally Understanding Science So You Can Teach It by William C. Robertson PhD

There are eight books in this series so far (or that I am aware of)
Force and Motion
Chemistry Basics
Electricity and Magnetism
Light
Energy
Sound
Air, Water, Weather
Math

As the title, "Finally understanding science so you can teach it" suggests, this book is written for teachers, homeschooling moms, or parents helping their kids with their homework. I believe these books are also great for people who want to learn more about science but feel a little overwhelmed by it. . .like me.

For sometime I have been thinking about Physics, and wanting to learn more about it. But like learning about constellations, I was having trouble finding the RIGHT book. I wanted one that would not overwhelm me but satisfy my passion to learn at the same time. When I found Force and Motion, I knew that I had found a treasure! I am still reading it, but it is just what I was looking for!

One of my sons is interested in electricity, one of me worst subjects in the science area! Thank goodness this series has a book on electricity. I look forward to reading it. And yes, I have another son interested in Chemistry. Thank goodness, for the Stop Faking It series. They will be a wonderful addition to my home library, and my own personal education! Highly recommended!!

Math Classics

One of my favorite things in life is books!!! Reading books, talking about books, looking for more good books! Ahh...that is the good life.

I also love learning, and teaching. So finding books that teach...nirvana!

The day someone told me about www.livingmath.net , was a great day. Julie Brennan has a created a wonderful resource there. Good enough that you should stop reading this and go visit. . . really!

Among the great things you will find at Julie's website is a list of math literature. This list reignited my love of math. Here I want to share my new favorite list of math classics. Most of them I got from Julie, some I found on my own after being inspired by her. The comments are all mine.

For Adults

Math: An American Phobia by Marilyn Burns
Although Marilyn is really talking to school teachers here, I found so much that I could use in homeschooling. Her writing style is relaxed, reading her book is like talking to a good friend. Reading her book helped me feel less fearful of numbers as well.

Mathematics: Is God Silent by James Nickel
This wonderful book is highly technical, and way over my head, but I love it! I love the math history and I love the correlation between God and math

For Adults and kids:

Anything by Marilyn Burns! She is my math hero! I think that woman is a genius! Here are a couple of my favorites:
Amanda Bean's Amazing Dream...my (then) 7 yr old daughter, and (then) 4 yr old son love to hear this book over and over. It's so cute that I don't mind reading it to them over and over. It's a basic intro to multiplication. Neither my daughter or son were ready for times tables at that time, but they loved this book, and that is enough for now. My older boys even listened to it once or twice.

Spaghetti and Meatballs for all...another book I wouldn't mind reading over and over! Who knew math could be so fun? In this one Marilyn Burns introduces division in a simple and humorous way.

The Greedy Triangle...although this picture book is written for a young audience, my children all ages adore it. I don't know how many times my older boys have listened in as I read it to their younger siblings. It's addictive. It's a intro to geometry...the triangle goes to a "shape shifter" to be a different shape...really fun!After reading this book my children began to notice geometry shapes all around us. It also teaches a lesson that children and sometimes adults need to hear. . .stop comparing yourself to others and enjoy being YOU.

Math for Smarty Pants...my older boys (then 10 and 11) really enjoy this one. It is basically a collection of math puzzles or games. You can just open it up anywhere and pick something to do. This book really opened my eye to the concept that math is so much more than numbers. Wow! In fact, it was this book that inspired me that someday I would like to organize a "Math Fest" for homeschoolers. I mean why not, we have spelling bees, and Science Fairs, why shouldn't math get it's due?! More about that later.

I Hate Mathematics...after the year when my oldest son began to hate math because I was dutifully trying to make him memorize the times tables, this was one of the first books I "reintroduced" math with. I thought the title would intrigue him. It didn't. I opened it up and started having fun with the activities inside and soon he joined me. Soon he was hooked. There is power in leading by example! I sincerely enjoyed the activities myself.

Greg Tang...

Is another of my math hero/authors. Here are some of his our family has enjoyed:

Math Fables...my daughter loved this book. It is a very simple introduction to addition, with beautiful illustrations of animals.

The Best of Times...its about multiplication. Although I faithfully memorized the times tables when I was a child, I find I have trouble remembering them today...but not enough to memorize them again. This book offers fun "tricks" that I use in a pinch! The kids don't seem to like it as much as I do though.

My boys love these math riddle books (also by Greg Tang)
Grapes of Math
Math Appeal
Math for All Seasons
Math-ter-pieces....this is my favorite as it combines math and great art...its not the boys favorite though.

Cindy Neuschwander..no list of great math literature would be complete without her. She is so clever! Her "Sir Cumference" series that makes me laugh out loud, and helps me review my rusty geometry skills. All my kids, including my (then) four year old, love these. I want to collect them all! These are the ones we have read so far:
Sir Cumference and the Knights of the First Round Table
Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland
Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi

Murderous Maths! (they also have a website! Be sure and check it out http://www.murderousmaths.co.uk/)

If my oldest son were making this list, he would put Murderous Math at the top. He adores these books. And that is quite an endorsement, since he used to hate math. These books are from England, but we have found we can get some great deals on them on Ebay...some are starting to show up in libraries too! Again here are some we have read and loved:

Vicious Circles and Other Savage Shapes (Murderous Maths)...this one I really got just for me. I loved geometry in high school, but can't remember it. I wanted to brush up, but I wasn't ready to tackle Euclid (I have it). When I read it and started laughing out loud, the boys wanted to know what I was reading! I read it out loud to them and we would all get out our protractors and do projects together. It's been a few years since we did this so, imagine the boys were 8 and 9...I doubt that they remember much of it, but I don't worry about that. Right now, I'm just trying to instill a love of math AND more importantly the beginning of skills that math teaches like logic, problem solving, and strategy.

Do You Feel Lucky? (Murderous Maths)...this is a book about probability. I got this book because the boys were intrigued by and always wanting to join some contest...like the kind on candy bar wrappers. I tried to explain to them their actually chance of winning to no avail. They understand now that those candy bar lotteries are a scam!

Here are some treasures by other authors:

G is for Googol by David Schwartz Wow! I found this at the library and I am so in love with this book, that I'm going to buy my own copy. Before I started reading this it I could not have told you what the Binary Code was, nor what it had to do with computers, now I get it! And whats better my boys do too! We also learned about Mobius strips, and all kinds of other really cool math stuff.

Circles: Fun Ideas for getting A-round in math I just can't resist geometry! This book makes it fun. The kids think these projects are interesting to. I don't ask them to join me, they just can't resist. Even my husband picked up this book and was pleased to learn why circles are measured in 360 degrees. It's because of the Babylonians, by the way.

Great Graphs and Sensational Statistics by Lynette Long I hadn't had a chance to get to this one yet, but one day I found my (then) 11 year old devouring it. I was so excited. The boys have done a lot of math with me, but this was a first time of them seeking out a math book and doing it alone! He was doing a graph about probability and dice. When he finished I mentioned that I had bought some m&m's for the candy graph, and suddenly his siblings wanted to do graphs too, imagine that. They had a great time. Lynette Long has other great books available about multiplication, division and others.

I will end with a favorite book that I LOVE. I just recently found it at the library. It's another must BUY.

Math Games and Activities from Around the World by Claudia Zaslavsky
I was impressed with the combination of math and geography in this book. I started making "game boards" from this book and soon the children joined me...not only in making game boards, but looking on the globe to see where these games came from. One of our favorite games is Nerenchi from Sri Lanka. Check out this book, if you like games, you won't be disappointed.

Okay, that's my list. As I said before there is a great list at www.livingmath.net You couldn't help but notice my list was mostly for younger kids. . .that is because that is where my family is, but if you check out Julie's Living Math website, you will find math literature for high school and beyond.

Before I close...Math Fest...wouldn't it be fun to have an activity centered around math? I am thinking that one would use activities from "Math for Smarty Pants" and "Math Games and Activities from Around the World", and also some math games like Chess, Mancala, Muggins etc. And naturally, have some math literature on display. It could be fun, and show kids and adults that math is so much more than numbers.

___________________________________

Photo Attribution: Jiri Hodan