The Book Blab Episode 7: Travel Reading Plus Two Books We Loved Reading on Vacation

I prefer face-to-face conversations. Phone calls, facetime, or emails just can't compare to actually sitting down with a friend in the same room and having a good old-fashioned chat. And that's why this episode of The Book Blab was so fun. Suzanne was in Utah with her family for a family reunion and wedding, and she found a free hour when we could sit down in my living room and chat about books. It was THE BEST (and I may have gotten a little hyper about it on the video, so forgive me for that, but sometimes it just can't be helped). We had a great time and will definitely make it happen again if the opportunity presents itself. Enjoy! (Show notes are below the video.)

0:35 - Why Suzanne came to Utah
1:10 - Today's topic: Reading during travel
2:12 - How Suzanne and Amy plan their travel reading
4:09 - How travel converted both Amy and Suzanne to e-readers
5:30 - Suzanne's audiobook catastrophe!
6:45 - Tips for e-books deals
8:50 - Amy and Suzanne's favorite genres for travel
11:40 - Place-sensitive reading (reading books that are related to the place you're traveling to)
13:48 - Travel reading . . . with kids!
17:45 - Suzanne's fun tradition when she's traveling
19:05 - One more tip for traveling light even if you don't have an e-reader
20:30 - Quick poll: In general (not travel specific), do you prefer an e-reader or the hard copy?
22:10 - Two books that remind Amy and Suzanne of trips they went on (and that you'll enjoy whether you go on the same trip or not!)

• 22:50 - Suzanne's recommendation
• 24:45 - Amy's recommendation

27:00 - Conclusion

Links and books mentioned in the show:

Modern Mrs. Darcy's Kindle Deals (5-7 new titles every day, usually ranging between $0.99 and $4.99)
Goodreads Deals (If you have a Goodreads account, you should already be getting handpicked deals in your inbox.)
BookBub (lots of free and really inexpensive e-books)
On Such Stuff: A random, free e-book that Suzanne took a chance on and really liked
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
The Monuments Men by  Robert M. Edsel
The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
On Sunlit Pages: Review of The BFG by Roald Dahl
On Of Books and Blooms: Review of Watership Down by Richard Adams
On Such Stuff: Review of Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
On Sunlit Pages: Review of Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

I'm interested to know how YOU plan YOUR travel reading? What types of books do you like to bring on vacation? What's a favorite book of yours that is inseparably connected with a trip? And of course, the most burning question of all: do you use an e-reader?

A Little of This and That in June

June has been everything June should be: lazy mornings, late evenings, trips to the pool and library, and plenty of time for reading. I wish June could have been twice as long. We spent our days:

Eating . . . our fill of doughnuts on National Doughnut Day--Banbury Cross doughnuts, no less. We go all out for this holiday.

Celebrating . . . Maxwell's last day of school. It felt like a long time coming, but it eventually did, and we were all thrilled.

Catching . . . not one, not two, not three, but FOUR fish!!! It was the perfect kick-off to summer.

Kicking . . . off our summer goals. They've been so good for us. I think the summer may prove too short to complete all of them, but we've been working on them very diligently and consistently, and that's the point. (You can read more about them here.)

Introducing . . . Clark to my brother, Steve. Steve just returned home after serving a two-year church mission in Modesto, California. When he left, Clark was still one week away from being born. Now he's an energetic, talkative, mischievous two-year-old. They took to each other almost immediately (as soon as Clark got over the shock of there being two Blaines).

Roasting . . . hotdogs in the canyon. We bought a year pass this summer and have been trying to take advantage of our close proximity. That said, we only went twice this past month, so we could still be doing better.

Spending . . . Father's Day with my dad. We went to Colorado for Steve's homecoming talk, and it happened to be over Father's Day weekend. It was so much fun spending time with him and the rest of my family.

Swimming . . . more times than I can count. We're so lucky to have our little neighborhood pool that is just the right size for my kids and where there are almost always friends to play with. They also took two weeks of swimming lessons, which improved their skills immensely.

Attending . . . my sister's senior piano recital at BYU and having my breath taken away by the Chopin nocturne she played. Gorgeous.

Setting . . . up a drip system for our garden. Okay, not me, but handyman Mike. It's pretty magical to watch the plants grow without doing a thing to help them along.

Feeling . . . sentimental about my little home town. My parents are moving to Utah later this summer (I am completely overjoyed!), but there's always something a little bittersweet about closing one chapter and embarking on another (for me, it's probably more sweet than bitter, but for my mom, it's the other way around).

Creating . . . my own summer reading program for my kids. The one done by the library seems to get lamer each year (this year's didn't even require them to read--can you believe it?!). I wanted one that would actually encourage my kids to read more, so I patterned it after the awesome summer library program my library did when I was a kid. I keep meaning to write an entire post about it, but the summer is getting away from me!

Admiring . . . Bradley's blonde hair. It always darkens in the winter, and then as soon as the summer sun hits it, it brightens right up again. I might be a little partial to it (shhhhh).

Purchasing . . . a high volume of books. I'm blaming it on the summer reading program. In my defense, I have been using ThriftBooks quite a bit (which tends to be a bit hit and miss for me but has great customer service), so I've been able to keep my spending to a fairly reasonable amount.

Disagreeing . . . with Maxwell. Heaven help me, that kid has one fierce and stubborn personality. 



Reading . . . comic books. Lots and lots and lots of comic books. Mike introduced Aaron and Maxwell to Garfield and Calvin & Hobbes, and they're addicted (as in, when we were at the library a couple of days ago, they wanted to check out eighteen of them--I made them cut it down to eight). I've been trying to balance it out with other books, but even I have to admit it's pretty cute to hear them laughing in their beds at night.

Writing . . . two guest posts: one on What Do We Do All Day about nine quiet activities my kids do when I'm reading aloud to them and the other on Tee and Penguin about my reading life and some of my favorite picture books. Feel free to check them out!

Making . . . Mike take a bunch of pictures of me for date night. I wanted a new portrait for the Tee and Penguin guest post. I felt a little silly, but Mike was a good sport about it, and it's been nice to have some updated pictures.

Stressing . . . about our upcoming trip (which I alluded to last month but didn't share any details). Mike and I are going to the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Norway, and at this point, we're just days away from departure. Sometimes I catch myself discussing details of the trip with Mike, like, "There's a library in Stuttgart I really want to see" or "Both Kirsten and Meagan said their favorite spot in Paris was the Saint Chapelle, so we should definitely go there," and all of a sudden I realize, This is happening!!! So on one hand, I'm very excited. How could I not be? But the thought of leaving my kids for a couple of weeks is causing me major anxiety.

Going . . . to Silver Lake. Apparently, it's becoming our new favorite spot. We went at the beginning of the month and caught the aforementioned fish and then later on in the month with Mike's brother and family (and we saw four moose!).

Recording . . . a podcast episode for one of my very favorite podcasts. I'll let you know when it goes live!

For more of our daily activities, follow along on Instagram. What were YOU up to in June?

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

Chances are, this is not the first you've seen or heard of this book. Although it's still fairly new (published at the beginning of this year), it has been getting a lot of attention, all well-deserved, in my opinion.

Paul Kalanathi, a neurosurgeon/neuroscientist, was in his last year of residency when he was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. He was in his mid-30's, married, and had never smoked. With decades of school behind him, he was right on the cusp of all he had planned and worked and hoped for. But suddenly he found himself in the unfamiliar position of patient, redefining his life as he faced his own death.

He wrote, "The way forward would seem obvious, if only I knew how many months or years I had left. Tell me three months, I'd spend time with family. Tell me one year, I'd write a book. Give me ten years, I'd get back to treating diseases. The truth that you live one day at a time didn't help: What was I supposed to do with that day?"

Not knowing how much time he had left, Paul chose to write (among other things), and this book is the result. I suppose it's classified as a memoir, but that doesn't seem like quite the right genre for it. It's about Paul's life, yes--his upbringing in a little Arizona town with a cardiologist father, his decision not to go into medicine followed by the reversal of that decision several years later, meeting his wife, etc.--but rather than being the point of the book (as is the case in most memoirs), these life facts are merely the framework upon which Paul hangs his musings and insights and discoveries. Truthfully, Paul's story felt much more profound than any other memoir I've ever read.

I'm not sure if that's because the book itself is cut short by Paul's own death, and death tends to lend a certain gravity and depth to any story, or if it was because Paul had an insider's perspective unlike anyone else and knew how to distill those insights into words, or if it was the way parts of his story resonated and felt so familiar because of my sister-in-law, Alisa's death last year. I guess it was probably a combination of all of those things.

Cancer is heartbreaking no matter who it inflicts, but Paul's story feels particularly tragic, or even, more selfishly, unfair, because of the huge amount of good he would have done in the world. There were times in the book where Paul came across as maybe a little too self-assured, but never egotistical. He decided to go into neurosurgery because that was the very top of the medical totem pole. He did it for the right reasons ("The call to protect life--and not merely life but another's identity; it is perhaps not too much to say another's soul--was obvious in its sacredness."), but he was well aware of the sacrifices he was making for others and said, "Putting lifestyle first is how you find a job--not a calling."

And as if that wasn't elite enough, he also decided to delve into neurological research and become a scientist. Most people are not up to the rigors of such a combination (and, in fact, when Paul was diagnosed, his own marriage was in a rough patch, so he was not immune to the emotional and physical toll either), and that is why it was so devastating to see that life come to a much-too-early end. Paul was one of the few who was up to the task.

Paul said,  "My life had been building potential, potential that would now go unrealized. I had planned to do so much, and I had come so close. I was physically debilitated, my imagined future and my personal identity collapsed, and I faced the same existential quandaries my patients faced.  The lung cancer diagnosis was confirmed. My carefully planned and hard-won future no longer existed. Death, so familiar to me in my work, was now paying a personal visit."

So . . . heartrending? Yes. But also so much hope and joy. After his diagnosis, Paul and his wife, Lucy, think long and hard about whether or not they want to have a child. They've always wanted a family, but the uncertainty of Paul's prognosis makes it difficult to plan. Lucy knows that at some point she will most likely be a single parent, but she also wonders about how a child will affect their marriage and whether it will make Paul's final days even harder. She asked him, "Don't you think saying goodbye to your child will make your death more painful?" Paul's answer struck me to the core, "Wouldn't it be great if it did?" I think in my own life, I'm always worried about being hurt. I've never really thought about the fact that being able to be hurt is actually a blessing because it means my life has been filled with opportunities to love and be loved.

I also loved the religious undertone of the book because it was never overbearing. Paul alludes to his own religious journey only briefly. His parents were devout Christians, but once he went to school, atheism made more sense to him. However, after a point, the pendulum swung back the other way as he considered life and meaning and realized how God could (and needed to) fit into the big picture. This definitely was not the point of Paul's story, but it was there, providing some foundation, and it made an impact on me.

I finished the book on the morning after the 4th of July. I was experiencing some post-reunion/holiday laziness and didn't want to get out of bed. So instead, I cried my way through the last twenty pages of this book. The epilogue is written by Paul's wife, and it made me weep far more than the rest of the book put together. Lucy has her own gift with words, and reading about Paul's final days and the way they loved and supported each other and also how she coped with her grief after he died touched my heart. This was one of my favorite moments: "At home in bed a few weeks before he died, I asked him, 'Can you breathe okay with my head on your chest like this?" His answer was 'It's the only way I know how to breathe.'"

After Paul was initially diagnosed and went through the first line of treatment (a pill called Tarceva), he wondered what he should do with his life. He was extremely weak and tired from everything he'd been through, but he decided to do whatever it took to return to being a neurosurgeon. "Why?" he asked, "Because I could. Because that's who I was. Because I would have to learn to live in a different way, seeing death as an imposing itinerant visitor but knowing that even if I'm dying, until I actually die, I am still living."

He did exactly that, returning to surgery, graduating, being offered his dream job, having a child, and writing a book, all in the space of 22 months from the time he was diagnosed until he passed away. He made me realize that death is not something to be feared as long as you live the life you have in the best way you possibly can.

Have you read this book? What are the things you'll remember from it? What sort of an impact, if any, did it make on you? 

P.S. Episode 7 of The Book Blab will air tomorrow, July 8th, at 1:00pm MST. You might want to tune into this one because Suzanne is here in Utah, so we'll be recording it in person! We're going to try out Facebook Live to film it, so click here to watch it. 

A Few of the Nonfiction Books We've Been Reading Lately (and a Giveaway!)

When it comes to books, six-year-old Maxwell can be a little bit difficult to please. Remember how Aaron will read anything I put into his hands (which sounds awesome but comes with its own set of problems)? Well, Max will read almost nothing I recommend. He's pretty independent, first of all, and likes to make his own decisions, but he also has this contrary streak in him that intentionally dislikes anything I like. So I have to be very careful with the way I present a new book to him. If I dare say, "Hey, Max, I found an awesome book I know you'll love," he won't deign to even look at it.

I've been doing a little reading program with my kids this summer (I'll write more about it soon), but the basic idea is that if they read two hours, they earn a small prize, and when they get to twenty hours, they earn a book. It's been so much fun, and I've especially been enjoying the excuse to buy really amazing, high quality books to offer for the twenty-hour prize. Except in Maxwell's case. It's been such a challenge to find books that will be tantalizing and exciting without him thinking, It's my mom giving me this prize so she must want me to read this book. Therefore (and he would totally use the word "therefore"), I am not going to choose this book. 

At the beginning of summer, I just point-blank asked him, "Max, what kinds of books are you hoping to see for the summer reading program? What would make you so excited?" His answer was, "Anything with facts about animals."

And it's true. Out of all my kids, Max is my one who just loves non-fiction. When Alysa guest-posted a few months ago, she talked about the difference between narrative and non-narrative fiction, and for Max, it's all about the facts, so he's definitely a non-narrative kind of reader. 

And so, it almost seemed providential when I was contacted a couple of months ago, wondering if I would be interested in reviewing a few animal fact books: the Animal Planet Animal Atlas and a couple of the Animals Bites books. It was just a little too perfect.

When Max completed his first twenty hours and was ready to select his first book prize, I set out the options and then held my breath, all while trying to look very nonchalant about it. I was so afraid he would say, in his lofty sort of way, "There isn't anything here that interests me." But he didn't. He immediately gravitated toward the Animal Atlas and read the whole thing, cover to cover, in three days.

The book is divided by continent and then further by topography. For example, Africa is divided into the Desert, Savanna, Tropical Rainforest, and Marine, with short blurbs about a dozen or so animals in each one.

Even though Max devoured the whole thing in one go, you definitely don't have to. In fact, my other kids prefer just paging through it and reading about the animals that grab their attention (usually snakes, spiders, or lizards). The photographs are eye-catching, and the illustrated maps of each region are really helpful. Since the day Max earned it, I have been inundated with animal facts: "The rhino's horn is made out of keratin, just like our fingernails," "The mosquito is the world's deadliest animal," "Did you know there are saltwater crocodiles?"

There's also a really great curriculum guide that goes along with the book (it can be downloaded here). Although I don't think we'll use everything in it, I did print off the scavenger hunt pages and gave them to Max. Whether he will actually go through the book and fill them out remains to be seen (I may have acted too excited when I handed them over).

The Animal Bites books are organized in much the same way as the Animal Atlas, except that they're a little bit shorter and grouped by types of animals rather than area of the world. I especially love the "Info Bites" section on each page that gives basic information about a specific animal and also compares it in size to some random object, like an alpaca to a guitar or a regal jumping spider to a gummy bear. Max has his eye on the Wild Animals one for his next prize. (And keep reading because there's a fun giveaway at the end of all four Animal Bites books!)

Unrelated to all this talk about animals but definitely still in the non-narrative, nonfiction genre is Awesome America by Katy Steinmetz, an encyclopedia of sorts about all of the things that make America so great, from its government to its people to its beautiful and varied landscape. With Independence Day this weekend, it has been the perfect book to get us in a patriotic mood, and we've been reading bits from it here and there all week.

Just like the Animal Atlas, it contains lots of photographs and keeps the information contained to short, readable passages.  Even though it doesn't have any kind of narrative drive pulling you through it, because each section is so short and looks so interesting, it's really easy to say, "Just one more. And okay, just one more..." and then finally come up for air a half hour later.

I love seasonal reading, but I'll admit that in the past when I've checked out books specifically about America's founding, my kids and I have had a hard time getting through them. This one though is the perfect mix of history and geography and cool, random facts, so you can read about "really important pieces of paper" (i.e., the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution) and then you can skip over to "purple mountain majesties" (i.e., the tallest mountains in the U.S.) and then find out what soda is called in various parts of the country. (But I have to say, we felt like Utah was woefully underrepresented!)

I also love the spread that shows portraits of all forty-four presidents and the timeline at the back of the book. It's nice to be able to focus on a specific topic sometimes, but it's also nice to be able to get a big picture view, and this book is exactly that. I'm so happy to have it on our shelves so we can look at it again and again.

And now for that awesome giveaway I promised you about. The publicist has generously offered to send one reader a set of the four books in the Animal Bites series: Polar Animals, Farm Animals, Wild Animals, and Ocean Animals. To enter, simply leave a comment (and make sure you include your email so you can be contacted if you win). Giveaway open to U.S. residents only and closes Friday, July 7th, at 11:59pm MST.

Update: Thanks so much to everyone who entered! Emily + Eric was our winner! Congrats!

All of these books will keep Maxwell going for a few weeks, but then I'm going to need more ideas. So if you have any, please share!

I received complimentary copies of Animal Atlas, Wild Animals, Farm Animals, and Awesome America in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier

Two years ago, I was really into the Newbery and stayed really current with all the trending books. (I have not been doing nearly as well this year--the only contenders I can think of off the top of my head are Wolf Hollow and Pax, neither of which I've read (yet).) Anyway, one of the books that kept popping up on everyone's lists two years ago was The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier. It didn't end up winning anything, but I kept it on my to-read list anyway because it sounded like a great choice for a future October read.

I still haven't made time for it, but a few months ago, Carolyn mentioned Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, which was actually Jonathan Auxier's first book. It sounded decidedly less creepy than The Night Gardener (I can be a bit of wimp sometimes), and it also seemed like the perfect summer read to hand to Aaron. I didn't want to miss out on the fun though, so I read it, too, and I think it's going to be one of those books I'm recommending to every 8-12 year-old (and their parents too!) that I know. It was just such a good, fun read.

As an infant, Peter Nimble (christened such "after a misremembered nursery rhyme") had his eyes pecked out by a raven as he floated in a basket in the ocean. Not exactly the sweet and soothing beginning most babies hope for, but Peter's quick fingers, adept at untying knots and popping locks and slipping into pockets, soon attract the attention of one Mr. Seamus, who forces the blind boy into a life of crime. Between Mr. Seamus' training and Peter's natural talents, he soon becomes really good at stealing things, which earns him the title "the greatest thief who ever lived" (although he doesn't know it).

One day, he comes upon a haberdasher, who is trying to sell hats to a group of unimpressed customers. Peter helps him win them over and then does a little "looking" around for himself (not with his eyes, but with his hands). The haberdasher's carriage is well-locked, which just makes Peter all the more intrigued (he can't resist an intricate lock), and when he breaks in, he passes up the bag of money for a small wooden box. There's nothing special about the box itself, but he senses that there's something valuable inside.

When he gets back to Mr. Seamus', he examines the contents of the box, which he thinks are six eggs, but which actually turn out to be three pairs of eyes: a gold pair, a black pair, and a green pair. When he slips the gold pair into his sockets, he instantly vanishes from the port town where he has lived all his life and ends up struggling for air in the Troublesome Lake.

And that is how his adventure begins.

I love good characters and an exciting plot, but the more I read, the more I realize it's the writing that contributes the most to my overall enjoyment (or, on the flip side, dislike). In someone else's hands, Peter Nimble's story might have still been creative and fast-paced, but in Jonathan Auxier's, it shone. The narrator's voice had me hooked from the first page. Not only were there frequent nods and winks to the reader (one of my favorite literary devices), but he just captured the true essence of Peter, without which the book would have fallen flat.

For example, about midway through the book, the narrator breaks through the fourth wall to say,

"By now you have witnessed how truly gifted Peter Nimble is, despite his handicap. You have heard him referred to as a master thief by multiple authorities, and you have seen him work his way out of numerous dangerous situations. You may be thinking that his blindness is no handicap at all, and that it somehow gives him an advantage over the average seeing person. Some of you may even be thinking to yourselves, 'Boy! I wish I were blind like the great Peter Nimble!' If you are thinking that, stop right now. Because whatever benefits you may believe that blindness carries with it, you must understand that there are just as many disadvantages."

This was one of my favorite scenes because it had been set up so well. By this point, you really are thinking Peter Nimble is extremely talented and not at all hindered by his inability to see. All of his other senses are so fine-tuned that he doesn't seem to need his eyes at all. But in the next paragraph (which I won't spoil for you here), you see exactly why eyes are sometimes so necessary, and it's almost chilling the way the narrator lets you in on a impending betrayal that Peter is completely unaware of.

Fantasy is not my favorite genre, as any frequent reader of this blog is well aware, and that is why I know it's because of the writing that I loved this story as much as I did. There are times when I had to suspend my belief just a little bit more than I wanted to (usually Peter notices the slightest change in the air or the most imperceptible sound, but then, there are moments when his concentration slips for just a moment and he overlooks something he shouldn't have missed), but it was well worth it.

Peter begins the book as a lowly blind beggar who survives by stealing things for his "benefactor." By the end of the book, he has grown into a confident and intelligent leader, one who makes split-second decisions and inspires confidence. There are many adventures and dangers and mistakes that make this transformation happen, and it's pretty fun to be along for the ride. (Peter also happens to have one of the best sidekicks of all time, which didn't hurt.)

Aaron loved this book too, and I might have let him stay up past 11:00pm to finish it. Having already finished it myself, I knew what the ending was like and couldn't imagine leaving him hanging until morning. This is what summer is all about anyway. Now he's telling Maxwell he has to read it (even though I'm pretty sure he's already spilled the majority of plot twists and nail-biting scenes). I think it's a bit long for Max to read on his own, so the audio is probably in store for us.

Since finishing it, I've been mulling over what rating to give it. It wasn't life-changing, but three of the questions I ask myself when determining a five-star book are: Would I buy my own copy? (yes, I already did), Would I recommend it? (yes, to everyone I've talked to in the last week--sorry!), and Would I want Mike or my kids to read it? (yes, all of them). So I think that's my answer (and all of yours, too: read it).  (I also think The Night Gardener just shot to the top of my October reading list.)

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? Do you have a recommendation for another book Aaron and I would both enjoy?

What We're Listening to Right Now #6

Wow, sometimes a week slips away just like that. We went to Colorado to visit my family, and I didn't plan ahead. Hence, no blog posts.

All of that driving gave us a lot of time to listen to music in the car though, and so now that we're back, I thought I'd share a few of our recent favorites.

1. Shining Like a Star by Laura Doherty
I honestly can't remember how I found this album--whether it was by random chance at the library one day or if someone actually recommended it to me. What I do remember is that my kids started to sing along with it as soon as I turned it on in the car. I made a mental note of that because it was so unusual. Typically, it takes them a few times through an album before they're comfortable enough to start singing, but with Laura Doherty, they picked it up instantly. I think it's because her songs are somewhat intuitive with a predictable pattern that kids can latch onto easily. Her style reminds me a lot of Laurie Berkner, who you already know we love.

Favorite song: Mine is "Tap Dance," but I think my kids' is "Hula Hoop"

2. Bubble Wrap by Eric Herman and the Thunder Puppies*
I'm going to be completely honest and tell you that this isn't my favorite album on this list, but it might very well be my kids'. After they listened to it for the first time, Maxwell begged for me to put it on his iPod--something he hasn't requested in a long time. They love the clever lyrics and Eric Herman's upbeat, somewhat eclectic style. Many of his songs have been turned into music videos, including most recently, "Take a Bath," which, even I have to admit, is pretty funny.

Favorite song: "Bubble Wrap" (my kids totally relate to this one!)

3. Tumble Science podcast
This is one of our more recent podcast discoveries, and we love it. Similar to Brains On, which I mentioned in a previous listening post, each episode focuses on a different scientific question--from black holes to the bottom of the ocean to whether or not your dog actually likes you. It is co-hosted by Lindsay and Marshall, who are witty and entertaining and share this fun-loving dynamic that should come as no surprise since they are married. The show involves real kids and real scientists, and going from one end of the spectrum to the other like that makes it both authentic and educational. Maxwell especially has really fallen in love with science because of both Tumble Science and Brains On. His own head is constantly buzzing with questions, and these podcasts have given him the confidence to know he can find the answers.

Favorite Episode: "The Puzzle of the Friendly Dog"

4. Ocean Eyes by Owl City
I realize this is the odd one out in this group, but occasionally, we listen to something that's not strictly kids' music, and for the past couple of months, it's been Owl City. I admit, half the time I have no idea what the lyrics are even talking about, and generally I'd say music with a strong electronic influence is not my favorite, but somehow, this particular combination works for me. My kids love dancing to these songs, and it's also the perfect music for summer road trips. For whatever reason, listening to Owl City almost always puts me in a good mood.

Favorite song: "Vanilla Twilight" (one of the few songs that doesn't make me feel like I entered the twilight zone)

5. Jungle Gym by Justin Roberts
Do I dare admit that one evening when Mike and I were on a date, this album happened to already be in the car . . . and we didn't turn it off? True story. The lyrics are so incredibly clever and funny and just so true to life that whether there are kids with us or not, we find the songs really entertaining. From sleepovers to little brothers to playground injuries, it's just spot on every single time. And you know how sometimes musicians can carry a funny thing too far and then it's in your face and not funny anymore? Well, I have yet to have that happen with Justin Roberts. I think the only slight criticism I could make is that his voice took me awhile to warm up to, but now I like it, too. This album gets two thumbs up from everyone in the family.

Favorite song: "Trick or Treat" or "Sign My Cast" (sorry, I can't choose just one)

6. Catch the Moon by Lisa Loeb and Elizabeth Mitchell
Sometimes the right song just plays at the right time, and then, even if you weren't inclined to love it, you have to because it was just too perfect of a coincidence. That kind of happened to us with this album (although I think we would have liked it anyway). On our recent fishing adventure (the one where the boys all caught their first fish), we went to a place called Silver Lake. This album happened to be in the car as we were driving there. The very first song is "The Big Rock Candy Mountain," and this version has a line that goes like this: "There's a silver lake, and a gold one too. You can paddle all around 'em in a wooden canoe." As soon as my kids heard "silver lake," they got even more excited, and then of course, on the way home, we had to listen to it again because by that time they had four fish in the cooler, and it just felt like this song had brought us luck. But coincidence aside, if you haven't heard the sweet, simple songs of Lisa Loeb and Elizabeth Mitchell, you're missing out. They can do folk music like no one else.

Favorite song: "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" (for obvious reasons)

As always, I'd love to hear about what YOU'VE been listening to lately. You always give me more good ideas for things to try. In fact, we discovered Justin Roberts because of one of you, and so thank you, thank you, thank you for your recommendations!

*I received a copy of Bubble Wrap in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review x 2: Heart of a Samurai and By the Great Horn Spoon

I always have multiple books going at the same time (it's one of my biggest tips for how to fit in a lot of reading). At the very least, I have one book I'm listening to, one book I'm reading, and one book I'm reading to my kids. Usually this works out just fine because the books are different enough that I have no problem keeping them straight in my head. But occasionally, the themes of two books will be so unexpectedly similar, it turns into one jumbled, confused mess.

This happened with Heart of a Samurai and By the Great Horn Spoon. On the surface, they look nothing the same. And actually, at their heart they look nothing the same either. But somehow,  at just the right point in the story, they are almost identical. Each book has a part in it where the main character takes a ship down the east coast of South America, around the tip of it, and back up the west coast to California. Both characters are hoping to strike it rich in a gold mine. In By the Great Horn Spoon, it's kind of the point of the book. But in Heart of a Samurai, it's more just like a little diversion (the book spans eleven years, and this adventure takes up just one of those years). However, as I was reading that part, I kept thinking, Didn't I already read this?, only to remind myself that the same things had happened in the other book. What's more, I was also reading The Voyage of the Dawn Treader around this same time, and even though there is no California Gold Rush in it, it still takes place on a ship and uses a bunch of nautical terms. Stories that happen on a boat are not my favorite to begin with, but multiply it by three, and I was feeling a little sea sick by the end.

But ship lingo aside, I really enjoyed both of these books.

Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus begins with a storm. Manjiro leaves his widowed mother and siblings without telling them where he is going. He isn't planning to be gone long. He's just on a fishing boat, hoping to earn a little money for his family. But the storm doesn't care about his plans, nor about the fact that if the boat goes outside the designated perimeter set by Japanese officials, they won't be allowed back in the country.

The storm pushes the little boat farther and farther out to sea. The crew runs out of food and water and almost a will to live when they spy land. It's an uninhabited island, but it does have a lot of birds on it, which make excellent meals, and it's a place for them to repair their boat before they try again.

As it turns out, being shipwrecked is only the beginning of Manjiro's story. In fact, as I mentioned above, the book shows events over the course of eleven years. When the book begins, Manjiro is 14, fairly old for a middle grade novel, but by the end, he is 25, and that just seems positively ancient for the targeted audience, but somehow, it works. The majority of the book is spent on the water, and the acts of navigating and rowing and fishing don't necessarily come with an age attached to them. Manjiro, of course, grows and matures, but it happens in a way that even fifth or sixth graders can relate to.

Because of the kindness of the captain of the ship who rescues the stranded sailors, Manjiro ends up in America. (I should probably mention, this book is actually based on real events and Manjiro, or John Mung as he came to be known in America, is believed to be the first Japanese person to come here.)  He encounters the prejudices that come with being in the minority, but the story also looks at the misconceptions that pop up regardless of your race. There's one character in the story, Tom, who is a classic bully. He's mean and rude and always looking for a fight. He and Manjiro challenge each other to a horse race. Tom is a natural horseman, and Manjiro finds it "odd that Tom was so gentle with his horse . . . yet could be so mean to people." But then, after the race, Manjiro finds Tom in a ditch, his face bruised and bloodied by his own father, and Manjiro makes this observation, "It seems we didn't really know Tom at all."

I've read one other book by Margi Preus, West of the Moon, and I remember really loving her writing in that one. That's not to say I didn't love it here as well, but I didn't feel like the styles were exactly the same. There were glimpses of the writing I loved in West of the Moon, like this one: "Sea and sky were velvety, the night embroidered with a million glittering stars, every wave frosted with silver moonlight." But overall, it felt less poetic and more orderly.

Throughout the story, there is this underlying theme of what true greatness looks like. Manjiro dreams of becoming a samurai, an impossible wish in his country where aspirations are limited by birth. And yet, that doesn't mean he can't take on the traits and qualities and talents of a samurai. With everything he does, he keeps that standard in mind. And so it is that by the end, when he is summoned to go before the daimyo and a messenger says, "Well, since he has neither the family nor the upbringing of a samurai, I hope he has the heart of one! He is going to need it," he totally does.

By the Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleischman is very different (except, of course, for the uncanny similarity I mentioned above), but oh, it is so much fun. My kids loved it, and it was the perfect sort of high adventure story that seems made for summer.

The two main characters are Jack (an orphan with two younger sisters who lives with his Aunt Arabella) and Praiseworthy (the aforementioned characters' butler). It's an unlikely pairing, but you see, Aunt Arabella is in financial straits and is going to have to sell her house, and the only thing Jack can think of is to leave Boston, sail around the continent, and strike it rich in California. Of course, Praiseworthy, being an excellent butler, can't let Jack go alone (the very idea!), so he accompanies him.

Everything would have been just fine (as fine as a year-long adventure without your guardian's permission can be) except that the money that was going to pay for their passages is stolen out from under them on the docks. So they do the next logical thing and stow away in a couple of barrels of potatoes until they are well out to sea without any option of turning back.

The rest of the book is just as full of adventure as the opening chapter. There are thieves and bandits (referred to as "road agents" in the story), fist fights and guns, bears and burros, ship races and storms, imposters and friends, and lots and lots of gold. At one point in the story, when Jack and Praiseworthy are still at sea and hoping their ship, the Lady Wilma, makes it to San Francisco before their rival, the Sea Raven, it says: "It seemed to Jack the most exciting moment of his life." And that's how my boys treated the whole book, like it was one exciting moment after another. Every chapter brought something totally unexpected and thrilling.

I have to say, my favorite part of the story was seeing how Praiseworthy gradually shed the pieces of his profession (the bowler hat, the umbrella, etc.) and acquired a red miner's shirt, a four-shooter, and whiskers. But even as his appearance changed and he began to look more like a Californian, he was still as unflustered and proper and polite as he was at the beginning. He always thought with his head first before he reacted physically (except when a road agent tried to take away his picture of Aunt Arabella--then all trace of niceness vanished). He was just such a great character.

I also really liked that this book was completely different from anything else we've ever read: part-historical fiction, part-tall tale adventure, there were just so many new things to talk about.

And I won't spoil anything, but I'll just say that the ending totally kept pace with the rest of the book, which is the mark of a great story, in my opinion. This is one that will stay on our favorites list for a long time.

Have you read either of these books? I'd love to hear your thoughts! And also, what have you been reading lately?