The Joy of Board Books

For those of you who may be looking for some last-minute gifts for the tots in your life, might I recommend some board books?

Board books are those thick cardboard-style books made especially for babies and toddlers. I love these types of books because they are functional, cute, and practical. Kids at this age chew on books, throw books, and have no concept of being gentle with paper pages. "Regular" children's books are certainly beautiful and we own and enjoy plenty of those, too. Board books just seem to be better for a little hands-on experience.

And don't get me started on dust jackets on children's books...completely and utterly useless, and stupid, in my opinion. It's not like an adult version where the book is just plain and the dust jacket offers the eye-catching cover art. On a children's book, there is art all over the book itself. Dust jackets just get torn off by eager little hands.

So anyway, back to board books. Might I recommend the following, which have gotten a lot of play at our house, from newborn to 19 months (so far)...

Anytime Books:
My Many Colored Days - Dr. Seuss
Quiet Time With Cassatt - Julie Merberg/Suzanne Bober (also recommend other books in the series - Van Gogh, Monet, etc.)
Anything in the Bright Baby series
The Five Senses - Green Start

Bedtime/Nap Time Books:
Time For Bed - Mem Fox
The Going to Bed Book - Sandra Boynton
Hush Little Baby - Sylvia Long
Good Night Lake - Adam Gamble/Cooper Kelly (series)
Cornelius P. Mud, Are You Ready for Bed? - Barney Saltzberg
Prayer for a Child - Rachel Field (also a great christening gift)
The Napping House - Audrey Wood

Many of these also come in the regular versions. Keep in mind the little square board books (about 3"x3") that often come in sets are also great gifts because they fit easily in the diaper bag and mom's purse when on the go. Happy gift-giving!

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

Apparently this book/recent movie is a bit of an indie sensation, but I wasn't aware of it until someone in my book club suggested we read it. Needless to say, I'm glad I did.

Never Let Me Go is at the root, a book about human cloning. However, I don't think the word cloning is ever mentioned. We read about groups of children growing up in the Hailsham School, and we know they are somehow different. The truth about their eventual lives as "carers" and "donors" is never kept a secret, yet there is still something about the whole situation and the way it is revealed to the reader that keeps it a bit mysterious. Perhaps it is the point of view of the protagonist, Kathy, who seems rather matter-of-fact about her fate. Other characters, like her friend Tommy, are more passionate and seem unsettled with the fact that this life must be accepted. Yet none of them really makes any real attempt to run away from it.

The book certainly instigated some very intense questions. The notion of an entire fleet of humans essentially bred for organ donation made me shudder - first at the confusion of the ethics (are they really "human?" Is it worth investing in education or quality of life for these "people" if their fate is simply to donate too many organs to remain alive?) and then at the possibility that technology could exist that would make this reality (is this already happening in some kind of unregulated setting, in some far corner of the world?) It's a little bit sci-fi, a little bit fiction, a little bit appalling, and a lot thought-provoking.

Some in my book club found this book difficult to get into, some just couldn't get their heads around the idea or get invested in the characters. Others, like me, loved the book, for all the reasons mentioned above and more. There is some beautiful writing, and the style is subtle enough to deal with delicate issues without throwing them in your face. I felt the stoic nature of the main character, Kathy, was reflective of the type of treatment she received as a child and as a marked member (or essentially non-member) of society. Granted, I haven't read a lot of books this year - but this is the best one by far.

4.5 of 5 stars

The Bad Guys Won – Jeff Pearlman

I have to preface this review by saying that starting in 1986, when I was 10 years old, I became a New York Mets fan. Yes, 1986…which means I jumped on the bandwagon, because they had just won the World Series. The names Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, Gary Carter, Mookie Wilson all bring back fond memories.

My brother (also a fan) loaned me The Bad Guys Won a couple of years ago, and it has been sitting on my shelf. For some reason a few weeks ago I picked it up and decided it was time for something different.

The book talks in some detail about the Mets’ 1986 season, which culminated in an infamous come-from-behind World Series victory over the Boston Red Sox. As you would suspect there is a lot of baseball here – play-by-plays of some of the key games, and interesting anecdotes about how the team was built and players were acquired. There are also entertaining behind-the-scenes stories, like how the Mets tried to prove alleged ball-scuffing by Mike Scott of the Astros in the NL championship series, and how the Red Sox staff had the champagne and World Series victory celebration all laid out in the locker room during Game 6, only to have to move it out quickly when the Mets turned things around and won the game on that infamous Mookie Wilson ground ball through Bill Buckner's legs. Or how Darryl Strawberry took his time trotting around the bases after a homer in Game 7 to piss off his own manager, and not the Red Sox as everyone thought.

Along with a lot of baseball, however, are tales of this group of young, cocky, rude baseball players and the world of trouble they got themselves into. The book alludes to drug use by a few specific players, and that women were not in short supply, but doesn’t get into too many juicy details. It mostly tells of the bad attitudes and a few run-ins with the law, and some hilarious media relations (check this out - "We've got the teamwork to make the dream work...").

I had no idea at 10 years old that this team was so…colorful. The book definitely shed some light on some of these players I held in high regard. Surprisingly, though, the book did not corrupt my view of my beloved Mets. Yes, a lot of them were cocky a-holes. But they were also damn good players who had one magical season before the demons that plagued them took over. The two stars on which were thought to be the legacy of the Mets organization – Strawberry and Gooden – are blamed for the downfall and eventual dismantling of this amazin’ team. This was a stark reminder that the athletes that we put on pedestals are just men. It’s not an excuse for the behavior, but in the end they are human just like the rest of us.

If you are a Mets fan this is worth the read, if you are a baseball fan you will probably enjoy it, but if neither of these apply, skip it. The writing was nothing spectacular – about what you’d expect from a sportswriter. I felt the author could have dug in a little deeper to some of the events and players, but for what it is, it’s a decent read.

2.5 of 5 stars

Epic Fail

I'm just not feeling the Two Haiku Book Review, so I'm moving back to full reviews. It seemed like a better idea in theory than in practice. Besides, the book I just finished was totally nostalgic for me and there's no way I was going to squeeze it into a two-stanza Haiku. Stay tuned.

Olive Kitteridge - Elizabeth Strout

Small town lives collide
Waitress, son, cheating old man
Common thread Olive

Harsh yet endearing
Reality devastates
Perception of self

Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry

Gus and Captain Call
Cattle drive to Montana
Friendship, love, and loss

Vivid characters
Beautiful western epic
All-time favorite

Turning a New Page

Excuse the bad pun.

I have written on my other blog about how I've been trying to get back into reading. I've been doing a pretty good job so far, and I want to continue the trend by picking back up with my book blog. However, I realize that part of why I stopped this particular blog a few years ago is that I found it a bit tedious to write thoughtful "reviews."

So I've come up with a new spin for the book blog, that will still be thoughtful and hopefully useful to all of you. I call it the Two Haiku Book Review.

I learned about haiku poems in 4th grade. The construction of the poem is not complicated - 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables. Although I recognize a haiku generally stands alone, I am choosing to do two haikus per review, not only because it rhymes, but so I can talk about the plot in the first haiku, and give some personal observations in the second.

So stay tuned for a brand new Two Haiku Book Review very soon.