Top Ten Books Dealing With Tough Subjects

Read all about Top Ten Tuesdays at the blog, The Broke and the Bookish.

So actually, I just often read children’s books in general. I read young adult books even more often. I don’t know that I read books specifically about Tough Subjects often, but here are a few that come to mind. 

Goodnight Mr Tom, by Michelle Magorian, is about a boy who is evacuated from London at the start of World War II. (abuse, neglect, war, death)

The Miseducation of Cameron Post, by Emily M. Danforth, is about growing up lesbian in Montana in the 90s. (religious conversion/homosexuality cure)

The Running Dream, by Wendelin Van Draanen, is about a high school track athlete who lost her leg in a car accident. In the recovery process she befriends a fellow student with cerebral palsy and eventually they run a marathon together. (disability)

The Second Opinion, by Michael Palmer, is about a young woman with Asperger’s whose father, a famous surgeon, is comatose after a car accident. (disability, parent illness/death, medical legality) This is the only adult fiction book on the list.

My Life as a Rhombus, by Varian Johnson, is about a high school teen who had an abortion three years ago as a freshman. When she is befriended by another student who is currently pregnant she learns how to trust again and eventually rebuilds her relationship with her father. (abortion, dating/trust, family relationships, parent death)

How to be a Dragon… Without Burning Your Tongue, by Arlene Williams, is about a girl who starts turning into a dragon. It’s also about a girl whose mother and brother are killed in a mountain avalanche. (family death, family and step-family relationships, humanity and feelings)

Math was a tough subject in school for many. I haven’t actually read A Tour of the Calculus by David Berlinsky yet, but I want to. It seems like a fun book about Calculus.

Top Ten Books When You Need Something Light & Fun

Read all about Top Ten Tuesdays at the blog, The Broke and the Bookish.

I often turn to children’s books when I need something light and fun, not because children’s books don’t deal with heavy subjects, but because they often do so lightly.

Tuesdays at the Castle, by Jessica Day George is definitely light and fun. The sequel, Wednesdays in the Tower, is out today. (I’m excited to get my hands on it.)

Something by Diana Wynne Jones is always a good choice, though not all of her books are equally light. House of Many Ways would be a good choice. Something by Eva Ibbotson, such as Island of the Aunts or The Secret of Platform 13, would also be a good choice, though again, not all of her books suit. Jones and Ibbotson are experts at creating light and fun magical worlds.

Mrs Piggle-Wiggle, by Betty MacDonald, is a good choice for fun of the ridiculous sort. I haven’t read these books in ages, but was thinking of them recently.

Pippi Longstocking, by Astrid Lindgren, is also good fun of the ridiculous sort.

There are, however, also adult books that I can turn to for light reading.

Any of the Five Hundred Kingdoms books by Mercedes Lackey are a good choice for light and fun reading.

Coronets and Steel by Sherwood Smith is heavy in the politics, but overall very fun and entertaining.

Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale might count, but I don’t normally read romances, mysteries, or Jane Austin books, so I don’t know if I can judge. I picked up the Austenland books for light reading, however.

I don’t know where the young adult books are on this list. Surely there are light and fun young adult books, but none come to mind right now.

The closest I can come is Sorcery and Cecelia, by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer, which is, perhaps, a bit frivolous.

James Herriot’s Cat Stories is a great choice for light reading, but doesn’t really fit age-based categorization. (I started reading James Herriot when I was in 4th grade…)

National Library Week

This week was National Library week, and as I check out books from two libraries, I usually have a substantial number of library books checked out. Here is this week’s list: 

Library Number One

Checked out this week: 

The Stepsister Scheme, Jim C. Hines  -  has been on my TBR list for a while

My Life as a Rhombus, Varian Johnson  -  features a high school girl who likes/is good at math

The Everything Sewing Book, Sandra Detrixhe

Already on my shelf: 

Plastic-free: how I kicked the plastic habit and you can too, Beth Terry

The Wizard Hunters: the fall of Ile-Rien, Martha Wells

The New World, Michael A. Stackpole  -  the third book in a trilogy my mom was reading

101 Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies, Gwen Steege  -  came across this at the bookstore and decided to get it from the library first (apricot chocolate chip cookies are delicious)

Library Number Two

Checked out this week: 

Me and My Sewing Machine: a beginer’s guide, Kate Haxell

101 Ways to Use Your First Sewing Machine, Elizaneth Dubicki

Make It Paleo: over 200 grain-free recipes for any occasion, Bill Staley and Hayley Mason  -  I don’t think I buy into the philosophy behind the paleo diet, but I wanted to investigate

Kalimpura, Jay Lake  -  I am drawn to the cover: a woman walking towards me, carrying two infants, one in a sling across the front and the other on her back along with a sleeping roll and various other packs with a long sheathed sword attached, and an unsheathed long fighting knife in her hand. Her expression is intent and fierce. Edit: oops, well, it’s the third book in a trilogy… Maybe I will look for the first book, Green. 

How to be a Dragon — Without Burning Your Tongue, Arlene Williams  -  the title caught my eye at the library

Quicksilver, R. J. Anderson  -  young adult (science fiction) psychological thriller?  -  a teen with synesthesia

Ultraviolet, R. J. Anderson  -  sequel to Quicksilver  -  an asexual teen

The Secret of Kells, Flatiron Film Co.  -  I rarely have DVDs checked out, but this one sounded good  -  (it was; not stunning, but good)

Already on my shelf: 

The Home Creamer, Kathy Farrell-Kingsley

Quesadillas, Donna Kelly

The Perfect Scoop: ice creams, sorbets, granitas, and sweet accompaniments, David Lebovitz  -  yum! 

Wildly Affordable Organic: eat fabulous food, get healthy, and save the planet–all on $5 a day or less, Linda Watson  -  sounds good to me! (if a bit hard to believe) 

Craftcycle: 100+ eco-friendly projects and ideas for everyday living, Heidi Boyd

Socks Appeal: 16 fun & funky friends sewn from socks, Brenna Maloney  -  socks! how could I not check this out? 

The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, Charles de Lint  

The Riddle, Alison Croggon  -  second book in a quartet  -  having a hard time getting into it

Pi Day 2013

In honor of 3.14, I bring you a post about mathematical characters in books.

Keladry of Mindelan, in Tamora Pierce’s Protector of the Small quartet, is good at and enjoys mathematics. She helps her fellow pages through their mathematics classes.

Bitterblue, in Kristin Cashore’s novel of the same name, learned to do complicated sums in her head to protect her thoughts. She easily figures out how to convert between standard 12-hour time and her father’s strange 14-hour time, and is skilled with codes and ciphers.

Natalia in Mercedes Lackey’s Storms trilogy and Tehre in Rachel Neumeier’s Land of the Burning Sands, while secondary characters, are both engineers.

Holly Markham in Karin Kallmaker’s Substitute for Love studied mathematics in college, and chooses to go back to it in the course of the novel. 

Varian Johnson’s Rhonda Lee, in My Life as a Rhombus, is a high school school girl who is good at math. She volunteers in the local tutoring center, and tutors a classmate in trigonometry. 

Fantasy novels rarely have anything of science or mathematics, and if a character is scholastically inclined, history or literature is more common. Perhaps in a world of magic, mathematics seems irrelevant. Yet, Pierce, Lackey, Cashore, and Neumeier all fit mathematical characters smoothly into their works. Mathematics has a comfortable presence simply as a characteristic of one of their characters. 

I would love to read more fiction with mathematically (or scientifically) inclined characters. Do you know of any? 

Top Ten Tuesdays: Books At The TOP Of My Spring 2013 TBR list!

Read about Top Ten Tuesdays here, at the Broke and the Bookish.

1. Midnight Never Come, by Marie Brennan: After enjoying A Natural History of Dragons so much, I want to try another of Marie Brennan’s novels.

2. When We Wake, by Karen Healey just came out on the 5th. It sounds really interesting. 04-04-13

3. Wednesdays at the Tower, by Jessica Day George, will be published in May. It is the sequel to Tuesdays at the Castle, and I will absolutely read it when it comes out.

4. The Stepsister Scheme, by Jim C. Hines: I think this is the first book in the princess series, fairytale based novels about what comes after the classic “…and they lived happily ever after.” I’ve been meaning to read something more of Hines’ and this is where I want to start. 04-28-13

5. The Reluctant Heiress, by Eva Ibbotson, is sitting on my shelf waiting for me when I get home.

6. Weight of Stone and 7. The Shattered Vine, by Laura Ann Gilman: I am currently reading Flesh and Fire, so naturally I hope to follow with the second and third books of the trilogy. 03-31-13

8. I just bought Willful Impropriety, edited by Ekaterina Sedia, so I plan to read it soon. It’s a collection of short stories set in Victorian times.

9. Plastic Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too, by Beth Terry: I’ve spent a lot of time on the blog, but haven’t read the book yet. 04-08-13

10. The Immortals Quartet, by Tamora Pierce: I’ve been thinking about the land of Tortall lately, through re-reading the books set there, so I’ll probably re-read this quartet soon. Light and easy reading. 03-19-13

Ham, Lentil, Rice, and Vegetable Variations

Two years ago I made a ham, lentil, and rice soup for the first time. It was a pretty plain and simple soup, rather thick, and I think it came out an unappealing sort of brown. But oh boy, was it the best soup ever. I was sick with a cold and it was thick and warm and incredibly flavorful, and perfectly what I needed just then.

Here’s what I wrote about it in a livejournal community at the time:

“The ham and lentil soup wasn’t exactly made from a recipe… I had about 3 cups of ham broth, with meat bits in it, from boiling down the bone from our Christmas ham. I tossed in a couple handfuls each of rice and lentils, probably a bit more rice than lentils. I just put in what looked like a good amount. I brought it to a boil, and then simmered until the rice and lentils were getting soft. I cut up and added 2 small potatoes. Continued simmering. Then I added maybe 3/4 a cup of frozen corn, which was what I had left in a bag in the freezer. I think I added the corn not too long after the potatoes, but I don’t really remember. It doesn’t need cooked as much, though. At some point I tossed in some Italian spice mix. Oh, also probably about a cup of water, added a bit at a time here and there, when I thought the soup was getting too thick.”

Last year I made ham, lentil, and rice soup, again using homemade ham broth. Here is the recipe I made up:

~ 1-2 tbsp butter

1 sweet yellow or white onion, diced

coriander

1 clove garlic, minced

~ 3 cups ham broth with pieces of ham

~ 2 cups water

~ 1/3 cup lentils

~ 2/3 cup rice (Trader Joe’s Brown Rice Medley)

Method: Melt the butter in the soup pot. Add the onion and cook until soft (do not allow to brown). Sprinkle in some coriander. Add the garlic and cook a little longer. Add the ham broth and pieces and water, and bring to a boil. Add the lentils and rice. Reduce to a simmer, cover and let simmer until lentils and rice are fully cooked.

This version was a much more broth-ey soup, but also absolutely delicious. I posted in facebook that “I made ham/lentil/rice soup and it is 100% different from the last time I made ham/lentil/rice soup.”

Yesterday, I made a third ham broth-based soup, but this version didn’t have lentils. The “recipe” is:

~4 cups ham broth with ham pieces

1 parsnip, diced

2 leeks, sliced

2 celery stalks, chopped

~1 cup rice (already cooked, or you could add about 1/2 cup uncooked)

~3/4 cup frozen corn

Method: Heat broth. (In my case, melt, because it was frozen.) Add parsnip and leeks and simmer for a while. Then add celery and rice and simmer some more. Last, put in the corn and simmer even more.

This version came out somewhere between the previous two in terms of thickness. The parsnips and rice combined to thicken things pretty well, but didn’t soak up all of the broth. Again, the ham broth has incredible flavor. I’m always so excited to boil down the Christmas ham, because I know these incredible soups are coming soon…

Top Ten Books I Resolve to Read in 2013

I have read the first books from both the Vineart Trilogy, by Laura Ann Gilman, and the Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss. I resolve to finish both.

I have checked out The Snow Leopard, by Peter Matthiessen, from the library twice, but not yet read it. I resolve to do so soon.

The Book of Three, by Lloyd Alexander has been on my TBR list for a while. I resolve to move it to my list of books I have read. I started this book and could not get into it. New characters were introduced too rapidly, and with no questioning from the main character, and events seemed to lack depth of purpose.

Willful Impropriety, edited by Ekaterina Sedia, and House of Shadows, by Rachel Neumeier, both came out this Fall, but I have not yet gotten hold of copies. I resolve to renew my attempts to do so.

I resolve to read something else by Jim C Hines, as I enjoyed Libriomancer very much.

Just Henry, by Michelle Magorian, has been sitting on my shelf waiting for the right day to read it. I resolve to find that day. 02/11,12/13

One of my favorite authors is Eva Ibbotson, and one of my favorite books is A Song for Summer. I resolve to read at least one of her other adult/young adult books.

Pantomime, by Laura Lam, is on my new author/new book list. I resolve to seek this book out when it is released in February. Looking forward to the next one! 3-17-13

You can read about Top Ten Tuesdays at The Broke and the Bookish.