#50BookPledge Book 2 Madame Tussaud

Review of Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran from Broadway Paperbacks 2011

This is very extensive history of one famous woman's life during the extremely turbulent French Revolution. I found the time line of the French Revolution and list of key characters at the start of the novel helpful as I moved through the book. The additional information at the end of the novel starting with After the Revolution clarified lingering questions and brought the book full circle.

My initial thoughts was that there were way to many small chapters, however, upon reading the novel I found that these divisions corresponded to the major events of the Revolution. As I read the book I found these smaller chapters allowed for more detail making it easier to understand what was happening.

Ms Moran does a wonderful job of creating tension early. She explores what it is like to have to live your life in both camps in order to ensure that you don't insult anyone or lose your station. Marie and her family negotiate the political atmosphere exceptionally well without forsaking their principals.

I don't know much about the French Revolution so this was a nice introduction to an important historical event. Ms. Moran did a great deal of research and provided lots of information to help the reader learn while still enjoying the book. As I was reading I found lots of similarities between the French Revolution and both the America War of Independence and the Civil War where families were divided depending on loyalties.

The use of a female lead character as well as several of the supporting characters being female made for an interesting perspective on the situation. I was disappointed that the focus was on the events in Paris and not what happened outside of the capital.

Overall this was a good book and I am looking forward to reading more of Michelle Moran's books.

#50BookPledge Book 1 The Secret Life of Stuff

I am trying to read 50 books during 2012 which works out to roughly one book a week.  My rules are flexible and audio books are included.  I've also decided that if I don't like a book I've borrowed from the library I'm not going to force myself to finish it because there are a lot of great books out there just waiting for me to find them  Well enough about the challenge, here is my first review.

Review of The Secret Life of Stuff: A Manual for a New Material World written by Julie Hill, released by Random House UK, January 2011.

I have a casual interest in books that challenge me to think about how I can live a less resource heavy lifestyle. The Secret Life of Stuff: A Manual for a New Material World (The Secret Life of Stuff) was just that kind of book, forcing me to really think about the world around me and the resources consumed. This wasn't your typical “green living” book that discussed ways to reduce your individual impact on the World by only buying/consuming natural products, but rather an all encompassing overview of both the natural and synthetic. The primary message of this book is that we need to be aware of where the stuff we consume comes from and what will happen to that same stuff when we no longer have a use for it. I really enjoyed The Secret Life of Stuff and spent a great deal of time discussing several of the issues presented with other people.

Ms Hill promotes the concepts of reduce and reuse over recycle as the latter is fraught with issues the least of which is finding markets for the products ready to be recycled. She covers how household waste diversion is the norm, but that business and industry aren't held to the same standards even though the results would be much greater.

The Secret Life of Stuff tackles the question many consumers who are trying to make a difference asks – How much difference can one person/family make? There are several examples in the book that explain this and in reality it depends on the item in question.

The Secret Life of Stuff explores why “natural” isn't always the best choice as illustrated by the analysis of cotton. This is one of the most resource intensive crops and even if you can find organic cotton, chances are that is has some negatives associated with it as well. This isn't to say that the author doesn't find value in some “natural” products including bio-plastics, created from food crops or better yet food waste. Instead it is just that all of the inputs need to be considered.

The Secret Life of Stuff is a really well written, easy to read book that forces the reader to think about the things in our World, the environmental costs, disposal and everything in the middle. It is a proponent of products being created with the end of life for that product considered at the time of manufacture and therefore best able to be recycled. For anyone who is looking for an introduction into the social environmental issues facing the global community I recommend this book. If you want to know more when done reading it Ms Hill has an extensive list of her sources (98 pages worth in my e-edition).

Random Read Historical Fiction Challenge

 

So I have to read one of these books:

The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak (Available January 3. Check out the video trailer!)
The Virgin Cure by Ami McKay
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
Midwife of Venice by Roberta Rich
The Salt Road by Jane Johnson
Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran
Anything in the Outlander or Lord John series by Diana Gabaldon (If you haven’t met Jamie Fraser yet, are you ever in for a treat!)

I wish I could do the last, but sadly I've read all the Outlander Series and can't seem to get interested in the Lord John Series.

The Virgin Cure is probably the easiest since it is the book for Yummy Mummy Club Book Club this month and I can borrow it from a friend.

Definitely looking forward to the challenge.

Memories

We all have important stuff from our childhood and even though I try to keep clutter to a minimum I have some including my baby book.  This doesn't mean that I'll keep every craft my daughter makes or every card she receives by rather some key important things including her hospital bracelets.  Several of these items are kept in a beautiful wooden box my husband made for my daughter last year.  She keeps the box in her bedroom and often asks to look at the items in it.  The contents in this box all have a story to them, however every so often I clean out the box removing somethings.  In particular what I am looking for items that are going to have meaning in a year, 10 or even 20 years from now. Luckily the important school things will be maintained in a book and will tell it's own story.  For my daughter some of the items we've kept deal with her adoption so they are needed to tell the whole story and luckily we have this information.  It is funny that she has a teddy bear from the hospital where she was born, even though they no longer deliver children, as well as a note from the photographer who took her picture during her first few ours adding her encouragement to our adoption story.  We also have the dress and some jewellery aptly named court clothes because this is what she wore to the court house on the day her adoption was finalized.  I'm not trying raise a pack rat, but rather a person who understands the value of things that can tell a story.

Little Things Add Up

My daughter gets enough candy as it is so I did not see the need for a candy filled Advent Calendar. Last year I purchased the beige and red Advent Cottage at Loblaws that allows me to fill each day  This year we're doing an alternating day mix of books and other stuff which doesn't fit in the little doors.  Instead each morning my daughter opens the requisite door to find a clue then heads off to find the prize that "Santa" left.

That's correct I said Santa.  My four year old firmly believes that Mr. Claus is playing a fun game with her leading up to his big visit on Christmas Eve and I don't feel like dissuading her since she's only going to believe for such a short time.

My only challenge with this project is that my daughter is waking up almost an hour earlier each morning to get the next prize and that means I'm up earlier as well.  This is workable because of her enthusiasm and the fact this is something special we share before my husband wakes up.

And with that I want to wish everyone reading a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Story Time

It is amazing what your child will learn during story time.  We always have some sort of story time with our daughter and both of us do parts of it.  There are four different types of daily story time in our home.  I'll try to explain them here and what they mean to us.

1) Snuggle Time Can be with either Mommy or Daddy.  This is story time where anyone can pick the books, but usually our daughter does and she sits with the reader.  Usually this happens at bedtime with my husband reading or during quiet time after school with me.  Often when bedtime story occurs I will sneak into my daughter's bedroom to listen.  My husband really makes the stories come alive with different voices. Snuggle time with me has been know to happen in the car, at a restuaren or at the Doctor's office while waiting.  Almost everywhere we go we have books with us to helpp make the wait seem shorter.

2) Tell Me A Story These are occasions when my daughter wants to hear about something she has done, usually with one or both of us.  These stories are retold on the fly often in the bathroom and can cover anything form how we became her parents to her most recent class trip where I tagged along.  Early on we tried to use different characters and tell the stories in the third person but I kept changing the names back to Rachel so we don't bother anymore.  Our daughter loves these stories and we probably should write them down, but I doubt that will happen so my daughter will have to rely on her electronic scrapbook as she gets older.

3) I Read To You This story time is the most fun.  My daughter picks a book or books and read them to one of us or her toys.  She may not read the words but she is really familiar with stories so she reads the pictures and is often really close to the written story.  I find it very creative on her part and lots of fun even when I'm eavesdropping on a story being told to the stuffed animals.

4) Private Reading This is when someone in the house can be found reading to themselves.  My husband and I feel it is extremely important that our daughter "catches" us reading with hopes that it will encourage her to do the same.  This seems to be working and often when I go looking for her when she's being very quiet I'll find her in her room reading a book or 12.

The Value of Saying No!

No is one of the hardest words for me to say yet I that it is necessary if I want to keep some degree of control over my life. 

With the Holiday Season fast approaching I've always tried to make sure that we find a way to say yes to all the family, friend and other events that come our way.  That was fine when there were only two of us, but when the holiday season starts on Thanksgiving and ends on January 23 it isn't realistic to say yes to everything for any family.  Instead I'm saying no to some activities based on flexible guidelines my other half has agreed to.  These guidelines are meant to help keep everyone in our house happy, especially the four year old.  The guidelines include things like:

1. No more than one event per day - Our apologies to the London Post Adoption Support Group but we have a family Christmas out of town later the same day.

2. No evening events on school nights unless they are school or current extra-curricular related.

So far this is working and the people I'm saying no to our understanding of the decision.  I feel less stressed as a result.  Based on our history of over-scheduling my husband call home the other day to make sure he read the calendar correctly because a couple weekends in late November had nothing scheduled. 

No is also being used more frequently when it comes to presents and discretionary purchases.  I have a really good friend whom my mom calls the sister I never had and have no issue getting together with her for coffee on a regular basis or exchanging gifts for Christmas and Birthdays.  On the other had I have an acquaintance I only talk to once every few months and our children don't really know each other so I don't feel comfortable doing a gift exchange with her family.


The dilemma of gifts for teachers and service providers recently came up in our house with a lot of confusion.   The lady who started off as my daughter's teacher in September recently left on maternity leave and instead of giving her a gift we did up a special card for her.  The replacement teacher started the beginning of December and we won't be giving her a either but rather a really nice Christmas card.  This is a no that I feel has no lasting effect on anyone in the long term.

Lastly we're selective about the fundraisers we participate in at school.  I have no issue buying my daughter or others books and magazines through the school, but draw the line at buying for the sake of getting stuff just so the school can get a 1% return.  I was torn on this for a short period of time until my husband said if it is something you were already thinking of buying then go ahead, otherwise pass.

In conclusion, saying no isn't the end of the world.  Yes you might have an initial feeling of guilt but that passes fairly quickly.   To paraphrase a friend  you need to do what is right for you and your family at a given time.