What to read next?

For anyone who is a reader, the question of what to read arises from time to time. Book lists abound at the end of the year. There are challenges galore all over the book-blogging world. There are books like this or this.

On April Fool’s Day, I somehow followed a link to this blog post. It along with a few others gave a very clever response to some recent (at that time) essays that addressed the what to read question. Joel Stein in the New York Times skewered adults who read young adult books and Maura Kelly wrote a Slow Book Manifesto in the Atlantic.

The most recent New Yorker contains an ad to a new book blog, Page Turner. In general, I’m pro-book blogs and pro-New Yorker. But the ad read: “Introducing our new literary blog, with criticism, contention, and conversation about the most important books for the moment.” (emphasis mine) And the tagline is “Books that Matter.” I don’t know, something about that just make me want to go out and read a pulpy romance just to be rebellious. Interestingly, in the same issue Arthur Krystal has an essay about the pleasures of genre fiction that comes down more on the side of guilty pleasures not being so guilty.

On the other hand, I do think there is merit to reading outside of your comfort level, to challenging yourself. So where is the answer to what to read?

I’m not sure if he’d like to be used as an answer to that question but Alan Jacobs’ answer in The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction works for me.

So this is what I say to my petitioners: for heaven’s sake, don’t turn reading into the intellectual equivalent of eating organic greens, or (shifting the metaphor slightly) some fearfully disciplined appointment with an elliptical trainer of the mind in which you count words or pages the way some people fix their attention on the “calories burned” readout- some assiduous and taxing exercise that allows you to look back on your conquest of Middlemarch with grim satisfaction. How depressing. This kind of thing is not reading at all, but what C.S. Lewis once called “social and ethical hygeine.  p. 17

Some readers may be puzzled to find that this book didn’t end several pages ago. Read at whim, I told you- What more is there to say?
Perhaps there’s a little more that could be said. “Whim” may not cover all the bases. But before I go any further I want to insist that it remains the foundation. It should be normal for us to read what we want to read, to read what we truly enjoy reading. p. 33

My only discontent with this book was that I didn’t read it before reading Moby Dick, which for me was absolutely the equivalent of swallowing down a vitamin that I somehow thought was good for me but tasted horrible. It also made clear to me why something holds me back from signing up for book challenges and the like. Or why the stack of books on my shelf given to me by people that told me I “should read such and such” is vaguely stressful to me. I’m a person who likes lists but I also get a little anxious if things don’t get checked off and finished. More and more, I’m looking to read by what strikes my fancy. To follow rabbit trails. To be more spontaneous. To allow for serendipity. To read for pure pleasure (with no guilt). To read according to my whim.

Poor Little Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Today was our homeschool co-op’s annual picnic. Five hours. 100+ families. Digging in the sand, volleyball, organized games and relays, impromptu games of tag and duck duck goose. Hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill and two tables groaning with various sides and desserts. And to top it all off a giant squirt gun battle that went on for about an hour and a half.

As I’ve said before, I don’t think socialization is a non-issue for homeschoolers. However, days like today are good examples of how silly the image is of poor little homeschoolers with their faces pressed against the window watching the school bus go by. And yes, some people do still have that image. I don’t think homeschool co-ops are necessary, but ours has been wonderful for the entire family.

One of the best things about homeschooling is the interactions between different ages. A teenager in the line for lunch found a salamander and showed it to his kindergartener brother and my kids. John and a group of boys roughly 7-12 easily welcomed David into their squirt gun battle along with some of his kindergartener friends. At the co-op the high-schoolers have their own classes and some separate activities. They eat lunch in a separate area where the younger kids aren’t allowed. However, it’s a fairly common sight to see a teenager walking his younger sister to preschool. Or a pick-up game of football involving kids from age 5 to 15. Or a sister who goes to her brother instead of her Mom to have her shoe fixed.

Some of this is because a lot of homeschoolers also have large families and the older kids are used to helping with their siblings. And certainly, non-homeschooled kids play with and take care of their siblings. However, I do think that homeschoolers are uniquely used to getting along with multi-ages. They think it’s normal to be with and play with kids who are older or younger. If a baby or toddler needs help it’s normal to help.

It’s not all rosy. Homeschooled kids are still kids. John’s two closest friends were leaving him out a little bit and I watched him figure that out. He kind of hung back for awhile and then found someone else to run around with before they all ended up together. A girl who has a little crush on David followed him around for a long time much to his distress. I had to talk to him about being polite to her. Some kids broke the no lemonade in squirt guns rule. (Yes, there really was a stated rule. And it really was broken.)

You can call it socialization. Or you can just call it life.

Read-Aloud Thursday: A Pea, A Blueberry and a Banana

This new book by Ann Bonwill has somewhat of the same feel of It’s a Book or I Want My Hat Back or one of the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems. I”m not entirely sure why, I think it’s that the text is mostly dialogue between the two characters, Hugo a hippo and Bella his bird. (Or is that Bella and her hippo Hugo? ) I’d say it reads as a slightly sweeter but watered down copy of the others. Hugo and Bella are trying to decide on costumes for the annual Hippo-Bird (or Bird-Hippo) party. But Bella doesn’t want to be the pea to Hugo’s princess. And Hugo doesn’t want to be the rock for Bella’s mermaid. The end is no less sweet for it’s predictability.

Typically, I get a big stack of picture books out of the library. I intend most of them for the 2 yr old and 5 yr old and expect the 8 yr old to listen if he’ around. Often, however, John ends up reading through them on his own. I think a lot of times we think that our kids should “move on” from picture books once they are able to read chapter books well. I’m reminded again and again by watching John’s enjoyment in devouring a stack of picture books how silly it is to think of picture books as simply a stepping stone to something “better”.

I pulled this book by George Shannon off the shelf at random on my last library trip. All the kids liked it, but John found it especially fascinating. Each page makes a statement about a color that at first glance seems wrong (Black is for Poppy with a picture of a red poppy) until you turn the page and see how it’s correct from a different perspective (Look inside the Poppy). It’s a really cool way to look at thinking outside the box.

This was another random pick off the shelves and it’s the winner of the week. Ruth loves this book and has asked to read it over and over again. A little monkey steals a banana and sets off a whole series of mishaps on a city block. At first glance I thought this was a wordless book and it can be read that way. However, H. pointed out to me that the story is actually told through street signs on each page that rhyme (Keep Off the Grass, Underpass, Speed Bump, This Way to the Dump). It’s a really fun book and illustrated by one of my favorite illustrators, David Small.

Be sure to stop by Hope is the Word for more Read-Aloud Thursday.

Nonfiction Monday: Mrs. Harkness and the Panda

This picture book biography tells the (simplified) story of Ruth Harkness, a 1930′s socialite who traveled to China in search of the giant panda. Ruth was a fashion designer and unlikely explorer but decided to complete her husband’s quest after he died of throat cancer in China. Ruth ignores scoffing friends and society and heads off to China. She ultimately succeeds in capturing a small panda cub, who she names Su-Lin and brings back to the Brookfield Zoo.

It’s an interesting story. On one level, Ruth is to be admired. It took courage to travel and do something that women of the time were not thought capable of. At the same time, I was bothered by the idea of capturing a wild baby animal just out of sheer curiosity. As told, it doesn’t appear that Ruth knew anything about pandas or had a passion for learning about them. She seems driven more by the desire to do something no one else has just for the sake of doing it. The author, Alicia Potter, does address this issue at the end of the book. She still portrays Ruth as somewhat of a hero, who by bringing back the panda, introduced the world to a remarkable animal and paved the way for wildlife education and ultimately conservation.

I remain skeptical about the heroic nature of her character and accomplishment. (Compare Ruth’s approach with someone like Jane Goodall.) But it is an interesting story and if nothing else opens the door to some good conversation. And as always the fabulous Melissa Sweet makes the book worth reading just to look at the illustrations.

In poking around a bit on the Internet, I discovered that Ruth’s life was more complicated than told here (as expected in a picture book length biography). Many reviews referenced The Lady and the Panda by Vicki Croke for a more thorough look at Ruth’s life and journey.

Related links: 
Review of The Lady and the Panda in the Christian Science Monitor
Fantastic, very comprehensive review of Mrs. Harkness and the Panda at the School Library Journal.
Website for an Imax film based on Ruth’s life story

Nonfiction Monday is hosted this week at Apples with Many Seeds. 

Scenes from the beach

Not pictured:
One epic game of Monopoly
Two trips to our favorite local pizza/ice cream parlor and video arcade
Several games of Settlers of Catan: Seafarers
One seasickness inducing boat ride (and a pod of dolphins seen while on the boat)
Many episodes of Dora the Explorer
Stacks of books and New Yorker magazines read
One 300 piece puzzle completed
A lot of popsicles consumed
Daily bubble baths
A family evening in the outdoor hot tub on a cold windy night
Early morning bike rides with John to get doughnuts and the paper
A game of pirate Putt-Putt
A family bike ride (in a 5 seater buggy style bike)
Two trips to playgrounds
Petting the rays at the aquarium
Ice cream for lunch at Ben and Jerry’s

All in all, a great week. We’re blessed to get to go yearly.

And even more blessed to come home.

An observation

Back when John was a baby I remember packing the diaper bag to go places: diapers, wipes, extra change of clothes, snacks, pacifier, blanky, burp cloths, extra shirt for me for after he spit up. Etc. And I remember thinking that one day it would be easier, when they were older. Surely we’d be able to just walk out of the house unencumbered.

Ha. My experience is that as the kids have gotten older and bigger, the amount of stuff has increased. Some days I feel that I spend most of my time packing up stuff to go somewhere and then putting it away again when we get home. Baseball bags of stuff: hat, glove, helmet, batting gloves, bat, water bottle, snacks for the team. And then there’s the snacks for the siblings while we wait and the diaper bag filled with diapers and toys to keep the 2 year old busy and the scooters for them to play with at the ball field.

This post has no real point. Just an observation. Perhaps related to the fact that I’m spending the day packing for a trip to the beach for me and the kids. (H. stays home to work.) We have a lot of stuff.

Medicine, Faith and some books

 Numberless are the world’s wonders, but none – none more wonderous than the body of man. Sophocles

I spent a large part of the day today grading final exams for the Human Anatomy class I’ve been teaching this year at our co-op. Teaching the class was a great experience for me. Often, young Christians are warned that somehow “science” is going to steal away their faith. I have found more of a fear of science in the Christian world than a fear or distrust of Christianity or faith in the scientific world. For me personally, I found my faith strengthened during my years in medical school. Especially in the first two years as we delved into the complexity and beauty of the human body, I remember feeling like everything we were learning gave us a glimpse into the mind of God. It’s been a long time though since I first took Anatomy or Physiology.

Being a pediatrician is great fun, but it’s different. I look inside a lot of ears and diagnose a lot of ear infections but I rarely ruminate over the beauty of the three delicate little bones inside that allow us to hear. Teaching this class was an opportunity to rediscover how amazing the body really is. It was also fun for me to teach at the high-school level, a completely new experience for me. Quite challenging, and also rewarding.

As I graded the papers I remembered that I had meant to talk about these books here awhile ago but hadn’t done so. These two companion books by Paul Brand and Phillip Yancey were incredibly influential in my life when I was in high school. I already knew I wanted to be a doctor, but these books inspired and encouraged me like no others.

Dr. Paul Brand was an orthopedic surgeon, a missionary in India most of his life and a pioneer in the field of leprosy treatment. Philip Yancey is a well-known name now but these books were originally published in 1980 and I believe were two of his first books.

The books are part devotion, part science lesson and part biography. Brand uses his knowledge of the human body to reflect on the nature of God and the church. Interwoven throughout both books are stories from Brand’s life and work in India and at a leper colony in Louisiana. I particularly like Brand’s thoughts on what the body has to teach about living in community and how the church should treat its members. I did find on this most recent reading that parts of the books read a bit dated, both medically and there are a few sections that read as non-politically correct today. However, overall these are fabulous books that I highly recommend to anyone, especially anyone with an interest in medicine.

If you read them and like them, I also would recommend a third book by Brand and Yancey, The Problem of Pain. Brand has a particularly unique view on pain after spending most of his life fighting the effects of a disease that has as its primary issue an inability to feel pain (leprosy). I once led a very interesting book group discussion where we read Brand’s book and also read some of Peter Singer’s essays on pain. Singer has pretty much the opposite worldview and view on pain as Brand so it made for a lively discussion.

Other books for an aspiring pre-med student:
The Making of a Woman Surgeon by Elizabeth Morgan
Related to Brand’s books only because it’s about medicine and more importantly it was the other book that greatly inspired me in my teenage years. A very gritty-tale of a woman going through medical school and residency at a time when there were few women. I went through a period of wanting to be a plastic surgeon, largely because of this book. Probably most interesting to women in medicine to see what it used to be like.

A Not Entirely Benign Procedure by Perri Klass
Harvard medical school as a older student and mother.  Klass has also been one of the driving forces behind Reach Out and Read, a program that uses pediatricians to promote literacy.

 Letters to a Young Doctor by Richard Selzer
A classic.  

The Medical Detectives by Berton Roueche
A collection of New Yorker articles, some dating back to the 1940′s, on epidemiology and public health. Absolutely fascinating. 

Complications and Better by Atul Gawande
Gawande began writing for the New Yorker as a surgery resident. He manages to be insightful and challenging and also tell a good story. 

How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman
Also a New Yorker staff writer, Groopman looks at the way doctors make decisions and diagnoses. I found this one uncomfortably right on the money. It challenged me to be better at what I do and it would be good if it was required reading in medical school (along with Gawande’s books.)

The Language of God by Francis Collins
Collins is a devout Christian, a geneticist, leader of the Human Genome Project and the current director of the NIH. No book comes closer to matching my own personal thoughts about faith and science. It’s not an easy read and can be fairly technical, especially in the second half. An excellent read for anyone questioning whether or not it’s possible to be a scientist and a Christian.