The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

I've been slowly reading the "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" books by Alexander McCall Smith. I'm reading them slowly because I like them, and I find that if I read a series too quickly, I tend not to enjoy the later books as much. I think I've read five books in the series over the last couple of years, and there are a few more to go.

Usually the more I love a book, the more I hate the movie. However, HBO has made a TV series based on these books, and it's wonderful. I knew Jill Scott was a great singer, but I hadn't realized that she could also act. She seems perfectly cast as the lead character, Precious Ramotswe. When I first saw Anika Noni Rose onscreen, the actress who plays the detective agency's secretary, I thought it was terrible casting. The character, Grace Makutsi, is plain and awkward, while the actress is beautiful. I've always hated the idea that if a beautiful woman wears glasses, she looks plain. But Ms. Rose is so funny and plays her part so well, that within a few minutes I couldn't imagine her as anyone but Grace Makutsi. My mom compared her to Lucille Ball, and it's not a bad comparison.

The TV series is filmed on location in Botswana, and the setting adds a lot to the stories. You can see for yourself the beauty that Precious Ramotswe is always describing in the books. The series also does a good job with the tone of the stories, which varies from comical to serious to eerily supernatural. Precious Ramotswe's cases deal with everything from cheating husbands to insurance fraud to witch doctors, and she approaches them all with determination, compassion, and a thirst for justice.

I highly recommend both the books and the series. If you don't get HBO, I'm sure it will be released on DVD in a few months.

Should I Feel Old?

Having children makes you feel old. My children insist on calling my childhood years "the old days" even though I am quite sure that the old days were when MY parents were growing up. Which is weird, because I remember my parents saying the same thing about their parents.

However, lately I have been feeling very young, because people keep sending me emails that ask me if I am old. Since these emails refer to things like party lines, milk delivery, and green stamps, I must not be old. The strange thing is that these emails come from friends who are just a few years older than me, but the quizzes sound like they are intended for people who grew up in the 1940's and 1950's. My friends must be almost as confused as my children, who think that the natural follow-up to finding out that there were no cell phones when I was a child is the question, "Did you have electricity?" That's right kids, we didn't have cell phones because we couldn't charge them.

Here's some memories of my old-fashioned childhood in the 1970's:

The first car I remember is not a Studebaker, but our Ford Pinto. My brother used to scare me by telling me it would blow up if anybody hit us from behind. At the time, I thought he was making this up to tease me.

My kids would probably be confused by the cranks on the inside of the car doors. We turned these cranks to open and close the car windows. You had to walk right up to your car and put the key in the keyhole, then pull a handle, to open the doors. The only thing that beeped was the horn.

We had only one phone in our house, but not on a party line. And my dad put a long, curly cord on it so you could walk about 4 feet away from the wall while you were talking. That's what we considered a portable phone.

My mom didn't use an RC Cola bottle with holes in the lid to sprinkle water on her ironing. My mom didn't iron at all if she could help it. She bought my dad permanent press shirts that went in the dryer. All the rest of the laundry was hung on the clothes line to dry. This wasn't because we were "green", it was because with no air conditioning, our dryer would heat up half the house if you turned it on in the summer.

Birthday parties were pretty simple when I was a kid. You played "Red Light, Green Light" or "Red Rover" and you stood on a stepstool and tried to drop clothespins into a jar. Once, a new family moved to town, and the birthday girl's mom gave us goodie bags. I was confused, because I wasn't sure why I was getting a gift on someone else's birthday.

My kids are living in a world that is pretty different than the one I grew up in. On the other hand, some things haven't changed so much. My kids love to go to the movies, read stories, ride their bikes, and play on a playground. The best part of a birthday party is still the cake. My kids get bored on an airplane, but think sledding is thrilling.

It's fun to think about how my kids will describe their childhood to the next generation. "You won't believe this, but we couldn't upload information into our cyberbrains. We had to turn on the computer and actually read the screen to learn things! It took minutes!"

Wake Up, Sleepyheads!

Why am I sitting alone by the Christmas tree?
I've moved the kids' bedtimes back since school break began, and let the kids sleep a little later each day. I didn't want the kids to wake up too early on Christmas morning and have half the gifts unwrapped by the time I came downstairs. I gave them a little lecture last night, "If you wake up before Mom and Dad, you can open your stocking gifts and nothing else!"
But it's 7:30 a.m. and the kids are still fast asleep, and I'm getting tired of waiting for them. Santa left you some stuff, guys, come and get it! Or maybe I'll just eat the chocolates and play with the little RC cars - not that I would know what's in their stockings....

We Are the Grizwolds - Our Own National Lampoon Thanksgiving Vacation

I almost cancelled our Thanksgiving vacation, because we were all sick. But I thought, "What if we wake up tomorrow and feel better, and we've disappointed my family for no good reason?"
Now I'm thinking I should have listened to my first instincts. The kids got over their colds, but both suffered from upset stomachs over the weekend, and our daughter threw up. Our dog peed and pooped in my mom's house several times (in one of the few carpeted rooms, of course) and my husband and I were sniffling, sneezing, sucking on cough drops, and trying not to touch anyone. Even though he was already sick, my husband's allergies were made worse by my parents' cats. Every night was a Nyquil night, and it was still hard to sleep.
And then, on our way home, I drove our van into a ditch, rolled it, and totalled it. Our big holiday purchase ended up being a new car, and I'm sure only a small part of that will be covered by insurance.
On the positive side, no one was hurt in the car crash. And because I crashed only 30 miles from my parents' house, they got to pick us up and spend an extra day with their grandchildren while we bought the car.
Which is good, because we may never visit them again. Ever. We have bad holiday karma, so for now on I'm staying home!

Adventures in Istanbul

I'm sure we've all wondered what life was like for a eunuch in 19th century Istanbul. Well, to be honest I hadn't really considered it until I read "The Janissary Tree" by Jason Goodwin last year. It's a mystery novel whose detective is a eunuch named Yashim, who works for the sultan. It was a great read, and I just finished its sequel, "The Snake Stone".
I won't bother describing the plot because that's not the appeal of this book, or of The Janissary Tree either. I generally read mysteries very quickly, but I find that I have to read these books slowly because otherwise I would miss all the atmosphere. I knew almost nothing about Istanbul before reading the first book, but the descriptions of the city are amazing. I've paused while reading to look online for photos of the Aga Sofia, or to look up a point of Polish history after Yashim's friend, the Polish ambassador, mentions something that I'm not clear on. And the descriptions of Yashim's cooking are so detailed that not only can you practically smell it while you read, I think you could almost cook from this book.
If you are looking for a mystery with a quick pace and a clear plot, these are not the books for you. The Snake Stone, in particular, sometimes read more like a description for a movie version of itself than a novel. However, if you like historical fiction and would like to learn more about the people, places, and politics of Istanbul, then I would recommend these books

The Adventures of Tintin

My kids are on a Tintin kick these days. They discovered them in the comic book section of our library over the summer. I'm not one of those parents who worries about their kids reading comic books. First of all, I read comics when I was a kid, and I moved on to reading lots of big books with no pictures at all. Also, I still read comic books, so I'm having fun reading the Tintin books to my kids.
The Tintin books, by Herge (real name Georges Remi) were mostly written in the 1930's, 40's and 50's. Herge was Belgian, but the books take place everywhere from England to Tibet to the moon. Tintin is a young reporter who travels the world (and beyond) to investigate smugglers and spies and dangerous criminals. He spends a lot of time being shot at, hit on the head, held prisoner, threatened with death, and escaping from police officers after he's been set up by the bad guys. Perhaps because there is a lot of humor in the books, my kids never seem to be too worried about his fate. And they shouldn't be - Tintin always gets away, and he always gets his story.
Snowy is Tintin's adorable little white dog and trusty sidekick. Sometimes the bad guys try to shoot Snowy, but he always gets away, and usually shows up just in time to chew the ropes used to tie Tintin's hands together in captivity. Professor Calculus is a brilliant inventor who is very hard of hearing, so he often misunderstands what everyone is saying. Captain Haddock is a sailor with a strong temper and an even stronger taste for whiskey.
Apparently the Tintin books have been criticized for negative portrayals of some ethnic groups, but the books we've read so far have not been egregious - in fact Tintin makes fun of Europeans who stereotype the Chinese in The Blue Lotus. So if you don't mind exposing your children to violence, criminality, and jokes about alcohol dependency, your family might enjoy the Tintin books too.

I'm back! And I've been reading!

Where have I been, you ask? During my year-long blog hiatus, I have bought a house, sold a house, moved to another state, and I think I have just finished filling out the last of about 200 pages of forms for the kids' new school.
Now, however, I will have loads of time to write my blog. When the wee ones return to school, I will have hours and hours of nothing to do. Well, nothing but unpacking and putting away the 50 boxes of junk that fill two rooms of our new house. And buying or sewing window treatments for 22 windows. And reading!
There has, of course, been some reading over the last year. The book that has really stuck in my mind is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It's a book about a German girl growing up during World War II. Her parents are taken away because they are Communists, and she is taken in by a foster family. The husband is kind and patient; the wife is a foul-mouthed shrew who takes a long time to show the better sides of her personality.
I liked the book in part because it shows a less commonly portrayed view of the war and the Holocaust - ordinary German kids who have nothing against the jews, but who hate the Hitler Youth mostly because the teenage leaders are such jerks. The book also has an unusual style, including occasional illustrations. The narrator of the story is Death. He's pretty weary from all the extra work Hitler is creating for him, so he seems pleased to be distracted by this young girl and her story. At first I didn't like the style of the writing, but I kept reading and was pulled into the story. Somehow the narration by Death ended up working for me.
After I finished the book, I discovered that it was marketed as a young adult book. Although the main character grows from child to teenager during the story, I didn't think of it as a juvenile book when I was reading it. Any adult who likes a good story with interesting characters and relationships might enjoy this book. And although many sad things happen in the book, I didn't feel depressed when I finished it. That Death guy tells a good story.

Roundup of Picture Books

We've read a few fun picture books in the last week or so:

The Girl and the Elephant, by Nicole de Cock, begins, "This is the girl. She often goes to the zoo. She goes to see the animals, wishing there were no bars between them." The plain words and simple but beautiful illustrations tell the tale of a girl who becomes friends with an elephant at the zoo, and then follows the elephant back to Africa. It is a lovely book with a fantastical story. My seven-year-old daughter was charmed.

Clarabella's Teeth, by An Vrombaut, is the tale of a crocodile who has so many teeth that it takes her all day to brush them. By the time Clarabella is done brushing, her friends are done playing and going to bed. Don't worry, there is a solution. My four-year-old son found the bright colored pictures and humorous tale very entertaining.

Chato's Kitchen, by Gary Soto and illustrated by Susan Guevara, is the story of a cat who invites his new neighbors, a family of mice, over "for dinner." Unfortunately for the cat, he ends up eating a vegetarian meal. Fortunately, he has made a wonderful feast of salsa, fajitas, enchiladas, and other items that taste just fine without mouse meat. It's a cute story with a Latino theme, and it includes a glossary of the Spanish words used if you are not familiar with them. My kids enjoyed the story, but didn't ask to hear it again.

Super-Completely and Totally the Messiest by Judith Viorst is a story told by a girl convinced that she has the messiest little sister in the world. Many examples are given, complete with detailed illustrations of the chaos that young Sophie leaves wherever she goes. Luckily Sophie's family seems to appreciate that she is a good kid who just happens to leave a trail behind her wherever she goes. Both my kids liked this book, but it seemed to particularly appeal to my daughter, whose room tends to look like a post-Katrina photo of New Orleans.

All these books were plucked, seemingly at random, off the library shelves in about two minutes. I'm often surprised at how many good books my children find this way. None of these books are ones that I would run out and buy, but they certainly were worth reading and borrowing for a few weeks. Our weekly trip to the library has been a great part of this summer.

The End of Harry Potter

Ah, the last book. I'm sad that it is over. However, I read the book so quickly, in order to find out what happened, that I am already prepared to read it again. Next time I read, I will savor all the little details.

I'm curious about J.K. Rowling's next creation. I hope she will write again, even if it is a completely different world and characters. Of course it is unlikely that anything else will satisfy the Harry Potter fans, but that shouldn't stop her from trying.

For those who loved Harry Potter, I have the following recommendations:

The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis (my favorites are "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" and "The Silver Chair," although "The Magician's Nephew" is pretty great too.)

The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper (loved these as a kid, except for the very end of the very last book)

His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman (loved the first two books as an adult, the last not so much. The first book, "The Golden Compass," is being made into a movie.)

"The Princess and the Goblin" by George McDonald (a childhood favorite - I should pick up a copy and read it to my daughter.)

"The Wolves of Willoughby Chase" (and the rest of the Wolves Chronicles) by Joan Aiken - not so much magic, but lots of Gothic drama and adventure. For older children or adults, "Midnight is a Place" is an amazing book.

"Half Magic" by Edgar Eager. My then six-year-old daughter loved this one.

"The Enchanted Castle" by E. Nesbit. I loved this author when I was a kid, and read loads of her books. However, my daughter found this book too slow when I tried to read it to her (at age six), and we quit after 30 or so pages. It is probably better for an older child or a faster reader.

And don't forget all the Oz books by L. Frank Baum or the Fairy books ("The Red Fairy Book," "The Blue Fairy Book" etc.) by Andrew Lang, or the Doctor Doolittle books by Hugh Lofting.

Since some of these are OLD books, I will try reading some to my very modern children and let you know how it goes. Personally, I always loved reading books written a hundred years before I was born, but then again I was an odd little child. Thankfully Harry Potter has made it fashionable for adults to read books written for children, so I can re-live my childhood without dragging my poor kids into it.

Usborne Farmyard Tales

My son is a train fanatic, and he will read almost anything about trains. However, as the parent who has to read stories over and over and over again, I am a bit more discriminating.
One series of books that I can happily read to the children is the Usborne Farmyard Tales train books. They are by Heather Amery, with adorable pictures by Stephen Cartwright. The books we own are "The Old Steam Train," "Rusty's Train Ride," and "Dolly and the Train." There is another called "Woolly Stops the Train" which I don't believe we have (but there are so many books in this house, who really knows?)
There is not a lot of plot in these 16-page picture books. For example: kids go on a field trip; the steam engine stops working; Dolly the horse pulls the carriage back to the station. However, the illustrations are not only cute, but there is a little yellow duck on each page for young readers to discover. A map of the countryside is on the endpapers so you can locate the events of each story, and there is a duck on the map too.
These are sweet, simple books for young children. I would recommend them for ages 2-6. There are other stories that don't involve trains, but we have not read any of them. They are probably equally cute and entertaining for children.

Little House in the Big Woods

While I grew up reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, they are not books that I kept and re-read over and over. So I was surprised by the number of whippings referred to in "Little House in the Big Woods". I suspect my memory of the books has been overlaid by vague memories of Melissa Gilbert and Michael Landon in the "prairies" of Southern California on the TV show. Surely Michael Landon didn't whip little girls, even if they slapped their sisters! Or maybe I've just forgotten that too..

Despite the whippings (which seem quite exotic to a child raised on "time outs" and the occasional empty threat of all her toys being taken away) my daughter loved this book. She was fascinated by the details of this family's way of life. The book describes everything from how the family stored food for the winter to what games the children played and how the wheat was harvested. We were both impressed by how hard people had to work in those days. We were astonished by the idea of children who are five or six years old who go to store for the first time in their entire lives. And, of course, I couldn't resist pointing out how grateful the children were when they received new red mittens and one piece of peppermint candy each for Christmas. Well, Laura also got a rag doll - but she was in rapture about receiving one homemade toy. I will leave you to imagine how impressed my modern child was about this little lecture on gratitude.

Personally, I'm feeling a great deal of gratitude that I'm not Laura's mom, working hard from sunrise to sunset and then mending socks by firelight after the sun goes down. Not to mention sleeping on a bed stuffed with straw in the same room as my children. However did Baby Carrie get conceived? Anyway, this book is great for anyone who wants to appreciate the joys of modern life, or wants to get a little nostalgic for the good old days when the women were strong, the men played a mean fiddle, and the children grew up to be world-famous authors.

Seabiscuit

Who was the biggest newsmaker in the U.S. in 1938? Roosevelt? Hitler? No, it was a racehorse named Seabiscuit. Laura Hillenbrand wrote "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" to show modern readers why Seabiscuit captured the imagination of Americans during the Great Depression.
Yeah, I know, everybody else read this years ago, or at least saw the movie. For some reason I never read it back when it was being hyped.

I was never a horse-crazy girl and have never been to a horse race in my life. I've never even watched the Kentucky Derby on TV, or drank a mint julep. All I know about horse racing comes from reading Dick Francis mysteries, and those are mostly about English hurdling races, which seems to be a rather different sport.

Despite my previous lack of knowledge, I found "Seabiscuit" fascinating. The book gives you a lot of background about horse racing in the 1930's, Seabiscuit, his owner, his trainer, and his jockeys. However, all the information is presented in a way that reads more like a novel than nonfiction, and from me that is a compliment. Sometimes (okay, often) I get bogged down in nonfiction and never even finish the book. But I stayed up late reading Seabiscuit, just to find out what would happen to everyone. This was a great read.

(By the way, I counted my Dick Francis books last week and discovered I had 27 books. Twenty-seven! Surely I had all of them -- but no, according to http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/, Mr. Francis has written 41 best-selling novels. So I guess I can learn more about horse racing while I wait for Ms. Hillenbrand to write another book.)