A Year in Books

I always love the end-of-year "Best Of" lists printed in many newspapers and magazines. I like to gauge if I'm up on the various sectors of popular culture or if there are music, movies, authors, or other artists that I missed and need to explore. In the spirit of full disclosure, I'm not usually up on the most cutting edge music. That's what happens when your audio diet consists mostly of NPR or kids' books on tape and your computer with iTunes loaded on it dies.

For some reason this year was feast or famine as far as books go, alternating between long dry spells or so many books at one time from my library reserve list that I couldn't finish them all. These were my favorites of 2010, in no particular order.

Loved the unique epistolary format of the book, with the protagonist's life examined in letters. I really identified with the main character - her desire for home and family, but still yearning for adventure and self-actualization through travel and other experiences unique to women of her time. This book made for one of the most interesting discussions of my book club to date, with widely varying opinions of Bess and her choices.

Somehow I made it to age 30 without hearing about this YA and high school literature class standard. The author's stream of consciousness writing style and her spot-on channeling of teenage concerns and jadedness "spoke" to me. The heroine's emotional inner turmoil and its eventual resolution could have been depressing, but emerged hopeful.

Richard Russo is one of the masters of a class of authors who artfully examine the themes of adult life and relationships. Other such writers I've enjoyed include Elizabeth Strout and Wallace Stegner. While some readers might be turned off by the frank "realities" of marriage, aging, loss, childrearing, and expectations (met and unmet), the beauty of the writing and vivid characters provide a satisfying redemption. Caveat: His books do contain a fair amount of profanity. Judge me as you will that I like them anyway.

A veritable tome that is worth every page. The story of twin Ethiopian brothers, their absent doctor father, nurse/nun mother who died in childbirth, and their love/hate relationship traverses miles, literally, emotionally, and figuratively. Because of the characters and storyline, the book includes medical diction and themes, but my dad was a doc so I found it interesting, not exhausting.

Loved it from start to finish and evangelized it to everyone I knew. See my earlier review here.

Thanks to various Top Ten lists I now have a few more books to add to my reading list for the new year. I'd love to hear about the highlights of your year in books and happy reading in 2011!

Diamonds or Tin?

Today Andy and I celebrate a decade of marriage. We just got back from dinner at a yummy restaurant and shoe shopping with leftover Christmas money. They say that tin is the traditional gift to commemorate 10 years of wedded bliss, but my vote is for a diamond anniversary band. As it stands, that will probably have to wait until our next ten years.


We were married in the Salt Lake LDS Temple, wedding number 27 of 51 on December 28, 2000. I remember feeling nervous as we waited for the ceremony to begin, as the gravity of the commitment settled upon me. But as we began, it all felt right and I still feel the same way these ten years later. Sometimes I think about what babies we were (20 and 22, respectively), and how I never planned to get married that young. But when I met Andy, I knew he was exactly the type of guy I wanted to marry. So of course I spent the next year trying to break up with him because I had so many other plans and things to check off my list before I tied the knot. Thankfully, I had many unique experiences before marriage and have had many since then as well. It's definitely been a sometimes bumpy and winding road, but I wouldn't trade what we've learned and shared. As far as most journeys go, I'm a travel junkie and Andy is a homebody (unless it's a golf vacation), but all I know is that I have one swell traveling companion on the road of life.

It's That Time of Year Again

Just a little sneak preview of our 2010 Christmas card, designed by the lovely and immensely talented Kiki Comin. One of my favorite things about the holidays is sending and receiving actual printed greetings. It's a tradition I hope will always continue, even as technology changes. I love seeing families grow and getting updates on people's lives. Email is much more convenient, but there's nothing like the running out to the mailbox, slitting open the cards, and looking fondly at friends' faces smiling back at you from the pictures hanging on the back of the front door.

Apologies to those of you who live nearby, you'll have to substitute us in lieu of a card. Between our many moves and friends moving way, our Christmas card list keeps growing. So I've had to limit mailing cards to those who live out of town. But please know you're worth the postage!

P.S. For all of you who agonize over coordinating outfits for family pictures, here's a little side note. I had a light blue polo shirt picked for Andy and the morning of our photos he tossed it aside and announced he would wear his red striped one instead. Have I mentioned that Andy hates taking pictures? :) His natural good taste ended up working well with the background.

The Sing-Off

Did anyone else watch The Sing-Off last night? Too bad if you missed it because you were tuned into Skating With the Stars instead. I'm not usually into reality TV, but this one wowed, especially the rendition of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" performed by a group of 15 college guys. Not the best vocal performance of the night, but by far the best choreography, which trumps in my book. Sorry you have to put up with an ad to get to the video, but I promise, it's worth it.

P.S. As far as the judges go, Andy and I decided we are Ben Folds and Shawn Stockman fans, but Nicole Pussy Cat Doll, not so much. We want the funny, thoughtful, witty, and technical critiques, not the warm fuzzy, say nothing fluff.

Which group was your favorite? Will you be watching or does a capella not tickle your fancy?

Shameless Plug

One of my best girlfriends just published an e-book that is my new parenting bible. I can vouch for it since I got to read the whole thing as one of her editors. It's aimed at smart, thoughtful parents who want to help instill character and discipline in their young child(ren) in a positive way. The book is chock full of ideas grounded not only in research and theory, but practical experience. I particularly love the plentiful examples of how to handle a variety of parenting situations, as well as tools to reduce frustration (both yours and your kid's). Mandy is a bona fide child development expert, as well as a seasoned teacher who also trains educators on classroom management and best practices.

Go to her website to find out more about the book, read reviews, and get a sneak peek of the first few pages. For the next five days you can enter the coupon code NotJustCute to get your copy at a discounted price. Hurry and start reading and then let me know when you've finished. Hooray for practical, common sense parenting advice!