The Book Blawg

Perfect Parenting: The Dictionary of 1000 Parenting Tips, by Elizabeth Pantley.

This book is neat. When you have an issue with a child and just need some ideas as to how to handle it, just turn to one of hundreds of alphabetized topics, from "Allowances" to "Nightmares" to "Yelling and Screaming". What I liked about this book is that it is useful no matter what, if any, parenting philosophy you subscribe to, and does not claim to have only one answer for every child in every situation. Endorsed by Dr. Sears, too.

Hunters of Dune, by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

I read this book last year when it came out, but it had been years since I had read the original Dune series. Now, reading it immediately after Chapterhouse: Dune, I am impressed by how well the two books flow together. My library has ordered Sandworms of Dune and I am anxiously awaiting it. Although, I do agree wholeheartedly with one Amazon.com reviewer who wrote: "The biggest gap between father and son is subtlety. What Frank Herbert implied with a sentence, B. Herbert and Anderson drag out into a paragraph-long explanation."

Your Fairy Bookmother posts on the lack of breastfeeding images in children's books (Reluctant Lactivism).

She may have missed these.

Heretics of Dune, by Frank Herbert.

Chapterhouse: Dune , by Frank Herbert.

I am eagerly awaiting Sandworms of Dune, the soon-to-be-published last book in the Dune series (actually, it is Part II of book 7, Hunters of Dune being Part I of book 7). Before I read it, though, I am trying to finish up the original 6 Dune books (which I have read many times) and re-read Hunters before my library gets its copy of Sandworms. I'm first on the hold list. At that point, I will have read all 14 Dune books in chronological order. In one year. Yikes.

Heretics of Dune is one of the best in the Dune series. It has an engaging plot, fleshed-out characters, mysteries that are later revealed (and some that are not). Chapterhouse is another story. Much of the "action" takes place in the character's minds, primarily that of Darwi Odrade, the Mother Superior of the Bene Gesserit. This book contains endless conversations between characters, and little action occurs until the very end of the book, and not much of a surprise at that. It's just another book that just gets you from point A to point B.

This week I stumbled across Bryan Terry's review of the audiobook of Dune. Bryan's Book Blog (which I found through his wife's blog, which I found where?) seems to be taking off, in the sense that real authors are visiting his site and commenting on his posts. By comparison, would you believe that this blog gets, on average, one hit a day? Me neither.