The Book Blawg

Why We Want You to be Rich: Two Men - One Message, by Donald J. Trump and Robert T. Kiyosaki (with Meredith McIver and Sharon Lechter)

I stopped reading this book half-way through. The best thing about this book is that Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki got together and decided to write a book. And, to be honest, that is just what most of the book is about - why they decided to write a book together and how much they have in common and all the things they agree on. If you've read anything by either one of them, there's not much new here.

One year ago today, at 11:06 p.m., I created this blog. Just hours later, I woke up in labor which ultimately resulted in the birth of my son Andrew. As my tagline says, three boys :: three blogs. So this blog birthday is special to me for that reason.

Goals for this blog: for one thing, update it more often. Once I finish a book, I am eager to start the next one. Takes a little self-discipline to write a review or at least note it on the blog first. I also plan to be more choosy about what I read in 2007. Quality, not quantity.

Over the next several days, I will finish listing all the books I read in 2006 that I haven't posted yet. Then I will post some sort of year-end tally.

Happy Birthday, Book Blawg! Happy Birthday, Andrew!

I read 80 books in 2006. At least.

These are books I read in 2006. I'm not going to write a review or summary of each. If you want to know what I thought, email me or drop me a comment and I'll let you know what I though.

Cheaper by the Dozen, by Frank B. Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey.

Belles on Their Toes, by Frank B. Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey.

Organizing Plain and Simple: A Ready Reference Guide with Hundreds of Solutions to Your Everyday Clutter Challenges by Donna Smallin.

The One-Minute Organizer Plain & Simple, by Donna Smallin.

School Proof: How to Help Your Family Beat the System and Learn to Love Learning, the Easy, Natural Way, by Mary Pride.

Shopaholic Ties the Knot , by Sophie Kinsella.

Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui, by Karen Kingston.

Feng Shui: How to Achieve the Most Harmonious Arrangement of Your Home and Office , by Angel Thompson.

The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live, by Sarah Susanka.

The One Minute Manager, by Kenneth H. Blanchard and Spencer Johnson.

The One Minute Mother, by Spencer Johnson.

Everything Bad is Good for You, by Steven Johnson.

The Happiest Toddler on the Block: The New Way to Stop the Daily Battle of Wills and Raise a Secure and Well-Behaved One- to Four-Year-Old , by Harvey Karp and Paula Spencer.

Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression, by Brooke Shields.

The Redemption of Sarah Cain, by Beverly Lewis.

The Brethren, by Beverly Lewis.

Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel--Why Everything You Know is Wrong, by John Stossel.

Saving Dinner for the Holidays: Menus, Recipes, Shopping Lists, and Timelines for Spectacular, Stress-free Holidays and Family Celebrations, by Leanne Ely.

The A.D.D. Book: New Understandings, New Approaches to Parenting Your Child , by William Sears and Lynda Thompson.

The Butlerian Jihad (Legends of Dune, Book 1) , by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.
The Machine Crusade (Legends of Dune, Book 2), by by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.
The Battle of Corrin (Legends of Dune Series, Book 3), by by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

These are some of the longest, most tedious, over-written books I have ever read. If it hadn't been for the fact that I wanted to read the whole Dune series, in order, I would have stopped a quarter of the way through the first book. I actually caught myself looking at how much of the first book I had left to read and being surprised at how much more I was going to have to slog through. Surprising, since I thought that Brian and Kevin did a great job with Hunters of Dune.

A Ride on Mother's Back: A Day of Baby Carrying around the World, by Emery Bernhard

While I don't usually blog about children's books, this is one I checked out for me. A Ride on Mother's Back is a delightful book which shows babies being carried around the world. The only bad thing I can say about the book is that I wish it showed Western European/North American babies being carried. The modern ring sling, for example, is said to have been invented in 1981 by Brittish researcher Rayner Garner and his wife, while living in Hawaii. But on the last page (and in the icon on the map for North America) there is a photo in the background of a baby in a structured backpack-type carier. Also, although this book is titled "a ride on mother's back", nearly half of the examples show babies being worn by grandparents, fathers, sisters, etc. A must for the baby-wearing crowd, though.

The Buck Stops Here's Stuart Buck reviews Steven Berlin Johnson's book Everything Bad Is Good for You.

Healthy, Wealthy & Wise: A Step-By-Step Plan For Success Through Healthful Living, by KRS Edstrom.

CEOs and leaders of major American corporations are healthier, eat better, and exercise more than the general population. Perhaps if you follow their diet, excercise, and lifestyle tips, you will become successful, too.

Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers: Developing Change-Ready People and Organizations , by Robert Kriegel and David Brandt

You may know by now how much I appreciate a catchy, descriptive book title. This book discusses the "sacred cow" (defined as an outmoded belief, assumption, practice, policy, system, or strategy, generally invisible, that inhibits change and prevents responsivenes to new opportunities) and how to go about finding and eliminating them. The second half of the book discusses change, how to ready you team for change, and how to implement change so that it will be embraced instead of resisted. This book is helpful and interesting.

Baby Laughs: The Naked Truth About the First Year of Mommyhood, by Jenny McCarthy

Though I dreaded reading this book, it was not as irritating as Belly Laughs nor as dreadful as Life Laughs. It’s far from being recommended, but it was actualy entertaining, The difference between this book and the others is this: Baby Poop is cute and funny. Jenny McCarthy’s poop (subject of the other two) is not. Here we learn the answers to such questions as why Jenny did not breastfeed (had "inhancements" and had concerns about the safety of them).

Alpha Bravo Charlie: The Military Alphabet , by Chris L. Demarest

While I generally don't intend to blog children's books here, this one has become a favorite of our whole family. My five-year-old memorized the military alphabet and astounded everyone. One day, I was doing some alphabet flashcards with my three-year-old, and was surprised to learn that he had learned a great portion of it, as well. The illustrations are gorgeous.

For Packrats Only: How to Clean Up, Clear Out and Dejunk Your Life Forever, by Don Aslett

Clutter's Last Stand: It's Time To De-junk Your Life!, by Don Aslett

These books provide an exhausting exhaustive list of all the junk we buy or acquire; all the reasons we acquire junk; all the reasons we find it hard to part with junk; all the different ways there are to clean up, clear out, and dejunk; and all of the negative results of failing to dejunk. These books don't describe one method to simplify your life - it describes them all. The books are disorganized and one gets the impression that if you have read one Don Aslett book, you've read them all. The books themselves need to be dejunked. A heavy-handed editor would have done the trick.

On the other hand, I did find the books to be motivating and inspiring. So, if you feel helpless, don't know where to begin, and need someone to tell you, step by step, what do do, go buy The Flylady's Book. But if you are already on the right path and feel yourself getting into a slump, these books will do the trick.

Crossing Over: One Woman's Exodus from Amish Life, by Ruth Irene Garrett with Rick Farrant

Not a great book, but interesting. Ms. Garrett grew up in Kalona, Iowa, and mentions some places I am familiar with, such as the Stringtown grocery, where my mother-in-law sometimes shops.

The Birth House: A Novel, by Ami McKay

From a stark and beautiful place, a novel is born

Sounds interesting.

I've switched over to the beta version of Blogger. The good news: tags are enabled. Bad news: it will take some time before I get everything tagged and the blog reformatted. Sorry if it's a mess in the meantime.

Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression, by Brooke Shields

This book chronicles Brooke Shields' battle with postpartum depression, made famous by her public feud with Tom Cruise, for which he later apologized. Ironically, one of the obstacles to Ms. Shields' recovery was her reluctance to use antidepressants:

When I saw that she was endorsing a brand of baby formula, I was disappointed and lost a great deal of respect for Ms. Shields. However, the story of her meeting with the company's execs reflect the marketing techniques used by formula companies to undermine breastfeeding:

They obviously have a lot of practice feeding that marketing message, because it has worked on hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of mothers each year.

The major criticism I have of this book is that it just drags on toward the end. We get a play-by-play description of Rowan's first Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, which does nothing to "advance the plot"of the book, so to speak. Maybe there was a page quota she had to meet.

Overall, I liked the book and found it interesting and helpful.

DotMoms' Sarah Egelman interviews Sarah Bilston, author of Bed Rest.

Debtective has a few words to say about the new book by Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki, Why We Want You to be Rich: Two Men - One Message. Point taken, although I still plan to read the book.

Healthy Foods: An irreverent guide to understanding nutrition and feeding your family well, by Leanne Ely

Known best for her Saving Dinner series and for her Menu Mailer service, friend-of-FlyLady Leanne Ely's first book is a no-nonsense look at family nutrition. My only complaint is that some of the ingredients - like kamut flour, sucanat, or tofu - are not items that I normally stock in my pantry or cook with. I'm moderately crunchy, but I preferred the less-healthy but more family-friendly Saving Dinner. Still, some great recipes and information.

My Life as a Furry Red Monster: What Being Elmo Has Taught Me About Life, Love and Laughing Out Loud, by Kevin Clash

This was a cute book. The Tao of Pooh it's not.

One of the neatest things about this story was the way that Mr. Clash's parents accepted and even encouraged his making puppets and performing in puppet shows. He clearly had a passion from a young age. At the age of twelve, he would drag his parents down to J0-Ann Fabric on a Saturday morning to buy yards of fake fur. Although he was painfully shy, the author seems to have had lots of support and mentoring along the way to becoming Elmo.