Books, books, books

What we are reading (in addition to a whole bunch of "quick reads" in Bug and Bean's book collection):

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K. Rowling) - When book six came out last July, I decided that I wanted to reread all five of the previous books before reading book six. Since Bug enjoys listening to stories so much, I started at the beginning reading them aloud. We can read a couple of chapters a week when we are reading regularly, but there are times when Bug doesn't want to listen to a book without pictures and we also took a looooong hiatus while I finished up my dissertation. We are reading (more or less) regularly again now and are working our way through book four.

The Search for Modern China (Jonathan D. Spence) - When I was studying Chinese, I checked this book out from the library on the recommendation of a classmate taking a Chinese history class. It is extremely interesting and well-written, but I can only take history in small doses, so I wasn't moving fast enough for the library! I bought a copy not long after that, but with kids and graduate school and all the rest of life, it got put on a book shelf. I found it a couple of weeks ago, going through books in the shed and decided it was time to read it all. I'm on Chapter Two...the Manchus are quelling the last of the Ming dynasty and the Qing dynasty is on its way in. It's still going slow, but that's okay. I don't have a deadline!

Semi-permanent members of my reading pile include:

• Raising Your Spirited Child (Mary Sheedy Kurcinka) - One word: Bug
  
• How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk (Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish) - Respectful family communication
  
• The Discipline Book (William and Martha Sears) - can't go wrong with the Sears
  
• The Family Nutrition Book (William and Martha Sears)
  

I go back and read bits and pieces of these fairly regularly...