I have a secret

So, you guys know I love to read, right? And almost always have a book or two from the library going at all times. In fact, half of what I read doesn't even make it into the "Currently Reading" section of my sidebar because by the time I remember to update it, I've already moved on.

I joined a book club last summer and went to my first meeting in August. We read and discussed "Escape" by Carolyn Jessop. I enjoyed it. The next month they were reading "The Shack" by William Young. I vaguely remembered hearing about it, or maybe seeing it at Target, but I was on a cruise with my mom that month when they met, so I didn't get to go, and didn't get the book read. The next two months I couldn't go because Blaine was having radiation and couldn't help shuttle kids to activities those nights .... blah blah, no more book club for me, I was too embarrassed to show up again after missing three months in a row.

Somewhere, between then and now, a girlfriend of mine asked if I had read "The Shack". Told me several times how wonderful it was and encouraged me to read it. I thought about the fact I had missed that month in Book Club. I heard it mentioned a few more times ..... knew I should read it because it was so highly recommended ... then I got busy .... eating Doritos, whatever. (I'm kidding, I don't even like Doritos. But crunchy Cheetos? Oh, yeah, baby, I'm all over that.)

Last week, one of the moms at my kids' school came up and asked me if I had read "The Shack". Just came up, and asked me out of the blue, "Have you read 'The Shack'?" When I said no, she said, simply, "You must. It is life-altering." And I thought, ok, fine, I'll read it already!! So I went down and put my name on a wait-list at the library. She asked a few days later if I had gotten my copy yet, and reiterated that I. Simply. Must. Read. It.

The very next day I was in the teacher's workroom making copies and the art teacher walked in, with a copy of "The Shack" and asked if anyone wanted to borrow it.

I know! How creepy was that?!

So I brought it home, and during these past two snow days, read it.

Now, here's the part where I have a secret. I'm going to whisper, because I'm not sure I want to confess this out loud ..... {looking over my shoulder} ....

Shhhhhhhh......

Ok, are we in private? Because here's my secret ......

I freaking hated it.

HATED. IT.

Am I the only one???

Apparently it's been the number one bestseller for a kajillion months and is getting nothing but great reviews and everyone says Oh. Em. Gee. its the best message EVER and YOU MUST READ IT, IT WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK.

I ... thought it was exasperating. I thought it was hard to read. Not because it was a difficult subject matter, but literally hard to read, as in, the characters talked in riddles that I found annoying. I hated that the main character (main Earthly character, I guess I should stipulate) was so dense, and basically walked around the entire middle section of the book scratching his head, asking, "Huh?" and second-guessing himself the entire time. I found myself re-reading entire paragraphs, trying to decipher what the heck was actually being said, and who was questioning who (whom?) and what exactly the point was.

I also struggled with the personification of God as a black woman. Perhaps I'm unenlightened, but to me, God is referenced in the Bible in consistently masculine terms. Does that mean God IS a man? Or a male gender? I have no idea, and I'm not about to start a theological debate here. I just know that in my own mind, he's not a black woman I call "Papa".

And then I thought, well, maybe I'm just not very smart. Maybe this book is too cerebral, or the concept is too lofty for me to follow. Or perhaps the *goal* of the book was to take me out of my comfort zone, and make me question my own beliefs ..... but I don't think that was it. I really, truly found the book to be annoying.

I actually quit reading about half way through because I just wasn't interested in what was happening. Then I had that "no, don't give up, it will get better" thought. So many people love this book, how could I be the only one who didn't "get it"?

But you know what? I didn't. I didn't get it. I finished it, read every page, didn't skip or cheat or look ahead, and I still don't get what the fuss was about.

So there's my secret.

I'm the only person on the planet who didn't like it, and I'm TOTALLY breaking my "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all" rule .... but I hated "The Shack".

Now, before I hit "publish" and William Young's publisher, or, you know, his MOM hops on here with hate mail, I feel compelled to point you all towards Dad Gone Mad's recent post about how it's ok to disagree with respect and politeness .....

I'm just saying.

Splutter! Cough! Gag! Hwaaaack! Wow!!!

You know what that sound is? That’s the sound of me, nonchalantly and innocently going about my day, sitting in front of the computer, drinking something, la-de-da, minding my own business, eating something …. Oh, I don’t know …. Say, something like Milk Duds, perhaps, when suddenly a comment pops up on my blog that takes me totally by surprise and I wind up choking on my own spit.

Thanks to all of you for your kind comments on Kendrie’s latest fashion crime accessory. Suffice it to say, the hatred the entire Beatles band (except for John, of course) felt for Yoko is not even close to the hatred she feels for her headgear. I’m afraid, if her orthodontist is to be believed, however, that it’s unavoidable. She has a cross-bite, an under-bite, a too-small palate, and crooked teeth. She got the always-fun expander right before Christmas Break and we cranked that bad boy open every night for two weeks, so she now has a lovely gap between her two front teeth. The headgear is an attempt, like someone said in the comment section, to correct the under bite without resorting to surgery. She wears it in increasingly longer increments each day after school (no way on earth would I make the poor child wear that monstrosity out in public) until she is able to wear it for five or six hours at a stretch …. Then she’ll begin wearing it at night. She’s already extracted the promise from her father and me that she can skip any night that involves a sleepover, either here or at a friend’s house. According to the literature, skipping one night equals a loss of four night’s worth of correction ….. wow. We might need to re-think that.

Anyway, this is all “Phase One”, and is basically the prep work to get her ready for the all-out braces she’ll wear in a few years when her permanent teeth have all come in. Brayden also went through Phase One and is now waiting on her permanent teeth for braces. Kellen was able to skip Phase One, but the Grand Canyon gap between his front teeth, plus the fact he is genetically mutated and was born without his permanent upper incisor B’s, means braces are definitely in his future as well. So pretty much our family is an orthodontist’s worst nightmare. Or greatest windfall, depending on your perspective.

But anyway! That’s not what made me choke on my own saliva. I was reading the comments from all of you, commiserating and flash-backing to your own orthodontic nightmares (for the record, I had braces to correct the same gap as Kellen, then wore a retainer to correct a cross bite, but never had full-out braces. Hence the reason my bottom teeth are crooked to this day. I like to think it gives me character. Truth is, I hate the dentist so much that NO WAY would I go to the trouble to correct it.)

And suddenly one of the comments was signed, “All my best to Kendrie, thanks for reading my book, Sandy Humphrey.”

Holy cow, she’s a real-live actual author, signing in here on my site! You can see for yourself that I have one of her books listed in my sidebar under the “currently reading” section. And she signed MY blog?!?!

Now, I don’t know this person personally (person personally, does that even make sense??) and I’m sure her publishing house has some kind of automatic search engine that turns up any site with her name on it, which led her here (much like my blog story about my child-hood friend Steve, my lab partner who threw up on frog-dissection day, who is now the Chief Freaking Financial Officer for Sonic Corporation, turned up on *their* search engines … sorry about that, Steve.) But still, how cool that she took the time to actually look at Kendrie’s picture and leave a note of encouragement?

So, turn about being fair play, and what have you, I thought I’d give you guys a quick plug for her book(s).

I saw a recommendation for Ms. Humphrey’s book “Hot Issues, Cool Choices” in a parenting magazine. The subtitle is “Facing Bullies, Peer Pressure, Popularity, and Put-Downs”, which I thought might facilitate some helpful conversations with Brayden, now that she’s in middle school. Thank GOODNESS we're not having any of those issues, but you can never be too prepared, right? When I went to Amazon to order the book with the Amazon gift card I won on Dad Gone Mad’s site (yippee!) their search engine suggested her other books as well. She has books titled, “It’s Up to You … What Do You Do?” and “If You Had To Choose, What Would You Do?” Some are geared to younger kids, some to older. Each book contains 25 stories of moral, ethical, social dilemmas that kids find themselves in, and then questions to promote discussion with your own children.

A few years back we had a book of questions for kids, some funny, some insightful, some thought-provoking, some silly. We took turns asking questions and giving answers every night at dinner and enjoyed ourselves. When I realized these books of Ms. Humphrey’s would allow me to expand on that concept, I bought four of her books and received them last week.

We started with the “youngest” “What Would You Do” book and I must say, our family has greatly enjoyed them. The chapters we’ve read so far at dinner each night discuss real-live, ACTUAL possible scenarios for kids in today’s climate. Not “what you would do if you found a million dollars?”, but a more realistic possibility, like “what would you do if you saw a $20 bill fall out of a person’s pocket?” …. Or, “what would you do if you saw a $20 bill fall out of a person’s pocket and your best friend grabbed it and wanted to spend it?” Other topics include school scenarios, bullying, peer pressure, friends, perceptions, etc.

What I like about these books is that the scenarios are presented in a non-biased way. The story is told, and then questions are posed at the end of each story for parents to discuss with their kids. “Right” and “wrong” aren’t crammed down anyone’s throat, and it really lets parents promote their own values and opinions without being preachy.

So far our family has discussed how to be nice to a new student when your best friend hates them, how to be a good loser, the importance of chores, and is it really stealing if you don’t get caught? I tried really, really hard to smoothly turn the chore story into a comparison of why it’s important for our kids do actual chores here at our house, but alas, I’m not sure it worked.

Anyway, I highly recommend this author, Sandra McLeod Humphrey, and these books. At twenty-five stories in a book, with the four books I bought, I figure we’ve got enough material to last until April or May. Maybe by THEN my kids will be more willing to do chores.

Nawwwwww, I didn’t think so either.

Young Adult

Rita, let me assure you I was not offended in the LEAST by your observation … in fact, I thought it was funny. And completely accurate! I was actually thrilled to realize how much I enjoy young adult, as it opens up a whole new world for me at the library. I’m sure I’ll be sinking my teeth (Ha-ha, get it?! Another Twilight joke!) into many more YA books in the coming months and like you, am just glad to be reading.

Kathleen in GA, the rule in our house (normally, unless I’m being lazier than usual) is you have to read the book *before* you can see the movie. Without a doubt, knowing that Twilight was coming out in movie form was incentive for Brayden to stick with such a long book. It was actually the Harry Potter series that made me create that rule for my kids …. No WAY can they fit everything from a 500 page book into a two hour movie, and this rule makes me happy and hopeful that my kids won’t miss as much as they might if they were to go straight to the movie (probably because I’m a meanie-face-bossy-pants, but oh well.)

Tammy in OH, there are lots of things about this series that I admire. ::warning – spoiler alert – spoiler alert:: I read online (although I have no idea if this is true) that the author is Mormon, and I do see some of that spilling over into the book. None of the teen characters drink or smoke, except for one brief scene where the grown men are having a beer while watching a football game, I believe. The language is not exceptionally bad (or maybe it is, and because I’m a potty mouth myself I just didn’t notice …. But I really don’t think so.) It is very, very clear that the characters in this book (parents, siblings, and friends, not just the two central love figures) care deeply about one another and want to protect each other. Loyalty is key. Bella is very concerned throughout about not hurting her parents with her actions, which I also admire. (Not to say she doesn’t wind up doing it anyway, but at least it gives her pause most of the time.) Selflessness and sacrifice are central themes. The two main characters *do* wait until they’re married before they have sex, and in addition, Bella, the heroine, was still a virgin when she met Edward at the age of 17, something I was glad to read the author make note of. I think the first two books portray a very accurate perception of obsessive teen behavior, or “love”, if you will. I think the author spot-on nailed the longing and the wanting and the fanatical infatuation that can happen. (Ahhhhh, happy memories of my high-school sweetheart …..) But, I also think those feelings and emotions won’t make much sense to my eleven year old. Dear Lord, at least I hope they don’t! I also think the “longing” and “wanting” is much more detailed in book three, which is why I will make Brayden wait awhile before moving on past book two. And like others have said, the sci-fi element of book four was not as enjoyable to me, and definitely beyond the concept of what my eleven year old can grasp, understand, and enjoy. So for now, Twilight and New Moon will be as far as she can go.

Cate, I had every intention of making Brayden send you a thank you e-mail, and I’m embarrassed it hasn’t happened yet. She loves her t-shirt more than you can know … thank you!

Thanks also to those of you who’ve put your favorite YA books in the comment section. Ya’ll should know I’m a total book hound who is always looking for a suggestion. Or two or eight or ninety. Since a few of you asked about my recent reads, I thought I would share the list. For some odd reason, many of them are sci-fi, even though that’s not the genre I usually choose. I think because it’s what my kids have been reading for school, it’s where I gravitated as well. And, in a don’t-knock-it-until-you-try-it mode, I’ve discovered books I enjoyed thoroughly, that I probably wouldn’t have taken notice of, otherwise.

YA books I’ve read lately and enjoyed:

The Shadow Children Series by Margaret Haddix. Read the first one on Kellen’s recommendation, he and I both read them all, but not together. I am REALLY looking forward to starting her next series, Found.

Uglies, Pretties, and Specials by Scott Westerfeld. Read the first one because Brayden was reading it, went on to finish the trilogy on my own. However, I only recently discovered there is another book, the Extras, so I guess I need to track it down as well.

The White Mountains by John Christopher. Read it because it was required reading for Kellen’s book club. Didn’t enjoy it *quite* as much as the others, but still a good read.

Runaway by Wendelin Van Draanen. Found it a little unbelievable that a 12-year old girl could fend for herself so successfully for so long, but it was a good read.

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, and Notes from the Midnight Driver, both by Jordan Sonnenblick. Extremely enjoyable, and want another of his books, Zen and the Art of Faking It, next.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. I know, it looks silly, and it sort of is. But it’s funny! I also enjoyed DWK 2, Roderick Rules, but I think the Do-It-Yourself Wimpy Kid book 3 is nothing more than a pathetic marketing attempt to sell something to kids and make a profit. Don’t sell my kid what is essentially a bunch of blank notebook pages for the price of a hardback book. Oh, wait. You already did.

YA books I have read lately and didn’t enjoy:

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle. Is it against the law for me to admit that? I know it’s considered a children’s classic, but, well, Kellen and I both were bored to tears. It was for a book report and in fact, about three quarters of the way through we bagged it and he read a Hank the Cowdog book instead. Yep, Hank the Cowdog. Now *there’s* a classic!

The Secret Prince by D. Anne Love. This is the abandoned book that led Brayden and I to read Twilight …. Totally uninteresting to both of us. In fact, this is exactly why I’ve never bothered with Lord of the Rings, because I assume it will be just like this. Prophecy. Quests. Magic swords. Yawn.

And there you have it. Everything young-adult I can think of off the top of my head that I’ve read the past two or three months.

I also recently read Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey. Shockingly, simply reading the book did not, in fact, give me financial peace. Do you think that’s because I charged it at Barnes and Noble?

Addicted

I recently re-read Stephanie Meyer's Twilight with Brayden for her second 9-weeks Science Fiction book report. You might remember. I certainly complained about the diorama loud enough.

On Friday, I re-read the second book of the series, New Moon.

Saturday, I began and finished Eclipse.

Today, I began and finished Breaking Dawn.

Let's review, shall we?

I have not made breakfast or lunch for the past three days, despite the fact my entire family is home on Christmas break.

I have not put away a single Christmas decoration.

I *have* made dinner all three nights, but haven't bothered to set the table and eat as a family because I have eaten off a plate on my lap, sitting on the sofa, reading.

I have a headache.

I have what is possibly the world's worst crick in my neck from looking down at my book(s) for three solid days.

I might very well be in love with Edward.

Or perhaps Jacob.

But I still don't feel as strongly for either of them as I feel for Jamie in The Outlander series.

Actually, only young Jamie. Jamie when he gets older, in the later books, doesn't do it as much for me.

I have enjoyed the past three days immensely.

Brayden, at least for now, will not be allowed past New Moon.

Thoughts? Opinions?

PS. To the person who noticed and commented that my "Currently Reading" section is usually straight from the Young Adult section at the library .... yeah .... I confess. I started reading the same books Brayden and Kellen were reading to help them with their book club, and then as their reading levels got higher I thought it might be the responsible thing to do. Then, I have to admit, I found out that I really enjoy young adult, and get a kick out of Brayden making suggestions to me based on what she is reading. How ironic that she just returned to me today one of the books I bought her for Christmas, Eleven by Lauren Myracle, and said, "Mom, I think you should read this first. It's really inappropriate." Hmmmm. I'll start it as soon as I finish the next book she recommended to me, Schooled by Gordon Korman. And lest any of you cluck your tongues at the voluntary "dumbing down" I'm doing by reading young adult books, let me point out that Twilight is technically on a 5th grade reading level. While I don't necessarily agree with that for content sake, who am I to argue with the classification of Scholastic Books? So head to the library and grab yourself some young adult books. You might just be pleasantly surprised.