Pardon My French

Done

Didn't think I would manage, but I finished my very first reading challenge. I was surprised to see how many blogs out there are devoted to reading. It makes me realize how disorganized my own blog is, much like my life right now. I don't have any plans to clean it up in the immediate future -- will it be a mommy blog? A mommy in France blog? A mommy in France who likes to read blog? Most likely it will remain little boring stories of my life, although the stories have certainly changed with the birth of my daughter. We have fewer "Wow, France is a crazy but beautiful place" adventures...today, for example, we were all exhausted and just stayed in, whereas before the husband and I were always out taking walks and getting lost. Those days will come again, and I'm hoping that against the odds Snaggleteeth will be dragged along without too much kicking and screaming. And that she'll have a better sense of direction than her parents.

Anyway, back to the challenge...I need to review the last two books I read and only have 2 days in which to do it, so I'd better get cracking. Soon to appear: the official reviews of The Historian and The Devil in the White City, both of which I enjoyed. I attempted to read Possession by A.S. Byatt but just couldn't make myself continue. A friend whose opinion I value said it was a good read, but it just paled in comparison to The Historian so it will sit on my shelf until I either find motivation to read it or meet someone who would like to have it.

I am proud that I managed to control my impulse to buy books and only read things I already owned or were given to me. Having said that, I did spend less than 2 euros on a book of spooky short stories for next year (see? Wasn't that sneaky? Buying books for next year doesn't count.) and I'm still keeping my eye open for a used or very cheap copy of The Thirteenth Tale. Next year I'd like to add Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrel and Twilight as well as Frankenstein, so I have a full year to hunt these down.

The news that I am not so proud of is that I did in fact purchase other books, although they were technically for the newly fanged creature of the house. I ordered a copy of Barnyard Dance and But Not the Hippopotamus in a fit of optimism that my child will actually let me read to her. I have hundreds of childrens books from my own childhood as well as former teaching career, yet she is more interested in her sock. Or a coffee cup. Or anything that doesn't resemble the printed page. Sometimes I suspect she is merely toying with me because she senses how much I long for this moment and is holding a grudge about the booger extractions. Anyway, she is now sitting on my lap and will smack her open hand down on the pages and appears to notice the pictures. I made a book with big pictures of babies doing different things (those free parental magazines I got from the hospital paid off!) and she seemed to drool and gnaw more in response. We'll get there.