I'm reading a couple of things right now. Olivia and I are reading Jerry Spinelli's Loser for a book talk at the library this week. It will be our first parent-child book talk, and I'm looking forward to it. It's about a unique child who, of course, is teased for not being like everyone else. It's handled well, though, not predictable or gratuitous, and the boy is happy despite his being an outsider at school, actually even oblivious to it. He also comes from a loving family, so the whole world isn't against him. I think it's full of important things to talk about with kids like teasing, bullying, standing up for yourself, being part of a community, etc.
I also have Fahrenheit 451 in my stack. Our library got a grant to do a bunch of Fahrenheit 451 themed events and presentations, which will be in October. I hope to go to a homeschoolers' book talk on that one in a few weeks. Jim just finished it; Sophia is reading it to Zoe; Insomniac read it, and Cooksin is currently reading it. I don't know that I've read a book since school that was being read by so many of my friends at the same time. Can we have a little Fahrenheit 451 blog time soon?
But the book that is keeping me from spending time with either of the above books is Going Gray by Anne Kreamer. Dig this subtitle: What I Learned about Beauty, Sex, Work, Motherhood, Authenticity, and Everything Else That Really Matters. Of course I had to read it! Basically, this woman in her early fifties decides to stop coloring her hair. She is a well-paid professional living with her well-paid husband in New York City. I wouldn't want to have to keep up with her Joneses. Anyway, she tells her friends her decision, and many of them can't believe she would consider looking a day older than she has to. Like Appetites by Caroline Knapp, it's a book about a sociological/psychological issue that especially affects women. Interesting. Yes, Emmylou Harris is mentioned more than once. Helen Mirren, too. And Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I am going to have to get my hands on going gray. I thought about doing that this summer and my sister threatened an intervention. A kidnapping and coloring even. "your not 40 yet you can't have gray."
Hmmm...interesting. I'm just 30, and naturally I'm already 100% salt-and-pepper gray. I found my first gray (silver) hair when I was probably about twelve, but that was a random, isolated incident. By my early 20's it was getting noticable, and by 25 I could tell it was there to stay. Now my roots show after about three weeks. I'm blessed to have a sister who's a hairdresser.
I've read Fahrenheit 451, so I'm up for a discussion. I might need a little refresher, but to be honest, there are parts of that book that I think about on a near-daily basis, even though it's been a couple of years since I've read it.
~Lisa
Going Gray is an interesting read. Some women are very touchy about the whole topic. Thanks for your candid responses, Monica and Lisa. From the simple tests the author does to find out more about how people really feel about this issue, men seem to care about it a lot less than one might think, and certainly less than other women. We're our own worst enemies when it comes criticizing appearances.
Yes! to a blog discussion of Fahrenheit 451.
Being a redhead, I'm told, buys me a little more time before gray sets in. My dad and paternal grandmother were quite long-in-the-tooth before they had the sprinkled look.
Post a Comment