http://www.goodreads.com/user/updates_rss/1075766 en-US Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:03:28 -0700 60 http://www.goodreads.com/ 200 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo.gif 27663766 Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:03:28 -0700 Comment957338 http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1235837 Marianneosharp made a comment on Megan Arnesen's profile:

Hey friend! How the heck are you? ]]> 25853353 Mon, 26 May 2008 07:55:11 -0700 Comment839676 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/22917403 Amy's review of The Choice
by Nicholas Sparks

So, you're on a Nicholas Sparks. I just read The Choice last week....I'd never read anything by him but loved the movies that've been made from his books so I thought I'd give him a try. Maybe that was the WRONG book to read if I could of picked just one, but I would be on the same page as far as 2 stars. I was annoyed that over 200 pages were devoted to the two of them falling in love and then....what 2 chapters were devoted to the real drama. ]]> 23357434 Sat, 26 Apr 2008 13:20:34 -0700 Comment689588 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21003222 Carolyn's review of Everybody Wins: 393 Non-Competitive Games for Young Children
by Jeffrey Sobel

i want the list! ]]> 22005632 Sat, 12 Apr 2008 16:58:35 -0700 Comment619697 http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1075766 Marianneosharp made a comment on Marianneosharp's profile:

I know....I should try reading something crazy like.....fiction some time! ]]> 21917698 Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:41:10 -0700 Review19956843 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/19956843 Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys (Paperback) by Dan Kindlon

Another book I want to read... heard great things and I need all the help I can get BOYS. ]]> 21917528 Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:39:14 -0700 Review19956693 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/19956693 How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk (Paperback) by Adele Faber
A book I've heard is great and want to read ]]> 21917318 Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:37:46 -0700 Review19956503 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/19956503 to: In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (Hardcover) by Michael Pollan
So, I should of blogged this right after I read it while it was fresh on my mind....now it's been a couple weeks and I've forgotten half of it. But - WHAT A GREAT READ! Sara, my half-cousin (she's my cousin's cousin....so what does that make her?), recommended this book when she found out how much a love Dr Oz. This book gives such an incredible depiction of the food crisis facing the typical western diet. It has taught me a lot....and when I tell you what I gained you'll just say, "well duh!", but you have to read it to understand. The author is a journalist who has put an amazing amount of research into this topic. He also wrote "the Omnivore's dilemna"...some of you may recognize that title. Anyway, next month I'm hosting book club with Dr. Oz's book "You, Staying Young" which, I'm sure, is a great book but I honestly wish it were this one instead.
This book explains where food has gone bad in America. How everything that's processed is what we're consuming...and that's killing us....and how everything that's "whole" is hard to find and inconvenient. This book has definitely motivated me to eat my 5 a day....and then some. Not that I'm actually doing that but now I'm more motivated and more guilty when I don't. Now when I see the pink sugar cookie at the gas station, I look at the ingredients and I'm disgusted. No doubt, that is one GOOD cookie, but it's not "real" food. As you can see on the cover of Pollan's book, he wrote: "EAT FOOD, NOT TOO MUCH, MOSTLY PLANTS". Which, again, sounds simple but that's all we really need to know about nutrition to be set on the right path. Eat food, he says, not sad imitations. Eat like the French, enjoy the quality, texture, appearance, taste....rather that eating really quickly while being very distracted. And eat plants....not so many seeds....but lots and lots of plants. That's what our bodies were intended to eat and that's what makes them run like champs.
Anyway, great read if someone needs someone feels the need to revamp their diet. I think it's helped me as a mom....because now I feel better about the fact that I never buy my kids fruit snacks and oreo's. Okay, so maybe we compensate that high fructose corn syrup and transfat with raw sugar and real butter.....but at least I'm not filling them full of fake, processed, last-for-the-next-10-years junk food. I'm becoming the queen of healthy desserts. Now...I hope that all didn't make me seem self-righteous about my families eating habits. The truth is that what my kids eat is one of my biggest stresses each and every day...a never-ending battle. I've tried "deceptively delicious" and had success with a couple recipes.....but Rhett hates the mac and cheese with butternut squash and has now decided he will never eat mac and cheese again. So that last part about what I proudly "never" buy just makes me feel better about all the good stuff that my boys "never"eat.
]]> 21917156 Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:35:57 -0700 Review19956368 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/19956368 Boys Adrift: Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men (Hardcover) by Leonard Sax
So, before I forget all that I've learned I need to share. I read this book after Allison told me she was reading it and have now recommended it STRONGLY to many of my friends. It's a pretty quick read and makes you aware of big issues that every parent of boys should educate themselves on. These are a few of the resolutions I've made after having read this book.

First of all, I will be aware that the public school system is "feminized". Sax, the author, says it would help parents and teachers alike to be more conscious of how to keep boys attention as they learn. I've decided for sure that I want to hold Jack back a year (his b-day's in Aug) so he'll be the oldest rather than the youngest in his grade. This was my original plan but now I feel even more strongly about it. Sax says that what was once 1st grade education is now kindergarten.

Next, I will be more okay with the fact that boys are "wiggly". Okay, that sounds silly but the fact is that many boys are misdiagnosed with ADHD when the reality is that they have energy that needs to find some good outlets. I already have issues with the fact that school is too long and recess is too short....whatever I can do to compensate for that I will do.

Next, I will never microwave plastics. I'm more aware, in every part of our home, of possible "endocrine disruptors". Okay, I admit that this is the sketchy part that you can take too far.....but I really believe that we're surrounded daily by pollutants that can mess up our bodies, and kids are more vulnerable. I think that when they're easy changes like cleaning with natural products (like vinegar) or buying more glass and less plastic, then there's no excuse for me to not be doing it. Sax talks about these different elements that trully are effecting boys and their motivation in life.

Next, and this is the one I think will be hard, I will try to not let my boys become addicted to video games. They haven't got there yet, which I'm grateful for, and I have no idea how I will do this but I'll figure it our when I get there.

There's some parts of the book that left me frustrated. Sax says that all-boy schools are the way to go. Unfortunately, that's not an option here and I'm not motivated enough to start one up. He mentions some fabulous school in which the boys have fabulous male teachers and the boys all end up being.....well......fabulous. That would be great if we could go to that school but I'm not ready to pick up and move to Virginia or wherever the heck it was to give my boys the perfect education. He made some great suggestions about how to better the education for boys but it would take a serious overhall. He didn't mention this but I kept thinking I should just home school my kids so I could dictate the way that everything was taught. Who knows....... (Britt would never go for that....well maybe there's a small chance......the tiniest ever.)

Sax also spoke about the role models boys have in pop culture. That part scares me to death and I'm even more afraid about where it will be in 10 years when they're in High school. He also spoke a bit about how many cultures have a "right of passage" boys go through that makes them a man, no longer a boy. I kept thinking about the mormon "culture" and how a mission can really make a boy a man. He said that using your strength to serve others is the definition of manhood. I loved that part. I'm so grateful my boys have a great dad to look to as a role model.

Anyway, such a good book. This guy has plenty of experience and all the right credentials to be talking about these issues. Here's the website: http://www.boysadrift.com/ This is interesting too:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21... If you read it let me know what yout think! ]]> 21917009 Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:35:00 -0700 Review19956238 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/19956238 You: Staying Young (Hardcover) by Michael F. Roizen
Yet another Dr Oz book I feel obligated to read. You, On a Diet really motivated me to change some bad habits so I'm hoping this one will help me change some more! ]]>