A few months back I received an unexpected box from my mother…but it wasn’t really unexpected as it seems I regularly get boxes of “stuff” from her.  She’ll clean out a few boxes from her storage unit, or run across some stuff hidden somewhere else and decide to ship it off to me.  The benefits of being the oldest I guess.

I opened the box wondering if I would find more yarn (anyone want a box of vintage yarn?!) like last time.  I was surprised and tickled to find a bag of vintage family hankies and some of the hand dyed fabric from her days at UC Davis!  However, underneath all the fabric-y goodness was this book.

Hard Knocks, Rolling with the Derby Girls, by Shelley Calton.  The first thought I had was, “Roller Derby, isn’t that like hockey but on roller skates?”.  Well, no people, Roller Derby is hardcore racing on skates around and oval rink!  My second thought was, “Why did my mom send me a brand new book(!) about Roller Derby?”  Then I remembered years ago when she told me she went to photograph the Houston Roller Derby with a friend.  I remember her telling me how dangerous the photography session was, she fell over/got knocked over at one point and bruised her entire leg!

So I quickly flipped through the book thinking that maybe my mom’s photos were in the book…nope.  Then I saw this:

My mom wrote the fore word for this book!  She had sent me a signed copy of the book, endorsed to my daughter and I!  I flipped though the book and read the names of the Derby girls and enjoyed the visual imagery.

I love that the women come from all walks of life, professionals to suburban mothers!  It was a kick to flip through, to read about the injuries, the comraderie, and the costumes!  Don’t think I’m gutsy enough to race, but I would get a thrill out of watching sometime!

Thanks Mom & Shelley!

Last week I went to the library and checked out all the Jennifer Haigh books…if you are looking for some good fiction (people I swear I try to read non-fiction but ugh, it’s so dry and clinical!) may I recommend:

a story of a family in concord, ma.  The struggles and joys that result from their daughters diagnosis of Turner’s Syndrome.  Read more about the book here.

Mrs. Kimble is the story of 3 women, who become Mrs. Kimble by way of marriage to the con artist- Mr. Kimble.  as a mother it was physically painful to read the chapters about Birdie Kimble, I can almost feel the emotion from all sides and it caught me really off gaurd how these chapters effected me and have changed my prespective regarding my own children.  Read more about it here.

This one I found at Goodwill and bought because the story starts in Post WWII, and you know I love any story about daily life in the 40’s.  It turned out to be an engaging story which is what prompted me to read the rest of the authors books.  Read more about Baker Towers here.

I finished The Condition last night and am ready for a new book/author.  What can you recommend?

I’ve never been one to make (or keep) resolutions.  The beginning of the new year may seem like a great time to start something that you think you should do, but to me it seems like a great way to start a fresh new year with a large helping of guilt.  Well, at least that’s what it looks like to me.

However, that being said…I think 2009 would be a great year to start reading more non-fiction.  I tend to fill my reading lists with title after title of fiction (I swoon for historical fiction-do you think I can get that on a bumper sticker?).  As much as a love getting lost in a riveting story, I think it is about time I grow up and read some non-fiction.  I honestly cannot remember the last time I FINISHED a non-fiction book (I optimistically start them all the time!)…probably in college (and that was a long time ago).

Now, in case you are thinking that 2009 would be a great year for you to read more fiction, I just finished Year of Wonders.  A fabulous story of Anna Firth who lives through the plague in a small country village in England.  The story is both gut wrenchingly sad and incredibly beautiful and selfless.  The book is based on the real town of Eyam that when it’s residents began to die of the plague, closed its borders and sealed themselves off from the rest of the world in an attempt to contain the disease and prevent the spread to others.  FYI- did you realize that the plague still effects people today?  The WHO reports between 1,000-3,000 cases a year, however a course of antibiotics is all that is needed to treat it.

But, that’s only if you are focusing on fiction this year.  I’m focusing (not resolving) on reading more NON-fiction.  I have a gift card for Barnes & Noble (thanks Sara!) burning a hole in my pocket.  What can you recommend for me?

While browsing the stacks of my nearby library I ran across this miss-shelved book.

I love me a pretty cover.  I know you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, but chances are if it isn’t pretty I’m not going to pull it from the shelf to read its description (unless one of you readers have told me fabulous things about an ugly covered book, I love recommendations!).  So I brought this piece of eye candy home with me.

And what a lovely slice of wonder bread reading it was.  If you’ve been following the trends in furniture lately (which I only sorta have) you’ll know that “Mid Century Modern” is making a comeback.  The whole “form follows function” mantra of design from the ’50’s is hitting again (did IKEA ever stray from this design theory?).  I learned some new foreign words regarding these esthetics- Bauhaus and Mondrain.  Bauhaus was a school of thought regarding design- it gave rise first in Germany following WWI, but didn’t gain popularity here in the US until after WWII.  Their main idea was to bring back design and funtion in its purest form- not superfulous detials.  Mondrain was an artist whose work inspired color and design in the “modern 1950’s”.  However, I do not remember touching on this man at all in my college Art History classes…all the craming I did in that class, I would remember!

The book was a quick read full of fantastic illustrations/Ads from the day.  I enjoyed it and feel that I was given an enlightening- albiet brief, view of white suburban middle class life and style of the 1950’s.  Check it out if you happen to find it laying around your library!

Thank you for all the encouragement you passed on regarding the Boden dress, I ear marked some $$ and decided I was going to buy it.  That is until I found myself at Marshalls last night.  I found this darling dress last night and *gasp* it was on clearance for $10!  I promptly snapped it up and wore it to church today.

Also wanted to share the last 2 books I’ve finished; And Only To Deceive by Tasha Alexander.  Think of it as Jane Austin meets Sherlock Holmes, it was a real page turner and I enjoyed it very much.

“So when Emily’s dashing husband died on safari soon after their wedding, she felt little grief. After all, she barely knew him. Now, nearly two years later, she discovers that Philip was a far different man from the one she had married so cavalierly. His journals reveal him to have been a gentleman scholar and antiquities collector who, to her surprise, was deeply in love with his wife. Emily becomes fascinated with this new image of her dead husband and she immerses herself in all things ancient and begins to study Greek. Emily’s intellectual pursuits and her desire to learn more about Philip take her to the quiet corridors of the British Museum, one of her husband’s favorite places. There, amid priceless ancient statues, she uncovers a dark, dangerous secret involving stolen artifacts from the Greco-Roman galleries.”

The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom with John & Elizabeth Sherill.  An amazing account of one woman’s experience in occupied Holland.  She and her sister use their house as a safe place for Jews and helped them find refuge with other families in the country.  They are later sent to multiple concentrations camps.  This is written in Corrie’s own words and is a gripping read.  Anyone who appreciated Elie Wiesel’s Night will also be interested in this account.

This is my inspiration board, it isn’t very full but it is filled with things I want to keep and recreate.  Especially that lovely little JCrew bag in the corner, one of these days I’m going to find just the right fabric to remake it in.  I’m SO in love with the classic crisp look of the white and red together on the baby gap bedding in the top left. The pink baby bunny? My mom made that for me as a kid, a whole family of them, this and the mommy are all I have left.  I want to make a set for my daughter.

What is on your board?  Snap a picture and then post the link in the comments, I’d love to see what inspires you.

*if you have a 2-4yo little girl in your life you may want to enter the giveaway over at Grosgrain.  The prize is an ADORABLE appliqued pinafore.  But really, I hope you don’t enter, because I want it for my daughter!

*another book to add to your summer reading list “I thought My Father Was God“, it is a collection of stories from NPR’s story project.  Short, simple and true tales from everyday folks.

It was a long hot saturday at the hales’ pad today.  Husband worked 14 hours (well, I suppose more as he has not left the office yet), which made it impossible for me to complain to him about how tired I was after spending so many hours in the summer heat (he had to get up at 3:30am for work).  We went to a birthday pool party, where their was shade and a misting system, but it is after all summer in arizona, and I am always looking for something to whine about.  When we got home our power was out (read no air conditioning), but I can’t really complain about that as it came back on within 15min.

To buy myself some time to relax this afternoon I bribed the kids, telling them they could take the cushions off the couch if they would leave me quietly alone so that I could read.  I was able to read for about and hour and a half, but this is what my living room looked like after the fact.

After repeated attempts to get them to clean it up I finally resorted to setting the timer- they managed to get it all done in about 5 min (my smart little girl has figured out how to get her brother to do all the work…must teach boy to be smarter than that!).  This was all followed by a dinner of yoplait yogurt topped with Mickey Mouse sprinkles, we are really gourmet around here.  The kids are bathing now so that they can be sent to bed a bit early whilst husband and I enjoy some Pei Wei in peace!

If any of this seems worth it to you, and you would like to spend a few hours reading this summer, here are a few books that I have recently read and really liked.  I’m not terribly loquacious when I describe books but I will attempt to say more than, “this was a good book, I liked it and you should read it too”; but know that underneath whatever I do write that is really what I am saying.

Pasadena-David Ebershoff
I am actually not finished with this book yet, I’m on page 267/485 and it is really hard for me to put it down.  It takes place in and around Pasadena, CA post WWI.  Ebershoff’s writing style reminds me very much of Isabel Allende’s (my hands down favorite author, did I mention I heard her speak years ago?  I did, and I think I’m cool) Portrait in Sepia (another good read).  The book is a love story (or so I think at this point), that is being told to real estate agent Andrew Blackwood through 2 of the important characters 20 or so years after the events happened.  Each story teller adds their own embellishments and the reader is left comapring the two versions and peiceing together the rest.

These Is My Words-Nancy Turner
A fictional diary account of a young Sarah Prine in the Arizona Territory, I think you can appreciate the story even if you have no ties to Arizona.  It is an immensly sweet love story as Sarah meets and discovers the love she has for her husband.  It is a relationship not without its stuggles and set backs.  In her diary she describes the daily hardships and difficulties of territory life.  Turner so eloquently describes the personal stuggles and insecurities of a young girl in a way that makes Sarah Prine so real and so identifiable. This book was an easy read, a weekend read if your children are really good at playing alone!

Firefly Summer-Maeve Binchy
I first read Tara Road a few months back, and I have a habit of obessing over an author and devouring everything they have written.  I think this is my 4th Binchy book this summer!  All of Binchy’s books take place in Ireland (I love when authors write about places they really know- and Binchy knows Ireland!) and this one is no exception.  An American developer returns to his roots in a small irish town with a plan to rebuild Fernscourt (a former Manor house) and reopen it to everyone as a hotel.  The lives of the Developer (O’Niell) and his family become so intertwined with the lives of the local families.  The building of the hotel comes at a great costs to O’Niell and to the community.  This is a bit of a coming of age story between the Ryan Children and the O’Niell children, that takes place during the 1960’s.  The one thing that this story lacks that stands out to me, is a better understanding of the original Fernscourt.  I wish Binchy had flushed this out more, what drove the Fern’s out?

Wasn’t The Grass Greener-Barbara Holland
I rarely read non-fiction, I don’t know why but I find it dreadfully dull most of the time.  If I am going to pay the price for reading (see picture above) then I want to get totally lost in a story, I want to be so wrapped up in other peoples lives that I forget about my own temporarily.  Again, I haven’t finished this one, but I really do enjoy it.  Barbara talks openly and frankly about the so called “advances” of our society and why she thinks the grass really was greener in the past.  This book is a series of essays about topics such as “suntans”, “the doctor”, “war” and  the neighborhood pub.  Holland delivers her opinions and stories with an ounce or two of humor.