Several of my current reads are chunksters so I don’t feel like I’m making much progress. Good news! I submitted my volunteer application to the library before the winter holidays and I just received a call back. They want me to volunteer during the children’s story time which I think will be fun. Since I’ve cut back on my volunteering over the past few years, I’m looking forward to starting up again. Books finished last week: Night Watch by Terry Pratchett. Fantasy. The commander of the Night Watch time travels to the past to hunt for a murderer and save the future. Biology: The Science of Life by Stephen Nowicki. Science-Biology. A college level course on basic biology concepts. I was reluctant to make much progress on this course as it’s 36 hours of lectures, filled with technical details on protein synthesis, cellular respiration, and photosynthesis. I don’t remember my introductory biology course having so much bio-chemistry but there’s likely been great strides in understanding over the decades. I had a road trip to visit family (and forgot to add other audiobooks) which helped me finish. Highly recommended if you really like biology or have a high school student interested in studying biology. Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis. Science Fiction. After being abducted and brought to another planet, a language specialist mingles with alien species and learns their culture. This book is making me reconsider reading at least three books in a series for my NPR sci-fi/fantasy list. I’m moving on to Xanth while I decide if I’ll read Lewis’s next book. An Artificial Night by Seanan McGuire. Urban Fantasy. A changeling investigates the disappearance of fae and human children. A few months ago, I found all the October Daye novels for a quarter each at the library’s used bookstore. The spines were barely cracked. Of course, I snatched them up and deposited them by my bedside where they’ve been gathering dust. As usual for January, I’m trying to decrease the size of my physical TBR pile. Rethinking School: How To Take Charge of Your Child’s Education by Susan Wise Bauer. Education. A brief history of public schooling in the US as well as ways to navigate the education system, whether through public, private, or home schooling. I felt like this a small sampling of the Hive’s wisdom for parents looking for answers so not much was new to me, but I could see how others (who don’t spend way too much time on the forums) would find this valuable. I appreciated Bauer’s honesty about her own parenting journey with her children, particularly the moment where she realized what she wanted for one child might not be best for that child. Losing My Cool: How a Father’s Love and 15,000 Books Beat Hip-Hop Culture by Thomas Chatterton Williams. Memoir. An African-American man reflects on his upbringing and how he escaped the influence of his young peers. I found this book from a discussion between Glenn Loury and John McWhorter where Loury recommended Williams’ writing. This book is essentially a love letter to his father, a Southern black man who struggled to raise his boys in a racist society. Williams talks about the racism he experienced, but he also reflects on his peer culture, where education wasn’t valued and how his father fought against it. The closest analogy I could find in my recent reads, though without the heavy influence of racism, is Hillbilly Elegy. A philosophy class and his father’s continued calm influence ultimately cause him to reorient his values. A few warnings: Williams claims he was acting out a part in order to maintain his reputation, including incidents where he slaps his girlfriend and beats up another boy. His brother is violently arrested by police officers in his parents’ home, and his father’s dilemma over helping his son or being shot is just heartbreaking. I’m currently listening to Redefining Reality: The Intellectual Implications of Modern Science and hoping to finish Ron Chernow’s Grant and The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers this week. For fiction, I have two Discworld books, more October Daye, and the first book in the Xanth series.

I'll second the Sacher cafe - dessert and coffee. The Schonbrunn Palace was a fun tour. The gardens are beautiful so you should spend some time strolling through them.

I've seen it where the home was stable and loving but the people were generally pretty negative growing up. The parents just shrugged and said they did the best they could.

With electronic medical records, there's a large list of questions to answer. Some offices hand me a packet of paper and enter my answers in the computer. Other offices ask me the questions directly as they type it in. I've noticed a significant increase in the number of questions asked in the seven year gap between kid 2 and kid 3.

Ugh. I dislike Shutterfly. Since I never use it except to access one group, I always forget the password, need to reset it, and then forget that password. But I don't complain (except just now) because the leadership is working hard to create a good experience for my child and I don't have the ability health-wise to take over any more volunteer activities.

To all the newbies, repeats, and next-timers: Please keep coming back. I found this group almost two years ago and feel it has expanded my reading scope and interests. I'm so glad for its existence. You cannot fail at Book-A-Week. If you read one book a year, you're a BAW success. If you write one post, you've contributed. Intermittent posts are welcome. If you find you don't have much to say, like a few posts, add to your to-be-read list, and come back in a few weeks to share what you enjoyed. Tell us the authors you love and the books you escape in. This isn't a competition; it's a community. Come on in. Pull up a chair. Tell us your story. I'll repeat myself, but it bears repeating: you cannot fail at BAW.

That's why you're awesome

I do the same thing! I went on a road trip last weekend and thought I had an audio book on my phone. Nope. So I ended up listening to a very long, very technical Biology: The Science of Life, which helped me to finish, but I really wanted a good audio book to entertain me during the driving.

Have you PMed Katie (ktgrok)? I think she had a sleeve, but I'm sure she would have plenty of wisdom to share. I'll be thinking of you on the 17th!

We know a man that races the Iditarod. From a young age, he knew he wanted to race it so he chose hotel and resort management as his degree so he could run a business that involved his dogs, but also allowed him to set his own schedule. He has so many cool stories. ETA: He's featured on an Amazon series called 12 Adventures: Mush

I spoke up once for my young daughter. The leader of a volunteer activity (generally a good leader) was requiring work that made my daughter cry. The activity usually was fun, but every meeting at least an hour of written work was assigned, too much physical effort for my 7-year old lefty. The leader quit after I mentioned that perhaps the group could consider alternatives. I assumed the leader's duties. Since I caused the problem, I needed to be the solution. I think what many people here are saying: be the solution. I think it's pretty harsh to say this person isn't a good leader because the communication comes in a form you don't like. Does your son enjoy the activity? Is he receiving benefit? Then help the leader make the experience better.

FYI, this platform is considered a form of social media.

She could take it over and suggest a change. Or prep the message and send it to another leader to put on Facebook. There are solutions here, but I don't think it's the leader's responsibility when the OP has chosen to opt out of the preferred communication method for everyone else. Prepping and editing messages takes time on each platform. It's not always cut and paste. Strange characters pop up, lines breaks are weird. So she should ease some of the burden on the volunteer leader and help out.

I've run a four-family group and assisted in running one much large (at least 30+ families). Running a large group was in many ways easier, because many parents understood the need to volunteer and helped out. When it was smaller group, it was me, by myself, doing everything. On top of my focus on the kids (planning meetings, finding venues, getting supplies), I had to deal with drama between families and complaints about communication. I gave out a newsletter every meeting, I sent emails, I sent group texts, and I had Facebook. I spent a ridiculous amount of time creating content for the different communication methods. How did everyone get their information? Facebook. They forget or lost the newsletter, didn't read emails, and turned off notifications on group texts (because they're annoying and hard to find the initial notification text among all the replies). Returning to the original OP, here's my advice: Volunteer to take over the communication aspect Put the information on multiple platforms Listen to the complaints from people who use a different method Deal with the outcome Otherwise, it's on the OP to accept the communication ways of the group and find a way to get access on your own.

How old? My oldest two really didn't play with one another until the second child was four or so. My younger children have played with each other practically from a very young, but they also played with their older siblings and had that model.

I'm glad you went through it! I hope others will be encouraged by your experience. Like I said in an earlier post, I lost a parent to colon cancer so I'm a huge supporter of early detection.

I liked the sequel War and Remembrance more, but some sections were very difficult to read.

Happy birthday!

I had several books in progress that I was able to finish this week, with many excellent reads. Books finished last week: Strange Weather by Joe Hill. Horror. A collection of four short stories centered around unusual weather events. The (Mis)behavior of Markets by Benoit Mandelbrot. Finance - Theory. A mathematician argues that prevailing financial theories are incorrect. This is the book I wanted The Black Swan to be, with less snark and more mathematical proof. Along with his co-author Wall Street Journal writer Richard L. Hudson, Mandelbrot, most famous for his work on fractals and chaos, explains his thesis in clear, concise, approachable terms, tying together turbulent behavior, chaos theory, and fractal patterns. The appendix includes more detailed explanations for the mathematics as well as an extensive bibliography. Originally written in 1997, I’m interested to see more current research. Highly recommended, but only in physical form - the graphs and pictures are critical for understanding. The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John Bogle. Finance - Personal. The founder of the largest index-only mutual fund company explains why index investing is best for long-term investment growth. Since my background is finance, I knew most of the information here, yet it was still a good refresher. Recommended if you’d like assistance in making investment decisions. Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett. Fantasy. A woman joins the army as a man, and discovers she’s not the only one with secrets. Patient H. M.: A Story of Memory, Madness, and Family Secrets by Luke Dittrich. Science - Medicine. The grandson of a famous neurologist follows the life of and research centered on his grandfather’s most famous patient. For Isabel: A Mandela by Antonio Tabucchi, translated from Italian by Elizabeth Harris. Magical Realism. A mystery man searches for the whereabouts of his missing friend. All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, translated from Japanese by Alexander O. Smith. Science Fiction. A soldier finds himself stuck in a time loop after killing an alien invader. The basis for the movie Edge of Tomorrow (recommended), I thought the book was better with a more engaging main character and an interesting setting in Japan. My e-book didn’t have the illustrations so I’ll be interested in picking up the graphic novel. Recommended. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli, translated from Italian by N.H. Thomson. A prominent Florentine politician offers advice to his Medici patron on gaining, controlling, and keeping political power. In Praise of Defeat: Poems of Abdellatif Laabi by Abdellatif Laabi, translated from French by Donald Nicholson-Smith. Poetry-Modern. A collection of poems written by a Moroccan dissident who was imprisoned and tortured for several years. This was 800+ pages, with the French on one side and the English translation on the other. I’m willing to ship it to anyone interested, but be warned there’s a few poems with descriptions of torture. This is What a Librarian Looks Like: A Celebration of Libraries, Communities, and Access to Information by Kyle Cassidy. Nonfiction - Libraries. Portraits of librarians from around the United States as well as essays on the meaning and purpose of libraries from author Neil Gaiman, musician Amanda Palmer, author Richard Russo, and others. Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett. Fantasy. A murderer is loose in the city, and the Night Watch finds evidence that no one living is the killer. What does being alive mean? If a thing is a tool, can it be a slave? Can too many thoughts cause insanity? I swing between loving the City Watch books and feeling lukewarm. Here is one I love. For me, it’s near the top for the Discworld series and second only to Thud! In the City Watch sub-series. Highly recommended, but you should read Guards! Guards! to introduce the characters. I’m trying to finish up The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers as this is my second time requesting the book. My hold for Ron Chernow’s Grant came through plus a big stack of library requests. I also received notification that SWB’s Rethinking School is on its way. I haven’t finished a single book in my NPR top science fiction and fantasy list. How quickly New Year’s goals fall by the side. I’m looking for another poetry book so I welcome any suggestions. A poem from my poetry reading: The World is Not Mine - Abdellatif Laà bi This world is not mine and I have no other I contest no one’s realm I covet only that which covetousness has passed over: an acre of fallow land a handkerchief of sky infused with lavender a trickle of water more for the eye’s pleasure than to slake the thirst a piece of fruit that last left on the tree collector’s editions of books tattered from use friendships built on the heart alone a comforting star as confidant in times of struggle crumbs to attract the swallows of vision a pilgrim’s stout staff to set out ever and always on the only worthwhile journey the journey to the center of man

How old is she? If she's in her sixties, I think either option might work. If she's in her seventies, I would advise her to think long term and consider selling both to buy a condo-maybe in the desirable neighborhood. It's a conversation I've had multiple times with my parent, late sixties, and there's been more talk recently about selling the house and buying a condo. Also, colon cancer is second to lung cancer in smokers so that would also concern me.

Like others, i wouldn't recommend using someone else's list because your needs and wants are going to be unique to you. I recommend you draw up a master list of all the spaces you want to organize. Make them small! Don't list the kitchen: list the silverware drawer, the utensil drawer, the junk drawer. For bedrooms, hanging clothes, dresser drawers, bedside table. Bathrooms - under sink, makeup drawer, medicine cabinet. Walk from room to room as you write. Pick one space each week to declutter and organize, aiming for 15-30 minutes of effort. If you want to do more than one space, do it! Don't feel the pressure though. Do aim for at least one space a week. If you do four spaces one week, you still should do one space the next. Have a donate box and trash bag. Anything else gets put back in the space or put away. Other people have recommended three bins - donate, keep, trash - but I've found my "keep" bin often sat for weeks before being cleaned out. Now I immediately put things away as I declutter. Really ask yourself how often you've used an item and will it be helpful in the future. I received a smoothie blender as a gift one year. I used it rarely as it was a pain to clean. I had another blender. So even though it was thoughtful gift, I realized I really didn't need a smoothie blender and donated it. Same goes for rice makers, bread makers, slow cookers, etc. Ask yourself how many of any item do you need. I have one set of sheets for each bed in the house, plus only one extra for the kids' beds in case of emergencies. Sheets are washed and put immediately back on the bed; I don't need two sets for every single bed. Same goes for towels. There's one towel for each person, plus a few extra older towels used for messes or emergencies. Think about bins and baskets, but don't immediately rush out and buy anything. As you declutter, make another master list (this is why I love bullet journals) to write down things you think might help you organize. As you move from space to space, you can see common features that you want. You might also realize you could remove more items from your house so you won't need as many organization helpers. I've found over time I prefer simple, multi-use helpers like bins and baskets. Cut back on toy gifts and request relatives give experiences over physical gifts. All the little plastic cheap things break quickly. If you can't bear to stop gifts completely, ask for durable, enduring gifts like wooden blocks or Legos. Cut back on adult stuff too. Use up craft supplies, question whether you really need that cool kitchen appliance the Hive is discussing, stop buying clothes because there's a sale. Look into capsule wardrobes. It makes wearing clothes so much easier. Maintain your organized spaces. Whenever I'm tempted just to leave something on the counter or the table, I remind myself that it only takes a few seconds to put things away properly. The master list will aid you next year. You can write down what worked and what didn't as you clean. Plus, your house will have benefited from the first round of organization. For health reasons, I struggled last year keeping the house as I liked, but as my mobility has improved, I've realized that things, while not great, aren't as bad as I feared. Years of regular maintenance kept the clutter from spiraling up of control.

My child just went wading barefoot in a “raw†surface water pond and ended up with an infection that overnight caused her foot to be red, hot, and swollen. It required heavy antibiotics to treat. The cut where the water entered was barely visible. I can’t imagine what would have happened had she drunk it. ETA: only someone that doesn’t live in a country that suffers from outbreaks caused by contaiminated water could contemplate drinking “raw†water.

While that's a gorgeous journal, the true "beginner" bullet journal is shown on Ryder Carroll's video and website. I've used many planners (Franklin Covey plus other styles found in office supply stores). I think this is my fourth year using a bullet journal style. I started simple, grew more complex (washi tape! stickers! markers! art!), and then returned to the simple version (two years in use). Pre-planned weekly pages are usually too small to fit my weekdays. I've used a regular lined notebook and various Moleskin versions. Last year, I settled on the Leuchtturm 1917 Classic Hardcover Dotted Medium (mine was $19.00, still not cheap, but I consider it a good deal). It's large enough to last a year, small enough to fit in my purse, tough enough to withstand abuse, yet still lightweight. The dots make it easy to draw boxes. There's three pages of indexes and a pocket in the back. My bullet journal follows Carroll's methods except my monthly spread covers two pages and has a column for the six members in my family. I have a dutch door (a folded page) in the spread's middle to track work hours, dinners, and to-dos. It takes me time to migrate the last journal and do the initial set-up, but it's the only planner I've used regularly for years.

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I wasn't a big fan of 1Q84 but really liked the style as well. I adored Norwegian Wood and highly recommend it. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running was an interesting look at his background and thoughts. I have Kafka on the Shore on request from the library and I'm looking forward to reading it.