Wednesdays with David: Battle At Teth

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Battle at Teth

Adapted by Kristen Mayer

Grosset and Dunlap 2008

32 pages

From the library 

The story: During the Clone Wars, Clone Captain Rex and Jedi Anakin Skywalker set off on a rescue mission to retrieve a baby Hutt from the droid army. They are greatly outnumbered and reinforcements are far away. Can they complete their mission?

Mama opines: To be honest, I have zero experience with The Clone Wars. I can talk to you all day about Star Wars or the Empire Strikes Back, but I have little interest in the newer stories. This story is directly adapted from the movie, so it will be familiar to any little ones who love the adventures of Anakin Skywalker as a young Jedi.

Thoughts from David: Battle At Teth was...well, the clone troopers were courageous. Their white belts were nice and white. I couldn't believe that there were so many spider droids, super battle droids, and battle droids! I couldn't really believe that there was so much battle fire that even Asajj Ventress was at that castle. Plus...I couldn't believe that there was a dark assistant here. Do you know what Anakin Skywalker, Clone Captain Rex, the other clone troopers, and Ahsoka Tano did? They used everything they had and boom! The battle droids, the super battle droids, and everything else of the bad guys were blown up!

Favorite part: When they destroyed the super battle droids at the top of the tower and the spider droids and battle droids at the bottom of the tower.

Happy Reading!

Review: Novel Ideas

Novel Ideas

By K.B. Dixon

Inkwater Press 2013

122 pages

Received from Author for Review

Author Stephen Styles has donated his personal papers to the University of Washington. Students studying library science compiled the papers into the book Novel Ideas. The slim volume holds his letters and emails to his friend and fellow writer Alan Dodd. Styles ponders the differences between writing fiction and nonfiction, updates Dodd on what is going on in his personal life, and muses about why one becomes a writer in the first place.

Novel Ideas would be a great read for someone who doesn't have many opportunities to sit and read for a long stretch. It is broken up into little snippets, so it would be easy to read a page or just a few paragraphs. The detriment of this, of course, is that it can sometimes feel like it lacks a real narrative structure. Characters are introduced and then forgotten just as quickly. Random thoughts are recorded and then left hanging. For example, "Have you ever wanted to drive a bulldozer? I have not. But, of course, now as I think about it...well..." And that's it. Bulldozers are given no more thought and there is no context in this book for discussing bulldozers in the first place. 

This book has a sort of dry humor to it and it certainly has some real insight into the life of an author. Finding inspiration and the will to continue writing are common problems and our protagonist observes them wryly and with hope that he will find a muse and eventually, success as a writer. This book is less a chance to get to know a character and follow a story than it is a look into the inner life of a writer. 

To the ladies and gents of the FTC: I received this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

It's Monday and I have a six year old!

So, I have somehow come into possession of a six year old boy. I'm not sure where my five year old boy went, but now I have this very tall boy who seems to need new pants every few days or so. We celebrated this week with pancakes and a present on his actual birthday, a family party on Saturday, and a few friends over for cupcakes on Sunday. Yes, the daddy and I are quiet tired but we hope that the birthday boy had fun.

Bookwise, we are moving at the usual pace of two books a week. I've almost met my Goodreads goal of 110 books. Are you close to meeting your yearly goal?


Read This Week:

This Is The Story Of A Happy Marriage
By Ann Patchett


The Christmas Town
By Elyse Douglas


Posts from this Past Week:
It's Monday
November Wrap-Up
Wednesdays with David: The Birthday Boy!
Review of The Facades 


Reading Now:

Palisades Park
By Alan Brennert

Up Next:

God Is Able
By Priscilla Shirer


What are you reading this week?

Review: The Facades

The Facades

By Eric Lundgren

Overlook September 2013

215 pages

From the library

Sven Norberg is stymied when his opera singer wife disappears without a trace. He wanders the streets of their Midwestern town looking for clues that will lead him to his wife. As he struggles to keep some sort of connection with his teenage son, he reaches out to Molly's voice teacher, a music critic who may be leaving him clues, and a policeman who has mysterious insight into the case. The Facades is a mystery and a perceptive look at the disconnect in families and communities.

This is a book that can be read on so many different levels. On the most basic, it is the story of Sven not knowing how, when, or why his relationships have fallen apart. His wife is just gone one day and he has no idea what happened to her or what has been going on in her life. It isn't until his wife vanishes that he seems to give any attention to his son Kyle. His effort are too little too late as he realizes that Molly was the only glue holding the family together. 

On a broader note, The Facades examines the difference between our perception and the reality of the places where we live. The city of Trude was once recognized as a pinnacle of culture, but it is now on the decline. While opera still thrives, particularly with the talent of Molly Norberg, the library has shut down and most social interaction seems to take place around the local mall. The dissonance between the architectural masterpieces and abandoned buildings covered with graffiti parallels the lives of its inhabitants as they excel in their tiny fishbowls while wishing to break out into the larger world.  

The world of Trude is close to the one you live in, but the differences are telling. Things feel just a bit off, as if you are in a dream instead of reading a book. The quick clues and allusions are reminiscent of Paul Auster, but with a liberal dash of humor. (Keep an eye out for red herrings....) This slight book is quirky and unexpected  - in Trude, as in life, nothing is as simple as it appears. 

Wednesdays with David: The Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday to the little boy who makes me smile and cracks me up each and every day.

Happy Birthday to the little boy who is so much a baby and so much a big boy.

Happy Birthday to the boy who loves the bravado of Star Wars and the Transformers, but will run over in a second if his sister cries.

Happy Birthday to my fearless American Ninja Warrior, my brave Jedi, and my curious bookworm.

I love you.

                                           

                                                   

November Wrap-Up

It's here! It's December! It's time to run around like a crazy person. Or not...I really hope not. The December calendar definitely looks packed, but that is what happens when your husband is a pastor, you work in church music, and your little boy has a December birthday. Ok, everyone stop for a moment and take a deep breath. We shall all get through December. I promise. 

Bookwise, November was an ok month. There were a few duds and then a few books I carried around with me, hoping to find a few spare seconds to read just one more page. 

Books reviewed in November: 10
Pages Read: 3,415
Fiction/Non-fiction: 9/1
Female authors/male authors: 6/4
My books/library books: 3/7
Lindsey's favorite books in November: The Returned 


Books Reviewed with David: 4 
David's favorite book in November: Lego Star Wars Character Encyclopedia 


What was the best book you read in the month of November?

Happy December from the cutest of little readers!

It's Monday and it's been a long week...

Hello everyone! I hope your Thanksgivinga and Hanukkahs were wonderful. We had a good time here celebrating Thanksgiving with some family and then rounding out the weekend with a visit to the other side of the family, some Christmas decorating, and celebrating with my parents as they renewed their vows after 30 years of marriage. We have also lost two teeth this week (David) and discovered a serious passion for cranberry sauce (Becca Grace).


Read This Week:

The Facades
By Eric Lundgren


Novel Ideas
By K.B. Dixon


Posts from this Past Week:
It's Monday
Wednesday with David: Weird But True! 
Reviews of Songs of Willow Frost and The Sweetest Hallelujah


Reading Now:

This Is The Story of a Happy Marriage
By Ann Patchett

Up Next:

The Christmas Town 
By Elyse Douglas

What are you reading this week?