Wednesdays with David: Lego Chima

Lego Chima: Official Guide

Scholastic August 2013

128 pages

From our library 

The story: This isn't a story, per say. Instead it tells young Lego fans everything they need to know about the world of Chima - characters, powers, and their history.

Mama opines: Well, friends, we have hit official Lego mania status here. Anything with a Lego logo on it is coming home with us and that includes books from the library. David seems to understand this particular franchise much better than I do. It seems to have something to do with animal warriors with powers. It sounds a bit like Star Wars to me, what with the magical "life force" that they call Chi. The long and short is that six year old boys seem to think that it is awesome.

Thoughts from David: Today was a really hard day. I can't believe that I am talking about...oops. I forgot! I wasn't supposed to be talking about my day. I was supposed to be talking about my book.

Ok, ok, ok, ok. Now that we've gotten done with that business, let's get on to the book! Time to turn and flip the pages. There are a few characters that I like. Their names are #1 Laval the Lion, #2 Cragger the Crocodile, #3 Eris the Eagle, and also #4 Gorzan the Gorilla and finally #5 Crooler the Crocodile.

Ok, now we will be talking about my favorite vehicles, which are #1 Laval's Royal Fighter, #2 Lennox's Lion Attack, #3 Eris' Eagle Interceptor and #4 is Gorzan's Gorilla Striker and #5 is Cragger's Command Ship and #6 is Worriz's Combat Lair.

So now we will turn on to the final part. What I really like about this book is that there are many things that guide you, like the Legend of Chima and the legends of Chima too. As many of you have been wondering, maybe we should get on to the things about the life forces of Chima. Now the life force is Chi, of course. The lions have all the Chi in a pool called the Sacred Pool and well, the people who drink in the first place were animal people.

Now we will finally do the final thing which is learning about Chi Up. When someone grows up in Chima, they get a power up thingie and well, there is also something called a Chi Up moment. Well, there's a giant surge of power and they get speed and strength. Chi Up can last for minutes or hours. If the warrior is bad, it will be red. If he is good, it will be bright blue.

Well, that's it, folks. See you next time!

Happy Reading! 

Review: Astonish Me

Astonish Me

By Maggie Shipstead

Knopf April 2014

272 pages

From the library

Joan Joyce is just one of many members in the ballet corps. Her biggest claim to fame is helping famous Russian dancer Arslan Ruskov defect and escape to America. But Arslan views her as just one of many admirers and Joan comes to accept that she will not have an amazing career like he will. Instead of pursuing ballet, she marries former boyfriend Jacob and focuses on raising their son Henry. He has many things in common with his mother and as his star begins to rise in the world of ballet, Joan realizes that Arslan must come into their lives again. The consequences of their reunion will forever shatter their carefully composed lives.

I almost didn't read this book. I found Shipstead's debut fine, but not a story that I adored. Astonish Me, however, is an excellent book and I'm so glad I added it to my reading list. The two stories seem to almost be opposites, which speaks to this writer's talent. Seating Arrangements is about losing inhibitions - the setting is a weekend of alcohol and sexual liaisons. In this tale, everything is about control. Dance is about controlling your movements, your diet, and your body.  The characters are desperate to maintain control over their lives, their loved ones, and their destinies and the realization that such a thing is not always possible is both horrifying and elating. 

This story operates on dual planes - the first one is all about relationships. But the second is about longing and settling. Joan did everything right to achieve a career in ballet, but finds herself living an ordinary life. Her son Henry longs for success and recognition, at any cost. Arslan flaunts his fame, searching for something that fills the emptiness of leaving behind his native land and everything that he loved.

Joan and her husband Jacob sustain a mediocre relationship. Both love the other, but they need things from their partner that they are either unwilling or unable to give. The spouses find themselves on opposite sides of almost everything - Joan is all about physicality even when she has stopped dancing professionally. She still eats sparingly and keeps her body in dancing shape. Jacob, on the other hand, is all about intellect. He works as a teacher of advanced students and is more concerned with expanding knowledge than with maintaining a perfect physique. 

Parts of the plot seem overly familiar and perhaps predictable, but the reader won't mind. Shipstead understands longing and is able to articulate it in a very urgent and lovely way. Astonish Me is one of my favorite books of the month, if not the whole year. 

It's Monday and I am a happy theatre girl!

Did anyone else watch the Tony Awards this weekend? This theatre major had a lot of fun and my dear husband watched with me because he is a charming and wonderful guy.

It was probably a good thing we had something to watch on TV because we were about ready to become one with the sofa on Sunday night. We successfully started an evening worship service tonight at our church. It has been a lot of work and a lot of love and we are so happy it went well...and awfully tired too.


Read This Week:

Blacklist
By Jerry Ludwig


Boy, Snow, Bird
By Helen Oyeyemi


Posts from this Past Week:
It's Monday
May Wrap-Up
Reviews of American Dervish and Whispers of Hope


Reading Now:

The Rise and Fall of Great Powers
By Tom Rachman



Moby-Dick
By Herman Melville


Up Next:

Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys
By Stephen James and David Thomas


What are you reading this week?

Review: Whispers of Hope

Whispers of Hope: 10 Weeks of Devotional Prayer

By Beth Moore

B & H Books October 2013

240 pages

ARC provided by publicist

For those of us who are Christians, we might think we have this praying thing down. We were taught in Sunday School or CCD or perhaps we were taught in a class prior to joining our church. But somehow knowing we should pray and actually doing it each day are very different things. In Whispers of Hope, beloved writer Beth Moore gives readers ten week of devotions and teaches them to pray daily and powerfully. 

Ms. Moore divides prayer into six elements - praise, repentance, acknowledgement, intercession, supplication for self, and equipping. While prayer is an immensely personal thing, this way of praying has many advantages. Remembering to praise God and to give Him authority over your life each day strengthens your relationship immensely. Interceding, or praying, for other people helped me to think about the people I care about and find out the things that were happening in their lives. I know it messes up the acronym (PRAISE), but I found myself wishing that Moore had placed repentance and supplication for self next to each other. If we are going to admit the things we are struggling with, then it makes sense to next ask for help with those same things. 

The devotional sections of this book each come with a scriptural reference. The topics that are covered vary, which means you will be studying many different Biblical principle but there is no thread connecting the reading in this book. Moore writes about things as diverse as the character of God, how to unify the church, boldness in prayer, and the timelessness and power of the Bible.

This book practically begs to be heavily used. There are lines for each day after each part of prayer, so you can record the things you rejoiced over and the things you petitioned God to receive. At the end of the book, you can note which prayers were answered and how they happened. Whispers of Hope is perfect to use by yourself or with a group. There are directions in the back of the book if you choose to work through it with other people. 

If I am being honest, it took me longer than 10 weeks to complete this book. Life sometimes got in the way and I neglected to take the time to read and pray. But I feel more confident in my prayers and, as a result of reading this study, I am now in the habit of starting my day with time with God. I would recommend this book for the new believer and the lifelong Christian alike - we can all strengthen our time with God.

Review: American Dervish

American Dervish

By Ayad Akhtar

Little, Brown and Company January 2012

368 pages

From my shelves

Hayat Shah is a 12 year old boy who lives in Milwaukee with his mother and father. While the family is Muslim, they do not regularly go to the mosque or discuss their faith. Hayat's father regularly cheats on his wife and the relationship between husband and wife is fraught with tension and arguments. When Mina, his mother's best friend, arrives to stay with the family, everything changes. Mina begins to teach Hayat about the Quran. Through their lessons, he learns new things about what it means to have faith and what it means to be a part of a family.

This is a weighty story. American Dervish is about finding and losing faith, which is something that most of us will struggle with during our lives. Mr. Akhtar shows his readers the joy of belief and how devastating it can be when faith is used as a bludgeon. He deftly balances the hope that we will find happiness and a faith to call our own with the devastation of betrayal from the people we love most. While this story is often heartbreaking, Akhtar keeps it from becoming hopeless.

I appreciated reading a story that portrayed a Muslim family honestly and with differing levels of devotion. We see many different kinds of people within these pages. Mina's family is bound to tradition and they are uncomfortable with her dating someone outside of their religion. Mina herself straddles a line between religious devotion and a modern mindset. While she believes in the beauty and goodness of the Quran, her life experience has taught her that not all Muslim people are good. Hayat's father scorns religion, even that of his family. He sees it only as a force for oppression and cruelty.

Hayat experiences hatred on a personal and systemic level. When his beloved Mina starts dating a Jewish man named Nathan, Hayat becomes jealous. He decides to sabotage the relationship in a very juvenile, but brilliant, way. He also views the intolerance that is shown to Muslim people and the vitriol that some Muslims have for Jewish people.

I have to confess that I have not read many novels about Muslim families. I don't know if this is because they are in short supply or because I haven't been looking hard enough for them. But I'm glad I read this one. American Dervish is a nuanced look at a specific way of life and a reminder that we have many more similarities than differences. We all want something to believe in and to feel the security of a loving family. This is the perfect book for a reader who wants to witness a life that is different from theirs or is looking for a new and powerful coming of age story. 

May Wrap-Up

May was quite the whirlwind for our family! We had a bunch of birthdays to celebrate, including one little girl's first! We took several small trips and the husband and I have been very busy planning a second service at our church. I am hopeful we will get back into some sort of a routine soon, but I know the end of school is just around the corner...so I'm not sure that will happen anytime soon!

Books reviewed in May: 10
Pages read: 3,166
Fiction/Non-fiction: 9/1
Female authors/male authors: 8/2
My books/library books/books for review: 1/6/3
Most-read May review: A Circle of Quiet by Madeleine L'Engle
Favorite May read: The Accident by Chris Pavone

What was the best book you read in May?

It's Monday and it was a long weekend!

Happy Monday, my literary friends! How are you?

I want to say a quick but sincere thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make Armchair BEA happen this past week. (Wow, I must really be tired. I originally wrote that as "Bookchair BEA." Sigh.) Armchair BEA is quite an undertaking with topics for blogging each day, twitter parties, and prizes. I had a great time, but it is decidedly an event that needs a lot of time and energy. I'm not sure I will be able to do it every year!

On Saturday morning, Becca Grace and I climbed into the minivan with my mom, sisters, and one sister's fiance to drive to my cousin's bridal shower. Suffice it to say that out of 40 hours on Saturday/Sunday, we spent about 16 of them driving. We got home a little before midnight on Sunday night and I think it might take us a while to get back into the swing of things...


Read This Week:

Chasing God
By Angie Smith


The Girls at the Kingfisher Club
By Genevieve Valentine


Posts from this Past Week:
It's Monday
Armchair BEA Posts
Reviews of The Qualities of Wood and The Accident


Reading Now:

Blacklist
By Jerry Ludwig

Up Next:

Boy, Snow, Bird
By Helen Oyeyemi


What are you reading this week?