« Reason Number 457 to Love Facebook | Main | “Isabel Didn’t Scream or Scurry:” Poetry Friday »
October 29, 2008
Into the Wild
At the beginning of the school year, Lucas decided to read the first book in the Warriors series, Into the Wild by Erin I’m-Really-Three-Chicks Hunter. He talked about it quite a bit while he was reading it, and I came to think of it as the book that introduced the phrase “lifeless body” into his vocabulary. I don’t mean that as criticism: the phrase is hackneyed, sure, but occasionally bodies are, indeed, lifeless.
Anyway, this turned out to be the first book Lucas read that I hadn’t read first. He sensed the profound wrongness of this state of affairs, and a couple weeks after he finished the book, he gave it to me to read.
Now, I have been vaguely interested in Warriors because the children are all rabid about it, but I’ve been interested in the way that hasn’t led me to, you know, read one of the books. But LUCAS gave me this book. Clearly I had to read it.
I started it a week or so ago. I can tell I’m not loving it by the way I haven’t finished it yet. In fact, I’ve done something completely uncharacteristic for me and started another book entirely (I may read the ending of a book before I start it from time-to-time, but I do NOT start a new book before I’ve finished the one I’m reading), HomeSchooling at the Speed of Life by Marilyn Rockett, which I do, in fact, love. It’s a book for Christian moms on how to keep their homes clean and orderly while homeschooling their children (chapters include “Paper by the Pile” and “Clutter, Clutter Everywhere and Not a Spot to Think”). I am not a Christian homeschooling mom, nor do I plan to implement any of Rockett’s strategies, wise and sensible though they are. I love reading about them, though. I’ve been using the book over the last couple days as a reward for doing the chores that keep my house from being condemned, mainly laundry and the dishes. It’s not that I dislike cleaning or organizing; it’s just that reading about it is so much better. Or maybe it’s just better than reading about the lifeless bodies of feral cats. I’ll finish Into the Wild and let you know.
Books mentioned:
Hunter, Erin W. Into the Wild. NY: HarperCollins, 2003. (HC: 9780060000028, LIB: 9780060525484, PB: 9780060525507)
Rockett, Marilyn. HomeSchooling at the Speed of Life: Balancing Home, School, and Family in the Real World. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2007. (PB: 9780805444858)
Posted by adrienne at October 29, 2008 09:09 PM
Comments
omg.
i decided i needed to read this series because kids loooove them.
i read the first chapter, haven't opened it since and it has been on my desk for the last week and a half.
i'm glad i'm not alone.
Posted by: Dot at October 29, 2008 10:09 PM
Solidarity, Sister!
Posted by: adrienne at October 29, 2008 10:27 PM
I'm trying to be better about reading ONE BOOK AT A TIME. Cutting back on review copies big-time has helped with that. I used to feel such guilt and would think, "well, I need to read all five of these at onces. Hurry! Hurry! Someone's waiting for me to report."
Anyway, this post also made me think of this, which I keep meaning to tell you: I am reading some David Sedaris essays, and I love them so much I want to marry them. I know the rest of the world loves him and has read his work, but I hadn't. And I credit you with this for posting that essay of his about Christmas in Norway (is that where it was?) that made me nearly soil myself with laughing. In fact, this collection is a series of holiday essays -- older essays, but a new collection, I believe.
What made me think of this? You talking about how you know you don't love the book if you still haven't finished it. I've been in a reading funk when it comes to non-children's-lit, putting down novel after novel, being impatient, thinking, "well, you didn't GRAB me, so you just lost out." But the Sedaris essays do it.
Sorry I have nothing profound to add about the Warriors series.
Posted by: jules at October 30, 2008 09:16 AM
I'm so glad you're reading David Sedaris! Tammy and I went to hear him read a few weeks ago, and it was so fun. Laughing really hard like that makes me feel so much better about life.
Posted by: adrienne at October 30, 2008 12:44 PM
I tried to read the book and put it down in about 2 chapters when I realized that I couldn't handle the idea of the domesticated cat deserting his home family for a bunch of wild cats. I'm sure it had everything to do with losing Shadow not too long before that, but I don't feel the need to pick it up again. The writing itself didn't grab me, either, or I would have tried to stick with it. I'm glad kids seem to enjoy them so much, though.
Posted by: olivia at October 30, 2008 04:24 PM