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bearshorty The Twits by Roald Dahl, 76pp
Tanya wanted to read this small book after reading an excerpt in the back of one of the other Dahl book and then she insisted I read it. So I did. It is very short but pretty funny. The Twits are a terrible husband and wife who play terrible and mean tricks on each other (Tanya laughed and laughed at those) and then their captive family of monkeys get their revenge on them with the help of some birds. The Twits get their comeuppance. Very cute and amusing book.
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman, 365pp [translated from Swedish].
I liked Backman's two books that I read "Anxious People" and "A Man Called Ove", so I wanted to read more. So I figured I should read in order and went for this one. The protagonist in a seven, almost eight year old, very precocious girl, named Elsa, whose grandmother just died. Her grandmother left her a quest of delivering letters and through then Elsa gets to really know her neighbors and all the characters who live in the building for the first time. In very Backman way, all the people are very three dimensional and get flushed out more as Elsa gets to know them. I liked this book. I didn't love it as the other ones, but I did like it as I like that idea that everyone you meet is interesting and have their own story and difficulties. And in the end, his books leave off with very positive view of people and humanity in general. And of regular people, living regular lives, with all their complications. And even though this book wasn't as good as the others, I want to read more by him as it is nice to spend time in a world like that and to get to know people. And I do like his humor in general.
Good Inside by Becky Kennedy, 298pp
This is a parenting book where the author has two main goals. One to have parents see their kids as good kids and any issues just stemming from big emotions that kids often can't handle yet. No maliciousness when a kid doesn't listen or act up, just a good kid having a hard time. And two for parents to see themselves that way too, as people trying their very best. That it is never too late to be better and there is no reason for guilt or shame. Just keep trying to connect with the kids.
A lot of her advice is familiar to me from other parenting books like "How to talk so your kids will listen". The main idea is to recognize and acknowledge the kid's emotions and go from there. Trying to understand from the kid's perspective. A lot of the things she recommends we kind of already do. But still it was a very nice refresher and some new ideas as well. I was mostly looking for ways to diffuse sibling conflict, since most of our issues stems from that. But I also paid close attention to the chapter on perfectionism since Olivia has this tendency and it was good to get some strategies on that. And how to get kids to listen (mostly make it fun and a game).
I don't need the advice for parents since I don't tend to beat myself up that much over bad moments, like when I lose my temper. But it was nice to read it anyway just to reassure myself that I can keep trying and it is ok. So overall, I'm glad I read this book even though many strategies were already familiar to me.
Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl, 47pp .
I requested these from the library to read to the girls in the evening. This is Dahl's take on fairy tales like Cinderella, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Three Little Pigs. All with a twist. We all had fun reading them. The girls liked the illustration where the Prince chops off the heads of the stepsisters in Cinderella and I liked that Cinderella then realizes she would rather marry a nice decent boy. Also Little Red Riding Hood with a gun in her knickers in hilarious and appears in more than one story.
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan, 411pp
I heard so much about this book and so many people loved it so I knew I had to read it. But I did temper my expectations a bit, which was probably a good thing. I really loved the first part of the book where Zhu is in the monastery. Once the story goes to the battlefields, it was harder to get through, and the book went from "this is terrific" to "this book is ok". A lot of it was the change in Zhu and how she spoke. For some reason it didn't gel with the character she was before. I did like the alternating perspective between her and the Mongol general. But also, I'm not a giant fan of politics and different factions trying to outdo each other, so that brought the story down a bit. (It's why I also don't like mafia movies or shows). And after a while all the talk of fate and destiny and heaven got very, very repetitive. And the only point to Zhu being able to see ghosts is to use them at a crucial moment to for political gain. And because of the Mandate, yet, it was a confirmation of it, but still that felt like the ability to see ghosts should be more developed. I did enjoy the writing style and building the characters.
For me at the end, this book reminded me of "The Poppy Wars", not because it is set in China, although that probably was influential in how each character is constructed and what the morality is, but in the final morality or lack thereof in the main character. I ended up disliking the Poppy Wars because of the actions of the main character in the end, and while here, it wasn't to the same extent, Zhu's actions at the end of the book went over that line that I like in my characters. I liked Zhu a lot more than the protagonist of the Poppy Wars, but I felt that she changed so much in the end, and a bit too quickly, because nothing could stand in her way and that kind of characteristic is not appealing. I recognize that this is a Western storytelling expectation of mine, although many western heroes are often also problematic in a lot of ways. But I just lost sympathy for the character in that scene by the river with the moon and I don't think I can gain it back. And all of the characters seem very fixated on one thing and just accept fate as given, which I know is the point, but it got too repetitive.
Overall, I did like this book enough, I enjoyed many of the characters and the writing style and the book's structure, and I can recognize why so many people love it, but I am not sure I want to read the sequel at this point.
Tanya wanted to read this small book after reading an excerpt in the back of one of the other Dahl book and then she insisted I read it. So I did. It is very short but pretty funny. The Twits are a terrible husband and wife who play terrible and mean tricks on each other (Tanya laughed and laughed at those) and then their captive family of monkeys get their revenge on them with the help of some birds. The Twits get their comeuppance. Very cute and amusing book.
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman, 365pp [translated from Swedish].
I liked Backman's two books that I read "Anxious People" and "A Man Called Ove", so I wanted to read more. So I figured I should read in order and went for this one. The protagonist in a seven, almost eight year old, very precocious girl, named Elsa, whose grandmother just died. Her grandmother left her a quest of delivering letters and through then Elsa gets to really know her neighbors and all the characters who live in the building for the first time. In very Backman way, all the people are very three dimensional and get flushed out more as Elsa gets to know them. I liked this book. I didn't love it as the other ones, but I did like it as I like that idea that everyone you meet is interesting and have their own story and difficulties. And in the end, his books leave off with very positive view of people and humanity in general. And of regular people, living regular lives, with all their complications. And even though this book wasn't as good as the others, I want to read more by him as it is nice to spend time in a world like that and to get to know people. And I do like his humor in general.
Good Inside by Becky Kennedy, 298pp
This is a parenting book where the author has two main goals. One to have parents see their kids as good kids and any issues just stemming from big emotions that kids often can't handle yet. No maliciousness when a kid doesn't listen or act up, just a good kid having a hard time. And two for parents to see themselves that way too, as people trying their very best. That it is never too late to be better and there is no reason for guilt or shame. Just keep trying to connect with the kids.
A lot of her advice is familiar to me from other parenting books like "How to talk so your kids will listen". The main idea is to recognize and acknowledge the kid's emotions and go from there. Trying to understand from the kid's perspective. A lot of the things she recommends we kind of already do. But still it was a very nice refresher and some new ideas as well. I was mostly looking for ways to diffuse sibling conflict, since most of our issues stems from that. But I also paid close attention to the chapter on perfectionism since Olivia has this tendency and it was good to get some strategies on that. And how to get kids to listen (mostly make it fun and a game).
I don't need the advice for parents since I don't tend to beat myself up that much over bad moments, like when I lose my temper. But it was nice to read it anyway just to reassure myself that I can keep trying and it is ok. So overall, I'm glad I read this book even though many strategies were already familiar to me.
Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl, 47pp .
I requested these from the library to read to the girls in the evening. This is Dahl's take on fairy tales like Cinderella, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Three Little Pigs. All with a twist. We all had fun reading them. The girls liked the illustration where the Prince chops off the heads of the stepsisters in Cinderella and I liked that Cinderella then realizes she would rather marry a nice decent boy. Also Little Red Riding Hood with a gun in her knickers in hilarious and appears in more than one story.
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan, 411pp
I heard so much about this book and so many people loved it so I knew I had to read it. But I did temper my expectations a bit, which was probably a good thing. I really loved the first part of the book where Zhu is in the monastery. Once the story goes to the battlefields, it was harder to get through, and the book went from "this is terrific" to "this book is ok". A lot of it was the change in Zhu and how she spoke. For some reason it didn't gel with the character she was before. I did like the alternating perspective between her and the Mongol general. But also, I'm not a giant fan of politics and different factions trying to outdo each other, so that brought the story down a bit. (It's why I also don't like mafia movies or shows). And after a while all the talk of fate and destiny and heaven got very, very repetitive. And the only point to Zhu being able to see ghosts is to use them at a crucial moment to for political gain. And because of the Mandate, yet, it was a confirmation of it, but still that felt like the ability to see ghosts should be more developed. I did enjoy the writing style and building the characters.
For me at the end, this book reminded me of "The Poppy Wars", not because it is set in China, although that probably was influential in how each character is constructed and what the morality is, but in the final morality or lack thereof in the main character. I ended up disliking the Poppy Wars because of the actions of the main character in the end, and while here, it wasn't to the same extent, Zhu's actions at the end of the book went over that line that I like in my characters. I liked Zhu a lot more than the protagonist of the Poppy Wars, but I felt that she changed so much in the end, and a bit too quickly, because nothing could stand in her way and that kind of characteristic is not appealing. I recognize that this is a Western storytelling expectation of mine, although many western heroes are often also problematic in a lot of ways. But I just lost sympathy for the character in that scene by the river with the moon and I don't think I can gain it back. And all of the characters seem very fixated on one thing and just accept fate as given, which I know is the point, but it got too repetitive.
Overall, I did like this book enough, I enjoyed many of the characters and the writing style and the book's structure, and I can recognize why so many people love it, but I am not sure I want to read the sequel at this point.