October 27, 2003
Hiatus
Postings have gone down, I know. Well, my parents are visiting, the kids are sick and teething, I'm sickish too... sort of cuts down on the time we spend on the internet. Next week, we'll be in the States, so don't expect much until the second week in November.
Carlos thinks we should ask our esteemed readers for suggestions for books to pick up while we're in the States. That seems a good idea. So, go on. We've only ordered about a dozen on amazon.com to pick up in VA - our suitcases are still nearly empty! Any suggestions will be considered!
(Books ordered on amazon.com include "The Toddler's Busy Book", the latest Kage Baker, 2 Alan Fursts, "Year's best SF" by Garner Dozois.)
Robert Munsch. Anything, really, but there are two or three big compilations; those are probably cheapest and easiest.
Margaret Wise Brown: _Goodnight, Moon_ in the boardbook edition. A book a toddler can -- literally -- sink his new teeth into ... and that a parent can consider again and again and AGAIN and A*G*A*I*N without going notably insane.
Alexandra Day: _Good Dog, Carl_ in the boardbook edition... ditto.
Anything illustrated by Lisa McCue. Anything illustrated by Felicia Bond. Anything by Sandra Boynton.
I would avoid anything illustrated by Eric Carle but your milage may vary.
The point being that as babies become toddlers a lot of your recreational reading time is perforce going to be shared with another person in your lap. As you consider how to fill up the limited shelf space, pick stuff that can be appreciated on at least two levels.
Riffing off of the Furst: J. Robert Janes's wartime mysteries. It's France, 1942. Kohler is a Gestapo cop, Saint-Cyr is a Surete detective. Together, they fight crime!
Claudia, the Baker is really good. A lot of Vancean brio, but without Vance's prejudices.
Have either of you read James Ellroy?
Posted by: Carlos at October 28, 2003 10:45 PMNearly forgot:
In reference to something Doug asked about, recent histories that attempt to interpret events at the level of civilizations, there's Felipe Fernandez-Armesto's, um, _Civilizations_, which compares them by biome; and there is the one by the McNeills, _The Human Web_.
Posted by: Carlos at October 29, 2003 06:45 AMKarl Schroeder's Permanence, definitely, for science-fiction.
For non-fiction, perhaps Colin Wilson's The Outsiders?
For children, the Olivia series (intelligent precocious young piglet) is unmatched.
Posted by: Randy McDonald at November 2, 2003 05:36 PM