tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31792486085157050112024-03-14T01:09:55.322+00:00Young middle ageBabies, books, and general musings about anything else that comes up.Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08771705537219032469noreply@blogger.comBlogger116125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-58592205125643036022016-12-26T20:49:00.000+00:002016-12-31T20:39:58.473+00:00My 2016 in books
It's been so quiet on here recently. So much stuff takes a while to process, and I think Great Thoughts but then don't get the space to articulate them while they're fresh. Honestly, I might regain the habit in 2017, but something I did manage this year was to log everything I read on Goodreads. I'd rather have written a proper blog post about each, but that seemed a sheer steep challenge, Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-55263603155390030282016-03-29T21:21:00.002+01:002016-05-31T20:05:20.203+01:00The Forgotten and the Fantastical 2 - a storming follow upI've been hopeless recently about writing about books on here, because I was feeling too much pressure to write lots, so things were backing up. So instead I'm religiously logging each one on Goodreads (actually am a tiny bit behind there too) but wanted chance for a longer rave about this one. You know I'm involved with Mother's Milk Books, insofar as I help out behind the scenes a little when IHelenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-68401312478069579542016-03-06T20:19:00.000+00:002016-03-06T20:19:01.844+00:00Feminism, the workplace, and failed audacityThere's a lot in the news at the moment about women's equality, workplace rights, and so on. The dominant push seems to be for quotas and strictly defined equality, so either parent can take parental leave, meaning neither sex is disadvantaged by time away from the workplace, and all of this kind of thing.
I've been reading this thinking well, they're missing the point. "They" are moving countersHelenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-49185008032809362422015-07-14T19:56:00.000+01:002015-07-14T20:29:03.562+01:00Oy Yew, and what makes good children's fiction brilliantI've been wanting to write about Ana Salote's Oy Yew for a long time, since I first saw it, and wanting to say something more interesting than "it's wonderful", particularly because so many of my book posts at the moment seem to be raving about the great books, and it could sound as though I read uncritically. (I don't. I just have something of a squeeze on my time at the moment, and while I do Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-45641188327207898562015-05-26T09:55:00.001+01:002015-05-26T09:55:25.573+01:00The forgotten and the fantasticalThere's all sorts I need to write about at the moment, and a million books I've loved and want to rave about, so much I've been overwhelmed and paralysed into not-starting. Plus, and I know this sounds like an excuse, but don't even dare to dismiss it as one unless you too have more than one pre-school-age child and an evening job, I really am finding time hard to manage. It's not just about Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-68898788567000324632015-05-03T20:37:00.000+01:002015-05-03T20:37:16.896+01:00Why Doulas MatterIt's taken me a while to get round to writing this: often I write about books from my memory of them, relying on my impressions, which is quicker. I have huge time and respect for proper book bloggers who have lots of quotes and obvious results of careful notes, but it's not how I usually approach things. This one, though, I wanted to pin down why I loved it so much, because it's the kind of bookHelenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-80436384963324018132015-03-31T08:00:00.000+01:002015-03-31T08:00:00.570+01:00Changing the fairy tales<!-- START TOP CODE -->
Welcome to ‘The Forgotten and the Fantastical’ Carnival
This post was written especially for inclusion in ‘The Forgotten and the Fantastical’ carnival, hosted by Mother’s Milk Books, to celebrate the launch of their latest collection of fairy tales for an adult audience: The Forgotten and the Fantastical. Today our participants share their thoughts on the theme ‘Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-37923917473490908962015-02-01T23:05:00.002+00:002015-02-01T23:05:34.860+00:00Loving challenges and unsisterly sneeringThere are two books I want to write about here, in such contrast to each other. I'm torn about how to go about it, because I loved one, and didn't love the other. I don't want to dedicate pages and pages of space to the one I didn't love, but at the same time I want to explain myself.
Perhaps I should start with the love: Kiss me! How to raise your children with love by Carlos Gonzalez.
I wroteHelenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-64937193275242910662015-01-27T18:53:00.001+00:002015-01-27T18:53:21.882+00:00SlownessesNext post was meant to be about books: I was going to do two or three posts on fiction I'd read so far this year, and one on a couple of parenting books, including my thoughts on "that" Alpha Parent book.
And I wanted to do an update on my digital footprints project, and to talk about how interacting more deliberately really does change and enrich your experience.
And my babies, well, my baby Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-63460244700486804822015-01-03T20:53:00.002+00:002015-01-03T20:53:49.769+00:00The Sunday night feelingOh, how I love Mondays, and mornings, and new terms, and new pencil cases, and best of all new years. All chances for a fresh start, for looking back on the day/week/month/term year before and saying what can I build on, what should I discard, what am I proud of, what have I learned.
So I've no idea why I've not been able to call up this spirit yet for 2015. It may be the horrible timing of the Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-61389368958087469192014-12-31T10:58:00.002+00:002014-12-31T11:12:23.740+00:00Book shameJust a quick one here, though I'm hoping to be back tomorrow-ish with some words about my hopes for 2015.
For
now, though, an issue that's been vexing me: what do I feel about the
books that I love? Or, can I get over my apparent need to write or talk
only about the more literary, impressive, books that I enjoyed, and be
more open, with readers of this blog but also with myself. Repeat Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-81758039738234052172014-12-19T20:16:00.001+00:002014-12-19T20:16:05.806+00:00Adding a phraseMy singing teacher gave me a piece of wonderful advice.
Sometimes you're learning a song and the breath control is hard, because the phrases are long. Take, for example, the first line of Linden Lea, an English classic and grade 4 piece, I think:
"Within the woodlands, flow'ry gladed, by the oak tree's mossy moot"
Even if you're taking the whole song at a bracing gallop, it's a long one, and Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-33488120305417400252014-11-17T09:46:00.000+00:002014-11-17T09:46:27.778+00:00Dr Jack Newman's Guide to BreastfeedingDr Jack Newman's Guide to Breastfeeding, Jack Newman and Teresa Pitman, 2014, Pinter & Martin
Shout it from the rooftops! The famous "Dr Jack" has issued a new edition of his breastfeeding book, and I was thrilled to get a review copy because he's such a well-respected man, has coined so many of the phrases that have been incorporated into the narrative of breastfeeding, and has some Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-62310171099174738892014-11-13T21:18:00.000+00:002014-11-13T21:18:40.535+00:00Digital footprints, or trying to interactI made a bold statement on twitter today - I'm planning to spend a week or two really consciously deepening my digital footprint. Perhaps this phrase has common use, perhaps not: I'm using it to mean I want to acknowledge online content that's held some meaning or pleasure for me, whether that's through a simple "like" or "favorite", a share or retweet, or a comment on a blog.
Some of this has Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-65646691436413277212014-11-08T20:59:00.000+00:002014-11-08T20:59:04.763+00:00CentreWhen you start to learn the basics of throwing pots, you're desperate to get going. You watch a demonstration, someone sitting there with the clay singing through their hands, rising, falling, charmed like a snake, soothed and coaxed into beautiful symmetry, smoothed by the patter of their words.
Then you try it yourself, sling a lump on the wheel, start it moving, have a stab at getting it Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-84001665719661083402014-10-13T20:35:00.002+01:002014-10-13T20:35:42.548+01:00The narrow road to the deep north - Booker shortlist #5I'm banging out posts this evening because I feel a moral obligation to have as many of my thoughts published as I can before the prize is announced.
No, I won't be getting through the whole list before tomorrow evening but will be trying to read a little more of the Mukherjee so I can make an official pronouncement of my view some time in the middle of the afternoon (glorious solipsism here, yesHelenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-16420484695933474882014-10-13T20:11:00.002+01:002014-10-13T20:11:38.023+01:00To rise again at a decent hour - Booker shortlist #3I'm posting not-in-order here, because I loved the Smith so much I had to write about it first.
Only a quickie on this one. Another good reason for leaving it a little while before writing about it was that it had struck me as ephemeral, and I wanted to give it chance to settle to test my instincts on that.
Those instincts turned out, for me, to be right. I can't say I didn't enjoy reading it - IHelenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-43304186383874267132014-10-05T21:43:00.001+01:002014-10-05T21:43:06.783+01:00How to be both - Booker shortlist #4Skipping around a little here, because I've not written yet about the Ferris (short version - fine, made me laugh, but not prize-worthy) but tonight I need to get my feelings off my chest about the Smith, How to be both.
When books start with weirdly laid out text and half sentences and breathless stream of consciousness and self-conscious defamiliarisation exercises (think person from past Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-53628594691323616642014-09-22T11:48:00.000+01:002014-09-22T11:48:06.366+01:00J - Booker shortlist #2Honestly, I don't want to waste any more time on this one. It's bogged me down, deterred me from my journey, made me sleep rather than read, made me irritable.
Trying to think of a sort of intelligent critique rather than just saying it's rubbish, I note the publisher's assertion that this is nothing like Jacobson's normal work, but respectfully disagree - it's like it, in that it's hard work to Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-10753023049145328852014-09-18T09:07:00.000+01:002014-09-18T09:07:02.059+01:00We are all completely beside ourselvesBooker shortlist time! My favourite time of year!
Honestly, I have no time to read, can't even manage to get through Saturday's paper, and yet somehow at Booker time I find these little pockets of time, squeeze in a few pages here and there, ponder the contents in between, with only a little bit of neglect of my children.
I got my Book People bundle on Tuesday, and despairingly put them all Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-52186058654958800472014-09-17T21:33:00.000+01:002014-09-17T21:33:01.027+01:00So bigNot an original observation, but one that needs to be made.
He was my baby, my precious tiny firstborn. I've written elsewhere about the astonishing levels of intimacy in our relationship, with perhaps the most surprising thing for me being the physicality of it. Of course there's breastfeeding, but it's more than that - we owned each other's bodies, with no clear line between us. He weaned Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-30071852924811161822014-09-02T10:00:00.000+01:002014-09-02T10:00:36.877+01:00You see, I seeYou see a frazzled looking woman on the train with a young baby. The baby is fussing and niggling and occasionally howling - she doesn't seem to know how to settle him, and nothing she's trying is working.
It's not helping that she's juggling him with a hot drink (how dangerous!) and is stuffing her face with food whenever she gets a hand free.
And she looks appalling, dressed all dark, Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-46028952526177209682014-08-26T10:03:00.000+01:002014-08-26T10:03:45.890+01:00Nurturing New FamiliesAnother review of a book very kindly sent to me by Pinter & Martin. If I suddenly became money- and time-rich I'd buy their whole catalogue as a job-lot and shut myself away to read it start to finish, and you can see from my recent post how much I loved Dynamic Positions in Birth so I had high hopes for this one.
The book, by ex-midwife Naomi Kemeny, is about the work of postnatal doulas. Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-3510016630464829002014-08-18T20:45:00.002+01:002014-08-18T20:45:42.756+01:00On having a crying babyNatural birth, peacefully at home in water, quick and easy, immediately encircled in his mother's arms, skin to skin and first feed, brief wrench away for weighing but then back to human contact, always human contact.
Breastfed whenever he so much as shuffles or stirs, always available for him, patiently, two minutes on, ten minutes off, but freely on again when he needs it.
Worn in the slingHelenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179248608515705011.post-48445463073041567432014-07-31T10:12:00.000+01:002014-07-31T10:12:12.104+01:00Dynamic positions in birthSounds like it could be a highly personal post packed with too much information, but in fact this is a semi-formal book review...Dynamic positions in birth by Margaret Jowitt, published by Pinter & Martin.
I should say, I had a review copy from P&M but there was no obligation on me to review it positively - it just happens that I love love love it.
I've not written up A's birth story for Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15415841494207669940noreply@blogger.com3