The "Name That Boy" contest is officially over.Garnering 31 percent of the votes, we have a winner.The "not so fast" boy's name is...Henry!More than one person suggested Henry, so the names went into the box lid to be drawn by my flesh-and-blood boy.Who won the second complimentary copy of Not So Fast?Jane Anne, of Gravity of Motion!Congratulations, Jane Anne, and thanks … [Read more...]
"Name That Boy" Book Giveaway Contest
You've seen the cute boy on the book cover loaded down with activities, right?If not, here he is:People frequently ask me if that boy is "The Boy"; that is, my son.I'd like to clear things up here and now:Nope. He's not my son. He's not "The Boy."The Not So Fast boy is, however, going to be a big part of my life. He'll travel with me to various speaking events. He'll grace … [Read more...]
American Lit on the Beach
Probably not typical beach reads; nevertheless, this is what I mentally consumed while sitting on the beach under an umbrella:I'm finishing The Crucible today.This fall I'm planning to present an American Literature course for high school home-schooled students. There are many books I've never read (or I read them so long ago that I don't remember anything about them). … [Read more...]
Simplicity & Slowing: Decluttering
[Update: Books offered at bottom of post are no longer available]A friend said the other day, "I don't know how you do all that you do, Ann.""The only way I do all that I do," I replied, "is by not doing it all."What I meant was—and I expanded on this with her—is that I cannot do it all. I don't do it all. I have limits and make choices accordingly.But writing and speaking … [Read more...]
Sneak Peek
I've been working on my forthcoming book, Not So Fast: Slow-Down Solutions for Frenzied Families, for years. Much of that time, I wasn't sure what I could say about it here on the blog.In fact, for quite some time, I was evasive. I didn't know how long it would be before the book's release, so I didn't want to post searchable text that described what it was … [Read more...]
New Book, Old Book
"It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between." (C.S. Lewis, On the Reading of Old Books)I found that quote in a magazine, but was curious to see it in context. Online, I found that it came from the introduction to a translation of St. Athanasius' "The Incarnation of the Word of God." I … [Read more...]
Book Report
Found a few books at Half Price Books while looking for a copy of my own book, The Contemplative Mom. My search took me to the "Religion" section:The Contemplative MomThey had one copy, so I snatched it up. Since my book is out-of-print, it's fairly scarce. People often ask to buy it from me, so it's good to have a few on hand.Each New Day This is a daily devotional book … [Read more...]
Not So Fast
For two years, I've been working on a book.I've mentioned it occasionally. In fact, you may recall the following photo I posted of the manuscript. I submitted this ream of paper to my publisher last year:As you can see, I was, well, a little wordy.I had to cut it way down. Susan, my editor at David C. Cook, and I tossed out entire chapters in hopes of getting it to a … [Read more...]
Long-Awaited Logophile Lists
(CC) Gaetan Lee, www.flickr.com/photos/gaetanlee/In Write to Discover Yourself, Ruth Vaughn tells about a character named Julia Redfern in a children's book called A Room Made of Windows. Julia keeps a "Book of Strangenesses" in which she makes lists. Her lists include Beautiful Words (Mediterranean, quiver, undulating, lapis lazuli, Empyrean) and Most Detestable … [Read more...]
WFMW: Online Versions of Devotional Books
I like real books. I like holding them in my hand and turning pages. I like hauling them around in a canvas bag (A-B-A-B).So, I also like using several books as part of my daily devotional routine. My routine changes from time to time, and a conversation with a dear friend inspired the following choices (links to book versions are provided first). I've returned to an old … [Read more...]
Just Fifteen Minutes a Day: Ready…Set…Read!
Jennifer at Scraps and Snippets posted about Lifelong Learning at her blog, citing a 2006 article by Harvey Mackay packed with statistics to make an autodidact sprint to her bookcase and grab anything within reach: Only 14 percent of adults with a grade-school education read literature in 2002. 51 percent of the American population never reads a book more than 400 … [Read more...]
Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture
Some time ago I read Mary DeMuth's book Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture: Practical Help for Shaping Your Children's Hearts, Minds, and Souls.I "met" Mary online while clicking around from blog to blog as a relative newcomer to the blogosphere. I landed on hers and found myself charmed by her personal chronicle of life in southern France. She and her husband … [Read more...]
Thankful Thursday
Prairie Prologue reminded me that it's Thankful Thursday. She linked to the carnival hub at Sting My Heart.So I pause, in my thinking and learning and reading and writing and cleaning and planning, to give thanks: Laughter from upstairs. Two children putting dresses on stuffed animals. Neighborhood swimming pool. Having one's own pool sounds like a lot of fun, but sharing … [Read more...]
Corrie Ten Boom Online Treasures
Check it out! I can write a short post!I thought I'd prove it to you...in contrast to yesterday's incredibly long post about touring the ten Boom museum. Online I found some Ten Boom treasures to share with you: A youthful Pat Robertson interviews Corrie in 1974 (interspersed with a few short clips from "The Hiding Place" movie). It's so neat to see and hear … [Read more...]
Is Google Making Us Stoopid?
The cover article for the current issue of Atlantic magazine (July/August) is entitled “Is Google Making Us Stoopid?” Hm. Is it?Author Nicholas Carr writes:“As the media theorist Marshall McLuhan pointed out in the 1960s, media are not just passive channels of information. They supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought. And what the Net seems … [Read more...]
