Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

That’s the plan, anyway. The kiddos are back to school and I have an incredible backlog of things to blog about, so that’s where I’m starting my home-by-myself portion of the morning. (In case you’re wondering what I’ve been doing for the last month or so, by the way, it’s been a combination of plenty of actual things plus the difficulty of concentrating when all the kids are home and it’s the end of their summer.) Yesterday being insane–appointment for my oldest, followed by ordering and picking up lunch, followed by dropping her off with food and taking mine in the car to get a tire and my windshield fixed, followed by a trip to the pharmacy and PetSmart, followed by my very first ever vet visit, followed by back-to-school night (which goes much, much longer when you’re the PTA treasurer), followed by helping kids get their night-before-the-first-day stuff ready, followed by my walk, followed by the rest of my scripture study–I’m also completely enjoying just sitting here. Except of course, there are book reviews to do!

Just for kicks and giggles, I’ll start with Beyond the Laughing Sky, by Michelle Cuevas. Michelle Cuevas, as an author, is BIZARRE–she wrote Confessions of an Imaginary Friend and The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole–but skilled; her writing is beautiful and near-perfectly poignant. In Laughing Sky we meet Nashville, who was hatched from an egg with a boy’s body, a beak, and feathers instead of hair. His typically human family–parents and a younger sister–love him to distraction, but he’s obviously not really accepted by the residents of Goosepimple (the nearby village). He’d rather be able to fly than fit in, but neither seems a possibility–until he starts asking himself the right questions. His journey is bittersweet but oddly beautiful, and my youngest clearly found his story to be a compelling read-aloud. I found it to be rather Kate DiCamillo-ish in its rather weird, lovely, and existential vibe. You’ll have to tell me what you think!