Gracious Rain

My son-in-law has suggested that we start a family book discussion group, and since that is one thing we all have in common—loving and being surrounded by wonderful books—we took to the idea immediately. We are each so different in our reading styles and tastes that the possibilities are endless. For instance, Jacob reads science fiction (Orson Scott Card, Jordan), April is more into contemporary novels (Jodi Picoult, Tan), Jillian loves the classic love stories (Meyer, Alcott ), Rhen votes for the spooky reading (Shelly, Stoker–not the really freaky stuff that mom vetoes… :] ) and Lyndi and I would rather read childrens’ literature than adult any day (Catling, Hale, respectively) although we are huge Meyer fans as well. For this very reason, it was fun to imagine how this would turn out.

So first he had us each submit 3 titles: (1)-book we have read that we think others should read; (1) book we haven’t read but have wanted to; and (1) book that is totally out of our preferred genre, but might be interesting. We emailed him our choices which, he then randomly chose 3 which we voted on. Oh, and we weren’t allowed to tell each other what books we submitted….although, sometimes it was obvious.

The three we voted on were: Magnificent Obsession–by Lloyd C. Douglas

The Chocolate Touch–by Patrick Skene Catling

Ender’s Game–by Orson Scott Card

In the end Chocolate Touch won. It was a quick read–being a middle grade novel so everyone but Rhen has read it already. I guess the other two books will go back into the “pot,” and we’ll draw and vote again after we discuss this one at our official book chat on Saturday night. It is actually pretty fun to see all these different types reading a simple kids’ book—and being a good sport about it. I can’t wait to see what we are assigned in the next draw. That’s right…FORCE me to read. Ha ha…

What book have you loved and would like others to read?

What book do you plan to read next?

What book is totally not what you normally read, but might be interesting?

We did a little research and found that the pretty–but messy–trees in the front yard are actually crab apples.

All we knew was that they have gorgeous pink blossoms in the spring and ten billion berry-type things in the fall.

Usually, we just avoid going near them at this time of year because if you happen to walk under the branches in a slight breeze—half a dozen of the Barbie apples will nail you in the head. And just walking across the lawn isn’t too pleasant either because stepping on the old ones is squishy business.

So, we did a bit more study and found that there are about 36 varieties of crab apples and the ones in our yard–we learned–were packed with natural pectin and would make wonderful jelly. So we shook them down—on purpose this time, and raked them into one big pile.

Next, The Bald Kid took the leaf blower and separated the tiny apples from the leaves and grass. It worked like a charm and was easier on the fruit than raking because these little things bruise and discolor very quickly.