More books being read

I'm reading fiction for my book group. It's time to start Memoirs of a Geisha, but during Son1's Thursday evening library program I picked up my requested copy of the next book, Angels and Demons (yes, by the author of "The Da Vinci Code") and started reading it. Not too bad, definitely a page turner. I'm also trying to finish this month's book, The Red Tent -- a refresher after reading it several years ago -- because the Red Tent discussion guide I found at the Union for Reform Judaism site was really, really interesting.

I am so glad I'm reading Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Super Heroes, and Make-Believe Violence (see sidebar); it has a lot of information and ideas about pretend violence and kids. It fits with what has always made sense to me - Jung, archetypes, fairy tales, kids being attracted to powerful images when they are stuck with little control over their lives. Very interesting to me, especially now that we are all enjoying our new video game system and finally *I* am playing games, both solo and with the family. I'm sure I'll blog on this whole experience; it's gotten me thinking a lot about parenting, media & kids, and unchallenged assumptions.

Back to fiction. A friend introduced me to the Thursday Next books, and I love them! I need to finish Lost in a Good Book so I can start the next book, heehee. I borrowed The Annunciation of Francesca Dunn from the library after reading a review of the next book by the same author; I have no idea if I'll like it, so we'll see.

The second annual science fair at the boys' elementary school is coming up soon, and Son1 is interested in doing something with bubbles and his Zome bubbleology kit. After we worked the library catalog a bit, he's now reading books about bubbles and I'm reading books about science fair projects. I helped judge last year's fair, but I never participated in a science fair as a kid so as a parent I'm trying to get a clue on the doing part!

Finally, last night I pulled this book off my shelf and decided it would be a good Lenten discipline to read it: Raising Faith-Filled Kids: Ordinary opportunities to nurture spirituality at home, by Tom McGrath. I've browsed through it many times and am really impressed. Now I think it's time to READ it.