The Little Big Book of Christmas

I love to pull this book out every holiday season. It contains some of my favorite Christmas stories.

Going Home - Finding Peace When Pets Die by Jon Katz

Dale and I had our beloved dog, Sophie, euthanized about 5 months ago. It was a painful experience despite having mourned the loss of many other pets in my life. Although this book didn't shed new light for me on anything in regard to the pain of losing a pet, Going Home by Jon Katz was extremely comforting and helped with my healing. I read The New Work of Dogs, also by Jon Katz, a few years ago and found the author to be extremely knowledgeable and sensitive about the the deep connection that exists between humans and their pets.

Elizabeth

Mad Men Unbuttoned

Natasha Vargas-Cooper, author of Mad Men Unbuttoned, uses the essays in her book, some written by her and some by others, as something of a gateway into the real world cultural and historic events of the 1960s. The book is less a companion piece to the television show Mad Men as it is a companion piece to the era. The book is divided into nine sections including: The Ads and the Men Who Made Them which looks at the real life ad men of the 60s and what they did to change advertising; Style which covers everything from the skinny tie to hemlines; Literature which looks at the influence of books like Lady Chatterley's Lover and Atlas Shrugged on the decade; and, of course, Sex which covers the pill to homosexuality and everything in between. My friend Noel gave me the book for my birthday. When I first started reading it I realized I had to put it aside until I finished watching the 3rd season of the show on DVD. My only disappointment in the book was that it did not offer spoiler alerts up through that season. I found out something from the book I would have rather gotten from watching the show.

Dick and Jane - Fun With Our Family

This is a reprint of one of the Dick and Jane readers that were used to teach reading in 1950s and 60s America. The books featured stories with simple vocabulary words and charming illustrations and were published by Scott Foresman and Company. Fun with Our Family has a copyright date of 1965 which is one year before I was born. I did not grow up learning to read with Dick and Jane but because they are pure Americana I knew of the stories and their format. The stories are rather flat but, being a first grade teacher of reading, I know that part of learning to read by oneself means having to learn and read basic sight words. If these stories have any charm at all it comes from remembering learning to read with simple books. It's a rite of passage.

Finding Betty Crocker

Finding Betty Crocker is fascinating not only because of the biography of its fictional subject but also because of the history of 20th century Minneapolis it presents. According to the book's jacket, "In 1945, Fortune Magazine named Betty Crocker the second most popular American woman, right behind Eleanor Roosevelt, and dubbed Betty America's First Lady of Food. Not bad for a gal who never actually existed." I don't think I realized Betty Crocker hadn't been a real person until I was about 30 years old.

True Compass

This is an incredible account not only of Kennedy's life but also of American history and politics. Kennedy reflects on events in his life including his family's time in Europe just prior to U.S. involvement in World War 2, his lost family members and how they impacted him, and his endorsement of Barack Obama for president. As a child, Kennedy's father said to him, "You can have a serious life or a nonserious life." What really struck me was his gratitude for the privilege he had and for what it allowed him to do for his country.