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Gruen, Sara. Ape House: a Novel. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2010. Print.

Water for Elephants was one of the first books we read in my current book club, and like everybody else I know, I loved it. I was eager to see if this book would hold my interest as well.

The main character, John, is a reporter who is sent to visit a language lab where great apes (specifically, bonobos) are being studied. Protesters bomb the facility and John ends up covering the news, although of course the actual story is much more complicated! I found the reading quite thrilling and I finished it within a day or two of starting.

I’m not sure this is quite as satisfying as Water for Elephants, but it was a good read nonetheless, and I’d recommend it.

Haddon, Mark. Boom!, Or, 70,000 Light Years. [Toronto]: Doubleday Canada, 2009. Print.

This is another book I picked up on a whim from the “new to our library” shelf in the children’s section.  I know Mark Haddon, of course, from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, but didn’t realize he’d written a children’s book.  It turns out that he actually published it in 1992, but edited it heavily for a 2009 re-issue.

Two middle-school-aged kids overhear two of their teachers talking in what they think might be some kind of code.  The mystery is too strong to resist, especially for the main character’s best friend, who disappears.  The main characters, Jim, ends up enlisting his sister’s help to try and track down the villains.  Although nominally a thriller, this book had me chuckling at several points.  Scholastic doesn’t list it on their website, but typing the first couple of paragraphs into MS Word suggested a Grade 3 reading level, which sounds about right.

Jones, Diana Wynne. Howl’s Moving Castle. New York: Greenwillow, 1986. Print.

I picked this up on a whim, in the “new to our library” section of our children’s department.  The name was familiar, and I knew it had been made into a movie recently, so thought it might be good for family movie night.

She had me chucking on the first page, poking gentle fun at the fairy tales where it’s always the third son who succeeds in getting half the kingdom and the princess’s hand in marriage, after the first two sons have failed.  I ended up speeding through the book in a little over a day, and it was perfect summer reading for a blistering hot hour in the park, up to my ankles in the wading pool.  The action moves along merrily, there’s plenty of excitement, and enough twists in the plot to keep me interested.  Highly recommended.

Gannett, Ruth Stiles, and Ruth Chrisman Gannett. My Father’s Dragon. New York: Random House, 1948. Print.

This book stopped me dead in my tracks when I saw it on the library shelf.  Although it’s not the same cover I remember, this book was in the library either at my first school or in town, and I got it out multiple times when I was a child.  I was a little apprehensive about re-reading it, but I found it held up well over the decades.  It’s a much lower reading level than I remembered. Scholastic pegs it at a grade level of 4.8, which seems high.  It’s a fairly gentle, yet exciting, tale about a boy who goes on a voyage and rescues a dragon.  The part that stuck in my young mind was the precise and mysterious list of things he packs in his knapsack; each and every one of them are needed and accounted for by the end of the trip.

Highly recommended, especially for reading aloud at bedtime; the ten short chapters are perfect for reading one, then allowing a second, and being done in a week.

Tolpin, Jim. The New Cottage Home. Newtown, CT: Taunton, 1998. Print.

This is a book I would buy as an eBook, since it’s too hefty to make the commitment to for the long term!  However, it’s another wonderful Taunton book I’m happy to know the library has, so I can refer to it over time.  The copy I got had three pages torn out, unfortunately – who even does that?  (I asked my husband to put another copy on hold so I can see what I’m missing.)

The houses range from tiny (600 square feet) to over 3,000 square feet, but all manage to express a “cottage-y” feel.  Not all are on the water, either; he has chapters on cottages in the city and cottages in  fields rather than forests.  Some were built very cheaply, either on a very tight budget or by using salvaged materials.  They didn’t feel the need to look for cottages that were perfect in every way; it wasn’t until I read it the second time that I realized that in some houses, they didn’t show any pictures of the upstairs or the kitchen, for instance.

The introductory chapter on the history and notable architects (the usual Downing and Davis are mentioned, but also Bernard Maybeck) is interesting, and the final chapter on design is incredibly useful.  I’ve got a lot of good ideas for both our old farmhouse and another little project I have in mind.

Scott, Jerry. You’re Making That Face Again: Zits Sketchbook 13. Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel Pub., 2010. Print.

My son picked this up at the library, and when I saw it in the living room I grabbed it up to glance through.  I have to say I enjoyed it a lot – there is a surprising depth and subtlety to the “Zits” depiction of teenage-dom that I’d forgotten about.  Fortunately this 13-year-old of mine doesn’t (yet?) shut me out of his thoughts, and I hope we can continue to jointly laugh at things that might hit a little close to home.

Hobbs, Valerie. Sheep. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006. Print.

I expected to love this book; after all, my parents have an adored border collie, and it’s a children’s book recommended through LibraryThing.  It fell a bit flat, though.  I read it out loud with an 11-year-old at bedtimes, and it was a good length for that.  Halfway through we could both see the ending coming, though, and that kind of ruined my enjoyment.

The descriptions of adoption at an orphanage; the kids and parents lined up and shaking hands, and the prospective parents driving off with the kid they picked – made me hope that the book was set in the past, but since there was no particular evidence of it other than that, I was a bit dismayed at that portrayal.

Anderson, Bob. Stretching. Bolinas, Calif: Shelter, 1980. Print.

I wanted a book on stretching a few years ago, when my lower back was causing me problems and I was trying to do some DIY at-home help for it.  For some reason I didn’t come across this excellent book, which I’ve had out from the library for the last 9 weeks.  Unfortunately it didn’t become part of my routine, but I intend to stretch before I take it back tonight, and go back and get it again tomorrow!

The first part of the book describes various stretches – how to do them correctly, with lots of detail and description.  It’s organized by body part, roughly.  The second part of the book is organized by sport, with a one- or two-page spread for each sport or activity that you might want to stretch before or after.  The sketches are shown in a format that would make a nice poster, actually, with references back to the page where each one is described in detail.  It’s a great book for everyone, not just athletes – there are stretches to do before and after gardening!  (But not shoveling snow).

Asensio, Cerver Francisco., and Wendy Griswold. Small Apartments. New York: Harper Design International, 2003. Print.
I was intrigued by this book, which I got off the library shelf because it caught my eye.  It has a pronounced international flavour, without being dominated by minimalist interiors that I can’t relate to.

I’ll start with my only complaint, which is really a small one; on page 7 they say “While none of the apartments exceeds 800 square feet…”, but the very first project, on page 11, is 850 square feet.  This is a fairly petty point, though, and the fact that the apartments are all 850 square feet or less is a big difference from the last book reviewed, which thought that a 2000 square foot house was “small”.

There is a loose organizational structure to this book, with the five sections concentrating on furnishings, color, movable panels, restraint, and exterior.  I particularly liked the section on color, since the prevailing wisdom is that white, or at least pale colours, makes a space look bigger.  The cover picture, in fact, is from that section, showing the kitchen/dining area of an apartment in Barcelona that uses bright colours to demarcate the various spaces in the apartment.

Floor plans are given whenever they would be helpful.

More Small Houses. Newtown, CT: Taunton, 1998. Print.

I have yet to read a book by the Taunton Press that I didn’t like.  The houses in this book aren’t particularly small by my standards – under 2000 square feet or less – but there are lots of good ideas about using space.

As usual for the Taunton folks, there’s lots of detail about how things are built and supported that I skimmed over.  I may go back to it later if/when I actually build, but then again, I might not.  I’m sure if I really wanted to use old tires in my foundation, I’d be happy they detailed how to do it, though!