We Have a Winner

Thank you all so much for your kind and enthusiastic response to my Lyme disease/thumb injury/blogiversary (re)giveaway post. M's finger is totally fine, but Saturday night I noticed E had a rash and remembered the doctor saying something about rashes, so I checked the amoxicillin prescription insert, which said something like, "If a rash forms while taking this medicine, it could be absolutely nothing, or it could be a deadly allergic reaction, so seek medical attention immediately." Right. At eight o'clock on a Saturday night. Thanksgiving weekend. So I called the on-call physician who was much more blase than the prescription insert, and said stop the medicine, and he would prescribe something else, which I could give E after the rash goes away. And then C said he'd noticed a rash a few days earlier. And then I forgot to pick up the new prescription on the way home today. So now I officially qualify for Worst. Mother. Ever.

Anyhoo, on to your comments. You are all so sweet and smart (and, yes, I agree--no messing around with Lyme! And I can't believe how many of you have had up-close-and-personal experience with this lovely pathogen).

I wanted to share a bit of everyone's good book recommendations, so we can all be on the lookout for a good read:

Miri wrote, "a really good book is 'diary' by chuck palahiniuk."


Emily HK wrote, "My favorite novel of all is "Possession" by A.S. Byatt, in large part because of the wonderful variety of forms of writing contained within the cover -- prose, epistolary, poetry, all in one amazing story"


Lone Star Ma wrote "I just finished reading my favorite sci-fi author (Joan Slonczewski)'s new book The Highest Frontier and I loved it. Future-political scion goes to college in spacehab and has adventures with corrupt politicians and aliens - very satisfying."


Aunt Kirstie said, "I recently read Needles and Pearls by Gil McNeil. It is a light and fun read, not great literature, but was just what I needed."


Domestic Diva wrote, "I have so many favorite books, one of them is Love in the Time of Cholera by Marquez."


Mary Beth wrote, "As far as my recommendation goes, all I can say is that I am currently _obsessed_with the Little House books. Highly recommended if you haven't read them as an adult."


6512 and growing wrote, "i just finished State of Wonder by Ann Patchett and LOVED it. Now I'm reading Cutting for Stone, not quite as thrilling as Patchett's novel, but lovely writing."


Jaimie wrote, "A book--well, I've had magical realism on the brain lately, so this is neither current nor particularly relevant to anything, but have you read Gabriel Garcia Marquez's _100 Years of Solitude_? It's in my top five."


And Raina wrote, "As far as books, I'm just in shock that there are moms who have time to read. I read magazines and blogs, but I can't think of the last time I snuggled down with a book. It's almost like seeing a unicorn isn't it? I did go to my cousins wedding a while ago (sans kids) and read a book on the plane and at my hotel room. I loved the book, but it might have just been because I actually got to read it :). It was The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent."


Yes, I have to say I miss the days when I had a baby (one baby) attached to my breast all day long and nothing to do but read (this did not work so well with two babies attached to my breasts all day long). But once I read an essay by a mom writer (and very prolific reader) that said something like, "never do anything you can do while your kids are awake while they are asleep." In other words, save the housework for when the little vandals can lend a hand, and use that precious nap- (or bed- or school-) time to read or write or knit or sew or do whatever fills your soul. I try to take these words to heart.


That being said, I haven't read any of these books you lovely ladies recommend, except for the Little House books, which I too became obsessed with last winter while reading them to E and Z, and when the boys lost interest in the middle of By the Shores of Silver Lake (much less bullet-making, and fewer near-death accidents), I kept reading through the series and into Laura's newspaper writings collected in Little House in the Ozarks (which I confess I did not finish).


I will keep this list handy for next time I get to read a book of my choosing (with two votes for Marquez, that might be the direction to go, no?). And I had so much fun with this, I think I'll have another giveaway next week. Stay tuned.


Oh, yeah, and I almost forgot, the winner of Suzanne Kamata's short story collection, The Beautiful One Has Come, is: Life As I Know It. Congratulations! Email me your address at andreaelani at yahoo dot com, and I'll send your package out within the week.


(sorry about the weird type size issues...but it was either giant or tiny at the end...grr...blogger...)