bookrblog

Baby Books

Sunday, July 25th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments

I am now 19 weeks pregnant which is nearly halfway. I have just counted the number of baby/birth/pregnancy type books that I have read so far. It’s nearing thirty . . .

• Misconceptions (Naomi Wolf).  Brilliant, a must-read.
• Motherlove, 1 & 2 (debra adelaide). Great range of stories by women.
• Birthing from Within (Pam England). Practical & thoughtprovoking
• Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth (Ina May Gaskin). Interesting, mostly stories.
• Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering (Dr Sarah Buckley). Nice, but a bit unbalanced
• Lady’s Hands, Lion’s Heart (Carol Leonard). Hysterically funny, very sad, story of a midwife
• Birth (Tina Cassidy). A bit grotesque but very informative about the male takeover of birth.
• The Midwife (Jennifer Worth). Fascinating story of a 1940’s East Ender midwife.
• Babycatcher (Peggy Vincent). Funny and sad story of a US midwife as insurance disappeared.
• A Midwife’s Tale (Penny Armstrong). Great story of a midwife working among the Amish
• Labor of Love (Cara Mulhuln). A NY midwife who comes across as more than a little unbalanced.
• Having a Great Birth in Australia/Men at Birth (David Vernon). Stories of births.
• Birth Skills (Juju Sundin). A workbook of exercises to get through the pain - except her co-writer couldn’t and had an epidural - which kinds of nullifies her theories, doesn’t it?
• Baby on Board (Dr Howard Chilton). A good practical mainstream book on the first month or so of babycare.
• Up the Duff (Kaz Cooke). A pregnancy book aimed at the Dolly readers out there . . . inaccurate and silly.
• Your Social Baby (Lynne Murray). A beautiful book of photos and research on the first months of baby’s life.
• The Birth Wars (Mary Rose MacColl). A scary book about the war between midwives and Drs in Australia.
• Diary of a Baby (Daniel Stern). Covers the emotional life of a baby from 6wks to 4 years.
• The First Relationship (Daniel Stern). Covers the same information in more detail - emotion is everything!
• The Infant’s World (Phillipe Rochat). Current theories of child emotional development, as above, really.

I’ve also read a couple more book of birth stories (e.g. Birth at Home, Birth Stories, Simply Give Birth)- and some old books from the 60s and 70s (which make you very glad things have changed!!) as well as some random books from people’s bookshelves about pregnancy, eating in pregnancy, naming babies, etc. Probably the stories are the most useful, because you’re hearing the same things over and over again about the breast crawl and natural oxytocin and positioning and the importance of constant contact etc etc. However, which will have been the most useful in a year’s time? That will be interesting.

The Island of Sheep

Sunday, July 18th, 2010 | British Literature | No Comments

The only problem with this John Buchan novel is its title - really doesn’t give the impression of a rollicking adventure tale! It is, of course, and is actually the last story of Richard Hannay (which began with the 39 steps). He’s aging, a bit anxious about it, a bit aware that something is always around the corner. Each chapter introduces a new character - the mysterious Stranger, the crazy Treasure-Seeker, the idealistic Dreamer. And of course these 3 characters come together in a big battle where Honour, honour, honour, is the name of the game.

I had just finished studying Old Norse when I read this, and so it was interesting that it was set in the “Northlands”, with a Norse hero who changes slowly from a timid man to a man who embraces his heritage and thereby saves the day. It was also interesting to see Hannay with his son, who has inherited his curious outlook, and of course his number one characteristic, his sense of honour. Character drives this book. Buchan isn’t perfect, and either is this, but I enjoyed it.