Readin'

I've managed to do a fair amount of reading recently. After an aborted attempt to read Reading Lolita in Tehran due to style issues, I started Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld. I was all prepared for a light read, but I was also prepared to be annoyed that a book about a teenage girl was being written by a man. But she's not a man, so it was fine.
The novel covers the entire boarding school career of Lee Fiona, a scholarship student from the Midwest trying to make her way with a bunch of East Coast uppity-ups.
This book was the embodiment of adolescence. Not only do I think she captured the feelings and reactions of your average teenager, but the entire book felt like I remember feeling. There was that atmosphere of nothing really happening in the grand scheme of the world, but everything was hyper important and required continual analysis. What did it mean that he leaned against her in the car?
At any rate, I was totally engrossed and didn't want to put the book down and spent lots of time trying to ignore the children so I could finish. I'm not claiming this will end up a classic work of literature, but it is an enjoyable read.

Right now, I'm reading My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell. It is his memoir of going with his family to live on the island of Corfu at age ten. I'm only 2 chapters in, but so far it is hilarious.
I'm also several chapters into Home Grown Kids by Raymond and Dorothy Moore. They propose that children shouldn't go to school unless it is absolutely necessary until they are 8 to 10 years old. They believe, based on research, that children need those early years at home to solidify their values before being with their age mates all day. Even though there is a fair amount of Christian talk about what "the Creator says," there is also a lot that I agree with. They are pro natural birth and breastfeeding, and for making children part of the household through doing chores and helping out, and for giving children alone time to engage in figuring things out for themselves and in fantasy play.