A couple books I’m excited about, April ’12 edition

Almost every day there is a new book or two that catches my eye. The fault, probably, of the several newsletters and subscriptions of book-related stuffy stuff that land in my inbox every morning. It’s almost too much!

Keyword: almost.

So, today, this 16th day of April, this thirty-eight and a half weeks into my pregnancy, this lovely spring day, this good-gracious-I-feel-like-an-elephant day, this Monday afternoon, here are a couple of books that currently have my attention.

Can’t wait to get my hands on ‘em.

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Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected–A Memoir, by Kelle Hampton

Oh, my.

This book was highlighted several places before I ran into it on a blog that I read regularly and finally thought, “Well good gracious, I suppose I’m meant to check out this book because if it hasn’t shown up EVERY.SINGLE.DARN.PLACE.I.LOOK. the past few days.”

Or something like that.

So I looked it up. And I found the author, Kelle Hampton, and her blog. And I read a little bit of it.

And then I was intrigued and I read some of her archives and then I was in love and then I read the birth story of her daughter that was born with Down syndrome and then I cried.

And then I hit myself for reading all about a birth story of a woman giving birth to a daughter and not knowing until she was born that she had Down syndrome when I was thirty-something-plus-a-lot weeks pregnant with my own daughter.

Ahem.

If her blog is any indication, Kelle is an amazing writer who can capture emotion in such a real way. I’ve never really read anything like her writing before. This memoir about her family and the last few years of her life, well, it has to be a good one. It just has to!

I hope I remember to swing through the Kleenex aisle when I stop and pick this one up.

(Does Barnes & Noble have a Kleenex aisle?)

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Dear Daughter: The Best of the Dear Leta Letters, by Heather Armstrong

I just ran into Dear Daughter this morning and, I have to admit, I was shocked.

I Was Shocked Reason #1: I have read Dooce, the author Heather Armstrong’s blog, religiously for over three years. I have never once seen her mention that she has another book coming out. She happened to link to it today in one of her posts, and unless I have been hiding under a rock when it comes to her blog writing, it was the first time she has done so.

How I missed any announcement about it or mention of it, or how Heather kept the book a secret for so long, or why Heather kept it a secret for so long, I have no idea.

Marketing tactic: never mention my book until it’s released.

Huh?

I Was Shocked Reason #2: The title is Dear Daughter. She compiled a book out of her letters to her daughter that she wrote over the course of time and published on her blog.

Hmm.

Sign me up!

Although I hadn’t yet done a ton of digging, I didn’t think there was a compilation book out there like this. So I was surprised and excited and a little nervous that Heather, one of the top bloggers in the world and already a bestselling author, had published one.

Needless to say, I’m pretty excited to check this one out. I’ve read all of the letters that Heather wrote to her daughter on her blog, but it was ages ago. I’m excited to re-read and enjoy them all over again, and take mental notes on how the book is arranged.

I’m obviously not writing my Dear Babygirl letters to someday publish them formally, but, man, if that wouldn’t be cool.

Don’t you think?

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Freedom Is Blogging in Your Underwear, by Hugh MacLeod

I loved Hugh MacLeod’s book on creativity that he published a couple years ago, Ignore Everybody. (Here’s my review of it.)

I also love his art. Hugh is a cartoonist and has a great story about how he used to draw on the side of his jobby job, something he hated, until he figured out how to get paid to doodle.

Get paid to doodle! All.Day.Long.

Hugh rocks. And his art also hangs in my home office:

I’m not delusional. I’m not I’m not I’m not!

His newest book, Freedom Is Blogging in Your Underwear, is released next week, April 26th. It covers, well, how he used to draw on the side of his jobby job, something he hated, until he figured out how to get paid to doodle.

How did he got paid to doodle? Blogging!

Sweet.

If it’s anything like the author, the book promises inspiration and humor and education and snarkiness. Perfect.

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I have never been great at titles. (The lovely editors at Silicon Prairie News are always rewriting them for me. Hi, guys! Thanks for your title-writing abilities!) So, pretend that what it says above is not “A couple books I’m excited about” but “A few books I’m excited about.”

Couple = two. Few = three.

Details!

Would love your thoughts on these three titles, you guys.

What book has caught your attention lately? Do tell!

I love new booky books,
AS

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Tagged as: books, lists