Small Towns Have the Best Stories

Last summer, I browsed through a bookstore in Charlevoix, Michigan.  Love that town.

 

I happened to see this book, Truck: A Love Story, by Michael Perry.  I was intrigued by the cover, which looked like a place I wanted to visit, and then delighted by the picture of the author, who looked like a man who knew tractors.  I trust men who know tractors. 

Perry lives in New Auburn, Wisconsin -- population under 500, thank you very much -- and volunteers on the local fire department.  He is a country boy, and proud of it.  He makes me laugh.  Here are a couple of his other books, Coop, and Population: 485.

You can learn more about Mr. Perry on his website, Sneezing Cow.  Yes, Sneezing Cow. 

His new book, Visiting Tom, comes out August 21st.  Sneak Peek below!

Good Boys - Good Men

My time is coming -- I'm going to wake up one day to a house full of teenagers. 

 Right now, I am in the "praying up and reading up" phase, recognizing that my own strength and resources are certainly not enough for the next phase of motherhood.

This book reminds me of the kind I used to devour when Greg was much younger and I didn't have more than one child. :)  Now that my first-born is looking down the barrel of his teens, I am loading up on ammunition, even though parenting is like marriage -- it's not really in the books.

But this book helped me "get there" -- to remember how differently boys are wired and how challenging the next few years will probably be for him.  I'm like a ninja-in-training, alert and poised, refusing to the let the world have my kids. 

I really do recommend this book for parents of young boys.  The author's husband chimes in every now and then, so it doesn't read like a "Mama book."  Dannah's website is also helpful, but primarily for girls, as she speaks and writes about purity and raising girls.

That's right, buddy.  Got my eyes on you.  Let's go.