a lifestyle blog for book lovers

Links I love, an MMD meetup in Raleigh, and what my kids are reading. (It’s good.)

Dear reader, I hope you can join me for a low-key get-together in Raleigh on Sunday, September 20. Meet us at 5:30 p.m. at the Skybox Grill at the Hilton North Raleigh/Midtown (3415 Wake Forest Road)

The meetup is happening right after Triangle Reads. If you’d like to join us for the event (beginning at 2:00 p.m. for FREE, email [email protected], tell them you’re an MMD reader, and you can attend afternoon sessions at no charge.

Hope to see you there!

My favorite finds from around the web:

• What’s inside Jackson Pollock’s address book? A new exhibition reveals the intimate details inside the “little black books” of some of America’s great artists.

How I keep track of what I’m learning, from Emily Freeman. Because I fell down the bullet journal rabbit hole.

How schools are handling an “overparenting” crisis. “Watch what happens when you go to a teacher and say, “I’d like to give my child some increased autonomy this year, so I won’t be meddling in his homework and I’d like for you to hold him accountable for the consequences of his mistakes.” You will have an admirer for life.”

13 texts toddlers would send if they could. These made me laugh out loud.

What my kids are reading: 

baby sitters club

Forget what I’m reading: I thought you’d rather see these beauties. My daughters discovered the Baby-Sitters Club series, and we quickly discovered that our local library only carries eight of the now hundred-something books.

I ordered these off ebay (because I have no clue where my own 40-something BSC books from my childhood ended up) and they have been reading, reading, reading.

I haven’t done any reading yet, but I’m thinking about it. I’m curious about what my adult self would think about the books I was so obsessed with as an eight-year-old.

On the blog: 

One year ago: The bored housewife as plot point.

Two years ago: On marriage and fear and disappearing doors.

Three years ago: 21 things I wish I knew in my twenties.

Four years ago: Best book you’ve never heard of on … housekeeping.

Have a great weekend!

20 comments

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  1. LadyWoman says:

    I still love reading/rereading kids books and In fascinated by what other people read, so more “what my kids are reading”, please! BSC! At first I thought that was a stock photo, then I realized it was a haul video and got jealous. I should dog mine or.

  2. Lori says:

    I’m curious about your book shelf space for your childrens’ books. I have two avid readers and the bookshelves in their rooms are overflowing. We pick up books where ever we can. For instance our friends of the library recently had a book sale- 5 books for $1. We spent $29, which we will read- but I just don’t have room to keep. And we regularly go through the bookshelves to see what we can part with.

    So a long comment to ask, where will the BSC books go in your house? Are they to keep forever or will you let them go when your children are done with them/outgrow them?

  3. Leanne says:

    The Babysitters Club absolutely holds up! When I picked up those formerly beloved books as an adult, I expected to be disappointed. But I was very pleasantly surprised by the writing quality and deep characters, particularly for middle-grade. Even the “formula” of each book is just a structure for creative plotting. Now they are my guilty-pleasure, stress-relief reads 🙂

  4. Kayris says:

    I have never done my children’s homework and never will and it astounds me that people think that’s ok.

    My son’s teacher last year (4th grade) was fairly perturbed with me for not checking and correcting his homework. Ever since he learned to read well enough to understand the instructions, he has been basically solo on homework. I don’t hound him to do it. Sometimes he needs a reminder that he has soccer practice followed by scouts so he needs to have his work done early. But if he doesn’t do it, or it’s wrong, that’s on him.

    I told his teacher this year that I don’t check homework, and I don’t even verify that it’s done. She said it’s her job to check it.
    Side note, I also loved the BSC. Might have to get some for my daughter.

  5. Bea says:

    I loved the BSC when I was a kid!
    Last year I had a really tough student teaching assignment at a middle school, and I discovered that my library has tons of baby sitters club books available for Kindle, so I did lots of re-reading when I needed an escape from teaching stress. They’re not all that great, but there’s something comforting about them. As a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure that reading lots of BSC as a kid is why I’m such a fast reader and a good skimmer now. Since the second chapter of every book in the series is essentially the same, I always skimmed those and got pretty good at it. I still download a BSC book or two to my kindle before a plane flight…they’re really good comfort reading during turbulence 🙂

  6. Melody says:

    I’ve struck Babysitter’s Club pay dirt at local thrift stores. Of course you never find a complete set, just one-offs here and there, but we’ve probably amassed about three dozen, plus another 20 of the Little Sisters, and my 8-year-old is OBSESSED. As it’s in her genetic code to be.

  7. Ashley says:

    I saw your post from four years ago at the end of the blog post today. Intrigued I followed the link. Home Comforts is a wonderful book, one I own. I loved your review. I’d love to blog my way through it, a la Julie & Julia, someday. 🙂

  8. Chantel says:

    Oh man, I totally got sucked into the bullet journal rabbit hole. I think I need a cross between a bullet journal and Elise’s Get To Work Book, definitely going to try that out.

  9. Asha says:

    I always love to hear or read others talk about bullet journals. I started mine just over a year ago and am surprised at how much I’ve come to depend on it. It appeals to the list maker in me (I have a page dedicated to MMD recommendations!), and I love how customizable it is. It’s so interesting to see how others have tweaked it to work for them. I really like the idea of using a bullet for things we learn, totally incorporating that one. Thanks for the link!!

  10. Evie says:

    BSC: I’m curious because this is the one book (series) that I remember my mother out-and-out forbidding me to read as a kid. I read widely and fast, and she supported that. But she told me that BSC was not worth reading; I believe she thought they were “fluff” and since I read so much I might waste weeks of my life on them. Anyone else have this take on them? I am starting to face these decisions as my kids get older; do I let them read anything or push them toward higher quality reading?

  11. Laura says:

    I wish I were just a little closer to Raleigh to come meet you! But Atlanta is a farther drive than I always think it is…

    I LOVED the Babysitters Club books when I was growing up and had two entire shelves on my bookshelf full of them. I think I donated them to the church rummage sale one year, and I kind of regret that. There are many random things that I know about from those books, which just goes to show that you don’t have to read only “educational” material in order to learn!

  12. Ashley says:

    I loved the BSC books when I was a kid. I read all of the books that were out (through #110) but I’m not sure when I lost interest. I’d be curious what I think of them now. My sister never got hooked the way I did.

    The toddler post was pretty funny. 🙂

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