At the suggestion of my author friend (who happens to be from Iran), I picked up Strange Times, My Dear: The Pen Anthology of Contemporary Iranian Literature and really enjoyed the short stories, novel excerpts, poetry, and essays it contains. Since … Continue reading
If you have children, or work with children in some way, I really think you should read Patrick Kavanaugh’s excellent and helpful book Raising Musical Kids: Great Ideas to Help Your Child Develop a Love for Music. “Not all children … Continue reading
Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids invites readers to consider the ways in which our fast-paced and consumer lifestyles impact our children and offers solutions for calming, decluttering, and building relationships … Continue reading
Stress. Lack of sleep. Having to make a bunch of seemingly small decisions. Veering from your usual routine. Trying to eat a healthy diet. What do these things have in common? They all deplete your willpower. According to the authors … Continue reading
If you’ve read Reading Lolita in Tehran, I would highly suggest that you read Fatemeh Keshavarz’s thoughtful counterpoint Jasmine and Stars: Reading More Than Lolita in Tehran. Jasmine and Stars is made up of Keshavarz’s own, more positive, memoir of growing … Continue reading
Literature, at its best, should allow us to see the individual rather than the general; to participate in some intimate way in other lives rather than melding them into shapeless abstractions. (from the introduction) Concerned with the fact that most … Continue reading
This time of year I start feeling like I want more salads, so I was glad to find Salad for Dinner: Simple Recipes for Salads that Make a Meal. I’m pretty sure a reader recommended it, but I can’t remember who. … Continue reading
Do you think you live a life of profligate excess when it comes to food, clothes, possessions, media, spending, waste, and stress? Probably not. You’re maybe even on the minimalist side compared to other people, right? In her excellent and … Continue reading
Bubbly on Your Budget: Live Luxuriously with What You Have is a delightful book about how women of any age and circumstance can live fabulously even if they feel they have to economize in some way. Originally written in the 1930s … Continue reading
In her book Mean Moms Rule: Why Doing the Hard Stuff Now Creates Good Kids Later Denise Schipani writes about how parenting has changed between her mother’s generation and her own and how she attempts to do hard things as a parent … Continue reading
Hi, I'm Catherine Gillespie and A Spirited Mind is where I post about reading, writing, and parenting and the lessons I'm learning as a result. Thanks for stopping by!
