The Keenan Family 411

Bookworm Country!

Amy and I have done precious few things right with our little rugrats.  But at least we've managed to instill a love of reading (or in Shane's case, a love of being read to) that we hope will last a while.

Here's what each of us is plugging away at...

Cameron:  Tanks and Armored Vehicles Visual Encyclopedia, by various authors, The Encylcopedia of Modern Military Aircraft by Paul Eden, and The Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft by Robert Jackson.

Daddy:  The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger and The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart.

Owen:  Tales from the Odyssey, Book Three: Sirens and Sea Monsters, by Mary Pope Osbourne.

Mommy:  Currently between books.  Sigh!  Any suggestions?!

Shane:  His favorite read-to-me book is Good Night Moon, by Margaret White Brown.

And don't forget the best thing about books, according to Cameron:  they don't need batteries!

Ga-Ga Over "The Guardians"!

The Keenan Crew celebrated the end of the school and work week with a trip to the movies! 

Nayaug Elementary School hosted a movie night at the theaters in Middletown, and to Cameron's delight, the featured movie was Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, which is based on a book series which Cammy finished reading several months ago.  In 3-D, no less!

The movie drew very mixed reviews from the Keenan's...

"The visual effects were stunning with very effective use of 3D, but the story was both overly-familiar and convoluted."   - Daddy

"I didn't know there would be that much owls!"  - Shane

"It was AWESOME!  My favorite part was the big battle at the end!"   - Cameron

"It was INCREDIBLE...AWESOME...and AWESOMER!"  - Owen

"Hold on, I don't get it.  What's a 'Ga'Hoole'?!"   - Mommy

Please note that Mommy slept through about 2/3 of the movie.

By the way, the film was perfectly appropriate for little guys.  Some intense battle scenes, but we're talking bird-battles with no gore.  The headquarters for "The Pure Ones" was a little creepy, but nothing over-the-top.

A Bookworm Road Trip!

Attention all bibliophiles and bookworms!  The search for the greatest bookstore in all the land (or at least New England) has ended! 

If you ever find yourself within 50 miles of Niantic, Connecticut be sure to stop by the Book Barn.  Let's just say this ain't no Barnes & Nobles!

My birthday isn't til Tuesday, but we decided to have a little family celebration over the weekend.  Despite Amy's eye-rolling and groaning, I informed her that I would like to take a little road trip to "The Barn" which I learned about from a client. 

This place carries nothing but used books, and they carry plenty...approximately 350,000 of them!  Besides the main barn building, there are several other smaller buildings that hold tons of books, including "The Last Page" and "The Haunted Book Shop" (mysteries only).  Plus, they have the "Downtown Book Barn" in downtown Niantic.

Outside, there are beautiful gardens and paths(complete with turtles and frogs), a dozen cats roaming around, a couple of goats, an extra-large chess set, a basketball hoop, and a good-sized kids' playing area. 

Inside the main building they have complimentary cookies, donuts, coffee, hot chocolate and Cheez-its to help keep your stamina up.  And the prices are quite reasonable since everything's used.

The place has a hippie-reading commune feel to it, and we all loved it.  We actually ended up staying there for a few hours and practically had to drag Owen into the car!

Done with the Harry Potter Series!

It took us a few years, but I'm finally done reading the 4,100-page Harry Potter series to Cameron! 

What's kinda funny is that when we started Book #1 (Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone...remember that one?) Cameron couldn't read, so I had to read it to him.  However, by the time we reached Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, Cameron was fully capable of reading the book on his own.  But I told him he was forbidden from doing so since I was dying to see how the series ended!

Overall, we both thought that the whole series was a winner!  Cam is now something of a bookworm and it's quite possible that our 3 year-long Harry Potter reading marathon may have been the biggest thing that triggered his love of reading.  So it was a bit exhausting at times, but definitely worth it.

And one other big benefit for me is that I've developed a half-decent British accent!

Attention All Bookworms!

There's a rumor going around that a few family members are near-obsessive readers like myself.  In that case I wanted to clue you into a social networking site that I stumbled across called goodreads.

Same set-up as Facebook with your profile, friends, groups, comments, etc., but it's designed specifically for readers.  I just set up an account since it's a great way to keep track of what you read and what you thought about each book (there's a 5-star rating system and option to record comments), and when you're looking for a new book you can get suggestions from like-minded members.  They even have online book groups!

Click here to check it out.  And if you join please feel free to add me as a friend since (1) we can then keep track of what each of us is reading and (2) I currently have a big goose-egg in the goodreads friends department which makes me feel like a loser.

The Beginnings of Another Bookworm?...

A couple of nights ago I was treated to an absolutely wonderful sight. 

I was cleaning up in the kitchen while Owen and Shane were chasing each other around, and it suddenly dawned on me that I hadn't heard Cameron in quite a while.  So I assumed he was building another military fort downstairs or sketching out more Star Wars scenes somewhere.

I then noticed that the lights were on in the living room and, assuming no one was in there, went over to turn them off (we're in a recession, you know).  Lo and behold, there was Cameron relaxing on the couch...reading a book.  And I don't mean a pre-school book with enormous pictures.  This was a real book about pilots in World War II with no pictures.  He had worked his way to page 9 by the time I walked in.

Cam already shares one of my passions (running), and I would certainly be thrilled if he becomes a bookworm like me as well.  But that would be even sweeter than the running in light of all the learning disability issues he's overcome.  There was a time when I wasn't entirely sure if I would ever see Cammy chilling out on a couch and really reading a book. 

This is just one of many things in 2008 that I'm deeply thankful for.  Happy New Year, everyone!

Book Review: Socrates Cafe

I am just about finished with a book by Christpher Phllips called Socrates Cafe: A Fresh Taste of Philosophy.  It's a relatively small book (Laura could probably polish it off in a day) and it's a gem! 

Phillips is a philosopher who goes around the country holding what he calls "Socrates Cafes", which are informal forums where laypeople gather to kick around philosophical questions, such as "Is there a God?", "How do you define 'home'?", "What is a friend?", "What does is mean to be old?" and, that ageless question, "Who am I?".  The locations include coffee houses, senior centers and senior residential communities, churches, prisons and elementary schools (the author claims that elementary school students are unrivaled philosophers!). 

Phillips acts as the moderator in these discussions and, in keeping with the spirit of Socrates, he prompts the group's dialogue with thoughtful questions.  The premise of these discussions is that there are no universal right or wrong answers to these big questions, and the group rarely, if ever, arrive at any kind of consensus.  Instead, by employing reflective questioning, each participant arrives at his/her own personal answers to these questions.  Participants put their own "inner philosopher" to work, so to speak.  This results in absolutely fascinating and eye-opening discourse.

Phillips' overall goal is to bring philosophy down from the ivory tower and help people realize the benefits of taking a philosophical approach to life.  He bemoans the materialism that has pervaded American culture since the 80's and how things like ethics and morality have been largely brushed aside.  The average person never seriously struggles with the question of who they are or why they exist, and Phillips has set out to change that.

Overall, it's a great little book that can really change your perspective on life.  It has certainly inspired me to put morephilosophy books on the 2008 reading list!