BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS and MORE BOOKS

Those of you who know me personally know that I LOVE to read. I usually always have a book with me. Those of you who know Eric knows he does not read books unless he has too. Occasionally a magazine or newspaper but not books. {If this is our child reading this years down the road from today, please remember reading is fun, reading is great, listen to your Mother on this one not your father!} Here is a list of all the ones that we have gotten on the topic of adoption or related to parenting. This list is no specific order. Well, it is in the order that I pulled them off my book shelf to write them down. I’ll update it as needed.

Kazakhstan in Pictures

Love it! This books covers it all – fun facts, places to visit, history, government, the people, their culture, the economy, currency, the flag and what it stands for, background on their anthem and the words to it in English. It is a thin book but it is easy to read and covers a lot of information. I can visualize our future with this book – curled up on the couch with our child learning about their birth country together. Maybe we will be writing a report for school or something. I can’t wait!

The Handbook of International Adoption Medicine by Dr. Laurie Miller

This book covers everything medical that you might need to know. It is technical but easy to read. Useful websites and references are listed through out it. Dr. Miller is one of two International Adoption doctors that we have hired to assist us on making medical decisions early on. We attended her pre-adoptive class which was great and informative. Anyone that lives in the Boston area, we highly recommend you go and take her class. Even though this book is kind of big, it is still going to Kaz with us!

Adoptive Parenting From the Ground Up – For the infant or child who waited

I am currently reading this one, only half way through it. I have enjoyed it so far. It is a good starting point for issues that may happen. I imagine this book will be one that we pull out occasionally in the first couple years.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Adoption

This could have been a valuable resource if we thought to buy it sooner. It does have a ton of good info/advice. A few of our family members have read through it. I think it was helpful to them. I will definitely crack it open again when we start adoption # 2. (I enjoy the simple writing style of the For Dummies & Idiot’s guide.)

Adoption is a Family Affair – What Relatives and Friends Must Know

Another book; I wish we would have gotten sooner. We got a couple of these and handed them out to family and friends to read. I highly recommend this one!

Russian Phrase Book

A 3500 word two way dictionary, this tiny little book will be going with us to Kaz! We are also taking along the hand-dandy electronic translator Eric surprised me with on Christmas. The electronic translator is awesome you type in what you want to say and it says it for you in Russian. We are trying to learn and understand some Russian but it is a hard language. I will also be taking along a print out of the alphabet to help us recognize words at restaurants or at the market. Not sure if that will help but I want to be prepared.

I was a really good Mom before I had kids

This book is FUNNY. I imagine it will be funnier once baby is home and I obtain all these experiences first hand.

What to Expect the First Year

Okay this book is ignoramus! I have not even cracked it open yet but I hear it is an invaluable resource to have. *I would love to find an electronic version of this one. I would really like to have this info in Kaz but the book weighs probably 5 pounds so too big for our packing limitations! If anyone reading this knows where I can download the book, please let me know.

Baby Wise

This book was given to us by an acquaintance. When she handed it to me she said “I didn’t believe in anything this book says but someone gave it to me and told me to read it and pass it on, so I did and now it is yours.” She said she was glad she read it so she knows what not to do even though this book is suppose to teach what to do. I’m thinking I may not waste my time on this one unless I read some positive reviews on it.

Raising Adopted Children

Every social worker we have talked to has said this is a MUST read. I have not starting reading it yet. I have flipped through it and it looks like it may be more of reference book than a read from the beginning to the end book.

The Russian Word for Snow: A True Story of Adoption

This book was wonderful. You might want to have a box of tissues close by for some parts.

Family Wanted - Stories of Adoption

Some of this one was really good. It is a collection of stories from people involved in all sides of adoption.

I Wish for you a Beautiful Life – Letters from the Korean Birth Mothers of Ae Ran Won to their children

I have not read this whole book yet but some of the passages I have read multiply times. It is a good book for a little reflection.

Son of My Soul – The Adoption of Christopher written by Debra Shiveley Welch

This is the review I posted on Amazon for it: “If you are looking for a book that comes straight from the heart this is the book for you to read. It is storytelling at its best. At times reading this book I felt like I was eavesdropping in on Debra's conversation with her son, Chris. At other times I felt like she and I were old friends sitting around and she was just sharing her life experiences with me. I whole heartily recommend this book to anyone.” *Just a little plug for you, Debra ! Debra is new friend I meet on one of the Yahoo Groups that I belong too. If you are a PAP reading this and have not done so yet, I highly recommend joining a Yahoo Group or two, or three, etc… They are so helpful and supportive. You will find some amazing friends on them! I think I belong to seven groups now. Some have much more activity than others.

Amazon got another order today. These should be here by Jan 3rd. I can hear Eric now “You ordered MORE books??” Kami “They were ALL on sale!” He keeps telling me just read online or to download online books. Call me old-fashion but I prefer the actual physical book that can I turn the pages and make notes in the margins.

Cross-Cultural Adoption

I have wanted to get this one. I have read a lot to this one standing in Barnes & Noble.

The Post-Adoption Blues: Overcoming the Unforeseen Challenges of Adoption

I hope I don’t need this book but just in case, figured it was best to buy now to have on hand. All reviews I have read on it were very good and I have flipped through it at the store so should be helpful if we need it.

Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew

Just the title of this one, sounds like something we should read. I have however read many negative reviews about it so I’m not sure at this point if it will be helpful or not. It has been sold out at Barnes & Noble for weeks now so I wasn’t able to view before buying it which I like to do. It was on sale and I need a little more to get me to qualify for free shipping so I figured what the heck, I will give it a try.

Other books I have been considering getting

My Adopted Child, There’s No One Like You

This book for kids has great reviews (5 stars). I don’t personally approve some of the messages, these types of books portray so I want to find it in a store to view it before we buy it.

Sippy Cups are not for Chardonnay: And Other things I had to learn as a new Mom

This just sounds like it would be refreshing and fun to read.

Hmmm…I know there is more I just can’t think of the titles right now. I didn’t really realize how many books I had all ready till writing this list down…..Eric “could” be right, I may have enough books on these topics. Or maybe I could never have enough. We also have a few baby names books. Those books were kind of a waste of money, doing research online was helpful enough.