Talking Allergies

Anybody reading anything good?

I'm just into my second book by Swedish author Stieg Larsson. It's the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Little slow to start, but picking up now.

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Allergic to soy, peanut, shellfish, penicillin

Thank you Gwen for getting this going. I love to get good reccommendations. I haven't read anything by Steig Larsson yet but will give it a try. I have been trying to read an old book, "Cranford" by
Elizabeth Gaskill. She was a contemporary of Charlotte Bronte and also wrote her biography. I saw a bit of a BBC production of thebook recently so I looked for it.
My mother is doing "Sarah' s Key" for her bookclub. My daughters and I loved "The Secret Life of Bees".
I keep trying to read "Three Cups of Tea" but find the beginning confusing.

Oh, I liked The Secret Life of Bees, too!

I'm currently reading The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker it's part of a self defence course I'm taking and it's very interesting.

It's about reading people, prediciting violence, listening to your instincts and intuition, your "gut" feeling. Mr. De Becker

https://www.gavindebecker.com/index.php ... t_of_fear/

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

I just read "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini. It was sad, but written so well; I loved it. "The Kite Runner" by him is also excellent.

My bookclub reads so many incredible books, it's hard to know where to begin. My absolute favourite was "A Fine Balance" by Rohinton Mistry. It's fairly heavy, but an incredibly good read. I also really enjoyed "The Book of Negroes" by Lawrence Hill (Dan Hill's brother!) and we recently finished "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen. I also enjoyed "The Kite Runner", "The Brain that Changes Itself" by Norman Doidge (non-fiction - aired as a documentary with David Suzuki), "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom. Currently I'm reading "Plain Truth" by Jodi Picoult... very interesting so far. Oh, another book I really enjoyed, very different from the others, but a fantastic love story is "Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon.

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14 yr old daughter: no health issues
11 yr old son: allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, fish, sesame, sunflower, mustard, poppy seeds, green peas, some fruits, instructed to avoid all other legumes (except soy & green beans), pollen, cats, horses

Currently reading Stephen King's Just After Sunset. I don't really enjoy short stories, so it's not one of his best imo.

I'm on the reserve list for "Don't Touch Me" by Howie Mandell.

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self: allergy to sesame seeds and peanuts
3 sons each with at least one of the following allergies: peniciilin, sulfa-based antibiotic, latex, insect bites/stings

Oh you all have good taste. I read "The Book of Negroes" last summer after it won the Canada Reads contest. Has anyone read this year's winner, "Nikolski"?
I also read "The Kite Runner" and most of "A Fine Balance". Both well-written.
My daughter recently read "A Year of Living Biblically". We shared some good chuckles and discussions.
I have been working on my Teacher-Librarianship Certificate so a lot of my reading has been for elementary and young adults. There are some wonderful books in those categories.

Cathie may I pick your brain. I am always looking for books for our daughter to read, she is 10 but her reading/comprehension is at a much higher level. This can make finding books challenging as most of the books for her reading level are no longer age appropriate. Her favorite book which she reads over and over is A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. She has read Little Women and Anne of Green Gables. She read all 4 Twilight books - twice!! She loved The Spiderwick Chronicles, it looked like a huge fat book but wasn't too difficult of a read and she finished in one Saturday.
She likes a bit of mystery but isn't into anything too sci-fi. If you have any suggestions I'd love to hear what they are. Feel free to PM me.
Thanks

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

It sounds as though your daughter is enjoying reading some wonderful classics. Has she read the rest of the Anne series by Lucy Maude Montgomery. My oldest daughter is 20 now but still goes back to that series occasionally. The Secret Garden is also by Frances Hodgson Burnett and one that I once saw on a list of must reads. Has she tried the Narnia series by C.S.Lewis?
There are some wonderful Canadian authors for children. Kit Pearson is a favourite of ours. I took my girls to meet her when she did a booktalk here years ago. Some of her books include A Handful of Time and The Daring Game. Deborah Ellis writes about current issues. Parvana's Journey, Mud City and the Breadwinner all deal with a young girl living in Afghanistan. Gordon Korman is a seasoned author. He wrote his first book when he was in grade 7 (This Can't Be Happening at MacDonald Hall) He has several series as well as novels. I read Schooled after a middle school student told me she caught her father reading it and chuckling.
I read with my girls every evening until high school. Some books I read ahead. It gave us something. It gave us a great connecting time and an opportunity to share.

Thank you so much Cathie for your book tips. She did read the Narnia series two summers ago and LOVED them. I have always encouraged her to read any book from which a movie has been made. She has learned for herself by reading that the books are always better than the movie.
I have to admit I have all the Montgomery series and I still will sit and re-read them all.
I will go and hunt down a few that you mentioned, she'll love some new reading material.

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

I have a few more books to add after consulting with my daughters. Yes,the Anne series is high on their list.
"Inkheart", "Inkspell" and "Inkdeath" by Cornelia Funke are very popular. Imagine listening to a story that is read so well that characters literally come to life out of the book.

My girls liked books by Katherine Patterson: "Jacob Have I Loved" and "The Bridge to Terabithia." Check through first to see if your daughter is ready for these. A main character dies in the latter.

Eva Ibbotson's "Journey to the River Sea" followed a British girl's journey down the Amazon.

Thank you , thank you, thank you. Her birthday is coming up and what really gets her excited isn't anything electronic but a chapter's gift card. Our problem is I get there and have no idea what is good, I'll have a list ready from your suggestions and she can pick some books from that. I usually wrap a book for Easter and Valentines day too. I have to enjoy sharing the love of books with our DD as our son will hopefully love to read but most likely they will be magazines on how to disasemble my toaster .

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

That's music to my ears. Love to hear of kids enjoying books!

Am well into the big The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo now. It's good page-turning stuff.
The book, one of a trilogy, has been made into a movie in Sweden, which may be redone in Hollywood:
http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainme ... ition=also

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Allergic to soy, peanut, shellfish, penicillin

BC - When I was about that age, I really enjoyed a book called "Fire Bringer" by David Clement Davies. I also enjoyed the series that starts with "Tommorow When the War Began" by John Marsden (on chapters.ca it's in the 10-12 category, so it's probably about right - but it's about war so not for everyone, there are 7 books in the series, and I loved them all.)

I finished up "My sister's keeper" by Jodi Picoult not too long ago (the movie is based on the book, but with 2 kids I never get out to the movies anymore), and it was very good. I also read "Dear John" (the book that was made into the movie) but thought it was horrible, i'm surprised I read it to the end! I'm reading another Jodi Picoult now, "Keeping Faith", so far not bad, but a bit too much religion in there for me.

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Daughter 3.5 years) - Dairy, Eggs, Peanuts, Sesame, Beef; asthma and eczema
Daughter (2 years) - Peanuts Eczema
Son (7 months) - Contact allergy to something food undetermined

I picked up "Here's the Deal: Don't Touch Me" by Howie Mandell. I read over 100 pages last night. It is laugh-out-loud funny.

Most people now know he has OCD (he's a germaphobe). I didn't realize he also has ADHD -- though it makes sense. That energy has to come from somewhere. He also talks about a dairy allergy -- but then he refers to it as lactose intolerance. Symptoms sound more like an allergy to me though.

And that's all I'm giving away.

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self: allergy to sesame seeds and peanuts
3 sons each with at least one of the following allergies: peniciilin, sulfa-based antibiotic, latex, insect bites/stings