A great blog post by Michelle Arnold.
Excerpt:
Title: What does the title say about the author�s approach to the subject? If you were wandering through the parenting section of your local bookstore, a quick scan of the titles can give you insight into the approaches taken to parenting. The Strong-Willed Child may suggest a more combative approach to childrearing than Raising Your Spirited Child. If you have a gentler parenting philosophy, you�re more likely to be drawn to Unconditional Parenting than to Laying Down the Law.
Author: What else has this person written? What are his credentials in the field? These answers to these questions and many more can be found by plugging the author�s name into Google. These days, when many authors maintain personal web sites as marketing tools, you�re likely to find out a great deal about an author from the Internet.
Cover blurbs: Who is endorsing this book? Have you heard of them before? Do you know their reputation? If we move back to the parenting section example, if names like James Dobson or Dr. William Sears appear on the dustjacket, you�ve found an important clue about the author�s parenting philosophy. In the Catholicism section of the store, an endorsement of a book by Fr. Richard McBrien will suggest one thing, while an endorsement by George Weigel will suggest something else….
This post is worth keeping in the filing cabinet. I have tried and tried to drum some of these lessons into my students in my composition classes, but I really like the way she presents this overview, especially the catchy title which challenges the tired adage. Of course, if I were to use this for a class I’d have to adapt it a bit for the audience. Her examples are tailored toward judging Catholic books and I’m sure my students wouldn’t get the references.
MELANIE, THAT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL THE WAY YOU EXPRESSED YOUR EXPERIENCE. YOU CERTAINLY HAVE A WONDERFUL GRACE FROM GOD IN THE EXPRESSION OF YOUR BIRTHING EXPERIENCE AND ISABELLA’S ENTRANCE INTO THIS WORLD. MAYBE SOMEDAY YOU COULD PUBLISH THEM FOR OTHER MOTHERS-TO-BE TO OFFSET SOME OF THE NEGATIVENESS THAT YOU AND DOM GOT IN THE FORM OF ADVISE FROM OTHERS.
YOU ARE VERY SPECIAL. I LOVE YOU DEARLY FOR BEING CHOSEN TO BE DOM’S WIFE AND MOTHER OF THE CHILDREN GOD WILL BLESS YOU BOTH WITH IN THE FUTURE.
LOVE MUM B
Dear Melanie,
Congratulations of the birth of your beautiful daughter!
I highly recommend La Leche League meetings and the books on breastfeeding from their catalog. Breastfeeding is an “art� it takes time to learn, for both you and Isabella. Each week that passes gets a little easier.
Thank you, for sharing the miracle of birthing and the joy of mothering.
Be assured of my continued prayers,
Claire
Obviously the first comment was not from me. It was from my mom using my old computer which obviously still has my old cookies in the browser. She also knows better than to type in all caps.
Melanie, how beautiful! If my latest little one had been a girl, she would have been named Isabel Maria or Maria Isabel (he’s a beautiful boy: Peter Julian Benedict).
I will say a prayer for you as you fully recover and that you have a good breastfeeding experience. My first took a loooong time to latch on correctly, but it gets easier, I promise! Just hang in there!
Congratulations! How wonderful. God bless you, your husband, and beautiful Isabella!
I love you Mellie! Yay for being such a great mommy and a beautiful writer. You will do fine. Prayers are coming your way!
Hugs,
-T.
friend of lamma-girl. TX :o)