Library Visits

For the first time since I left Lexington in the 1980s, I have a library card.  One of the perks of  living in Chatham and it's such a nice library too!

The first book that I checked out was Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir by Ruth Reichl.  I heard her talking on a podcast (QWERTY with Marion Roach) and I knew I wanted to read her book.  Looking forward to this new batch :)

Book Report

Did I tell you that I forgot to take my Kindle to Tucson?  I put it in the car with my purse on the way to the airport at 4:30 am.  We parked.  We checked our bags.  I went through the joys of a personal pat-down with airport security.  Uh, oh. . .  My Kindle is still in the car!  So close and yet so far.  No way was I going through security again.  Mark offered, but I didn't want him to go through it either.  Even though he gets to breeze through the metal detector without searches.  Anyway, I still got to read a good book.

Orphan Train by Cristina Baker Kline.  I'm thankful there are still real live books made of paper that feel so good in hand and for bookstores at the airports.  Loved this survival story of two women both left as orphans and how they connected with each other. 

Isaac's Home!

Started reading AJ Fickry on the way to the airport to pick him up and I've been obsessed ever since.  I loved it. . . I hope you do too.

Our neighbor's roses were putting on a show this morning.

Non-Fiction Book Report

A Fighting Chance by Elizabeth Warren.  I hope I get to vote for  Elizabeth one day.  Since she's from Massachusetts and I'm from Illinois, you know which election I'm talking about.  She says it's not right that the government is making 7% interest off of young people paying off their student loans  while big businesses are getting away with paying no taxes at all.  You go, Elizabeth!

This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs The Climate by Naomi Klein.  I can't wait to read this one. The author was a guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night.  Maybe there's still hope for us all . . .

In the meantime, this pretty boy visited with me in the garden a few weeks ago.  Now back to the Kindle. . .    

Book Report

Most of the books I read are on the kindle.  But recently Karen loaned me this copy of The Mermaid Chair.  I loved it.  Made me want to go back and read the  Secret Language of Bees again.   My new glasses, that aren't so new anymore, but they go well with the cover, don't you think?

We Were Liars, recommended by my mama.  About a group of cousins and friends and their summer vacation.  Quick read, great story.

Black and White by Dani Shapiro.  A photographer becomes famous when she takes pictures of her daughter.  And what does her daughter think about that?  Loved this one so much that I bought the paperback version of Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life because I think I'd like to be friends with Dani.  She won't mind if I call her Dani, will she?

I've read some good books lately!  Here's another one:  Never Coming Back by Tim Weaver.  A detective novel about a family that went missing.

And for my inner florist,  My First Ladies by Nancy Clarke who was the White House florist who served five first ladies.  Fascinating.

Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian.  A teenager deals with the aftermath of a nuclear disaster.  Yes, yes, yes.  Read this one too.

And one more?  Remember Me Like This by Bret Johnson.  Another really good one.  A family deals with an abduction and return home.  Couldn't put it down. 

Book Reviews

Keep Quiet--Quick read.  I really liked the kid who tried to get his dad to do the right thing.


She's got my vote.

 
The Goldfinch:  Yes, it's long, but I still loved it.   I kept thinking about how we adopt beliefs and stories that are meant to help us cope with traumatic events.  And yet how utterly ridiculous those beliefs and stories can turn out to be.  I never thought of Theo as a thief .  .  .

Library Books

I took pictures of this little community library especially for my mama because I knew she would love the idea.  It's on Main Street in Madisonville, right next door to Main Street Jacks where Rachel takes me to shop when we visit.

 

Mama, last one home is a green pig!  love love :)

Book Report

When She Was Gone by Gwendolen Cross.  Another missing girl.  But in this one, we get to hear all the neighbor's secrets while trying to guess "what really did happen to Linsey?" 

Tapestry of Fortunes by Elizabeth Berg.   EB is one of my favorite authors.  The only disappointment here is that it ended too soon!

The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin.  Really good story all the way thru til the end and then it was sad, sad, sad.  And depressing.  If you read this one, make sure you have a laugh-out-loud feel-good book waiting in the wings.  And if you know of a book like that, please tell me about it!

Tuesday Prayers

I just found Anne Lamott on facebook.  It feels like I just found out she's living next door!   I believe I've mentioned--oh, about a hundred times--that her Bird by Bird is one of my favorite books ever.   Lately, I've been reading her latest:  Help, Thanks, Wow:  The Three Essential Prayers.

As it turns out, if one person is praying for you, buckle up.  Things can happen.  

Book Report

Okay, okay.  I confess.  I read all three Fifty Shades books.  Yes.  All three.  I couldn't let everyone else on earth read it and not know what all the fuss is about!  Again, yes.  I understand what all the fuss is about. 

Have you read Jaycee Dugard's A Stolen Life?  She's the woman who was kidnapped as a child and held hostage for 18 years by a madman and his madwoman wife.  I was hesitant to read it because it's such a horrible story.  I'm glad I read it.  Hers is a remarkable story of survival.

Summerland:  A Novel by Elin Hilderbrand.   From Amazon's book description:  "A warm June evening, a local tradition: the students of Nantucket High have gathered for a bonfire on the beach. But what begins as a graduation night celebration ends in tragedy after a horrible car crash leaves the driver of the car, Penny Alistair, dead, and her twin brother in a coma. The other passengers, Penny's boyfriend Jake and her friend Demeter, are physically unhurt - but the emotional damage is overwhelming, and questions linger about what happened before Penny took the wheel."

Weight Loss Boss by David Kirchhoff:  David Kirchhoff is the CEO of Weight Watchers.  He tells his story of battling his food addiction and recovery through WW.  I have joined WW so many times.  It works. . . when you follow their directions!

Canada by Richard Ford:  I was really looking forward to this one.  What would you do if you were a young boy and your parents robbed a bank?  Really interesting at the beginning, but I got a little bored with the last half of the book.

Gone Girl:  A Novel by Gillian Flynn.  Very very good story.  When the wife goes missing, it's always the husband, right?  Maybe.  Maybe not. . .

The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler.  One of my favorite authors, and this time she shines.    The first sentence will make you stay for the rest of the story:   "The strangest thing about my wife’s return from the dead was how other people reacted."

The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian.  I almost didn't finish this one, but I'm so glad I did.  Much of the story is set amidst civil war in Alleppo, Syria in 1915.  There is civil war there even today.  Strange to read a story set a hundred years ago and to  hear NPR reporting on the same fight happening now.  Reading this story inspired me to go back and re-read The Double Bind, my favorite CB book.

A Simple Thing by Kathleen McCleary.  Great story about a mother who is determined to help her children through the turmoil of growing up without falling apart in the modern day world.  She moves to an island with no electricity!  That's one way to do it :)

When It Happens to You by Molly Ringwald.  Molly can write!

Wild Woman Walking

I loved Wild--From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail.   Remember the line in the movie Hurricane?  "Sometimes you don't pick the book, the book picks you."  Well, a book about walking the PCT picked Cheryl.  She wasn't a hiker or an athlete, but the idea of walking this trail spoke to her.   She had lost her mom and her marriage and decided to walk over a thousand miles along the west coast.

A thousand miles.   I've thought about her so often since I've been walking lately.  If she walked 1,000 miles, I can do this little part!

To my mama--check your kindle for Wild :)

Book Reads

Leaving the Saints by Martha Beck:   I think of Martha Beck as one of my biggest cheerleaders.  Well, not that I know her or that she knows anything about me, but she's always encouraging and she makes me laugh :)  She's written lots of books, most of which I've listened to on CD in the car for daily pep talks.  Here she tells her story about growing up with secrets in the Mormon Church.  Thanks to Martha for telling her truth.

Language of Flowers: A Novel by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. This one could be one of my favorites of all time.   A homeless, friendless young girl finds herself and her true passion with the help of a busy florist. Lots of info about the meaning of flowers woven in the story.   


Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie.  Shoe shopping that makes your heart Sing!

Once Upon a Time There Was You by Elizabeth Berg.  I always like this author's books.  Any life-changing crisis can be survived, especially when you have the right friends.

The Typist:  A Novel by Michael Knight.  An average guy who can type like mad in WWII Japan.  Not really so much about the actual fighting of the war, but really interesting glimpses into the time and people.

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty.  What if you went to your spinning class, fell off your bike, and woke up ten years in the past?  Yeah, this was a good one :)

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson.  This was her first novel, and it's a good one.  Major Pettigrew is stody and stuffy,  but she made me care about him.


Next up on my list:  The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman and Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian.  And as always, I want to know what you're reading!

Reading List

It's early Sunday morning.  Betsy & Kyle are still sleeping.  We've had a wonderful time playing this weekend.  Last night we went to Southwind Park and they had a great time  climbing and sliding and swinging.  There was a wedding going on at the park too, and Betsy wanted to go to the party.  She would have liked the cake and the dancing.  I would have liked to see the flowers :)

The Paris Wife was a really good book.  I don't remember anything about Hemingway, but I do think we read For Whom the Bell Tolls when I was in school.  I didn't realize so many American artists went  to France to live.  Does that still happen?   Just after I read this book, I went to see Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen's newest movie.  I loved that movie and really wanted to go see it again.  Hemingway showed up in that story too, but not Hadley.  I would have liked to have  seen her too.

I also really liked Rules of Civility. Very different from Friends, the hit TV show, but also some similarities too as these friends lived and loved and worked in New York City.   I loved Katey Kontent, a modern working girl in the big city during the days of prohibition just after the depression and leading up to the war. 

Book Review

Seems lately the only way I get to read is when we travel.  Mark drives, I read :)  We haven't been fishing on the boat this summer, but that's really good reading time too.

So Much for That:  A Novel by Lionel Shriver.  Be sure to put this one on your reading list.  Lots of bad stuff happened in it--getting cancer, going broke, working at a job just to keep health insurance. . . I won't tell you the rest, but it was full of characters that I liked and it kept me wanting to know what was going to happen next.

Unbroken:  A story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand  An inspiring story of a World War II survivor who went through the hell of being captured and held prisoner by the Japanese.  I never read war stories, but this one was definitely worth it.

And I Shall Have Some Peace There:  Trading in the Fast Lane for My Own Dirt Road by Margaret Roach.  If you follow Margaret's A Way to Garden blog, you know she used to work for Martha Stewart Living.  When you read the book, you find out she really really really wanted to quit her job and move to her country home.  So she did.  She retired from her job and went to live with her garden.  Which is what I hope to do in three years, eleven months, and 25 days :)  My favorite quote from the book:  "Be grateful to everyone.  Those on your favorites list, and those on your s**t list."  It's posted on my desk at work.

So Mark is not driving me to the airport week after next, but I'll have some good reading time while flying to see my mama and my sis.  On the reading list is The Postmistress--about a woman who works at the post office during the war.  For some reason, she doesn't deliver some of the mail and causes all sorts of problems.   I'll let you know if it's on my favorites list :)

Book Review

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin was such a good story.  A little bit mystery, southern small town in the late 70s, terrific characters, an ending that was sad and surprising and a relief all at the same time.  Quick easy read that was interesting from the very first sentence.  Definitely recommend this one.

I just read Jeff Kass' book on Columbine.  I also read Dave Cullen's a while back.  Why both, I'm not sure, but I just felt like I should read them.  I often think about our volunteer experience after the NIU shooting.  It was three years ago this Valentine's Day.  I wonder how those kids, the faculty and  staff are doing, and of course, why. . .

Next on my list?  Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand.  It's #1 on the amazon list right now.   Let's see why everybody's reading that one!

Book Reviews of 2010

Mama's kitty, Walker. . . as in Texas Ranger. . .

Mama loaned me Little Bee to read when I was there last summer.  I kept meaning to get around to it, but my kindle has me so spoiled that I put it off for all these months.  I can't believe that it took me so long to read this wonderful story.  I LoVeD it!   So much sadness and awfulness going on in the world around us right now even as I sit here in a safe warm house with a full refrigerator and good health and a job to go to on Monday and people who love me in this life.  I don't understand it, but I'm grateful.

Rescue by Anita Shreve:  Another great book from one of my favorite authors.  The main character is an EMT.  Really quick, easy to read, and interesting story.

Our Tragic Universe by Scarlett Thomas:  Loved this one too, about a broke and miserable writer who gets to experience success and freedom.  Quirky characters, set in England.

Happy New Year.  May this year bring continued blessings and lots of good reading!

Book Review

As promised, here's a picture of my new kindle. Love that red cover!  I finished reading Freedom, Oprah's book pick.    The characters  changed over the course of the story and they all surprised me.  I wonder why Oprah picked it.  Jonathan Franzen wouldn't go on her show when she picked his other book, The Corrections.   

I have new books loaded on the kindle, but the days of sitting on the porch swing in the sunshine are coming to a close for the season.   I'll have to settle for a place on the couch in front of the fireplace for the next few months :)

Book Report

My new kindle isn't in this picture for some reason.  I got to spend a lot of time with it while we were on vacation!  Blame was my very favorite book of the week--Michelle Huneven tells the story of a woman  who must live with her guilt after she running over two people while she was drunk.  It was a great story.  

Also read I'd Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman.  It's a story about a woman who was abducted when she was a teenager and the man who was put on death row for the crime.  It was an interesting story and I was surprised by my judgments while reading it.    Overall a good read. 

Flowers for Elvis was about a kooky crazy mixed-up family who owned a florist in Memphis during the Elvis years.  One of the characters sent a dozen roses to Elvis every day. . . Don't you miss Elvis?  Everytime I remember that he's gone, I always think that he was just gone too soon and wonder what he would have been doing these days. . . 

Okay, that's my book report for now.  I'll show you a picture of my new kindle when I finish Freedom (Oprah's latest pick).  Have a great weekend!

Book Reviews

It's been a good summer for reading!

The Scent of Rain & Lightning, Nancy Pickard, about a girl whose parents were killed when she was little and what happens when the man who was sent to prison for their murders 23 years ago is set free.

Fly Away Home--Jennifer Weiner's latest fun read about a family of women whose lives are all being turned upside down. 

Missing, by Chevy Stevens--oh my gosh, a creepy creepy story about a woman who is abducted.  The entire story was told over the course of her therapy sessions.

Every Last One--best Anna Quindlen novel since Black & Blue!

Book Reviews

Just read The Lake Shore Limited by Sue Miller.   I couldn't put this one down.  Really nice,  complicated life and love story.  It's setting was post-9/11 and it kind of reminded me of a dream I once had. . .  

The Elizabeth Berg book was good too---Last Time I Saw You--about a 40th high school reunion.  I was just talking with someone the other day who was getting ready for her 50th reunion, and she said almost exactly the same kind of things that the characters in this book did.

I love both these authors.  Can't wait to read their next stories :-)