Andy and I both did some yard work/cleaning up (I took the screens down, put up the little trees for the windows, and swept the cellar stairs) and then I have been doing detail work on the lap top. Soon I plan to work on my learning map for Shakespeare and also take a shower. I had dreamt of a nap, but I have taken a while to get to my work, so I doubt that will happen.
We went to see Nate's choir concert at Bates on Friday night and had a lovely time, meeting him and his roommate at a Thai place with time for a nice dinner, then meeting Mom and co at the Olin Arts Center to enjoy the "Opera Choruses" concert. What a pleasure! We had breakfast with Mom and Anita the next morning, and a really nice visit with them over it, and then Andy and I headed up the coast, talking "imagine if" and plans for our futures. Very exciting.
I hope to have some pictures of the race, the knitting I finished recently, and the yarn I'm going to start making this cardigan out of, but right now, I have only a book review for JK Rowling/R. Galbraith's Career of Evil, and maybe a few more. ETA: Pic shared by Pamela, so there it is!
Career of Evil by Robert GalbraithMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I am not a huge fan of suspense, especially when it's coupled with psychological darkness and/or violence. Anyone who's read Career of Evil is currently snickering, because it's hard to get darker or more violent than Galbraith's latest story! A few times I nearly quit and traded over to the "real book," so I could skip particularly gory sections, but I soldiered on and, ultimately, found Career as engrossing and suspenseful as the other two Cormoran Strike novels in the series. I *do* question whether we needed as much detail about the bad guy's sexual habits, and if I could interview Rowling, I'd ask her about the violence against women that pervades this book. . . . but it is well written, the characters continue to develop in interesting ways, and, nearly against my will, I found it fascinating. That said, I can't imagine what Strike's next outing will involve!
Note: listened to the audiobook and the reader, Robert Glenister, is AMAZING.
Dumplin' by Julie MurphyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Dumplin' is a pleasure--original, fun, touching. It could be more developed, because not all of the fascinating characters get the attention they deserve, but I am on board for more of Murphy's novels!
Signs Point to Yes by Sandy HallMy rating: 1 of 5 stars
Started this one with great interest, but abandoned it halfway through. The characters are poorly developed, and the plot development is halting and uneven, with a strange lack of detail: the protagonist finally spends some one-on-one time with her crush and Hall provides no details of their conversation or even the protag's thoughts. I was very disappointed!
Three Famous Short Novels: Spotted Horses, Old Man, The Bear by William FaulknerMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
MDIHS Readers&Writers read "The Bear," the last of the stories in this collection, as our first group read for 2015. I found the first 1/3 of the book––the bear hunt part––to be stunningly, staggeringly gorgeous. His sentence structure and his vocabulary were mind-boggling. The next 2/3s were more challenging: if I'd been his editor, we'd have had some battles over his unremittingly complex prose and the inscrutability of his language. The goal of that level of challenge was harder to see in those sections. However, all in all, I am delighted that we read this, and I am dazzled and fascinated by Faulkner's writing.
That said, I will probably not be digging into the other two stories in a hurry, unless the Readers&Writers decide we should!
View all my reviews
(It feels a bit insulting to the English language to have Faulkner and Signs Point to Yes on the same page. I think Murphy and he would have a grand ol' time together, however!)
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