July 13: Before I Leave for Julie's!

I woke up at 5 so am burning some time as I drink my coffee and get ready to start getting ready. . . . Some catch up posts!


Blacklist by Sara Paretsky
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Got this at the book sale, and since I once was an avid fan of Paretsky, I tried it for old time's sake. Paretsky is a good writer--before I knew it I was really reading, not just skimming: good descriptions, a terrific balance between action and setting, etc. However, I found this one pretty predictable and about 100 pages too long for me as a result. The plot surrounding HUAC hearing and 9/11 profiling seemed trite, though it might not have seemed so in 2005, when the book came out. ANyway: VI is still tough as ever!

Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

One of Crusie's stronger outings, with a lot of fun events, a terrific supporting cast, great food descriptions (though, really, enough with the chicken marsala already! There are other great dishes out there!), and not too much detailed sex (because some of her earlier ones are a little too much like a Playboy (or girl) entry). I've read this before, and I'll probably read it again. . . a perfect summer pleasure!

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July 10: Reading, reading, reading!

The Ashford Affair by Lauren Willig
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Well written, but *very* predictable story, combined with one of those flashback/flashforward, trite plots. Characters are shallow, and the story basically feels like White Nights, a movie/book story about lust and crimes of passion in Kenya. . . . Shows little to none of Willig's usual sense of humor.


That Summer by Lauren Willig
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Now in THIS one, Willig has stepped up her game away from the Flower spy stories and far exceeded The Ashford Affair's dreary predictability. Yes, this novel jumps time periods AND has echoes of another work (Possession by AS Byatt), but That Summer is well-written and pretty darn hard to put down. The idea of inheriting a house full of stuff--treasures OR junk--is before and after fodder and pretty compelling; the story in the past becomes quite involving as well. I ended up really enjoying this one, but the challenge for Willig will be to write a novel that never changes time period and never uses the word "slaphappy," which she used, annoyingly, at least four times in this one. Otherwise, highly recommended!

Chestnut Street by Maeve Binchy
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Wellllllllllllllll. It was, truly, "okay": a patchwork collection of stories loosely connected by their setting (?), but lacking any sense of coherence or connection otherwise. The usual Binchy characters showed up and meandered around. I skimmed quite a bit. End of story.

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July 4: Hot, Humid, and Loose Ends.

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this novel despite the reader: Scott Brick's delivery and voice personified the "bad" AJ Fikry, the pedantic and patronizing, lonely and isolated man who appears in the start of the book. It's a novel about growth, and it's a novel about reading as well, and eventually I could ignore Brick's voice and fall into the depths of the story itself. It's a little fluffy, but it raises great ideas about human relationships, reading, the role of books, and, finally, the role of our brains in this amazing world we've (at least partially) created. Zevin has a line that captures what I've thought about often. . . . I don't have the exact text since I listened to this book as opposed to reading it, but when AJ goes to see his doctor, he marvels about having to use his brain to understand what is happening to his brain. I remember that same sense of wonder when I was taking AP Bio and learning neuroscience (BABY neuroscience, but still!).

This is a delicate and enjoyable book. I wish I had a list of all the short stories AJ recommends: perhaps I'll stop into the library and copy them down!


Emma by Jane Austen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Juliet Stevenson does an amazing job of presenting Emma: each character is distinct, and the infamous "Mrs. E." and the sweetly overwhelming Miss Bates are topnotch. I've read, seen, and listened to this work probably 6 times, and Stevenson's version does a fantastic job of highlighting the wit, insight, and satire of Austen's novel.

Highly, highly, highly recommended on all fronts.

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 It's the 4th! Amazingly, the whole family (sans our Norge girl, of course) is around for most of the day. We may get visited by Hurricane Arthur, so our tentative outdoor plans for fireworks and concerts may be disrupted by downpours and high winds, but I plan to head to Hannaford's for pectin, sugar, and jars so I can turn my 10 lbs of lovely fresh picked berries into jam!

Other than that: family time, I guess! Or I could tackle the dining room and decluttering. . . .

July 3: Hot, humid, and vacation!

Saving Lucas Biggs by Marisa de los Santos
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Marisa de Los Santos is one of my favorite adult authors, so when she and her husband released a y/a novel, I wanted to read it, too--and I wasn't really disappointed. The plot is a bit clunky, the devices a little timeworn, and the outcome a bit predictable, but I enjoyed the story overall and her writing is as effective and lovely as usual. I think for a y/a reader (which, of course, I am not!) this would work really well. It also reminds me of Ingrid Law's Scumble and Savvy, two y/a books from last summer.

One great quote: "For every big, bad, attention-getting thing that happens, there are thousands of small good ones, acts that might even seem ordinary but really aren't, so many that we can forget to notice them or to count them up. But it's what has always amazed me: not how terrible people can be to each other, but how good, in spite of everything." 211

Knit One Pearl One by Gil McNeil
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The third and final in this fun, funny, readable series dragged a bit, though it could've been my level of busy! Still, it has some laugh out loud scenes and a strong message that it's okay for women to be independent. I will definitely read more Gil McNeil if I can find her. Highly recommended, knitter or not!

The Surprising Life of Constance Spry by Sue Shephard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Julie sent me this for my birthday, and I *really* enjoyed it, though the writing was poorly constructed and confusing at the beginning (either it got better or I got used to it!). In many ways, this is an odd book: I'd never heard of Spry, and the depth of the story did at times seem excessive for a life that, while interesting, wasn't really heroic or even widely varied. However, Spry's character and the way her life unfolded made for interesting reading, and I ended up liking the book a great deal.

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 And today I picked 12 qts of lovely strawberries with Cathi Goebel, and tomorrow I will probably make jam! Yay! Also made this pie (I replaced the whipped topping (eeewwwww) with 1 cup of heavy cream, whipped with conf. sugar and some vanilla) which was delicious and even better Day 2. And tonight was yoga, which left me noodly and dripping!

Happy July!

June 30: Comings and Goings. . .

Today we said good-bye (or, we hope, so long!) to Camilla, funny, snarky, deadpan, tough, lovable, ice-cream-loving, stubborn, curious Norwegian exchange student/member of our family for 10 months.

We all (Lyle, returned last week, Andy, Nate, Camilla, and I) had a great, delicious, fun dinner at The Cellar downtown last night, and then today we headed down to Richmond to drop her off (minus Lyle, which was good, as we had only. just. enough. room): 

That was the trunk, with her backpack squished down the side, and then we had two big carry-ons (one that Pella will take with him as she'll be seeing him in two weeks) in between us in the back seat. Not an inch to spare! 

It's a quiet night at home now, as we adjust to having a space where that lively, laughing girl used to be. She was out a lot, very involved with all kinds of things, but she'd truly become like a member of the family, someone who's supposed to be there, and it makes me/us sad to not have her here anymore. She said in her final letter than she wished she could stay longer, and though I surely need some downtime to address things like the disaster our house is and such the like, I could easily have had her around for another month or so! But regrets are pointless: we have a strong tie to a great young woman, and I hope we stay in touch. At the moment we are planning a Denmark/Norway trip next summer. We'll see what unfolds. 

The upshot of this adventure is that risk taking is beneficial! Adjusting and flexing and sometimes lying away fretting all end up becoming love, new bonds, and even more adventures yet to come. AFS: yes! 

And here are our two Start-Visit and End-Visit Shots: 

June 21: Beginnings, Endings, Continuations!

Wow. This life thing is amazing. I'm slogging through to the end of the longest school year I've ever experienced, and at the same time watching Nate and Camilla celebrate the end of a particular stage in their lives, and we're all preparing (I think, maybe, a little, reluctantly) for Camilla to leave next Monday, and also waiting for Lyle to arrive, and today Andy and I head down to celebrate the imminent arrival of two brand new people, Craig and Heather's twin girls, whom we never ever expected to even dream about!

So it's a pretty verklempty time.

Add to that the inevitable tiredness of the end of a long year, done well, and the disappointment/infuriation of parents who behave badly and blame teachers for mistakes their kids make, but all that topped off with the pride in the kids who do buckle down and do their level best and how much they've grown and learned (and would do, no matter what else happened, because that's what humans do, and it's wonderful to be a part of that, even though it's exhausting and [go back to start of paragraph and reread!]). . . .

and you have a mushy mess of tired and emotion.

So, if you're reading this and you're a parent with kids in a classroom, and if you have had any one of those moments where you got a special message from a teacher, a meeting after school or even just to touch base, or if your kids had a special day or learning experience or book recommendation or event, or even if they're coming home at the end of this year of learning and growing more learned and more grown than they were in September. . . . . multiply your kid by at least 60 to see what each teacher juggles, and then drop everything and go thank that/those teacher/s.

Make it an email that you cc to the principal and the school board.
Write a letter to the editor praising the teacher, the school, the public education system.
Go buy a gift certificate to the local breakfast place or coffee shop or garden store or, if it's all that's on offer, to Walmart or Dunkin' Donuts or make a donation to the local library in the teacher's name.
Send a hand written note on the back of an old bill.
But say thank you. Say it loudly and honestly and specifically. Say it as loudly as those parents who bash the system or the teacher/s do. Because: believe me, it's a tough job, and saying thank you is the right thing to do.

Cheerio.

June 18: How the HECK did that happen?

Two graduations, a Water Festival, a Solutions Fair, 16 poetry papers, and 45 personal narratives later. . . . It's mid-late June. The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club by Gil McNeil
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Yay! I was looking for a fun, well-written, funny series that might fill the space left by Raefella Barker's Summertime and Hens Dancing, and here is it! I got all three at our neighbor's yard sale (seventy-five cents, baby!), and they are a huge pleasure. Fluffy, but tightly written with likable characters and great dialogue, the first one kept me reading when I should've been asleep, and then I bolted the second one down in about two days. One more to go--but I'll be looking for more Gil McNeil after this!

Needles and Pearls: A Beach Street Knitting Society Novel by Gil McNeil
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Second one: I barely stopped in between, and it's just as good as the first!

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