July 13: Some More Readin'!

A great yoga class has left me stretched out, tired, and sweaty. . .  the lovely weather has led to great swimming,

and I've done a lot of reading.


Getting Rid of Bradley by Jennifer Crusie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Jennifer Crusie writes a good fluff book--and did even in her early days! Though the main character is hardly believable as a high school teacher (she misses a week plus of school and there's no mention of sub plans? I think NOT!), the plot and characters are, on the whole, interesting and lively. I have to confess I get Jennifer Weiner and Jennifer Crusie mixed up constantly--I'll think, "This is a good lead up to In Her Shoes," and then realize that Weiner wrote that one, not Crusie. . . . but they both are smart, funny, and literate.


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The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. I sprinted through this one, helped by a few lovely days at the beach or on the front patio in my new lawn chair. I *did* skip around a little bit at the start when there is a LOT of information about politics/intelligence/history  of Sweden. I had a pretty good grasp of what was up after the second "Girl Who" book, so I skipped over the sections the policy wonks might love. That said, the stuff was skippable! The story in general moved so fast that I just kept moving on, on, on to find out what happened.

SEMI-SPOILER ALERT: Interesting point: the first book is the most disturbing. Granted, there were some gross parts in #2 and certainly some violence and disgusting details in #3, but the sexual detail is much less disturbing. Still, Larsson creates such a sense of fear and foreboding that it took me quite a while to realize that things turned out okay. I could, of course, have become inured: considering that at one point in the book someone comes up with a tally of 8 murders in one place and that's before at least four more deaths, I could see some people protesting. I guess my final, overall statement would be that the whole "Girl Who--" series is excellent, highly-pitched, brilliantly plotted suspense.


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July 10: Summer in Maine

Silas is back from Denmark for a few weeks. We played mini-golf: 

And yesterday he, Andy, and I hiked Penobscot Mountain on an utterly perfect Maine day:

We ended up by hiking around the northeast side of Jordan Pond--no swimming allowed, but oh, what a lovely place to walk. Great breeze, no bugs, nice shade. What a lovely day, start to finish!

Today, I have a Real School Meeting on Response to Intervention. . .  so it will not be as lovely and uplifting as yesterday. Ah well. 

July 9: Another Lovely Maine Day!

The heat here broke on Saturday night, and yesterday and today are lovely, dry, breezy, summer days. Yesterday was our 23rd anniversary, and JUST like the day we got married on. Happy memories. It was also the first time we weren't with Lyle on his birthday, so it acted a reminder that time is passing and the family is growing up. Nice that he was with his uncle John, who shares his birthday--an unusual but wonderful treat. Here are the birthday twins:

Wish we'd been together!

Today: off to Brewer to drop off N's retainers at the ortho, and to browse some fabric for a fall portfolio dress. . . . and then maybe some gardening back home. So things unfold. Lovely!

Wonder by R.J. Palacio
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

WOW! Julie recommended Wonder a while ago, and then I saw it as a "Martha Recommends" staff pick at our library and picked it up. It is a "you'll laugh/you'll cry/it will change your world" book in the same way Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is: the book takes you inside Auggie's life and his family's life, giving you a vivid sense of what it's like to be the boy with the terrible face, or the sister of the boy with the terrible face. Palacio captures the issues and feelings of kids really well, but also with a strong sense of hope and potential for what we can do when we work for the best.

I highly recommend this book for a family read, a teacher read, a class read. Wow!


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July 7: Small Towns and Another Book!

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Huh. I'm surprised I haven't already reviewed SatBotP because I know I read it a few years ago and have read all its sequels since! However: Julie got it for me in a lovely trade paperback at her book sale and included it in my birthday box o' books, and I reread it right after Little Bee. Both times I was struck by the strength of Bradley's characterization--he really creates Flavia de Luce as a vibrant, obnoxious, definite person--and by amazement that the book really worked. Its plot is far-fetched and convoluted, Flavia's flights into chemical knowledge can be tedious, and the lack of consistent development of the other characters (F. will remark that this conversation marked a change in her relationship to X character--but then the relationship never changes) becomes disappointing--but the book is a pleasure. Flavia's relationship to her bicycle, Gladys, is wonderfully described, and Bradley creates a vivid picture of the whole community of Bishop's Lacey, regardless of the fact that there are a few too many zany characters.

I think I read this book the first time over a school vacation--either Thanksgiving or Christmas--because I remember that sense of relief and leisure, and thinking that SatBotP fit that situation perfectly. It's a pleasure.


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Coiling out of that fictional small community is Thursday night, when Nate and I went to see "Wallace and Gromit and The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" as part of Ellsworth's Outdoor Movie Series--the first one, in fact. N was super tired after his busy 4th, and I was super-ready to get out of the house after my boring 4th, so at first things didn't look hopeful, but he perked up after dinner and we decided to go. The Grand, the theater that hosts the movies, is adamant about not specifying a specific time for the movies: "after sunset," is all they'll say, so we headed over around 8:15, with sunset at 8:25. We met my friend Mark and his granddaughter Mercedes, settled in with our lawn chairs, and . . . the bugs descended. It's been a wet spring/summer so far, and the mosquitoes are bigger and more ubiquitous (can one be "more" ubiquitous? Oh well) than I can remember. We were armed with bug spray, which generally works well for 20 minutes, but pretty soon we resorted to wrapping our legs in blankets and tucking our upper selves into our sweatshirt hoods and sleeves. Still the monsters swarmed in front of us--but since they couldn't bite us very well, I think the balance ended up tipping in our favor, as every few minutes we'd kill a few just for spite. 

Despite the bug swarms, which drove a good number of people who'd come without combat gear away, the evening was a pleasure. The movie is a hoot, with jokes for all ages, and being able to enjoy it while also watching the sky darken and the stars appear was a terrific experience. With the playground right there at "Knowlton Park," the site of the former K-3 school, the little kids could take off and swing and watch the movie the whole time. Small town life at its finest!

When the movie ended--late, of course (around 10 pm!)--we packed up our chairs and walked home under the stars, but our big LLBean bag is still packed and ready for next Thursday. Outdoor movies: another reason we love living in Ellsworth!

July 3: Little Bee and New Dress

Little Bee by Chris Cleave
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. I read Little Bee in two days--it's intense and absorbing. The whole secrecy part about "we don't want to tell you too much about this book" is completely unnecessary (and a tad annoying): the book stands on its own as a morally brave, devastating, but uplifting work without such marketing hoopla.

Reading Little Bee is a bit like getting hit in the stomach. The story raises moral issues that no one should have to face--but it's also funny and loving and redemptive.

Whew. I think I need some fluff!


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And I also finished my first portfolio dress! I think it's a keeper, though Nate told me, "You look a little like Desmond Tutu in it--I think it's the square thing at the neckline." Why, thanks, honey! 

Bad pic, but it'll do until I get a better one. 

Fireworks a'poppin' already on the first year of legalization. Oh joy. 

Monday, July 2: Hamlet's Perfection, Indeed

Hamlet's Perfection by William Kerrigan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I slogged through Updike's Gertrude and Claudius and noted a reference to "Hamlet's Perfection" in the author's closing comments. I decided to dig up a copy, and I am delighted that I did: I don't think I have ever read a work of criticism with as much interest and involvement as I just finished Kerrigan's 150 page discussion of Hamlet and his transformation from Act I to Act V of the play. A huge part of my enjoyment is Kerrigan's voice: he's sassy, disrespectful, and, at times, crude (his use of pejorative slang for female genitalia crossed the line of good taste, I felt, regardless of what Hamlet was saying to Ophelia). He peppers his discussion with allusions to numerous critics, poets, and even jazz numbers. . . . but the base of the book is sharp, fascinating analysis of Hamlet, both text and character. In the meantime, Kerrigan runs roughshod over various critics whom he feels have muddied the waters of Hamlet discussion over the years--I dug around for reviews and found one academic reviewer sounding a bit sniffy, but I declined to pay to read the rest of it. However, even as I felt that a few of his arguments moved a bit fast, presupposing some points as shaky as those he criticizes other experts for holding, I found his diction and overall points enlightening, illuminating, and wonderfully readable.

I will at least share my response to this book with my students this fall, but I have the feeling they'll end up reading chunks of it as well (I think it's available on google books). I am still amazed by the force of Kerrigan's insights and by his ability to marshal his arguments so effectively.

Reread (or watch) Hamlet, then read Hamlet's Perfection. Wow.


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On top of finishing this terrific book, I am ALMOST finished with my portfolio dress: tried it on today, and it looks like a keeper, AND it was a top ten Maine summer day today. I ran (four miles! Go, me!) around 10 and it was perfect weather for it: dry air and a nice breeze to compensate for the strong sun. We did have a brief rain storm with a few rumbles of thunder around 2, but overall--wow. What a lovely day! 

Sunday, July 1: Finishing Stuff Up!

The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well, I wasn't surprised that after about 15 pages of The Girl Who Played with Fire, I couldn't put it down. . . well, it was hard to put it down. I consciously rationed it, having read the first one, so that I had time to read to the end once things got climactic. And, of course, they did.

This, the second in the "Girl" series, is less sexually graphic, but more violent, so I still wouldn't want to see the movie, thank you very much. The plot has several strands that gradually come together, and once again the ending features a few surprises that work even when one is expecting them. In addition, the end of the book does shoot the reader right into the third book (Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest), but, kindly enough, this edition includes the first chapter from it so I got some details. That said, if our library was open on Sundays or if we had an independent book store, I'd head right down to the #3 as soon as I posted this review.

Not for the faint hearted or for those who like their police/investigative novels only on the cozy side, but so far, this series is spectacular.

I do wonder, though, how Larsson's depiction of Sweden as a country full of corruption, sexual predators, and isolated woods full of undiscovered bodies has effected tourism there!


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