I have always held the printed word on a pedestal. I mean c'mon, someone had to think what you wrote was worthy of being printed and distributed; especially a book. Relax, I realize this is an outdated concept but it was one that was hard for me to break away from.
Books were a big deal in our house. We bought many, rummaged for them, collected them, got them autographed whenever possible. Authors were sought out not rock stars. Although, I do remember standing in line very young for Big Bird's autograph. I think I got a yellow feather as a souvenir.
So in part because of all of that, we took care of the books. We used bookmarks. We did not fold corners down to save the page. We did not write in them or underline anything in them. We had a small memo book where you could jot anything down and refer to it when you wanted. You could even put that sheet of paper in the book but don't write in the book.
It was also ingrained in me to read the whole book. I would complain, it's boring. Finish it, it gets better was always the response. I don't understand it all, I'm confused were other excuses to put the book down that I tried. Only to be told read the whole thing and we'll talk about it. It should explain itself by the time you are done.
With all that forced reading of entire books during my childhood, I was ill prepared to stop myself from reading a book that simply doesn't engage me. I'm all grown up now and I would force myself to read the entire book because well, its got to get better right, it will explain itself soon. But there are some books that I just don't understand why anyone bothered to waste their time coming up with all those thoughts and wasting all that paper. Seriously.
Recently, I let myself stop reading a book. Granted I was already 100 pages into the book but I was beginning to avoid reading altogether and decided it was the material not the pastime. So, I stopped. I felt guilty. What if this was the chapter that it all turned around? Oh the stress. I forced myself to pick up another book and oh, no here we go again. This one is not working for me either. That's two in a row. Is it me? What am I going to do?
As a pre-teen I was forced to sit and read but I sit and read now all on my own with no one making me for pleasure. I can't imagine not reading books. So, I let myself stop again. Now I study my To Be Read shelves carefully. Please let me pick a winner. I don't know if I can handle a third strike. I cautiously pick an author I have never read, critically acclaimed, and recommended by friends. Here we go. Oh my, praise the monks who transcribed the first bibles, I'm hooked. I picked a winner.
I didn't strike out. It's not me it was the book. So, at this stage in my life I am still learning. Life is too short to waste on a bad book. I don't have to read the whole book because seriously anyone can put something out there to be read these days. I'm just saying... ;)
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Monday, October 10, 2011
Friday, May 28, 2010
Book recommendation
I haven't been commenting much on books that I have been reading. I don't know why because I have been reading. Well, maybe not in the past month or so because I was focused on graduation and the scrapbooks I was making for my son but now I can get back to the regular pace of life.
Where do you get your book recommendations from? I get them from all over. I read the NY Times Sunday book review online and go through most of the previews they offer. I an a member of GoodReads which is a site to track what you read and share this info with friends. Not that I have been updating this but my friends have and so I see what they are reading. NPR reviews many books and I also get newsletters from Book List, Books and Books (a local indie store), and a few others. So, I get a lot of info about books aside from just talking to people about books.
This past weekend I got a book recommendation that I just couldn't turn down. While at my sister-in-laws I started perusing the Scholastic catalog that schools send home in grade school. My nephew, N8, saw me going over it and came to join me and I started pointing out to him that some of these books were some that I had read as a kid, I praised books like Charlotte's Web, series like Amelia Bedelia, Cam Jansen, and Nancy Drew. In that conversation we discussed some of Matt Christopher's works which he was familiar with and I introduced him to The Hardy Boys. Then he told me about The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. He has read them and enjoyed them and highly recommends them. They are all EXCELLENT. We discussed what I had read about them and he explained why he liked them and then ran away. He returned with 3 books from the series to show me the illustrations and how it actually looks like a diary because the pages are lined. He then asked me if I wanted to borrow one. I looked at that face and although my brain was saying 'seriously?' I of course, said sure which is the first one, I should read that one. The pride on his face as he handed me the book was endearing. As he watched me I read the back cover. When I finished and started to put the book away in my purse he asked Doesn't it seem interesting? I assured him it did and told him it would be the next book I read.
And so, this weekend while we drive to St. Augustine I will be reading The Diary of a Wimpy Kid which although it says diary on the front cover is a journal. Do not be mistaken.
I can't wait to read it and talk to him about it. Too much fun.
Where do you get your book recommendations from? I get them from all over. I read the NY Times Sunday book review online and go through most of the previews they offer. I an a member of GoodReads which is a site to track what you read and share this info with friends. Not that I have been updating this but my friends have and so I see what they are reading. NPR reviews many books and I also get newsletters from Book List, Books and Books (a local indie store), and a few others. So, I get a lot of info about books aside from just talking to people about books.
This past weekend I got a book recommendation that I just couldn't turn down. While at my sister-in-laws I started perusing the Scholastic catalog that schools send home in grade school. My nephew, N8, saw me going over it and came to join me and I started pointing out to him that some of these books were some that I had read as a kid, I praised books like Charlotte's Web, series like Amelia Bedelia, Cam Jansen, and Nancy Drew. In that conversation we discussed some of Matt Christopher's works which he was familiar with and I introduced him to The Hardy Boys. Then he told me about The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. He has read them and enjoyed them and highly recommends them. They are all EXCELLENT. We discussed what I had read about them and he explained why he liked them and then ran away. He returned with 3 books from the series to show me the illustrations and how it actually looks like a diary because the pages are lined. He then asked me if I wanted to borrow one. I looked at that face and although my brain was saying 'seriously?' I of course, said sure which is the first one, I should read that one. The pride on his face as he handed me the book was endearing. As he watched me I read the back cover. When I finished and started to put the book away in my purse he asked Doesn't it seem interesting? I assured him it did and told him it would be the next book I read.
And so, this weekend while we drive to St. Augustine I will be reading The Diary of a Wimpy Kid which although it says diary on the front cover is a journal. Do not be mistaken.
I can't wait to read it and talk to him about it. Too much fun.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
6 more
The ole groundhog say his shadow and so there will be six more weeks of winter. It really doesn't matter to me here in Miami because normally it just gets cool enough to be able to turn off the A/C but my baby, 20 is in upstate NY as you know and he will be cold for real. Pobrecito!
Plus, hubby just found out he's going on a project for 3 to 4 weeks also in NY. NY is a big state. The project could be anywhere and he is going to be about a mile away from 20! Can you believe it? What are the odds of that? I think its pretty wild.
I am going to have to do some quick cooking this weekend to send a care package with hubby for 20. Plus I am making jambalaya for the big football game on Sunday AND its my nephews birthday on Sunday and I will be scrapping all day on Saturday. OMG I am already tired from the weekend and its not here yet. I need to organize my grocery list tonight to make sure I have everything because all the cooking will be on Friday and Saturday night.
Today is also the birthday of 17s godmother. I'm going by after work to deliver her gift which is a framed senior picture of her godson and a handmade card.
During lunch I am going book shopping for the nephew who is crazed about WWII planes. I'm thinking that shouldn't be to hard to find books on. I am hoping for something about the Tuskegee (sp?) airmen. We shall see. Those are the first two birthdays of the month. This weekend I will make cards for Valentines Day and the birthdays that are later in the month. So far I am on schedule with my gift making.
Lots to do but its all good....
Plus, hubby just found out he's going on a project for 3 to 4 weeks also in NY. NY is a big state. The project could be anywhere and he is going to be about a mile away from 20! Can you believe it? What are the odds of that? I think its pretty wild.
I am going to have to do some quick cooking this weekend to send a care package with hubby for 20. Plus I am making jambalaya for the big football game on Sunday AND its my nephews birthday on Sunday and I will be scrapping all day on Saturday. OMG I am already tired from the weekend and its not here yet. I need to organize my grocery list tonight to make sure I have everything because all the cooking will be on Friday and Saturday night.
Today is also the birthday of 17s godmother. I'm going by after work to deliver her gift which is a framed senior picture of her godson and a handmade card.
During lunch I am going book shopping for the nephew who is crazed about WWII planes. I'm thinking that shouldn't be to hard to find books on. I am hoping for something about the Tuskegee (sp?) airmen. We shall see. Those are the first two birthdays of the month. This weekend I will make cards for Valentines Day and the birthdays that are later in the month. So far I am on schedule with my gift making.
Lots to do but its all good....
Friday, August 28, 2009
Pleasant unexpected surprise
I started a new book and I knew nothing about it other than it won a Pulitzer Prize (it says that on the cover) and friends of mine have read it and said it was very good but I never heard anyone talk about it so I didn't know what it was about. I've seen articles about it but I only read the headlines because mentally I already had it on a TBR list. At a local flea market I discover it in piles of books. Woo Hoo! I think I have found a gold mine. I spent a whole $5 and bought a 8 books. $1 for hard cover and .50 for paperbacks. Who can resist? Not moi, that's for sure. I head home and dutifully stack the newly purchased treasures in stacks and piles around my room to wait to be read some day and collect dust in the meantime while they make me feel cozy and busy because some day when I have nothing to do there's always a book to be read.
Last night I finished a reading a magazine, I am forcing myself to finish one in between books because I am so behind on the magazines its ridiculous and so I allowed myself to pull out a book to lay by my purse in the hopes of starting it tomorrow. I glanced at the nightstand stack - nah, the dresser stack - um no, went into the walk-in closet where I have a bookcase and looked at a few that are stacked in front of those standing in the back on the shelves - mmmm na, not feeling them. I go to the cabinet with three more shelves lined with books and right away my eye goes to this one. HMmmm. Yes, I think its time. I pull it out, flip through it, not reading anything just airing out the pages getting a whiff of the book. Its soft cover, bigger that a paperback novel but not too weighty yes, this will do fine. I don't even read the blurb on the back I just keep fanning it as if I was warming it up to be read and lay it gently on top of my purse.
This morning I forgot my lunch but I did bring the book. I went to lunch and read the summary on the back cover in the elevator. Wow, this really sounds good. I hope it can live up to this hype.
I head to Starbucks and order a coffee and snuggle into one of their comfy armchairs and after chatting with some of the patrons about inane stuff I finally get to open up Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. I run out of time and am only able to read a mere 20 pages. But OMG the very first sentence made me want to sit there and find out what happens. Then I read actual paragraph and pages and I am totally sucked in to this book. I writing style is what I love. It's a big over the top - the narrator even apologizes for being too Homeric! Love it! Now its raining. I want to be at home changed into something comfy, curled into the recliner with the throw over my legs and a glass of wine next to me and this book in my hands and no interruptions until I am done. Ahhh, a girl can dream can't she?
Last night I finished a reading a magazine, I am forcing myself to finish one in between books because I am so behind on the magazines its ridiculous and so I allowed myself to pull out a book to lay by my purse in the hopes of starting it tomorrow. I glanced at the nightstand stack - nah, the dresser stack - um no, went into the walk-in closet where I have a bookcase and looked at a few that are stacked in front of those standing in the back on the shelves - mmmm na, not feeling them. I go to the cabinet with three more shelves lined with books and right away my eye goes to this one. HMmmm. Yes, I think its time. I pull it out, flip through it, not reading anything just airing out the pages getting a whiff of the book. Its soft cover, bigger that a paperback novel but not too weighty yes, this will do fine. I don't even read the blurb on the back I just keep fanning it as if I was warming it up to be read and lay it gently on top of my purse.
This morning I forgot my lunch but I did bring the book. I went to lunch and read the summary on the back cover in the elevator. Wow, this really sounds good. I hope it can live up to this hype.
I head to Starbucks and order a coffee and snuggle into one of their comfy armchairs and after chatting with some of the patrons about inane stuff I finally get to open up Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. I run out of time and am only able to read a mere 20 pages. But OMG the very first sentence made me want to sit there and find out what happens. Then I read actual paragraph and pages and I am totally sucked in to this book. I writing style is what I love. It's a big over the top - the narrator even apologizes for being too Homeric! Love it! Now its raining. I want to be at home changed into something comfy, curled into the recliner with the throw over my legs and a glass of wine next to me and this book in my hands and no interruptions until I am done. Ahhh, a girl can dream can't she?
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Can't read
I love to read but lately I can't. I can make out all the words but my brain isn't digesting what I read. I don't know why. I bought some new books because I don't have enough all over the house in stacks and piles and shelves everywhere. They are books that I have been wanted for a while. They are pretty. Most books are. I look at them, I touch them, I fan through them, I read a passage from here or there, I may even ready the first few pages to get hooked and then I put it down and walk off leaving it abandoned to catch dust all by its lonesome. Then the next day I do it all again with another book and abandon it too leaving it behind with the others to cheat on it with yet another book. I'm even doing it to magazines. It's totally out of control.
Last night I was picking odd things up with the pretext of putting things away and realized. There's a a magazine in the car you know for those wait with nothing to do emergencies, I've got something to read. On the entrance table there's a book. On the side buffet in the dining room there's a book, on the back buffet, there's a stack of magazines and a book, on the coffee table there are more magazines and a couple of books, on the sofa table there's another book, on the kitchen counter there's a book, on one of the stools there are 2 magazines, on the side counter there's a stack of 3 books. Those are just the common areas. I won't tell you how many books are on my nightstand or on my dresser because we don't know each other that well. All of these books and magazines had been touched and looked over in the past 2 weeks and I want to read them all but I'm not. I'm uncomfortable with this whole not reading thing. I need to snap out of it because reading helps me escape and gives me a break from life. Sigh! I don't know how to shake this.
Last night I was picking odd things up with the pretext of putting things away and realized. There's a a magazine in the car you know for those wait with nothing to do emergencies, I've got something to read. On the entrance table there's a book. On the side buffet in the dining room there's a book, on the back buffet, there's a stack of magazines and a book, on the coffee table there are more magazines and a couple of books, on the sofa table there's another book, on the kitchen counter there's a book, on one of the stools there are 2 magazines, on the side counter there's a stack of 3 books. Those are just the common areas. I won't tell you how many books are on my nightstand or on my dresser because we don't know each other that well. All of these books and magazines had been touched and looked over in the past 2 weeks and I want to read them all but I'm not. I'm uncomfortable with this whole not reading thing. I need to snap out of it because reading helps me escape and gives me a break from life. Sigh! I don't know how to shake this.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Book review
I ordered the cutest book for my niece and my nephew. One arrived in the mail yesterday and I really like it. If either of them finds it interesting I will probably buy more of her books.
What REALLY Happened to Humpty? (from the files of a hard-boiled detective)
It's Mother Goose meets old school mystery and reads like a film noir short story that I think the kids will enjoy. Joe Dumpty, Humpty's brother, who was never Mother's favorite is the detective. He goes through questioning various nursery rhyme characters garnering clues and establishing a timeline. There are no muffins to be found because the muffin man is missing, every one felt the wind huff and puff, the 3 pigs newest house blew down etc etc. I think it's a wonderful story to introduce them to the mystery genre in a non-scary way. It even sets you up for future mysteries as Joe hunts that Mary keeps him busy finding her sheep.
What REALLY Happened to Humpty? (from the files of a hard-boiled detective)
It's Mother Goose meets old school mystery and reads like a film noir short story that I think the kids will enjoy. Joe Dumpty, Humpty's brother, who was never Mother's favorite is the detective. He goes through questioning various nursery rhyme characters garnering clues and establishing a timeline. There are no muffins to be found because the muffin man is missing, every one felt the wind huff and puff, the 3 pigs newest house blew down etc etc. I think it's a wonderful story to introduce them to the mystery genre in a non-scary way. It even sets you up for future mysteries as Joe hunts that Mary keeps him busy finding her sheep.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Book Review
I'm behind on my reviews so here's an old one....
The Thirteenth Tale
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It took me back to the books I fell in love with in high school. All those Gothic romance novels. There's more than one story here and they are well weaved together. I loved trying to solve the mysteries as I read a long, the plot twists, how we only got bits and pieces at a time, different parts of the puzzles. It was a fun read.
The Thirteenth Tale
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It took me back to the books I fell in love with in high school. All those Gothic romance novels. There's more than one story here and they are well weaved together. I loved trying to solve the mysteries as I read a long, the plot twists, how we only got bits and pieces at a time, different parts of the puzzles. It was a fun read.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Dots of the in-between stuff
In between work, hospital and regular home stuff I have managed to do some other things (not sure how) and here they are:
* Made a strawberry pie. It was low on strawberries because I didn't realize it called for so many and the kids have been picking at the pints in the fridge but it was still good, quite tasty. I want to make another one this weekend with the bajillion strawberries it calls for.
* I finished one book (The Geography of Bliss) and started another (The Last Lecture). Reviews will follow.
* I made a dress for my niece. She's 5. It's a sun dress. Don't think wow! now she can sew or anything. Frankly it was 2 seams. One up the side and the other the hem. BUT the hem came out real nice I doubled it over so there wouldn't be any fraying edge. It was good practice and helped me get familiar with my machine. I should take a picture and post it. Hmmm...maybe this weekend.
* I saw a few movies from NetFlix...Rent and La Vie En Rose. LOVED both of them. Hubby actually sat through both of them with me and didn't hate them. He didn't love them but he got through them. Yes, that was 2 movies in a row that were basically for me but remember it's June and June is mine.
* I have been delivering Orchids and Bromiliads that 15s Cross Country team is selling as a fundraiser. I thought it was clever. Would have been nice to do it before Mother's Day we could have sold a ton on Orchids then. As it is we've done very well. We are hoping that it will defray the costs of a trip they want to take this summer.
Can't think of anything else. I want to work on pictures this weekend. I want to put some on a CD for my brother and mail it along with the dress. If I do that, make the pie and get some rest in between GM's drama it will be a good weekend.
And in case you are interested, the sun is out and the headache is gone!
* Made a strawberry pie. It was low on strawberries because I didn't realize it called for so many and the kids have been picking at the pints in the fridge but it was still good, quite tasty. I want to make another one this weekend with the bajillion strawberries it calls for.
* I finished one book (The Geography of Bliss) and started another (The Last Lecture). Reviews will follow.
* I made a dress for my niece. She's 5. It's a sun dress. Don't think wow! now she can sew or anything. Frankly it was 2 seams. One up the side and the other the hem. BUT the hem came out real nice I doubled it over so there wouldn't be any fraying edge. It was good practice and helped me get familiar with my machine. I should take a picture and post it. Hmmm...maybe this weekend.
* I saw a few movies from NetFlix...Rent and La Vie En Rose. LOVED both of them. Hubby actually sat through both of them with me and didn't hate them. He didn't love them but he got through them. Yes, that was 2 movies in a row that were basically for me but remember it's June and June is mine.
* I have been delivering Orchids and Bromiliads that 15s Cross Country team is selling as a fundraiser. I thought it was clever. Would have been nice to do it before Mother's Day we could have sold a ton on Orchids then. As it is we've done very well. We are hoping that it will defray the costs of a trip they want to take this summer.
Can't think of anything else. I want to work on pictures this weekend. I want to put some on a CD for my brother and mail it along with the dress. If I do that, make the pie and get some rest in between GM's drama it will be a good weekend.
And in case you are interested, the sun is out and the headache is gone!
Friday, April 04, 2008
Book Review
I finished reading Into Thin Air by John Krakauer. It's a true story about a Mt. Everest expedition gone bad. Obviously, he survives and writes the book but not everyone climbing that season was that lucky.
It was tough to read because well it's real. There are some very technical parts. I read more about ice climbing than I ever thought I would in this life time and yet I remember very of those details because I think that's when my eyes would glass over.
Typically I read during lunch. Someone who sees me read often actually stopped and asked me "Is it that bad?" I just looked up at him and didn't know how to respond and he went on to say "Your forehead is all scrunched up, your shoulders are tense. I've heard you laugh out loud and even seen you cry while reading but you look like this is painful." I explained what the book was about and he just thought I should read something more enjoyable. I took a deep breath, rolled out the kinks in my shoulders and plodded on slowly up the South Col of Everest.
The story itself is interesting and I guess by my physical reaction while reading, it was written well enough to put me there on the great mountain. But I can't say I enjoyed it. It just wasn't my cup of tea. If you like high adventure books, then this is for you but honestly, I probably could have been satisfied watching an interview. I will recommend this to few people because I don't think it's for just anyone.
It was tough to read because well it's real. There are some very technical parts. I read more about ice climbing than I ever thought I would in this life time and yet I remember very of those details because I think that's when my eyes would glass over.
Typically I read during lunch. Someone who sees me read often actually stopped and asked me "Is it that bad?" I just looked up at him and didn't know how to respond and he went on to say "Your forehead is all scrunched up, your shoulders are tense. I've heard you laugh out loud and even seen you cry while reading but you look like this is painful." I explained what the book was about and he just thought I should read something more enjoyable. I took a deep breath, rolled out the kinks in my shoulders and plodded on slowly up the South Col of Everest.
The story itself is interesting and I guess by my physical reaction while reading, it was written well enough to put me there on the great mountain. But I can't say I enjoyed it. It just wasn't my cup of tea. If you like high adventure books, then this is for you but honestly, I probably could have been satisfied watching an interview. I will recommend this to few people because I don't think it's for just anyone.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Weekend planning
So, as you know it's off to Sebastian, FL tomorrow for the Track Meet. I bought some crochet thread in a seafoam green to crochet a border for the baby blanket. Well, it's not a blanket I think it may be called a Receiving Blanket in English. It's made of diaper cloth. Anyway they didn't have the diaper cloth at my craft store. I will try to go after work to another one that's sort of on the way home. If not then I will embroider a design on a bib. I have a yellow bib at home a gajillions of pattern and thread. So between that and the book I need to finish I am good for the trip.
Tonight I am making Carne con Papa to leave done for tomorrow's dinner. That way we have food ready to eat when we get home for dinner. Tonight I am making fish for me and dad and Shrimp Alfredo for the runner because he needs the carbs. Plus I will do a little scrapping after I get everything ready for tomorrow.
Sunday, I want to sew. I have some pillow forms and a pink fluffy material that I bought a while back to make pillows for my niece. I am also going to dinner with my girlfriends. We are going to try a vegetarian Indian restaurant. I also need to update my agenda with dates for other track meets and a few other things the kids have told me about. Plus I have some Thank you cards to send out.
If I actually do these things then I will have actually done like all my favorite things in one weekend! It sounds like an aggressive list to me. Let's see how it turns out.
Tonight I am making Carne con Papa to leave done for tomorrow's dinner. That way we have food ready to eat when we get home for dinner. Tonight I am making fish for me and dad and Shrimp Alfredo for the runner because he needs the carbs. Plus I will do a little scrapping after I get everything ready for tomorrow.
Sunday, I want to sew. I have some pillow forms and a pink fluffy material that I bought a while back to make pillows for my niece. I am also going to dinner with my girlfriends. We are going to try a vegetarian Indian restaurant. I also need to update my agenda with dates for other track meets and a few other things the kids have told me about. Plus I have some Thank you cards to send out.
If I actually do these things then I will have actually done like all my favorite things in one weekend! It sounds like an aggressive list to me. Let's see how it turns out.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
MARCH!
It's March already and I realized this weekend that I have not read one book yet. Heck, I have only read scrapbook magazines. I am in the middle of "Into Thin Air" and I've been in the middle of it since December! So, I brought it in to work today and by golly I am going to read on my lunch hour. I have to get a balance on all the things I like to do and not let any one get out of hand. Yeah right.
My good deed for today was surprising my GM at the Rehab Center for breakfast. I took her a pastelito and cafe con leche on my way in to work. I have the car today because the boys have a Track meet and go on the bus. She was surprised to see me since I didn't call first. She loved the pastelito and ate that plus the breakfast they gave her. And I took her and her neighbor a couple of books. For my GM, Mario Puzo's "The Godfather" and for her neighbor one in Spanish because she doesn't read English by Isabel Allende.
It was a nice way for me to start the day too.
My good deed for today was surprising my GM at the Rehab Center for breakfast. I took her a pastelito and cafe con leche on my way in to work. I have the car today because the boys have a Track meet and go on the bus. She was surprised to see me since I didn't call first. She loved the pastelito and ate that plus the breakfast they gave her. And I took her and her neighbor a couple of books. For my GM, Mario Puzo's "The Godfather" and for her neighbor one in Spanish because she doesn't read English by Isabel Allende.
It was a nice way for me to start the day too.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
A Raisin in the Sun
I read this play last summer. Why? Because I never had but I knew about it. As I read it I recalled the story I still couldn't remember from where or if I had read it in school. No matter. It was worth a reread.
A remake of the movie was on TV last night. It was excellent. Phylicia Rashad, Sean Combs, Audra McDonald and Sanaa Lathan were all perfectly cast. The story is 1959 but it's today too. Unfortunately, you still see the racism - at least I do. The story is about family, family bonds, family ties, family dreams. Each member of the family has their dreams, everyone supports one another at the same time pushing and pulling and dreams get broken and sacrificed for the family. 1959 and it covers everything from poverty, race discrimination, civil rights, women's rights, protest, social assimilation, abortion, religion. So many heavy topics in such a short glimpse of the family - the story only covers a few days.
This group of actors is the same one that performed the revival of the play on Broadway. I would love to see them live. It was 3 hours last night with all the commercials and I probably cried for 2 of them as I watched them all stumble and fall and get up again. It was excellent....everyone should see/read this story. Kudos Ms. Lorraine Hansbery. I can't imagine writing this and publishing it in 1959. Now I want to see the original movie with Sydney Poitier.
A remake of the movie was on TV last night. It was excellent. Phylicia Rashad, Sean Combs, Audra McDonald and Sanaa Lathan were all perfectly cast. The story is 1959 but it's today too. Unfortunately, you still see the racism - at least I do. The story is about family, family bonds, family ties, family dreams. Each member of the family has their dreams, everyone supports one another at the same time pushing and pulling and dreams get broken and sacrificed for the family. 1959 and it covers everything from poverty, race discrimination, civil rights, women's rights, protest, social assimilation, abortion, religion. So many heavy topics in such a short glimpse of the family - the story only covers a few days.
This group of actors is the same one that performed the revival of the play on Broadway. I would love to see them live. It was 3 hours last night with all the commercials and I probably cried for 2 of them as I watched them all stumble and fall and get up again. It was excellent....everyone should see/read this story. Kudos Ms. Lorraine Hansbery. I can't imagine writing this and publishing it in 1959. Now I want to see the original movie with Sydney Poitier.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
A few things...
Let's me jot these things down before I forget them...
* 15 enjoyed his weekend sans big brother. He says next year is gonna be great! He doesn't have to wait for anyone else to use the bathroom. Doesn't have to yell at his brother to turn the light off of the bathroom which apparently bothers 15 from his room (who knew), he can have his music on louder and it doesn't bother anyone, he can play PS II whenever he wants. When I told him I hadn't realized they had so many issues he stopped and corrected me. They are "issues" he explained, it's just stuff that's not important, no big deal in life but it will be nice when the stuff is gone. He's got such an easy going personality, it amazes me.
* The weekend was easy. It just flowed without complaint. We told 18 this because he was home no less than 15 minutes before he was witching and moaning about stuff and the 3 of us looked at each other and said welcome back! and laughed.
* 18 had a great time. He wasn't expecting to (such an optimist, no?) but he liked the school, the area, the people, the coaches, everything. Says if he could have registered for school right then he would have and just not come back. I'm glad he liked it.
* Last night 18 commented on how refreshed he was even though he was physically tired. He concluded that it was the trip. He had really needed to just get away, the break did him good. He decided everyone should do this often - just get away and break up the routine. Hubby told him in the real world it's called vacation. We all laughed.
* I am still scrapping. Not the football stuff, even though I have more football stuff to scrap for my son. But my in-laws brought over a bunch of loose pictures that they found that he thought I might like. From hubby as a baby through our kids as babies. So, we grouped them together and I have been scrapping all those pictures, I have done 12 pages in 3 nights. They are coming out beautiful as I get more and more confident and creative with my layouts.
* We have a TON of work at work- Yuck! We are working too many hours.
* I signed up for GoodReads and so far I have a bunch of friends but haven't done much else with that. I need to enter the books but you know, I'm scrapping.
* I joined a Food Co-op thing. I'm not sure what I am going to get but I'm going to try it. A co-workers daughter was trying to round up a group of people and so they convinced me. Right now we are going to do it every 2 weeks, we'll see if it changes to weekly. For $25 I will get a box of produce. Right now she is going to Homestead and picking it up but maybe eventually we'll take turns, carpool, whatever. it's very casual, you can cancel anytime, no subscription or season of weeks to buy. My co-worker said that they got bananas, tomatoes, lettuce some squash and fabulous corn. Let's see how this goes.
That's all I can think of for now....
* 15 enjoyed his weekend sans big brother. He says next year is gonna be great! He doesn't have to wait for anyone else to use the bathroom. Doesn't have to yell at his brother to turn the light off of the bathroom which apparently bothers 15 from his room (who knew), he can have his music on louder and it doesn't bother anyone, he can play PS II whenever he wants. When I told him I hadn't realized they had so many issues he stopped and corrected me. They are "issues" he explained, it's just stuff that's not important, no big deal in life but it will be nice when the stuff is gone. He's got such an easy going personality, it amazes me.
* The weekend was easy. It just flowed without complaint. We told 18 this because he was home no less than 15 minutes before he was witching and moaning about stuff and the 3 of us looked at each other and said welcome back! and laughed.
* 18 had a great time. He wasn't expecting to (such an optimist, no?) but he liked the school, the area, the people, the coaches, everything. Says if he could have registered for school right then he would have and just not come back. I'm glad he liked it.
* Last night 18 commented on how refreshed he was even though he was physically tired. He concluded that it was the trip. He had really needed to just get away, the break did him good. He decided everyone should do this often - just get away and break up the routine. Hubby told him in the real world it's called vacation. We all laughed.
* I am still scrapping. Not the football stuff, even though I have more football stuff to scrap for my son. But my in-laws brought over a bunch of loose pictures that they found that he thought I might like. From hubby as a baby through our kids as babies. So, we grouped them together and I have been scrapping all those pictures, I have done 12 pages in 3 nights. They are coming out beautiful as I get more and more confident and creative with my layouts.
* We have a TON of work at work- Yuck! We are working too many hours.
* I signed up for GoodReads and so far I have a bunch of friends but haven't done much else with that. I need to enter the books but you know, I'm scrapping.
* I joined a Food Co-op thing. I'm not sure what I am going to get but I'm going to try it. A co-workers daughter was trying to round up a group of people and so they convinced me. Right now we are going to do it every 2 weeks, we'll see if it changes to weekly. For $25 I will get a box of produce. Right now she is going to Homestead and picking it up but maybe eventually we'll take turns, carpool, whatever. it's very casual, you can cancel anytime, no subscription or season of weeks to buy. My co-worker said that they got bananas, tomatoes, lettuce some squash and fabulous corn. Let's see how this goes.
That's all I can think of for now....
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Quick list
I haven't had time to properly blog but have things to put out there so here's a quick list of bullet points.
* Why am I busy? Because next week if the banquet for 18s football team and I am the coordinator and it's for like 200 people and I haven't got the food set yet and so far I really only have tablecloths and plates and we need to finish 30 scrapbooks for the Seniors and I don't even have all of the collages yet or enough refill pages for all the scrapbooks and and well you get the picture.
* After living in Miami since 1983 I finally went to Knauss Berry Farm. Friends took me on Saturday morning. It's a lovely ride to a fresh fruit, veggie, baked good stand open only for a short season run by what a friend endearingly calls quasi-Amish. I bought their famous and delicious sticky buns, key lime pie, cherry pie, raisin bread, 9-grain bread, strawberry jam, hot pepper guava jam, strawberries, tomatoes (red & green), scallions, zucchini, yellow squash, green & red peppers, oregano, cilantro and a bag of mixed salad greens. I think that's everything. It's all yummy! and I so enjoyed it and now I know where it is and can go whenever I want. YEAH!!
* I had to send my sewing machine back because it was missing some accessories and apparently its a bundled package and they can't just send me the missing parts but have to get this one back and resend a whole new one! Whatever, they are paying for the shipping since it was their mistake.
* I went to a book reading. The book was "The Geography of Bliss". The author is a friend of a friend. The subject sounds fascinating and I can't wait to read the book. I have been thinking about it a lot - being happy that is and I think it will be interesting. Granted he told us one of the things was to not over think it but I think I need to think about it. I'll let you know how that works out.
*18 has now been accepted at 3 universities, Xavier University in Cincinnati, Loyola in New Orleans and FIU in Miami. AND Union College in upstate NY is going to fly him up to see the school. They are interested in him playing football. Catholic University in DC is also interested in him playing football but they told him they didn't have budget to pay for a visit. We shall see what happens with all of that.
* I have talked about learning to cook Cuban food for a few years. I have wanted to learn all the home recipes from the moms and grandmas but it never happens. Well this year its going to. I've gathered a small group of friends and we are going to use our moms and inlaws to teach us their recipes to pass them on to the next generation. I am so looking forward to it. We are starting with croquettes. Trust me you will hear much more about this.
* I recently saw the movie "Zodiac". Obviously, the topic is uber-scary as it's about the Zodiac killer. The movie is very well done. The camera work is excellent. It starts in 1968 and goes well into the '80s and maybe even '90s I forgot already but it is really well done. They were never able to convict anyone or even arrest anyone for all those murders but it shows you how it haunted and affected so many how were investigating it. How they were convinced of a suspect but frustrated at not being able to prove it. I don't know what's up next on the Netflix queue.
* I'm excited about Masterpiece Theater airing all of Jane Austen's novels. I Tivod the first one Persuasion. Who knows when I will be able to sit and watch it but I'm looking forward to it.
That's all for now....
* Why am I busy? Because next week if the banquet for 18s football team and I am the coordinator and it's for like 200 people and I haven't got the food set yet and so far I really only have tablecloths and plates and we need to finish 30 scrapbooks for the Seniors and I don't even have all of the collages yet or enough refill pages for all the scrapbooks and and well you get the picture.
* After living in Miami since 1983 I finally went to Knauss Berry Farm. Friends took me on Saturday morning. It's a lovely ride to a fresh fruit, veggie, baked good stand open only for a short season run by what a friend endearingly calls quasi-Amish. I bought their famous and delicious sticky buns, key lime pie, cherry pie, raisin bread, 9-grain bread, strawberry jam, hot pepper guava jam, strawberries, tomatoes (red & green), scallions, zucchini, yellow squash, green & red peppers, oregano, cilantro and a bag of mixed salad greens. I think that's everything. It's all yummy! and I so enjoyed it and now I know where it is and can go whenever I want. YEAH!!
* I had to send my sewing machine back because it was missing some accessories and apparently its a bundled package and they can't just send me the missing parts but have to get this one back and resend a whole new one! Whatever, they are paying for the shipping since it was their mistake.
* I went to a book reading. The book was "The Geography of Bliss". The author is a friend of a friend. The subject sounds fascinating and I can't wait to read the book. I have been thinking about it a lot - being happy that is and I think it will be interesting. Granted he told us one of the things was to not over think it but I think I need to think about it. I'll let you know how that works out.
*18 has now been accepted at 3 universities, Xavier University in Cincinnati, Loyola in New Orleans and FIU in Miami. AND Union College in upstate NY is going to fly him up to see the school. They are interested in him playing football. Catholic University in DC is also interested in him playing football but they told him they didn't have budget to pay for a visit. We shall see what happens with all of that.
* I have talked about learning to cook Cuban food for a few years. I have wanted to learn all the home recipes from the moms and grandmas but it never happens. Well this year its going to. I've gathered a small group of friends and we are going to use our moms and inlaws to teach us their recipes to pass them on to the next generation. I am so looking forward to it. We are starting with croquettes. Trust me you will hear much more about this.
* I recently saw the movie "Zodiac". Obviously, the topic is uber-scary as it's about the Zodiac killer. The movie is very well done. The camera work is excellent. It starts in 1968 and goes well into the '80s and maybe even '90s I forgot already but it is really well done. They were never able to convict anyone or even arrest anyone for all those murders but it shows you how it haunted and affected so many how were investigating it. How they were convinced of a suspect but frustrated at not being able to prove it. I don't know what's up next on the Netflix queue.
* I'm excited about Masterpiece Theater airing all of Jane Austen's novels. I Tivod the first one Persuasion. Who knows when I will be able to sit and watch it but I'm looking forward to it.
That's all for now....
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Year of Magical Thinking
WOW! When I finished reading it I simply took a deep breath and though "yeah, wow".
She writes so beautifully you just glide along her story. Such a heart wrenching thing to write about. She so put herself out there for all of us to read about. Illness, death, loss, grief, bearing it all. I haven't lost a spouse as she has nor a child which I don't even want to imagine. But grief, I know. There were so many parts that I totally understood and related to. How after someone close to you passes you live on relating everything to that last one. Last month today we were...., last year today we were... How one minute you are in the present and the next minute you are flashing back to you last days/hours and then back further to some arbitrary memory. You go back and forth with her and yet are never lost in time but feel suspended in her reality as she deals with her grief and then you remember how it happened to you like that too.
You get up and do what you are supposed to do and then for a snippet forget the person isn't here anymore because any day you would have done this on your own and then you get to the part where you would have called/seen/spoken to that person and realize now what? They aren't here. There's no one to tell, no one to show, no one to care. Eventually, you find that others do care but not the same way because well, they are someone else aren't they. Special in their own right but not the same. Then you flash back and forth and keep going again and again and again.
Do you ever stop grieving? I don't know. My mother's been gone forever and I still have moments when I realize that I can't pick up the phone and just tell her something. I still cry when my kids do something that she would have loved to see and she's missed it. I still talk about her and refer to things that she would have liked or comments that she would have made. Yet, at the same time I realize that she's not here and when I look up to the heavens and talk to "whoever is driving my bus" I direct my thoughts to her as if she were riding shotgun and has some say as to which direction the bus will go.
She writes so beautifully you just glide along her story. Such a heart wrenching thing to write about. She so put herself out there for all of us to read about. Illness, death, loss, grief, bearing it all. I haven't lost a spouse as she has nor a child which I don't even want to imagine. But grief, I know. There were so many parts that I totally understood and related to. How after someone close to you passes you live on relating everything to that last one. Last month today we were...., last year today we were... How one minute you are in the present and the next minute you are flashing back to you last days/hours and then back further to some arbitrary memory. You go back and forth with her and yet are never lost in time but feel suspended in her reality as she deals with her grief and then you remember how it happened to you like that too.
You get up and do what you are supposed to do and then for a snippet forget the person isn't here anymore because any day you would have done this on your own and then you get to the part where you would have called/seen/spoken to that person and realize now what? They aren't here. There's no one to tell, no one to show, no one to care. Eventually, you find that others do care but not the same way because well, they are someone else aren't they. Special in their own right but not the same. Then you flash back and forth and keep going again and again and again.
Do you ever stop grieving? I don't know. My mother's been gone forever and I still have moments when I realize that I can't pick up the phone and just tell her something. I still cry when my kids do something that she would have loved to see and she's missed it. I still talk about her and refer to things that she would have liked or comments that she would have made. Yet, at the same time I realize that she's not here and when I look up to the heavens and talk to "whoever is driving my bus" I direct my thoughts to her as if she were riding shotgun and has some say as to which direction the bus will go.
But back to the book. I already passed it on to someone else and would recommend it for reading. It was comforting to read that Didion went thru some of the same things that I have and we still keep on keepin' on.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Book Meme
I got this from The Mind Wobbles of course she got it from other blogs and so on. Here are the directions:
These are the top 106 books most often marked as “unread” by Library Thing's users, as of some day, we aren't sure.
Here are the instructions that I got with the meme: Bold- what you have read, italicise-what you started but couldn’t finish, strike through what you couldn't stand, Add an asterisk* - to those you’ve read more than once, Underline those on your to-read list.
Since I don't know how to underline in the blog world and since I can't seem to strike through and bold, here's what I'm going to do:
Bold- What I've read
Italicise- what I couldn't finish
*- what I read more than once
Write TBR- for those I have on my To Be Read List
Write comments for those I hated or whatever
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina - TBR
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude -TBR
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi: A Novel
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote - TBR
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice* - My favorite book of all time. I have also seem many different screen version and read different incarnations and sequels to it. LOVE IT and everything about it.
Jane Eyre
A Tale of Two Cities - Don't remember it much. We did the play in 8th grade. I don't even remember what part I had just that I was in it.
The Brothers Karamazov - I can see how in it's time period this was probably very controversial and ultra topical but when I read it, it was just downright boring. I would say pass on this unless you are studying the time period or Russian lit.
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair - TBR
The Time Traveler’s Wife - TBR
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner - LOVED IT.
Mrs. Dalloway - TBR
Great Expectations - TBR
American Gods
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged - I am thinking I should probably read this as it appears on every book list I have ever looked at but I've looked at it and it's not doing it for me.
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books
Memoirs of a Geisha - I saw the movie, not sure I can read the book now.
Middlesex - TBR
Quicksilver
Wicked : The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
The Canterbury Tales
The Historian : A Novel
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Love in the Time of Cholera - TBR
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s Pendulum - TBR
Middlemarch - TBR
Frankenstein -I was pleasantly surprised that I like this. I thought it was going to be all sci-fi and yucky. It wasn't. I thought the writing was excellent. It's told as a story of a story of a story. I don't remember how many levels, 3 or 4 maybe. Very well done. I didn't loose the thread even once.
The Count of Monte Cristo - This is supposed to be really good reading and I may even own it because I think 17 may have had to read it. I need to look around for it and maybe add it to my piles if we own it.
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible : A Novel
1984
Angels & Demons
The Inferno
The Satanic Verses - TBR
Sense and Sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray - TBR
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
To the Lighthouse - This was hard to read. Some of the scenes where she writes as if she in everyone's head at the same time- amazing but oh so hard to read.
Tess of the D’Urbervilles - TBR
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels
Les Misérables - TBR
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela’s Ashes : A Memoir
The God of Small Things
A People’s History of the United States : 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved -TBR
Slaughterhouse-Five
The Scarlet Letter - TBR
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake : A Novel
Collapse : How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
Catcher in the Rye
On the Road - TBR
The Hunchback of Notre Dame - TBR
Freakonomics : a Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values
The Aeneid
Watership Down - TBR
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit - I HATED THIS BOOK. I read it in 7th grade. I gave it another chance as an adult because it's so acclaimed. Still hated it. I can objectively appreciate the writing style but it's not my cup of tea.
In Cold Blood : A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences - I also saw the movie. One of the few movies that did justice to the book. Both were eerie.
White Teeth - I've never even heard of this.
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers
If you participate, please let me know in my comments.
These are the top 106 books most often marked as “unread” by Library Thing's users, as of some day, we aren't sure.
Here are the instructions that I got with the meme: Bold- what you have read, italicise-what you started but couldn’t finish, strike through what you couldn't stand, Add an asterisk* - to those you’ve read more than once, Underline those on your to-read list.
Since I don't know how to underline in the blog world and since I can't seem to strike through and bold, here's what I'm going to do:
Bold- What I've read
Italicise- what I couldn't finish
*- what I read more than once
Write TBR- for those I have on my To Be Read List
Write comments for those I hated or whatever
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina - TBR
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude -TBR
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi: A Novel
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote - TBR
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice* - My favorite book of all time. I have also seem many different screen version and read different incarnations and sequels to it. LOVE IT and everything about it.
Jane Eyre
A Tale of Two Cities - Don't remember it much. We did the play in 8th grade. I don't even remember what part I had just that I was in it.
The Brothers Karamazov - I can see how in it's time period this was probably very controversial and ultra topical but when I read it, it was just downright boring. I would say pass on this unless you are studying the time period or Russian lit.
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair - TBR
The Time Traveler’s Wife - TBR
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner - LOVED IT.
Mrs. Dalloway - TBR
Great Expectations - TBR
American Gods
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged - I am thinking I should probably read this as it appears on every book list I have ever looked at but I've looked at it and it's not doing it for me.
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books
Memoirs of a Geisha - I saw the movie, not sure I can read the book now.
Middlesex - TBR
Quicksilver
Wicked : The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
The Canterbury Tales
The Historian : A Novel
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Love in the Time of Cholera - TBR
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s Pendulum - TBR
Middlemarch - TBR
Frankenstein -I was pleasantly surprised that I like this. I thought it was going to be all sci-fi and yucky. It wasn't. I thought the writing was excellent. It's told as a story of a story of a story. I don't remember how many levels, 3 or 4 maybe. Very well done. I didn't loose the thread even once.
The Count of Monte Cristo - This is supposed to be really good reading and I may even own it because I think 17 may have had to read it. I need to look around for it and maybe add it to my piles if we own it.
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible : A Novel
1984
Angels & Demons
The Inferno
The Satanic Verses - TBR
Sense and Sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray - TBR
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
To the Lighthouse - This was hard to read. Some of the scenes where she writes as if she in everyone's head at the same time- amazing but oh so hard to read.
Tess of the D’Urbervilles - TBR
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels
Les Misérables - TBR
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela’s Ashes : A Memoir
The God of Small Things
A People’s History of the United States : 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved -TBR
Slaughterhouse-Five
The Scarlet Letter - TBR
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake : A Novel
Collapse : How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
Catcher in the Rye
On the Road - TBR
The Hunchback of Notre Dame - TBR
Freakonomics : a Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values
The Aeneid
Watership Down - TBR
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit - I HATED THIS BOOK. I read it in 7th grade. I gave it another chance as an adult because it's so acclaimed. Still hated it. I can objectively appreciate the writing style but it's not my cup of tea.
In Cold Blood : A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences - I also saw the movie. One of the few movies that did justice to the book. Both were eerie.
White Teeth - I've never even heard of this.
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers
If you participate, please let me know in my comments.
I've read 26 out of 106, that's like 25%. I'm not very impressed with that. I've marked 9 as TBR. I wonder if I can get one or 2 of those in before the end of the year.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
I finished The Darcy Spirit
It was lovely. Nicely written in the vein of Austen referring to characters we know and love and continuing the story with the next generation. I think I can summarize the plot by saying it is a complete adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. The names have changes but then are related to the original characters. The places have changed but not so much, we're in Rosings, Bath and London. The same personality faults are inherited, displayed and overcome and everyone of course lives happily ever after. If you need some of that and loved Pride and Prejudice then this is for you.
I just started The Thirteenth Tale. I'm on page 37 and am hooked. Some of the lines make me stop and read them twice. Here's one that I liked: "I shivered on the stairs, yawned and stretched. Returning to myself, I found that my thoughts had been rearranged in my absence."
Don't you LOVE that! ...my thoughts had been rearranged in my absence...
There are other lines but I can't find them now but suffice it to say that I'm enjoying it.
I just started The Thirteenth Tale. I'm on page 37 and am hooked. Some of the lines make me stop and read them twice. Here's one that I liked: "I shivered on the stairs, yawned and stretched. Returning to myself, I found that my thoughts had been rearranged in my absence."
Don't you LOVE that! ...my thoughts had been rearranged in my absence...
There are other lines but I can't find them now but suffice it to say that I'm enjoying it.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Catching up
I know you've missed me... LOL! Here's what's been happening...
* 14 turned 15! He got his Learner's Permit to drive. OMG, I have no little kids anymore. I'm really trying to deal with this.
* 14 (it was before his bday) went to a Beyonce concert. That was his bday present from us. He went with a friend, they had floor seats and had a good time. They said that she was amazing. She looked awesome! I'm glad they had a good time. They had funny stories about the people around them.
* I lost 2 hours and 11 minutes of my life never to be recouped seeing the movie "Knocked Up". Hubby and I saw it killing 3 hours for the concert to be over to pick up the boys. Hubby laughed, I didn't. OK, maybe I did a couple times but checked the time more than I laughed to see if it was almost over. Please don't waste your time.
* Hit the road with Hubby and 17 to go visit colleges. We went to Univ. of Central FL, Univ. of FL and FL State Univ. I was readily impressed with UCF, I think I was expecting a big community college and it surprised me. It's modern looking, bid campus, lots of things going on, the educational programs were impressive too. UF and FSU are all red brick buildings with gorgeous architecture. They look like what I'm used to seeing in a college. They were impressive too. I think he will end up applying to all 3 as well as others.
* We've also been sick in between all of this. That is everyone except 15 (see, I can adjust). Actually, 17 is going for more blood work today because he may have mono. GREAT!
* Finished reading "Men In Chains" by Virgina Reede. If you like romance novels, this is for you! I was about to say historical romance but it's not a true historical because its a fantasy world, I guess you might say Sci Fi historical. Anyway, it's an easy read and very entertaining. The 'romantic' scenes are very tame not over the top at all. I hadn't read one in a while and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
* Also read "Darcy's Story" by I don't remember who. It's Pride and Prejudice from Darcy's point of view. It was lovely, like reading the original again. She stayed true to the story line and just added his thoughts and little pieces that would fill in the blanks and reasonably explain why he behaves the way he does.
* Now I'm reading "The True Darcy Spirit" by Elizabeth Aston. No she didn't write Darcy's Story. This one is about Lady Catherine's granddaughter. Remember she had a sickly daughter Anne who she wanted Darcy to marry. Well, this is about Anne daughter, Cassandra.
* You may think this is a lot of Pride and Prejudice (my favorite book in the world) type reading. Well, I bought them at the same time at the bookstore, they were on sale, I left them in the car and so I read them on the trip.
* Since you are curious about my cleaning and organize (ROTFLMAO), I have cleaned out and organized my Utility closet. It's a closet in the kitchen that houses the Washer and Dryer. It has 2 shelves that with the aid of the shelf organizers I turned into 3 shelves and stored and stacked all kinds of big bulky kitchen stuff that only gets used once in a blue moon and thereby emptied a whole shelf in another cabinet! I don't know what's going in there yet but I'll get to it for sure.
* Next, I am cleaning out games. They kids have some old games they don't want and I have cleared a spot on the top of my closet for the adult games I want to keep. That is the project for this week.
Can't think of anything else right now. Although it feels like I have been busier than that.
* 14 turned 15! He got his Learner's Permit to drive. OMG, I have no little kids anymore. I'm really trying to deal with this.
* 14 (it was before his bday) went to a Beyonce concert. That was his bday present from us. He went with a friend, they had floor seats and had a good time. They said that she was amazing. She looked awesome! I'm glad they had a good time. They had funny stories about the people around them.
* I lost 2 hours and 11 minutes of my life never to be recouped seeing the movie "Knocked Up". Hubby and I saw it killing 3 hours for the concert to be over to pick up the boys. Hubby laughed, I didn't. OK, maybe I did a couple times but checked the time more than I laughed to see if it was almost over. Please don't waste your time.
* Hit the road with Hubby and 17 to go visit colleges. We went to Univ. of Central FL, Univ. of FL and FL State Univ. I was readily impressed with UCF, I think I was expecting a big community college and it surprised me. It's modern looking, bid campus, lots of things going on, the educational programs were impressive too. UF and FSU are all red brick buildings with gorgeous architecture. They look like what I'm used to seeing in a college. They were impressive too. I think he will end up applying to all 3 as well as others.
* We've also been sick in between all of this. That is everyone except 15 (see, I can adjust). Actually, 17 is going for more blood work today because he may have mono. GREAT!
* Finished reading "Men In Chains" by Virgina Reede. If you like romance novels, this is for you! I was about to say historical romance but it's not a true historical because its a fantasy world, I guess you might say Sci Fi historical. Anyway, it's an easy read and very entertaining. The 'romantic' scenes are very tame not over the top at all. I hadn't read one in a while and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
* Also read "Darcy's Story" by I don't remember who. It's Pride and Prejudice from Darcy's point of view. It was lovely, like reading the original again. She stayed true to the story line and just added his thoughts and little pieces that would fill in the blanks and reasonably explain why he behaves the way he does.
* Now I'm reading "The True Darcy Spirit" by Elizabeth Aston. No she didn't write Darcy's Story. This one is about Lady Catherine's granddaughter. Remember she had a sickly daughter Anne who she wanted Darcy to marry. Well, this is about Anne daughter, Cassandra.
* You may think this is a lot of Pride and Prejudice (my favorite book in the world) type reading. Well, I bought them at the same time at the bookstore, they were on sale, I left them in the car and so I read them on the trip.
* Since you are curious about my cleaning and organize (ROTFLMAO), I have cleaned out and organized my Utility closet. It's a closet in the kitchen that houses the Washer and Dryer. It has 2 shelves that with the aid of the shelf organizers I turned into 3 shelves and stored and stacked all kinds of big bulky kitchen stuff that only gets used once in a blue moon and thereby emptied a whole shelf in another cabinet! I don't know what's going in there yet but I'll get to it for sure.
* Next, I am cleaning out games. They kids have some old games they don't want and I have cleared a spot on the top of my closet for the adult games I want to keep. That is the project for this week.
Can't think of anything else right now. Although it feels like I have been busier than that.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Take the Book Quiz
I've done this quiz before but I don't remember what book I was so I saw this over on Bookworms' blog and stole it. Hmmm...I think parts of this description really fit me, at least today.
You're The Sound and the Fury!
by William Faulkner
Strong-willed but deeply confused, you are trying to come to grips
with a major crisis in your life. You can see many different perspectives on the issue,
but you're mostly overwhelmed with despair at what you've lost. People often have a hard
time understanding you, but they have some vague sense that you must be brilliant
anyway. Ultimately, you signify nothing.
Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Lost track...
I haven't been reviewing or chatting about the books I read and I've lost track of what I've read this year. So, this week I'm going to think back and try to write a short review on each book. This way at the end of the year I can feel all accomplished and wonderful about myself and all that I have read. Stay tuned. The goal is to have this done over the weekend.
I wonder if I can remember them all, they say short term memory is the first to go!
Take Big Bites, A Raisin in the Sun, Bel Canto, Eat Love Pray...see, I'm already stuck! and I know I've read way more than that! Heck that was just in the past month. oh no, this is going to be hard! Maybe if I go stare at my book case and sundry book piles....
(added later) I remembered another one: My Sister's Keeper
I wonder if I can remember them all, they say short term memory is the first to go!
Take Big Bites, A Raisin in the Sun, Bel Canto, Eat Love Pray...see, I'm already stuck! and I know I've read way more than that! Heck that was just in the past month. oh no, this is going to be hard! Maybe if I go stare at my book case and sundry book piles....
(added later) I remembered another one: My Sister's Keeper
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