Lady of Leisure

That's me...
Finished my THIRD book this month!
It was a good one.  I rolled through it in less than a week.
I especially enjoyed reading the LARGE PRINT edition.
No glasses required!

I seem to be accidentally (?) gravitating towards books about independent women.

Wonder what that says about me?

Big Stone Gap is a small town in the mountains of Virgina, with the story set in the 1970s.  I love the characters.  (They are characters.)  Take Iva Lou Wade--The Bookmobile driver and librarian.  The introductory description reads as follows: "If you painted her, she'd be sitting on a pink cloud with gold-leaf edges, showing a lot of leg."  You'll enjoy getting to know Nan, Fleeta and Pearl as well.  I love being able to cheer for the underdog and laugh at the quirkiness of small town life.  A favorite preacher in town passes away during the course of the book and arranges for everyone to have an afternoon of bowling, so they can "Listen to one another, laugh, and see the great glory of God in each other.  It is there, my friends, believe me.  Sometimes we just don't have the eyes to see it.  Have a set on me."

The author gives me the urge to travel a bit--just a bit, and then to come back and settle on my own front porch and enjoy what's good about my own little town.  I liked it!

The Sweetness

...was finally being able to finish not one, but TWO books.  In the SAME week!

The first book I tackled was Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley.  Score!  This was a fun read--I was taken by 11-year-old Flavia DeLuce, budding detective and Chemistry whiz who, as the youngest of three girls left motherless, cleverly sleuths her way in and out of trouble and comes up with ways to rub salt in the wound that is the relationship with her older siblings.  Some of her scheming had me chuckling out loud.  Set in 1950s England, it grabbed me on the first page and I didn't want to put it down until the ride was over.  Also, who cannot love a girl who names her bicycle?  Two thumbs, WAY up.

The second book was Remarkable Creatures, by Tracy Chevalier.  I loved her novel Girl With a Pearl Earring, and was drawn to this book looking for something as enjoyable. 

Here's the thing:  I found it hard to even compare the two.  Though both books are a fun glimpse into 18th and 19th Century England and class distinctions and being born to privileges or without them, one deals heavily in the arts, and the other delves into archaeology and the discovery of dinosaur fossils.  The twist here, is that the fossil hunters are women.  Remarkable women, who, despite class and gender, fight their way into a world dominated in so many ways, by men.  I loved the facts interwoven with the historical fiction.  I loved the independent spirit of both books I chose.  They were perfect choices for my independent weekend.  Also, I listened to Chevalier's book on CD as I drove through the New England countryside.  

The accents were delightful, and the story charming.

Leisurely reading, how I've missed you!

The Wednesday Sisters

When I make friends with women, I delight in so easily finding common ground despite the differences that might more obviously set us apart.  The innate desire to care and share--to decipher and delight in discovery are what I love most about the female friendships I have made, and I take joy in knowing that the field of potential women friends is huge.  As a friend, I have things to offer that are unique and valuable to others. 
I think ultimately the relationships in The Wednesday Sisters, written by Meg Waite Clayton are what makes me love it.
It took me about a month to read this book... life spews stuff at me like water from a firehose; about six months to pick it up... my kids gave it to me for my birthday in 2009, and my list of must-read books was LONG but today I finished it.  I thoroughly enjoyed The Wednesday Sisters.  It surprised me to realize, in the second-to-last chapter that I was laughing out loud right through my tears.  The last time I cried at the end of a book was in January 2009 with The Book Thief.  The Wednesday Sisters is touching, funny and mostly a story about women with dreams for themselves that they are struggling to reach for--it reminded me of Whitney's Dare to Dream website, and the gift she has to urge women forward.  The Wednesday Sisters is set in the late 1960s and early 1970s.   It was just as fascinating to remember the pivotal events that took place during this small window in time as it was to be along for the ride as these women friends struggled through the timeless challenges of infidelity, infertility, awareness of body flaws, cancer and coming of age in a time when it was a scary thing to be a woman and reach for a dream.  It's hard to believe that life for women just a few decades ago was so much more restricted than it is today.  Although the story is fiction, the history surrounding the story is full of fascinating and important events.  I was born in the 1960s and feel as though I've lost sight of the fact that just in my lifetime, women are able to reach for the stars in ways that were unimaginable when I was a baby.  I'm grateful for my busload of women friends and thankful that they'll take the ride with me.

Her Fearful Symmetry

by Audrey Niffenegger
(who wrote The Time Traveler's Wife which I did not read or see)

I actually liked this book enough to finish it--a feat I was worried I was not going to accomplish because of my decision not to waste time on books that weren't really good.  A selling point was the setting.  The story takes place mainly in and around Highgate Cemetery in London.  I do love cemeteries... (and who wouldn't be interested in the burial place of Karl Marx and Michael Faraday?)
One of my favorite books from last year was The Graveyard Book.  We even used a cemetery as the backdrop for our family Christmas card photo one year. 
Her Fearful Symmetry was good in the way a creepy movie is good.  I also felt as though the characters were more actors/actresses than actual people.  I got sucked in and wanted to know how it would end.  I made a few friends with the characters, was interested in the part of the plot that involved twins (have I mentioned before that I am a twin?) and really grew to like Martin, the upstairs neighbor with an over-the-top obsessive-compulsive disorder.  The NY Times review states, "Obsession is the order of the day. Niffenegger digs deep into various forms of love, including the oppressive closeness between both pairs of twins and the beyond-the-grave ardor of Elspeth and Robert."  If you're not already trying to read thousands of books, try it.  You might like it.  Interestingly, this book was not on any of my to-read lists--I just happened by it at the library, and somehow it ended up in my pile of things to check-out.  I'm probably not going to run and read her other books, but this one, altho' uniquely strange, I did enjoy (except for one major detail at the end--no spoilers here).  I'm more excited about reviewing the book I'm currently reading.  Coming soon!

Dear Roonie,

I read your book, and you were right.  I loved it!
I stayed in bed this morning, and didn't get out until I had finished.
(Having strep throat on a Saturday turns out to have some perks.)
One of the million reasons I love you is that you like to root for the underdog.
Me too.  And there were more than a couple of underdogs in When you Reach Me.
Thanks for insisting that I would really really like this book.
I love you tons,
XO
Mom

When You Reach Me
by Rebecca Stead

One of the opening chapters of the book is called "Things You Hide" and starts like this: 
I was named after a criminal.  Mom says that's a dramatic way of looking at things, but sometimes the truth is dramatic.
"The name Miranda stands for people's rights," she said last fall, when I was upset because Robbie B. had told me during gym that I was named after a kidnapper.
Miranda and Sal are best friends, and live in New York City.  After having just visited some of the same places that Miranda and Sal navigate on a daily basis, another chapter called "Mom's Rules for Life in New York City" resonated with me:
1.  Always have your key out before you reach the front door.
2.  If a stranger is hanging out in front of the building, don't ever go in--just keep walking around the block until he's gone.
3.  Look ahead.  If there's someone acting strange cross to the other side of the street, but don't be obvious about it.  Make it look like you were planning to cross the street all along.
4.  Never show your money on the street.
When You Reach Me won the 2010 Newbery Medal, and is an exciting adventure with mystery, science fiction and bullies.  I devoured it in less than three hours.  Two thumbs up for a book that just about everyone will enjoy.

Return and Report.

First the return.  The Vagrants is going back to the library.  After my resolve not to finish a book that was less than extraordinary, I'm hesitant to admit that I had a hard time slipping this book back into the pile.  I so WANTED it to be good, but when the author introduced a character that was distasteful, I closed the cover. It's taken me almost two weeks to let go.  That might explain my clutter problem.  Life is too short.

On a smaller scale, my nights are also too short.  I long to climb in bed well before I do each night, and last night was no exception.  Mesquite and Enrique were homework-deuling on the computers, so I decided to watch the library movie I picked out two weeks ago while they worked.  I pulled the loveseat right up to the TV, plugged in my ear buds so as not to disturb the scholars and assumed the prone position.  I had NO idea what the movie was about; I picked it because the DVD cover was charming.  So much for not judging by appearances... I'm pleased to announce that the movie did not disappoint.

The kids were done well before the movie ended, but I had been strung along, and could not disconnect without knowing what would happen to Miss Potter.   Miss Potter turns out to be the story of  the famous English children's author Beatrix Potter.

How can you go wrong with Renee Zellweger?  I think this movie was released in 2007.  I'm not sure how we missed it the first go-round, but for anyone who has enjoyed The Tale of Peter Rabbit or any of the delightful Beatrix Potter books, it will charm its way into your heart.

Didn't love it

6 out of 10 stars.

William Pene du Bois was awarded the Newbery Medal for this story in 1948.

It's clever, scientific and full of modern technology... for the 1940s.

This just wasn't my favorite.  If you're more of a balloon enthusiast than me, you might really get into it.  The main character is Professor William Waterman Sherman, a retired math teacher who leaves San Francisco in a hot-air balloon he intends to fly across the Pacific.  Instead, he lands on Krakatoa, an island with strange inhabitants and goings-on.

I couldn't wait to finish, so I could get on to something I would REALLY enjoy.

meh.

Looking for Lift

I planned to devote today solely to sewing.  And making sure I had a shower and brushed my teeth, and the 63 other daily things that need doing, but my brand-y new copy of Lift came in the mail today, so I read, instead. 

I'm not a Kelly Corrigan follower, nor did I read her memoir The Middle Place.  I might check it out from the library at some point now, though, as I really enjoyed reading this book.  I found the recommendation for Lift at Basic Joy, which is a blog that I like visiting.  Kelly writes to her two young daughers, which is a format that appealed to me 

"My default answer to everything is no.  As soon as I hear the inflection of inquiry in your voice, the word no forms in my mind, sometimes accompanied by reason, often not.  Can I open the mail?  No.  Can I wear your necklace?  No.  When is dinner?  No.  What you probably wouldn't believe is how much I want to say yes."

I think, as a mother, much of what she writes about connects with my experience.  I also think, however, that if you have any sort of connection whatever with ANY mother, you might enjoy Lift.  Which is to say, of course, that life originates with motherhood, therefore we all have an intimate link right from the start  Daughters?  Yes.  Sisters?  Yes.  Aunts?  Yes.  Husbands, brothers, fathers and hang-gliders?  You should try it.    As a last-minute bonus, I throw-in the page count:  82.  And there are pictures.  Maybe this will be the go-to gift for Mother's Day this year.  I got my copy early.

She asked.

I've mentioned recently that I've been rather consumed with my list.

I gave myself permission not to worry about extra-curricular reading this year.

I LOVE to read!

With the challenge, daily scripture reading, clutter to worry over and just the stuff of LIFE, I knew I really wouldn't have much time to stop and read - at least not the kind of time I'd want to have, once I delved into a good book.

Then my 11-year-old reader approached me with a request:

"MOM.  You HAVE to read this book.  PLEASE?!... It's SOOoooooo good."

I didn't want to.  But I did.  I was torn.  What's a busy resolutionary mother to do?

I agreed to read.

Therefore, I am pleased to present my first book report of 2010:

Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata.

It's a wonderful (quick read!) coming-of-age story about a Japanese-American girl and her sister.

Humor, heartbreak, sacrifice and the tender complications of family relationships and hard things.

I remember now, when my oldest daughter read this, and told me I'd really like it.

She was right.

I think now I'll suggest that our youngest girl read it.