What's a Saturday for, if not to read??

When I read the last Jacqueline Winspear Maisie Dobbs novel, I said, "Well, these are getting a little too boring for my taste.  Maybe I won't read the next one."  Then Amazon sent me a chance to pre-order.  So I did - but on Kindle - I'm keeping to my resolve not to buy any "books" this year - there are far too many taking over our lives already.

And Spring Break started yesterday.  And the library has no more Sandra Dallas novels for me to read - guess I will have to go hunting - so I started Maisie Dobbs - and spent today reading it!!

There is something to be said for a lazy Saturday spent reading.  And it's all good.

The story was compelling - at least I wanted to find out "who done it!"

So I did.  Maybe the fact that the story involves Indian immigrants to London and the whispers of war that are starting to swirl around made it more compelling this time.  But the weaknesses remain - stilted dialogue, excessive description that does not advance the story and isn't especially poetic or literary, and rather predictable plot lines - except for the criminals.

But I bet I read the next one too!

Just finished -

So, I just finished my 7th Sandra Dallas novel - and found out it was her first! Mighty auspicious start, I must say.  The reviews said it best - the strength is not in the story - the plot lines are old and hackneyed - but in the characters, the dialogue, and recreation of a time past.

It is quite different from her other books.  I have noticed that some of them - those that deal with the boom-town Gold Rush days of Colorado - seem very similar in tone and depiction.  The others just seem to be a little life unto themselves.  I like both kinds!!

She has 10 novels and 7 non-fiction works.  So I still have more to read.  But I'm taking a little detour with my book group pick and the new latest Maisie Dobbs!

But you just might enjoy reading about Buster Midnight and the Unholy Three!

Marching along on the reading front!

Can you tell that I'm reading instead of doing other chores??  Just finished the latest on my Sandra Dallas list.  This story is set in 1942 - and involves a Japanese internment camp in Colorado.  The information is based on historical facts, but it's a novel - in fact, the library has it in the Young Adult Fiction section.  Not sure why - maybe because the narrator is a 13 year old girl.

Reading about this time period is enlightening.  According to data, generally speaking the camps were not hotbeds of dissent, and the surrounding towns seemed to get along fine with the internees.  But this was not true of the Colorado camp, and no one seems especially sure why this was.

The story is well-told, and the suspense is actually suspenseful!!  You might like it. Let me know if you do.

If you enjoy getting your history from novels - like I do - you might also enjoy Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and Bat 6.

Is there a theme here??

H. and I have a new hobby - watching old westerns!  I was about ready to give it up though - until last night when we watched High Noon.  I had forgotten what a fine film it was - so tense, so finely drawn, so gripping - and I even knew how it ended - but that didn't diminish the suspense.

There's a lot of history too - lots of drama from the McCarthy era spilled over into the making and marketing of this film.  At least time has turned that response around and the world does indeed know what a gem this is.

I am moving right along with my Sandra Dallas list of books that I love to read!!  Most of them take place in the Colorado Gold Rush West - so it goes right along with the movie theme!!  The Chili Queen is a pretty good "whodunit" too - and I love how she weaves characters and events from other stories into the ones I am reading - better than a sequel because you never know when an old face will pop up!!  This one had a "surprise" ending - and even though I read the last page first, I still couldn't figure it out until I'd read the last sentence!!  That takes some skill!

I remember seeing Shane as a teen - and liking it a lot.  Not sure why now - it does have a good story line - and some "high drama" too.  But it seems so dated.  Whereas High Noon - a film that is of the same vintage - seemed as current as ever.  

Not sure what our next flick will be - I voting for Red River - because it has Montgomery Clift - a heart throb from my era!!

And Harry is working late tonight - so I guess I will go back to my next Sandra Dallas novel, Tallgrass.  So far, it's pretty good.

Another great Sandra Dallas read!!

I am well into my Sandra Dallas read-a-thon - Persian Pickle Club, Whiter Than Snow, Prayers For Sale, Diary of Mattie Spencer - and now Alice's Tulips!! 

I will say this - so far none have disappointed.  A couple of them have been "slow starters" and I was wondering if the bloom was off the rose.  But the author has come through every time.

This one is an epistolary novel - a tricky format because sometimes you want more than the letters can reveal.  But in this case, there are enough details to get you through the process.

As a veteran letter-writer however, I'm not sure anyone could really write such detailed letters - especially a mid-west farmer's wife!!

But we don't call it "the willing suspension of disbelief" for nothing!!

 

Beware the Ides of March

Our annual Ides of March party was smaller than usual - mostly Terrills or Bolanders - but it was fun and tasty.

 

I didn't even get a sword shot - maybe I need to start assigning a cameraman!!

 

It was warm enough to eat outside - always nice.

 

We introduced Bill and Sandy White to our own March Madness - they seemed to have a good time too!

 

A Combe conflict meant only Jocelyn joined us.  Isn't that alliterative??

Noah says he thinks he's played just about every part - experience that may come in handy!!

I was there - not in any photos - you'll just have to take my word for it!!

The weekend movie and book review!!

So with Esme here for her Grandma's Birthday Weekend, some movie going was in order - and we chose Oz the Great and Powerful - a good choice.  The little china girl is a new fave character of mine!!

 

The reviews got it right - not a great film, but enjoyable and entertaining - a good film if you will.  Not too scary either - I think kids would not have nightmares from it - the girls and Noah gave it 2 or 3 thumbs up.  It's a film I'd put in my personal film library.

 

It's relationship to the Oz books is pretty close.  And James Franco is a fine Oz!

 

The flying monkey is a delightful addition to film lore too!  Give it a look-see soon!

 

Continuing on with my Sandra Dallas Read-A-Thon, just finished this one.  I think it's my fave so far - the main character keeps telling stories to a young woman in the town - and that's how you fill in the back story.  And there is character re-introduced from The Diary of Mattie Spencer - a nice touch.

A reason I'm behind in lots of things - busy reading instead!!  (and these have all been library books - I have not purchased any books this year - only on Kindle.)

A great read!!

As I've mentioned before, once I find an author I like - and can depend on - for example, Secret Life of Bees was great - but the second book was a bust, so that's not an author I can depend on - I often end up reading everything they've written - or at least a fair share of it!

Sandra Dallas is my new favorite author -and Prayers for Sale did not disappoint!!  It takes place during the depression, but includes a story line from the Civil War and the Colorado gold rush.

This was a story full of stories - as told by the protagonist Hennie Comfort - and they were the best stories.  And they served the very useful function of moving the story line along.

A skill indeed!

And a surprise ending!

The one that got away!! (thank goodness!)

Some girlfriends and I were visiting and one shared the very charming story of how her parents met.  And I thought, "I have no idea how my parents met!"  So I decided to ask - and I took notes too!  The above and below photos are of my dad with a girlfriend named Donna.  Apparently they were good friends - and my dad and her mom wanted it to be more than friendship.  

But Donna, in spite of her smiling demeanor, just saw my dad as a friend.  My mom said that all the women in the ward liked Dad - and kind of doted on him.  My mom said, "They all thought of him as this orphan who was so dutifully caring for his younger brothers."  (he wasn't an orphan - his dad was alive) And they thought he'd be good husband material too.

My mom said she met my dad at a dance at the Arlington Ward - which met in the Wilshire Ebell Theater!  She said they were in the same ward, so he knew who she was.  He asked her to dance and apparently liked what he found, because he started asking her out.  But it was kind of a gradual romance.  They dated for a year or more - and then were engaged for about 9 months.

In fact, at first she was not impressed with him.  And her dad thought he drove too fast.  (He had a '33 Ford.) But his perseverance paid off - and there are those of us who are certainly glad it worked out the way it did!!

Funny story - when my youngest sister Donna was born, she was number 11.  I guess my folks had run out of names, because my dad came home from the hospital and asked us for suggestions!  My best friend Marguerite had an older sister named Donna Jean, and I thought she was very cool and sophisticated - so I suggested Donna Jean!

It's the name they chose, and sometimes my mom would assert that my dad had named her after his old girlfriend.  But I always corrected her - I wanted credit for my choice!!

Time, time, always talking about time!!

15 years ago it was New Beginnings.  15 years!  Time almost seems irrelevant to me sometimes.  My counselors were Irene and Tricia - and my secretary was Erin.  We got along well.  We had a great time together.  We had some wonderful activities for the girls.  And we had a great bunch of girls.

I think being Young Women President is the hardest job in the church.  It's harder than being Relief Society president.  It's way harder than being a Nursery Leader or a Cub Scout Den Mother.  

It's hard because you have so many places you have to be - Sunday teaching, weeknight activities, Bishop's Youth firesides, Youth Conference, Girls' Camp, Standards Night, Ward Council, Presidency meetings.

But like a wise woman I know once said, "It's work worth doing."

But I'm sure glad my job now is Stake Cub Master and Ward Emergency Preparedness!!

Latest read -

Not sure why I've been reading so much lately - probably because there are a lot of other things I should be doing.  And during SSR, I have been reading books to my students.  Now I've got them reading to themselves, so I get a few minutes during the day to read - and then when the bell rings at the end of the day, I take another 15 - 20 minutes and read a bit more - kind of a reward for getting through the day!!

This book, The Orchard, caught my eye in Target - but with my new-found resolve to not buy any more physical books, I resisted - and so I got it on Kindle.  The quality of this book is very uneven.  It's called a memoir, but when you read about the life of the author, you can see that she's fictionalized part of it anyway.

It's a compelling story and told well - but at the end it's like she said let's hurry up and finish and it seems rushed.  Too bad - but I notice that lots of modern, current fiction has this same problem.  Not a bad read but I'm glad I don't have a physical copy of it to worry about!

 

Our book group enjoyed Persian Pickle Club so much, we decided to try another book by the same author.  We randomly picked this one - at least I did - I was skimming through lists on my iPad as we were discussing what to read next.  I think it was a good choice - I finished it Saturday - it wasn't so much a page-turner as a book you didn't want to put down - there is something about a pioneer diary that puts life into perspective!

I have a habit of "reading an author" when I find one I like.  I remember in high school checking out every Sinclair Lewis book the library had!!  Did it with Edna Ferber, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and others.  I still do it - in recent years I've gone on an Ann Patchet kick, tried most of the books Anne Tyler has written, and even scoped out C.S. Forester!

Maybe my newest fad is Sandra Dallas - I'm reading Prayers for Sale right now - I'll let you know how it goes!

What's up??

So, the famous skylight in our bedroom is coming to life!!

 

Which means we are living in a state of disarray!!

 

And sleeping in the guestroom.

 

But we're pretty sure it's going to be worth the hassle!

 

We will truly have a "room with a view!"