49 and 50 - check!!

When Kindle only charged 99 cents for this book, it should have thrown up a red flag for me!!  But alas, I am so hard up for reading material while recuperating from the kidney stone surgery, that I took the bait.  It's as bad as you might expect.  The story had some good "threads" here and there, but they seemed to have little relationship to one another.  It's about a young woman going West, traveling with a wagon train run by Mormons - who happen to be less than stellar individuals.  That's only one thread - but you really don't want to bother with this one!!

 

I really like Sandra Dallas - I keep thinking I've run out of stuff by her to read, but this one turned up - and she has a new one coming in October - so I'm pretty excited.

This is set in Colorado and the mining era - it does call for some "willing suspension of disbelief" but it's still a good read.  I like the way her stories come together at the end.  I mostly like that I think I've guessed the ending - and I'm wrong!!

On to 51 and 52 - and I will have read 52 books this year.  I should have challenged someone!!

Countdown to a fabulous 52!

So, I'm recovering from surgery to remove a kidney stone, and I don't do much else but read - and check Instagram for updates from Bonny and Harry!!  Harry and I are also watching Poldark in the evenings - love it so far!!

I'm not sure why I continue with Kristin Hannah - one of her novels was really good - and the others have failed to deliver - cheesy romances actually - but they do pass the time - at least in the above I didn't totally predict the outcome so there was some reason to finish!! Thankfully it was from the library, so I didn't lose any money!

I do love Sandra Dallas - and so far she has never failed to deliver  - for me anyway.  This is a sweet story about the Civil War, the settling of the plains of America, the love of quilting, and the strength of women working together.

Not sure why I keep reading her - this was a library book too - it was interesting to learn so much about Italian cooking however!

Henriette Luscezk recommended this book - and it is really good.  It's a first novel, and the author is an attorney.  Legal issues play a major role - kind of Grishamish that way - but the story - told in flashbacks - is gripping.  It does have its flaws, but they are minor - when you are stuck on the couch, you need a compelling read.  It is about the Holocaust in Poland - and hunting for Nazi killers in our day.  

Try it, I think you'll like it!!

I'm at number 48!

42 and 43

A few years ago I was in an airport - not sure which one even - and bought a copy of a biography of Harper Lee.  It seemed like it would be interesting, but it was kind of tedious, so I never finished it.  Then at a Scholastic Bookfair at the school where I taught, I found another bio of Ms. Lee called I Am Scout.  I bought it - and read it almost in one sitting - it was that compelling! 

I later discovered that both books were by the same author - and the one I had enjoyed was an adolescent version of the one I had found tedious!!  Gotta love adolescent lit - never lets you down!

The book was revealing also - telling the story of how Harper Lee took her manuscript to a publisher, who suggested that the story had potential - that there was a thread they could develop and flesh out into a full fledged novel.

She worked for 2 years with the editor who believed in the story's potential - and the result was To Kill a Mockingbird.  The initial manuscript was Go Set a Watchman.

Harper Lee never wrote another novel.  The bio delved into that issue with some suppositions, but the truth was, Harper Lee was a very complex woman.  She was also highly influenced by her sister Alice.  Alice encouraged her to write, but not necessarily to publish.  It was only after Alice's death that the initial manuscript was published.  There are those who feel that Ms. Lee has been taken advantage of - and I suspect she has been.  But that doesn't alter the existence of this first writing effort by Harper Lee.

The critics have been fierce in their condemnation of this book.  I had ordered it on Kindle a while back when the news of the publication first surfaced. But after reading the reviews, I worried that I might be sorry if I read it.  Lots of people were saying we should protest and not read it.

Let me just say that I don't entirely agree with the critics - and I honestly feel that because I read the bio, I have a different feeling about the book and the many responses it has engendered.

Atticus Finch is a Klan member - but the focus is on the idea that he has to be one to prevent them from doing really bad things.  He believes that black people are inferior - but he also believes that his way will help them overcome that inferiority.  He has become "political" - but believes that is the only way to protect his beloved South.

To Kill a Mockingbird is by far the superior work.  Like one critic noted, Go Set a Watchman is an apprentice work.  Regardless of the content - which is problematic often - Harper Lee is a fine writer.  Both novels bear the unmistakable stamp of her skill as a wordsmith.

I'd say give it a read!!

I knew I needed an "airplane read" so I went to the library and gathered up a few Kristin Hannah novels.  I had so enjoyed The Nightingale, I thought I'd enjoy some other works by her.  Home Again is one of her earlier novels - and maybe she's improved - because it's hackneyed, cliche-ridden, almost unbelievable - but it was a good way to pass the time!  Also, I found myself predicting - accurately - what would happen next.  Fiction that transparent is hard to enjoy.

I am giving another one a go - but may not go beyond that!!

A little Friday night movie watching!!

I have been reading up a storm, but thought it would be a good idea to see this film - had heard a good review from Rene - my movie buff extraordinaire - and even the New Yorker had lots of good to say about it!

It was at the Laemmle - so off we went with all the other senior citizens who frequent the 4:20 p.m. showing on a Friday afternoon!!

A good movie!!  The music was central to the story, but not in the way you would think.  Rather the emphasis was on the way Brian Wilson composed music - the powers that drove him - the voices he heard in his head.

It's also a very enlightening film about mental illness.  And the unscrupulousness of some caretakers!!

It's told as parallel stories - the young Brian in the 60's and the middle-aged Brian in the 80's.  It's a device that works too.

Even if you weren't a Beach Boys fan ever, you would enjoy this movie.

And maybe you will become a Beach Boys fan (I've always been one!!)

Just finished number 41 on the countdown to 52 books a year!!

I have apparently exhausted the catalog of novels by Anna Quindlen - she has more books in print, but they are mostly collections of her essays and columns for Newsweek and other newspapers and magazines.  I'm doing novels this summer - may get back to her non-fiction one day soon!!

Object Lessons was her first novel, and the reviews I read were mixed.  At first I read so many poor reviews that I thought maybe I wouldn't read it.  But I decided to decide for myself.  Glad I did - because although it was a little more "ponderous" than her later novels, it was a good story.

Once again the focus was on families, relationships, class, race, and ethnic relations, and quite a bit about the Catholic church - which was certainly interesting and informative.

One reviewer had posited that the "coming of age" of the 12 year old girl did not ring true - she felt that a 12 year old couldn't think that philosophically - but it worked for me.  There wasn't a lot of emphasis on her age - sometimes I thought of her as an older teen - but it still rang true.

The evolving relationship between Tommy and Connie was a well-told tale - I found it ringing true also.

As a story, it was a little more fragmented than her other stories have been - but it was a first novel - and a pretty good one at that.

I have a habit of picking and author and then reading everything she or he has written - I started that habit way back in the days of the Los Angeles County Public Library Bookmobile that came to our town every other week - the books were in a row, and you could check out 12 at a time - seemed like a good way to pick 'em!

I enjoyed The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, so thought I'd look for her on the shelf - and you know, she's written over 18 novels - so I think I'm good for awhile - at least if the others are as good as the one I've read!

Will let you know!

Number 40!

My 40th novel this year - I will have 52 books done before fall at this rate!!  Oh well, sometimes I'm an over-achiever!

This novel is about domestic violence - and the ending is not a happy one - it's not tragic per se, but it's not what I wanted it to be.  However, it's probably more realistic than a happy ending would have been.  And the protagonist is a strong woman who "wins" in the sense that she is able to take charge of her life, finally.

I can see that Ms. Quindlen likes to tackle current "issues" - as many good authors do - but she does seem to transcend the "message" that writers like Jodi Picoult get bogged down in.  She seems to be writing more about self-awareness, family relationships, and the way the world shifts under us.

And she's a great story-teller!

Ready to start number 40 - but the library is closed today!!

There appears to be one more Anna Quindlen novel I'd like to read - but haven't been able to get my hands on it - and am trying to resist the urge to purchase it on Kindle!!

Rise and Shine was more cheerful than the last one - which was a little grim - and it was a little more "unbelieveable" too.  But then, what's literature without some "willing suspension of disbelief?"

The story is about a news anchor who is amazingly popular - a veritable Madonna of the morning news set.  Her program is called, of course, "Rise and Shine!"  

I've never thought morning news anchors were quite that popular - but then, what do I know?

It reads a little like a Grisham novel in some ways - what with escaping to a little known Pacific island.  And it has plenty of action and intrigue.

A good summer read.  Number 39 on my list of reading 52 books this year.

On to number 40 - today is a perfect reading day too!!

Happy 4th of July one and all!

I'm on a little Anna Quindlen kick right now!  This is the 4th novel of hers I've read.  She is or was a columnist for Newsweek magazine - and I know I've read some of her columns.  I find it interesting that someone who writes columns for a news magazine - and good columns at that, because she got a Pulitzer for them - also writes some compelling novels about families and life and tragedy.

This story is not for the faint of heart - a family is destroyed by a violent act by a crazy young man. The back story is beautifully told, with lots of authentic details and word pictures.  And the story of the family's survival is well wrought. 

I may just pick up another one of her books - until I find a new author to become attached to!

Number 38 - and it's a movie too - didn't know that!!

So I swore off buying books, and then started getting inordinate numbers of Kindle books.  So I swore off those for a while - and went to the library - and our Monrovia Library does not have a huge selection!!  So I went to the Arcadia Library and got a couple more Anna Quindlen books - I quite like her style, and she's been prolific, so I may be set for the summer!!

This is a story of a woman dying of cancer - not for everyone maybe - but it's well-written and a compelling narrative.

The character in the story - the mother with cancer - was born in 1945 - maybe that's why I could identify with her.

Turns out this is a movie too - one with Meryl Streep - I may have to find it and see it!!

I'm open to suggestions too, by the way!!

Movie nights!!

Harry and I were looking for something to watch - and this came up - and since I love all things Cary Grant, I proposed we watch it.  Harry is a good sport about indulging my love of Cary Grant!!  I have seen this film many times - and always love it!!  I can never get enough of the look on Cary Grant's face when he goes into the bedroom and sees the painting and realizes Deborah Kerr is crippled - and he has judged her unfairly - and he closes his eyes and you can feel the anguish!!  He should have been given an Academy award for that scene alone!!  (We are talking 1957 here.)

Later Harry was browsing around and found the original film that this film was a remake of - Love Affair with Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne.   The only thing missing from this 1939 version was the Vic Damone theme song.  The 1957 version was word for word the same as the 1939 version.  I'm wondering how often that gets done!!

If it hadn't been so late, I would have watched Sleepless in Seattle too!

Taylor won tickets to the Pasadena Laemle Theater, but said they really could never use them since it's a ways from their house - so she gave them to us!!  What a treat - FHE tonight was movie night - I'd been wanting to see this.  Thinking now maybe I should re-read the book too - and maybe re-watch the 60's version with Julie Christie!!

The film is well-done, beautiful cinematography, acting is great, the Boltwood chap does a superb job at being "madly" infatuated with Bathsheba!!

And Gabriel Oak really reminded me of Ry Nebeker with hair - but those are little details - the overall film is a visual and auditory feast!!

Check it out!!

Chugging right along on the library trail!!

Chugging right along with the reading material!!  I actually went a few days without reading a novel - got caught up with some of my New Yorker reading!!  Decided I not only needed to quit buying physical books, maybe I shouldn't buy so many Kindle books either!!  So I went to the library - and found a nice stash of Anna Quindlen novels for my reading enjoyment!!   (I'd gone a couple of times looking for some other authors - only to discover that our little Monrovia Library can have a limited selection at times!)

This is the second one by her I've read - you may have noticed that I kind of like to pick and author and then read everything they've written!!  I had read Still Life With Bread Crumbs and enjoyed it, so was ready to try another one.

This one is about a large old house - and a baby abandoned on the doorstep - in a cardboard box!  There are other details too, but Ms. Quindlen has woven a nice little tale of love, loss, and learning.

I'm off to the library for another of her books - good thing she has a long list of them!

I am also an unabashed Grisham fan - and love Theodore Boone too.  Was happy to hear he had a new one out.  I confess that they all seem to run together for me.  They are actually "forgettable" stories - but they are fun to read!  (Note to those not familiar - they are adolescent stories - Theodore Boone is perennially 14!!)

Stay tuned - these two are numbers 36 and 37 for this year's list of 52 books!!

Chuggin' along on the reading train!!

In spite of the busyness of my days, and nights for that matter, I manage to keep reading some compelling book that causes me to just plop down in the comfy leather chair under the windows in the living room and read instead of doing other stuff - like update my blogs for example!!

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah is one such novel that turned out to be quite compelling.  Like Suite Francaise, Sarah's Key, and All the Light We Cannot See, it deals with the critical summer of 1940 when Paris fell, with nary a whimper, to the might of Hitler's Germany.

Each of these novels emphasizes a different aspect of those horrific times, but also weaves a tapestry - for me at least - of the more human aspects of those years.  Each story is very personal - but political too, so it seems important and significant - probably because individual stories are the most important.

The Nightingale was a bit of a "thriller" because you didn't find out the identity of the narrator until the end.  It wasn't perfectly written - as literature it really didn't make the cut.  But it was compelling and engaging - qualities I look for.

You just might enjoy it!

Since I so enjoyed Station Eleven, I decided to look for other books by the same author.  This was one.  It is nothing like the first book I read.  It is not dystopian.  But it is an intriguing plotline that I have never quite encountered before.  Don't want to spoil it - it can be heartbreaking at times - so I won't give too many details.

And Ms. St. John Mandel is a pretty good writer - she created a world that is nothing like any world I know - but it seemed very real the whole time!!

Let me know what you think!

Another good read

Phoebe recommended this to me - and it does not disappoint in a major way.  I read several reviews - one from the New York Times - and they all commented that the sense of disaster was "underplayed" to the detriment of the story. I did notice that feature after reading the reviews - but it didn't detract for me.

The premise is the world after a pandemic destroys 99 percent of the world's population - and a Traveling Symphony - featuring music and Shakespeare - travels around one part of the world and gives us a picture of what life has become.

It is not The Road, but it is a good story.  Especially is you like Shakespeare!

Another title from Eliza's stack!

This was also on Eliza's stack - and Hannah had read the book and seen the movie and thought both were quite good.  She and Eliza found them both amusing - I'm not sure I found the book amusing - but it was charming in an offbeat kind of way.

The story line is convoluted but intriguing - a good read!!

An interesting plotline -

Eliza had a stack of library books in her living room - and I of course can't resist a book!!  This one was an interesting plotline - a pretty good story too.  

The premise is that Margot Frank, Anne Frank's older sister, did not die in the holocaust - and she is living in Philadelphia in the 50's - waiting for Peter Van Dan to find her - as they had previously arranged!

Well, read it and find out - and let me know what you think!!

Seven Decades!!

A little "visual" tour of the journey to 70 - and 1 husband, 6 kids, 5 spouses, one girlfriend, 20 grandkids (I'm writing this early - hope those two new grandbabies have been born by now!!)

Here I am at the end of the first decade of my life - 10 years old!!

And here I am at the 20th surprise birthday party that Alice and my friends at BYU put on for me!!  Another decade down!

And here I am at age 30 - married with 2 kids!!

 Here I am at age 40 - just prior to having 2 more kids!!  (Eliza came when I was 38.)

Here I am at age 50 - with Phoebe, who came along when I was 32.

Here I am on my actual 60th birthday - goodness it was a celebration - thanks to my good buddies at Clifton Middle School!!

And this was last November - almost 70.  For my 70th birthday,  I am in Virginia, helping out with the newest little Selander!!

Wonder what 80 will look like??

Some wonderful mothers I know and love!!

When I first became a mother, I certainly had no idea that almost 45 years later, I would be scrolling through hundreds of photos of our kids and grandkids - and that I would be feeling incredibly blessed!

Number 30 - more than half-way through the challenge!!

Not sure why I call it a "challenge" to read 52 books a year - I suspect I do that most years - but I'm still more than half-way through and it's only May!

This is about London and the Blitz during World War II and the evacuation of children to the countryside.  But it's also a story of secrets and misunderstandings.

It's a "good read," but it's not especially well-written.  The story line is compelling, but when you are finished, you find yourself thinking, "Gee, that could have been done better."  My biggest complaint was the excessive amount of detail that did nothing for the story.  But then, that's always my complaint.

Too bad I've read it - it would make a great airplane read!!

Good thing I have plenty in my Kindle library for my upcoming trip!!

Number 29 of 52!

Leslie suggested this book when she was here.  It's the true story of a young woman's incredible journey through a very terrible disease.

It is full of facts and science - but is nonetheless gripping and compelling reading.  The author was a journalist for the New York Post when a rare auto-immune disease struck and upended her life.

Medical science was able to save her - but not before doctors and family members were persistent in their efforts to track down the cause of the very strange and dangerous symptoms she was suffering from.

I am especially intrigued by the apparent connection, in some cases, to autism!

I'm sure as more research happens and more awareness is created, fascinating science will give us some much-needed answers!!

Numbers 27 and 28!!

I keep ripping through the books on my Kindle - I'd better watch out, since I'm liable to run out of books for the upcoming plane rides I have!!

Harry started this one, but couldn't get into it.  It was a little slow, but once it got "wound up" it became more compelling.

 The reviews are saying that it's not her best work, but since she is such a skillful story-teller, it is still a good read.

And it's a strange story - but then, all her stories are!  There is not as much character development as she usually provides, which is disappointing.  But all in all it's an insightful look into the role of mothers in our lives.

 

I had never read Anna Quindlen, in spite of seeing her name often on best-seller lists.  But you know those parts of Amazon that say, "Those who looked at this book also looked at .....?"  Well, I thought I'd give it a shot.

It was a good story.  And the writing was clear and precise - always a plus.  It's the story of a 60 year old woman who feels like she's on the downhill slide - one reviewer commented that it was nice to see a story told from an "older" woman's point of view.  

And it was nice!

A little bit "tidy" at the end - but sometimes tidiness is welcome!

I may try another of her books.