Educating Petunia

My Music

2010-06-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

Such a beautiful love song.
"I'd Rather Be With You" by Joshua Radin.

Adventures in Cooking-Brie Quesadillas with Mango Guacamole

2010-06-18T11:09:00.000-07:00

In the vein of trying new things I was in search of a delicious new recipe. I found this one at bettycrocker.com. I've never had Brie cheese before, nor have I ever considered putting mango in my guacamole. Hmmmm, sounds different. Let's give it a go!

Begin with the guac. Using a fork, moosh together an avocado, finely chopped jalapeno, garlic and cilantro, some lime juice and a little salt, or a generous helping of salt if you're me. Top that with small chunks of mango and stir gently. I thought the guac tasted a little bland before adding the mango; then I tasted it with. OMGosh!! The mango made the guacamole. Seriously! There is a burst of sweetness that compliments the guaciness to perfection. Absolutely fantastic!

Here's a teaser shot to show the mouthwatering details. Oops! Wipe your chin.

Now it's time to make the quesadillas. Everyone knows how easy quesadillas are to make. Butter one side of a flour tortilla and drop it butter side down on a heated frying pan. Now add torn slices of your favorite deli ham (mine is honey ham) and smallish strips of brie cheese. It should look like this:
Top that with another buttered tortilla. After heating for a minute or so it should look like this:
Flip it very carefully so both sides of the quesadilla are browned equally. When it's done, cut it into triangles using a pizza cutter. My dinner guest and I slathered the guac onto the dillas and spent the next 20 minutes moaning in mango delight. It was so good that we made it again the following day for a barbecue, adding a bit more lime, salt and cilantro and a sprinkling of red pepper flakes to the guacamole. Yum-mm-mm-mm!

Adventures in Cooking-Key Lime Cupcakes

2010-05-24T12:10:00.000-07:00

The goal: find a cupcake recipe reminiscent of a key lime pie.
The obstacle: I've never tasted a key lime pie.
The verdict: I don't know if it is anything like a key lime pie(still haven't tasted one) but it was quite limey. And quite tasty. Success!

Have I mentioned how much I love Google before? Google and I are tight. Almost as tight as Dictionary.com and I. When I need a recipe, Google does the leg work until I have something that looks doable. I found this recipe at BettyCrocker.com. It was VERY easy and VERY VERY flavorful. We're talking pucker-faced sourness that lingers in its tangy limeyness. You know it's good when I have to make up words to best describe it.

The lemon cake mix combined with lime jello gives the cake its tartness but the real punch comes from the 30 little key limes that I juiced to make just over 1/3 cup of fresh key lime juice. Add the juice to the cake batter, then add it to the powdered sugar glaze that's dribbled over the cupcake. But don't stop there. Spoon just a touch more into the homemade cream cheese frosting. I topped mine with thin slices of key limes and a sprinkling of graham cracker crumbs. They are perfect for the citrus lover in your life.

Trying Something New

2010-05-04T19:41:00.000-07:00

My new philosophy for life is "I'll try it!" The ! is the most important part of the philosophy. It is the anchor that guarantees no chickening out at the last moment. Sometimes I rely very heavily on that !. Even when I don't care for the end result I have always been glad that I gave it a try. Here are a few of my new endevers from the dinner table:

Grilled Oysters-my first taste of oysters. I liked them.

Jumbo Shrimp-I didn't like the texture. It felt like biting into a finger. Yuck.

Clam Spaghetti-Very good.

Buffalo Burgers-Wow, these were seriously great!

Fried Avacados-add a cream cheese filling and drizzle with honey. I'm all over that.

*note - I wish I could take credit for the awesome photos but I only took the last one. Thank you to google images for the rest of them.

Fun with Music

2010-04-17T12:17:00.000-07:00

This just cracks me up. Uber-nerd is bringing Sexy Back. He plays a keytar and a stylophone. I think that says it all. :)

Check out his versions of Beat It and I Kissed a Girl.

Adventures in Cooking-Crepes

2010-04-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

My heart stopped beating for a second as my mind caught up. For a couple of months I had been searching in vain for an affordable crepe pan. Then, out of the blue, I saw it. Not just any crepe pan either. It was electric and about half the price of a standard crepe pan. And that's not all. It was clearance priced!

My inauguration of the most awesomest crepe pan ever occurred at the house of a family friend. Because I am without my Mastering the Art of French Cooking I settled for the generic recipe in the instruction manual. It was quite simple. The crepe pan works like a waffle iron. Coat the pan with the batter. When the little light turns off, the crepe is ready to be removed. The crepes came out perfect ever single time. Fill with sugared strawberries, top with whipped cream, and call it dessert.

While they were absolutely delicious, I will try the Julia Child dessert crepe recipe just as soon as I get custody of my cookbook. Then I will try the dinner crepe recipe with chicken salad. Oh, I can't wait!

The Book Group

2010-04-15T12:32:00.000-07:00

She walked into the book group late, as usual, and unsure of herself, also as usual. After complaining for two months about her boredom, and crying herself to sleep each night from her lack of basic human contact other than her long suffering and supportive mother, she had decided it was time. Time to fill her time with something other than her own fluctuating thoughts about her worthiness and likability. Time to actively seek friends instead of waiting for them to show up at her doorstep and invite her to be a part of their lives. It took her two months to step out on her own two feet and timidly, mousily announce, "I am single and I am here."

She had not finished reading the book. In fact, she had only just begun. She hadn't even gotten 100 pages in; hardly far enough to form an opinion. She decided that she would contribute as little as possible to the discussion. This first meeting was more to find out who the other members were and how the meetings ran. This was a test drive.

The first thing she noticed was that she was the youngest one there by at least 10 years and in some cases 40 years. There were 10 members not counting herself. They obviously were a group that knew each other because they all chatted easily, interrupting and agreeing or disagreeing like family. There was the lady who thought the 11 year old character had too mature a voice; the woman who was disappointed in the actual book as compared to the potential it had; the gal who thought the author killed off the most interesting male too soon and the one who thought he should have been killed off much sooner. There were the two old ladies from the nursing home who kept comparing it to other books and movies; and there was the token man of the group who thought that, though it was chick lit and not a book he cared for, that it did have a story to tell and might make a good chick flick starring Dakota Fanning.

But our protagonist sat silently nodding her head or smiling when appropriate to do so. As the meeting closed, the gentleman next to her told her about some of the other book groups that he was involved in. One of the women asked her if she had read A Reliable Wife. "Yes, I loved it!" She found out that there was a writer in the group who was this close to being published. As she had dappled in writing herself she paid close attention. Okay, so this group did little to offer peer groups for her to hang out with but it would certainly work for human connection and intellectual stimulation.

She left feeling a little less lonely.

Adventures in Cooking-Champagne Cupcakes

2010-04-09T14:58:00.000-07:00

Did I see that correctly? Champagne cupcakes?! Oh, I am all over that.

Yes, I am one of those suckers who buys those little cook booklets at the grocery store based solely on the cover. I inherited it from Mom. In this case, I saw the champagne cupcakes on the cover and drooled for a minute before Mom threw a copy in the shopping cart. All right!

You will not even believe how easy this recipe is. Get a white cake mix and follow the directions on the back but use champagne instead of water. Could that be any easier? No, it couldn't.

I happen to have a few of those individual bottles of champagne hanging around. Between the cake and the frosting I used 2 bottles with just enough left over champagne for a refreshing swig. Perhaps one shouldn't swig champagne but then no one ever accused me of being refined.

The recipe for the frosting fell short for me though. Frosting should be fluffy and easily spreadable. Mine was not. Even when I added more champagne it wasn't very smooth. If you try this at home, make the frosting with 1/4 champagne and dribble in some milk until it is the consistency you like.

I topped my cuppy-cakes with pink cake sparkles(which you can't see well in the photo) and dressed them in bright pink and white polka dot papers, both of which I picked up at my favorite kitchen store, Sur la Table, better known around our house as the sewer store. Someday readers, if you're really well behaved, I'll tell you the story of how we came to call it that.

Pretty Poetry

2010-04-07T13:27:00.000-07:00

Keep the Faith

Please hang on

to whatever it is that helps you be

who you are and how you are

and still lets you see

who I am and where I am.

Whether or not it's

that old time religion,

it's plenty good enough for me.

~Ed Cunningham

Starting Over

2010-04-07T11:40:00.000-07:00

I am starting a new life; one in which I get to decide for myself how happy I will be. Two months ago I disappeared from my world. It was a world that I helped to build up, but it was a world that never helped to build me up. I have been lost for much too long. But now it is time to see what Petunia really looks like.

Hello world! I'm not scared of you anymore. In fact, I embrace you. I will fill my life with you. I will sift through you and throw out what doesn't suit me. I will paint the inner chambers of my heart with all that is beautiful in you. I hope you're paying attention world because I have returned with a vengeance. I may not look intimidating but I am resilient. Bring it on!

Review: The Creation of Eve

2010-03-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

The Creation of Eve
by Lynn Cullen

From the back cover:
"The Creation of Eve is a novel based on the true but little-known story of Sofonisba Anguissola, the first renowned female artist of the Renaissance. After a scandal in Michelangelo's workshop, Sofi flees Italy and joins the Spanish court of King Felipe II to be a lady-in-waiting to his young bride. There she becomes embroiled in a love triangle involving the Queen, the King, and the King's illegitimate half brother, Don Juan. The Creation of Eve combines art, romance, and history from the Golden Age in Spain in a story that asks the question: Can you ever truly know another person's heart?"

The Renaissance is probably my favorite historical period. The art and wisdom of the time was amazing. So to read about the lives of some of the more influential personages of the sixteenth century is always a treat.

Before reading this novel I had never heard of Sofonisba Anguissola. I knew very little about King Philip except the Spanish Inquisition. I really only knew about the great artistic pieces of Michelangelo. I've gained so much knowledge about life in the royal courts and the expectations and hardships of women in this time and place in history. It is quite fascinating.

The story is told slowly at first, but told well. Sofi felt real and natural. There is a good balance between keeping her within her historical context yet making her sympathetic for modern audiences. King Felipe is painted with a sympathetic eye as well. The author explains in a note at the end of the book that she believes him to have been vilified throughout history.

I would certainly recommend The Creation of Eve to historical fiction buffs and those who enjoy a good story about royalty and/or the Renaissance. It won't disappoint.

Thank you TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of The Creation of Eve for review. As always, it has been a pleasure to work with you.

Review: Dream House

2010-02-16T21:00:00.000-08:00

Dream House
by Valerie Laken

Kate always had an eye for the broken and unwanted. That was what made this house her dream house: it's potential to be more than it appeared. And maybe it was a symbol of her marriage that had turned out to be not all that she thought it would. Maybe fixing up this old place would fix something at the heart of her and Stuart. Until they hear about the brutal murder that took place in their home 15 years prior.

Walker also views this house symbolically, as a place of happiness before the incident that would lock him away in prison for so long. This house was part of himself, a vital part that he cannot ignore.

*shiver*
Each character is struggling with where they belong. Each person is bumping abrasively into everyone else, all in a search for completeness. All are looking for it in this one inanimate object that can grant no peace and can return no love. I read with a sense of doom. Where is this going to end? How bad is the damage going to be?

I had a strong remembrance of House of Sand and Fog while I was reading. I don't think it was executed at effectively, which is good in this case since I thoroughly detested House of Fog. In Dream House, I liked the characters. I wanted them to find a resolution that would leave them as little torn up as possible. It lost some depth but that was fine with me. I always wanted to continue on to find out what would happen next. I enjoyed the process of following the story. It was a good story with not too much tension. I'd certainly recommend it.

Thank you TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of Dream House for review. Once again it has been a pleasure to work with you. And readers can visit Valerie Laken's web site for more info. about Dream House.

Review: My Life in France

2010-02-10T14:00:00.000-08:00

My Life in France
by Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme

I was not planning to read Julia Child's memoir of her time in France. It was enough for me to have seen the movie and to cook my way through MtAoFC. But Mom bought the book and couldn't get through it. She thought I'd probably like it. And I did need a French themed book for the Four Month Challenge. What the hell. I read it.

Starting with her marriage to Paul Child, Julia tells her readers about her time in France, falling in love with it's food and it's people. She calls it her spiritual homeland. She explains how she got into cooking. Julia had a driven and scientific mind. She wasn't satisfied to cook a good meal; she had to know how and why it worked the way it did. When she was brought into collaboration for the now famous cook book, she worked each recipe multiple times to make sure it worked every time. Then, when she was brought back to live in the States, she had to work them all over again because American ingredients were much different. We also learn a little about her TV career and her 2 other cook books.

It was a great memoir. It made me want to live in 1950s France. Though they loved France, the Childs lived a cosmopolitan lifestyle. They took road trips, enjoyed art and photography, local cuisine where ever they went. They had no trouble finding like minded friends. They were not interested in an Americanised version of France but in the real deal. The same was true when they lived in England and in Germany. It was always about experiencing the culture and local color.

The ghost(?) writer of Julia's memoir is a family member. Alex is the grandson of Paul Child's twin brother. Using Paul's multitude of letters written to his brother, Alex was able to interview Julia and get a very accurate account of events as they took place and the impressions they left on Julia. This gave the memoir a voice that was a mix of both Paul and Julia that is playful and expressive. I loved the use of funky words throughout, like cookery bookery, that were totally Julia.

While she didn't live to see the book published, I think she would have been very proud of how it turned out. Thank you Mom for passing your copy to me. I highly recommend it.

My Life in France counts for the Four Month Challenge and the 2010 Challenge.

Classics Circuit Tour Stop: Edith Wharton

2010-01-30T21:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the final stop of the Classics Circuit Tour. I'm so excited to welcome Edith Wharton to my blog today. I'm a huge fan. If I had to name my two all time favorite authors, Wharton would be on the list, along with Ian McEwan. I've chosen to read Summer but as you will soon see, I take a broad path through all her works. Get comfy. I'm feeling long winded today.

Summer
by Edith Wharton

I was first introduced to Edith Wharton as I was reading through the classics in The Well-Educated Mind. The House of Mirth was probably my favorite book on the novel list. Since then I have read Age of Innocence, The Buccaneers, Madame de Treymes, a book of short stories, The Children, and Ethan Frome, which is my favorite by far. I've also read about 300 pages of the 800 page biography of Wharton written by Hermione Lee.

If you were to ask me why I love her writing so much I'm not sure I could articulate it well. On the surface there is nothing remarkable about the writing but once I start I must keep reading. There is no point where I stop and say, "that paragraph was poetic in it's description." The writing never, ever draws attention to it's self. It's not poetic but the descriptions are effective in drawing a picture in your mind. And every description, every setting, tells you about the story. I'll explain more in just a bit. First let me tell you what Summer is about.

Beware of Spoilers!
Rescued from the slums in the mountains, Charity Royall is being raised by her guardian in a small town near New York. After Mrs. Royall's death, Dr. Royall makes an advance on Charity, followed by a marriage proposal. Disgusted by this, Charity throws herself headfirst into a relationship with Mr. Harney. As the relationship gets more serious, Dr. Royall becomes more protective, but Charity wants no help from her lovesick guardian. She is willing to go to any lengths to escape him.

In the case of Summer, the setting has so many layers of meaning. For example, we generally have a positive idea about summertime. It's warm and we are outside a lot. Fourth of July is celebrated with picnics, BBQs, and fireworks. But summer will soon come to an end. The trees will lose their leaves. The air will become cold. The sun will fade as the sky becomes dark and grey. This mimics what will happen with Charity's hot romance. It will catch fire but it will not last.

Then there is the lovers' secret getaway. It's a ramshackled hut in the middle of the woods, heading up the Mountain that is known to hide the poverty stricken. The hideaway is first described as a cozy place that the lovers have fixed up. They've fixed some things that were falling apart. They've added a few things to make it livable. It's become a rustic home for them. Until the romance has some trouble; then it becomes a hollow shell, a make believe put together with rotting wood and torn scraps of fabric. It's compared with the hovel that Charity's mother dies in deep in the Mountains. When you look back at the setting of nearly any point in the novel you can see how it pointed to the unfortunate ending of the book. The lover's broach that meant so much to Charity but cost her so dearly. The white castoff slippers that she wears to the fireworks show with Harney. Every part of the story carries some kind of meaning. Deciphering it, peeling away the layer of the onion at each point is one of the reasons I will always be a fan of Edith Wharton. I already wish I could go back and reread the story to gain deeper insight.

Wharton's novels have another facet to them that I love. They all share a moral message. Some of the books are cautionary tales. Some are examples of people doing the right thing despite the personal cost. Life is never simple and is often messy. Each character must decide if what they want is worth what they must give up to attain it. Some make the right choice and some don't. I love this because it is life. It really is. We all must choose what we value. Sometimes the things we want cannot work together and we have to decide between the them.

While searching for a cover photo I came across this movie trailer. There is not yet a movie of Summer. It looks as if they developers are looking for funding. If it ever does become a movie I would certainly be interested in seeing it.

The Sunday Salon

2010-01-24T20:05:00.000-08:00

Literature
Reading has been hard. Hard to get motivated and hard to stay focused. I guess I'm in a slump. French Milk was okay. I'm liking My Life in France more. And I'm listening to the audio form of Bleak House. I'm so glad. I don't know if I would have kept up with it in the paper version. It's a looong book with looong chapters full of looong descriptions of a whole lot of stuff and even more people. Dickens was looong winded.

Life
I'm emotional. All. The. Time. There's the depression I've been fighting with since Thanksgiving, the intensifying chronic insomnia, and then the passing away of my uncle. I'm a wreck. Ask me a question and I will snap at you. Say boo and I will burst into tears. I'm so frustrated about everything. I ruined dinner tonight. Bacon spit in my face leaving a blister near my eye. Someone left a comment on an old review and I freaked out. I have a big zit on my nose. My pajamas were wet when I put them on. I can't figure out what to read next. Every one of these things is worth sobbing tears. But what is really bothering me?

I want my uncle back! And I want to wake up from a deep, restful sleep and find my joy in the everyday. But for now I'd take having my uncle back.

So, to change the subject, I've been creating. It gives me something to focus myself on without requiring too much from me. I've been crocheting scarves for that Etsy shop I'm still planning to open. The crocheting has been a point of happiness amongst the gloom. I love how the scarves are turning out. They're curly; some are lacy looking(like the one pictured which is my favorite), some fluffy, some skinny. I love playing with different colors and textures. Creating something beautiful rejuvenates me. This is why I need that Etsy shop, so I can buy all the pretty parts and turn them into a beautiful whole without breaking the bank.

Blogging helps me to feel better too. Thank you to those who stop and listen for a while. I appreciate you.

Review: Because of Winn-Dixie

2010-01-22T06:30:00.000-08:00

Because of Winn-Dixie
by Kate DiCamillo

Opal Buloni (pronounced like the lunch meat) is new to the small town of Naomi. She's in need of a friend and so is the mutt she finds wreaking havoc at the Winn-Dixie grocery store one day. The two are a pair suited to each other perfectly. Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal makes friends with an interesting cast of locals and brings them all together. Along the way she learns that life is full of sorrow and sweetness all mixed together.

This is a great story for kids of pretty much any age and adults who enjoy a story with a good moral tone. Not so much about faith and religion as it is about the common lessons of life.

The best part of the story for me was that Opal, and thus the reader, is encouraged to not judge a person by their past or their mistakes but by their heart. It's a simple but powerful message.

The movie was just about as good as the book. They added a couple of characters that I felt were unnecessary but they didn't hurt the story. I always enjoy AnnaSophia Robb with her piercing almond-shaped eyes and her pure and fun characters. I love that Dave Matthews was in it and that he did an excellent job, though they didn't have nearly as much of him singing as I would have liked. It has it's corny moments but they are easy to overlook because the story is so fun and positive. It's worth a family read aloud or movie night.

Because of Winn-Dixie counts for the Read the Book, Watch the Movie Challenge even though I technically didn't read the book. Which is why it also counts for the Audio Book Challenge. I'm counting it as a Win! Win! pick for the 2010 Challenge and the Proper Name leg of the Four Month Challenge for an extra 5 points. That was some book, eh?

In Mourning

2010-01-20T22:27:00.000-08:00

Just a quick check in to let my beloved readers know that content will be sparse and mild in the next couple weeks. My uncle died on Monday, and I am taking it pretty hard. Not feeling up to reading or writing. But be assured that I will be back to my old energetic self before long. Uncle D. would want the laughter to continue and the smiles to abound. You'll see me when the sun is shining again.

The Proper Meanings of Words

2010-01-14T13:47:00.000-08:00

While writing a comment on another blog, I looked up the words "peeked" and "peaked" but was not satisfied that the definitions fit with the phrase I was trying to write correctly. So I turned to Google. How I have come to love google for these seemingly trifling bits. Here's what I found:

"It is tempting to think that your attention might be aroused to a high point by “peaking” your curiosity; but in fact, “pique” is a French word meaning “prick,” in the sense of “stimulate.” The expression has nothing to do with “peek,” either. Therefore the expression is “my curiosity was piqued.”

An amazing number of people write about “mountain peeks.” A peak is a summit; a peek is a glimpse."

Now I know, and so do you. :)

The Last 20

2010-01-13T12:51:00.000-08:00

Lenore from Presenting Lenore has an interesting set of posts. She discloses where the last 20 books she read came from. Out of curiosity, I decided to see where my last 20 books came from too. "FotL" means Friends of the Library, and "from my shelves" means I've owned it for at least 6 months.

Girl, Interrupted-from my shelves, bought used from FotL book store
Fireworks Over Toccoa-snagged from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program
Because of Winn-Dixie-from my shelves, bought used from either FotL book store or Salvation Army
Alias Grace-from my shelves, bought used from FotL book store
The Snowflake-library
Stitches-library
When She Flew-snagged from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program
Lonesome Prairie, MO-received ARC from author (who is a personal friend)
Breaking Her Fall-library
What-the-Dickens-library
The Diving Bell & the Butterfly-from my shelves, received from PaperBackSwap.com
The Hidden-TLC book tour
The Coming of the Fairies-from my shelves, bought new from Amazon
Green Angel-from my shelves, bought used from FotL book store
Confessions of a Slacker Wife-library
The Persian Pickle Club-bought new from B&N
Harry Potter book 1-from my shelves, gift for son from years ago
The Ghost Writer-from my shelves, received from PaperBackSwap.com
House of Sand and Fog-from my shelves, bought used from FotL book store
Pay Attention, Say Thank You-requested from NetGalley.com

The Breakdown:
9 from my shelves (8 used, 1 purchased)
5 ARCs
5 library books
1 bought new

I like this average. I've reduced my ARC consumption, read many books I already owned, and utilized the library for challenge books that I was not likely to want to spend money on. For the last 3.5 months I have spent only about $15. on books. This is about the best summary of me and my books I could have hoped for.

Review: Girl, Interrupted

2010-01-12T10:57:00.001-08:00

Girl, Interrupted
by Susanna Kaysen

I grew up with Winona Ryder. "Lucas", "Heathers", "Mermaids", "How to Make an American Quilt", etc. She's good at angst/under confident. Whenever she is taken out of that role, as in "Edward Scissorhands" or "Autumn in New York", she is not convincing. I have always felt that "Girl, Interrupted" was a movie hand picked just for her. It was her last, great movie. (Too bad. I'd love to see her shine again.)

I didn't know it was a book. Did you know it was a book? I mean, it makes sense but it never occurred to me. So I swooped it up when I saw it at the local Friends of the Library Book Store. It was not what I was expecting.

If you've seen the movie, and I'm venturing to guess that most of you have, it is the chronicle of the 2 years that Susanna Kaysen spent in a medium security mental facility. We meet the other "crazies" on her ward while she tries to figure out why she is there and what to do with her life. Angelina Jolie plays the sociopath Lisa convincingly. Whoopi Goldberg is the compassionate and fearless Nurse Valerie. The late Brittany Murphy makes an appearance as the disturbed Daisy.

But the book is totally different. I don't mean that it's essence was changed. I mean the book is not written as a story of two years in chronological order. It is chunks of episodes, some out of order, told as the author feels the need to share them. Daisy's story, or what little is known of it, is told in a 3 page chapter. It's not a catalytic moment for the author as it is in the movie.

The differences remind me heavily of the differences in the book and movie versions of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The books share glimpses of life at it's most interesting; the movie weaves an elaborate story with the bare facts.

I enjoyed both the movie and the book. Occasionally the book gets hard to decipher but that is something one should expect when it is written by someone with a personality disorder. Most of it is easy and interesting reading.

Another tally mark for the 2010 Challenge Charity book as well as for the Read the Book, See the Movie Challenge.

Review: Fireworks Over Toccoa

2010-01-06T22:34:00.000-08:00

Fireworks Over Toccoa
by Jeffrey Stepakoff

Lily, age 17, married 2 weeks before her husband was deployed to fight in WWII. She loved Paul and he loves her. It's now been 3 years of being alone with her domineering mother and her strong but silent father. Her life has been in suspended animation, waiting for her husband to return so her life can begin. Then she meets Jake, the passionate fireworks operator hired for the big July 4th homecoming celebration planned for the soldiers. She is swept away in a whirlwind by Jake and now must decide which path to take: that of true love or of commitments already made.

I thought there was a lot of potential for a moving love story here. But there were a few strikes against it from the beginning. First I read it on the heels of Alias Grace which is a truly well crafted literary fiction with a lot of depth and historical context. Fireworks, indeed many novels, couldn't survive in its shadow. Second, I detest the idea of adultery in the name of true love.

One of the biggest things that bothered me was that the author kept butting in to tell me how passionate Jake was. There was little evidence to back it up. Lily could tell he was a passionate man after just a few minutes talking with him. Really? How? Because she looked deep in his eyes? Because he was incredibly handsome? Also, every hour that passed Lily's and Jake's feelings grew into a consuming fire that multiplied exponentially. It kept hitting infinity and then growing times 100, times 1000. Not good. It broke the first rule of good writing: show, don't tell.

There was so much potential. I was disappointed that I wasn't given more to enjoy. The characters could have been developed better; the setting could have been brought more to the forefront; the situation given more thought and depth. I was left wanting it to be more than it delivered. My mind kept saying, "Just like Bridges of Madison County except I don't really care whether she picks Jake or Paul."

I will give credit where it is due. I loved the character of Lily's mother, Honey. She was a true Georgian matriarch. She brought flavor to the story though she didn't serve much purpose beyond that. The research was there too. A knowledge of the area of Toccoa during the war years and the operation of fireworks was evident, as well as all the little details of an upscale household in the 1930s. There was a good base story. The skeleton was workable. The ending was well suited to the story. It just needed more padding.

I tend to be pickier about what I read. I want a love story to have some point beyond two hearts aflame coming together. There are many positive reviews that I've seen so this book could be a good fit for a lot of people. If you like a lot of romance and a little history, if you like moral dilemma, then you should check it out.

If the author reads this review I hope he will not take offense but will tuck these critiques into the back of his mind for future novels. I want more. Make me believe it. Make me care about these people. I want to sweat in the Georgia heat as I sit here in the damp, January cold of the west coast(It's 39* as I write this review). I want to cry for the difficult decision of a young woman who was married before she understood what a lifetime commitment meant. I want to understand why a man being too perfect is something to run away from.

This title counts for Something New in the 2010 Challenge.

I received this free review copy from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer Program. Thanks go to St. Martin's Press.

It's Tuesday...Where are you?

2010-01-05T15:20:00.000-08:00

Has a book ever transported you to a new land or experience? Share where your reading has taken you this week. Visit An Adventure in Reading to participate.

I am King Charlemagne's arrogant nephew. I'm boastful and proud. These qualities have led me into a bloody battle in Gascony, France, destroying a large part of the King's army. Death seems eminent.

The Song of Roland by anonymous

Wow! This regain is steeped in history.

The Sunday Salon

2010-01-03T14:53:00.000-08:00

Literature
Books-I've already finished one book this year, Fireworks Over Toccoa. And I ditched one book, Dead Before Dark. I know many of you love the Sookie Stackhouse books but I was 15 pages in when I decided that what was bothering me about the book wasn't something that was going to resolve itself later on. This year I am not wasting my time on books that are not up my alley.

Challenges-I will actually be finishing a book for the Really Old Classics. I have started and abandoned 3 so far but I am liking The Song of Roland. With my review of Alias Grace I have added another 10 points to the Four Month Challenge and it also counts for Our Mutual Read and the 2010. What an encouraging start to the year!

Life
Wii-Finally! My mom got a Wii last year "for the grandkids and for exercise" and I loved it as much as my kiddos did. Now I have my own Wii Fit Plus and a Pilates game for it. Plus my daughter got Wii Dance which is hugely fun. I love to work my lower body with Fit Plus, my upper body with Sports, and get aerobic exercise with Dance. I just need to get past the soreness of starting a new workout routine.

Resolutions-Everyone's got them. Most of you have shared them. I'm trying to keep mine simple and few.
*I want to get more of my unfinished sewing projects done this year. I'm running out of storage space for all of it. I'm still investigating Etsy. There are some seriously cool things being made and sold on there.
*I'd like to get back to a mostly healthy lifestyle now that the holiday treats are just about gone. Dinner tonight will be salmon, brown rice and broccoli.
*I hope to get back to the poetry reading I started a couple of years ago.
*I'd like to do some WWI research since that's the setting for my nanowrimo novel from last Nov.

Wishing all my readers a peaceful and joyous 2010. May all your resolutions come to fruition.

Review: Alias Grace

2010-01-02T13:09:00.000-08:00

Alias Grace
by Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood is a name that rates up there with Ian McEwan and John Irving. The idea of reading her books has intimidated me for long enough. I have finally taken the plunge and found her to be praiseworthy.

Grace Marks is convicted of murder in 1843, but is surprisingly spared from the death penalty. She is considered an accomplice with James McDermott in the murder of her employer and his housekeeper/mistress. There are discrepancies in her story and in those told by James, who was executed for his involvement. Was she an innocent who was forced into helping for fear of her life or was she the mastermind who enticed James with promises of a carnal nature. Dr. Simon Jordan, a doctor of mental illness, is driven to find the truth.

This is a book that caused me to ponder. I was fascinated by the story yet repelled by the characters even as I sympathised with them. Grace tells her life story in such detail. She expresses her emotions through her narrative. The reader is drawn in along with Dr. Jordan to wonder if she is telling the truth or spinning a yarn. Then there is the secondary story of how this murderess is affecting Dr. Jordan's personal life. This too can be interpreted as either the draw of innocence or a masterful manipulation. By the end I still couldn't make up my mind.

This is not a quick and easy read. This is one of those books that is meant to be considered at length. Do I like these people? Can any of them be trusted? What the heck really happened? Can anyone know truth with certainty? What about the differences between the upper and lower classes? Do we all have the same discrepancies of character? There are so many questions that it brings up. Be prepared to grapple with them if you choose to read any of Atwood's books.

None of this is to say that it is difficult to understand. The writing is clear and effective. It makes an impression.

I was blown away with the integrity of the context. This book could have been written in the time that it is set. It didn't give a hint of modernity. There were no judgements based on the morals of the 20th or 21st centuries. That is not an easy thing to pull off. Atwood, I am a fan.

This book is a 3 for the price of 1. It counts for 3 challenges:
Canadian Writer for the Four Month Challenge
Set within the time frame for Our Mutual Read
Charity book for the 2010 because it was bought from a Friends of the Library sale

Books of 2009

2010-01-01T22:06:00.000-08:00

This is for my records.

58.The Snowflake
57.Stitches
56.When She Flew
55.Lonesome Prairie, Montana
54.Breaking Her Fall
53.What-the-Dickens
52.The Diving Bell & the Butterfly
51.The Hidden
50.The Coming of the Fairies
49.Green Angel
48.Confessions of a Slacker Wife
47.The Persian Pickle Club
46.Harry Potter, Book 1
45.The Ghost Writer
44.House of Sand and Fog
43.Pay Attention, Say Thank You
42.Against the Odds
41.Things Worth Remembering
40.The Time Traveler's Wife
39.Homer & Langley
38.The Weight of Silence
37.Sacred Hearts
36.Tethered
35.The Embers
34.Book: The Sequel
33.The Two Princesses of Bamarre
32.Prayers for Sale
31.Tuck Everlasting
30.The Walking People
29.The First Part Last
28.Home
27.Doctor Faustus
26.Serpent in the Garden of Dreams
25.The Well and the Mine
24.The Merchant of Venice
23.Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
22.The End of the World as We Know It
21.Beach Trip
20.The Blue Notebook
19.Garden Spells
18.A Reliable Wife
17.Last Night in Montreal
16.The Lost Hours
15.Blink
14.The World in Half
13.Nothing Right
12.Crossed Wires
11.A Peculiar Grace
10.Cutting for Stone
9.The Mighty Queens of Freeville
8.The Vagrants
7.Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
6.The Secret Scriptures
5.Delicate Edible Birds
4.Tender Grace
3.Breathing Out the Ghost
2.The Reluctant Dragon
1.The Shack

End of 2009 Reading Meme

2009-12-30T20:09:00.000-08:00

We book bloggers have criminal tendencies. We see an interesting meme and steal mercilessly. I admit to be of this disposition. This meme came from Dolce Bellezza, who pilfered it from another source, who also pilfered it. See what I mean?

How many books read in 2009?
59

How many fiction and non fiction?
51/8

Male/Female author ratio?
22/37

Favourite book of 2009?
The Secret Scriptures
Cutting for Stone
Last Night in Montreal
The Well and the Mine
The First Part Last
Prayers for Sale
Homer & Langley
Green Angel
When She Flew

Least favourite?
A Peculiar Grace

Oldest book read?
The Reluctant Dragon

Longest and shortest book titles?
Love Finds You in Lonesome Prairie, Montana
Home

Longest and shortest books?
Cutting for Stone (688)
The Reluctant Dragon (41)

Any re-reads?
The Reluctant Dragon

Favourite character of the year?
Ghosh (Cutting for Stone)

Which book wouldn’t you have read without someone’s specific recommendation?
The First Part Last (thank you 3M!)

Which author was new to you in 2009 that you now want to read the entire works of?
Alice Hoffman (Green Angel)
Sandra Dallas (Prayers for Sale)
Sebastian Barry (The Secret Scriptures)

Did you read any books you have always been meaning to read?
The Merchant of Venice because I want to read all of Shakespeare's works.

Did you learn anything about yourself and blogging this year?
*I can easily get caught up in the lure of ARCs.
*I'd like to include a "number of pages read" section in my sidebar.
*My blog has mood swings that correspond to my own. :)
*My life is about so much more than the books I read. I want my blog to reflect that.
*I like to cook and my readers like it when I share it with them.
*Blogging continues to be a great creative outlet for me.

Travel Log

2009-12-24T09:14:00.000-08:00

Sights and sounds on the drive to Nana and Dude's:

* we saw a goat in the back of a pickup.
* my daughter saw what looked like a reindeer but turned out to be a pile of dirt with a tumble weed. I said it was probably manure. Reindeer Poop. ;)
* Snow!! In California!!
* when he saw an Out of Order sign on the root beer dispenser my son said, "They're out of beer Mom." He has my sense of humor.
* we saw a bright yellow, 3 wheeled motorcycle.
* I yelled back to son as we drove by the beer factory, "They have beer here! One pint or two?"
* we saw a car with the passenger seat taken up by a large teddy bear.
* we were listening to John Mayer's The Great Indoors as we drove by a store called The Great Outdoors.
* we drove by a convertible BMW with the licence plate 8T PLUS. The driver did look really old. What a healthy fellow!

A Challenging Year

2009-12-22T06:00:00.000-08:00

I'm going to sign up for several challenges for the coming year(like everyone else) but I'm not committing to more than I think I can realistically handle. All of these challenges run from 1/1/10 to 12/31/10, and they all allow cross-overs. Sweet!

Our Mutual Read: A Victorian Reading Challenge
Signing up for Level 1-to read 4 books set between 1837-1901, and possibly doing the Short Story Mini Challenge-to read 12 short stories within the same time period.
1. Bleak House
2. Great Expectations
3. The Three Musketeers
4. Alias Grace

Read the Book, See the Movie Challenge
Signing up for the Saturday Movie Marathon-read 4 books, then watch their movies and review both.
1. Bleak House
2. Because of Winn-Dixie
3. The Three Musketeers
4. Girl, Interrupted

Audio Book Challenge
Signing up as Fascinated–listen to 6 audio books.
1. Bleak House
2. Because of Winn-Dixie
3. A Cousin's Promise
4. A Cousin's Prayer
5.
6.

2010 Twenty-Ten Challenge
Reading 2 books each in 10 different categories, thus reading 20 books. Clever!
1.Young Adult-
2.TBR- Great Expectations
3.Shiny and New-
4.Bad Bloggers-
5.Charity- Alias Grace and Girl, Interrupted
6.New in 2010- Fireworks Over Toccoa
7.Older Than You- Summer and The Three Musketeers
8.Win! Win!- Bleak House and Because of Winn-Dixie
9.Who Are You Again?-The Romantic
10.Up to You- My Life in France and A Cousin's Prayer

A New Kind of Audio Book

2009-12-21T11:10:00.000-08:00

The holidays mean travelling for my little family, so before each trip we stop in at the library and pick up an audio book for the long drive. This morning I was by the library with my daughter so we went in. My daughter pulled out Ella Enchanted, a book we enjoyed as a read aloud a few years back. But the box said it needed a battery and headphones. (?) I opened the case to find what looked like a cassette tape with buttons. It's a new device called a Playaway. With a AAA battery and a set of ear buds you can listen to an audio book without a CD player. It's like an MP3 player with a preloaded audio book.

I am not very electronics savvy, but I was able to figure out this Playaway within a couple of minutes. There's a play button, volume, fast forward, rewind and a button to speed up the reading, kind of like a x2 on a DVD player, but it's still very easy to listen to. There is one other button I haven't figured out called "6 graphic equalizer presets". It seems to control the quality of the reading but I am fine with whatever the current preset is.

We got Ella Enchanted for my daughter and Bleak House for myself. There is a wide variety of offerings from classics to children's to modern (Danielle Steel, Beverly Lewis, Gresham, 39 Clues, Clifford, The Brutal Telling). These are so cool. So far, the ones I looked at are all unabridged. They have the same readers as the traditional audio books. They are expensive to buy but my library is stocking up.

I'm impressed and looking forward to a long drive with Dickens.

*I don't work for Playaway and have received nothing for this review.

Who Wouldn't Want One?

2009-12-19T00:49:00.000-08:00

I haven't gotten on the Reader bandwagon, mostly because I have a room full of books already that I paid for but I haven't read, but since it is being offered as a prize by the very generous Pam at Bookalicio.us for her one year blogiversary, I'm sure I could put it to use. You say you want a chance to win one for yourself? All you have to do is tweet "I want to win a Sony Pocket Reader from Bookalicious! http://bit.ly/7dB8os #bookalicious" and you're in. You get an extra entry for blogging about it. So you see, I am not sharing out of the goodness of my heart but from a ruthless desire to one up everyone else so I can get one of those readers in my hot little hands. I'll take the pink one Pam.

Review: The Snowflake

2009-12-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

The Snowflake: Winter's Secret Beauty
text by Kenneth Libbrecht
photos by Patricia Rasmussen

I noticed this book at bookstores last winter. I thought it looked like a stunning coffee table book. The photography is just so beautiful. It was hard to believe that these are pictures of actual snowflakes, not glass ornaments. The quilter in me thought, "Quilter, you could make quilt patterns from these photos." And then I thought, "Quilter, you are so totally right."

Thinking a coffee table book would be a good choice for the Four Month Challenge, earning me 20 points, I checked it out of the library. Surprise surprise! There are words in this here book. Not just a few but many. And big ones at that. This is more than a coffee table book; this is a scientific text put into layman's terms. The author is a physics professor and head of the physics department at Caltech. He's been studying snowflakes since he was a young boy growing up in North Dakota.

Prof. Libbrecht explains what a snow crystal is, what the different forms consist of, and the conditions in which each type develops. There are plates and branching and high humidity... I won't pretend to have understood everything I read but what I read was certainly interesting.

For example, did you know that most snow crystals have 6 branches or plates? Occasionally you will find 12 sided crystals and rarely the 3 sided kind. But there was also columns, bullets and needles. The weather conditions must be very specific to create each kind. He deals with the commonly held belief that no 2 snowflakes are alike. I am now an amateur expert on snow crystal trivia.

Even if you don't want to read all about snowflakes, at least check out the book for the photographs. There are several of them, including one called a Photographic Album. They will make you appreciate winter and nature.

And that quilt idea? Plans are in the making.

BTT-Speedy Gonzales

2009-12-17T14:07:00.000-08:00

What do you think of speed-reading? Is it a good way to get through a lot of books, or does the speed-reader miss depth and nuance? Do you speed-read? Is some material better suited to speed-reading than others?

The average person reads 250-300 words per minute. I read 100 words a minute. When I concentrate on speed I can make it to 150 wpm but I worry about missing something. This means I can read about 25 pages in an hour if I work at it. No, I am not a speed reader. But my son is. I haven't tested his speed but he can make it through a 1000 page book in 3 days. Then he can spend half a day telling you everything about the story. He has lost nothing in the reading just because he has done it quickly. In fact, I sometimes think I lose something along the way because it takes so long for me to get from cover to cover. But my speed has improved with practice. The more I read the faster I read. I didn't know that was possible until it happened to me. It takes time but it does work.

It's Tuesday...Where are you?

2009-12-15T06:00:00.000-08:00

Has a book ever transported you to a new land or experience? Share where your reading has taken you this week. Visit An Adventure in Reading to participate.

I am a girl convicted of murder in Kingston in Canada. A doctor of a new branch of medicine, psychology, is trying to figure out my guilt or innocence.

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

Fairies, Reluctant Dragons, Rogue Tooth Fairies and Stitches

2009-12-14T07:00:00.000-08:00

I've noticed that there are 4 books in my sidebar that haven't yet been reviewed. We can't have that now, can we? So here are my very small reviews:

The Reluctant Dragon - What a cute story about a pacifist dragon who is more interested in poetry and acting than in frightening the people in a local village. I've read it more than once and I always enjoy it. It's short and great for kids.

The Coming of the Fairies - Sir Conan Arthur Doyle wrote this non-fiction book in 1920 in defense of the sensational photos of the Cottingley fairies. It pretty much ruined Doyle's credibility with the public. It was dry and repetitive and definitely written from a slanted POV. To learn more about the Cottingley story, which is very interesting in its self, go here, or watch the movie Fairy Tale: A True Story. My family loved the movie even though it is not very accurate. It's on par with The Little Princess and The Secret Garden.

What-the-Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy - It was difficult as a read-aloud because there are duel stories going on so the switching back and forth was awkward but the story was fun and made my kiddos LOL often. The vocabulary is broad and will stretch the minds of many young kids. We enjoyed it.

Stitches - I read Stitches because of several recommendations from book bloggers. I didn't find it fascinating. His family was riddled with mental illness and he suffered as a result but there was no real reason why I needed to know about it, unlike Maus or Persepolis which have something important to say. There was one drawing that was amazing. It's of the author's mother when he walks in on her in a compromising situation. It conveyed the emotions of deep sadness and fear that she must have felt. Otherwise I wasn't impressed.

The Sunday Salon

2009-12-13T09:00:00.000-08:00

Literature
Books-In case you missed it on Thursday, I quit 3 books this week because they were bogging me down. Now I'm working on The Snowflake and Alias Grace, both for the Four Month Challenge.

Challenges-I'm down to 2 challenges and am planning to join the 2010 Challenge that begins Jan. 1st. It seems like an easy one to fit my reading whims into as I go, making it easier to complete. I am making steady progress on the Four Month Challenge but I quit the one book I was reading for the Really Old Classics. I'm failing that one. Perhaps a couple of short plays can help me along.

Life
Quilts-I have several quilt tops that I've made because I like to sew and I love beautiful fabrics, but I don't need them. (20 baby quilts in pink do me no good other than to stare at.) I've considered finishing them and selling them on Etsy. Has anyone had any luck with Etsy? What do you think? Here is a queen sized quilt top I finished last week.

Christmas-Twelve days til Christmas! We have our tree up, all decorated and looking lovely. I still have shopping to do. The 2 boys are good but my daughter doesn't want much. You'd think this would be a good problem to have but I cannot possibly give the boys 10 gifts each and have only 1 for the girl. Suggestions for a creative girl that likes music and playing on her computer?
Have a great week friends!

Adventures in French Cooking

2009-12-12T06:00:00.000-08:00

It was after we had enjoyed my first French cooking endeavor, Boeuf Bourguignon, that Mom declared she expected Chocolate Soufflé for Thanksgiving. She wasn't joking. Mom was so serious about it that she bought a soufflé dish and looked up soufflé recipes and taped an episode of Good Eats about soufflés(very helpful) that we watched together. She even ate a chocolate soufflé at a fancy-pants restaurant nearby so she would know what it was supposed to taste like. She called it research. Suuuure.

This was my first taste of chocolate soufflé but I am a big fan now. It was just so delicious.
We used Julia's recipe with one exception: I substituted hot cocoa for the strong coffee that it called for. We knew from this experience that the coffee flavor comes through too strongly for our discerning palettes.

We didn't get away without learning a couple of lessons. It was a first try after all. It wasn't perfect. We didn't have the right sized soufflé dish because we couldn't find one that was 2-2.5 quarts so we used a 1.5 quart dish which worked alright, but the dish was small enough that it needed extra time to cook in the middle while the outside got a touch too much heat. It made not a bit of difference to the taste. You can see a little of the black edges in this photo.

Isn't she beautiful?

That fancy-pants restaurant I mentioned earlier? We went there a few days later where I sampled the Grand Marnier Soufflé. OMG, Heaven! They serve their soufflés with warm sauce that gets poured over the top and into the center, chocolate for the chocolate and vanilla for the Grand Marnier. I will be doing that next time because Mom already declared that Soufflé is now a family tradition for the holidays. :)

I'm a Quitter, Not a Bored Reader

2009-12-11T13:31:00.000-08:00

Hey blogosphere! It's been a while. What have you been up to lately? I can't say I've been busy because I haven't. I can't say I've been sick. Maybe a little sick but not enough to prevent blogging. I can't even say there is nothing to blog about. I've just been too bored to blog. I make no apologies. I'm just saying.

I've been doing a lot of reading lately but nothing seems to be grabbing me, so I am going to do something I hate doing. I'm quitting. I have been shuffling from book to book, reading a chapter in this one and a chapter in that, hoping that all books will be gotten through eventually, but I'm finding that I want less and less to read because some of these books just suck.

I feel guilty about quitting a book, like I'm giving up on it too soon, like I haven't given it time to reach it's full potential. I hate giving up on a story that may just be building up to something interesting. Especially if it's a book that others have raved about. Especially if it's a book that I spent money on. I might hurt the little guys feelings. Well phooey to guilt. So there. Childish, I know but that's what I'm about.

So here is what I have decided to quit under the cliche that life is too short:

Lake Wobegon Days - A library copy of the last book for the Take a Chance Challenge. Even though the challenge ended about 2 weeks ago I wanted to finish it for my own sense of accomplishment. Man, is this book boring. I kept thinking, "So why am I supposed to care about the founding of this town, about the bears that chased away students from it's first college? And why was this book on the Bestsellers List way back when?" So I quit it at page 150.

The Philobiblon of Richard de Bury: The Love of Books - With a title like that I figured I couldn't go wrong. I bought it. It didn't matter that I had no clue who de Bury was or that the book was written in biblical language in the 14th century. It was extremely thin and called The Love of Books. How bad could it be? Well I disagree with de Bury and his writing is hard to follow, not just because of the language but because he changed tenses from chapter to chapter, and because he worships books the way zealots worship God. He even misquotes the Bible to do it. I'm a Christian and a book lover but this was too much. So I quit it at page 19.

The White Mary - So many people have praised this one. Based on the description I wasn't so sure about it so I got the audio version since sometimes that helps me get through a book faster. Nope. I should have trusted my instincts. The degree of research is impressive and the writing is just fine but the subject matter is not my cuppa tea. I thought it sounded a lot like The Heart of Darkness but that made me want to reread The Heart of Darkness, not to continue reading The White Mary. Sorry to the people who loved it, but I quit it at Disk 3.

Awww. I feel so much better. Now I can move on to more interesting books like Alias Grace and The Snowflake. The guilt will just have to crawl into a hole somewhere in the cellar.

Review: When She Flew

2009-12-04T23:42:00.000-08:00

When She Flew
by Jennie Shortridge

Wow! I know it's become cliche to say a book is compelling but never was a book more fit for the verb than When She Flew. From the moment I broke the spine I had to find out what happened next. I even neglected my precious computer. This is seriously good reading.

Thirteen year old Lindy has been living undetected with her Iraq vet father for 5 years in a wildlife sanctuary in Oregon when she is spotted. Police are sent to investigate and make sure the girl is in no danger. Officer Jess Villareal disagrees with her Sergeant who has decided that Lindy should be put in foster care until her safety is verified. Jess has a sense about people and her sense tells her that separation from her father will cause more damage to Lindy than good, so she does something she has never done before: she goes against protocol and helps the father and daughter escape from police custody. Jess is just doing what she believes to be right but it will have farther reaching consequences than she could have imagined.

There is just nothing about this book that I didn't love. The characters were all sympathetic (except the mom who, thankfully, was given very little ink) and courageous. Lindy was beautiful and brave. Jess was strong and full of righteous conviction. The reactions of the police department as well as the community felt genuine. Even the excessive cussing was what I believe would be accurate to this type of situation. This was a story that could definitely be real. In fact it was based on a real circumstance that the author touches on in a small interview in the back of the book.

What I admired the most about this novel was that everyone (except mom) was trying to do the right thing. They were all honorable in their own way. They stayed in character and they developed consistently within that character. I kept rooting for the good guys and dreading the dangerous possibilities. The cover blurb says, "Taut, beautifully rendered." I agree 100%.

You should read this book. Seriously. Now!

A Sweet Tradition

2009-12-03T16:04:00.000-08:00

The mail carrier delivered some Swiss Colony goodies yesterday. It's a family tradition that ~~my husband~~ the whole family looks forward to every year. You can see a variety of sausages, old world cookies, a bottle of port, petits fours, macadamia nut chocolates, butter toffee, Bavarian creme torte, and liqueur truffles. That's a lot of sweets but the fun doesn't stop there. Before the weekend is over we will also have a large box of See's Candies and some fancy cheeses and crackers to go with those sausages. When Dad pulls out the sweets there are no limits either. You want 10 candies? Well, go right ahead. The only restriction is that there must be at least one of each kind of petits four and liqueur truffle for both Mom and Dad.

Let the gorging begin!

Review: Breaking Her Fall

2009-11-30T06:00:00.000-08:00

Breaking Her Fall
by Stephen Goodwin

What would you do if you got a phone call in the middle of the night that your 14 year old daughter was drunk and acting inappropriately at a party that you didn't even know she was attending? That is the opening premise of Breaking Her Fall. Action, tension, and inter relational conflict. It fell short of the first two and ran long on the last.

The book was mostly about how Tucker relates, or not, with his daughter, Kat, after she makes a mistake that affects her reputation among her peers, her family and herself. It was interesting to see a man's perspective of fatherhood, especially that of a single father who is the primary guardian. The realization that she is no longer his little girl is as violent emotionally as it ends up being physically. Kat may have made a possibly life changing mistake but Tucker's rash reaction causes more damage and is just as life altering.

I didn't like Tucker or Kat. I didn't care for any of the secondary characters. The only one I did like was Lily, Tucker's closest friend, until she too threw her respectable nature out the window. While the characters that people this book are presented as good, they all lack morals. No wonder the children behave the way they do. I'm so glad my own kiddos don't act even remotely like these ones do.

This was the second to last leg of the Take a Chance Challenge. I won't bother looking up anything else by this author.

I am so disappointed that I will miss completing this challenge by mere days. I am reading the last book now but it is too long for me to finish it by the end of the month, especially since I am driving home from visiting out of town family and I continue to work on The Novel for NaNoWriMo. But this challenge was a hoot. HOOT HOOT! I loved creating the list and working through it. Thank you so very much to Jenners from Find Your Next Book Here. If you have a Part 2 of this challenge, Jenners, I want to be notified of it.

Review:Love Finds You in Lonesome Prairie, Montana

2009-11-28T15:46:00.000-08:00

Love Finds You in Lonesome Prairie, Montana
by Tricia Goyer & Ocieanna Fleiss

Have you ever heard of the term "chocolate read?" It describes a book that you read just as a treat. A guilty little pleasure. You don't read it out of obligation or for its "nutritional value" but just because sometimes it is just right for the moment. I adore books that make me ponder life and question my ideals but every once in a while I crave a simple love story with a guaranteed happy ending. In Lonesome Prairie, Montana I found my love story, though it wasn't always so simple; and I got a reminder of some of the deeper spiritual lessons that I have learned along the way. That's like organic chocolate. :D

Julia Cavanaugh travels from New York to Montana on the orphan train in 1889 to deliver a group of young girls she's been caring for to their new families only to find out that she's been secretly set up as a mail-order bride to an uncouth miner. Having never left the city before she finds it hard to adjust to life on the prairie. The young Parson, Isaac Shepherd, can offer protection, friendship, and spiritual guidance, and maybe his heart too, but only God can direct Julia to her true home.

With a number of less than satisfying novels under my belt in recent months, I was in sore need of some good, clean fun. This Christian romance came just in time. It had everything I crave in a "chocolate read"; pleasant characters, lively adventure, and a happy ending. I even detected just a touch of Jane Austen shadowing. One can never go wrong with Ms. Austen as a guide.

Lonesome Prairie is unapologetically Christian. That means no unrealistic and unhistorical smut involved. This novel is pure. I like that. It means the good are good and the bad are treated judiciously. Forgiveness is promoted and so is repentance. It has just the right mixture for a relaxing afternoon chocolate read.

I almost forgot! There's a contest for some great treats from Montana. Click the button to find out how to enter.

Thank you, LitFuse, for providing a copy of Love Finds You in Lonesome Prairie, Montana for me to review.

Adventures in French Cooking

2009-11-23T06:00:00.000-08:00

I'd like you to meet my culinary BFF. Dude, it rocks! Not only does it rock but it also chops, slices, grates and kneads in just seconds. Gone are the days of chopping and slicing by hand for 20 minutes. This food processor is one of the best Christmas presents I ever asked for.

But it has its limits.

First I shall share the fancy nom français of our meal(Google Translator is oh so helpful):

Bifteck Sauté Bercy
Purée de Pommes de Terre à l'Ail
Tomates Grillées au Four

That's pan-broiled steak with shallot and white wine sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, and whole baked tomatoes.

I started by doing something new; I rewrote the recipes in the style that we modern Americans are used to using, meaning the list of ingredients followed by orderly instructions. As I went along I left out all the parts that weren't necessary, like an entire paragraph describing how to tell when the steaks are cooked to the perfect à point(medium rare). This took about half an hour for all three recipes but it saved me so much frustration as I was cooking. And I was never caught off guard by a sudden "refer back to the master recipe but leave out this and add that." It is the beginning of my collection of Petunia's Semi-Homemade Julia Child Cookbook. Look for it in a book store near you in 2015.

I have made the pan-broiled steak before so it went smoothly but still, here is what I learned this time around: buy a good, thin cut of meat. The sauce may sound awesome but it is mild. It's not like adding salt to your food; it's more like adding parsley. You don't really taste it. And the meat needs to be thin in order to cook all the way through. Either start with a thin cut or pound that baby down. We don't like pink meat so there was a piece of steak that didn't get eaten. :(

And now is where I share the food processor's limits. While making the potatoes I thought I would use the processor with the chopping blade to "mash" the potatoes since I was missing the requisite potato ricer. Bad idea. Do you know what happens when you chop boiled potatoes at turbo speed for a couple of minutes? They become paste, like the kind of paste we all used to ~~taste~~ use in kindergarten. And this paste tends to work its way into all the crevices of the food processor's bowl and blade taking at least three days to clean properly. Needless to say I will be asking of a potato ricer this Christmas. Still the potatoes were good if hard to swallow. Btw, there were 2 heads of garlic in there. Not cloves, heads. The flavor is milder than you would guess but still.

Lastly I made the tomatoes. This was the easiest thing I have made so far and I loved them. Loved. Them. If you are a tomato lover you have to try this. Put a bunch of cherry or grape tomatoes in a baking dish. Sprinkle on a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and bake at 400* for 10 minutes. They are so hot and juicy. Just make sure your mouth is closed tightly before you bite into them. Tomato seeds stain. (Who knew?)

So I continue on my trek through France by way of MtAoFC. Stay tuned next time when I attempt Chocolate Soufflé for the Thanksgiving Buffet.

The Sunday Salon

2009-11-22T14:00:00.000-08:00

Literature
Books-I have been reading Breaking Her Fall by Stephen Goodwin all week but I plan to finish today. I'm also finishing What-the-Dickens, a read aloud for my kiddos. We are at a cliff hanger with only 25 pages left to go. It's been a fun ride. Next week I will be reading Lake Wobegon Days, a book I haven't a clue about. Should be good.

Challenges-One week left for the Take a Chance Challenge with two sections left to complete. I will make it. There is also only one week left for the Clear Off Your Shelves Challenge which is good because I have 2 new ARCs and a slew of library books slated for the next month that would bring down my average below my challenge goal. I scored another 15 points for the Four Month Challenge with The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, bringing my score up to 35 points. I have yet to read anything for the Really Old Classics Challenge but that should change in Dec.

Life
Cooking-I gave another go at French cooking. I tried something a little different to prepare that made a big difference in the kitchen. You can read all about it tomorrow.

Writing-NaNoWriMo is on its final leg and I don't know if I will make it. I try to write each day but I am coming in below the daily word count goal quite often. I may not have 50,000 words by Dec. 1st but I will have the skeleton of a story with lots of potential and 30 days worth of intensive writing practice. I consider myself successful already. (Btw, I posted a snippet of the prologue here if you want a peek.)

Homeschool-We are taking the whole week off. Yay! I am just as excited about the break as the kids are. We will visit with family all week, eat until we feel sick and then eat some more. I love vacation time.

NaNo Sneak Peek

2009-11-20T09:00:00.000-08:00

One of the best challenges for the Take a Chance Reading Challenge was #8:

"Lit Riff (inspired by the book Lit Riffs by Matthew Miele.) Choose a song and then write a brief story that is inspired by or further explains the lyrics of the song."

I knew instantly which song I was going to use but the more I thought about it the more elaborate my idea got. It became the inspiration for my NaNoWriMo novel. So here is a sneak peek of my thus far nameless novel followed by Norah Jones singing Wish I Could.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“And your dog? What's his name?”

Catherine considered lying about that but after having told so many of them she just couldn’t. Besides, this was all part of her self imposed punishment. “James. His name is James.”

She saw the look of anguish that swept across Cissy’s face as it did every time they had this conversation. Cissy’s eyes turned red with tears that she refused to let fall. “My husband was named James, bless his heart. He was the most gentle and kind man I ever met, next to Ben in there.” She indicated with her hand that Ben was inside, manning the cafe. Catherine looked in and saw Ben wiping down the counter top. He knew she was there and he knew why. He had told her many times that she should stop putting herself through this. She had paid for her part in what happened but she felt compelled to keep it up. Her guilt must not be allayed. What she had done to Cissy was unforgivable even if Cissy didn’t know anything about it.

“He died in the war you know? The first war. The Great War. We were so happy but he felt he had to go help the troops to fight for freedom. He would say, ‘Those boys out there are dying Cissy. They need our help and I am able. I’m a good shot. I can’t let boys of 19 and 18 and some younger fight when I could stand next to them and defend them.’ He was always thinking of others like that.” Her expression changed to grief. “I miss him everyday.”

“I understand,” was all the comfort Catherine could offer.

“Did you lose someone close to you too?”

“Yes I did.” She didn’t elaborate and Cissy didn’t push the matter. She never did. She was always sensitive about such things.

“Yes," Cissy continued after a few moments, "they took my husband. He fought along side those young boys and he defended them. It cost him his life but he would have given more if he could have. His act of heroism saved Ben’s life. And Ben has in turn devoted his life to taking care of me. He’s a good man, Ben is. Solid and able bodied. And he understands my grief.”

Catherine looked in the window again to see Ben watching them. Catherine waved but he only nodded his head once in acknowledgement. Catherine knew that Ben had suffered too; and suffered more now than ever since Cissy had come down with dementia. Cissy rarely remembered Catherine and sometimes she mistook Ben for James who had been Ben’s closest companion. It wasn’t Cissy’s fault. It was no one’s fault that Cissy’s brain just went back to the time when she was the happiest and then the most anguished. It was Catherine’s fault though that James had joined the Army in the first place. Catherine had been in love with James and he returned her affection but it was wrong. He felt guilty. He was trying to gain some distance from Catherine as well as wanting to help with the war. He had hoped that distance would bring an end to their relationship but that was never the way it worked. The distance only made her long for him more.

Cissy had never known about the affair. James' death had almost crushed the very life out of her as it was. Catherine had suffered her own pain in silence. Cissy's need for support and Catherine's guilt had demanded it. She couldn’t fall apart and she could never ever tell Cissy what had happened.

Now she had spent the rest of her life trying to atone for her sin and never feeling the relief of forgiveness.

Note that all content published on this blog is the property of the blog owner. Please don't steal my work. But feel free to link to it.

Superior Scribbler

2009-11-19T08:00:00.000-08:00

Flying in from one great blog, this prestigious award was granted to me from DogEar Diary. Thank you Jeane for your high regards. My self esteem has jumped up a notch. In turn I pass the award on to some of my favorites:
A Reader's Respite
Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'?
Book Chatter
KyusiReader
In THIS Life

There were a list of "rules" to go with the award but they took all the fun out of the process so the only rule I followed was to pass the award on to 5 other great blogs. Love to you all!

Review: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

2009-11-18T06:00:00.000-08:00

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
by Jean-Dominique Bauby

What an incredible accomplishment! For a man in this state to have written such an eloquent book is astonishing.

At the age of 42, Jean-Dominique Bauby, the editor-in-chief for the French Elle magazine, suffered a stroke leaving him in the almost completely paralyzed state known as locked-in syndrome. With the use of only his left eye, Jean-Do was able to blink his way through the French language frequency-ordered alphabet, an alphabet set in the order of letters most commonly used to the least, in order to write his memoir. It took him 10 months working 4 hours a day with an assistant to write this 131 page book.

Within its pages there is some truly lovely prose. There is poetry in his descriptions when he writes about his struggles after the stroke and some of his life before. It's not always cohesive but that is more than forgivable. And Bauby has a sense of humor too. I felt that it was okay to laugh at this passage because he was laughing along with me:

"Having turned down the hideous jogging suit provided by the hospital, I am now attired as I was in my student days. Like the bath, my old clothes could easily bring back poignant, painful memories. But I see in the clothing a symbol of continuing life. And proof that I still want to be myself. If I must drool, I may as well drool on cashmere."

This book is not exactly life altering but the story behind it is inspirational.

But I have to back up a little bit here. Before I read the book, I watched the movie; and before the movie was glowing review of the book that I read at Bending Bookshelf. When the movie arrived in my mailbox I was surprised to find that it was a French film but some of my favorite movies have been foreign films so I hunkered down to read my way through the movie.

It started off really disorienting. The beginning depicts Jean-Do waking in the hospital and realizing what condition he is in. It is viewed from his perspective so it is foggy with flashing scenes that don't make much sense. There is a really gross scene of one of his eyes being sewn shut but it gets better as it goes. Throughout the movie it moves back and forth between being inside his head and what happened the little while leading up to the stroke.

The movie was moving and very effective in showing what life must have been like for Bauby. However, upon further investigation it seems that the movie took some liberties. The mother of Bauby's children (I'm not sure if she is in fact an ex-wife) is made to be the "butterfly" that keeps his spirits up with her loving devotion but according to his friends she had little to do with him during his last year of life. This was disappointing but it doesn't change my adulation for the film. It was beautifully done.

I would recommend the book and the movie to anyone. They compliment each other and should be viewed and read as companions. This is a case where watching the movie first enhanced my experience with the book.

This review of both a movie and the book it was based on is another challenge completed for the Take a Chance Challenge, the Movie/Book Comparison. I am so grateful to have been exposed to such a life affirming duo. Thank you Jenners for the challenge and Charley for the recommendation.

It's Tuesday...Where are you?

2009-11-17T15:21:00.000-08:00

Has a book ever transported you to a new land or experience? Share where your reading has taken you this week. Visit An Adventure in Reading to participate.

I am a father, from Washington DC, distraught at the news of what my young daughter did at a party. My actions have farther reaching consequences than hers.

Breaking Her Fall by Stephen Goodwin

The Sunday Salon, Monday Edition

2009-11-16T13:06:00.000-08:00

Literature
Books-Since the read-a-thon I've read two books. My long and not-so-encouraging review of The Hidden can be found directly below. And I read The Diving Bell & the Butterfly, which I loved. Can't wait to get a review up about both the book and the movie, which I also loved. I'm currently reading Breaking Her Fall by Stephen Goodwin. I'm reserving judgment til the end.

Challenges-The Take a Chance Challenge is almost at an end and I still have a few parts to finish it but I will finish it on time. It's all planned out. As for the Clear Off Your Shelves Challenge, it seems I misunderstood part of it, but it works to my benefit. My percentage is now at 70% instead of 50%. What a relief! I've done nothing towards the Really Old Classics Challenge yet; and I have 20 points so far for the Four Months Challenge with another 15 estimated by the end of the week.

Life
Writing-As you know I am doing NaNoWriMo this month. I love my book concept and the progress I've made so far is exciting but I'm way behind in my word count. I need a few 3K word days to make it up if I hope to be successful. But I have some exciting news for you. I plan to share some of the first chapter with you before the end of the month. Watch for it and tell me what you think. I expect honesty but praise and awe at my natural ability are always welcome. :D

Sewing-I have a strict policy against posting photos of my family but with a little cropping I can show off the Alice in Wonderland costume that I made my daughter for Halloween. When we walked down the street a little girl said excitedly "There's Alice!" My daughter was glowing with pride. It's too bad you can't see the black shoes and black headband in her long blond hair but I did leave her beautiful smile. She made the perfect Alice.

Homeschool-We have been learning about the pilgrims. I'm astonished at how much I didn't know about them. I just remember sharing a meal dressed up as Indians and Pilgrims from my school days. Did you know that less than half of the people on board were not in fact seeking religious freedom? They were just along for the ride to help colonize the New World for the British Empire before Spain or France or the Dutch could claim it for themselves. We also learned about the colony that became New York. I didn't realize there was so much history there or that it went back to the same period as the pilgrims. I have gained such an appreciation for learning since I've been homeschooling my children. It's fascinating stuff.

What about you? Are you learning anything new lately?

Review: The Hidden

2009-11-11T22:00:00.000-08:00

The Hidden
by Tobias Hill

It seems unnanimous so far that book bloggers are less than enthusiastic about The Hidden. I'm not about to disagree. What was hidden in The Hidden was interesting storytelling, engaging characters and appropriate puncuation.

Let's start with story. Ben Mercer, running from a failed marriage, becomes entangled with a mysterious team of archaeologists trying to uncover the glories of ancient Sparta. There is history, mystery and danger. Sounds intriguing, yes? Not so much. Actually, the history parts were interesting. The details of archaeology were alright also. It was the wreck of Mercer's life that was like trudging through a mucky swamp. His obsession with his ex-wife was pathetic. His endless questions and need to be a part of the group of folks he was warned away from was tedious. There was no substanse and nothing to compel the reader to continue reading. The action finally picks up near the end but the contents of the action were bewildering. They seemed out of place for this particular story. There were some attempts at foreshadowing but not enough.

Now the characters. I didn't like any of them. Ben Mercer was the worst. He was a whiny, snivelling child. He let everyone walk on him. I could never get a true sense of who he was. Maybe that was the point, to show that even Mercer didn't know who he was but, again, it fell short for me.

Lastly, puncuation. Was this an attempt to push the restrictive bounds of literature? Was there a deeper reason for leaving out quotation marks? All dialogue was confusing. I could never be sure who was talking to whom. There is a reason we follow standard puncuasion rules: clarity.

To be fair, there is a great deal of research into many different subjects from ancient Spartan history to archiology to the more recent history of the specific regains of Greece dealt with in the novel. The characters, while unsympathetic, were unique and distinc. The themes all followed each other smoothly. The Thesis chapters were effectively revealing about Mercer's mental state, moreso than his inner thoughts. Unfortunately, it was all for nought due to the book's confusing and boring nature.

Tobias Hill is a man of some scholarly statue in England. He is an accomplished poet and writer of short stories, a winner of some few honors. I would be interested in reading some of his shorter works. I believe he could be interesting in a more concise writing style. The Hidden might be more up the alley of men who read fiction since their tastes seem so different from those of women.

Go check out what others are saying about The Hidden at TLC Book Tours. There are some interesting comments, not all of them as prickly as mine.

Adventures in French Cooking

2009-11-07T17:18:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite cooking shows on cable is Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee. She's so pretty and the colors in the background of her kitchen match the mood of whatever she is cooking and she decorates the table so adorably; and best of all, she creates wonderful food by cutting corners without sacrificing flavor. She saves us time by showing us what we should do for ourselves and what can be 'borrowed' from other sources. It's like Martha Steward for real women.

As you know from my previous adventures in French cooking, Julia Child doesn't cook semi-anything. She is down and dirty, food flung all over the kitchen, 3 sinks full of dirty dishes, and hunker down 'cause it's gonna be a long ride. In the end the food is usually really good but I am learning where corners may be cut that would not make any difference to the food. I am going by the advice of first do it the right way, then adjust it to suit your needs.

What I need is for Sandra Lee to come out with a book based on Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

I haven't cooked a full meal in a couple of weeks because of a readathon and a flu followed by a cold but I did try to squeeze in this little dish because asparagus was in sale:

Asperges au Naturel avec Sauce Hollandaise

In case it is not completely obvious, that's boiled asparagus with Hollandaise sauce. I was surprised when I read through the recipe. First, she tells you how to peel the asparagus. I have never peeled an asparagus before. I had no idea it needed to be peeled. But, as I said, first do it the right way. Second, Hollandaise sauce is essentially egg yokes blended with two cups of butter. That's it?

Guess how long it takes to peel two dozen or more thin asparagus? Guess! Forty five minutes!! You can't just use a potato peeler either. I'm grateful that Julia tells us that up front. Once they are peeled and placed in the boiling water I was ready to start the Hollandaise sauce.

The process for the sauce looks something like this: whisk, dribble in melted butter, whisk whisk, dribble, whisk whisk whisk, dribble dribble, whisk some more. Fifteen minutes later I realized that I would be using the electric mixer with the whisk attachment next time. I also realized that my hand had a major cramp going on. French cooking is a contact sport.

So pour the sauce over the boiled spears and there you have it. It tasted just like when I boil my spears and add a big dollop of butter. An hour for this? Oh well. I like asparagus and I like butter. But I will never peel an asparagus again.

Next on the menu:

Râpée Morv Andelle

Gratin of shredded potatoes with ham and eggs and onions. OH EM GEE! This was the best recipe so far. It was easy to make and tasted like heaven in my mouth. Can you see the foamy bubbles around the edge of the dish? That's what butter looks like when it has been baked into a gratin.

Real men may not eat quiche but they DO eat gratin. And they ask for more. You can't tell from the photo but this is a smaller sized casserole dish. It makes about six smallish portions. When we all realized how little gratin there was we almost cried. So I made it again the next week, doubling the recipe and cooking it in a regular sized casserole dish but it didn't turn out as yummy as the first one. I will just have to buy another smaller casserole dish. Yes, I would spend money on another dish just for this gratin. It's worth it.

Hey, I thought of something that Sandra and Julia have in common: they both suggest the appropriate type of alcohol to go with any meal. No wonder I love them both so much.

You can read more of my Adventures in French Cooking here.

Missing You

2009-11-05T23:38:00.000-08:00

Poor blog. All neglected and alone. Rejected and dejected. But I have returned to free you of the dust and boredom that have o'ertaken you. I am here at last. I am the prodigal blogger.

Dear dear blog. You don't know what it's like to read and blog for 24 hours straight. It makes one not want to read or blog again for many long days. Or weeks even. Not to mention the cooties. I've had oh so many mucus cooties. They have run amuck (and I do mean a-muck) in my head and chest. I couldn't let them infect the keyboard. That would just be gross.

But I can't stay beauteous blog. I only stopped by for a moment to tell you that I am abysmally busy this month. Did I not tell you? Why, I am writing a book. There is nothing like writing your own book to cure you of Read-a-thon-itis. Applied for one month it will leave me fresh and clean, ready to take on the lofty responsibilities of blog care. So hold on just a wee bit longer most beloved blog. I will returned anew sometime in December to guide you in the way you should go. And if you're really patient maybe I can make a brief appearance a couple of times between now and then.

It is NaNoWriMo time again. It seems like some kind of sick joke that it comes so close on the heels of the readathon. As if writing blog posts once an hour weren't enough, now I have to write 1667 words a day on a novel that I didn't have time to plan or research because I was too busy reading for pleasure. What's a girl to do?

For those keeping score (there are NaNo spies everywhere) I am at about 4100 words in five days. That's half par. But we fear not. We have the weekend to write until our fingers are bloody. And when we are done we will have one poorly written, piece o crap novel to show for it. So there!

It's Tuesday...Where are you?

2009-11-03T12:41:00.000-08:00

Has a book ever transported you to a new land or experience? Share where your reading has taken you this week. Visit An Adventure in Reading for more details.

I have just run away from my problems to Metamorphosis, Greece. There is an archaeological dig near by that I am trying to get on to take my mind off my failed marriage.

The Hidden by Tobias Hill

Review: Green Angel

2009-10-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

Green Angel
by Alice Hoffman

This little book has been lounging on the kids' bookshelf for a while. I bought it second-hand mainly for the cover. I could not find a pic of the back of the cover which is too bad because it is just as emotionally evocative but contrasted. Where Green, the protagonist, is lonely and searching on the front, she is transformed into Ash, someone untrusting and full of pain.

Green is the only survivor in her family of some kind of terrorist attack in a nearby town. Her world is left starkly empty and covered in ashes. Her beloved garden can yield nothing under these conditions. In self preservation Green changes her name to Ash and embodies her pain in her appearance; she shaves her head, sews rose thorns into her clothes, hammers nails into her boots and tattoos black roses with thorns and crows all over her body. Gone is the patient nurturer, drowning in her pain. But changes take place in her heart and her body as she slowly reaches out and tends to the pain of others without the strength to take care of themselves.

I thought this story a beautiful one. Green wears her pain on her sleeve literally. She desires to be someone else but, though for a little while she can pretend, she can never fully get rid of who she always was before her life was turned upside down.

I believe that this novel is written for a YA audience. The imagery, while raw and sympathetic, was laid on pretty thickly. There is no mistaking Hoffman's meaning. But for me this made no difference. I still loved it.

I can't decide if this is an allegory for the common struggles of teenage hood or if it's about the reactions everybody goes through with a traumatic experience. Green is suddenly left without her parents and she is sorely missing her sister who visits her in her dreams, a girl full of life and spirit. Could the sister represent childhood? A past self? Or maybe happiness? I suppose this is where the reader contributes to the story. For me, trauma leaves me feeling alone and self protecting, even hurting others to protect myself from being hurt again. But eventually the pain subsides and the essential person returns, worse for wear but the same in her being. This book encapsulates the transformation of innocence into experience with all it's agony. Those struggling with depression will see themselves within the pages and recognise the hope that is offered at the end.

Have you read anything by Alice Hoffman? Is her adult work similar to this? I'm hoping that it shares the same richness but adds some sophistication. Which of her books would you recommend I read next because I am most definitely reading more of her work.

With a Little Help from My Friends

2009-10-28T11:39:00.001-07:00

So I have this friend named Cid. She's very personable and loves to share her positive outlook on life. She's one of the few people I know that is in a great mood consistently. She simply loves being happy. She has an opportunity to be a paid "Good Mood Blogger". Can you imagine that? But she needs my help and yours too. Visit this site, read she snippet about herself and vote for her. You can give one vote per day up until Nov. 6nd. I know how much she would appreciate the votes. I'll let you know if she gets the job.

Good Mood Gig from SAM-e

Review: Confessions of a Slacker Wife

2009-10-28T02:58:00.000-07:00

Confessions of a Slacker Wife
by Muffy Mead-Ferro

It's kinda funny how I came to read Slacker Wife. It was at DogEar Diary that I heard about Mead-Ferro's book Confessions of a Slacker Mom. Jeane made it sound like a book that would affirm, in part, what I try to do with my family. It was so appealing that I went straight to my library's website and reserved a copy. But when I picked it up, the cover was slightly different. It took me a couple of days before I realized this was not Slacker Mom but Slacker Wife. Oops! No biggie. I'll read this one while I wait for Slacker Mom to come in. But when I went back to the library website to request it it said that I already had a copy of Slacker Mom, not a copy of Slacker Wife. It's a clerical error. It was their mistake, not mine.

Okay, so maybe you had to be there.

Anyway, my household runs rather traditional. He brings home the bacon and I fry it. For the most part I like it that way. So I was a little nervous that this would be a treatise on women's liberation from housework or something like that. "Let him wash his own damn underwear," and all that but it wasn't. I'd call Mead-Ferro an equalist, if that's a word. She does challenge the traditionally held ideals but only in the sense that they often go unquestioned. Don't just do things this way because mom did; do it because it works for you. She admits that in her marriage she does the laundry while he does the minor home repair but it's because that's where their talents lay. I like that idea.

Slacker Wife reads like Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman, sort of. It's like a collection of Mead-Ferro's thinking processes about various issues that relate to marriage. Everything from body image to child rearing to s*x is discussed. It doesn't come across as a woman holding herself up as some kind of expert out to teach the women of the world how to chill. It's more like chatting with a friend and learning a few things based on her experiences that are different than my own.

I do disagree with one part of her book. I think showering ought to be a daily activity for all people. I don't care if other countries aren't as hung up on cleanliness as the US is. It's not the germs I care about. I'm not overly occupied by antibacterial disinfectants. I eat food that's fallen on the floor. Shoot, I used to chew my mom's ABC gum(already been chewed). I'm not the Queen of Lysol. But a daily shower is a necessity, for me and for you too please. When I've had a shower I feel better and you don't have to find subtle ways to plug your nose in my presence. Seriously, consider those around you. Shower. Daily.

So the book was fun. Nothing really new but a nice reminder to give yourself a break. Everything doesn't have to be perfect all the time. In fact, it never will be. I think that Slacker Mom will be even better. If only I can figure out how to get the right one from the library. Maybe I should request Slacker Wife and see what shows up.

Review: The Persian Pickle Club

2009-10-26T14:00:00.000-07:00

The Persian Pickle Club
by Sandra Dallas

I was having a hard time putting my impressions down about this book. I thought Payers for Sale by Dallas was beautifully told and entertaining. This one was more conventional, nothing extraordinary. The characters were still good, if too many to keep track of. I've heard complaints about the names (Queenie Bean, Ella Crook, Cheed Root, Prosper, Skillet) but I think they are fun, especially when the subject matter is serious or dull. They add humor and character.

But I decided that rather than write a boring old review about a book that was nice but nothing special, instead I'd use this opportunity to fulfill a leg of the Take a Chance Challenge and write my review in poetic form. Enjoy.

Haiku
Small town quilting bee
New girl solves a mystery
Happy endings abound

Limerick
There was a young lady named Bean
Who at a quilting bee was seen
She made a new friend
With a mystery to attend
In the end everyone did come clean

Free Form
Tough times
Heat and drought
Everyone struggles

Pressure mounts
Innocence doubted
Comfort not to be found
Keeping secrets kept
Loyalty is sacred
Everlasting support

The Sunday Salon

2009-10-25T14:53:00.000-07:00

Literature
Books-Thanks in part to the 24 Hour Readathon I read four books this past week. I need to get reviews up but my mind is mushy right now. I feel a nap coming on.

Challenges-I've met my goal for the RIP IV Challenge. Yay! I'm halfway done with Take a Chance but I need to get moving. Only one month left. I'm just over 70% for Clear Off Your Shelves. I only need 50% so that gives me a little room for library and newer books. And I joined 2 new challenges that start next Sunday, The Really Old Classics & The Four Month Challenge. If you want to see my challenge books, click on the buttons on the left.

Life
Food-I did try a couple more recipes from MtAoFC. One was fab and the other failed my expectations. That post will go up sometime this week.

Music-I've been teaching myself piano since Jan. when a friend loaned us his extra piano. This week was a tough song but I think I'm finally getting it. The hard part about self-teaching is that if you don't understand something there is no one to explain it better or break it down to smaller, more digestible pieces. But playing brings me joy and that's all that matters.

Illness-The Eldest had flu this week. He hasn't been sick in years. Even when the rest of us get terrible stomach flu he doesn't catch it. Now we are all paranoid about getting it. In our area of the US they say if you have the flu then it is the swine flu, which doesn't actually bother me too much. It seems like everyone and their mother has swine flu right now. Hopefully it has run its course in this family.

Halloween is on Saturday! We don't celebrate the holiday so much as have fun designing and creating costumes from scratch. And it is the first holiday in a string of holidays that involves candy or other sweets. From now until May my largest Tupperware bowl becomes known as the Candy Bowl. We are all looking forward to a full Candy Bowl.

Readathon Wrap-Up

2009-10-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

I like rules. I do. The boundaries show me where I can tread safely. That makes me feel secure. But on occasion I feel the need to scrap the rules and take my chances. That's what I'm doing here for my Readathon Wrap-up. I'm not sure what the risks are for avoiding the confines of the questionnaire but I'm willing to accept the consequences. This morning it's just my sleep deprived thoughts on a crazy ride that only true book nerds can appreciate.

This was my first readathon but I have read Eva from A Striped Armchair every time she has participated. She's fun and prolific, in her reading and her posting; so I wasn't completely unaware of what I was getting myself into.

I started with a good night's sleep on Friday. I highly recommend this first step. It was probably the thing that helped me the most. I was awake at 5am (and I assure you, I am not a morning person) and didn't feel tired until about 11pm, and even then I caffeinated myself a little to get me through to the end. I didn't really struggle until the 24th hour when every minute stretched to 5x its usual length.

I exercised, frequently. If nothing else I paced the room with book in hand. But mostly I did weights or stretching. The mini-challenges that involved yoga and dancing were the best.

I tried to eat mostly healthy foods. This kind of broke down around dinnertime. I skipped dinner and then kept snacking to fill myself but fish crackers and sunflower seeds just don't make up for protein and veggies. This is also when I broke out the cherry coke which helped me stay awake but also gave me the jitters and necessitated frequent potty breaks. I'll do better next time.

One thing I did wrong, in my opinion, was to skip my daily shower. Let me tell you, you don't want to get a whiff at the end of a 24 hour period, especially when your last shower was actually 16 hours before those 24 hours began. A rose I am not. My shower this morning felt luxurious in comparison.

I will participate in the future but I don't plan to do the whole 24 hours again. Though my best reading (page count) was after 10pm and I did win a prize for being awake in the 23rd hour, I now feel guilty that I sit at home, again on the computer, while my family sits in church without me. I feel as if I've cut class on a test day; my anxiety at having missed the test outweighs my pleasure in having successfully ditched. :(

I cannot think of a thing that could be done differently on the management side. The cheerleaders were awesome. My Blackberry was ringing continually with your comments and encouragements. What a nice treat! Thank you to everyone who stopped in and who tweeted. Perhaps next time I'll sign up to be a cheerleader for part of the time.

A Few Stats:
Books Read-4,
*Confessions of a Slacker Wife by Muffy Mead-Ferro
*Green Angel by Alice Hoffman
*The Coming of the Fairies by Arthur Conan Doyle
*Playing Botticelli by Liza Nelson
Pages Read: 468
Hours Awake: all 24
New Posts in my Google Reader: 169
My #readathon Tweets: exactly 50
Prizes Won: two, a book and $10 Amazon gift card
Drabbles Written: one :D

Last Hour

2009-10-25T04:06:00.001-07:00

One hour left. We're almost done. Keep going. Keeeeeeep gooooooing.

Hour 21 Mini-Challenge, part 2

2009-10-25T01:31:00.001-07:00

This has been my den for the last couple of hours. Looks comfy, no?

And this has been my reading companion and lap warmer, aptly name Mr. Dickens.

Hour 21 Mini-Challenge, part 1

2009-10-25T01:03:00.000-07:00

Four of my favorite books:

Hour Twenty Mini-Challenge

2009-10-25T00:05:00.000-07:00

I don't have to know much about the book I just started, Playing Botticelli by Liza Nelson, to know that Botticelli is a minor-league famous arteest. Perfect timing Stella Matutina.

Eighteenth Hour Mini-Challenge

2009-10-24T22:16:00.000-07:00

Libri Touches has come up with a great challenge that gets the grey cells moving. Have you ever heard of a drabble before? Neither have I. It's a story consisting of exactly 100 words. So here is my reading related drabble:

"When I read the short story The Eyes by Edith Wharton it brought me back to my childhood. My fear of mirrors returned as I remembered the Bloody Mary stories my friends told me. Even as an adult I have had a difficult time shaking this fear. As I walked to bed that night I ducked under pictures with reflective glass and would not use the restroom for fear of seeing a figure reflected back at me. I even tucked my feet under my comforter so nothing under the bed could get me. I will never read that story again."

I ended up having to remove all the adjectives and adverbs to get it down to 100 words but the point wasn't to create a masterpiece, thank heavens. And I want to give a great big THANK YOU to my childhood chums(that would be you Shannon and Heather!) for scaring the CRAP out of me and altering my perception of the world irrevocably. May the Eyes watch you in your sleep forevermore.

Seventeenth Hour Mini-Challenge

2009-10-24T21:03:00.000-07:00

Chronicle of an Infant Bibliophile asks us to give her five, five children's books off the tops of our heads.

1. The Monster at the End of This Book
2. Another Monster at the End of This Book
3. Little Bear
4. Stuart Little
5. Charlotte's Web

This was a favorite in my childhood home and in my adult home too. :)

Mid-Event Meme

2009-10-24T17:04:00.000-07:00

1. What are you reading right now?
The Coming of the Fairies by Arthur Conan Doyle

2. How many books have you read so far?
I've completed two: Confessions of a Slacker Wife & Green Angel

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
Surviving a Writer's Life by Susanne Lipsett

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?
I did my grocery shopping yesterday and planned easy meals for the fam.

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
You mean, other than the constant need to check Twitter? Actually my family of 5 have all been very cooperative and quiet.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
My lack of sleepiness(so far) and my low page count.

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
No, I think it has run very smoothly thus far. I'm impressed.

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?
Read more graphic novels and picture books, you know, to artificially up my page count and give my self-esteem a boost. ;) And I'll sign up to be a cheerleader if I can't commit to reading all day.

9. Are you getting tired yet?
Nope.

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered?
Get a good night's sleep the night before. Eat more healthy snacks than junk. A little sugar boost regularly is better than a wallop of caffeine on an 'as needed' basis. A little exercise every hour or so will help your energy levels maintain at a steady pace.

Cheerleaders are AWESOME!

Eleventh Hour Mini-Challenge

2009-10-24T15:35:00.000-07:00

Reading is a passion of mine, as it is for a lot of you. For me it is more than just a passion for books but a thirst for knowledge. I believe that anything in life can be learned from books. It is this belief that fortifies my homeschooling, which is fitting because it was the homeschooling that taught me what a treasure can be found in books.

I really wasn't a reader until our homeschool opened. I was nervous about schooling at home for this reason. But as I sat down and read books with my kids I realized that I was learning along side them. Not only that but it was sparking in me a desire to find out more about the topics under study. At first I picked up children's classics at random because the label of 'classic' implies a scholarliness. Even if it wasn't teaching history or science, it is likely teaching grammar, spelling, use of imagination and practice for further reading. I found myself talking about my reading constantly. And I noticed that the more I read, the more my time improved. Practice really does make progress.

Even though today I remain a very slow reader, I read every single day. And so do my kids. We are most definitely a reading family.

That's my Monkey Boy at age 3. He didn't have to read that well to enjoy a good book.

BTW, I'm on my third book, The Coming of the Fairies by Arthur Conan Doyle. It is quite captivating. I'm not yet needing a nap or caffeine. That cherry coke is still in the fridge waiting for the perfect moment to perk me up, though I did get into the bag of 100 Grand.

Ninth Hour Mini-Challenge

2009-10-24T13:45:00.000-07:00

"When we'd devoured every spoonful of our dinner, my neighbor brought out a cake made of nettles. There was no icing, no candles, and the color was faintly green. A cake such as this should have been too bitter to eat, but I found I preferred it to any I'd had before. I ate every crumb, and still wanted more." ~ Green Angel by Alice Hoffman

Okay, so this is taking place after a terrorist attack of some kind that has left people starving and the ground unable to yield food. But really it's about how the protagonist is moving from a place of such darkness and pain to a place of hope, where life is sprouting anew within her soul.

But where the heck do I find a picture of nettle cake? Will this do?

Seventh Hour Mini-Challenge

2009-10-24T11:11:00.001-07:00

I've been reading, blogging and tweeting. I haven't had much need for snacking yet (thanks Honey for the bacon and eggs) but when I do I have a small stockpile lined up. I have hot cider and cocoa plus the cherry coke to get me through the long midnight hours. I have a mix of healthy and junk to suit my mood. At the moment I'm still working on that chocolate chip banana bread that the Eldest made last night. It is so good with cream cheese.

Even if you are not a part of the readathon you should check out Beth Fish's handmade lace bookmark. Stunning! I have done a little bit of every kind of craft out there but I have never done lace before. It's really beautiful, and I'm not just saying that to butter up the judges. ;)

Mini-Challenge #4

2009-10-24T08:13:00.001-07:00

So far I have finished 1 book and participated in all the mini-challenges. This new challenge was to pick 3-4 books and create a sentence with the titles.

In case you can't read that, it says: After all these years, Lolita lost and found atonement. And I think Lolita is probably grateful for that atonement, don't you?

My next book is Green Angel by Alice Hoffman.

Mini-Challenge #2

2009-10-24T06:51:00.000-07:00

With a great big THANK YOU SWEETIE!! to my computer ner....uh, my helpful and loving husband I got a screenshot of the readathon at Twitter. If you look in the pink column on the right (you must have good eye site for this) the readathon is in the #7 position in the Trending Topics. Yay for Readathon!

I've got one chapter left of Confessions of a Slacker Wife. See you around.

Let's Get This Party Started

2009-10-24T05:31:00.001-07:00

There we are, ready to begin this insane adventure. That is my laptop enjoying it's breakfast of Chocolate chip banana bread with cream cheese and a steaming mug of cider and checking out Twitter(where all the cool kids are). My first goal is to finish Confessions of a Slacker Wife by Muffy Mead-Ferro. See you in a few.

OH! Today's first mini-challenge

Where are you reading from today? I'm at home in CA where the weather is going to be beautiful so I may take the books outside if the natives get a little crazy, as they are want to do.

3 facts about me … I hate mornings, I already brushed my teeth, I am a very slow reader.

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? 6.5 (I have one to finish)

Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)? To make it through the entire 24 hours

If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, Any advice for people doing this for the first time? I'm a noob but I have stalked past participants(Eva is my favorite) and gleaned important tidbits.

A Challenging Four Months

2009-10-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

So the only thing I know about this challenge is that it has a really cool button and that it runs for four months(Nov. - Feb.). Well there is a little more to it than that. We are to make a list of books to fit into specified categories that are given a score. The rest of the info. will not be released until Nov. 1st when the challenge lifts off. And that's all that Virginie Says...(go see for yourself). That means I don't even know if the list that I make right now can be altered as I go. And I don't know what the point system is for. And I don't know if one book may count for more than one category(I checked the Part 1 of this challenge. It said a book only counts for one category. Darn!) This challenge may end up being challenging indeed.

I'm game. Are you? (I'll plug in my choices along the way)

Here are the categories with their point scores:

5 Point Challenges
Read a book with a proper name in the title - Because of Winn-Dixie
Read a book about a queen or king - The Song of Roland
Read a book by a Bronte - Jane Eyre
Read a book about Vampires - Dead Until Dark
Read a book by V.C. Andrews - Flowers in the Attic

10 Point Challenges
Read a book by Canadian author - Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
Read a book by Charles Dickens - Bleak House
Read a book set in France - My Life in France
Read a book by Georgette Heyer
Read an ‘art’ themed book - The Lady and the Unicorn

15 Point Challenges
Read a book with a Civil War theme (any country) - Across Five Acres
Read a book with characters inspired by King Arthur or about King Arthur/Camelot
Read a biography/autobiography - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Read a book related to or something by Shakespeare - Mistress Shakespeare
Read a book by an author born in November, December, January or February - Lonesome Prairie, Montana by Ocieanna Fleiss (Dec. 26th)

20 Point Challenges
Read a book with a wintery theme (Christmas, snow, ice, freezing etc.) - The Snowflake
Read a book that was a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction - After This
Read a book that begins with A and one that begins with Z - Alice's Tulips and Zlateh the Goat
Read a book from The Modern Library Top 100 - Grapes of Wrath
Read a book and then write a review - The Hidden

A Friendly Blog Tour

2009-10-22T12:41:00.000-07:00

My friend Ocieanna Fleiss has co-authored a Christian romance, Love Finds You in Lonesome Prairie, Montana that will be released December 1st. This is her first book and I couldn't be more excited for her. A blog tour is being offered but they need to schedule people by this Friday(tomorrow). If you are interested in hosting go here and send an email to Stephanie. Hurry!

HURRY!!

Really Old Classics for All

2009-10-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

In little under two weeks Halloween will mark the end of October. With the coming of the new month I embark on new challenges, the biggest being NaNoWriMo. But it will also begin 2 new reading challenges that I am excited about. Today I'll share about one. Tomorrow you get the other.

I heart classics so I had to join this one as soon as I learned about it. Listen to this:

"It’s a fairly simple challenge. To finish, you need to read one work written before 1600 A.D. That’s it. Read one thing and you’ve finished! To make it fun, though, we have an “extra credit” option (read a retelling) and a “Classicist” certification (read four works)."

Four months to read a single classic! Well, I won't be stopping there. Ima wanna be a Classicist when I grow up. You have to check out Rebecca Reads as Rebecca has not just shared some of her favorite classics with us but she typed up a titanic List O' Possibility for herself that we can easily steal from without anyone noticing. You should also go to the challenge site to make things official.

I went straight to my classics bookshelf (a whole large bookshelf just for classics. I told you I hearted them) and pulled four books off the first shelf I saw. Since these four books are titles I have wanted to read for some time these are my official list books. They are:
The Love of Books: The Philobiblon of Richard de Bury
Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer
Antigone by Sophocles
The Song of Roland

I haven't yet figured out what my modern retelling will be. I have a little research to do.

So, will you join me? Pretty please with hot cocoa and a crackling fire?

Review: Harry Potter

2009-10-21T13:07:00.000-07:00

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
by J.K. Rowlings

I warn you up front that I blow off some steam about certain religious types. As I am a religious type I think that what I have to say is important for both sides of the controversy but I understand if you don't feel like going there with me.

So I know that I am not the last person on the planet to read Harry Potter but it sure feels that way sometimes. Maybe it's just because when people like it they love it and when people don't care for it they claim it is a sneaky way that Satan is using to turn their children into witches and warlocks. Interesting how that works.

Since everybody actually knows the story I will skip the summary and move into the opinionating.

I liked it. As everyone says, it is not stunning literature. It's not that original. The character development is fairly 2 dimensional. It is 100% plot driven and in this case it works. It is a story written for kids, more for boys but girl are not excluded from the pleasure. Hermione is an intelligent and loyal character that will attract many girls. Snape isn't so convincing to me but it was still a fun story.

I was really dreading reading it. I've avoided the book for so long. I ranked it up there was an Oprah Pick telling myself that it was way too overblown to actually be good. I can admit when I'm wrong. Occasionally Oprah picks a winner and occasionally the public rallies around a worthy book. Harry Potter will go down in the annuls of time as a book that attracted the attention of millions by first, getting children, specifically boys, reading, and second, because Christians everywhere left their common sense in the closet and took it way too seriously.

I have touched on the effect of HP in the christian community for a reason. See, I am a christian. There was a time when I was ostracized for having the dreadful books in my house. People avoided me because I didn't think it was that big of a deal. After all, Christians everywhere had no problem with the Narnia books or Lord of the Rings, both of which contain witches and wizards. My family had decided that as long as good overcame evil in the stories then we were OK with our 10 year old son reading them. We used our reasoning minds instead of fear to direct our decision. But it didn't matter. Some of our closest friends claimed we were exposing and enticing children to witchcraft.

Guess what? I won't go to hell because I read a book, whether it contains witches, golden compasses, different religions or is about Satan himself. I won't go to hell for anything wrong I have done if the God of heaven and earth claims me for his own and forgives my sins. Period. I am not perfect. I will never be perfect. What a relief to know that I am secure in Christ!

Clearly this is still a sore subject with me. It hurt to be judged harshly over something so stupid(now that I've read it myself it seems even more ludicrous). But I try to release the hurt and forgive because they also are not perfect. They are trying to do what is right in their eyes and that is to be commended. Not many live by convictions anymore. I do my best to live by my convictions, one of them being the freedom to read what I like without guilt.

So I liked it. I'm told they get better as they go. I will read the rest of the series when I get a round tuit. Does anyone happen to have a spare round tuit?

I'm reposting this picture because it is magical. I wanna attend a boarding school that looks like that.

It's Tuesday...Where are you?

2009-10-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

Has a book ever transported you to a new land or experience? Share where your reading has taken you this week. Visit An Adventure in Reading for more details.

This week I'm camped in Harveyville, Kansas, spending my time with a group of women supporting each other through the Depression. We are a quilting group known as:

The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas

This paisley design is known as the Persian Pickle.

Adventures in French Cooking

2009-10-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

"Les poissons, les poissons,
How I love les poissons,
Love to chop and to serve little fish."

Actually I hate fish but my family likes it so I eat a couple of bites, mostly for show, every week. Fish is good for you. And I don't want to limit my children's tastes. So I make myself eat fish.

I had hoped that if I went into it with an open mind and a good recipe then I could overcome my aversion to fish. For now I am left hopeless. The meal was:

Potage Parmentier
Filet de Poisson Poches au Vin Blanc
Haricots Verts a l'Anglaise
Bavarois au Chocolat

That would be Leek and Potato Soup, Poached Filet of Sole in White Wine, Buttered Green Beans, and Chocolate Bavarian Cream.

The leek and potato soup was easy(Yay!). It did take an hour but it was mostly simmer time. And it was good after a liberal shower of salt. The fresh baked French bread from the grocery store was absolutely fab with it.

The buttered green beans were excellent. Seriously. I blanched them, which is apparently different than my usual method of not quite boiling them enough so they remain a little crunchy and no one eats them. There was of course a butter bath involved, but that's why we like Julia so much.

And the chocolate cream was very much like the orange cream of two weeks ago but with much more confusing instructions. But we were familiar with the process so we managed fine. The flavoring was coffee and rum instead of orange juice and orange liqueur. It tasted like mocha mousse ice cream, which probably doesn't exist but might be a good idea(Are you paying attention Ben & Jerry? I will expect a commission for sharing my brilliant ideas with you.).

And then there was the fish.

As soon as I opened the package my throat constricted. My throat never un-constricted. It is still constricted and now it hurts. I tried to avoid smelling it but it has a way of permeating everything. And don't try to tell me that fresh fish doesn't stink because you lie. I lived in Seattle once. I walked the fish market. No matter how cool the flying fish were, they still stank. And sole smells like fish wrapped in gym socks.

And then there's the sight(I can see where the backbone used to be). And the feel(like it's trying to swim out of my hands for freedom). I'm getting queasy.

I got the fish washed, dried, seasoned, and poached without puking. I even got it on the table and on my plate. I even took a few bites. Like more than two. Then my gag reflex kicked in. Yeah, no. I couldn't finish. Now I'm left with nausea, a sore throat and a house that smells like sole, which actually tastes like fish wrapped in gym socks.

Hey, you can't win them all. And maybe you, dear reader, like filet of sole. *gag* If you are a fan of fish then you might consider this meal. It was very light and only took an hour(dessert sold separately). Considering the source, that's pretty good.

The Sunday Salon

2009-10-18T22:08:00.001-07:00

Literature
Books-I just finished reading Harry Potter. I'm surprised at how much I liked it. Review will be up this week. I'm not sure of what to pick up next. Something fun and perhaps romantic. Something happy to match my mood.

Challenges-Harry Potter counts for two of my three challenges for sure (Take a Chance & Clear Off Your Shelves) but I'm wondering if it would count for RIP IV. It's got the supernatural and mystery. What do you think?

Life
Not much to share. Not much is happening besides this. FlyLady was a flop this week. I did make a French meal but...well, you'll read about that tomorrow. My computer has been behaving for the last few days. Yay! And school was kinda boring. I'm not really sure where my time went this week. (That's a big fat lie! Facebook is an evil time suck. And now I'm on Twitter too. Somebody stop me, please!)

But I am happy. Very very happy. That's always news worth sharing. Oh! And I found this picture (I stole it from a new blog full of beautiful things) which also makes me happy. I'm wondering how I can print it so I can hang it on my wall. It matches me so perfectly.

I'm Twitterpated!

2009-10-17T16:19:00.000-07:00

I have some really exciting news to share. At least, it's exciting to me. It's the biggest thing that's ever happened to my blog. I discovered that I was tweeted(twittered? twitted?). I'm a Twit! I know. I'm all aflutter. Aren't you?

It seems that somehow my Adventures in French Cooking post appeared on the monitors of some foodies on Twitter who passed around the link. I don't exactly know what it means but I am elated. I feel like I won a prize of some kind.

I have loved every moment of cooking in the French way and blogging about it. I am fortunate enough to have the time, energy and support of a wonderful set of ~~guinea pigs~~ people(Hi family!). And it seems that you like it too. The feedback I'm getting is encouraging. Your comments are saying "Good for you" and "Keep it up". And I plan to. I won't be making everything in Mastering the Art of French Cooking (calf brains anyone?) but I will be making and trying new foods. Tonight this sea food hater will make and taste(I'll try anyway) filet of sole. I'll also eat a leek for the first time in my life. I cannot wait to share with you my experiences.

BTW, if you are on Twitter I've just joined. Look me up. I'm EducatinPetunia(be sure to drop the G).

And don't forget to stop in at Book Chatter to add your own confession. (OK, so mine is more like self congratulation but it's blog related so I'm legal.)

Adventures in French Cooking

2009-10-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

So far my family has been gracious about my adventurous cuisine but you know what they say: Real men don't eat quiche. So when the menu for the week was

Quiche Lorraine
Creme Brulee

I decided to feed my friends who have been keeping up with my cooking plans and have been anxious to try some for themselves.

Well, as you know from here and here, French cooking is a contact sport. It's a tie-your-hair-back, don-an-apron-with-big-pockets, make-a-potty-trip-first kind of activity. In other words, it takes a loooooong time to make. Thankfully it didn't take so long for this meal.

The Creme Brulee was made the night before to give it time to set. Other than the batter bath I gave myself (refer back to the apron tip) it went smoothly. Two cups of creme mixed with eggs and sugar plus homemade caramel brittle for the topping. Délicieux! And nary a blow torch in site. Hear my husband's sigh of relief.

The next day I started early on the pie crust for the quiche. I love pie crust. Especially made with real butter. Julia's recipe called for 3/4 cup butter plus 4 Tbsp. of shortening, which I didn't have so I used butter. :) She even gave me permission to blend it in my food processor. I love you Julia! While the crust was baking I whipped up more eggs and cream for the quiche-y part while my son sizzled some bacon(because I only specialize in the black kind). It wasn't until after I had added the bacon and quiche-y part to the crust and put it back into the oven that I realised that not only did I not prick holes in the bottom of the crust and baked it for 5 more minutes like the recipe said but I also forgot to add an ingredient to the crust. I've never put sugar in pie crust before. How was I supposed to know? I mean besides the fact that it was written in front of me. I figured no one would notice if I didn't tell them.

When the quiche came out of the oven it smelled like heaven and looked like Jupiter. Now I see why it's so important to prick holes in the bottom of the crust. There was a big brown spot where the crust had grown a tumor. I considered putting some silk flowers over it but those things are dirty. Then I considered making more crust cut in a pretty shape to set over it but I was running out of time. Then I decided to love it despite its looks and eat the crusty part myself.

This is the point where I pull out the Creme Brulee. I knew it didn't set right when it slopped over my hand when I took it from the fridge. Hmmm. More like Potage Brulee(potage means soup). Friends arriving in 10 minutes. Just sprinkle on the caramel brittle and set it on the table. Caramel brittle mostly sinks to the bottom. "But," think I, "it will still taste fab. Right?"

Of course it did. After all, this is Julia's recipe. Jupiter quiche is delish and Potage Brulee is still yummy. My friends ate and laughed and agreed to be my guinea pigs again sometime.

So I learned that pie crust doesn't need shortening or sugar but it does need to be pricked and baked a little longer. And I learned that the recipe for Creme Brulee will not yield what one expects but my friends will gladly drink it from a bowl with me. Tres Bon!

It's Tuesday...Where are you?

2009-10-13T10:59:00.000-07:00

Has a book ever transported you to a new land or experience? Share where your reading has taken you this week. Visit An Adventure in Reading for more details.

I have just boarded a train in London to take me to the most renowned school to learn magic. Hogwarts is the school and Harry Potter is my name.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Review: The Ghost Writer

2009-10-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

The Ghost Writer
by John Harwood

Gerard's mother is a woman with many fears and many secrets; because of it, Gerard lives a very sheltered life. His only act of rebellion is writing to a penpal, Alice, a paraplegic living in England. Soon the two are madly in love over their years of correspondence. But Alice has secrets of her own. She will not send Gerard a picture of herself. Nor is she ever around to meet him when he travels from his home in Australia. But soon Gerard must confront his family history and the woman he loves to unravel the lies that are the only truth he's ever known.

I'm trying to decide if I should start with the good or the bad. How about a sandwich effect?

The bad: that cover. It's not creepy so much as unattractive, which is fitting in some ways but mostly not.

The good: the stories within the story. I always love a story that tells many littler stories, especially if they are fairy tales or, in this case, ghost stories. I think these littler stories were the best parts of the book.

The bad: the confusion. The final story was long and interrupted and very similar to the main story so that the line between the two became very blurry. Actually, I believe this was done on purpose but my little brain hurt from the effort of sorting the two out. Then, elements of the other two ghost stories crept in. By the end I didn't know if I was up or down.

The good: it gave me the willies. As you read the little ghost stories and you start sensing that things aren't right with the characters, you do become scared of all the little sounds and shadows in your house. I reverted back to my fear of mirrors while I was reading it. Harwood built the suspense before he did anything freaky with the story. Clever.

The bad: overly descriptive. As the English Manor that is at the heart of the bigger story (and one of the littler ones) is described, all the furniture is placed in it's proper corner, all doors are put just so in the walls, all four floors are given their own blueprint, or so it seemed. My eyes glazed over. And the physical description of "the machine" was too complicated, though the explanation of what it actually was and how it was used was very interesting. But talking about pieces of metal shaped like A with tubular glass bulbs projecting out of point B wasn't at all helpful.

The bad: the ending. So I am really, really good at figuring out the endings of mysteries. All those years watching Matlock, Diagnosis Murder, and Law and Order taught me a thing or two. One of the things I learned was that everything in a story has a purpose. Did the murder victim's neighbor speak? They have some kind of useful information or they are the killer. Did the camera linger a little longer on a certain scene? There is a clue in that shot. First you gather your suspects and your suspicions and then you start eliminating them. But this book didn't do that. Gerard considered every possibility, no matter how ridiculous and threw them all out and gathered them all back up again. By the end there were so many outrageous theories running to and from that it was hard to pick which one to stick with. I believe this to be a sign of a poorly plotted mystery. It's kind of like when some poor schmuck calls you to solicit money over the phone. Instead of telling you simply what they have to offer and give you a chance to say yes you need that service or no you don't, they will bombard you with words. They will throw out compliments and act like your best friend from college. When they feel resistance they will ask you stupid questions like "don't you want to save money?" or "you honestly can't afford just $10 to join our gym?" They figure if they can keep you on the phone longer then you are more likely to give them your money. That is what this book does. It bombards you with ideas, making the ridiculous sound plausible and the logical seem unrealistic to disguise the fact that the answer is clear from somewhere in the middle. tsk tsk What a disappointment.

It looks like the bad outweighs the good but I will say that the good is really good and the bad is only partially bad. Like I said, I think the author accomplished what he set out to do, that is, making the reader as dazed and confused and second guessing their every idea as Gerard was. I just didn't like being dazed and confused. Your mileage may vary.

One Word Review
So-so

Matlock, you ruined me for mysteries.

Anyone remember Puck? He's the poppet I won in the original RIP Challenge. He stands sentry while I read, especially when I read ghost stories for the RIP Challenge.

Speaking of which, this makes the first book read (finally!) for the RIP IV Challenge. It also counts for the Clear Off Your Shelves Challenge since it has been lingering on my book shelf for over six months. I'm all about multitasking.

The Sunday Salon

2009-10-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

Literature
Books: I took way too long to read The Ghost Writer considering it was a page turner. I'm not entirely please with it. You'll have to read my review when it goes up next week. Now I'm reading Harry Potter. For the first time. It's not exactly by choice but because of a challenge. We'll see what happens.

Challenges: RIP IV Challenge? One down, one to go. Take a Chance Challenge? Four out of ten done. Clear Off Your Shelves Challenge? Two of two are off the shelves so I'm at 100% thus far. Cool beans!

Life
FlyLady: I fell off the wagon about 1.5 weeks ago. I didn't really notice until Friday when I had to do a Stash'N'Dash before company came over. That's when you run around like a crazy person hiding all your junk in the closets and out in the garage because there is not enough time to put it away where it actually belongs. But the great thing about FlyLady is that you can hop back on the wagon and jump right into the program where ever it is right now. So this week my bathrooms will sparkle.

Food: I grilled chicken. All by myself. And it didn't turn black or catch fire or anything. On the one hand, I feel more self-sufficient. On the other, now my husband will expect me to rule the range. Shoot.

Computer: I have a lovely purple laptop that the hubby got me for my birthday a year and a half ago but lately I've had reason to pull my hair out. It's been freezing up on me once a week for about 2 months now and this week it has frozen 5 times. Grrrrr! My hubby, the computer genius, hasn't been able to make the problem go away. He is thinking it is a hard drive thing, which is very, very bad. So if I disappear for a while you'll know that I'm not avoiding you. I'm being fitted for a wig while hubby makes my laptop obedient once again.

Homeschool: My daughter(she's 12) got 70 pages in to Robinson Crusoe before she begged me to let her stop. She can't stand it. I think she gave it a fair shot so I let her quit. Yeah, I'm cool like that. Thankfully she is super excited that her next book is about Mary, Queen of Scots.

I watched the old 'Romeo and Juliet' movie with my kiddos since we just learned about Shakespeare. I warned them ahead of time that there was a little peek-a-boo scene with Juliet but I had not remembered that Romeo's tush had several minutes(or so it seemed to this mom) of air time. I don't know who was more embarrassed, me or my daughter(the boys didn't seem to care). I tried to appear as if it was no big deal when she asked if she should cover her eyes but I'm sure I failed to look at ease. But we survived. When the movie was over I wanted to cry out, "Why Mercutio? Why a curse of both their houses?" I cried on and off for the next hour. I love that story.

And apparently I am not the only one who sees a resemblance between Leonard Whiting(Romeo) and Zac Efron.

There is No Word for a Dictionary Dependent

2009-10-10T17:00:00.000-07:00

Warning! The words you are about to read are a true representation of my ineptitude from the last 2 weeks. Those with weak stomachs should avert their eyes now.

Oh Dictionary.com, how I love thee. Your uses are infinite. Your benefits are abundant. Your ability to transform me from a blathering idiot to a brilliant intellectual is unfathomable. Oh, how I long for you. Oh, how I cherish each moment I spend with you. Oh, how I should considered setting you as my home page. I love you more today than yesterday but not as much as tomorrow. (When did Diana Ross invade my blog?)

Without you, Dictionary.com, I would not know that apropos ends with an s, that caddywampus is actually a word, that synonym has 2 ys, that knowledgeable retains it's e, that proclamation drops the i from its base word 'proclaim', & that it's not spelled libratory, liboratory or labritory but laboratory.

I would not know how to accurately spell: dependent, dominatrix(wouldn't you like to know) :p, proclivity, rendering, sanction, & trepidation

I would not know the exact meaning of metaphysics.

I would not be able to share with my son the proper pronunciation of pangea.

I would not know the many synonyms for cheeky (a few being audacious, brazen, foolhardy, ninny, sycophant & twerp).

I would not have come across some most excellent words such as meretricious, schlemiel &
schlimazel. (I have a sudden proclivity to sew a large L on my shirt.)

And I would not have been able to make sure that a vulva really is what I think it is. *blush*

Without you, oh ~~beautious~~ beauteous Dictionary.com, I would just be some opinionated knucklehead with a public platform from which to display my ignorantness(wait! Is that a word?...yes it is) because I am too lazy to get off my butt and open the real dictionary. (of course I didn't mean you are not a real dictionary. You are every bit as much a dictionary as that old paper one over there. That one is so fat and ~~unwhealdy~~ unwieldy. And no, that browser window doesn't make your butt look big.)

And thank you Ti for giving me a second chance to prove to the public that I am in fact a blathering idiot.

(Words that Blogger's spell check doesn't recognise: caddywampus, pangea, schlimazel, ignorantness, & Blogger's(!).)

Confession is Good for the Soul

2009-10-07T15:19:00.000-07:00

At least that's what I'm told. The creative juices have been flowing at Book Chatter and other stuff. Ti has come up with a unique and fun new weekly meme called Confessions of a Reader. Essentially you confess to anything you like relating to reading or blogging, whenever you like, and add your link to the Mr. Linky at Ti's place on Saturdays. So let's get started.

My first confession: I'm insecure. Okay, so most people are but specifically about my big mouth. While I think this meme will be fun I have some trepidation about sharing the kinds of things that will make you not like me anymore. There are two quotes that haunt me as I have proved them so many times it isn't even funny.

"For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison." ~ The Bible, James 3:7 & 8

"Better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." ~author unresolved

I have a tendency to speak faster than I can think. I have a tendency to share the wrong things in the wrong places or with the wrong people. I have lost all hope of being able to tame my beastly tongue. So I ask you to not be offended by the views I share. I value honesty and welcome thoughtful debate.

And with that bit of vulnerability I will leave you with a song aptly titled My Stupid Mouth.

It's Tuesday...Where are you?

2009-10-06T12:33:00.001-07:00

Has a book ever transported you to a new land or experience? Share where your reading has taken you this week. Visit An Adventure in Reading for more details.

I knew I wasn't in the US when January was described as hot and sweltering. Mawson, Australia may be where the protagonist lives but he has spent all his life romanticizing Staplefield, West Sussex in Endland, the home of his overprotective and secretive mother. But I have a feeling there is something strange about about to happen in Staplefield.

The Ghost Writer by John Harwood

Graveyard in Staplefield, West Sussex. Apropos for a ghost story.

Adventures in French Cooking

2009-10-04T20:11:00.000-07:00

When I saw the movie "Julie and Julia" I did not think it would lead to something like this. I mean, I don't care to be trendy; I didn't want to be one of the millions of women (and three men) who bought all the books, including the expensive cookbook. I even said after the movie that it wasn't quite enough to make me start cooking a la francé. But here I am. And I'm loving it. Our Sunday dinner consisted of:

Poulet roti
Carottes a la concierge
Champignons a la Grecque
Bavarois a L'Orange

For the French impaired that it roast chicken, casserole of creamed carrots with onion and garlic, and mushrooms a la Grecque(?) followed by orange Bavarian cream.

I prepared for my 1.5 hour estimated cooking excursion by: making a potty trip, washing hands, changing into clothes that may be splattered on, pulling hair out of face, eating a small snack, prereading the directions for all recipes, and removing all jewelry that might get lost in the body cavity while molesting my chicken(So sorry chicky. Julia made me do it). All of this added an extra 1/2 hour to my excursion time but I planned for it so it was okay. We would be eating by 5pm.

Starting with the recipe needing the longest effort, I cleaned, salted and buttered my bird and placed it in the oven. According to direction I have to turn it on each side, then it's back, not to mention basting it every 10 minutes. EVERY 10 MINUTES?! FOR 1.5 HOURS?! Okay, I can handle that.

Doesn't he look all roasty-toasty in there?

Anyway, the bird was easy if high maintenance. On to the next recipe, creamed carrot casserole. This one takes about an hour. AN HOUR?! Okay, deal Petunia. It takes a lot of carrots; 4 1/2 cups of sliced carrots. At this point I whip out my nifty food processor. (Oh food processor, how I do love thee.) Carrots and onions chopped in a mere 2 minutes. So carrots and onions and cream and beef stock are cooking on the stove. In the spare minutes between basting I clean dishes and reread the next recipe. Thank Heavens the mushrooms only take 10 minutes. We'll save those for last, after the chicken is out of the oven.

So the carrots are done and staying warm on the stove, the chicken now comes out of the oven and it's time to start the mushrooms. Wait. I'm referred to a second recipe that takes an additional 10 minutes. That's okay. So I make the Grecque sauce(whatever that is) and then I add the mushrooms. Mushrooms done. Wait. Now I have to boil down the remaining Grecque sauce(what does Grecque mean anyway?). Another 10-15 minutes. Wait. The chicken juices need to be boiled down to make a sort of gravy. Okay. Another 10-15 minutes. It's a good thing I ate that snack earlier.

Finally the food is ready to serve. An hour later than planned but that's okay. Add a salad and a glass of Cab and we're ready to dig in.

Well the chicken just tastes like roast chicken. It still needs salt. And the mushrooms taste like boiled mushrooms. More salt. But the carrots. Heavenly! Seriously, the best of all the recipes I've tried so far. I could eat them for a meal all by themselves.

Now for dessert. I made this on Saturday so it would be completely set. It took about an hour and lots and lots of cream. When turned onto the plate it flopped a little cattywampus but it was still a thing of beauty. And it separated a bite but that added to it's charm. It was kind of like a mousse on the bottom and a custard on the top. The family all adored it. My ego expanded.
Another successful French meal. So far I have not found a recipe that takes less than 30 minutes but that's fine with me. It's the process that I enjoy. It's the learning experience and the experimenting that make me happy. We'll see if that changes when it comes time to make calf brains.

Remember folks: food is not just sustenance. It can be a joy too.

The Sunday Salon

2009-10-04T12:29:00.000-07:00

Literature
Books: I finally finished a couple of books I've been working on for weeks. Click on the title to read my praise for Pay Attention, Say Thank You and my demolition of House of Sand and Fog. I am now working on Aspects of the Novel in preparation for the National Novel Writing Month(NaNoWriMo) in Nov. I've also just started The Ghost Writer.

Challenges: I've not yet finished any books for the RIP4 Challenge so half of my reading this month will be set aside for that. As for the Take a Chance Challenge, I'm still 3 short but not giving up hope. Then the Clear Off Your Shelves Challenge has begun with 1 book under my belt. Good start.

Life
Food: I made an Orange Bavarian Creme yesterday but it will not be eaten until tonight when I make yet another Julia Child meal so you will have to wait until tomorrow to see pictures. I did, however, have some leftover egg whites so I whipped up some meringue cookies that didn't survive an entire 6 hours.
Creativity: A strong surge of creativity has been coursing through my limbs this week, a thing not uncommon among artistic and crafty folk. Since it brings me so much joy, that being something I am trying to encourage in my life, I am giving that creativity as much free reign as I can. Here is a quilt top I finished working on at my now clutter-free sewing station.
Homeschool: We are learning all about the Lost Colony. This was to be the first settlement of America for the British Kingdom but many settlers didn't survive the harsh winter weather and others were left behind while help was sought but when it finally returned, the settlers had vanished. No signs of life but also no signs of a struggle. This all happened before the Pilgrims.

In science we are learning about density and polarity of molecules. Below is a glass with three differently dense and polar liquids: oil is yellow, water is blue, and corn syrup is red. The polarity prevents them from mixing. The density(heaviness) causes some to float above or sink below the water. The kids love science time.

Did anything interesting happen to you this week? Do share.

Review: House of Sand and Fog

2009-10-03T16:39:00.000-07:00

House of Sand and Fog
by Andre Dubus III

You know when you're watching a movie and the bad guy is just the creepiest bad guy ever and you don't even want to watch the movie anymore because he creeps you out so much? (reference: Little Dorrit) And then someone always says that that's a sign of really great acting? Well, if the same is true for books then Dubus is a friggin' genius because the writing was so good that I wanted to put the book down the whole way through. Seriously folks, if Oprah endorses it then it's bound to be amongst the most depressingly soul-sucking novels ever written.

Due to a clerical error Kathy Nicolo is given minutes to move out of her childhood home, the house her father willed to her. The very next day Colonel Behrani buys it at auction for a third of it's value with plans to flip it for a profit. The Colonel was once a well respected and rich military officer in Iran until he fled to America to avoid execution. Now he is trying to regain some of the self-respect that he lost. Kathy is an ex-coke addict whose husband just deserted her. Along for the ride is Officer Lester Burdon who falls for Kathy, to his family's detriment, and will go to any length to get her her house back.

Of course, the inevitable is looming in the distance; a clash of pride and passion. The proverbial train wreck. No matter which way the pendulum swings it cannot be good. Except somehow the pace of the book got stuck on extra slow-mo. In 365 pages only about 20 of them have any action; at least, any action that made me want to stay awake to find out what happened next. Then the what-happened-next was particularly unsatisfying.

Gosh, it sounds a whole lot like another Oprah pick I dredged through once by the name of Vinegar Hill. I was more and more horrified by the idiocy of the characters and their penchant for making matters worse with each passing minute.

Clearly I hated the thing. I've heard the movie is true to the book in regards to the state it leaves the viewer in. Though I love Ben Kingsley (Love. Him.) I will give this one a pass.

One Word Review:
Dismal

BTW, I originally chose this title for the RIP4 Challenge but there was nothing in it of any creepiness (unless you count that adulterous CREEP Officer Burdon) so I'll have to find a replacement if I want to complete my Peril the Second. At least it will give me credit in the Clear Off Your Shelves Challenge so it's not a total loss.

A Funny Article with a Dose of Truth

2009-10-02T18:49:00.001-07:00

A friend directed me to this article: The Bitter Homeschooler's Wish List. If you are a homeschooler you'll get a good LOL from it. If you're not a homeschooler then you should read it and save yourself from appearing rude or foolish. Seriously.

Review: Pay Attention, Say Thank You.

2009-09-30T21:32:00.000-07:00

Pay Attention, Say Thank You: Seven Rules & Practices for Joyful Living
by M. Gail Woodard

I am an emotional person. Always have been, always will be. I just feel things stronger than most people. And I'm OK with that. But it often makes life hard to endure. What would be mere frustrations to most people are catastrophes to me.

Guess what? The world is full to the brim with frustrations. So where does that leave me? Feeling helpless and hopeless. Feeling unhappy and unhappy again at my lack of ability to be happy.

This is why I requested this review copy from the author. I could use more joy in my life. And I'm quite sure that you could too. Everyone could.

When the book arrived in the mail it was tiny. Teeny tiny. I didn't believe that it could contain everything I would need to increase my joy. But this is about trying something new since my current way to joyfulness is drowning in emotional chaos. What I found within these 125 pages was potent. I read with an open mind and I decided that this just might work.

Woodard gets straight to the point. She explains what each practice is and how to do it daily. She asks her readers to give each practice a full three weeks before adding on the next one. I didn't have that much time to devote to it and get a review up in a timely manner; I did however give each practice a few days to try on for size so I could give an informed review.

Pay Attention
Say Thank You
Be Quiet
Let It Go
Own Your Feelings
Choose Your Beliefs
Live Love

These sound fairly simple and straight forward but there is depth to each one. The first 3 are about carving out time for inner peace. They are pretty easy if you take the time to do them. The next 3 are more challenging and have to do with digging deep within yourself to find out what holds you back from being joyful. They will take more time and can be intense. Work at your own pace. The last chapter is more of a reward. Once you have increased your inner joy you now get to give it wings in the real world. I believe I can do this. And I really really really want to do this.

The good news for me is that I already do half of these things. I am deeply in tune with my own feelings and often those of the people around me. I know that beauty makes me happy. Whenever I can create beauty I feel filled up with giddiness and joy, so I quilt and I decorate and I bake and I write and I am learning to play piano. I say thank you lavishly to everyone I meet wherever I go. (I acknowledge that I need to say it more at home.)

The challenge for me will be with the digging deep to discover my beliefs and discerning when they need to be altered. The idea of being in control of my emotions instead of being controlled by them sounds unfathomable to me but it's a deep longing.

This morning I wrote down a quote from the book:
"Just for today, I let go of anger.
Just for today, I let go of worry.
Just for today, I give thanks for my blessings.
Just for today, I do my work with integrity.
Just for today, I am kind to every living creature."

Isn't that a beautiful idea? Guess what? For the first time in a while, I actually had a good day from beginning to end. Just for today, I have had joy. This feels huge. Not all my days will feel this way but just for today, I am encouraged.

I want to thank M. Gail Woodard for sharing this book with me. I commit to practicing these challenges frequently. I look forward to the day when my husband tells me he sees a real change in me and my ability to live a joyful life. My family deserves a joyful mother. I deserve joy.

If you are interested in learning more about the ideas in this book, visit Seven Practices. There is a plethora of information to help you achieve joy.

One Word Review:
Potent

The Sunday Salon, Monday Edition

2009-09-28T09:43:00.000-07:00

I am trying to make some changes to my Sunday Salon format that will make it easier to read and skip around as you like. Literature and Life are the 2 major sections, each being divided up as the need calls for. I welcome your input.

Literature
Books: Despite the lack of reviews I am reading. House of Sand and Fog is slow going. What-the-Dickens continues to delight but it's a read-aloud so we read only small chunks a couple nights a week. Pay Attention, Say Thank You is a continual work in progress but almost complete.

Challenges: I have 3 challenges I'm currently working on. There are 3 books left to read for the Take a Chance Challenge. Two more books for the RIP IV. Then I joined a new one last week, the Clear Off Your Shelves Challenge which starts on Thursday. I'm determined to complete them all successfully.

Life
French Cooking: If you didn't see my post about what I made from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking then take a peek. I thought this segment deserved a post all of it's own so from now on Adventures in French Cooking will be a regular series. I'll post whenever I get a chance to cook.

FlyLady: This past week we were to concentrate on decluttering and cleaning the master bedroom. I focused my attention on my sewing area that is set up in my room. Setting my timer for 15 minutes, I was surprised that it only took two days for my sewing area to go from unusable to organized.

As you can see I got rid a lot of floor clutter and put away all the junk on the table. I donated a lot of things. I dusted the sewing machines. Then I spent the rest of the week working on some unfinished projects(UFOs) including repairs to some clothes and making a stylish pillow case that matches my son's quilt that I made 4 years ago.

I don't even remember cutting the pieces out but they sat in a pile waiting for my attention for quite a while. I'm hoping to complete one UFO a week now that I can use my space. This week FlyLady wants us to work on the living room and front entrance/dining room.

Homeschool: Shakespeare! We learned about Shakespeare this week. It wasn't an exhaustive lesson but we learned a little about the man and his times. My kids are too young to understand the language of Shakespeare so we read a couple of beautifully illustrated adaptations of Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet. If you can find the Bruce Coville adaptations I highly recommend them. They use Shakespearean language when it is easier understood and narrate the rest. As I said already, the illustrations are just stunning and suit the mood of the play perfectly. We still have to read A Winter's Tale and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

2009-09-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

After reading about Jenny having her fill of vampires (HA!) I went to comment a hearty Hear Hear. Or is that Here Here? After all, it could being saying 'Look here people' or is could be saying 'I hear you'. So I did what every self respecting autodidact(or not) does, I googled it.

According to this page, the proper term is Hear Hear. It is a shortened version of the proclamation Hear Ye, Hear Ye, dating back to the 1600s or earlier for the purposes of drawing attention to what has just been said and giving agreement.

So now you know.

Adventures in French Cooking

2009-09-26T19:12:00.001-07:00

I don't know by what kind of magic my mother conjured but my sister and I believed eating artichoke was a treat akin to ice cream for breakfast. It felt like breaking all the rules but with my mother's sanction. Perhaps it was because we got to eat it with huge, mountainous globs of mayonnaise; possibly because we only ate them about once or twice a year when they were in season and ridiculously low priced. I can't explain it. It just is what it is.

In all my years of eating artichoke I've cooked and eaten it the same way, the easy way: steamed in a pressure cooker and eaten with mayo. Until tonight. Tonight's Mastering the Art of French Cooking meal:

Bifteck saute au beurre

Artichauts au naturel avec beurre au citron

Riz naturel

In English that's Pan-broiled steak, artichoke with lemon butter, and white rice. Old arty was cooked in the new-to-me, old fashioned way: boiled for an hour on the stove. In fact, everything I made tonight was from scratch. That's one of the things I love about MtAoFC. It's kind of like reading Moby Dick. Nobody really likes the story, they just read it for the bragging rights. Or maybe that's just me. (Yes, I've read Moby Dick. No, I did not enjoy it. Yes, I brag about it whenever I get the chance.) Except with cooking this way I do enjoy the final results. All the effort is worth it.

The steak cooked up nice. I would recommend a thinner cut of beef if you like your meat cooked through like my family does. The red wine and butter sauce was all the flavoring it needed.

The artichoke was great. I had fun making the lemon butter sauce. But it was too lemony for my pallet. And it just didn't compare to mayo. Nevertheless, I ate like a purist and made all the kids try at least one taste with the lemon butter sauce. Afterward I ate the heart with mayo. Awe, that was good.

The white rice was made on the stove following directions precisely. It was very sticky. Our family hasn't eaten white rice in at least a year, preferring the wholesomeness of brown rice with a little butter. It was a bit of a treat. I made so much that we will use the leftovers to make rice pudding.

I used just about a cup of butter. Anyone who knows me knows that I love butter. Love. It. This much butter is divine, wasteline be damned.

The verdict: it was good. It wasn't so wonderful that we will add it to the monthly recipe rotation but there was very little left for tomorrow's lunch.

Because I consider this an adventure I feel the need to take something away from my experience. I learned a couple of interesting things. The first is that you shouldn't drink wine when eating artichoke. Julia Child advises against it. The wine interferes with the artichoke's "character". The other is that, though I tend to dislike meat, when cooked skillfully it is not just tolerable but satisfying. OK, so I knew that second one already but it is an idea that always hits me fresh whenever I it proves true.

Food is more than just sustenance. It can be a joy. And French cooking the way Julia does it is an art. If you have the time and inclination(and stamina) you should take that copy of MtAoFC off your shelf or coffee table(I know you bought a copy) and try something new. It's rewarding. And you can brag to all your friends.

Clear Off Your Shelves Challenge

2009-09-21T15:03:00.000-07:00

I have been staring longingly at my well stocked shelves for the last couple of months thinking, "as soon as I finish these ARCs..." only to find myself requesting yet another ARC. But I have some exciting news, I'm on my last review copy right now. It will be reviewed by the end of the week. *rejoice* With this goal accomplished I can make room for another: to read the books I have already paid good money for. So this new challenge comes with perfect timing.

Clear Off Your Shelves Challenge. It is what it sounds like. The 2 most important rules are these: the books must have been on your shelves for at least 6 months and you estimate a percentage of books to read instead of a number of books. I'm going to aim low with a 50% goal. That means that if I read 10 books between 10/1/09 and 11/30/09 then 5 of them should be something I bought or received back in March or earlier. As I have almost 700 unread books languishing in neat little rows this challenge shouldn't be all that challenging.

Come join the fun. From what I have seen around the blogosphere there will be loads of friends to cheer each other on. Visit S. Krishna's Books for details and to link up.

The Sunday Salon

2009-09-20T15:50:00.000-07:00

It's been a few weeks but I'm back to the Sunday Salon. Did you miss me?

Reading
I finished and reviewed Against the Odds, a short story collection by L.M. Montgomery. I am still working through Pay Attention, Say Thank You and House of Sand and Fog. I started reading a cute, funny little book to my kiddos called What-the-Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy. Our beloved kitty is named Dickens and I love fairy stories. I'm so glad it has turned out to be such great fun.

Non-Bookish News
Our homeschool has been successfully running for three weeks now. We learned all about Queen Elizabeth I this week. Shakespeare is next week. I'm so excited about reading some Shakespeare to my kiddos. We have also done some science experiments to learn about molecules. Our favorite experiment so far has been putting a balloon over the top of a soda bottle, then shaking it up. The balloon inflates from all the carbon dioxide.

We went on a weekend trip to the coast last weekend, meeting with my daughter's best friend who had moved away recently. We found the biggest sand crab I have ever seen. Usually they are the size of a fingernail. This one was much bigger.

FLYLady
Last time I mentioned my progress Debra asked me how long it took per day to keep up with FLYLady. I work on it a few minutes here and there throughout the day but in total it is probably an hour. The point is to declutter for 15 minutes(or 10 or 5, however much time you have) a day, then set up morning and evening routines. I also like working on the daily missions. I don't bother with shining my sink. I take what works for me and leave the rest. My one complaint is that you get 10-15 emails a day, most of which are called "testimonials" but are really advertisements for FLY shop cleaning supplies. Those get old fast. A lot of people are doubtful but it has really worked for me. I suggest trying it for a month and seeing if it makes a difference for you.

This week we are focusing on the master bedroom. This is where my sewing area is. I haven't sewn in months because this area is the catch all for all my junk. But 15 minutes a day will make a dent in it which is better than nothing.

French Cooking
I broke down and joined hundreds of trendy housewives. I bought Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. Then I actually made a recipe from it the very next day. It took 4 1/2 hours but the Boeuf Bourguignon(beef stew with red wine) was sooooo delicious. Is anyone else doing any French cooking?

Une Friandise

2009-09-18T15:51:00.000-07:00

Looky looky what I got!

The other book there is a notebook that I will use to chronicle my progress through Child's cook book. I promise to post photos.

Review: Against the Odds

2009-09-17T23:17:00.000-07:00

Against the Odds: Tales of Achievement
by L.M. Montgomery

I didn't even know this collection of short stories existed by the beloved author of Anne of Green Gables. All of these stories were published in various magazines and papers starting as far back as 1896. As noted int he title these are tales of achievement, specifically the achievement of dreams of young adults by means of honesty, hard work and ingenuity. My favorite of the stories were Dorinda's Desperate Deed and A Case of Trespass. Dorinda believes the way to get help is to ask for it, even if asking from a stubborn uncle who hasn't spoken with his family in years. And Dan in Trespass believes the honest confession is the best path when he finds he's been trespassing illegally. In all cases the stories end with rewards for those willing to do what it takes without compromising their integrity.

Yes the stories can be a bit repetitive and fantastical but they are infused with Montgomery's knack for quirky characters. They encourage principles and virtuous living.

One Word Review:
Successful

I am so glad that I was introduced to this collection through the Take a Chance Challenge. This was from the Random Word leg of the challenge. My word had been Achievement. That's 4 books down, two to go. I need to decide if I am ready to begin my adventures with Harry Potter just yet or if I can put it off for one more month. :)

BTT: It's That Good

2009-09-17T14:20:00.000-07:00

What’s the most enjoyable, most fun, most just-darn-entertaining book you’ve read recently? (Mind you, this doesn’t necessarily mean funny, since we covered that already. Just … GOOD.)

Enjoyable? Fun? Just-darn-entertaining? And how far back is recent anyway?

Okay. Enough of the over analysing(for the moment). Because I actually refer to it as enjoyable, funny and enthralling, my choice is Homer & Langley. It was all of those things and more.

To participate in this or future Booking Through Thursdays simply follow the link and check in every Thursday.

It's Tuesday...Where are you?

2009-09-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

Has a book ever transported you to a new land or experience? Share where your reading has taken you this week. Visit An Adventure in Reading for more details.

I am in Northern California, along the coast. There is a home that has been mistakenly taken away from a depressed and deserted woman and auctioned to an Eastern Indian immigrant trying to regain his self worth. It doesn't end well(from what I've heard).

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III

San Mateo County, California