March 12, 2022 BEAUTY LIES IN THE EYES OF THE BEHOLDER

 

FYI-- Recent studies have found that faces are significantly MORE attractive when covered with a mask. Studies ALSO suggest  that people look MUCH YOUNGER with their faces covered too. SOO--If I keep the lower third of my face covered I will look MORE ATTRACTIVE AND YOUNGER.???  SEE MY DILEMMA? Listen--I hate the mask as much as the next person BUT there are many PERKS TO KEEPING IN ON. NOT only will I look younger and more attractive BUT I can also talk to myself, leave spinach in my teeth, have coffee breath, forget my lipstick--AND NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW.  I can also hide my NOSE that is wider than the Grand Canyon, acne, coffee stained teeth, wrinkles, dry skin, nose hair, cracked lips. It should really be a NO brainer. BUT........I don't know. Maybe I'll chance it--maybe-just-maybe the LOWER THIRD OF MY FACE isn't THAT BAD. I guess it's a risk I'll have to take.....AND SO WILL YOU. While you're pondering life without a mask, you just might want to read Liane Moriarty's new book Apples Never Fall. Set in Sydney, Stan and Joy Delaney seem to have everything. They've been married for 50 years and have four grown children. They are former tennis pros, who have just sold their tennis academy and plan to retire. One evening, a mysterious, seemingly battered  woman named Savannah knocks on their door in need of help. Joy welcomes Savannah and even lets her stay at the house to sort out her life--much to the chagrin of her children.  Several months later, Joy goes missing and her husband Stan is the prime suspect. While two of the siblings believe their father may have killed Joy, the other two are determined to prove his innocence. The story flips back and forth in time as the children reexamine their lives and their parents' marriage in an effort to uncover the mystery. This family drama is laugh out loud funny at times as the family dynamics of the siblings and old resentments reappear but remember it is also a mystery. What happened to Joy? Is Stan involved in her disappearance? Where is Savannah? Will the siblings learn from their mistakes and forgive the past? Find out for yourself when you read this 480 page book. It's an easy 5 mile run that I really enjoyed. 

February 20, 2022 AGAINST THE WIND

 

What's with the wind? It's making THIS winter unbearable. Seriously. I can handle running when it's 15-20 degrees--BUT--when the wind makes it feel like 5--I get a little cranky. ANY wind--this time of year--is too much wind as far as I'm concerned. I've had to really bundle up this winter--it been a 2 pair of pants kind of year. I don't remember it EVER being this cold and windy. It's all I can do to go out for a run--then spend the rest of the day trying to warm up. I actually wish I could hibernate til spring but I'm not a bear. Maybe I'm just getting older and the cold weather is affecting me more. UGH.  I finally understand why SO many people head SOUTH for the winter. This weather SUCKS. I can't stand it. I got the February Blues--hoping March will be a little kinder. If you're in a purple funk this February then maybe Louise Penny's newest installment of the Gamache series, The Madness of Crowds, will help perk you up. In this book, number 17, Chief Inspector Gamache returns to his home in  Three Pines, a tiny Quebec village, after the pandemic.  Gamache is called upon to provide security for a Statistics Professor named Abigail Robinson who is giving a lecture at a nearby university. Although this seems like a strange request for the head of police, Gamache agrees to provide security but has mixed feelings when he finds out what the lecture is about. Professor Robinson is using pandemic data to further her agenda--a government policy accepting euthanasia for the elderly, sick and even deformed. When a murder is committed after the lecture, Gamache, his second in command Jean-Guy Beauvoir and team investigate the crime. I found this novel interesting, especially, because Robinson manipulates data to further her agenda. Blurring the line between fact and fiction and frighteningly enough--the people--the madness of the crowds--who believed in her message. This mystery is about 448 pages or a 5 mile run that is not only a good story, but a timely one that deals with social issues that are relevant today. 

February 4, 2022 THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGIN'

 

Now that I'm old--I have to go for BONE DENSITY TESTS.  Basically--X-rays are taken to make sure that MY BONES are strong enough. First of all--I was a little taken aback that I am actually--THAT WOMAN OF A CERTAIN AGE. Are you kidding me---I'm pretty sure that I was all that just a few years ago. OKAY--Maybe that was 20 years ago. It's hard to keep it all straight. Then I really freaked out when  I remembered that my grandmother--on the Polish side-- had such brittle bones that she actually snapped ribs when she SNEEZED. I am NOT kidding. She had something called OSTEOPOROSIS.   Fast forward to today and it's a NO BRAINER that I got a call the other day from my doctor telling me that I HAVE OSTEOPENIA. Basically--I have first stage Osteoporosis in my hip and lumbar. UGH. I already take extra calcium, vitamin K and exercise SO.................. now I have to go for a test every year to check MY BONE DENSITY-- so that they can tell me in a few short years THE BAD NEWS.  YUP--85%  of women with a family history will develop the BIG O. Remember when the BIG O meant something else?? Times --they are--a changin. I guess I'll just have to soldier on. Just finished reading Pulitzer Prize winning author Louise Erdrich's newest book The Sentence. This novel is set in 2020 over the course of one year  in Minneapolis as the main character Tookie faces many obstacles. Tookie is a Native American recently released from prison who feels lucky to be working a Erdrich's small bookstore, Birchbark Books. She also happens to be married to Pollux, the tribal policeman who originally arrested her for the crime she was sent to prison for. Tookie learned to love books in prison and her knowledge of the stacks and recommendations to customers are unmatched by other employees. Work is great-- until one of the customer's passes away and starts haunting Tookie.  In addition to being haunted, Tookie is also trying to deal with Pollux's rebellious daughter, Hetta, and her new baby, Jarvis. Stir in a little pandemic--COVID, Native American customs & lore, and a listing of great book recommendations by Tookie and this is one special novel. The characters are interesting and I actually learned a lot about Native American culture so that was a plus. This is a book that explores family, culture, forgiveness and the things that bind people together. It's a bit dense--a 6 mile run of 400 pages--but I did enjoy this book by one of the finest writers of this century. 

January 23, 2022 COLD AS ICE

Was feeling a little down and out  last weekend. The weather was FRIGID and DARK clouds loomed overhead for DAYS. It was BITTER. Running is especially hard this time of year--So I did what any seasoned runner would do--bundled up and surrounded myself with other runners who are as crazy as I am and we GOT IT DONE.  Seriously--only the DIEHARDS were out last weekend. THEN I did the ONLY other thing that runners do this time of year to cheer themselves up--Yup--I bought some new gear. There's nothing like some new cold weather gear to turn my frown upside down.  I'm trying out this new brand I read about in Runner's World---BALEAF. Have never heard of this brand but was thrilled when my new fleeced lined pants and jacket arrived the other day-- I was psyched to go out for a run--even if it was only 24 degrees. See that's all it took. Something New. Just finished Sarah Winman's new book Still Life and thoroughly enjoyed it. This beautifully written novel begins in 1944 as Private Ulysses Temper meets Evelyn Skinner, a 60 year old art historian, on a road in Tuscany. She has come to Italy to help salvage art work from the ruins of war. Temper and his best friend Captain Darnley agree to accompany Evelyn to Florence, an event that changes their lives forever. After the war, Ulysses returns home to London and works at the Stoat &  Parot where the reader meets a host of unforgettable characters including Peg, Alys, Pete, Col, and Cress. After Ulysses gets an unexpected inheritance,  he returns to his beloved Florence to live and over the years,  several of his friends from London join him. The novel spans four decades where Evelyn and Ulysses look for each other only to miss at the last moment until Evelyn spies his picture in a newspaper after the Florentine Floods of 1966. This heartwarming novel of friendship, family, love, art, wine, great food and conversation set under the Tuscan sun will definitely help you forget the winter blues. Seriously,  It's a gem of a story that I'll never forget. It's about 450 pages or a 6 mile run that I was sad to finish and will surely read again. It's definitely earned a place on my book shelf. 

January 8, 2022 LET THE MUSIC PLAY

 

I finally gave in. I had NO choice. You see--my second generation NANO finally died. It had a good run--at least 15 years. I'm one of those people--I NEED music--especially if I'm racing. It really MATTERS. Otherwise I'm a self proclaimed LOLLYGAGGER. SO--I finally bit the bullet. Got an Apple Watch. I've never run with a watch before--I've never kept track of my mileage--splits--and all that JAZZ--until now.  I really like the watch  BUT at the same time it's causing me anxiety. It's a little like BIG BROTHER. It sends me notifications EVERY HOUR telling me to BREATHE--MEDITATE--STAND. It's also got this activity button that I refer to as the--RING OF TERROR. If the rings DON'T close by the end of the day then I haven't EXERCISED--MOVED--STOOD-- ENOUGH. I'm telling you--this is A LOT OF PRESSURE. See--I never wanted a gizmo that told me how many steps I took each day because then I would feel obligated to TAKE THE STEPS. NOW THAT I KNOW--it isn't pretty. Last night I was running up and down the steps at midnight to meet my goal of 10,000 steps and flights climbed.  This kind of thing can make a person like me KOOKY.  Pretty sure I was happier when I was IN THE DARK about the numbers. Yet another reason I have to escape into the world of books. I recently finished a wonderful novel by one of my favorite writers--This Must Be The Place by Maggie O'Farrell. First off, O'Farrell is an exquisite writer who has the ability to render characters flawlessly--Characters I miss long after finishing her novels. As this story unfolds, Daniel Sullivan, recently divorced father of two, is in Ireland collecting his grandfather's ashes. While there, he meets Claudette and her son Ari. After learning that Daniel is a linguist, Claudette convinces him to stick around and help her son who has a crippling stutter. Although the story is centered around the marriage of Daniel and Claudette that is just a microcosm of the story which then flashes back and forth between 1944-2016 where multiple narrators--from different time periods and places--help the reader understand why Claudette is a recluse, why Daniel hasn't seen his kids in 10 years and why guilt is crippling his life.  Again, this book is a treasure--and it was on my best books of 2021 list. It's about 400 pages or a 6 mile commitment worth every step. 

January 1, 2022 BOOK OF LOVE

 Happy New Year. 2021 was a tough year. Hoping 2022 will be a little kinder. Looking back at 2021--The Belle of the Book read 46 books--and reviewed 36 books. That's over 15,000 pages. Not bad.  My favorite books of 2021 include:

1) The Color of Water by James McBride--Blog post titled My Generation 11/6/21

2) The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles--Blog post titled Respect 11/21/21

3) Gilead Series including the books Home, Lila and Jack by Marilynne Robinson--Blog post titled Life is Hard   6/22/21

4) A Tale For The Time Being by Ruth Ozeki--Blog post titled Chicken Fried 3/27/21

5) Miracle at St. Anna by James McBride--Blog post titled Back on the Chain Gang 9/16/21

6) The House at Riverton by Kate Morton--Blog post titled High Maintenance Woman 1/24/21

7) This Must Be the Place by Maggie O'Farrell--Sorry--haven't reviewed yet

8) Nobody's Fool and the sequel Everybody's Fool by Richard Russo--Sorry--haven't reviewed yet

Hope you find peace and stay healthy in the New Year. Happy Reading. 

December 27, 2021 C IS FOR COOKIE

When I was a kid, I spent countless hours baking with my grandmother. We would spend all day Sunday  making  macaroons, brownies, rugelach, shortbread cookies, black & white cookies, chocolate toffee matzo crack, buckeyes, snowballs-- while simultaneously decorating hundreds of press cookies with sprinkles and cherries. I've continued the tradition with my own children--especially during the holidays. My only problem with baking hundreds of treats though is that they are HERE AND THEY ARE CALLING MY NAME. I have NO WILLPOWER. It's crazy. I stay away from them ALL day --But they haunt me at night. I tell myself that I'll ONLY have ONE but-- One turns into two--turns into three--turns into four-- UNITL I've had TEN.  IT'S MADNESS. I've decided to just eat as many as I can--ALL DAY--to get rid of them. THE SOONER THEY ARE GONE-- THE BETTER--RIGHT? Only then can I  STOP THE MADNESS-- Get back on the straight and narrow and hopefully fit into my jeans again. Ugh. The struggle is REAL. It was--however-- no struggle at all to read Taylor Jenkins Reid's newest book Malibu Rising. Nina Riva, the main character of this novel, is a supermodel and daughter of rock legend Mick Riva. She is also guardian of three siblings--Jay, Hud and Kit--as their mother is dead and their father abandoned the family.  The story takes place over a 24 hour period in August of 1983--the morning of the Annual Riva Summer Party. The novel flashes back and forth between the day of the party and the past--including 1956 when their parents met, married, and  Mick ultimately became famous. As the party gets started, the reader learns about each of the siblings-- their hopes, dreams and shared heartache. Will the siblings reconcile with the father? What happens to Nina' home? Will this fractured family finally find peace? Find out the answers to these questions and many more when you read this thoughtful novel for yourself. It's about 385 pages--or a 4.5 mile run--that I really enjoyed.