May 28, 2020 TRAIN WHISTLE BLUES

I'm one of those people who rarely watches the movie after I read  the book. And when I do--I'm generally disappointed with the movie version. It's just impossible to capture so many details on film. It's also REALLY annoying when a book gets made into a movie and they completely change the plot AND the characters. So I went against my better judgement the other night and watched a movie right after I finished reading the book. The movie was made back in 1991 and was a HUGE hit. It was nominated for a few Academy Awards and was loaded with stars. I will admit that I really enjoyed the movie and if I hadn't just finished the book--I would have probably loved it--except for a few things.  First of all, the movie was different. The plot was rearranged and changed because several characters in the book were not in the movie. UGH.  I also didn't agree with some of the actresses chosen for certain parts--but that's my deal. I had a picture in my mind about what the characters should look like and some were completely different in the film. OKAY--I've kept you waiting long enough. Believe it or NOT--I finally got around to reading Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg.
This wonderful story centers on the friendship of Evelyn Crouch, a middle-aged housewife and an elderly woman named Ninny Threadgoode. The two meet at Rose Terrace Nursing Home while Evelyn is visiting her mother-in law-in the 1980's.  Evelyn enjoys Ninny's company so she decides to visit with her while her husband sees his Momma. Ninny regales Evelyn with stories of  the Threadgoode family  and the Whistle Stop Cafe in Alabama.  Many of the stories focus on the adventures  Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison, owners of the cafe during the Depression riddled South. Her stories are  filled with colorful characters including Smokey, Big George, Sispey  to name a few. This novel explores many themes including family, ageing, racism, lesbianism and friendship. If you read this book back in 1987--it's worth a second read. It's about 400 pages --or a 4 mile--run that's filled with lessons we could really use in 2020. 

May 23, 2020 STILL THE SAME

My life feels like the movie Groundhog's Day. You know-- Where Bill Murray wakes up and everything is--EXACTLY THE SAME--every day. Yup--The MONOTONY IS KILLING ME. I love my family as much as the next person--BUT SERIOUSLY--ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Being together THIS MUCH-is getting OLD.There is NOTHING left to talk about. O-M-G. Trying so HARD to stay positive but SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE. I can only run SO many miles--then it's back to the prison. THE DREADED ROUTINE. HOW MUCH CAN I COOK?? How many times can I wipe down the counters?? Scrub the toilets? Sweep the dog hair? Fold the leggings? You know things are bad when GOING TO THE GROCERY STORE IS THE BEST PART OF MY DAY--at least its's a diversion from my routine. Hopefully things will get better soon. Outdoor venues are starting to open and one of the libraries has opened with curbside service--so that's a plus. I'm Trying not to FALL DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE in the meantime. Udo, better known as Little Bee, has problems of her own in Chris Cleave's novel from 2010 Little Bee.  

Little Bee is a young Nigerian girl who flees her home for a better life during the Nigerian Oil Wars. As the story begins, Little Bee and four other refugees are being released from an Immigration Detention Center near London. After staying at a farm near the center, Little Bee decides to make her way to the home of Sarah Summers and Andrew O'Rourke--the only people she knows in London. Little Bee and her sister briefly met the couple two years earlier when Sarah and Andrew were on a  beach in Nigeria during their vacation. After a confrontation with the sisters and some hostile soldiers, Andrew lost his license while Sarah lost a finger. Two years later,  Little Bee shows up at the house on the day of Andrew's funeral and stays on to help Sarah and her son Charlie. I don't want to say much more except that this is a book about choices. Some are good, others bad but they ALL shape our lives. I enjoyed this book that was made into a movie in 2018 although I did not find some parts believable--but that's just me. It's a 270 page book or 4 mile run that is definitely worth your time. Enjoy.  

May 19, 2020 NOTHING'S GONNA STOP US NOW

I have two words for you. VIRTUAL GRADUATION. It's that time of year again. Our seniors will graduate this Friday. We usually have all kinds of special activities--a breakfast--awards program--beautiful graduation--BUT NOT THIS YEAR. I feel badly for ANYONE who is trying to celebrate in the midst of COVID-19. The struggle is REAL. After much debate, my school decided to hold a virtual graduation. This involved the COORDINATION  and DEDICATION of many people. I happily agreed to help with the filming AND I'M SO GLAD THAT I DID. I got to see "the kids" again in all their finery. There were "congratulation signs" covering the lawn as the seniors readied themselves with their--caps--gowns--cords--to walk down the aisle and accept their diplomas. Each was captured on film and will be put together for friends and family to watch--this Friday at 6:00.  I know it's not the same as actually being there together BUT we did our best to honor the graduates. Congratulations Seniors. Happy Trails.
Too bad the trail wasn't happy for Lily Millington, the main character of Kate Morton's mystery The Clockmaker's Daughter. This lovely novel is part love story, part mystery and part ghost story. It also spans 150 years, and is told through multiple voices. If you are okay with that then you will love this book. Lily Millington, a one time thief living in England in 1862, falls in love with acclaimed painter Edward Radcliffe while working as his model. The feeling is mutual, but Edward is already engaged to a wealthy socialite named Fannie Brown. In order to escape his future, Edward, Lily and a group of painters escape to Edward's home in the country, Birchfield Manor. After a fumbled robbery, Fannie is dead and Lily disappears. A few years later, Edward dies and leaves his home to his sister Lucy who uses the house as a school for girls and later a museum dedicated to her brother. What's important in this novel is Birchfield Manor and its effect on the people who visit the home over 150 years including a student named Ava in the 1900's, Julia & Alan Winston in 1928,  Leonard, Jack, and Elodie Winslow, an archivist, who finds an old satchel containing sketches of a house and a picture of a woman that sets her on the hunt for answers. I really enjoyed this book but have to admit that it was NOT an easy read. You should make a list of all the characters because they are all connected in the end but it's hard to keep track of them because the book flips back and forth through time and has a ghost who is an unreliable narrator. WOW. This book is about 500 pages or a 6 mile run that I thoroughly enjoyed.

May 9, 2020 A MOTHER'S LOVE

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. Being a mother is a tough job--if you want to do it well. There's ALL this SACRIFICING, nurturing, understanding -- did I mention SACRIFICING. Good bye--LIFE--FIGURE--SLEEP--MONEY--TIME. My advice to ALL THE WOULD-BE MOTHERS OUT THERE---Get a puppy first. Seriously--they are an awful lot like babies. They are adorable little creatures who-- poop-peep-cry--just like a baby--but better.  Seriously--Your legs won't swell and your belly won't get bigger than a balloon. Right? They won't take over YOUR WHOLE LIFE EITHER--get a crate and you've got yourself a babysitter. While I admit--puppies whimper at night--at least you don't have to get up and feed them. Get yourself a white noise machine to block it out. And a puppy is a hell of a lot cheaper than a baby. The diapers-formula-clothes--baby systems--ENOUGH SAID.  All you have to do is train that puppy to do his BUSINESS outside. Best of all--the time commitment is not as OVERWHELMING.  A new mother is literally CHAINED to that ADORABLE baby 24/7. HEED MY ADVICE ladies--a puppy is that tiny step you take BEFORE YOU LEAP in to THE REAL WORLD. Being a mother--ISN'T FOR THE FAINT OF HEART--but I wouldn't change it for the world. 
Vera Ray and Claire Aldridge, the main characters in Blackberry Winter by Sarah Joi, are both mothers who face very different struggles that ultimately change their lives. Set in Seattle during the Depression, Vera Ray returns home after her shift at the Olympic Hotel to find her three year old son Daniel missing. It's May 2, 1933, and heavy snow is falling as Vera searches frantically for her son. After a desperate hunt, she finds his teddy bear in the snow and realizes her son has been abducted.  Decades later, It's May 2 in Seattle as a blizzard strikes--an anomaly that is referred by meteorologists as Blackberry Winter. Claire Aldridge, a reporter for the Seattle Herald, is called upon to write a story about the Blackberry Winter of 1933. While researching, she learns about Daniel Ray's unsolved kidnapping and takes it upon herself to solve the mystery. Find out what happened to Daniel all those years ago and Claire's strange connection to Vera when you read this book for yourself. It's about 290 pages --or a 3 mile run--that I really enjoyed.

April 30, 2020 JUST ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE

If there's one thing I dislike about as much as grocery shopping --it's deciding WHAT'S FOR DINNER.  Just hearing those THREE WORDS used to make my BLOOD BOIL--before the pandemic. Today cooking dinner has taken on a whole new meaning--YUP-- cooking dinner has become an EVENT in my house. I guess I've REALLY hit ROCK BOTTOM. I've turned into SUZY HOMEMAKER-- I'm cooking away--BECAUSE IT GIVES ME SOMETHING TO DO. I've been trying new recipes--spending hours in the kitchen.  Here's a small sampling of some of the tasty food you can get at my restaurant:
Fish Tacos with Pico De Gallo and avocado slices
Blackened Fish/roasted veggies/arugula and couscous
Chicken Parmesan with house salad and freshly made bread
Grilled pizza--red or white--you choice your toppings
Bean Burgers with arugula, red onion and feta
Hearty Beef Stew with homemade cornbread
Eggplant Parmesan with fresh tomato basil sauce
Pulled Pork with black beans and rice
We also served healthy fruit smoothies with protein powder for breakfast and a variety of sides. Yup--that's what happens when you've been home for 7 WEEKS and you have TOO MUCH TIME.
If you're spending too much time in the kitchen then perhaps you'd like to take a break to read Terry McMillan's new book It's Not All Downhill From Here.
Loretha Curry, the main character in this novel, is a sixty-eight year old woman living in Pasadena who loves her family fiercely. After a sudden loss, her world is turned upside down. Her weight spirals out of control, putting her health in jeopardy, and her business is in limbo. In addition to  her own problems, her daughter Jalecia barely speaks to her,  her mother has recently moved into an assisted living, and her niece Cinnamon is pregnant. She's got a full plate.  Luckily for Loretha, she has a close knit group of friends who band together to help pick up the pieces. Her friend group-Ko, Lucky, Sadie, and Poochie--have been together for fifty years. They are raw, honest to a fault and hysterically funny at times.  Find out how Loretha finds her way through grief-- with humor, hope and a few prayers--when you read this novel  This book is about many things. It's about friendship, strong women, mental illness, addition, faith, and how we must all endure change and challenges in our lives.  This is an easy read--about 350 pages or a 3 mile run that's filled with hope and wisdom.

April 27, 2020 RHINESTONE COWBOY

The Grocery store. I hated grocery shopping BEFORE the pandemic. NOW I ULTRA HATE IT. Don't know how those doctors and nurses can stand wearing a mask ALL day. I wore one to the grocery store last week and almost passed out from my own carbon dioxide. OKAY--maybe it was just the anxiety over the whole experience. Not only did I suffer from lack of oxygen--I couldn't see a DAMN THING because my glasses kept fogging up. I was banging into everything--going up and down the wrong aisles--I'm surprised I didn't get arrested. And people get really NASTY if you go up the wrong aisle. I actually got into a  LITTLE altercation with some lady because I was GOING in the wrong direction. I am directionally challenged--on a good day. She gave me a VERBAL LASHING that was seriously OUT of proportion for the crime. Thought for a minute I was gonna be hanged in the town square at noon. Which brings me to my review of the Classic Western Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.
This incredible epic focuses on two famous retired Texas Rangers, Captain Woodrow Call and Captain Augustus "Gus" McCrae.  After spending years taming the West, the two now own the Hat Creek Cattle Company and Emporium in a tiny town in Texas called Lonesome Dove. They have been in Lonesome Dove for about ten years when they receive a visit from an old friend who regales them with tales of  Montana and his travels. Call and Gus then get the itch to go on one last great adventure. They decide to herd cattle from Texas to Montana with their company which includes Pea Eye, Deets, Dish, Newt and many others --to be the first to succeed in starting a cattle ranch in Montana. Along the way they encounter all kinds of danger and meet a host of unforgettable characters including ladies, whores, settlers, Indians, and sheriffs. This beautifully written novel is a story about friendship, ageing, death, and unrequited love on the last frontier. It's a biggy though--almost 900 pages or a 10 miles run that is well worth your time. Getting lost in Lonesome Dove is a great way to get through this pandemic!

April 18, 2020 TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME

The LONG book. Yup-- it's a commitment. But since we ALL have SO much EXTRA time these days--WHY NOT??  There are many good things about reading a longer book. Better character development--more intriguing plot--many times multigenerational--an ending that doesn't feel rushed either. I personally love the LONG novel because I get to spend MORE TIME in another world. A world that sometimes is much BETTER than my own---OR Worse--so that I can appreciate my own. One more great thing about the long novel--I don't have to WORRY about which book I'm going to read next because the LONG BOOK is going to keep me busy for quite a while. WHAT A RELIEF.  I'm currently reading an 845 pager. It's THICK. Remember Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty? It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1985. I'm lost in the American frontier with a couple of Texas rangers, outlaws, whores, ladies, cowboys and settlers. It's a good place to be. If you're not interested in the West, I've come up with a list of other GREAT LONG books that you can lose yourself in.
1. The Country Girls by Edna O'Brien--530 pages
2. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry--624 pages
3. A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving--645 pages
4. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham--650 pages
5. Bleak House by Charles Dickens--680 pages
6. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt--880 pages
7. I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb--900 pages
8. 11/22/63: A Novel by Stephen King--1000 pages
9. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett--1104 pages
10.--These writers have written several books--so if you still don't want the giant commitment--check out their other  books. Enjoy!