July 31, 2020 BEHIND THE MASK

The MASK. It's complicated. NO matter which kind I try---MY GLASSES FOG UP AND I CAN'T SEE A DAMN THING. It's SO frustrating. I've tried different materials, ties,  nose clips--HELL--I'm on the verge of bankruptcy. I've finally decided that I'm just going to wear my glasses to drive and the HELL

WITH IT. I'll be blind as a bat the rest of the time. While I'm talking about masks. I have a question that must be answered before I go back to school. Do my masks have to color coordinate with my outfits? I know that sounds like a strange questions BUT I have certain standards. Can I wear a mask that's purple & red with an  orange outfit? Seriously--I'm NOW seeing the "MASK" as part of my ENSEMBLE--much like a scarf. AND I AM A SERIOUS LOVER OF THE SCARF. Don't think I'll be wearing my scarves to school though--a MASK and a SCARF together IS  JUST TOO MUCH. SO--is my MASK--my NEW SCARF? If so--then I need to get to work. I've got some coordinating to do. And what about my lipstick?? What's the point if I have to wear a mask?? NO more coordinating my lipstick with my outfit either? I might have to start painting my nails instead. THIS IS A LOT FOR ME. I have an image to uphold and this "MASK THING" is really cramping my style. The residents of The Causes Housing Project feel the same way when drug dealers take over their park in James McBride's new book Deacon King Kong. 

One day a drunken church deacon known as Sportcoat has had enough. After a few too many drinks, he heads out to the courtyard and shoots a drug dealer. This is not just any drug dealer, this is a kid who grew up in the projects. A kid that Sportcoat once coached and taught Sunday School. It's September 1969 and drugs, organized crime and theft have taken over the projects. The shooting sets off a chain of events that changes all involved as well as the future of the Causes and the Five Ends Baptist Church. I know this book may sound sad and it is to a point, but  it is also  quite funny--laugh out loud funny.  McBride  brings to life a cast of colorful characters that are unforgettable including Hot Sausage, Bum Bum, The Elephant and Hurly Girly to name a few. This is ultimately a story about a community of people who band together to save their church and make their home safe. I really enjoyed the story, LOVED the characters and learned a lot about a community that I knew nothing about. It's only 380 pages or a 4 mile run worth every minute. 

July 23, 2020 THEY'RE COMING TO TAKE ME AWAY

Life in the time of COVID--The WHOLE MEGILLAH IS DRIVING ME CRAZY.  We are DEEP in the WEEDS here--living in uncertain times--and SOME people still think it's a HOAX. It's all too much for me. I'm starting to feel betwixt and between and not sure what to do with myself. I want to be productive but when EVERY day is Ground Hog's Day it's NOT easy.  Is it Monday-Friday-Saturday-What difference does it even make? Every day is a Mary Mix-Up day AS one day bleeds into the next.  I'm feeling all SIXES and SEVENS and I'm starting to talk up side streets. UGH. Is this really my new NORMAL? I just want my old life back before I fall over the edge and I'm--four quarters short of a dollar--a few bricks short of a load--five cans short of a six pack. Before they take me away to the--booby hatch--bug house--Funny Farm--where life is wonderful ALL the time. They're coming to take me away.............HA HA--but before I go--I think I can handle one more book review.
If you enjoyed The Clockmaker's Daughter, then you should definitely read The Lake House by Kate Morton. Sadie Sparrow is a detective in London who is forced to take leave after violating rules of conduct during an investigation. She retreats to her grandfather's home in Cornwall where she stumbles across an abandoned estate called Loeanneth or Lake House. Sadie soon learns that the estate has been abandoned for seventy years, since 1933 when young Theo Edevane went missing during a summer party. Sadie becomes obsessed with the house and family and decides to investigate the seventy year old mystery. During her investigation, she meets Theo's now elderly sister Alice, a famous writer of crime novels with her own secrets about what happened that night. Morton weaves a wonderful mystery between the past and the present told through various members of the Edevane family and Sadie Sparrow. This book is essentially a mystery within a mystery as every member of the Edevane family has something to hide. This beautifully written novel is about 500 pages or a 6 mile run that will keep you guessing until the end. Enjoy.

July 11, 2020 DEDICATED TO THE ONE I LOVE

There's this book I've been wanting to read for 20 years. Seriously--but I kept putting it off because it was a BIG commitment. There are commitments and THEN THERE ARE COMMITMENTS. This book is a MONSTER. 1488 PAGES. That's essentially 4 books if you think about it. That's a lot of time reading ONE BOOK. I wavered back and forth and finally decided to tackle the BEAST. Reading a book this size is a challenge for many reasons. First off--IT'S DAUNTING. I actually had to read a good 500 pages before I felt like I was even making a "dent". It was also quite heavy--carrying it to the beach was a serious workout. Forget falling asleep reading it--I almost suffocated. And my fingers couldn't even stretch around it. It was like trying to hold TWO whoppers from Burger King at the same time. Even though I faced tremendous odds-- I put on my SUPERHERO reader glasses and mottled through. The novel--that took me two weeks to read--was called A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth. At 591,552 words, A Suitable Boy is one of the longest novels ever published in the English language. 

It is set in the fictional town of Brahmpur, India, in the 1950s post-partition. It follows the story of four interconnected families over an 18 month period. There are over forty colorful characters in the story, thankfully the book contains a family tree at the beginning to help the reader keep everyone straight. The  main character is Mrs. Rupa Mehra, who is on a  quest to find a suitable boy for her daughter, Lata, to marry. Sadly, Lata is in love with a Muslim whom she is forbidden to marry.  Lata and her overbearing mother travel far and wide so that Lata can meet and marry a man her mother and family approve of.  Seth's story is a social satire on the times as he pokes fun at many of the interesting characters who can be shallow, social climbers who only care about money and connections. Seth also examines the 1950s in terms of  political issues, land reform, caste systems, academics, religion and the importance of family. Although I found the chapters on politics immensely detailed and dry, I really enjoyed the chapters that focused on Lata and her extended family. Again, it was a huge commitment that I'm not sure was worth the time, but I am really glad that I finally BESTED the BEAST. This book is REALLY a marathon--26.2--that is definitely not for everyone but it was made into a BBC series last year that you might enjoy. 

June 29, 2020 I WONDER WHY

                            I WONDER...............................................................................

**Why our glorious leader WON'T wear a mask? He is supposed to be a role model. Just think how low our Covid numbers could have been??

**How things would be if we had a president who worked to unify the United States and ACTUALLY LEAD us in our battle against Covid??

**What it would be like to have a president who actually cared about the health and safety of the people??

**What it would be like to have a president who faced the issues armed with REAL knowledge and facts??

**What it would feel like to have a president who comforted Americans during these difficult times??

**When THIS nightmare be over???   

...........These are just a few of the things I wonder........... about---- as we enter the fifth month of Covid............Phase Two--I believe. (HEAVY SIGH)  

Speaking of sighs, I recently finished a novel from 2008 that I absolutely loved called Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo.  Russo is a fabulous writer and has become one of my favorite American writers. He has the ability to write about small-town life and actually make you feel as if you are part of the neighborhood.  This quiet story is set in Thomaston, a fictional town, in upstate New York. Lou "Lucy" Lynch,  the main character, has spent his entire life in Thomaston.  A town where--everybody knows your name.  At age 60, Lucy decides to write a book about the history of the town and his life. While writing the book, the reader learns about many issues that  faced the town over the years including social classes, racism, mental illness, environmental pollution and the cancer caused by the old tannery. The book  also follows Lucy's childhood,  his quirky parents, grandparents,  best friend Bobby Marconi, girlfriend Sarah Berg and just how the family came to own several convenience stores in town. This book is filled with a cast of characters that you will come to know and love because  Russo understands human behavior and has the ability to create rich, interesting, unforgettable characters. If you like beautiful writing, then this is the book for you. It's about 640 pages--or a 6 mile run--that you will never forget. 

 

June 22, 2020 LIE TO ME

As Covid threatens to take over the United States, our fearless leader carried on with his idiotic rally. Are you kidding me? And masks were optional? As it stands now--8 of his staffers have tested positive for virus. DAAHHH....Trump actually said that he wanted to limit testing to keep the numbers down--so that he could spread his "Fake News." OKAY-- let's just stop testing so that Trump can claim he's conquered his enemy. UGH.  The only good news that came out of the rally--besides the fact that TRUMP made an ASS out of himself AGAIN-- was that the rally wasn't  well attended. Many people were smart enough to stay away from an enclosed area full of people--they actually listened to SCIENCE.  I think that the  people who were actually DUMB enough to attend the rally --should have been required to a sign a waiver-- giving up their rights to medical care--when they get Covid. Sounds fair to me.  It's laughable that TRUMP stood there spouting about MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN --when everything that's gone wrong in the United States since his election is pretty much his fault. He doesn't give a HOOT about Racism, BLM, Covid or trying to Unite the U.S.  He wants to divide the U.S. AND spread HATRED so that he can get re-elected.  TRUMP ONLY CARES ABOUT TRUMP-- HIS  MONEY--and GETTING REELECTED.
Another person who seemingly only cares about herself is the main character in Taylor Jenkins Reid's novel,  The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. As the story begins, Evelyn is a legendary actress of "Old Hollywood" living in New York City who wants her story told. She hires an unknown journalist named Monique Grant to write her story. This begs the question why an unknown journalist? At this point in the story,  Monique is barely scraping by as her husband has left her and her career is going nowhere. After the two meet, Monique goes to Evelyns apartment every day to record her biography for a book that stands to make millions. Monique learns that Evelyn made her way to Hollywood in 1950 at the age of fourteen to become a star. She was ruthless in her endeavor and didn't let anyone or anything stand in her way as fame and fortune meant more to her than anything. Evelyn's story is one of  glamour, betrayal, friendship and scandal as  Evelyn explains why she had seven husbands, and why she was forced to leave Hollywood in the 1980s. This book is ultimately about the love of Evelyn's life and her desire to finally speak the truth. By the end of the story, Monique will also learn why she was chosen by Evelyn to write her biography. I really enjoyed the story--it was not what I expected--for that I'm thankful. It's about 400 pages or a 4 mile run that you will find hard to put down. Enjoy.

June 10, 2020 OLD TIME ROCK & ROLL

Concerts. I read a book a few weeks ago that got me thinking. Back in the day--concerts were a MAJOR event. Remember---Kind of like seeing the The Wizard of Oz on television. Tickets were about $10--Can you believe it? Seriously--you could see Van Halen for $8.50--BUT--that was a lot of money-considering minimum wage was about $3 an hour. CRAZY.  Then I started thinking about some of the concerts I went to in the 1980s.  It's funny--some of them I remember VIVIDLY--while others NOT SO MUCH--I'll leave it at that. To the BEST of my recollection--these are some of the concerts I saw WAY BACK WHEN. Genesis-Rush-Journey-Bryan Adams-Def Leppard-The Police-Fleetwood Mac-Rod Stewart-Madonna-Elton John-James Taylor. I'm sure there were others but I can't think of them right now. I can still remember wanting to be a groupie though. Wanting to run away and follow a band around the country. I fantasized that Rod Stewart would see me in the crowd and whisk me away.......SORRY....back to reality. I'm sure we have all fantasized that we were either in a band or part of the band and if you REALLY want to feel that way again--for a little while-- you must read Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
This book is unique in that it is written as a series of interviews about a famous rock band of the 1970s. The interviewees include members of the band, groupies, agents, and friends of the band, forty years after their mysterious break up. Daisy Jones, the lead singer, grew up in Los Angeles on the Sunset Strip. She hangs out with bands and enjoys the lifestyle of a groupie. As she grows older, she discovers her talent for song writing and eventually as a singer. Billy Dunne, is the leader of The Six, a band gaining popularity in the early 1970s. After the two join forces, the sky is the limit until problems in the band --jealousy-drugs-alcohol-sex--become too much. This is the story of the rise and fall of a rock band and how things are recalled by members of the band forty years later. It's interesting that things that seemed important then--seem quite ridiculous now. The story seems so real that I actually googled the band--only to find out that the book is VERY loosely based on Fleetwood Mac when they were recording their album Rumors. This is a great story. I loved the writing and the format. I fell into it and wanted to stay. I did read that the book is going to become a mini series too. It about 370 pages or a 4 mile run that I thoroughly enjoyed.

June 1, 2020 BLUER THAN BLUE

Have you ever heard of the Blue People of Kentucky? Me either--until last week. Apparently, a man of French descent named Martin Fugate, who had blue skin, settled in Troublesome Creek around 1800.  He married a woman named Elizabeth Smith and four of their seven children were blue. Why were they blue? The color of their skin was due to low oxygen saturation caused by hereditary Methemoglobinemia. Interestingly enough, it was caused by a recessive gene--so both the father and mother had to have the gene in order to have blue children. By the 20th century, descendants with the gene still lived hidden around Troublesome Creek. In the 1950's, two siblings caught the attention of a nurse who then took them to a hematologist who was familiar with their condition as he had seen it in Alaska. After testing and further study, he  was able to treat the them. Sadly, the blue people were discriminated against because of their skin color. They were murdered, beaten, and ridiculed because they weren't white. Unfortunately, things haven't changed much in our world-- They've only gotten worse as witnessed by the events of the past few months. Stand for a moment in Cussy Mary Carter's shoes when you  read The Book Woman of Trouble Some Creek by Kim Michelle Richards.  

Cussy Mary, the narrator of this fine novel, is the last of her kind--the Blue People. She's also a pack horse librarian, one of  Roosevelt's WPA programs of the 1930s. Cussy Mary is a brave, dedicated librarian who faces prejudice, intolerance and attacks from whites as she travels the poverty stricken rural areas of Appalachia delivering books to her patrons. She and her father are not accepted in town and are not considered part of the community because of their difference. Because of the color of their skin, they are persecuted and held hostage in  their own homes. Her father is a coal miner with  lung disease who has one last wish. He wants to see his daughter married and taken care of before his death. But who would want to marry a Blue? This book is so many things. It is a well- researched novel that will make you feel like you are back in Kentucy in the 1930s. It's also a book that pays tribute to the women who rode countless miles over rough terrain to bring hope to the poor, ignorant masses. It's also about prejudice and what it's like to be different in a world that does not accept difference. Find out what happens to Cussy Mary and her father when you read this beautifully written novel for yourself. It's about 320 pages or a 4 mile run that is more timely than ever.