November 30, 2024 THAT SMELL

 

Back in the day--people smoked everywhere. Hospitals--airplanes--restaurants--and CARS WITH THE WINDOWS ROLLED UP.  We were constantly surrounded by smoke.  Fast forward to the 21st century and were are now  constantly surrounded by the smell of SKUNK. Cigarettes or Pot --it's still SECOND HAND SMOKE.  Not only does it smell horrible but more important---it's bad for MY HEALTH.  I was in NYC a few weeks ago and let me tell you----that SKUNKY smell was everywhere. It was disgusting. Pretty sure it's illegal to SMOKE POT IN PUBLIC PLACES so not sure how that problem is going to be solved. Honestly--as a visitor to the city--that's unacceptable. They need to do something about it because it's ruining the city.  Even in our little corner of the world--I can't tell you how many cars drive by me as early as 8am smoking pot. Smoking pot in a car is just like drinking in a car---I don't understand why people think it's okay because it's NOT. Just because pot is legal in many states--it comes with responsibility--just as drinking alcohol does. IDK what's going on in this world. That's why I NEED BOOKS.  As a huge Kate Atkinson fan, I waited in anticipation for the sixth installment of the Jackson Brodie mystery series called Death at the Sign of the Rook. Atkinson is a clever, funny, great writer who seems to be paying homage to Agatha Christie in this story. Ex-Detective Jackson Brodie is hired to investigate the disappearance of a famous painting. The investigation leads him to  a rundown English Country Estate called Burton Makepeace complete with very odd, often drunk nobility, strange neighbors and a vicar who is out to lunch. While searching for the painting, Brodie and Reggie, now a full on detective, get caught in a blizzard and find themselves stuck at the mansion which is hosting a "Murder Mystery Weekend" unbeknownst to them that an actual killer is on the loose nearby. This tongue in cheek mystery has many twists and turns--interesting very quirky characters that will keep you guessing til the bitter end. I totally enjoyed this novel as I have ALL of her books. My advice for the Brodie series though is to read them in order so that you can enjoy and get to know all of the characters better. 

November 23, 2024. WALL OF DENIAL

I'm a person who lives in DENIAL. It's my coping mechanism of choice. I'm very good at it as I've had years of practice. One thing I am currently in denial about is how late Thanksgiving is this year. I'm pretending I don't know that Christmas is literally right around the corner. I actually refuse to entertain any notions of CHRISTMAS until after Thanksgiving. NO CHRISTMAS SONGS, SHOPPING---NOTHING. This ridiculous thinking will obviously come back and bite me in the BUTT--but I can't possibly go there yet. I'll be the one running around like a nut trying to get it all done after Thanksgiving--but that's okay. It's how I role--one day at a time. Living in denial is much easier when you live in books. Just finished burying my head in an unputdownable book called All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker. Set in Monta Clare, a small town in Missouri in 1975, Patch is a poor, thirteen year old boy who thinks he's a pirate. He befriends a misfit named Saint after learning she's a beekeeper. Their friendship is steadfast until one day-- Patch is kidnapped while trying to save a local girl named Misty. After Patch goes missing, other girls are kidnapped and officials realize they have a serial killer on their hands. When Patch is finally rescued, things are never the same. Don't want to say much more other than the novel spans several decades as Saint becomes a detective, the search for the killer continue  and Patch spends several years searching for missing victims. This is a great book--the characters are super interesting, the writing is great, and the plot twists and turns many times. It's a suspenseful, tragic love story that does ends on a hopeful note. 

November 9, 2024 TIME WARP

It's been a rough week. Alternating between a state of disbelief and depression. When I heard the news, I tried to go into hiberation---for the next four years-- BUT had to get up for work.  I actually wore black from head to toe--reflecting my mood. Yup. We are headed  back to TRUMPVILLE.  APPARENTLY--THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN. Let the deportations begin--- get rid of all those people from "shit countries." After all--they are a bunch of rapist and criminals who have been eating our pets and stealing our jobs. NO PRICE IS TOO HIGH. Trump will probably use his secret police to round up all the "enemies from within" too. All those crazy Left Wing Kooks that don't agree with his politics. Maybe he'll even open a prison for his political enemies.  Wouldn't surprise me. Let's just sit back---LET THE CIRCUS BEGIN--and watch the RICH GET RICHER because that's what's gonna happen.  As for me--I've decided to retreat into my own world. Compartmentalize. Get lost in books. Pretend the world is normal because that's all I can do. Hopefully our country will survive the next four years of TRUMPISM. I've only got one question --unless you are in the top one percent---WHAT HAS TRUMP EVER DONE FOR YOU?? Got lost in a really good book last week called The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. Set in the near future, a young female civil servant is offered an incredible job as a "Bridge"--that's too good to be true.   Her job, working for a secret government agency, is to help people from history "expats", who have been transported to the present through time travel, adapt in the modern world. The bridge is assigned to Commander Graham Gore, a Naval officer from 1847, who is shocked by modern society and its conveniences.  Other "expats" are brought to the present--Margaret from the 17th century and Arthur, a WWI officer. Each has their own bridge. After one of the bridges is assassinated, the secret government's real plan comes to light and the other bridges and expats fear for their lives. The Bridge and Gore must then decide whether they should follow orders or choose a different future. This book is many things--including a book about time travel, romance and political intrigue that is often laugh out loud funny as Gore and the other expats try to navigate in a world that makes zero sense to them. The only other thing I'm going to say is that there is a MAJOR twist in this book that I didn't see coming. So if you are into a time traveling--romance--give this one a try. 

November 2, 2024. IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME

I'm a huge fan of time travel and often wonder where I would go or whom I would see if the opportunity ever presented itself. It might be fun to go back to the Roaring Twenties or witness some great event in history. BUT the question of whom I would want to see is what interests me the most. If I only had 15 minutes to go back in time---who would I want to see?  I'd love to visit with my grandparents ONE MORE TIME. Just to hear their voices would be such a treat. But--I think at this point in my life-I would probably have to choose my father. He was a simple man--a man of few words. Although he was a kind person--he was a weak father who didn't stand his ground or stick up for his first children the way I would have with my own kids.  I understand that divorce is hard, especially, divorce in the 1968. My mother quickly remarried and we relocated to Georgia for five years. Although we saw our dad when we came back--he was remarried and had a new family. I know he loved us, but he didn't push hard enough to make sure we stayed in his life. I often wonder how he felt about this on his deathbed, I wonder if we were his last regrets in life. So, I'd like to go back--spend 15 minutes with him--apologize for my behavior at times and forgive him, even if it still hurts. Time travel is on my mind because I just finished this little gem called Before The Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi and translated from Japanese by Geoffrey Trousselot. There is this tiny coffee shop called Funiculi Funicula on a back alley in Tokyo that has been open for over a hundred years. Rumor has it that in addition to great coffee--people can sit in a special chair and travel back in time. Over the course of one summer, Kazu, the barista, meets four people looking to go back in time for various reasons. Before the customers can complete time travel, they have to agree to many rules, one being that they must return before the coffee gets cold. Find out why Fumiko, Kohtake, Hirai and Kei want to go back in time and if they return before the coffee gets cold in this heartwarming, mysterious, lovely tale. It is an International Bestseller, that was originally a play and is now a television show. There are also a few sequels to the original that I look forward to reading too. Enjoy. 

October 30, 2024 ALL SHOOK UP

When I was a kid--we only got TWO CHANNELS on the TV. Channel 3 and Channel 56. I know that sounds crazy BUT IT'S TRUE. We literally had antennas--we called them rabbit ears--to help tune the television. Every Saturday afternoon--I watched The Creature Double Feature--BUT more importantly--I watched ELVIS MOVIES AT 4:00. I was probably about 10 years old and IN LOVE WITH ELVIS. I vividly remember the day he died. It was the summer after 6th grade. I was babysitting April Martin on Main Street in Baltic. August 16, 1977. I was heartbroken. It's funny how some things stick with you. THAT WAS 47 YEARS AGO. Yikes. The reason my mind traveled back to 1977 is because I just finished From Here To The Great Unknown by Lisa Marie Presley and her daughter, Riley Keough. Presley worked on her memoir on and off for many years, taping her life story, and in 2022 she asked her daughter Riley to help her finish it. Unfortunately, Presley died a month later and Riley ultimately finished the memoir earlier this year. The book is written as almost a conversation. Lisa Marie telling her story--living in Graceland, LA and beyond. Her absolute love for her father, difficult relationship with her mother and death of her son, Ben.  Riley's thoughts and story are interspersed of her childhood and memories of Lisa Marie and brother, Ben. This is an easy, simple read that packs a punch. Although the family certainly have had their share of grief and tragedy, the story is still hopeful as Riley and her daughter, Tupelo, navigate their own future. 

October 14, 2024 GOING TO THE CHAPEL

 

There's nothing better than a surprise----especially a SURPRISE engagement.  Last weekend was perfect. My daughter's boyfriend called early in the week to let us know he was going to propose BUT IT WAS A SECRET. After some shrewd planning and many LIES--we got Ali home and by Saturday night they were engaged and we were celebrating this wonderful event  at a party with her future inlaws. She was completely SHOCKED. She KNEW they were going to get engaged at some point BUT.........She's a lucky girl. Again--It was perfect and we are completely over the moon for them and can't wait to start planning. Life is good. Another great surprise was how much I really enjoyed The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon. This historical fiction is based on the diary entries of Martha Ballard, a midwife and healer from Maine who posted thousands of entries over many decades about colonial women's lives. Martha, the narrator of this novel set in 1789 in Maine, is called to inspect  the body of a man pulled from the frozen Kennebec River. After examining the body, Martha declares that he has been murdered and he just happens to be one of two highly respected men in town recently accused of the rape of Rebecca Foster. This is crime in a small town where women have few rights and money and power rule. As Rebecca and Martha seek justice in a man's world, the townspeople try to solve the murder of one of their own. The realities of life for women at this time period are real and WOMEN TODAY SHOULD BEWARE. Anyway, this well-written book, filled with many interesting characters, is many things--a family drama, thriller, and mystery set around actual events and that's what makes it so incredible. It's also a National Bestseller and and NPR Book of the Year. Give it a try and let me know what you think. 

September 28, 2024 AMAZING GRACE

 Ever been to The Mark Twain House in Hartford? It's a great day trip. It was the home of Samuel Clemens and his family from 1874-1891. Clemens adopted his pen name in 1863 as it referred to his steamboating days when the measure of water was called "mark twain" which meant two feet. He grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, with little to no formal education as he had to work to help support his family. One of his most famous characters, Huck Finn, was actually based on his childhood friend,Tom Blankenship and Twain's  American Classic, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, was written at his home in Hartford. I'm pretty sure I read it when I was a kid but that was a billion years ago. So,  when I heard that  Percival Everett's new book James was "Huck Finn" with a twist, I was determined to read the original so that I could appreciate both. Everett's novel is definitely familiar, but this time the story is from the perspective of  Jim, slave and friend of Huck Finn. As this story unfolds, Jim learns that he is going to be sold, so he runs away to Jackson Island to work out a plan. In the meantime, Huck fakes his own death to escape his father and joins Jim on the Island. The two then journey down the Mississippi River where they overcome many hardships and some crazy adventures. Yes, the plot is the same but with Jim as the narrator--everything else is different. In James, Jim is a literate, well-spoken (unless he's speaking to whites and adopts his slave speak) intelligent person whose understanding of human nature is uncanny. As a slave, trying to navigate a world that literally make NO sense, Jim manages to find humor and compassion for others. This beautifully written gem about the friendship between a slave and an adolescent boy is both heart wrenching and laugh out loud funny at times.  It's a must read. James is up for several awards including the Pulitzer and National Book Award. I also heard that it is currently being developed into a movie too. Enjoy!