April 25, 2025 DON'T YOU REMEMBER

 

Listened to my first audio book last week. While there are some definite positives to listening to a book--it's NOT my thing. Yes--it's great for multitasking--I could, cook, run, walk, drive in the car BUT.........The narrator's voice was grating on my nerves as she tried to sound Irish and take on all the voices in the book--including the men. I also found it stressful because it took 11 hours to listen to the book AND I'm sure I could have read it much faster. I felt pressure every time I saw how many hours I HAD LEFT. Let's face it--I don't even use a Kindle. I am a BOOK person. I need to feel the book--snuggle on the couch--invent what I think the characters sound like MYSELF and enjoy every second in the world created by the author while focusing ONLY on the book. The book I listened to that you might want to read was a thriller called The Weekend Away by Sarah Alderson. Orla, the main character, is a new mother who  lives in England and is happily married to Rob. Her best friend of over twenty years is Kate, a single, wealthy seemingly successful beauty. The friends plan an innocent weekend away in Lisbon that goes terribly wrong. After spending the first night at a club, Orla wakes up to find that Kate has gone missing. After she reports her friend's disappearce to the police, she takes it upon herself to find out what happened to Kate. With the help of an uber driver named Konstandin, Kate tries to retrace their night on the town and finds out much more than she bargained for.  This story is filled with twists and turns and will keep you guessing til the very end.  Haven't seen it yet, but heard that this book was turned into a Netflix movie last year. 

April 15, 2025. ALL I NEED IS A MIRACLE

 

Spent last weekend at accepted students day at UMaryland. Beautiful campus BUT GIGANTIC. We walked at least 5 miles exploring the campus. It's a bit too far away for my liking but Tim hasn't ruled it out yet. Went to accepted students day at PC on Saturday. I really liked the campus. Much smaller and I love that it's a liberal arts school. Tim really liked the math department and the campus.  Then low and behold--BU  answered his prayers. After filing an appeal to financial aid--BU has reconsidered and is giving him a FAIR financial aid packet that makes it possible for him to attend. We will be going to BU accepted students day this Friday. I'm exhausted from all this COLLEGE STUFF.  Looking forward to TIM FINALLY MAKING HIS DECISION. It's been a very stressful time but I'm sure he will choose wisely. I'm a huge Louise Erdrich fan so was thrilled to read her new novel The Mighty Red. Set in Red River Valley, North Dakota, Crystal Frechette is a struggling mother working third shift at a sugar beets farm. Her marriage is on the rocks as her husband has serious financial problems. She's also very worried about her daughter Kismet. Kismet is a senior in high school dating the quarterback, Gary Geist. Gary's family also happens to own most of the land in town and are polluting and ruining the environment. Gary has some serious emotional problems after an accident and believes Kismet is the answer. After a scandal involving her father, Kismet reluctantly agrees to marry Gary, even though she is in love with someone else. Although she immediately regrets her decision, life gets complicated and Kismet is forced to learn some real lessons about love, loss, and hope for a better future.  Erdrich is a Pulitzer Prize winning author whose writing is beautiful as she brings her characters to life and makeS the reader feel as though the are alive. Enjoy. 

March 23, 2025 MONEY FOR NOTHING

                                                                                                   Imagine working your ASS off in high school to get into your DREAM SCHOOL and NOT being able to go because they didn't give any financial aid.  Yes, welcome to my world. I'm Not Kidding. THE MIDDLE CLASS ALWAYS GETS SCREWED. We don't qualify for  financial aid--when tuitions run $90,000 a year. MAKES NO SENSE. The only people that can afford to go to college are the RICH and the need-based students who get financial aid to meet their needs. I'm all for that BUT what about helping the middle class. I don't mind paying my fair share BUT $90,000. I'd have to sell my house and live in a tent to afford four years of college when THAT WOULD COST $360,000. So FRUSTRATING. Guess we will be spending the next few weeks applying for merit based scholarships because that's the only way we are going to get any money. Ugh. Life is so unfair. Now for the good news. I just finished a little gem written by Catherine Newman called Sandwich. Rachel (Rocky) and her family have been vacationing in the same beach house in Cape Cod for over twenty years. This year, Rachel and her husband will share the week with their two adult children, Jamie and Nick, his girlfriend, Maya, and Rachel's aging parents. Three generations together for a week. Although Rachel can't wait to have her whole family together again, she's struggling with being in the sandwich generation--middle age--facing menopause, depression and uncertainty. She's torn between the past/present/future as she reflects back on life at the cottage, time honored traditions with family and negotiating change that happens with the passage of time. I totally felt for Rocky because she's a mother who loves her adult children but also mourns the loss of motherhood and her babies. I found this book to be equal parts nostalgic and laugh-out-loud funny as Rachel and family navigate love, change and loss. Enjoy. 

March 2, 2025 COME FLY WITH ME

She said, "Yes, to the dress." Beyond thrilled that my daughter found her wedding dress. I was a little worried that it would take FOREVER because she's generally VERY indecisive. BUT as soon as she tried it on--SHE KNEW. It was a whirlwind of a day. She must have tried on 30 dresses--so many different styles--my head was spinning.  It's funny--many of the things she thought she wanted--including LACE--didn't even make it to the top three. SO MUCH FUN. Just the two of us--shopping, laughing and enjoying each others company. So thankful. Now on to finding a florist........any suggestions?? In the meantime, I'll tell you about this eery book I just finished called Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty. After a long delay, a commuter flight from Hobart to Sydney finally departs. While flight attendant Allegra Patel sees to the needs of the passengers, an elderly woman starts walking down the aisle of the plane predicting the age and cause of death of other passengers. Most passengers think she's a nut and ignore the predictions but others are freaked out because she predicts their death within the year. The plane lands and everyone tries to forget--until her first prediction comes true. The storyline then follows several passengers as they cope with the predictions and then alternates with the woman who becomes known as the "Death Lady."

It's a freaky premise that really made me think about fate and destiny. And would I really want to know the age I'm going to die and how???  Interesting........Find out what happens to the passengers and whether or not the death lady is a real "fortune teller"  when you read this page turner for yourself.  Enjoy!

February 23, 2025 YOUNG AT HEART

Is sixty too old to reinvent yourself? To make a BIG change? As I look back over my career--I can definitely say that I like change. I'm NOT one of those teachers who can teach the same thing for thirty years. I've taught 5th grade, middle school English, High School English and for the last 6 years High School Art. Next question---would I even get hired for a new position at my age?? I don't feel OLD but then again who wants to hire someone my age when they could get someone YOUNGER with more energy-ideas-gusto.  It's a catch 22. I am an experienced teacher--BUT is there a point when you're TOO EXPERIENCED?  These are the things I'm pondering these days--REINVENT OR WHAT?? That's the question I can't seem to answer. Thankfully lost myself in a really good book called The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis that helped me forget my little problems for awhile. As this gem unfolds, Ashlyn Greer, a rare book dealer from New Hampshire, is spending the day at a thrift shop looking through old books when she comes across a beautifully bound book.  Intrigued by the book, Ashlyn immediately buys and reads it.  The book which was written in 1954 and authored by Hemi, tells his side of a tragic love story set during World War II with a woman named Belle.  Ashlyn becomes obsessed with the book and is determined to uncover the mystery, especially, after another book is found, told from Belle's point of view. This lovely novel flips back and forth between 1941 and 1984 as Ashlyn discovers the truth about the two lovers who were ultimately betrayed by family secrets and lie.  This book is filled with twists and turns and unforgettable characters who unknowingly help Ashlyn come to terms with her own life and help her trust and love again. 

February 16, 2025. THE WAITING

 

Stressful time of year for high school seniors--if they don't go ED. College lingo for early decision. Going through the college process has been a totally different experience with Tim. He's a stellar student with lofty goals. He applied to 14 schools and wrote AT LEAST 20 essays.  It's  been a game of hurry up and wait. Hurry to get in all college applications/essays--EA--early action or RD--regular decision. The only good thing about EA is that it's NOT binding BUT the problem is we really don't find out much about financial aid yet. The problem with RD is that we don't know if he's even accepted until about April 1st--BUT by that time we find out about financial aid right away. SO WE WAIT. And hope he gets into one of his TOP CHOICES and either gets a decent scholarship/grant money to make his dreams come true. If you are a fan of Elizabeth Strout's books and love her characters Lucy Barton, Olive Kitteridge, and Bob Burgess then you must read her new book Tell Me Everything. This beautifully written novel is once again set in Crosby, Maine. There's been a murder in town, and Bob Burgess is hired to defend a hermit accused of killing his mother. In a town a small as Crosby, this is a major event. Famous author Lucy Barton, having moved to Crosby during the pandemic with her ex-husband William, walks weekly with her friend Bob as the two ponder life, choices and the human condition. Bob also introduces Lucy to Olive Kitteridge, now 90 and living in a retirement community. Olive is still her old salty self, but the two hit it off as they tell each other stories about people they knew and call them "unrecorded lives." Strout's rich characters are vividly portrayed as they grapple with understanding love, human connection, the importance of story telling and as Lucy Barton struggles to understand "What does anyone's life mean? I thoroughly enjoyed every minute back with this cast of characters and I'm sure you will too. Enjoy.

February 2, 2025. LAND OF CONFUSION

CHAOS-CONFUSION-RIDICULOUSNESS. That about sums up the NIGHTMARE of Trump's first few weeks.  Guantanamo Bay--INTERNMENT CAMP--for the WORST CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIENS WHO ARE HARMING AMERICANS. Okay---so lets dehumanize the immigrants so that ICE can round up THE USUAL SUSPECTS. ICE has been spotted in New London questioning illegals. How do they EVEN know who is legal or illegal. We will probably have to start carrying our papers around--like in Casablanca-- so we don't end up in jail. Pretty soon --they'll be invading schools and ripping kids from their desks to get rid of the bad apples. It's insane. We also have POWER HUNGRY Elon Musk giving the old  Nazi salute---AND PEOPLE CLAPPING. Don't even get me started on eliminating DEI--the Gulf of America or Trump's insane executive order stating that there are only two sexes. Hope voter remorse is kicking in for all the idiots that voted for that horse's ASS. I really need to either bury my head in the sand or read a million good books to get through the next four years. Actually just read a lovely novel by my favorite Irish writer, Niall Williams, called Time of the Child. This gem is the sequel to This is Happiness---my favorite book from 2022. In this novel, it's 1962, in the weeks leading to Christmas--and the rain won't stop. It''s practically a character in the book. One evening after The Fair, young Jude Quinlan finds an abandoned baby in the churchyard. He brings the baby to Doctor Troy, and his daughter, Ronnie, is totally taken with her.  In order to keep the Church and State away--they try to keep the baby a secret but the villagers start to gossip and chaos ensures. Find out what happens with Ronnie, Dr. Troy and baby Noelle when you read this magical story for yourself. I loved being back in Faha--to visit with the rich characters again-- Canon Tom, Father Coffey, Ganga, Doady and all the other quirky people who make up the town are true to their Irish ancestry and made me laugh-out-loud several times.