April 26, 2019 I CAN'T GO FOR THAT

Life isn't fair. My father used to say that to me when I was a teenager. It annoyed me SO much.  His rational--as far as I was concerned--DEFIED logic. Why couldn't I have two dates in a weekend?? He'd reply--BECAUSE I SAID SO. Then  I'D YELL--That's NOT FAIR--to which he'd reply--Life isn't fair get used to it.  UGH. Every time I hear that statement--I CRINGE. It's been 35 years AND that statement STILL makes my BLOOD BOIL. Image my horror when I ACTUALLY had to tell some of my students that LIFE WASN'T FAIR TODAY. I could barely SPIT THE WORDS OUT.  I think it's because those words make me feel powerless.  Kids shouldn't have to learn that LIFE ISN'T FAIR because adults abuse their power. SHAKING MY HEAD..........wondering what's wrong with this world. Life isn't fair should ONLY be applied to important things like Dani Shapiro finding out that her whole life is a lie in her  new memoir Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity and Love.   

Imagine taking an Ancestry.com test to find out more about your family tree, but  instead you  find out that your father isn't your father. This is exactly what happened to Shapiro when she was 54 years old. This event shook her to the core. Shapiro, a best-selling writer, spent her life writing memoirs about her family  only to find out that it was a lie. She wasn't really the daughter of a conservative Jewish family--but a Christian family on the other side of the country. This book is about Shapiro's journey toward understanding the secrets her family kept and the reasons she was never told. It's also a story about medical ethics. Should donors be anonymous or does the person have the right to know. Equally fascinating is that Shapiro actually found her biological father only 36 hours after discovering the truth. This must read is about 270 pages or a 3 mile run that is not only  interesting but timely.

April 20, 2019 CONCRETE JUNGLE

Spent a few days in THE BIG CITY. Yup--New York City. So much fun. Two fun filled days with a few friends. We were up and out early--Theatre--Museums--Central Park--Bookstores--GOOD Food & Drinks. There's really nothing better than walking through Central Park in the spring--tulips--daffodils--cherry blossoms--dogwood--hawthorn. It's really incredible. The ONLY thing better than that was shlepping through MoMA-- The Met--and spending a few hours at The Strand. What's THE STRAND?? Only my favorite place in the world. It's a bookstore BUT not your AVERAGE bookstore. Imagine being surrounded by  2.5 million--NEW--USED--RARE--Books. PURE HEAVEN. THE ONLY thing better than the bookstore was spending time with good friends. Laughing--Swapping Stories--Enjoying drinks as we TOASTED TO  LIVING!! Thanks for the memories.
Martha Storm is a small town librarian who loves books as much as I do in Phaedra Patrick's new book The Library of Lost and Found. Set in a coastal town in England, Martha Storm is a single forty-something year old woman who spent the best years of her life taking care of her ailing parents. After their death, she continues to live in their house but now takes care of people in the community. She is a pleaser--who doesn't know how to say the word NO. She is a sad sap who seems to go through life in a fog. This all changes when a mysterious book appears on her doorstep. Upon opening the book, Martha reads the dedication which was written to her from her grandmother Zelda--three years after her grandmother's death. The book's appearance begs many questions and opens a flood of memories. While searching for the owner of the book, Martha reexamines her life and her relationship with her mother, father, sister and grandmother. Find out what happens to Martha, Zelda and some of the other quirky characters when you read this heartwarming story of rediscovery. It's about 350 pages or a 4 mile run that any book lover will enjoy!

April 12, 2019 MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR

Imagine this---SIXTY teenagers happily putting their cell phones away. SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE?? WELL--NOT if you have the right board game. REMEMBER BOARD GAMES?? Good old fashioned fun. We finished reading an Agatha Christie mystery earlier in the week so I promised my students that we would play Clue at the end of the week. Remember that game--It's an oldie but goodie. My version of the game is at least 35 years old. Ms. Scarlett is actually wearing this slinky RED dress while smoking from one of those fancy cigarette holders.  SO POLITICALLY--MORALLY--SOCIALLY--INCORRECT TODAY. AHHH--back in the day--I wanted to be Miss Scarlett and HAD to be her whenever I played Clue. Sorry I digressed. My students actually gave up social media for 45 minutes today to play Clue AND THEY HAD FUN WITHOUT PHONES!!! Just conversation--competition--classmates. It was PERFECT. David Neff, a true crime writer in James Renner's book The Man From Primrose Place, would be content if he could only solve the murder of "the man with a thousand mittens."
If you like science fiction, mystery and time travel then this is the book for you. Set in Akron, Ohio, the man from Primrose Place is an elderly hermit who wears mittens every day. He's a real loner who almost never leaves his house.  One summer day, he is violently murdered and the mystery surrounding his death remains unsolved.  David Neff is a famous crime writer, who is broken by his wife's suicide. He hasn't written a word since her death four year ago. After his publisher convinces him to investigate the mystery of the man from Primrose Place, his world is turned upside down. As the investigates gains momentum,  David learns that the murder of the man with a thousand mittens  is not only connected to his wife's death but also to a serial killer. This book is a crazy thriller ride. Just when you think you know where things are going--you don't. This hard to put down book is about 350 page long or a 4.5 mile run with more twists than a river. Good Luck!

April 5, 2019 FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME

The thrill of victory. It's NOT a feeling I've experienced often. Yeah, I've run a lot of races BUT I've never won anything more than THIRD place in my age division. Come to think of it--the ONLY time I can remember ever winning ANYTHING was in the second grade. DON'T LAUGH. I will never forget winning the FIRE PREVENTION POSTER CONTEST. Yup--It was a BIG TADOO. I was honored at a dinner--where my poster was on display. I even won a watch. Okay--might have EVEN  been the EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH--a few times at Papa Ginos--BUT THAT'S IT. It's ONLY taken 46 years BUT I finally felt THE THRILL OF VICTORY AGAIN. Okay--I didn't officially WIN--but my debate team did. There we were --with about 40 teams--WAITING for the winners to be announced. ONLY eight teams would move on to the playoffs. It was TENSE as the judges rattled off the TOP EIGHT TEAMS.  After the judges announced teams 8--7--6--5--WE BEGAN TO SQUIRM. YOU COULD CUT THE TENSION WITH A KNIFE. Team 4--3--WHY HADN'T THEY CALLED OUR TEAM--2--SWEATING BULLETS-- DRUM ROLL PLEASE--We Won FIRST place.  AAHH-winning is fun even if it's only the preliminaries. On to the next round! Daphne Maretch, the main character, in Elinor Lipman's new novel Good Riddance could use a win after her sham of a marriage ends.
 Daphne is humiliated after she realizes that her husband Holden only married her to get his trust fund. After her divorce, Daphne moves to a small apartment to try to reinvent herself. Because her apartment is so small, she decides to get rid of  some things including her recently deceased mother's  1968 high school yearbook. Although her mother treasured it, Daphne thinks her mother's obsession with it is ludicrous. Trouble ensues after Daphne's new neighbor Genova finds the yearbook in the trash and decides to unravel the comments in the book because she thinks the yearbook would make a  great documentary film. Daphne is horrified and tries to retrieve the book with another neighbor and possible love interest across the hall named Jeremy. In the midst of all this craziness, Daphne's father decides to move to the city to become a dog walker and then falls for one of the dog's owners. By the way, is he really her father--only the yearbook knows?? Find out what happens to all these quirky characters when you read this light-hearted romance novel for yourself.  It's about 300 pages or an easy 4 mile run. Enjoy.