December 27, 2020 SUPER FREAK

 The F* Word. Grammar 101. Technically speaking --F* is a verb or noun.

It is also used as an exclamation to express annoyance, contempt or impatience. My questions is this---When did the F* word turn into a GERUND?  Seriously--Many people use it to describe things---That's F*ing awesome. Others try to make the F* bomb " more acceptable" by saying--- Freaking awesome--but FREAKING actually means to come unhinged, crazy or insane--so it doesn't even make sense. Here's the problem--TOTAL LACK OF IMAGINATION. IT'S JUST  ANOTHER WAY WE ARE DUMBING DOWN. There are more than a MILLION words in the English language--of which the average person uses 20,000. What would happen if people started using words to help describe things more accurately. Why say---THAT BABY IS SO FREAKING CUTE when you could say--THAT BABY IS ANGELIC. SHE MELTS MY HEART. So much more accurate and beautiful. Words are one of the few things that separate us from animals--use them well. Even though humans are supposed to be more evolved than animals, this is certainly not the case in The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris. Although this book was written in 2018, I kept putting it off because it was about the Holocaust and those books can be incredibly sad and disturbing. I finally picked it up after I realized that it was based on a true story. Morris actually spent three years interviewing Ludwig (Lale) Sokolov for her novel. At the beginning of the book, Lale is rounded up with other Slovakian Jews and sent in 1942 to Auschwitz-Birkenau.  Because he spoke many languages, he was given the job of Tatowierer--inking numbers on the arms of prisoners. This was where he met Gita and their love story began.   Lale enjoyed many freedoms as a tattooist,  and risked his life helping the less fortunate until his escapades were discovered by the Nazis and he was taken away. In the end, Lale and Gita  spend three years in the German death camp before being separated --Gita on a death march and Lale on a train before being saved by the Russians. Find out what happens to Lale and Gita after the war when you read this amazing testament to the human spirit and the power of love.This courageous story is only 288 pages or a 3 mile run that is important because we should never forget.

December 25, 2020 MERRY CHRISTMAS

--The Belle of the Book

 

December 23, 2020 HERE COMES THE JUDGE

 LITERALLY SHAKING MY HEAD. Can't believe people post SO MANY SPELLING ERRORS on
social media.  I understand that SPELL CHECK is convenient BUT FOR GOD'S SAKE-- USE A DICTIONARY. Save yourself the embarrassment. FYI--YOU ARE BEING JUDGED BY WHAT YOU POST ONLINE. 

 Here are a few highlights from Face Book:

• 
  Santa Claus almost got caught RAPING presents                             
• I'm gonna kick YOUR'RE ass
• I'd rather be pissed off, THEN pissed on
• So excited! I was excepted into my 1st choice collage
• Is it just me or does nobody have MANORS these days
• No OFFENCE but change ur profile  pic.....LOOSE some WAIT n you will look good
• If YOUR going to GRAMER-NAZI someone, make sure YOUR UN-GRAMER-NAZI-ABLE

Hey, I'm not saying I'm perfect BUT at least I make an effort. I even check the dictionary so that I don't look like an IDIOT. Next week-- I'll take a look at punctuation errors on social media. That should be a hoot!! In the meantime, I'll tell you about the 2013 National Book Award winning book The Good Lord Bird by James McBride.

Henry Shackleford is a twelve year old slave who lives in  Kansas territory in 1856, an area that is a battleground for anti/pro slave forces. One day Abolitionist John Brown comes into town and causes quite a stir. By the end of the day, Brown has killed Henry's master and Henry (mistaken as a girl by Brown) is forced to join the abolitionist movement. Brown later nicknames Henry--Little Onion-- and he continues the charade in order to stay safely away from gun fights.  Little Onion stays with Brown and his raiders through many adventures and eventually ends up at Harper's Ferry in 1859--where Brown leads a slave revolt that goes horribly wrong. This highly entertaining novel is a mixture of history and imagination about one of the most tumultuous times in American history. It is written in language and dialect of the time period that might take some getting used to but it's well worth your effort. The characters in the story are interesting and many of their antics are laugh-out-loud funny. This 480 page book or 6 mile run was recently made into a miniseries and can be seen on SHOWTIME but read the book first!! Enjoy. 

December 18, 2020 WINTER WONDERLAND

First snow fall of the season. It's always kind of exciting--until the shoveling starts. Shoveling is hard work. I don't shovel much anymore--but I spent many years shoveling our REALLY WIDE-LONG driveway. And then the plow would go by and BOX ME IN AGAIN. So frustrating. We also have to shovel part of our roof. Sounds weird I know. But a section of our roof is flat-- and if we don't shovel it--we tend to get leaks when it melts. It's a ridiculous problem. Who would ever build a house in New England with a flat roof??? Search me. Who would live in their house 27  years and do nothing about it?? Maybe that's the more important question??? Every year it's the same thing---then we conveniently forget about it until the next year...........Hell......remember...I still DON'T have air conditioning. Yup--And I conveniently forget about that when it's time to shovel the roof  again. UGH. YOU CAN'T MAKE IT UP. Just finished the perfect book to read during a snowstorm, Ruth Ware's brand new thriller One by One. 

In this suspense filled novel, the cofounders of  SNOOP organize a corporate retreat for their employees at a lovely Chalet in the French Alps. Danny is the chef at the chalet while Erin is the housekeeper/jack of all trades. When the group arrives,  it's clear that the employees aren't getting along. Things only get worse when Eva, one of the owners, announces plans for a major buy out. When a snowstorm begins, the group decides to forgo work in order to ski before the weather gets worse. By the end of the day, Eva is missing and an avalanche has left the  rest of the group cut off from the outside world. As the  hours tick by, theories become accusations and one by one members of the group start to die. This is a good who-done-it that is obviously paying homage to Agatha Christie. Interestingly enough, Ruth Ware is now being touted as the Agatha Christie of our generation, a title well earned. If you like a good mystery, with many twists and turns then this is the book for you. It's about 380 pages or a 3.5 mile run that will keep you guessing until the end. 

December 13, 2020 EVERYBODY WEAR THEY MASK

 What the HELL is wrong with people?? What's the deal with these ANTI-MASKERS? Why can't they just SUCK IT UP  FOR THE COMMON GOOD. Yes, we live in a free country BUT that's not the point. HELLO--ALMOST 300,000 PEOPLE HAVE DIED OF COVID IN THE  UNITED STATES AND 1.6 MILLION PEOPLE HAVE DIED WORLDWIDE. No one wants to close businesses and ruin the economy BUT sometimes we all have to MAKE SACRIFICES. STOP BEING SO SELFISH.  Calling it  tyranny is SO RIDICULOUS. I think all the ANTI-MASKERS should buy an island and GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE. They can  name it TRUMPVILLE.  And Trump will be available VERY soon to be your GLORIOUS DICTATOR. HECK --why don't you  get Sarah Palin to be his assistant--she's got nothing else to do.   And when you get COVID on your new island--that has NO hospital--because you don't believe in COVID and what to be FREE--I hope you have a slow painful recovery/death. PLEASE GO--I'M BEGGING YOU TO LEAVE------you are the reason we are in this mess in the first place. Sorry for the rant but I can't handle the stupidity of people in this world anymore. UGH. See why I have to escape into books.

If you enjoyed Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi then you will definitely enjoy her new book Transcendent Kingdom. As the story unfolds, Gifty is a PhD student in neuroscience at Stanford University School of Medicine. She is determined to come up with a scientific understanding for addiction and depression so that she can better understand the suffering in her own family. Her family originally immigrated to Alabama from Ghana before she was born. Her parents were hard workers who lived and breathed the Evangelical church--a place that highly influenced Gifty's thinking and life. After her brother Nana died of a herion overdose in high school, 10 year old Gifty's world collapsed. Her father left the family and her mother struggled with depression that threatened their livelihood . This novel is ultimately about faith, science, racism and the immigrant experience. It's well written, interesting and insightful. At 290 pages, it's about a 3.5 mile run that you will long remember. Enjoy. 

December 6, 2020 HELL FREEZES OVER

 Baby, It was cold out there this morning. Seriously. Froze my butt off!  It was the wind. It was only 32 degrees  with a NW wind of about 12.  Felt like I was in Dante's 2nd circle of Hell usually set aside for  LUSTFUL PEOPLE. Those poor,  unfortunate souls would be blown about violently by gale force winds chasing whomever they lusted for on Earth FOREVER. No rest for the Lustful I guess. No rest for runners today either. Dante had quite a sense of humor--especially in naming his greatest work--The Divine Comedy. Speaking of comedy--hope you got to watch the SNL skit last night about Giuliani and his witnesses to voter fraud. It was very funny. SNL is the best. You can always count on them for a little chuckle AND we could all use a good laugh right now. Times are REALLY hard. Thinking it's  gonna be like this all winter.  If only people had worn a MASK when it mattered. UGH.  Hoping and a  praying I'll make it through this long, gray, cold winter without a visit to the funny farm. Not even kidding. Winter is hard enough without COVID.  Oh Well--Back to the books.  

If you're looking for a light read--that's actually a good story than you should pick up Susan Wiggs' book The Lost and Found Bookshop. After the sudden death of her mother, Natalie Harper inherits her failing bookshop in San Francisco. In addition to inheriting the bookshop, Natalie must also take care of her ailing grandfather, Andrew. Although Natalie wants to sell the bookshop, her grandfather has other plans. His family has owned the building that houses the bookshop for more than a century and he has no plans to sell as he's convinced there is some sort of treasure hidden in the building--which has a history of it's own. So Natalie quits her job and moves back to the building of her youth to run the bookshop and take care of her grandfather and in the process gets more than she bargained for especially after she hires a contractor with a young daughter to renovate the building. Find out how Natalie's life changes after returning home and if there really is a treasure in the building when you read this book for yourself. It's about 350 pages or a 3 mile run that you will really enjoy.