Favorite Things

Snow Angels is a quick, if dark, read. I read it because I really like Kate Beckinsale, who plays the lead in the movie version of this novel. It is well written but very sad. Most of the characters are not happy, and I tend to prefer books with at least some glimmer of hope.  Just when I thought this book might have some, it was quickly snuffed out. If you are in the mood for characters who struggle to be better, but sadly can’t get out of their own way, you may want to check this one out.

I LOVED this one!!! The Book of Bright Ideas is one that you can’t pass up.  I absolutely fell in love with this book. With the character’s flaws, their pain and misunderstanding, contrasted to other character’s fierce embrace of life, love and acceptance. I loved Winnalee to no end. Her disregard for what others thought of her, for her acceptance of herself and others.

The story is told from 9 year old Button’s perspective, and a summer when Winnalee and her sister Freeda blow into town like a fire storm that wipes out some things, and allow others to grow in their place. I didn’t want the Summer of The Book of Bright Ideas to end…

The Book of Bright Ideas itself is a book that contains “life lessons”, so that Winnalee will learn how best to live life. The quote below is just one Bright Idea, but I loved it. I didn’t want this book to end, and cried when it did. I would absolutely recommend this!!!

“Bright Idea #94: If you always ride on the slow rides that don’t lift far off the ground, just because you’re afraid of falling, you won’t fall far, that’s true, but you won’t get many thrills either. And you won’t be proud of yourself when the carnival’s over.”

Some Things That Stay is the second of the 4 novels I recently purchased.  It’s a coming of age story of a 15 year old girl who is moved every year with her family to a new place by her artist father, always in search of new inspiration for his paintings. Themes of religion, loss, love, and the ability to change resonate throughout the novel.  I liked this one as well, but didn’t connect to the characters quite as much as I did to Whistling in the Dark or The Book of Bright Ideas.

I especially liked the conflicted feelings the main character has about religion. Raised by atheists, she is exposed to Christianity by her Baptist neighbors.  She never experiences what the others seem to in church, but she desperately wants to feel connected, to feel that there is a Grand Scheme to things.  I think most people experience this, whether religious or not, the desire for community, to feel connected.  I thought Sarah did an excellent job of portraying this, without beating us over the head with either atheism or Christianity.

I would recommend this one as well.

On the cover of this novel is a quote by Sara Gruen, the author of Water for Elephants, which of course is one of my favorites!  That alone gave me reason to read Whistling in the Dark, and I wasn’t disappointed.  I ordered a handful of books from amazon.com, based on recommendations on the site.  I really liked 4 of them, this being one.

It’s a sweet story of two sisters, one fearless and smart as a whip named Troo, and her older sister Sally who is fiercely protective of her sister, while not quite as fearless but extremely observant.  The story has a bit of a mystery wrapped in it, which carries the plot, but I just fell in love with the characters.

I read this in less than week, always an indicator of a good story.

The Secret River is a piece of historical fiction set in the early 1800’s colonial Australia.  It isn’t the fastest book I have ever read, but it was poignant.

In retrospect, I would like to read this story from the perspective of the native Aborigines.  It was hard for me to have a tremendous amount of empathy for the main characters based on the decisions they ultimately make.  I can’t highly recommend this one, but those who really like historical fiction should enjoy it.

I loved this book! Once Upon A Day was quite a nice surprise. I loved the characters, their raw and honest emotion, their broken lives and the hope that transcended their separate tragedies. This was the first novel by Lisa Tucker that I read, and I already have another one in my Amazon queue! This was the type of novel and you don’t really want to end, because it will mean the end of your relationship with the characters.

I would definitely recommend this one.

Middlesex is a beautifully written novel with memorable turns of phrase and a complex rich story line that spans 3 generations.  The story takes place in Greece, Turkey and Detroit MI, and is told from the perspective of a narrator who begins their story as a female, and ends as a male.

It is certainly not a short read.   The subject matter is a bit unusual, but there is nothing unusual about the momentum that carries the plot, from war, to the hey day of Motor City, to race riots,  all of which so colorfully and often times sadly highlight the human condition.

I would recommend this book, but you have to be in the mood to invest time and be willing to engross yourself in what I sometimes found to be uncomfortable topics.

I have attended every Tori Amos concert since Under the Pink. For some reason, last Friday’s concert was my favorite among them. The people attending the concert, and Tori herself, had such positive energy that night.

I loved the remix of Raspberry Swirl and Bouncing Off Clouds.  I think sitting in row N of the Orchestra section helped improve the sound – historically I have always felt the band drowned Tori out, but I was usually in the balcony.

And as per the blogs, yes they were filming so the song sets were fairly standard, and no Tori didn’t improvise much, but I honestly didn’t care!  I really just had a great time, shared a lot of positive energy with a room full of happy people.  Should we expect more from a concert?  Perhaps some do, but this is one tour I am really glad I didn’t miss!

The Other Boleyn Girl is interesting bit of historical fiction, with a emphasis on “fiction”. It is amazing how little we know for sure of things that happened only 500 years ago, in a country that speaks English, in a society that was mostly literate (English gentry). It makes one question how much we know, or don’t know, of things that happened much longer ago, in societies much less literate and in other languages to boot.

Overall the novel is a nice yarn that manages to stay engaging even though we know the ending. It’s worth the read, although to quote a friend it does get a bit “harlequin” towards the end.

As a side note, I did think that Ann Boleyn was quite villainized. Who is to say what her true character was like, but my inclination is to believe she was probably not quite as vicious and autocratic as this novel portrayed. I like to think she was a survivor; a smart woman who created and took advantage of an opportunity, but perhaps hadn’t read the fine print before doing so. It was a lesson well learned by her daughter and future queen, Elizabeth I.

Landing at Logan International BEFORE Garmin nüvi 350 Pocket Vehicle GPS Navigator with Maps for North America: Land at 9 pm ET, find way to rental car, get in rental car, ask rental car attendant for directions to Mass Pike West. Make the first turn correctly. Miss the second one. End up on who knows which freeway but definitely not the Mass Pike.

In the dark, in the rain. Apparently street lights are illegal in MA.

Several miles and many tears later, pull into gas station to find out what was already known – this was the wrong direction. Get correct directions from gas station attendant, hoping this was not the MA equivalent of the Tenderloin, try to memorize them, and get back on the road.

Pray I don’t miss the turn this time.

Landing at Logan International AFTER Garmin nüvi 350 Pocket Vehicle GPS Navigator with Maps for North America: Land at 9 pm ET, find way to rental car, get in rental car, snap Garmin onto the windshield. A nice Australian accented female voice tells me to make a left, then a right, then the first left. Mass Pike West entrance is successful.

Drive through Mass Pike, only to find it consists of miles of tunnels. Garmin satelite doesn’t do tunnels.

Ah oh.

Just before entering tunnel # 2 Garmin reconnects to satelite and announces a turn was missed. She recalculates. She suggests the next viable option. Hop right on it. 45 mintes later I arrive at my destination. No tears, no panic, and only one easily recoverable missed turn.

If you are wondering if Garmin nüvi 350 Pocket Vehicle GPS Navigator with Maps for North America is worth it’s $366.99 sticker price, just ask my husband. He will tell you it is worth every penny:-)

After giving up on The Expected One, I moved on to Suze Orman’s The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom. It was great! It was very accessible and easy to read. Rich Dad, Poor Dad, is still my favorite and something I consider a must read, but this book really helped me understand a lot more about our money and how to protect it.

For example, and keep in mind I am paraphrasing big time here, did you know that if all you have is a will, when you (and your spouse, if applicable) pass, all of your assets must first go into probate? This can take months to years before titles to properties are transferred to the beneficiary. Once it is out of probate, some states, including CA of course, have a standard probate tax – and it’s material. How do you avoid this tax? You really should read the book, but in short you can create something called a revocable living trust.

She goes over a lot more, like durable power of attorney (so you don’t end up stuck on a respirator somewhere), life insurance, long term care insurance (1 in 2 adults who have LTC insurance will use it), and bypass trusts (they protect your beneficiaries from federal estate tax). It is a quick read and I feel a lot more confident on how to prepare for the future. I am now reading Cramer’s Mad Money. It’s really good so far too.

Growing up I was told small dogs were annoying yippy creatures that one would be crazy to own. Big dogs were respectable, smart and perhaps offered protection (or at least the appearance there of). They definitely weren’t yippy. But then we got one. I won’t deny she can be yippy, but it is our fault for treating her like a baby. How can you not!?! She was 3 lbs when we got her! We try to treat her like a dog, but ultimately she breaks us with her waggily tail.

I don’t think we are the only people that fall victim to the cuteness of a tiny dog. When we take our now 10 lb puppy out in public people literally slow down and stare at us with big toothy grins. Maggie is a fluffy mutt with a tail that shakes her whole body when it wags. It’s impossible not to smile looking at that dog. I have no doubt every owner feels the same, but I can’t help thinking Maggie makes the world just the tiniest bit a happier place for her being in it.

When we tell our friends we send our 9 month old puppy Maggie to doggie day care, we are usually greeted with a snort I interpret to mean “Are you kidding me? Dogs don’t need day care!”. Let me tell you why I disagree.

Our life before doggie day care: Bryan and I both work so that we can afford the roof over puppy’s head and afford the air conditioning that keeps puppy cool in the summer. That means that for 9 hours a day, plus 9 hours at night, puppy does nothing but sleep. What does this fun little math equation mean?

It means that all of the energy puppy gathers by sleeping 18 hours a day is expended between 5-9PM. This energy manifests itself in many wonderful ways, inclusive of but not limited to chewing anything within reach, biting (she especially likes to bite the “love handles”, not a pleasant feeling, I can assure you), digging, running outside through the mud then in through the doggie door and straight onto the couch, barking at anything that moves (or not, movement doesn’t appear to be a requirement), topped off by some crazy sprinting around the house while making strange gremlin-like noises and all be damned if anyone can catch her.

Our life after doggie day care: Doggie gets dropped off at 8 AM at doggie care, where she literally runs into the playroom and can’t be bothered by the fact that her mom/dad is leaving for the day. She spends all morning running after other dogs. She then gets a 1.5 hour nap around 1 PM, where I assume she at least stops running. The afternoon is spent following the care givers around, hoping for a treat (she is a known treat hound in puppy class).

Finally, some time between 5-6 PM she gets picked up. She walks VERY quickly back to the car, hops into the back seat, right into her crate and lies down. She doesn’t make a peep on the drive home. Upon arriving home, she calmly follows us around the house and thankfully plants herself in our lap the moment we sit down. At night, she is so tired she just waits to be picked up and put to bed. Basically, our little devil dog becomes an overnight angel.

It’s a pretty solid case to me. All of us are happier; Maggie is calmer, we feel less guilty, and we aren’t embarrassed to have guests over during the week. So go ahead and scoff if you like, but if I have changed your mind, I won’t make you admit it. Check out Planet Pooch any time you like, we won’t tell;-)

We are a gadget house. We don’t own every new gadget out there (no iPhone for example) but we hold our own. Our latest purchase is the AppleTV. My first inclination was to think that all we needed was another plastic box on the shelf, but since I spend more than my fair share at Nordstrom’s I felt I had little room to complain. So we buy the new gadget, bring it home, and Bryan spends some time on the floor surrounded by wires (not all of which would make their way back to the garage on their own;-). A little while later we have AppleTV. I loved it! It wirelessly connected to iTunes, which is on a computer in our office, and our entire playlist was available in our living room, menu via TV and sound via surround sound. When before my music listening was relegated to the car (via ipod) or gym (again via ipod) we now find ourselves listening to music all the time.

As it turned out, this also meant we had to create some new playlists. We had a couple co-workers over not too long ago, and the only somewhat acceptable playlist we had included Bon Jovi and Journey. I was informed post dinner party that Bon Jovi wasn’t “guest appropriate”. Needless to say we now have a playlist called “Guest”, and there is not a Journey or Bon Jovi to be found.

I can usually complete 1 book a week (no kids and lots of plane time). I have been reading The Expected One by Kathleen McGowan for 3 weeks or so. Why so long, you ask? I made the mistake of looking up information about the book on the internet and came across this review:

http://www.theseekerbooks.com/articles/ExpectedOne.htm

When I thought the author intended this as fiction, I thought the book was ok. Not nearly as well paced as The De Vinci Code but it wasn’t horrible. After reading the review by Ms. Welsh (link above) I couldn’t help but find McGowan’s novel nothing short of pretentious. She claims to the be the decedent of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene (notice the dedication in the beginning of the book – To Mary Magdalen, my muse, my ancestor” – my ass!). So far, I cannot find one drop of evidence as to how she came to this conclusion. Ms. Welsh went so far as to contact McGowan, seeking substantiation of these “facts”. What did she hear? Nothing but crickets.

To add another interesting twist, Suzanne Olsson made public a letter she sent to Ms. McGowan claiming that McGowan stole Olsson’s research and own personal story to write The Expected One.

http://www.theseekerbooks.com/articles/ToMcG.html

Olsson’s story seems just as out there as McGowan’s, but at least Olsson claims to have documented proof. If she does, bring it on. I would be lying if I said this article didn’t affect my opinion of McGowan. Who knows which story is true, but I find it highly suspect that McGowan would make such a bold claim but refuse to disclose the source. If I said I was the descendent of Mr. and Mrs. Claus, and that I had a secret document that proved it but I couldn’t show you the document because it was so secret, would you believe me?

I just got to a place in the book where one of the characters claims De Vinci has nothing to do with the Magdalene legacy or the grail. When I read this section, I got a flashback of grade school. Can the author be more petty? Grail, descendant of Mary, secret societies aside, McGowan could have at least taken the high road with regards to The De Vinci Code. Such an obvious sucker punch is an embarrassment.

This review is dedicated to my dad:-)   Salem’s Lot was the first non-young adult book I ever read.  I was in 5th grade and still reading Nancy Drew and The Chronicles of Narnia, when my dad handed me Salem’s Lot.  I don’t think I told him at the time, but after reading this book, I spent several sleepless nights staring at the sliver of night peaking through my bedroom drapery, hoping that I wouldn’t see two glowing red eyes or hear the scratching of unnaturally long nails.  My mom probably warned my dad and I against reading this type of material at that age, but I would never have admitted she was right.  Salem’s Lot is a phenomenal vampire story, probably one of the best in my opinion.  And thanks to my dad and his (albeit perhaps early) introduction to his novels, Stephen King is one of my all time favorite authors.  I was literally saddened when the Dark Tower Series ended, more so than for any other series (including Harry Potter).   The Stand should also not be missed (my Dad would be disappointed if I forgot about the Walking Dude;-).

With Halloween right around the corner, and the days getting just a little shorter, curling up with a Stephen King novel might just be the perfect escape from …. work, kids, house cleaning, getting the car washed, you get the picture!

Jersey Boys was just finishing its San Francisco run, and based on 3 recommendations, we decided to pick up tickets.  SF locals – be advised that the Curran theatre must have been built when people were an average hight of 5′5″ and had bladders the size of basketballs.  Bryan, who is 6′4″, had to sit sideways, and there were only SIX women’s stalls to accomodate the entire theatre.  Now imagine the crowd for Jersey Boys (sorry mom!), now imagine the line for 6 stalls.  Not pretty.

The play itself was really enjoyable.  We unfortunately didn’t get to see the core cast; the understudy for Frankie Valli performed at ours (Saturday matinee – did I mention we aren’t cool?).  The music was good and it was actually very funny.  My dad warned me about the language, but anyone who has watched the Soprano’s has heard worse.  Half the time it was the language that made it so funny.  Net/net, if Jersey Boys is your area, I would suggest checking it out, just make sure your local theatre was built later than the early 1900’s. 

Rich Dad Poor Dad is definitely worth reading if you are interested in getting your money to work for you, rather than you working for your money. Kiyosaki brings up a lot of great points of how the typical American (myself included!) thinks about money: you make it, spend it, get a loan for a house or car, make more money and start the cycle all over again. The whole concept of “keeping up with the Jones’” prevents a lot of people acquiring actual wealth. This was probably one of the more potentially life changing books I have read in a while. I have been sticking more to the “how to be a better leader” type of material, but this book gave me insight into how to be a better business person for the benefit of our family, not for the benefit of a corporation. It’s a quick read, and worth it if you are anything like me, and think money is for “making and spending”.

On the topic of money, while traveling this week in Austin, I ironically came across a PBS special by Suzie Orman. Because I never study money or finance, I had no idea who she was, but since I was halfway through Rich Dad Poor Dad, it caught my interest. Her message was directed to women and it was pretty clear – don’t be afraid of money! It resonated with me because I often feel that way. I haven’t read any of her material yet, but I included the link to her books listed on Amazon as it was on topic.

Since so many have limited time to enjoy movies other than those of an animated nature, I thought I would share a couple of movies we watched lately.

Worth watching: The Lookout – I was skeptical as I knew nothing of the movie, but it had enough action for Bryan and I liked the characters. Interesting story and worth its 99 minutes (also nice that it wasn’t too long).

Worth skipping: Hannibal Rising – OK, so you probably didn’t need me to tell you to skip this one. Just in case you had any doubt – it’s gory and doesn’t correlate at all to the version of Hannibal that was so brilliantly portrayed in Silence of the Lambs. This Hannibal seemed like an entirely different character, and not nearly as interesting as the original one.

I should first warn you that this title is in the young adult (YA) genre. I have actually found a lot of really great fiction by venturing into the YA section of the bookstore; The House of the Scorpion and the His Dark Materials Trilogy to name a couple. It is ironic that this isn’t the way I discovered Twilight by Stephenie Meyers. On one of our (many) stops at the local Barnes and Noble, I was perusing the fiction/literature aisles and a striking black cover with a bright red apple caught my eye. The cover indicated it was a vampire story. It was also the only one of its kind on that shelf and I was actually in the “B” section, so although it was apparent that it was in the wrong aisle, at that point I had no idea it was indeed a YA book. Being that the story is told first person by a 17 year old girl I quickly suspected its YA roots, but I ended up really enjoying the story. I have subsequently read the next two in the series (Eclipse was just released in August 2007). This series lacks the adult themes and undertones that weave themselves throughout Harry Potter, His Dark Materials and the like, and because of this it is definitely a lighter read. The Twilight series is a little like a low calorie yet indulgent dessert; you know there isn’t a lot of nutritional value there, but that doesn’t stop you from getting seconds! I probably would have loved this series if I were a young adult too. It’s a sweet (and clean – the author is Mormon) Romeo and Juliet style love story with a supernatural twist. The only real theme I can decipher is if you love something let it go. Noble, but lacking depth. If you are in the mood for a sweet, fast read, I would recommend picking this one up.