07/31/24
Filed under:
General
Posted by:
Ann @ 2:55 pm
Hi to all my Blog readers. I hope you all are having a good summer, and there is no denying we are having a long hot summer this year. Hot, hot, hot…Whew! We have had lots of family and friends visiting, some for several days and some for only a few hours. We’ve made wonderful memories with all and have had fun reconnecting with every one of them.
I’ve been able to wrap up a few bookkeeping problems that have been hanging over my head for months. It is such a relief; I feel like a load has been lifted from my shoulders. Now my mind is less pressured and I should be able to get some real writing done.
I’ve read only three books this month. I started three others but did not finish them …remembering some of my mother’s last words… “life is too short for bad books.” (She was an avid reader.)
The Boys In The Bunkhouse - Servitude And Salvation In The Heartland by Dan Barry. Nonfiction. 2016. (The author is an alumni of St Bonaventure U., a New York Times reporter who won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting in 1994.) This was an enthralling tale that would probably have been rejected if written as fiction. It gave me chills to think this was happening for over 30 years in the USA. Right under the noses of so many authorities. The people of Atalissa, Iowa accepted and often befriended ‘the Texas boys’, all with intellectual disabilities. ‘The boys’ lived in an abandoned school house and woke before dawn, were transported to a turkey processing plant to butcher turkeys, year after year. They received food and lodging plus $65.00 per month. No one seemed to notice the neglect, exploitation, physical and mental abuse. A compassionate look at social justice, nonfiction that reads like a good novel. I highly recommend this book.
I Found You by Lisa Jewell. Fiction/Mystery/Crime. 2016. This was our Book Club’s book for July. It generated a lively discussion, and most everyone liked it. It was a bit complicated with interesting characters and many plot twists. I will paraphrase a paragraph from the back of the book: In a windswept British seaside town, a single mom finds a man sitting on the beach during a rainstorm. He has no name and no idea how he got there. Meanwhile, in a London suburb, newlywed Ukranian immigrant Lily Monrose becomes anxious when her British husband fails to return home after work, but the police soon deliver even more disturbing news - the man she married never existed. And the plot thickens with each page. This is the writer’s 14th novel and she’s had many top-selling novels; its the first book I’ve read by Lisa Jewell but it will definitely not be my last.
Getaway Mountain by Michele Huey. 2016. Fiction. (One of my closest friends told me about this book several months ago. She gave it to me to read when I was unable to find the book to buy a copy. I hope you will be able to find a copy, it’s a very good book!) This book starts out calmly, much like many other books I’ve read but soon becomes a page turner whodunit. Plot twists and strong likable characters make it a compelling novel that I highly recommend.
We went to the movie at our local movie theater last Sunday afternoon and I didn’t even relent to the delicious smell of popcorn! We sat on the edges of our seats to watch Twister. It was an excellent movie and we were glad we went. Our movie theater is closing on August 4th. It make those of us who’ve enjoyed movies there for many years so very sad.
Till next month, be well and keep reading my friends.
Later,
Ann
07/05/24
Filed under:
General
Posted by:
Ann @ 2:01 pm
I hope all my loyal blog readers had a nice July 4th. Obviously, I’m a few days late with my June Blog. No excuses - its just the way my life has been. (Actually, this is my fourth try at writing this blog, due to ‘technical difficulties’. Good grief!). I hope all my blog readers have been well and take time to ’smell the roses’ - at least every other day. Between doctor appointments, obligations to family and friends the June days slipped by. We babysat several great - grands for a few days, it was great to spend some real time with them - they are such unique and fun characters. We love them all so much. We also hosted an impromptu 40th birthday party for our oldest grandchild. Now that’s almost enough to make me feel OLD!
My husband’s brother’s son visited us for the first time in the USA. He’s lived in Dubai for many years; we’ve seen him often over the years at his sister’s home in England. His two beautiful young adult daughters were with him. The girls live and work in London, England. They are intelligent and kind. The 27-year-old is a producer for the BBC. They wanted to see a real Amish community. We drove them about an hour west to Randolph, NY. They were impressed by their quaint lifestyles, the shops of Amish made products and the chance to interact with the Amish shop-keepers. I asked an older lady in one shop how many grandchildren she had now. She replied, “72 and I think that’s probably all there will be now.” Our nephew asked, “Do you know all their names?” She gave him a look, and replied, “Of course I do.” Over lunch, the girls told me of their interest in Alpacas. Our neighbors became Alpaca farmers a few months ago, so I called her and she invited us to visit the almost friendly Alpacas.They took lots of pictures and were thrilled. We also took them to visit our son’s log cabin he built from 300 trees downed by a tornado several years ago. It was a great visit and they promised to come back every two years. I hope this really happens. They were delightful guests.
We’ve listened to four audible books this month. Sometimes we sit up listening to the stories until 10 P.M. - sort of like our grandparents may have done with their radios. We love David Baldacci’s books.We listened to two of his older ones this month:
Mercy. Fiction. Crime. FBI agent Atlee Pine searches for her twin sister who was kidnapped at age 6. This
is an intriguing story with an excellent narrator.
One Good Deed. Historical Fiction. Crime/Mystery. Setin1949, a WW2 veteran is falsely accused and convicted of a crime. He is recently released on parole and becomes involved in a murder investigation. Another great reader for this one.
Listen For the Lie. by Amy Tintera. 2024. Fiction.Thriller/Mystery/Dark Comedy. A current best seller. I lucked out with my audible points on this one.The narrator captures the spirit of the story as the broken yet charmingly cheeky heroine - expertly voicing the protagonists funniest tics, imagining how she would kill almost everyone she meets. An interesting and fun book that keeps you guessing who-dun-it until almost the end.
Spare. by Prince Harry. 2024. Memoir. Narrated by the author. We enjoyed this very long and very detailed book for the most part - until it became just too tedious. Harry comes across as much brighter than we expected. There were few surprises except maybe his excessive drinking and drug use. We gave up on it after the birth of his first child. Hard to feel empathy for such a privileged life. It seemed after a while that he almost milked sympathy for his beautiful mother’s tragic death when he was 12. It is a really loong book. It’s no wonder the other members of the royal family were unhappy about it.
Due to our increased Audible book usage, we watched less television. We watched ‘King Richard‘’on Netflix this month. We’d watched it a couple years ago and liked it even more the second-time-around. It’s the story of Venus and Serena Willams, the first black tennis queens, their parents and family. I highly recommend it.
I started a couple that I simply couldn’t stay focused enough on. I’ve read fewer books this month:
Things I Wish I Told My Mother. by Susan Patterson Susan DiLallo, James Patterson. 2023. Fiction. Every mother and daughter has their own distinctive voice, secrets and thoughts. A mother and daughter on vacation in Paris unpack a lifetime of secrets and hopes - with a big Patterson twist at the end. This was my book club’s choice for June, and it generated a great discussion.
Once Upon A Wardrobe by Patti Callahan. 2021. Historical Fiction. Set in Oxford, England 1950. This is lovely story about C.S. Lewis, who is a secondary character, (he’s author of the children’s Narnia series and many more for adults and children). (Patti Callahan also wrote Becoming Mrs. Lewis.) Meg Devonshire is brilliant with numbers and is on scholarship at Oxford. She dreams of solving the greatest mysteries of physics. She loves her younger brother George with all her heart and he begs her to ask the author, C.S. Lewis where Narnia came from. This is a sweet story of sibling love that will warm any readers heart, especially if you’ve read any of Lewis’s many books.I highly recommend it.
Keep reading, or listening to audible books, and stay well my friends.
Later,
Ann