05/30/21
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Ann @ 2:19 pm
Another month has passed by so quickly. The following quote seems to fit this occasion: “A day can really slip by when you’re deliberately avoiding what you’re supposed to do.” — Bill Watterson. Except that I don’t intend to avoid my tasks at hand, I just seem to run out of time before getting to it all. Okay, I admit that sounds like an excuse but I believe it to be the truth. I’ve been very busy preparing our lawn and gardens for spring and summer. Lots of potted plants completed and a few more to go. And lots of hours spent on the riding lawn mower which I admit to rather enjoying. My writing projects are still mostly still inside my head. But they are very much alive and well there!
We spent time with our family which is always a joy for us, the grands and great grands are so full of life and adventures. Each family member is a treasure and so much fun!
I’ve read a few good books this month:
Dead Letters by Jessica Weible, Historical nonfiction. 2020. This was well researched and well written book by one of the founders of The Watershed Writers Group of N/W Pennsylvania as well as co-editor of The Watershed Journal. Dead Letters provides a birds eye view of early rural mail delivery in the USA, historical facts about the post office and wonderful stories about the ancestors and descendants of the writers of a forgotten box of letters rescued from an abandoned building that was about to be demolished. Her thorough research connected generations of those writers. Dead Letters is a wonderful book, the kind you can read more than once and be thankful the writer took the time to complete this awesome project.
The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline. Historical fiction. 2020. If you’re even slightly fascinated by Australia, this may be just the book for you. I’ve read other books by Australian writers that went into different depths on the early Anglo/prisoners and their endured hardships in settling Australia. The Exiles follows the story of a young pregnant orphaned girl who is falsely accused and sent off to Australia on a slave ship. It is a beautifully written novel that quickly pulls the reader in .(Even though there were Aboriginal people who inhabited Australia for fifty thousand years, in the1840s the British government considered it uninhabited and untamed. Sounds a bit like the settling of the America in the 1700’s.) A very good book.
Eleanor, by David Michaelis. Historical biography. 2020. I’ve watched the Ken Burn’s FDR mini series on the Roosevelts but that was about my total knowledge on the Roosevelts besides a few American history classes over the years. Eleanor was very well researched and very well written. The first couple of chapters started slow but I really loved it after that and it was a page turner. I gained much respect for Eleanor Roosevelt. (As a child, I remember my great grandmother telling me unkind things about Eleanor, my great grandma was a staunch Republican and I’m sure she believed those statements to be totally true at the time!) I highly recommend this educational and informative biography, it reads like a good novel after you get into it.
The Paris Library, by Janet Skeslien Charles. Historical fiction. 2021. This was my Book Club’s choice for this month, and I didn’t have time to attend this month’s meeting, though I heard they had an excellent discussion about the book. The Paris Library is yet another WW2 novel that goes back and forth in from 1940s to present time. It had some interesting plot twists and some of the characters were very well developed. But it was much like several other books I’ve read on WW2.
We finished watching all the available Heartland episodes and are anxiously waiting the release of Season 14 later this year. We watched a couple action movies on Prime that were not particularly memorable but entertaining. Now we are re-watching The Crown and loving it.
I wish you all a good Memorial Day holiday. As a child I accompanied my mother and aunts to the cemeteries of our deceased grandparents, great aunts and uncles. Now I live away from the area and my sister takes care of that. I am forever thankful for her diligence.
Til next time, keep reading my friends.
Later,
Ann
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