02/29/24
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General
Posted by:
Ann @ 4:16 pm
Gosh, I wish I could figure out where time
goes. All I know is - it seems to slip through my hands even faster than
money. And believe me - with the ever increasing price of gas and
groceries, these days money goes very fast… We’ve had another super busy
month, lots of appointments. And thankfully lots of visits with adult
children and grandchildren, as well as other family members and friends.
It’s hard to keep up with them all but its fun trying to.
We’ve had 25 dead ash trees cut from the field
directly above and behind our home this month. We’re hoping the tree
cutter keeps his promise to finish the job soon, there are still 5 more
to cut down. My son cut 3 trees down in front of the our house, near the
rock garden on Memorial Day. Seems there is always something
happening. I do lots of lawn mowing and weeding with all my flower
gardens. Summer days start early and end late at our home. I also sanded
and painted a cute and very heavy wooden patio table and two chairs. I
learned to use an electric sander, moving up in the wolrd!
Last week we went to a program at the Bradford Public Library featuring author David Poyer who spoke about his new book, Writing in the Age of AI. It
was very interesting and a bit frightening to consider the ways AI can
and will assist and threaten writers. I’m anxious to start this book.
I’ll keep you posted in my August Blog. It was also good to see David
again, he’s an old friend from my Creative Writing days at Wilkes
University.
Four books to tell you about this month:
The best one is The Secret Book of Flora Lea by
Patti Callahan Henry. 2023. Historical Fiction. The novel is about two
sisters, Hazel, age 14 and Flora, age 5, who were part of England’s
Operation Pied Piper in 1939. Can you imagine 800,000 children evacuated
from the cities to rural England carrying only small backpacks with
identity and contact information inside as well as a change
of clothes - within four days of the decree. Train loads of children
headed to safety to escape the German bombs. Many were taken into lovely
safe country homes. ( Three and a half million children were moved to
safety.) The sisters landed with a kind woman and her teenage son. A few
months later, Flora was playing near the river that flowed through the
fields near their caretaker’s home and she disappeared. Flora was
pronounced dead from drowning a few weeks later. Hazel was tormented by
guilt for twenty years, blaming herself for not watching her sister more
closely. She’s working in a cozy rare bookstore in London when she
opens a mysterious children’s book that contained long-held secrets from
her and Flora’s childhood spent in the English countryside during WWII.
I don’t want my review comments to be spoilers…I will close by sharing
with you: this was the best book I’ve read in a very long time and I
will definitely read more of P.C. Henry’s books.
Bluebird by Sharon Cameron. 2021.
Historical Fiction. I read this book a few months ago and missed sharing
it with you. The story is set in 1946 with Eva, a young German girl
crossing the Atlantic under the pretense of starting a new life. There are flashbacks to bad times during the war. Her
purpose is to find the escaped Nazi and bring an end to Project
Bluebird. She finds a temporary room in a group home for displaced
people. She is befriended by a kind young man who volunteers at the
home. this book is exceptionally well-researched and the character
development is is extraordinary. I highly recommend this book too, its
an unforgettable story.
Identity by Nora Roberts. 2023. Fiction.
This was my book club’s choice for July, it is also the first Nora
Roberts book our group has ever chosen. Amazon lists it as one of the
best books of 2023… I dare to disagree with such platitudes for this
book. I expected more about Identity theft and less about serial
killers. I felt it was predictable and the characters could have used
more depth. But it was interesting and if you are Nora Roberts fan, this
might be something you’d enjoy.
I also reviewed Acts of Atonement, you can read the review by clicking the following link:
I also read a memoir of a famous author, I
picked it up at a garage sale for 50 cents. I’m glad I didn’t pay any
more than that for it and only sorry I wasted several hours of my life
reading it. No, I won’t mention the title or author.
We watched two good movies on Netflix this month: The Highwaymen, starring Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson. It’s an older movie but was well done with lots of food for thought.
The Identicals, Loosely based on what if Elvis’s
twin brother had not died at birth and instead was adopted by a
minister and his wife? Its an entertaining movie with good actors and
singers.
Till next time, please stay safe and keep reading my friends.
Later,
Ann
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