Draggletail

GOOD BYE AND HELLO!

2011-12-29T16:04:00.004-07:00

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Guest Book Review

2011-07-17T11:55:00.004-06:00

My young friend Weston has a goal to read fifty books this summer, which is awesome. Here is his review of the first book.

Hope to see more, Weston!

Etsy Find of the Week: Baby Cape/Coat

2010-11-05T05:21:00.000-06:00

Can I scoop up this child and squish her?

And then... can I also get one of these in Big Lady Size?

Saint Reagan's Hollow Etsy Shop

a few more books under my belt...

2010-11-04T05:26:00.002-06:00

I keep forgetting to post my reading. I suppose it's just as well that this challenge is coming to an end. I appear to be running out of blogging steam (See also my lack of "Etsy Find of the Week" posts for two weeks running...) Anyway, a few more recent reads for the official list:

Book 41: The Reversal, a new one by Michael Connelly. I like books where you're not quiiiiite sure if the bad guy is really the bad guy or not. This is sort of like that. Good Harry Bosch/Mickey Haller book.

Book 42: Still Missing, by Chevy Stevens. Okay, this thriller definitely had a unique plot, and kept my attention the whole way through. Really liked it. Basically the story centers around a lady realtor who is abducted from an open house and suffers hideous abuse at the hands of her captor... but from Page 1, our victim is telling the story, so you already know she doesn't die during the ordeal (Probably. Unless it's some Lovely Bones type of thing where the victim is telling the story from the grave. But that's not what's going on here. Oops - spoiler?) Her life - and the investigation into her abduction - must go on. I guess this one also falls into the "I'm not totally sure who the bad guy is" category. I would definitely recommend it.

Book 43: Prayers for Rain, by Dennis Lehane. Continuing my Kenzie/Gennaro kick.

Book 44: Last Night at Chateau Marmont, a new release from Lauren Weisberger. You know her books; this one is similar. I liked it because I'm a girl who reads gossip magazines and likes makeup and designer jeans.

Now then. I know that I said that I would stop reading young adult books and would focus on books aimed at my own general age group. Which I mostly did (see above). However, I feel I must admit that I did read a few more YA books in addition to the titles above but I am just not going to count them towards my challenge total. I will spare you from talking about them except for one tiny little thing which is OMG THE HUNGER GAMES!!!

Etsy Find of the Week: Kristiana Parn

2010-10-15T08:20:00.000-06:00

I feel like my Etsy posts are prodominantly artwork, but I guess that's what I am drawn to on that site. Art and soap. And I feel like I should share, so:

I love love love Kristiana Parn's paintings of bunnies and foxes and little white bears! I have one print hanging in my office but I think they would look adorable in a child's room.

krisblues Etsy shop

Kristiana Parn's web site

Two Things I HATE

2010-10-08T09:38:00.000-06:00

I shouldn't shine my negativity onto the internet - baby Jesus knows there's enough out there already - but there are a couple of things that irritate me to no end that I have to get off my chest:

I HATE when someone expresses their opinion and then ends with "Period." or "End of story." No, that is NOT the end of the story because your opinion is not the only one that matters! Really, it's just so arrogant. I love reading the gossip on Gawker but the supercilious commenters on that site are always doing that. Drives me crazy. Who do you think you are?

The other thing that drives me crazy is when someone says, "You can't understand/comment on __________ if you haven't experienced it yourself." Now, I see how sometimes this could be appropriate. I do. But I hate when it is used as a blanket dismissal of one's opinions. To be honest, this comes from my regularly being dismissed by friends/family for having the audacity to comment on children. Children, children's behavior, anything having to do with kids. According to some of my friends I am not allowed to have any opinions on any children or on any parents in the world because I have not given birth. Well, you know what? I don't live in a cave. I know children, I know parents, and I am allowed to have opinions on them. It's not like I'm sitting around passing judgment all the time, either, but it is so rude to tell me that I am not allowed to talk about it. I haven't ever... let's see... I haven't ever been the victim of a terrorist attack. Can I have an opinion on terrorism? No? I haven't ever suffered child abuse, or rape, or run a marathon. But I guess I am not allowed to think about those things or express any sort of opinion on them, because I haven't actually experienced them.

I guess I'm feeling like I'm being dismissed lately. But you can't shut me down, annoying Gawker commenters and my friends! So there. Period. The end.

Etsy Find of the Week: Tea Tumblers

2010-10-08T06:46:00.002-06:00

I would love to have tea in one of these little ceramic "tea tumblers" by eikcam.

eikcam Etsy shop

eikcam Blog

Kenzie and Gennaro

2010-10-05T07:29:00.004-06:00

After hearing Dennis Lehane speak, I thought I'd give his Kenzie/Gennaro crime series a try. I read A Drink Before the War, Darkness, Take My Hand, and Gone, Baby, Gone. (These are books 1, 2 and 4 of the series. For some reason I skipped the third one, Sacred. Not sure why.) Pretty good! Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro are private detective partners in Boston. Of course there's sexual tension, etc., and their personalities and all the stuff on the side sort of bugs me, but the action and the plots are kind of exciting. Worth a look.

Those were Books 38, 39 and 40 for my challenge. Home stretch!

Banned Books Week

2010-10-03T08:46:00.000-06:00

As I am always a step behind the times, I just found out that last week, September 25 - October 2, was "Banned Books Week", a week designated to celebrate our freedom to read.

That's great. I am all for it, and am against censorship. But it just got me to thinking: What does "banning" a book really mean? It's not like all copies of that book are being destroyed. Are they banned from school libraries? Are bookstores or libraries not supposed to be distributing them to minors? Maybe I'm just in an early Sunday morning haze, but I don't really get how a group "banning" a book is really effective. Banning a book is something that I think I would be outraged about, except for the fact that I'm pretty sure I can get a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird or a Harry Potter book any old time I want, so as far as I can tell, protests against these books are not all that effective. Am I wrong? Someone explain it to me, please.

Etsy Find of the Week: Kate Pugsley

2010-10-01T06:48:00.000-06:00

I recently bought this little work of art. It is hanging in my bathroom because some days you feel like wearing a bag over your head even if you have a cute polka dot dress on.

I also really like the grandma and the ice fishermen.

Kate Pugsley's Etsy Shop

Kate Pugsley's Web Site

okay okay

2010-09-14T08:12:00.000-06:00

Two more young adult books and then THAT'S IT. I promise. Both by E. Lockhart:

Book 36: The Treasure Map of Boys. Cute, fun, thoughtful - like the other Ruby Oliver books.

Book 37: Dramarama. You know... maybe not my favorite of the E. Lockhart books. If you're a drama geek you'll like this one, though. I'm just not. And the protagonist bugged me a bit. Which is not to say I didn't enjoy it -- I don't subscribe to the theory that you have to like characters in order for a book to be a good read -- but Sadye did annoy me. Bit of a know-it-all.

UNTIL: The last 20 pages of this 300-page book, when I cried.

And now, my dear friends, I think my appetite for young adult books has finally been sated (for now). Grown up books from here on out. Huzzah!

2010 Sun Valley Writers' Conference

2010-09-12T07:41:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate to be asked to volunteer at the Sun Valley Writers' Conference again, and when I wasn't needed at my assigned post, I was able to sit in on a few of the events. I'm a lucky girl. Here's what I saw this year:

W.S. Merwin, U.S. Poet Laureate. I can't believe I have had the good fortune to meet/listen to two Poet Laureates in my life. Pretty neat opportunity.

Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Shutter Island). Chatty, self-deprecating. I had read both Mystic River and Shutter Island, which I thought were fine, but I wasn't especially driven to read more of his nooks. However, his talk was engaging enough that I searched for the first of his Kenzie/Gennaro crime series and also The Given Day, which sounds great.

Arthur Phillips (Prague, The Egyptologist). Charming, handsome, gorgeous wife. He has a new novel coming out which (I think) is called The Tragedy of Arthur, which is about this (fictional) lost Shakespeare play on King Arthur. Basically Phillips wrote a whole play in the manner of Shakespeare, and also wrote the novel around this play. Phillips is kind of insanely smart and all over the board. He actually won Jeopardy five times.

John Lithgow (actor) performed "Stories By Heart," a one-man show. His performances are stories told to him by his father. He acts out the stories, verbatim, from their texts. Like a monologue. (Here's a better description of what I'm trying to say.) I saw him do Ring Lardner's "Haircut," and it was impressive.

Finally, I caught an inspiring performance by the Hobart Shakespeareans. O. M. G. These tiny kids from a public school in New York just slayed me. They performed Shakepearean monologues mixed with pop/rock songs that sort of coordinated with the scene they were doing. A little guy whose feet don't even touch the ground when he's sitting in a chair just rocked his guitar solor, a tall skinny girl stood up and wailed out a Neil Young harmonica bit, another small boy's glasses glinted as he shouted and guffawed and acted his heart out through his bit... it was just great. I mean, I cried. I don't even know why, because it's so cool that these kids are working so hard and just excelling at it, but I cried. They were so, so good.

All in all a pretty interesting weekend. We're lucky to have such amazing opportunities come to us in such a small mountain town.

Etsy Find of the Week

2010-09-10T07:11:00.002-06:00

I think I can let this item speak for itself.

Beard Beanie by Tara Duff.

Taraduff Etsy Shop

Book Challenge Update

2010-09-08T06:35:00.000-06:00

I'm three quarters of the way through the year, and on track to finish my 50 books by December 31. I thought I should reflect.

I enjoy reading, so I don't find it difficult to read fifty books in one year. Especially when my summer was filled with young adult books. I mean, the books I read weren't short books - most were around 250-300 pages -- but they were not especially difficult to get through. So I guess I don't find this 50 Books project to necessarily be a "challenge".

Keeping track on this blog is sometimes a challenge, though. I feel like I need to be thoughtful, and write an interesting review instead of just making a list. I don't know why. It's not like Draggletail has a huge audience full of critics and authors and people waiting to judge me. I'm not pretending to be anything I'm not. I'm just reading. But still, I feel compelled to be thoughtful and... smart.

The blogging also sort of inhibits my reading choices. I think I am a lot more embarrassed about all those YA books I read because I feel like I have to tell the truth and follow my own rules here, report back. I have to blog that I read them, instead of just reading them secretly on my Kindle or something with no one ever the wiser. So there is a bit of pressure in that sense. Obviously it didn't truly inhibit me - I still chose to read those books (and enjoyed some of them!) and wrote what I thought and didn't pretend I never read them - but it was a little bug on my shoulder now and then.

Who am I trying to impress, though? That's what I wonder. I know who looks at this blog. I am not that worried about impressing y'all. But still. I've made these insecure ruminations before. Maybe that's just it: Insecurity. Unnecessary insecurity.

Cracked Up To Be and Some Girls Are, by Courtney Summers

2010-09-07T08:21:00.000-06:00

Whoa.

With these two books (#34 and #35) I definitely took a look at the dark side of teenage girls. But - I am so sheltered. Do girls really push each other down flights of stairs? Or lock a girl into a utility closet with the guy who had previously attempted to rape her? Like, as a lark?

The beginning of Cracked Up to Be starts:

Four years, two suicides, one death, one rape, two pregnancies (one abortion), three overdoses, countless drunken antics, pantsings, spilled food, theft, fights, broken limbs, turf wars -- every day, a turf war -- six months until graduation and no one gets a medal when they get out. But everything you do here counts.

Sounds... almost like it might be a fun book? Not so fun, really. In both books, we have a popular girl who faces a horrific event (friend goes missing, attempted rape...) and who pays the price by losing her status with the In Crowd, enduring pretty awful treatment thereafter. That's a pretty simplistic plot summary, but I don't want to ruin the stories. It's not "Mean Girls" camp, either. It's physical violence, overdosing, psychiatric evaluations, emotionally absent parents.

I thought both of these books were really good. Protagonists generally well-formed, complex situations where nothing is black and white. Definitely worth reading. I know they're not non-fiction works, but I felt they were probably realistic. Sure put my own (comparatively pain-free) high school experience into perspective.

Etsy Find of the Week: Teardrop Trailers

2010-09-03T06:55:00.004-06:00

I love teardrop trailers. All summer long I have wanted to buy one, but (a) we can't really justify the expense right now, and (b) our cars are probably too small to drag one anyway. So I am attempting to content myself with looking at trailer-themed goods on Etsy. Happy Labor Day Weekend!

heatherfuture Etsy Shop

rpfeikgraphics Etsy Shop

Leah Giberson Etsy Shop

Vitamini Etsy Shop

Etsy Find of the Week: Mean Birds

2010-08-27T07:18:00.000-06:00

This clever artist did a whole series of prints centered around birds who have attacked her.

Swans are bastards, I agree.

Amy Ruppel Etsy Shop

Amy Ruppel's Web Site

halls made of willows

2010-08-25T07:42:00.002-06:00

Across from the post office in town, there is this three-room building made entirely out of willow branches. It wasn't built with any nails, staples, or rope... only willows. It's pretty neat.

The little building is the work of a N.C. artist named Patrick Dougherty. It was built in July as an exhibition for the Sun Valley Center for the Arts. Judging by his calendar, it looks like he does one of these every month or so. (I note in his portfolio that he even created a set for a Duke play, so I guess he does all kinds of things with sticks.) Below are photos from his web site of a couple of his past installations from Phoenix, RDU (airport art!) and the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden. Cool.

Etsy Find of the Week: Bee Houses

2010-08-20T06:10:00.001-06:00

I really like these bee/insect houses by Wudwerx. I come from a farming family, and these would be so great pinned to a tree somewhere among the orchards... It's important to keep bees around so the trees can be pollinated and fruitful (we grow lemons and avocados - flowering trees), so this seems like a no-brainer. However, my dad and my brother - the people who do the actual farming on the farm - are both deathly allergic to bees. So this is probably not the optimal purchase for our family. They're neat, though!

Wudwerx Etsy Shop

The Boyfriend List

2010-08-17T08:09:00.004-06:00

Latest Y.A. read was The Boyfriend List, by E. Lockhart. Since I loved The Disreputable History so much I decided to go for another by this author. I am not going to summarize it here -- that's boring for all of us -- but I will submit to you this small excerpt which rang true for me, even as an adult:

... I never felt the same after that. Not really. Look back and reread what Jackson actually said when he told me about his afternoon with Heidi. True, he said he wanted me, had never felt like this before. But he also said that Heidi was superbeautiful and fun, and that they'd played tennis for old times' sake, because they were so well matched, blah blah blah.

Now, if your entire focus was on making your new girlfriend feel better about your feelings for your old girlfriend, would you mix your declaration of love in with nostalgia about tennis games and the superbeauty of the old girlfriend?

No.

You would only do that if you were still thinking about the beauty and the tennis. ...

Believe me, I know the actual truth is that these are all nice girls. Some of them even used to be my friends. And I firmly believe that women should not get all cruel and petty with each other over men, because how on earth will we run companies and countries if we're preoccupied with someone else's big boobs in a pink sweater set? ...

My problem is that I can think whatever I think -- girl power, solidarity, Gloria Steinem rah rah rah -- but I still feel the way I feel.

Which is jealous. And pissy about little things.

Amen, sister.

a nice weekend of walks and (double!) rainbows

2010-08-16T06:37:00.002-06:00

Double rainbow!!! All the way! Whoooooa!!

Pretty Little Liars!

2010-08-14T06:02:00.001-06:00

Books 31 and 32 in my challenge were Books 1 and 2 of the Pretty Little Liars series, by Sara Shepard.

I picked these up because I have been obsessed with the ABC Family show Pretty Little Liars. It's so good! Did you see the finale the other night? OMG.

I'm not even kidding. Anyway, weeks ago, about three episodes in to the season, I (belatedly) discovered that the show is based on a series of books for teens. Somehow this escaped me before then. I couldn't wait to see what happened next in the show, so I went to the library and got the first three books in the series so I could get ahead and find out! Unfortunately, the timeline is not the same in the books, and the intertwined stories were different enough that it didn't really help me and my plan was a bust. The books were not bad, and the plan might have panned out if I stuck with it, but I decided I am already invested in the TV version, so I only read the first two books and did not bother with the third. Back to the library they went.

So pretty! What liars!

Etsy Find of the Week: Paintings that remind me of my childhood...

2010-08-13T06:20:00.002-06:00

My family is from southern California, and Sharon Schock's paintings capture my memories of "home" almost perfectly. I love her combo of bright and muted colors, the trees and the hills... and, of course, the avocados.

Sharon Schock Etsy Shop

Sharon Schock Web Site

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

2010-08-11T08:40:00.001-06:00

Oh, I just loved this book! (The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, Book No. 30, by E. Lockhart) It's another Y.A. book, and I KNOW I'm too old for this (more self-analysis at a later date on why I keep picking up Y.A. books the past year or so - I have been thinking about it) but it had a fun plot, great characters, funny parts, sad parts.

I came across a mention of the book on this blog (which I randomly came across while looking for dress sewing patterns, of all things) and the blogger's enthusiasm plus the fact that the book was nominated for a National Book Award made me feel like it might be worth reading. I finished it all in one lovely, hot, lazy weekend day (to the detriment of the piles of laundry waiting to be laundered and the kitchen waiting to be cleaned and the dog waiting to be walked).

Frankie is a teenage girl recently blossomed into someone that boys and girls alike are beginning to notice. She's smart, good-looking, and does not like being told what to do. She becomes obsessed with her school's boys-only secret society, a group which claims as its members her father and current and ex-boyfriends alike. She manages to infiltrate the group via email, talks them into a number of genius school pranks... and I don't want to give away the ending.

But it's interesting. It's about girl power, and also about the lessons Frankie learns when she doesn't play by the Old Boy rules. Double standards are alive and well. When her pranks are discovered, she has to ask, "Why is it psychotic if I did it it, and brilliant if Alpha [a male student] did it?" It makes her think, and hopefully it will make Ms. Lockhart's female readers think. It's a funny, smart book, and while it doesn't necessarily have a Happy Ending, the conclusion is solid and rings true.

Of course the book has many ingredients I love: Teenagers good and bad, boarding school, successful teenage girls, secret societies, crushes, language games, literary references. Some minor points jarred slightly - does a sophomore girl really read P.G. Wodehouse for fun? But then I decided maybe Frankie does. She seems like she might, so I took it at face value.

Loved it. I ran out and picked up two more by Lockhart. (I can't stop with the teen books!) Info to follow.

Book No. 29: Fly Away Home

2010-08-09T08:46:00.000-06:00

My latest book was Fly Away Home, by Jennifer Weiner.

I love Jennifer Weiner's books. I love them, and I think I would love Jennifer herself if only she would move to Idaho so we could be friends...

Okay, just kidding. I am (pretty much) not a stalker. So anyway, Fly Away Home. I liked it a lot. The main story is about what happens when a famous husband cheats, and the repercussions it has on his wife and daughters. The pain, the recovery, the decisions the women must make. What is the "right" or "best" thing to do when your husband has cheated? What if that husband is a famous politician?

The book also tells the stories of the daughters' own lives -- one, a successful doctor, is having an affair, and the other, a recovering addict, finds she is accidentally pregnant. I really enjoyed how complex these characters all were. No one situation was cut and dried.

Since I recently read Emily Giffin's Heart of the Matter, which also told a story of a complicated infidelity, I couldn't help but compare the two. Fly Away Home hit the mark better (for me, anyway) -- I did care about these characters and what choices they would make, whereas I just did not find the characters in Giffin's novel to be appealing.

So it was a good one. I'll read anything Jennifer Weiner writes.

Here's a nice interview with the author regarding the book (Elle.com, June 2010).

Etsy Find of the Week: Cool Clay Tiles

2010-08-06T07:15:00.002-06:00

I love these tiles from Element Clay Studio. They make them in all kinds of different organic forms and are so intricate and lovely. Wish list.

Element Clay Studio Etsy Shop

"Chick Lit" debate

2010-08-05T13:10:00.000-06:00

There's sort of an interesting discussion over on Jezebel of the merits (or lack thereof) of the genre called "chick lit". The Guardian has the original discussion.

Family Affair, by Caprice Crane (Book No. 28)

2010-08-03T07:46:00.000-06:00

I read Caprice Crane's most recent book, Family Affair. I have enjoyed Ms. Crane's books in the past, and so I figured it would be a good bet for an enjoyable read. It was.

The basic premise that moves the plot along is that a young couple is splitting up, and the wife, having lost her family (for the most part) and having become very attached to her husband's family, wants "custody" of them in the divorce. Things happen, the story goes on.

In retrospect, overall, I feel like I didn't love it but I did like it. The author's humor great -- quirky and odd (I just read someone's review on Amazon and she said she "laughed until she cried". Really? REALLY? I can't imagine, but okay.) and the book had some touching family moments. I think I preferred Stupid and Contagious, but this was a pretty fun, easy read. I would definitely try her again.

Bonus linkage: Here's a related Huffington Post article by Ms. Crane from last fall...

Sweden

2010-07-31T09:32:00.000-06:00

I feel like I have had so much of SWEDEN in my life lately: The Stieg Larsson books, then I saw the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo movie, and then I just saw Let the Right One In (kind of spooky, and which confirmed for me that Sweden is cold and people smoke a lot)... and then of course there's Eric Northman.

Now this video has come to my attention, which for some reason make me laugh.

Sweden is fun!

(I know, it's part of an art installation, and not a real policeman. Still cute.)

Etsy Find of the Week: Black Apple Paper Dolls

2010-07-30T10:14:00.000-06:00

I really enjoyed paper dolls when I was young. I wonder if girls still do? These little lovelies from The Black Apple are so cute. Would it be weird if I wanted them for myself?

The Black Apple Etsy Shop

The Black Apple Blog

Etsy Find of the Week

2010-07-16T07:26:00.000-06:00

I'm not gonna lie: My dog and I both make it a little bit hard for this proverb to come true sometimes.

But those who bear with us are lucky, lucky people! :)

Letterpress art print by Tag Team Tompkins.

Tag Team Tompkins Etsy Shop

Etsy Find of the Week: Peacock Invitations

2010-07-09T06:22:00.002-06:00

Gorgeous wedding invitations and save-the-dates

from Peacock Invitations.

Peacock Invitations Etsy Shop

New Releases

2010-07-06T20:50:00.000-06:00

I love the idea of "summer reading" or "beach books", but since I'm a grown-up with a 9-5 and 10 days off per year and several extra-curriculars demanding my attention... well, it doesn't really feel like summer affords me any extra reading time than any other time of year. That being said, it's still summer, right? And that's the time when the new chick lit and thrillers make their appearances. I have read a few such new releases over the past couple of weeks:

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, by Stieg Larsson (Book No. 23). Of course I read this one! I have been waiting for it for months! So good. I am just sorry it was the final book in the trilogy and that there won't be any more Lisbeth Salander to look forward to.

Heart of the Matter, by Emily Giffin (Book No. 24). I have read all of Ms. Giffin's books, but I find them less and less satisfying as I go through each new one. This plot is based on infidelity. Now, I am really sensitive to this subject. I don't know. I am just really touchy about it. That being said, I was almost bored during the first part of the book, and as it went on, I just didn't feel for any one of the characters. The wife was a little bland, but fine, and I was just not relating to the single mom/other woman AT ALL. She was such a sad sack. I know - she was going through a crisis, etc., but does she smile? What did the husband find attractive about her? Beats me. Then I just wanted the self-centered husband to go away and let all of the women in the book bond and be friends. I don't know. I liked it well enough, but for my buck, Ms. Giffin's earlier books were much more gripping. At least she didn't mention how great Wake Forest is in this one...

Sizzling Sixteen, Janet Evanovich (Book No. 25). Cute, silly, same as all the other Stephanie Plum books. Fits my definition of a fun summer read, for sure.

Uncharted Territori, by Tori Spelling (Book No. 26). I don't know what it is, but I just love reading Tori Spelling's books. I just find her very endearing, and I think she's a lot more self-aware than people give her credit for. She's funny and ambitious and insecure and a cute, hands-on mom.

I do want to know more about why everyone in the cast of 90210 (with the possible exception of the gorgeous Jennie Garth) hates her, though. Tori claims not to understand it, and vaguely attributes their public bad-mouthing of her or their blatant snubbing of her to her break-up with her first husband, but... what did she do, really? So Luke, Tiffani: Call me. Need to know more. Other than that unsolved mystery, I like her and liked this book. Plus she is wearing an adorable outfit on the cover.

Finally, I also read The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella, by Stephenie Meyers. Because I'm a sucker. However, I refuse to go see "Eclipse". I do have a few standards, bish, please. (Book No. 27).

Happy Fourth of July!

2010-07-03T21:40:00.000-06:00

Etsy Find of the Week: Cute test tubes

2010-07-02T07:49:00.000-06:00

"Science Time" print from Nut and Bee. Kawaii!

Nut and Bee Etsy shop

Nut and Bee blog/web site

Etsy Find of the Week: Wooden Bike Rack

2010-06-25T07:43:00.000-06:00

Here's a nice-looking wall mount bike rack made of reclaimed wood.

Cantilever and Press Etsy Shop

Etsy Find of the Week: mmmm, bacon.....

2010-06-18T06:53:00.004-06:00

These would be candied bacon maple cream cheese macarons.

Yum, I think. Yum? Yes, yum.

Macaron Parlour's Etsy Shop

Etsy Find of the Week: Squid Tea Towels

2010-06-11T07:46:00.000-06:00

I like sea life, and I like linens. Here are some fun tea towels decorated with squids from Squid Ink Kollective.

Squid Ink Kollective Etsy Shop

Etsy Find of the Week: Airplant Pods

2010-06-04T06:13:00.000-06:00

I think airplants (Tillandsia) are so weird and cool: No soil necessary, just a mist of water every so often. Neat looking.

Check out these hanging pods by Mudpuppy. You tuck the airplant inside and then hang it. I like it. I might have to get one of these.

Pods by Mudpuppy

Red airplant from Pigeon Toe Ceramics

Etsy Find of the Week: "Lula's Sunshine Set" by Nadinoo

2010-05-28T05:29:00.003-06:00

They went up to the cottage to dress for a swim. Betsy and Margaret put on blue serge bathing suits, trimmed with white braid around collars, sleeves, and skirts, long black stockings, laced bathing shoes, bandanas on their heads.

"Very skippy," Tony said.

-- from Betsy and Joe, by Maud Hart Lovelace

Nadinoo Etsy Shop

Nadinoo Web Site/Blog

Flavia!

2010-05-26T07:46:00.053-06:00

Just finished the second Flavia de Luce book: The Weed That Strings The Hangman's Bag. Such fun! I actually listened to this one on CD (I haven't decided yet whether that should count toward my 50 book goal, since I didn't actually read the book. Maybe not, but I'm going to count it for now and we'll see how pressed for time I am at the end of the year. As Bobby Brown once said, "That's my prerogative."). The reader on the audio book - Jayne Entwistle - was fabulous! She had such a great (girly, British) voice and really made the joke bits funnier and had a cute way of portraying precocious, 11-year old Flavia. I'm very picky about my audio book readers, and I thought she was just great.

Like the first Flavia book, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, the story centers around precocious, poison-obsessed Flavia, her family and the townspeople of Bishop's Lacey. I went into these books thinking they would be sweet and soft, sort of like the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books, but these have both had a hard little twist to them. People die! It's sad and sometimes scary! But Flavia is also delightful at the same time, so it kind of evens out. Can a book 'even out'? That's how I think of it.

There is a puppeteer, a German POW, and rat poison! Sulfurous chocolates, a naked vicar hopping about in the woods and a secret pregnancy! Lots to like. I already look forward to the next one.

talented, inspirational, gorgeous, positive role model

2010-05-24T06:35:00.000-06:00

Can you believe 16 year-old Jessica Watson finished her journey around the world a week ago and I haven't blogged about it yet? Honestly, I cried when I saw the footage of her crossing the finish line. It's so amazing what she's done. I am so completely humbled by her achievements. I sit here and complain about how hard this is, or that is... she's 16 and just SAILED A SMALL BOAT AROUND THE ENTIRE EARTH BY HERSELF. I have no words.

countdown

2010-05-22T07:40:00.004-06:00

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest comes out on Tuesday. I am SO EXCITED.

Etsy Find of the Week

2010-05-21T07:34:00.000-06:00

"Apple Girl" lavender sachet.

fricdementol Etsy shop

If You Have to Cry, Go Outside

2010-05-17T21:14:00.001-06:00

Book 21 on my list was Kelly Cutrone's If You Have to Cry, Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You. Loved it.

Kelly is, among other things, the founder of a fashion PR company called People's Revolution and she is a total badass. She has appeared on The Hills and had her own reality show on Bravo called Kell on Earth. I think people like to think of her as a publicity-seeking, crazy bitch, and maybe the publicity part is true but I also think of her as brash but honest. She'll let loose on one of her staffers with a tongue-lashing but follows it up with a kind word or a compliment, which I find endearing, and compassionate. I mean, obviously I don't know her or anything, but that's the way she seems on TV.

Anyway. The book. I started reading it thinking that it would be a name-dropping tell-all memoir in the manner of Janice Dickinson's bio, and there was some of that. Listen to this:

My marriage ended with an explosion, not a slow fade. When I told Ronnie I was leaving him, he didn't take it well: he grabbed a German ceremonial dagger out of his closet and put it to my throat. I managed to escape, which is when he called my father and said, "Lee, I'm going to kill your daughter and then I'm going to kill myself." He subsequently pushed me down the stairs at the office...

Yikes. I learned that during her life, before she started People's Rev, Kelly was a fabulous NY It Girl, almost died from drug addictions, and worked as a tarot card reader on the boardwalk in Venice Beach. She is very spiritual. She is a single mom. And at one point she was a hippie rapper! Check these lyrics:

Deep in outer space,
Trying to get a grip on this thing we call the human race,
Rat race, out of place,
Krishnas calling out, don't you hear your name?
Darkness keeps on dancing, it never stays the same,
Yes the Mother loves you and it's time for you to know,
Heaven is a comin', it's a souled-out show.

I mean, come on. "Souled-out show." That is so awesome.

She's entertaining, too. At one point she calls out the fashion industry for producing "images of girls who look like they've been gangbanged on Alice in Wonderland adventures and calls them ad campaigns," and in another spot she discounts the "popular notion that 'spiritual' refers only to vegans in Whole Foods whispering to each other." Ha!

Now: Gossip about her life aside, for the most part If You Have to Cry was kind of a self-help book. Surprise! Kelly (I feel that we're on a first name basis) tells the stories of her life but mixes them with heaps of advice on finding your own "religion", creating your brand, making your career work for you (not the other way around), and just encourages her readers to be authentic and true to themselves. It's really quite positive and uplifting. She writes, "I fundamentally believe in grooming the next generation of women to win, not in trying to be come their friend," and provides her "unspoken rules you must know to pole-vault forward on your sword of truth, light and ambition and not get stabbed by it." A little hippie-trippy, sure, but I admire her attitude. When I finished the book I realized I had marked over a dozen pages for rereading.

I enjoyed this book, and I think Kelly is great. I'm also totally afraid of her, of course.

Etsy Find of the Week

2010-05-14T06:12:00.000-06:00

A nest full of birch eggs.

Maari Etsy Shop

This post is totally about reading books.

2010-05-12T12:57:00.002-06:00

I think the premise of this blog is funny: Hot Guys Reading Books. Are hot men who read that rare? Or are some ladies just extra-turned on by guys who read? I guess both, since this blog is in existence (though I suppose you could argue there's a niche blog for EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN). I still think it's kind of cute.

.....brainnnnsss....

2010-05-10T07:18:00.001-06:00

I'm all about zombies right now. First off, we watched Zombieland the other night, which was pretty good/gross. Then I played Plants vs. Zombies for, like, two hours one day. And THEN I picked up The Forest of Hands and Teeth, by Carrie Ryan (Duke Law grad! Right on.). I sort of like zombies (apparently), and I like books about problem teenagers, and this has both. It got a lot of good reader reviews, so I thought I'd give it a go. (I know, it's another young adult book, and I'm too old to be reading these. I know! I also know it's lame to play Farmville, but that doesn't stop me from doing it.)

Overall, I liked this book well enough. You know the M. Night Shyamalan movie "The Village"? It is kind of like that, a little: A colonial-type community is stuck in an isolated village that is surrounded by a scary forest inhabited by creatures that may or may not kill and eat them. I like that sort of weird problem. I'm okay with that.

Our heroine is Mary, a girl who wants to know more about the world beyond the fences, beyond the hordes of Unconsecrated. She's obsessed with finding the ocean - a thing she has heard of but has never seen, since she lives in the treetops in this village in the forest. You know her kind: The strong-willed, brave girl who Doesn't Fit In and Knows There's More to Life Than This. I won't give it all away, though.

The book enjoys an annoying (but minor) degree of melodrama (the Sisterhood keeps THE SECRETS?!! SECRETS!!!!) but teenagers are melodramatic, so I suppose that suits both the young adults in the book and the young adults who are (theoretically) the reading audience. But the zombies and the plot were enough to keep me plugging through it. It was sort of good... and evidently good enough to spark me to read its sequel, The Dead-Tossed Waves (I like the cover, don't you?).

The sequel features some recurring characters from FOHAT, but mainly revolves around some new folks -- Gabry, our protagonist, is Mary's daughter, for example. Then there's more zombies, and some pretty gross violence.

I'm pretty sure all the super-enthusiastic reader reviews that you'll find online for these two books were written by Twihard types. There's a lot of teenage girls out there who are obsessed with the undead action/romances right now. If that description fits you, then you'll love these books.

However: I'm pretty sure that description doesn't fit you you, because I know exactly who all five people are who read this blog. :)

P.S. Just as I was Googling The Forest of Hands and Teeth to find an image of the cover for this post, I discovered that a movie adaptation of this book is set to come out in 2011. Huh. Not really new news, to people who care, but I did not know that until just now.

Etsy Find of the Week: very cool photo prints by Bomobob

2010-05-07T07:49:00.000-06:00

Bomobob's Etsy Shop

Etsy Find of the Week Year!

2010-04-30T06:11:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite, favorite Etsy shops is mydearthing, by Lauren Jones . Lauren's clothes are so chic, made of eco-friendly materials, affordable, and just cool. Comfy, too - I wish all my clothes were made out of her cotton/bamboo/spandex material. I do own a few of her items (the Carly dress, a double V top, and am looking forward to receiving the linen fold-up trench and the Drawn minidress soon!) and I covet just about everything in her shop. (What I really want is the Row Dress. However, I know the limitations of my figure!)

Not to mention, Lauren is super friendly and accomodating. Visit her shop, please! It's a pleasure.

Interview with Lauren

mydearthing Etsy shop

Etsy Find of the Week: Felted Soaps

2010-04-23T06:10:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure what the deal is with felted soaps, but they seem to be quite popular among crafty types. I gather there's a bar of soap inside the felt covering, and as you use it in the bath, the suds come through and the felt acts like a scrubbing washcloth type of thing. The felt shrinks as you use up the soap, so I guess after the soap melts you're left with... a little felt scrubbing pad?

I don't know. I have never used one. All I know is that this deer/felt/soap thingamajig is pretty darn cute!

So Fino Etsy Shop

humuhumunukunukuapua'a!

2010-04-22T20:42:00.001-06:00

Can he do it?

2010-04-19T07:33:00.001-06:00

My husband knows about my 50 Books Challenge, but it doesn't, you know, play a big part in our day-to-day lives or anything. Plus, he's not a big reader. Like, not at all. He reads mountain biking magazines.

So he received a book for Christmas that he thought looked good - Bill Simmons' The Book of Basketball - so I challenged him to read this book, ONE BOOK, by the end of the year. I am not sure he's going to make it!

Etsy Find of the Week: Pilot Design Honeycomb Clocks

2010-04-16T06:48:00.000-06:00

Honeycomb clocks by Pilot Design: Keith Moore Home Accessories.

Pilot Design Etsy Shop

National Library Week

2010-04-15T10:21:00.004-06:00

I just realized it's National Library Week (April 11-17, 2010), thanks to a helpful Facebook post from the Ventura County Library. Go thank a librarian today!

The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark (Book No. 18)

2010-04-14T14:38:00.002-06:00

This week I read a slim little novel by Muriel Spark. Actually more like a novella, I guess, called The Driver's Seat. This story was alarming! (Spoiler alert!)

First published in 1970, The Driver's Seat features Lise, a middle-aged worker bee from northern Scandinavia who sets off on an Italian holiday. Where she plans and sets into motion her own murder.

Lise is terrifying and fascinating. She is odd company, she dresses all wrong, she is confrontational. We know by the third chapter that she is soon to die, but it only slowly dawns on the reader that she is looking forward to the event, and, in fact, orchestrating it. It's a commentary on isolation, despair, and notions of victimization.

It's a short book, but a startling one. I love love love Patricia Highsmith for the way she gets inside your head and torments her readers, and this novella pushed the same buttons.

You're a sketchy one, Dame Muriel!

Etsy Find of the Week: Sarah Parrot Design

2010-04-09T06:42:00.000-06:00

I love love love letterpress stationery. Can't get enough. Sarah Parrot has some great designs.

Sarah offers a subscription program called "Press & Post" which I purchased and have really enjoyed. Subscribers to the program receive one lovely letterpress card with a kraft envelope plus a set of vintage postage stamps that coordinate with the "theme" of the card - all together it's a cute little package to send to a friend in the mail. This month, for example, I received a blank card with a pretty letterpress scrollwork along the edge; the stamps featured antique lace-making. In the past I received a card with some horses in a field; the stamps were Americana/farm-related. I love it! It's a fun little surprise to receive every month, and Sarah's customer service has been fantastic.

Parrot Design Studio Etsy Shop

Parrot Design Studio Web Site

Chronicle special edition...

2010-04-06T09:51:00.001-06:00

CHAMPS!

2010-04-05T23:14:00.002-06:00

Betsy Betsy Betsy

2010-04-04T14:33:00.000-06:00

The other day I was at my parents' house, sitting on my mom's bed and idly looking at her bookcases while waiting for her to do something, I don't even know, but I'm sitting there, and all of a sudden I realize that she has the entire Betsy-Tacy series sitting right there in her bookshelf! I shrieked at her! Why didn't she ever tell me about the fabulousness that is Betsy Ray!? I could have used her inspiration in my youth! My mother waved me off, and said that she loved the books when she was young - she didn't know why I had never heard of them. Well!

So Book Nos. 16 and 17 on my list this year were Betsy and the Great World and Betsy's Wedding. These are the final two books in the series... I had such fun reading these! I want to set my hair with Magic Wavers and get settled into my bed to read them all over again!

Etsy Find of the Week: Kiwi Birdie and Succulent Plant

2010-04-02T06:25:00.000-06:00

Happy Easter!

Joojoo Land Etsy Shop

West With the Night (Book #15)

2010-03-29T06:33:00.000-06:00

Right after we graduated from college, some of my friends and I started this thing called The Book List. Basically we each came up with individual lists of great books that we had read and wanted each other to read, as well. I typed up all our recommendations together and it became The Book List, which was passed around (by postal mail - gasp!) and we added to it and edited it every so often. It seems a little archaic now, what with blogs and Shelfari and whatnot, but at the time (circa 1992-93) it was really fun and interesting to have a list of recommended books to refer to when looking for something new to read.

My favorite find from The Book List was West With the Night, by Beryl Markham. Markham was a British-born woman who lived in Kenya, hunted with her African neighbors, was nearly eaten by one or two wild animals, became a well-regarded hosre trainer and was a celebrated aviatrix - she was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic east-to-west, and the first person ever to fly from England to North America nonstop (1936). West With the Night was published in 1942, enjoyed a brief run, and then fell into obscurity until 1982, when it was "rediscovered" and reprinted.

I loved West With the Night back in The Book List days but I had forgotten about it for a while, so when I came across it in my stacks a few days ago I decided a re-read would be necessary.

Oh, I do so love this book, still! Her description of a horse race literally brought me to tears, and the story of her stormy flight across the North Atlantic had me holding my breath in suspense.

In 1942, Ernest Hemingway had this to say about Beryl Markham (in a letter to Maxwell Perkins):

Did you read Beryl Markham's book "West With the Night"? I knew her fairly well in Africa and never would have suspected that she could and would put pen to paper except to write in her flyer's log book. As it is, she has written so well, and marvelously well, that I was completely ashamed of myself as a writer. I felt that I was simply a carpenter with words, picking up whatever was furnished on the job and some times making an okay pig pen. But this girl who is, to my knowledge, very unpleasant and we might even say a high-grade bitch, can write rings around all of us who consider ourselves as writers. ... She omits some very fantastic stuff which I know about which would destroy much of the character of the heroine; but what is that anyhow in writing? I wish you would get it and read it because it really is a bloody wonderful book.

High praise from a man who sometimes did not have nice things to say about his colleagues. (Though he does call her a bitch, but who is Hemingway to be calling someone a bitch?) In fact, I find myself thinking of Hemingway when reading West With the Night. It could be the spare language plus the fact that it's Africa, and she's a contemporary of his.

Now I'm rambling. In sum, and to quote that great man himself, I wish you would get West With the Night and read it. It really is a bloody wonderful book.

Etsy Find of the Week: House of Gloi

2010-03-26T07:31:00.002-06:00

My newest Etsy obsession is scented bath goods from gloilocksandbody / The House of Gloi. Over the past couple of months I have purchased their bathing dust, soaps, sugar creme scrubs, lotions, and perfume oil. Basically one of everything. The scents are so rich and complex - after I use the soap on my hands I just sit there smelling them. I can't get enough.

My favorites: "Honey Tree" is a rich, dark, honey scent - and when I get out of the bath after using it, I honestly smell like wood. Like a tree. Not like, say, a pine forest, but just like wet wood. It's nice! "Elevenses" smells a bit like a creamy Hawaiian Punch (in a good way), and "Madcap Garden" is an amazingly refreshing black tea/mint/cream/honey concoction. Love it the most.

Gloi's packaging is gothic and professional and cool looking; the quality of the goods never fails. It is such a treat to have come across the lovely seller(s) and their fairy tale shop!

House of Gloi Etsy Shop

Haus of Gloi blog

Etsy Find of the Week: A chihuahua in a scarf! PLUS her name is Pinky!

2010-03-19T08:00:00.001-06:00

Pinky is perfection.

Lucy Snowe Photography Etsy Shop

Lucy's Blog - Fresh from Snoweflake Farm

Etsy Find of the Week: Creepy Dolls

2010-03-12T07:27:00.000-07:00

Yikes.

Creepy Dolls Etsy Shop

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: Book 14

2010-03-07T11:48:00.001-07:00

"It was as black in the closet as old blood."

A delightful first sentence for a delightful book! Seriously, this was a very fun (and suspenseful!) one.

It is 1950 in England. Flavia de Luce, age 11, lives at the country manor called Buckshaw. One early morning she finds a man breathing his last breath lying in their cucumber patch and subsequent events only make things mysterious-er and mysterious-er. “I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t," she narrates. "Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.”

Flavia is a terrific little protagonist who has a way with words (love how she calls her sister "the Devil's Hairball") and a way with poison. She is funny and smart but also vulnerable - she is, after all, only 11. A bit Harriet the Spy, perhaps? Annoying but clever?

Anyhow, it's a mystery with a bit of philatelic history, and a genuinely engaging and fun story. (Lucky for me, Flavia is going to be the star of a series.) Charming. Thumbs up.

Etsy Find of the Week: K-Ville Cards

2010-03-05T06:32:00.001-07:00

In honor of tomorrow's big game, I give you this set of note cards depicting Krzyzewskiville and Cameron Indoor Stadium.

LET'S GO DUKE!!

Orange Cat Art's Etsy Shop

Betsy-Tacy

2010-03-03T06:46:00.004-07:00

One day, while perusing the posts on Jezebel, I came across this post about something called "the Betsy-Tacy books" and was intrigued by the effusive reader comments it inspired. People are beyond passionate about these books. One Jezebel reader commented that when she was young, she wrote Betsy-Tacy musicals based on the stories, and another reader used text from one of the books in her wedding ceremony!

What exactly are these magical stories? I asked myself. Somehow I missed all this in my youth, but it was clear to me that I must track them down. So I did.

Set in the fictional town of Deep Valley, MN, the Betsy-Tacy books were written in the 1940s and 50s and follow the life of Betsy Ray from childhood (when she becomes best friends with the girl across the street, Tacy Kelly) and then on to high school and beyond until her marriage. The books start off with Betsy at age 5, and the reading level is for younger readers. As Betsy gets older, the reading level progresses, as well.

Here's the list of all of the books in the series; the ones I read are starred (Books 7-13 on my list!) (What? I can count kids' books if I want. They weren't picture books or anything... ).

(the grade school books)
* Betsy-Tacy
* Betsy-Tacy and Tib
* Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill
Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown

(the high school/young adult Betsy books)
* Heaven to Betsy
* Betsy in Spite of Herself
* Betsy Was a Junior
* Betsy and Joe
Betsy and The Great World
Betsy's Wedding

Then there are a few "side" books about characters other than Betsy, like Winona's Pony Cart and Carney's House Party, but I didn't read those, mainly because they were harder to track down and I wasn't that desperate for them. (Though any book invoking teenagers having a house party in 1911 does sound intriguing...)

Anyway. I am here to say that these books are so lovely! Betsy is so modern for her time: While she does like clothes and being popular with boys, she always intends to be a writer, and her parents and friends support her. Her sister Julia could have her pick of boys, but what she really wants is to be an opera singer. No one ever tells the girls they shouldn't follow these independent, modern dreams. It's just fabulous.

And parts of the books are so funny. Anna, the Rays' housekeeper, somehow thinks the word "puny" means "handsome" and/or "pretty". I love when Anna talks about how puny everyone is.

"Betsy, this is Anna Swenson who has come to work for us."

"I'm pleased to meet you," Betsy murmured. Under the feathered hat she saw a wide good-natured face.

"Why, lovey!" said Anna Swenson. "How puny you look! Almost as puny as you are, lovey," she added, to Mrs. Ray.

"We're a very puny family," Mrs. Ray answered in a choked voice.

Anna nodded. "So were the McCloskeys. They're the folks I used to work for, lovey. My, how they liked my raised biscuits and my meat balls and my chocolate layer cake! And every last one of them was puny. Charley used to say to me, 'Anna, aren't those McCloskeys the puniest folks?' and I'd say, 'Ja, Charley! They're certainly puny!' They were tony, too."

"And who is Charley?" asked Mrs. Ray while Betsy slipped into a chair and stared with fascinated eyes.

"My beau," Anna answered, smiling broadly. "A bartender down at the Corner Cafe."

"Is he puny, too?"

"Na," answered Anna regretfully, shaking her head. "He's not puny. He's a nice fellow, Charley is, and a good spender. But I'd never call him puny."

I think my favorite books so far (I own and intend to read the final two books) would be Betsy in Spite of Herself and Betsy Was a Junior. In Betsy In Spite of Herself there is a bit where Betsy decides she is going to become a much more glamorous and mysterious person. This plan involves tacking an 'e' to the end of her name (making it Betsye) and wearing lots of green. In Betsy Was a Junior, the girls start a sorority.

"Let's us - the three of us - start a sorority."

Tacy and Tib were stunned for a moment by the magnificence of such a concept.

I thought this whole storyline was fun. First of all, Betsy's meeting minutes (she was Secretary of the new sorority) are hysterical:

"Sister Morrison moved that the meetings always be held in the afternoon. She was hooted down and didn't mind at all; it had been her mother's idea, anyway. Sister K. Kelly suggested a cross-country tramp for the following Thursday. This was agreed upon, one of her chocolate cakes being part of the bargain.

"Sister Root proposed opening the sorority to boys. This also was hooted down. Sister T. Kelly, who doesn't like boys, grew as red as her own locks with rage. Sister Root would have been abashed if she had been anyone but Sister Root. ... After this business meeting, conducted with skill and dispatch by our honored president, the Sistren brought out sewing bags, and their lily-white fingers flashed as they crocheted, tatted, embroidered, or just plain sewed. Sister Ray worked on the world's most famous jabot, destined for Sister Sibley's swan-like neck. They also toasted marshmallows and discussed important matters: to wit, boys."

I can't wait for my next opportunity to hoot someone down!

So they have a grand time with their club, planning parties and whatnot, but then come to realize how exclusivity isn't necessarily such a good thing in high school, and that sisterhood is not something you need Greek letters to experience. It just felt so ... modern for young women at the turn of the century to be thinking this way.

Nearly all of the characters in the books are based on Maud Hart Lovelace's actual family and friends, with Betsy being based on the author herself. The widespread popularity of the books is such that there is even a Betsy-Tacy Society, and you can take a tour of the girls' actual homes in Mankato, MN. The books had been out of print for some time until last year when HarperCollins reprinted them, with new introductions by the likes of Meg Cabot and Laura Lippman.

I found the whole series to be comforting, delightful, and wholesome. The small stories in each chapter are memorable and the larger stories are grounding. I really enjoyed getting to know these books over the past couple of weeks. Highly recommended to my friends with girl children!

Links:

Maud Hart Lovelace Society

Betsy-Tacy Society

Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award

Books 5 and 6

2010-03-01T06:45:00.000-07:00

All right. I haven't written about books in over a month, but that doesn't mean I haven't been reading, my little niblets.

Book #5: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, by Lisa See.

This book was raved about when it came out (2006). Every book club in town was reading it, and women were swooning. So I was prepared to like it. And... I mostly did. To be honest, I was a little underwhelmed - too much hype?

Set in 19th-century China, the book traces the relationship between two girls -- Snow Flower and Lily -- who are bonded to one another from childhood on. It's about their families, the caste system, the trials they go through -- and it's almost a sort of romance, how they place each other above all others in the world and feel betrayals and hurts most deeply when inflicted by the other.

Snow Flower and Lily stay in touch and write to each other secretly about their husbands, their children, their mothers-in-law. And it is interesting. I love reading about the day-to-day lives of women from other times and places - the way they are required to pin their hair, what they eat, what they wear. (But oh - the footbinding! Gruesome and awful. I suppose it's more awful because it's all customary.) But even though I enjoyed the details, I did not seem to get as wrapped up in the relationship as I was supposed to. Maybe I have a cold, hard heart, or I just don't appreciate the gravity of certain 19th-century Chinese customs (I'll readily admit that), but I did not empathize with the DARK SINS they committed against one another in their later years. I saw no need for the rending of garments.

But overall I did like the book well enough, and I know my lukewarm reception of it is in the minority. I'm glad I read it, if only for the details on foot binding. Did you know the ideal was to mold a lady's foot so that it was no longer than 7 cm?! Seven centimeters is as long as my thumb. That is gnarly.

Book # 6: Time of My Life, by Allison Winn Scotch.

So this is a book in which basically our protagonist feels unhappy with her grown-up suburban mom life until one day she gets some insane massage which somehow sends her back in time (5 years. Not that far back.) to see if she should have taken a different path/different man. Okay, I'm game.

I liked the story a lot at first. I think a lot of people wonder "what would have happened if". And then I really got into it somewhere in the middle of the book, when our girl Jillian is just taking this whole time travel thing so in stride - she wasn't really that fazed by it - so I started to wonder if she was actually mentally ill, and the phrase "it was all a dream!" was going to come out at some point. Intriguing! But towards the end I must say I tired a little bit of the weighty, esoteric, dramatic proclamations. She was not feeling herself, feeling lost, running, dreaming, drowning - after a while that got a bit old. Back to the fun parts, please! (Also, I have to point this out: No less than three times did the author use the phrase "[s/he] looked at me as if I'd just told him the world was as flat as paper". Annoying over-usage of one very specific phrase = demerits from me.)

Overall, not bad. Seemed a realistic portrayal of a normal woman, as far as time traveling back to your old boyfriend goes.

Etsy Find of the Week: Motorcycle Card

2010-02-26T06:06:00.000-07:00

I live not far from the spot where Evel Knievel tried to jump the Snake River Canyon in 1974. The ramp is still there.

Card by snowowl.

snowowl Etsy Shop

Etsy Find of the Week: Treehouse28

2010-02-19T06:23:00.002-07:00

This EFOTW is about an Etsy shop, rather than a single item. I have purchased several things from Alix at Treehouse28 and need to give her some air time.

All of Alix's clothes are made to order. She's a young mom who has great style, gives terrific, friendly customer service, and her clothes are so fun. (Admittedly I won't be wearing a lot of these things any time soon, since I'm practically a senior citizen, but I wish I could! To wit: the ruffled crop top above. So cute!) The fabric she uses is this rich, smooth cotton/lycra blend that feels great and has been so easy to care for.

Now. What I have not purchased from Alix is any of her children's clothing. But would you please look how cute! The poncho! The ruffled pants! I die.

Treehouse28 Etsy Shop

Etsy Find of the Week: Vespertine Cafe

2010-02-12T07:39:00.002-07:00

Adorable porcelain love birds.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Vespertine Cafe Etsy Shop

Nothing could be finer!

2010-02-10T21:23:00.001-07:00

DUKE 64
UNC 54

Pray for Bowe

2010-02-10T07:33:00.000-07:00

In July of last year, a soldier from my valley named Bowe Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border. He is supposedly the only U.S. soldier being held captive in Afghanistan.

Around July 18, 2009, the Taliban released a video of Bowe looking unhappy, and the Dept. of Defense confirmed that he had been missing. Another video was released at Christmas. Now the Taliban has threatened to put him to death if a Pakistani neuroscientist, who is being held in the U.S., is not released (along with 21 other Afghan prisoners).

Here is what our paper says this morning:

"The PakTribune reported that members of [the scientist's] family had sought help from theTaliban after she was convicted Wednesday by a Manhattan jury of attempting to murder U.S. soldiers while in custody in Afghanistan in July, 2008.

'Being Muslims, it becomes our religious and moral obligation to help the distressed Pakistani woman convicted by the U.S. on false charges,' the Taliban commander was quoted as saying. ... 'Since [Bowe] has confessed to all charges against him, our Islamic court has announced death sentence for him.'"

I am so, so sad. I do not even know him personally, but I think about the situation all the time. I am not even religious but I find myself saying little prayers for him during the day.

This is a really small community. Like I said, I do not know Bowe, but everyone here knows him or his family. His dad is our UPS man. He did ballet when he was younger! He has a girlfriend named Monica.

We have had yellow ribbons tied around every tree in Hailey since last summer. They're bedraggled now, and some have fallen off. But they're still up on most trees along Main Street, shops still have signs of support in the windows, and as you drive into town the big sign in front of the rodeo grounds reads "Standing With Bowe."

Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Etsy Find of the Week: Morelle Roseberry Barrel Bag

2010-02-05T07:38:00.001-07:00

Remember when I started this Etsy Item of the Week thing and I said that I was hoping that posting about an item would cure my wanting to own an item? This is a good example of why I want to be cured: Voila, Morelle's Roseberry Barrel Bag.

It's so, so pretty! And I would definitely put it to use. This thing is, I shouldn't be buying a $300 pink leather purse right now. So, let's hope that by putting this out there, I am letting it go. Breathe deep..... let it go.

Morelle's Etsy Shop

Morelle Blog

Edit: Well it's a good thing I let it go so well because it looks like the bag was sold!

The book isn't out until May, you cheater!

2010-02-02T18:25:00.000-07:00

Somebody recently found this blog by Googling "WHAT HAPPENS TO LISBETH SALANDER AT THE END OF THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNETS NEST"

Etsy Find of the Week: Berkley Illustration

2010-01-29T13:29:00.000-07:00

Fun animal portraits from Berkley Illustration...

Pygmy Marmoset. Come. On.

Berkley Illustration Etsy Shop

Berkley Illustration Blog

for no reason except awesomeness

2010-01-24T11:33:00.000-07:00

New Draggletail Project: Etsy Find of the Week

2010-01-22T08:25:00.000-07:00

I have a serious Etsy addiction. We've discussed this. But I can't even control myself any more. It's one of the first sites I check every morning, then I can't stop trolling through it all and adding things to my cart and then freaking out and taking them out again and then putting ten more things in and pulling that PayPal trigger. Ugh. But the first step is admitting you have a problem, right?

So I came up with an idea to help me stop the insanity. Once a week I am going to post my Etsy Find of the Week on this blog (I imagine there are plenty of Etsy-centric blogs out there - I'm not being original here). This could be an item I have purchased and am reviewing for the good of my reader, or it could be an item that I covet that I know I should not buy. The thought here is that maybe by posting a photo of the item, it will curb my desire to own the item.

When I first started writing this post I thought I would say that I am going to do this once a week for the rest of the year, but I really hope that I am going to get sick of Etsy pretty soon, and this will become unecessary. But I'm going to give it a go, here.

So. Let me start this mess off by confessing my addiction to Gaia Conceptions clothing. Andrea makes amazing custom skirts and dresses out of organic fabrics, and then hand-dyes them beautiful colors taken out of nature. I have purchased about ten things from her already. When you look at the photos in her shop, you can tell she's a natural, pretty, crunchy, earth goddess. I'm not at all an earth mother type, so I wouldn't naturally be drawn to the kind of stuff you would wear at a Phish concert or music festivals or whatnot, but the colors are so so pretty and the stretchy cotton fabric makes me feel comfy all the time. Plus, I have to admit that living in the mountains where everyone wears cargo shorts and fleece every day really is mellowing my wardrobe. Is it because I'm getting older that I'm embracing the comfort clothing so much these days? Or is it because I'm getting fatter? Is it the mountain lifestyle? Let's go with that last option, because I don't love options 1 or 2. Either way, my weekend wardrobe now has plenty of jersey skirts and cowl-neck tops that sure are comfy!

Gaia Conceptions Etsy Shop

Gaia Conceptions Web Site

Nine Dragons

2010-01-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

Book No. 4 was Nine Dragons by - wait for it - Michael Connelly!

I know, I need to branch out. But! I really thought this was a good read, even taking into consideration that I am predisposed to like this guy's books.

Harry Bosch takes on the Chinese underworld in this one. During the investigation of the murder of a Chinese shopkeeper, Bosch's daughter, who lives in Hong Kong, is kidnapped, so Bosch travels overseas to find her. Danger and excitement ensues. There are a few unpredictable twists to keep things moving along and Connelly's Hong Kong depictions (I like that city) are just as intriguing as his descriptions of the underbelly of L.A.

On to book number 5! I received some good books for Christmas, and I'm not sure which one to pick yet: Leaving Atlanta, by Tayari Jones, Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls, or The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver. I also have been meaning to start A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kictehn Table by Molly Wizenberg, so we'll see. Stay tuned.

Nanny Returns

2010-01-18T10:33:00.000-07:00

So, book #3 was Nanny Returns, by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. I was sort of prepared not to like this book. I am not sure why - I liked The Nanny Diaries well enough. But I did like it!

The story takes place years after Nanny left her charge, Grayer X. She and her husband have just moved back to New York after being abroad, and Grayer shows up drunk on their doorstep wanting some explanations. And thus she becomes embroiled in the X family troubles all over again, while dealing with her own marriage and life decisions.

Lots of of-the-moment (hate that phrase) pop culture references, which normally bug me - but I immediately, if reluctantly, related to all of them (Trish McEvoy mini makeup brushes, lululemon yoga wear), so I can't complain. I guess that just means I am the authors' target audience.

Also proving that I am their target demographic was Nan's running concern about whether or not to have children. And if yes, then when? She struggles with the question, saying to her mother:

"I want to hear it's all going to be okay."
"Well, of course it's going to be okay. It just might not include
children."

Further, I feel like in the first book, Nan was such a do-gooder and firmly on the right side of things (which I guess she was, if you're comparing her to Mr. and Mrs. X) and in this book, people call her out on her righteous indignation. I liked that. She comes off as a know-it-all but doesn't always get away with it. (Maybe I'm mis-remembering the first book but the point remains.)

I am intrigued by the whole co-authoring process. I went to a talk by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson a couple of years ago... they co-author a series of Peter Pan adventure books for kids (the first book is Peter and the Starcatchers - a prequel to Barrie's original Peter Pan). I wrote about this before. They explained that Barry, being a humorist, would focus on the funny characters, and he would write their chapters. Pearson, an author of thrillers, was assigned the darker, scarier characters - pirates and such. So they wrote their drafts, and then they would "ping-pong" the chapters back and forth to each other via e-mail, and each of them would have the chance to edit and contribute to each chapter. I don't know how Ms. McLaughlin and Ms. Kraus did it, but I think about those things when I read a co-authored book. I wonder if it's difficult.

So in the end I found the book to be more interesting than I had anticipated. A nice surprise.

Jessica rounds the Cape

2010-01-15T11:59:00.003-07:00

I am still diligently checking Jessica Watson's blog. Very exciting - she just rounded Cape Horn, which is ... a milestone (what do I know? I've never sailed in my life). It sounds like her parents came to South America and did a fly-over as she rounded the cape... that just chokes me up! And the Chilean navy and Argentinian navy sent boats out to say hello! I cry!

I just can't believe this girl. I'm a little obsessed. She has been at sea for three months. She has not laid eyes on another person - or even on a piece of land - for three months - and she has about 5 more months to go. Sixteen years old! I know she has a phone and the internet and whatnot, but I am just so intrigued by the whole thing. Sixteen!

a word about links and independent booksellers

2010-01-13T06:35:00.002-07:00

I'm fairly certain that none of the readers of this fabulous bloggie click on the links to books that I imbed in my posts, but I wanted to mention, for your information, that I make an effort to link only to independent bookstore purchase options. I mainly link to book stores in the Pacific Northwest, and I generally find their sites on the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association web site. If I get stuck and need to link to something a little more obscure and these sites just can't do it for me, then I'll link to Powell's Books in Portland. Powell's is great, and I guess technically it's an independent book store, but it doesn't really have that Mom and Pop feel I try to support, so I try other options before linking to them.

Now, I can't say I have never shopped on Amazon, and I understand why people do it. It's fine. But at the same time I really like to support the locals when at all possible - and I encourage you to do the same!

Also, check out IndieBound's lists of bestsellers from independent book stores.

IndieBound brings together booksellers, readers, indie retailers, and local business alliances—anyone with a passionate belief that healthy local economies help communities thrive.

The people in small bookstores have to work hard for their sales. "Hand selling," is what it's called - interacting with the customers, knowing a little bit about every area of the store, knowing a lot about some titles, judging and recommending... it's hard work, and these people know their stuff.

Bone to pick? I can't believe how many hours I spent working in a bookstore with demanding customers who asked my opinion on any number of books, spending 30 minutes or more with someone, just to have them say, "Wow, that sounds great! I'll pick it up at Barnes and Noble next time I'm in Twin!"

So. Rude. I mean, I know, people have to do what they have to do. That's fine. But to make me wait on you for an hour and then tell me to my face that you are taking your business somewhere else? How are people so clueless? How can you be so un-self-aware as to not realize what a jerk move that is? Just say "I'll think about it" or "Thanks for your help!"

Anyway. People are people. Shop local! :)

arrrg...

2010-01-11T11:05:00.001-07:00

Just finished Michael Crichton's Pirate Latitudes (Book #3, for anyone who's keeping track. Which I guess would be me.). Piracy, debauchery, grossness and adventure! Wenches, cannibals, and sea monsters too! Pretty fun.

Mr. Crichton died of cancer in 2008, and two novels were found in his things, and are to be published posthumously. Pirate Latitudes was one of them (the other will be published this fall). It's fun, suspenseful, scary - I read it quickly and was thoroughly entertained.

While Crichton die-hards (and there are many) lament that the novel does not seem "finished" - pointing to the fact that his novels are usually full of obviously thorough research detail and in-depth detail - but is this not to be expected? The man died unexpectedly - maybe he wasn't quite "finished". But I disagree with the detractors. Granted, I am not a Crichton know-it-all, though I have read several of his novels, but I felt like the story was complete in the end, and as far as detail goes, I learned quite more than I needed to know about the workings of cannons and about how disgusting 17th century Jamaica was.

The book has big movie production written all over it, and, indeed, rumor has it that Steven Spielberg already owns the rights. The book even has a trailer. For the book.

Book No. 2: Twenties Girl

2010-01-09T22:33:00.000-07:00

Book No. 2 in my challenge was Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella.

Hmm. It was okay. I like Sophie Kinsella well enough - or, at least, I liked the first couple of Shopaholic books, and think she can be funny, so I thought I'd try it out for an easy read.

Twenties Girl is a chick lit ghost story of sorts. In an interview, Ms. Kinsella describes how the book came about:

My U.S. editor Susan Kamil had once said casually, "You should write a ghost story one day." This comment stayed with me for years. I loved the idea, but didn't know who my ghost could be. I've always loved the glamour and spirit of the 1920s, and the idea came to me of a flapper ghost. A feisty, fun, glamorous girl who adored to dance and drink cocktails and get her own way. I wanted her to be a determined character who would blast into the life of someone with no warning and cause havoc. I then decided she should haunt a thoroughly modern girl, with all the culture clashes and comedy that would bring.

My, that does sound fun! But it was slow going for a (long) while. Lara Lington is our real-live girl who is the only one who can see Sadie, the flapper ghost of her great-aunt. Of course wacky highjinks ensue, as Lara's family think she's talking to herself, losing her mind, etc. Plus, Sadie is just not as endearing as we're meant to believe: She screams and shrieks at Lara to do things for her which just sounds maddening to me. I found it hard to believe that Lara grows close to this harpy. I almost had to abandon the book. But once we get all that out of the way (and disregard the side stories involving Lara's unlikely love interests), there is a nice little historical mystery in the latter half of the book that is sort of touching. It's a sweet end to a rather goofy beginning. That's what we expect from Sophie Kinsella - a friendly, silly, fun read. And that's what we get.

Marian Keyes battles depression

2010-01-06T13:31:00.005-07:00

One of my favorite "women's literature" (ugh) authors has announced on her blog that she's battling depression. Sad. Even worse, she appears to feel guilty about it, writing:

I know I'm leaving myself open to stinky journalists saying 'What has she got to be depressed about, the self-indulgent whiner, when there are people out there with real troubles?' so I won't go on about it.

Guilt on top of your dark depression? Best wishes to her. It's not an easy thing.

Ms. Keyes' books are really good - a little deeper and more intense than the usual chick lit fare, as they deal with serious issues like alcoholism, domestic abuse, and the like. The first book I ever read by Ms. Keyes was Watermelon, and 10-11 Keyes books later, I still think it's my favorite.

Book No. 1!

2010-01-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

All right, here we go. Book #1 of 2010.

Since I really enjoyed Lev Grossman's The Magicians, I decided I wanted to pick up his earlier novel, Codex. Published in 2005, Codex is billed as a literary thriller, so it immediately appealed to me. I like that kind of thing. The summaries of the book reminded me a little of A.S. Byatt's Possession, which I liked, and thought this would be similar - search for/discovery of an old manuscript (in this case, an illuminated medieval work) with a hidden secret.

Young I-banker Edward Wozny is assigned to unpack a bunch of crates for a client which contain an old and valuable collection of books. Purportedly among the books is a codex (a codex is basically a bound book) of great value and of great interest to its owners. The catch is, it may or may not have ever existed. There is mystery and history and modern intrusions. The story moved along fairly well through most of the book, and had some really intriguing moments. In the end, however, I felt that the characters were a bit underdeveloped and too many questions left unexplained. (I don't mind when stories don't have a tidy ending - I just mean along the way: Why was Edward specifically chosen for this task? What was his interest in finding the codex? etc.)

After I finished reading Codex, I scanned a few Amazon reviews (WHY do I do that? It only makes me mad, for one reason or another, every time. Make me stop.) and one reader claimed that this was "hands down, the worst book I have ever read", and then went off on it and raged against the author personally (bone to pick?). But - really? If I am reading a book and it is "hands down" the worst thing I have ever read, I STOP READING IT. Life is too short to waste time reading books that I hate. I did not hate this book, and in fact I mostly liked it. Mr. Grossman's writing is strong and enjoyable to read, and the promise of another twist or turn in the story kept me going. I preferred The Magicians, however, if you're looking to try out Mr. Grossman's writing (or check him out on Salon.com), or maybe something like Shadow of the Wind if you are after a bookish thriller.

easy breezy

2009-12-27T10:48:00.003-07:00

Girly-girl books this week: The Real Real by Nicola Kraus and Emma McLaughlin (authors of The Nanny Diaries) and Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner.

The Real Real: What is it with me and YA books? I might be immature. Never said I wasn't. So the premise of this book is this: A music TV channel ("XTV") sets its sights on a high school in the Hamptons as the focus of a reality series called The Real Hampton Beach - a la Laguna Beach, The Hills, etc. Shows I love, so this is why I was drawn to this book. Our heroine, Jesse, is not part of the in crowd, but is chosen to be a focus character nonetheless. How she deals with the popularity, the jealousy of her her best friend, the powers that be at the TV station - this makes up our story. It's cute - a nice summer read for a teenage girl. Or a nice holiday week read for a 40-year old.

P.S. Did you know that Kraus and McLaughlin's Nanny Returns just came out this month?

Best Friends Forever: I'm a fan of Jennifer Weiner. I think I've read all of her books at this point -- enjoying some more than others, naturally, but I am always willing to pick up something she's written. This one is a little bit Thelma and Louise -- two childhood friends who were torn apart but who reconnect at their high school reunion and set off to wreak revenge on someone who wronged them. It's more complicated than that -- messed-up families play a part in the story -- but I don't want to retall the whole story here...

Which brings me to this realization: I am pretty much just logging what I read these days. I don't know if I'm tired, or just don't have time or what, but I am at a point where I am not spending the effort to dissect what I'm reading. Which is fine with me. But it makes me think maybe it's time for another 50 Book Challenge! I think that's what I'll do, beginning in 2010 - since I'm spending more time reading than writing about the books, I might as well just go with it - and spend more time reading and just log what I've read.

50 Book Challenge is back!

sort of looks like my house

2009-12-24T10:27:00.001-07:00

Chateau Chambord with Christmas lights, Loire Valley, France.

So pretty! Can you imagine happening upon this in the French countryside?

Happy Christmas Eve!

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-21T12:20:00.002-07:00

Free Lisbeth Salander!

2009-12-03T12:53:00.002-07:00

Over the Thanksgiving holiday I traveled on several lengthy flights, which afforded me plenty of good, solid reading time. On first leg of my trip, I began with Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. This book received so many great reader reviews all over the place that I had decided I just couldn't resist it any longer, and I eagerly dug in. Unfortunately, at first for me it was a little slow going, but after about 75 pages I was hooked.

When you Google this novel, you might run across the Spanish language version - Los Hombres Que No Amaban a las Mujeres - a title which basically translates to Men Who Hate Women. Well, that's for sure. This thing is chock-full of Men Who Hate Women... But I'm getting ahead of myself.

This original thriller begins with the trial of Mikael Blomqvist, a Swedish journalist accused of libel. His career in shambles after the trial, Blomkvist agrees to take on a writing project for a business tycoon, and part of the deal is that he is to investigate details regarding the disappearance of the businessman's niece some 40 years before. Along the way he uncovers festering family secrets, business cover-ups, corruption, and plenty of hideous mysogynistic crimes to boot. Blomqvist enlists the help of one of the finest characters I have come across in a long time - Lisbeth Salander, a feral, fierce, tattooed slip of a girl who is an expert hacker and has endured plenty of her own horrors during her life. I am just fascinated by this chick. As a reader, you are not meant to "like" her, I don't think. She's not anyone's friend, really. But you root for her, and can't help but be impressed by her now and then. She is one who sticks with you.

Anyway, it's an exciting book all in all, the first in a trilogy. And... I liked it so much that the instant I finished, I bought The Girl Who Played With Fire, the sequel, because I couldn't wait to see what happens to Salander next. Equally as exciting as the first one, this book entertained me all the way home with more Blomqvist/Salander intrigue.

There is one book left in the trilogy. The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest doesn't come out in the U.S. until May of 2010, and I have to admit I am sorely tempted to buy it from a UK source -- I can't help it! There was a cliffhanger after the second one! I have to know!

One more thing: This popular series is, sadly, all that we will be enjoying from author Stieg Larsson -- the author died suddenly of a heart attack in 2004, just after he turned this trilogy in to his publisher. He was the second best-selling author in the world in 2008.

Edit: Rereading this blog post, I can see that it is a little cheesy and rather uninformative. It reads like an amateurish Amazon reader review. But I don't know what to write to fix that. You'll either like these books or you won't... I think readers who enjoy thrillers (and who are not scared by a few scenes of graphic violence) should give them a go.

six more from good old M.C.

2009-12-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

Haven't I come off of the Michael Connelly bandwagon yet? No. No, I have not.

Over the past several weeks I read Angels Flight (good one), Lost Light, Void Moon (good one with female lead - nice break from Harry Bosch), The Scarecrow (not my fave, I have to say), The Brass Verdict (another good one), and A Darkness More Than Night. I think there are just a few Connelly books left that I have yet to read, now. What am I going to do with myself when I am finished?

Write faster!

Running Plodding Along in Heels

2009-11-29T16:33:00.000-07:00

Speaking of judging books by their covers, I recently read Running in Heels by Anna Maxted.

How do I describe this book? Hmm.

Here's what it says on the back cover:

"To say that Babs has been my closest friend for sixteen years is rather like saying that Einstein was good at sums. We were blood sisters from the age of eleven (before my mother pried the razor out of Babs' hand)."

But now Babs, noisy and as fun as a day at the beach, is getting married. And Natalie Miller, twenty-seven, senior press officer for the London Ballet, panics. What happens when your best friend pledges everlasting love to someone else?

Here's what the book is about: Anorexia.

Anorexia, corrosive relationships, and a bunch of self-destructive people. The main character is not appealing, and never really redeems herself. I'm not saying it's a bad book, but I'm definitely saying that it's not the "laugh-loud... hip, readable... always funny" story that Publisher's Weekly promised me.

The Help

2009-11-22T20:38:00.001-07:00

Is there a woman in America who hasn't read this book yet?

The quick look: Stories about black maids working for white families in the 1960s in racially-charged Jackson, Mississippi. My take: It's just so engrossing. Suspenseful, heartbreaking, funny, even a little annoying at times. (More on that in a second.)

The book is a touching look at women's relationships - boss and maid, care givers, women raising their own children and the children of others.

Suspenseful, heartbreaking, funny - I used those words above, and I think those are self-explanatory adjectives. By annoying, I mean this: It's a little tricky, I imagine, for the author to justify creating her black characters' voices in such a way as to potentially perpetuate stereotypes ("I reckon I'm on a do it," says one in her southern dialect.). It made me a little uncomfortable at first. But the black characters are developed so wonderfully that I let it go after a while. It's the maids, in fact, who are the most vivid characters of this book.

The author claims in an afterword to have written the novel to explore the world of and pay tribute to her own childhood maid. So I suppose she knows her subject matter and the life of which she writes. That world and that time, it seems to me, was likely a lot more harsh and violent for The Help than this book lets on, however. I suppose it's plenty harsh now and then: A black teenager is blinded for using the wrong restroom, Medgar Evers being killed in his own front yard - but it could have been described a lot worse and I kept waiting for something really hideous to happen. So maybe I thought it ended up being a little too cozy?

Or maybe I didn't. I did really enjoy this book and its exploration of the women's relationships. It did win me over.

Something niggles, though. I feel a little bit about this book like I did about Edgar Sawtelle - I enjoyed it! Why can't I just leave it at that? Why must I feel there is something nagging me, that there should be something more about this book that I should pick apart, pick on? Unfortunately, I don't think it's always the book. I think it's the wannabe know-it-all in me. The part of me who wants to put my years of studying literary criticism to work, or the part of me who feels like she's still writing book reviews for a newspaper (which requires more criticism than lazy enjoyment of a book). Hmm. Let it go, Jenn!

So, okay. I liked it.

Rampant!

2009-11-20T10:38:00.000-07:00

In one of my recent posts, I was kind of making fun of Diana Peterfreund's latest book, Rampant. Viscious, man-eating unicorns being hunted by virgin teenage girls! I figured that was really plumbing the depths to find something original (i.e. something other than vampires and werewolves) to offer the whole young adult supernatural genre which is so insane right now. But after I finished scoffing, I actually read the book in question (what an idea!) - and it was kind of good! Girl power, the twist on the unicorn's fuzzy, sunny reputation... plus it dealt with some interesting, real-world coming of age stuff: Leaving the comfort of the home you've known all your life, dealing with unwanted sexual advances, making a name for yourself as a young person. It was more interesting than I had imagined. Plus, I liked her other books, so I don't know why I was surprised.

So let that be a lesson for you, friends: Don't judge a book by its cover! Bet you never heard that one before.

The Magicians

2009-11-11T11:11:00.001-07:00

I read a really good book while I was on ~~vacation~~ MY HONEYMOON: The Magicians, by Lev Grossman. I loved it, and was sorry when it came to an end.

Critics may call this novel deriviative, unoriginal - but I think that's a facile way of looking at the book. The story is about a young man who gets accepted to a secret school of magic (uh-huh, sounds familiar), is obsessed with a fairy tale land populated by talking animals which is accessed through a grandfather clock (not a wardrobe, but still...), and experiences magical adventures and soul-searching. At first some of the glaring similarities to other fairy tales took me aback - is he really going to be this obvious about it? - but after a while, the similarities become less stagey as they are absorbed into the unique tale. During a magic game at the school, for example, one character is drunk and missing his part in the game, and stumbles:

"Hang on," he said. "Gotta get my quidditch costume. I mean
uniform. I mean welters."

Modern day, teenage magicians obviously would be familiar with the Harry Potter books, right? It makes perfect sense to mention an aspect of the books that this character would know (and might mention in a drunken mess). I wouldn't call this derivation. Rather, I would say it's an acknowledgment and also sets the scene, establishes the atmosphere that these kids inhabit.

The characters were well-drawn - none of them were entirely Good, and none were completely and unrealistically Evil (well, the bad guy was pretty bad, but even he had a back story). I like that. And, bonus, Grossman uses great words: persiflage, susurrus, saurian...

Fairy tale references aside, this is definitely not a children's book. It's about the darkest possibilities of magic. While there are plenty of delightful little magical images and tricks (love the part when the students are transformed into geese, and the author's descriptions of how a goose feels and thinks), much of the book is grim, sly, cunning and occassionally even shocking. (At one point I actually gasped and said, "Holy shit!" out loud while reading. Ladylike!) This darkness reminded me a little of Wicked and the other Gregory Maguire books.

Sequel, please!

wedding vendors, continued

2009-11-06T08:05:00.000-07:00

Last, but not least, our fabulous florist was Tara Bella Flowers. I could not have been more happy with the flowers - SO gorgeous and exactly what I had in mind. And Tara, the owner, is such a joy - easy-going, friendly, professional, put up with my mom... I really enjoyed getting to know her. Tara also works at a restaurant that we love so I am looking forward to running into her again soon.

wedding vendor props

2009-11-06T08:03:00.000-07:00

This is the post where I am going to take a moment to give a shout-out (did I just say that?) to all the vendors who made my wedding run so seamlessly.

First of all, if you're getting married in Sun Valley and need a wedding planner, look up Amanda Seaward/Absolute Weddings. Amanda is extremely organized and asks all the right questions. She's great at her job, and a good friend.

Our photographer - Dev Khalsa - is also a friend of ours, and did an amazing job with our photos. One friend commented that our weddings pics looked just like a magazine spread... and they totally do.

Look how much fun they're having! Obviously our wedding reception was pretty much the best party ever!

Our Save-the-Date cards were designed by Leslie at Unless Someone Like You. I freaking LOVED what she did for us. She was so responsive, creative, and easy to work with. I wish I had other reasons to hire her. Like, I might start a band just so she could design a poster for us.

Laura Hooper Calligraphy designed and printed these adorable little maps for us - we put them in the gift bags for our guests and everyone loved them. The back of the card had a schedule of events on it.
Laura also did some calligraphy work for us which also turned out just great. She's been featured in lots of mags like Town & Country Weddings, In Style Weddings, and tons of stylish wedding-related blogs. She was also very quick to respond to emails and was a breeze to work with. Love!

I'm going to have to do the florist in a separate post, because it is too much of a pain to add multiple photos in Blogger. Hold, please!

this is book-related, really

2009-11-02T10:48:00.001-07:00

I liked the Twilight books just fine, but am by no means a Twi-hard (didn't like the movie one bit, don't care who Robert Pattinson is dating, don't think that the series is actually a true story like some people do, Nancy). However, the whole (tired) phenomenon is kind of interesting to me, and I am pleased that the real city of Forks, WA - once a dying logging town - has enjoyed a rejuvenation and a huge tourism boom due to the books.

The Hollywood Reporter says that one couple is even opening a Twilight-themed restaurant. I say good for them. I am all for capitalizing on your moment in the sun. (You might want to slow down, though, Kristen Wiig.)

The best part of the linked story is the last line: "The Chamber of Commerce says thousands of visitors come asking questions, such as whether it's safe to go camping with the vampire problems in the area."

disturbing

2009-10-31T06:12:00.001-06:00

Here's a Halloween question for you: Why do so many vintage pulp fiction covers involve the mutilation of naked women? Discuss. (I'm against that practice, myself. Though I guess if you're really "Satan's Seamstress," like the lady below, that's another thing.)

Edited 11/1: Actually I think these are comic books - not pulp fiction. Still disturbing, though.