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Friday, June 30, 2006
books for June
June:
Title (bold indicates first-time read) -- Author -- Rating (out of 5)
- Falling Angels -- Tracy Chevalier -- 4
- I'm writing this review nearly a month after having finished the book. From here, I can say the following: I liked it. It's quite memorable really, with some unexpected twists and turns. Tracy Chevalier has shown herself to be an adept writer of historical fiction (added bonus: she doesn't just stick to one time period and locale; this particular book is set in Edwardian London) and I look forward to reading what she comes up with next.
- I'm writing this review nearly a month after having finished the book. From here, I can say the following: I liked it. It's quite memorable really, with some unexpected twists and turns. Tracy Chevalier has shown herself to be an adept writer of historical fiction (added bonus: she doesn't just stick to one time period and locale; this particular book is set in Edwardian London) and I look forward to reading what she comes up with next.
- The Ladies of Missalonghi -- Colleen McCullough -- 2
- I picked this up at a flea market because I remembered that there was a bit of a kerfuffle surrounding it. Supposedly McCullough borrowed a bit too freely from one of my favorite books, The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery, in writing this little book set in the Blue Mountains in Australia at (I'm guessing) around the turn of the century. And there are DEFINITELY way too many similarities in the stories (from the sequence of events, to the characters, to some lines of narration) for anyone to believe that they're merely coincidental. I don't know whatever happened with that lawsuit; I don't know if I'd go so far as plagiarism, since there are a great many differences as well, but it's definitely close, in my opinion.
Not that Ladies comes anywhere NEAR the level of quality of The Blue Castle. The latter is piquant, refreshing, clever, winsome, and at times biting, all in a wholesome and romantic kind of way. The former is just another moderately trashy period romance. In my humble opinion, of course.
- I picked this up at a flea market because I remembered that there was a bit of a kerfuffle surrounding it. Supposedly McCullough borrowed a bit too freely from one of my favorite books, The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery, in writing this little book set in the Blue Mountains in Australia at (I'm guessing) around the turn of the century. And there are DEFINITELY way too many similarities in the stories (from the sequence of events, to the characters, to some lines of narration) for anyone to believe that they're merely coincidental. I don't know whatever happened with that lawsuit; I don't know if I'd go so far as plagiarism, since there are a great many differences as well, but it's definitely close, in my opinion.
- Queen of Swords (ARC) -- Sara Donati -- 4.5
- reviewed here.
- reviewed here.
- Tied to the Tracks -- Rosina Lippi -- 4
- Rosina Lippi (who also writes under the pseudonym Sara Donati, which should sound familiar to you) won the PEN/Hemingway award in 1999, and she has more skill at turning phrases than the average bear (or the average modern writer, either. Or most GOOD modern writers, for that matter). She puts her skill to excellent use in this second novel published under her real name, which centers around a documentary-production company hired to produce a piece about a famous Southern writer in her insular Georgia hometown. Which sounds rather boring, until you bring up the fact that the owner of the production company and the new head of the English department at the college where the famous Southern author teaches once spent a summer falling in love and never actually got over it, even though it's been five years and one of them is engaged to someone else. Lippi writes sexual tension so well that the book very nearly vibrates in your hands. This story is edgy and romantic, and the setting is pitch-perfect. This is one of the best-written contemporary novels I've ever read.
So what's the catch?
Well, nothing, if you don't mind finding as you near the end of a book that it's becoming An Issue Story -- a Very Special Episode, if you will -- and that the issue involved is one you may not agree with or want to have preached to you (in brilliant prose, I'll grant you). I can't say more without even more completely spoiling the ending, which I don't really want to do. A person without my personal biases and beliefs should probably enjoy this novel unreservedly.
- Rosina Lippi (who also writes under the pseudonym Sara Donati, which should sound familiar to you) won the PEN/Hemingway award in 1999, and she has more skill at turning phrases than the average bear (or the average modern writer, either. Or most GOOD modern writers, for that matter). She puts her skill to excellent use in this second novel published under her real name, which centers around a documentary-production company hired to produce a piece about a famous Southern writer in her insular Georgia hometown. Which sounds rather boring, until you bring up the fact that the owner of the production company and the new head of the English department at the college where the famous Southern author teaches once spent a summer falling in love and never actually got over it, even though it's been five years and one of them is engaged to someone else. Lippi writes sexual tension so well that the book very nearly vibrates in your hands. This story is edgy and romantic, and the setting is pitch-perfect. This is one of the best-written contemporary novels I've ever read.
- The Other Boleyn Girl -- Philippa Gregory -- 4
- I'd had this sitting on my shelf for a few months; it caught my eye this month and I took it down and read it. Overall it was really well-done historical fiction; the life and times of Henry VIII and his (first three) wives came to life for me in a way they never had before (not too difficult, since I could only name one of the wives and really couldn't have cared less, to tell the truth). For the few days I was reading this massive tome I felt like I was living and breathing in 16th-century England (and it stank. But not in a literary way.). Anyone who ever wanted to be a queen in medieval England would more than likely change her mind after reading this book. At first I found the idea of telling the story through the eyes of Anne Boleyn's lesser-known sister was just clever writing; I realized at the end that it was a necessity because she was very nearly the only main character left alive.
- I'd had this sitting on my shelf for a few months; it caught my eye this month and I took it down and read it. Overall it was really well-done historical fiction; the life and times of Henry VIII and his (first three) wives came to life for me in a way they never had before (not too difficult, since I could only name one of the wives and really couldn't have cared less, to tell the truth). For the few days I was reading this massive tome I felt like I was living and breathing in 16th-century England (and it stank. But not in a literary way.). Anyone who ever wanted to be a queen in medieval England would more than likely change her mind after reading this book. At first I found the idea of telling the story through the eyes of Anne Boleyn's lesser-known sister was just clever writing; I realized at the end that it was a necessity because she was very nearly the only main character left alive.
Monday, June 26, 2006
two more memes because I'm still a lazy blogger
(actually I'm thinking about pulling the plug on this thing.)
I lifted both of these from Michael. The first one especially is really long, and I don't blame you if you skim it, but question 21 needs your input... :)
1. EVER BEEN GIVEN AN ENGAGEMENT RING?
yes
2. LONGEST RELATIONSHIP?
Married twelve years and three months to T. We'd been a couple for about seven months before that and been on the EDGE of being a couple for about six months before THAT.
3. LAST GIFT YOU RECEIVED?
C cut a red heart out of felt and gave it to me for a bookmark, a couple of days ago.
4. EVER DROPPED A CELL PHONE?
Geesh, all the time.
5. WHEN'S THE LAST TIME YOU WORKED OUT?
um. ah. I think it would be counted in years, unless you count a walk brisk enough to maintain an aerobic heartbeat for maybe ten minutes, in which case a week or two.
6. THING(S) YOU SPEND A LOT OF MONEY ON?
Well, basic necessities mostly. My main item for frivolous spending is dinner out.
7. LAST FOOD YOU ATE?
toast.
8. FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT THE OPPOSITE SEX?
Well, as Michael said, I'm a respectable married woman so I don't look. However, I LOVE that T has some breadth to his shoulders and depth to his chest and size to his arms. My boyfriends in high school tended to be the weedy skinny type (last I saw them both, within the past year, they still were) and oh my goodness do I prefer a more manly physique... mmm. yes.
9. ONE FAVOURITE SONG?
You can't make me. I won't. I will say that I've been addicted to Domenico Scarlatti's piano sonatas lately, but that's like 20 songs even on the one CD.
10. WHERE DO YOU LIVE?
Small town, California, blah blah blah.
11. HIGH SCHOOL YOU ATTENDED:
The one in the small town in the central California foothills.
12. CELL PHONE SERVICE PROVIDER:
Verizon.
13. FAVOURITE MALL STORE:
Hmm. There is no bookstore in the nearest mall.
14. BAKED OR FRIED?:
Depends. Usually fried, as my waistline will attest.
15. DO YOU OWN A PAIR OF DICE?
Who doesn't?
16. DO YOU PRANK CALL PEOPLE?:
I did a few times in junior high and I've been dreadfully ashamed ever since.
17. LAST WEDDING YOU ATTENDED:
Jennifer's, in September 2004.
18. FIRST FRIEND YOU'D CALL IF YOU WON THE LOTTERY:
My mom.
19. LAST TIME YOU SAW YOUR BEST FRIEND:
About fifteen seconds ago (doctor told him to stay home from work this week too, until his surgeon consultation on Thursday).
20. FAVOURITE FAST FOOD RESTAURANT:
Panda Express YUM.
21. BIGGEST LIE YOU HAVE EVER HEARD:
"Safe, legal, and rare." (My husband and I have a bet on whether other people will know who said this and what it refers to. So please comment and let me know, if you know or if you don't.)
23. WHERE'S YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE TO EAT WITH YOUR FRIENDS?
Probably one or the other of our houses.
24. CAN YOU COOK?
I can hold my own and keep my husband and myself heavier than we should be.
25. WHAT CAR DO YOU DRIVE?:
A green-and-white 1972 Dodge Dart Swinger with a 318. Woo hoo!
26. FAVOURITE FLAVOR JOLLY RANCHER:
green apple, then watermelon, then cherry. (I am leaving this because apparently Michael is a kindred spirit in even more ways than I previously knew.)
27. LAST TIME YOU CRIED?:
Dunno. A week or two ago.
28. MOST DISLIKED FOODS:
There are several things I don't like but for this episode I'll pick: anything with maple in it or on it that isn't pancakes or waffles or French toast. Maple-flavored oatmeal for example, or this new Eggo maple-flavored cereal which my husband has found to be worth a sugar crash on more than one occasion even though I steadfastly refuse to kiss him while he still tastes like it. Or maple doughnuts, blech.
29. THING YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT YOURSELF:
I'm an empathetic optimist, which means I give people the benefit of the doubt a lot.
30. THING YOU DISLIKE MOST ABOUT YOURSELF:
My habit of putting things off that shouldn't be put off. (Amen sister.)
32. LEAST FAVORITE BREED OF DOG
St. Bernards. SO SO SLOBBERY.
33. FAVOURITE MOVIE?
BBC P&P.
34. CAN YOU SING?
I sing well enough in a choir. I like to sing on my own as well and do it all the time when it's just me and/or my family, but I don't know if I have the voice or the nerve to sing alone in front of people.
35. LAST CONCERT ATTENDED?
The last one I sang in with the community chorus.
36. LAST KISS?
About twenty minutes ago.
37. LAST MOVIE RENTED:
We just rented a stack of six movies from the local rental place (6 movies, 6 days, $6). The last one we watched from that stack was The Terminal, last night after the kids were in bed. I thought it was just OK while I was watching it, but thinking back I like it a little better than that. It just wasn't what I expected.
38. 1 THING YOU NEVER LEAVE THE HOUSE WITHOUT:
My camera. Well, usually.
39. FAVOURITE VACATION SPOT:
Morro Bay.
43. LAPTOP OR DESKTOP COMPUTER?:
Desktop. Someday if more places are Wi-Fi equipped I'd like to have a laptop, so that I can put pictures online when I'm not at home, or at least empty a card onto a hard drive so I have more space for more pictures. But it's definitely not a high priority for me.
44. FAVOURITE COMEDIAN?:
hmm. Drawing a blank.
45. DO YOU SMOKE?
No.
46. SLEEP WITH OR WITHOUT A LIGHT?
We leave the hall light on so that we can move around without killing ourselves tripping over stuff.
47. WHO SLEEPS WITH YOU EVERY NIGHT?:
T. Of course.
48. DO LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIPS WORK?
I know people for whom they have. And of course long-distance friendships, thanks to the Internet, work really well for me, except that it's frustrating when I want to hug someone.
49. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU BEEN PULLED OVER BY THE POLICE?
Well, technically, that would be zero, since they weren't police officers (no city police around here) but instead CHP or sheriff's deputies. :) (Um, hmm. About four times -- twice for not dimming my lights which I guess is a characteristic of drunk drivers but in my case it was pure absentmindedness. Once for popping on my brakes to tell the driver of the doggone truck with its brights on to get off my back bumper, only the doggone truck with its brights on turned out to be driven by a sheriff's deputy with an ego the size of his SUV -- I was seventeen or so and scared to death, but didn't get a ticket out of it at least. And once for speeding, for which I did indeed get ticketed.)
50. PANCAKES OR FRENCH TOAST?
French toast, if it's done right. T can't have it, though, because of the eggs.
51. DO YOU LIKE COFFEE?:
No. I like the smell of coffee, and I like the hint of coffee in coffee-sugar-flavoring-and-cream beveragy treats, but coffee itself, no.
52 HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR EGGS?
In an omelette, yum. Or over medium.
53. DO YOU BELIEVE IN ASTROLOGY?:
No.
54. LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?:
The doctor treating my husband's back injury.
55. LAST PERSON ON YOUR MISSED CALL LIST?:
I only have caller ID on my cell phone, and I think my last missed call was from my dad.
56. WHAT WAS THE LAST TEXT MESSAGE YOU RECEIVED?
I don't send or receive text messages. I usually don't see the point of it, although my husband has a text pager and when he's at work I will send him text pages rather than risk having his boss pick up. :)
58. NUMBER OF PILLOWS?:
Two.
59. WHAT ARE YOU WEARING RIGHT NOW?:
A khaki skort and a black tank top.
60. PICK A LYRIC, ANY LYRIC:
hee hee. Um. "I could sing of your love forever! I could sing of your love forever! I could sing of your love forever! I could sing of your love forever! I could sing of your love forever! I could sing of your love forever! I could sing of your love forever! I could sing of your love forever!" It didn't say it had to be a lyric I liked. And for the uninitiated, yes, that is a real song, one that drives me absolutely bananas, although my daughter loves it.
______________________________________
Twice Upon a Time--
Two Names You Go By:
1. Rachel
2. Rach
Two Parts of Your Heritage:
1. English (on the Mayflower, thank you)
2. German
Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now:
1. glasses
2. a wristwatch
Two Things You Would Want in a Relationship:
1. Genuine attention -- I need to be important to him. (and I am.)
2. Intelligent conversation.
Two of Your Favourite Hobbies:
1. Photography
2. Reading
Two Things You Want Really Badly At The Moment:
1. For the A/C in my Dart to successfully be fixed at minimal expense tomorrow
2. For the road from here to T's work to be in some form of working order by the time he has to go back to work.
Two pets you had/have:
1. A cat named Mary, who likes to pee on all my belongings.
2. A cat named Elizabeth, who particularly likes to pee in our closets.
Two things you did last night:
1. Watched The Terminal.
2. Took pictures of the thunderheads over the mountains at sunset.
Two People that live in your house:
1. My son (who, at 10, is too old for many childish things, but who is still young enough to be excited when he sees the space pajamas I made him in 2004 in his stack of clean clothes).
2. My daughter (who likes to set up a "café" on our front porch when anyone is working outside, to serve water and fruit).
Two things you ate today:
1. Toast.
2. Butter.
Two people you Last Talked To:
1. My son
2. My husband
Two Things You're doing tomorrow:
1. Getting the A/C in my car checked and recharged.
2. Feeding my family. (Didn't I cook yesterday?)
Two longest car rides:
1. Well, the summer after I finished eighth grade we took a car trip through nine states.
2. There's this stretch of road between Fresno and the Grapevine where I swear you get caught in a time warp. The same scenery over and over, the same cars, the same heat waves. You'll see a sign that says that Bakersfield is 50 miles away and then you'll drive and drive for what feels like days and then I SWEAR you see another one that says Bakersfield is 55 miles away. Or it seems like this, anyway. My gosh I hate that section of road.
Two Favourite Holidays:
1. Christmas
2. My children's birthdays.
Two favourite beverages:
1. Diet Cherry Coke
2. Really GOOD plain, cold iced tea.
Two Things You Can't Live Without:
1. Oxygen
2. Carbon
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
wordless wednesday
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
where's Johnny Olson when you need him?
Do you know what we got today? We got (drumroll) a NEEWW CAR!
(really I always thought the showcase with the vacation looked like more fun.)
Well, OK, it's a 34-year-old car. But -- get this -- it was owned by a little old lady who owned it from the day she bought it new in 1972 until today when she sold it to us. And I don't know if she only drove it to church on Sunday or what, but DANG did she take good care of it. This car is WAY better inside, out, and mechanically than our 1991 Buick was when it was a third the age of this classic machine. So, we're happy. Because now the aforementioned 1991 Buick can go rot in Pick And Pull (which is all it's good for now thanks to the fact that its cash value is far, far less than what it would cost to make it, you know, go down the road when you push the gas pedal -- I know, that's a lot to ask) while I drive something that goes where I need it to go. And if it should stop going where I need it to go, my husband can actually fix it**, because it isn't run by a Hal-ish computer that tells you an assortment of lies about what's wrong with its insides. Here is a picture of our new car, with C as an added bonus (really, we were heading out for a walk and I realized that there was an actual object on the premises that THE NIKON had not met yet, so I took a couple of shots before we left the driveway, to get them properly acquainted).
**I told T when we were first married and he was replacing the engine in a vehicle that it had always seemed to me that it couldn't be so simple really as hooking up the engine to make a car start working -- that even though I KNEW this wasn't true, I couldn't help thinking there almost had to be some kind of white magic hoodoo thing going on that mechanics just didn't tell us about. I felt like I was crazy telling him this until he told me he'd felt the same way for years. The moral of the story is, don't be afraid to tell people your crazy secrets. If they don't haul you away in a straitjacket*** to a nice quiet place where you can weave baskets and watch daytime TV, they might just surprise you by admitting that they're crazy too.
***You know one of my favorite Britishisms? "Strait-waistcoat". AWESOME. Thank you, Mother England.
Also today we found out that T is most likely going to have surgery on his back, being as how that's the only way he'll ever be able to live a normal life and do his job and work on his projects and stuff. (it's a good thing they can't give him a Spine of Steel that would allow him to lift transmissions with no negative repercussions, because if they could he would totally want it but you KNOW the insurance wouldn't cover that). They could continue to do 'pain management', but his discs would never just magically de-herniate themselves, and he'd still have to be so super careful to never lift anything or do anything fun, and he'd always be at serious risk for giving himself another spell of miserable couch-bound agony. So we don't know yet when the surgery will be (please oh please after our weekend in Morro Bay near the end of July) but we're pretty sure that unless God intervenes, it'll happen, and he'll be that much closer (he already has screws in his ankle courtesy of a pickup tackle football game on Thanksgiving 2002, when he broke the little poky-out bone on the inside of his ankle clean off. Yeah, ouch) to being the Bionic Man. Or else maybe the Tin Woodman.
And with that I think I'm completely out of parentheses, so I'll have to close.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Review: Queen of Swords, Sara Donati (Wilderness series, #5)
This book won't actually be available until October. I just read it already because I'm special. Or because the author is really nice and I used to work for her and she sent me an advance reading copy out of the goodness of her heart; that's probably more like it.
Anyone who's been reading my blog for a while knows that I really enjoy this series. It's set in late 18th-/early 19th-century New York/Canada/Scotland/now Louisiana, and centers around an ever-growing family founded when Nathaniel Bonner (a character loosely based on James Fenimore Cooper's frontier novels) marries a rather Austen-ish, forward-thinking British schoolteacher named Elizabeth Middleton. The first four novels focus, more or less, on Elizabeth and Nathaniel and their life in the wilderness of New York State, branching out for longer and longer bits into the worlds their children make for themselves as they grow until, in this fifth novel, Elizabeth and Nathaniel are definitely very minor characters, and the story is taken over by Nathaniel's son Luke and daughter Hannah, and Luke's wife Jennet (whose rescue from nefarious kidnappers in the first pages felt at first like it should be the end of a story and not the beginning of one. Which shows what I know, because in actuality that beginning sets the stage for the rest of the family's adventures most effectively). Donati's genius as a storyteller is evident here; all her work over the past few novels in fleshing out minor characters was well-done and extremely necessary, because here those characters who were secondary up until this point not only have their own intriguing stories (as they have in Lake in the Clouds and Fire Along the Sky), they carry almost the entire 560 pages on their very capable shoulders, with only small (but very welcome and well-written) help from their better-known family members. Which, honestly, is probably going to annoy a few fans, but for my part I didn't mind at all. That said, there's talk of a possible sequel, and I do hope it comes to pass, and that it does include a bit more of everyone "back home".
One note: perhaps because it relies so heavily on just a few characters, I kept thinking that this book seemed uniquely capable of standing on its own for people who had never read the rest of the series. Not that I recommend starting with it -- you have a much richer experience if you've read the four that come before it. But unlike most series books, I think a person who found this on a bookstore shelf and went, 'hmm, that looks interesting' and failed to notice that it was fifth in a series could still have a ripping good read without constantly wondering who the heck these people are and why it seems like we should know more about them than we do.
So that you know I'm not biased ;), I'll go ahead and say that the book, great as it truly is, is not perfect. There are a few historical passage which are necessary and quite informative but read a bit like a (very, very good) textbook. Also, in the first section of the book there were a few moments where Donati's prose seemed to fall a bit flat, although recovery was rapid and complete.
Because this review is based on an ARC and the novel itself hasn't been released yet, my review of it has to be absolutely spoiler-free, and I don't know how far I can go into the plot without revealing major points that are (quite successfully) intended to be surprises. Suffice to say that when you reach the last page you'll feel like you've lived in wet, sultry, complicated New Orleans for six months or so, and that Creole culture and the infamous Battle of New Orleans will become real to you in a way that they may well never have been before. (Also, prepare to have Johnny Horton stuck in your head for at least a day or two. I'm just sayin'. In eighteen fourteen we took a little trip...).
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Almost-Wordless Wednesday: Roman
(Roman is the name of Dad's new dog [see previous post]. Because he was roamin'. Get it? Maybe you had to be there.)
oops
blank page: (n) 1. what your journal becomes when you're a lazy blogger and never post. 2. what your journal becomes when you're a person who has some stuff going on that you don't want to broadcast to the world because you're not sure who reads your blog. 3. proof that maybe I'm a little bit over the whole blog thing, at least for this week.
Really I can't think of anything right now. I was going to do a full-on filler post but I'll spare you. Maybe I'll come back later with some actual substance.
OK, just ONE wee little list.
- T's still off, getting a lot better, though, and will probably be going back to work in a week and a half (boo hoo!)
- There's some awesome stuff going on with my friends. Jennifer is a NEW PERSON (woo hoo!) and Kristen is carrying a new person inside her (woo hoo!), both of which are things I've been praying about for a long time. Y'all, God is awesome. Did I just say y'all? It must be genetic.
- We are all fine, dandy, kids are growing, blah blah blah.
- However, our cars are not. Fine, that is. They are both broken in various ways. Only the truck is working spot-on and since it costs like 30c a mile to drive the truck we don't. Yay for parents who will lend $25,000 machines to their child as necessary, even though said child may or may not have incurred minor damage to their $25,000 machine in the far-distant past, like say in 1992.
- It was like 45 degrees this morning. Which is totally awesome and everything except we spent the night at my parents and I'd only packed a tank top and shorts to wear today. I had the heater on in the car. In the middle of June. And it wasn't even a last-ditch effort to keep the car from overheating or anything like that.
- My dad has a new dog who is quite possibly the cutest dog I have ever seen in person. He looks just like a dog from a TV show, doggy-smile and all. It's a great story -- Dad was going back and forth about whether or not he should get another dog (his dog died back early in the spring) and along came this one just walking down his driveway last week. They checked ads and talked with every neighbor within about ten miles (granted, that's like ten people), and all anyone had to say was that they had seen that dog walking down the road that day. In the direction of my dad's house. He looked like a dog who'd been dumped (jerks do that sometimes, especially in rural areas like where Dad lives) and who had a little nudge from God to show him exactly which driveway to walk down.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
LBY Week 10: The Biggie (self-control)
What a finish... and what a start.
Wow, did I need this week. As I would tell Jenn when we would be having our IM sessions during the video segments, Beth was POKING me this week. Tonight, yeah, as I was watching the video (more on that in a minute) but she was poking me most energetically through the five days of Bible lessons in Week 10 in the book. I needed every one of those days. I think most people probably do. I needed to think about what comes out of my mouth, and what goes into it. I needed to think about a respectful life of self-control vs. the opposite. I needed to think about the waste of effort that it is to pursue things. I needed to think about what I allow to enter my mind, what I allow to cling to me. And most of all I needed to think about the self-discipline -- self-control -- that I lack in the area of a daily walk with God.
There have been times in my life when I got up early. These times have never lasted long, except for the two years that I got up at 5 AM three days a week because I had to be at work at 6:15. During these times I would get up, get some housework done, get some exercise in, and spend some time praying (often with my husband) and reading the Bible and just communing with God before all the distractions of the day set in. Every time I've managed to do this I've been blown away by how much better it feels to be looking at work completed and reflecting on my spiritual breakfast at 8:30 or 9:00, instead of rolling out of bed and stumbling to my e-mail. And yet I always fall back into the pattern of sleeping late and foregoing the very real satisfaction I get from self-discipline. Self-control is like that -- it feels so good after you exercise it that you wonder why you ever don't. Until the next opportunity comes along. In my case, anyway. I have always envied people for whom this sort of thing came more naturally. But you know what? If it came naturally to me, then God wouldn't be about to use it to teach me what I hope I have the strength to learn, and that's the good that comes out of doing it even when it doesn't come naturally.
Tonight in the video session (after we were introduced to the Beth puppet in possibly the funniest scene I've seen on the Internet this year) Beth spent a good amount of time talking about our bodies, and moderation, and being temples of the Holy Spirit, and that's all well and good. I needed to hear it; I know I fall on the Neglect side of the scale and that's something for me to work on. But what I most needed from tonight was the Hannukah section at the end -- my own Hannukah -- my own rededication (Hannukah, for those who don't happen to have just watched a video discussing the topic, being the Jewish holiday that commemorates the rededication of the temple after it was profaned during the second century BC). And I think I need some accountability partners in this. It will be especially difficult since right now we don't have an alarm going off at our house; since T's been off work we've all just kind of slept until we felt like waking up. Which is a wonderful kind of feeling, especially when you have your husband in bed all warm next to you. But even more than I need that wonderful feeling, I need some time to build the foundation for my day in prayer, in the Word, in some good old virtuous labor, before I get caught up in stuff like school and child-tending and the Internet (I am a little fly, stuck in the world-wide web, all wrapped up. Speaking of addictions and new starts). Would you other LBY ladies (and of course anyone else who feels led) pray for me in this? Would you even check up on me -- ask me how I'm doing in it? Thank you.
So. I might as well start tomorrow, Saturday and all. Ack. I can't do this. But He can through me.
 |
||
| Addie | Heather* | Carol |
| M | Rach | Jeana |
| Jenn | Amanda | MamaB |
| GiBee | Boomama | Maria |
| Blair | Heather | Nancy |
| Janna | Flipflop | Robin |
| Sherry | Patricia | Tara |
| Lauren | HolyMama! | Faith |
| Christy | Eph2810 | Karin |
| Leann | Rachel | Janice |
| This is a list of the women participating in the study and the links to their blogs. New postings on the study will be published for the next ten weeks, between Friday 8pm - Saturday 8am. Please feel free to visit each of us and comment. Everyone is welcome to participate in this discussion as we seek to live beyond ourselves. May God bless you richly from the hearing of His word. | ||
Friday, June 02, 2006
Books for May
Forgot to do these yesterday.
Title (bold indicates first-time read) -- Author -- Rating (out of 5)
- The Tenth Circle -- Jodi Picoult -- 4.5
- Now that I've read two of Picoult's books I will know for the future that her standard formula is to throw multiple twists at you in the last chapters of her books, and perhaps next time I will be less incensed. This one was not as bad as My Sister's Keeper, whose ending seemed contrived and out-of-place and honestly reminded me of myself in tenth grade, realizing that the way I'd intended to write a certain short story it was going to be way too long so I killed off the male lead with a plot twist and felt smug at my cleverness. The twists in The Tenth Circle initially did make me angry, but they were easier to forgive because they made the story more complex, and gave you a lot more to think about, rather than feeling like an easy way out of a complicated story.
- Don't Look Down -- Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer -- 3.5
- This was more pleasant than some of Crusie's books -- she's toned down the over-the-top sex a bit. The co-author thing seems to have gone nicely; there's an action angle to this that I'm not sure Crusie could have pulled off on her own and I am going to guess that that's Bob Mayer's main contribution...? This isn't my favorite chick-lit book but it was a not-unpleasant way to spend some time, even though I did get extremely annoyed at the negative attitude toward homeschooling (of all things, in a fluff novel) that was sprinkled throughout the novel. Let's make this intelligent young individual into a clone of all her peers. Tragic that she should be so at home talking with adults! sheesh.
- Avalon High -- Meg Cabot -- 3
- Speaking of fluffy chick novels. This one was interesting, with a fantasy sort of twist that would translate well into a movie, in my opinion. As teen books go, it asked a lot of the reader, too -- if you don't know a good bit about Arthurian legends (who me?) you'll maybe be a bit lost for good portions of this story.
- Speaking of fluffy chick novels. This one was interesting, with a fantasy sort of twist that would translate well into a movie, in my opinion. As teen books go, it asked a lot of the reader, too -- if you don't know a good bit about Arthurian legends (who me?) you'll maybe be a bit lost for good portions of this story.
- Tending to Grace -- Kimberly Newton Fusco -- 3.5
- Another YA novel, not so fluffy, about a teenaged girl whose depressed mother leaves her off with a distant aunt and takes off to Las Vegas with a loser, which of course enables the daughter to learn much about herself and become the grown daughter the aunt never had. It's a first novel for Fusco and you can sort of tell, but overall it's quite good. It's a strong character study with a good underlying plot, and some surprising developments that add depth.
- Another YA novel, not so fluffy, about a teenaged girl whose depressed mother leaves her off with a distant aunt and takes off to Las Vegas with a loser, which of course enables the daughter to learn much about herself and become the grown daughter the aunt never had. It's a first novel for Fusco and you can sort of tell, but overall it's quite good. It's a strong character study with a good underlying plot, and some surprising developments that add depth.
- Assorted Princess Diaries Books -- Meg Cabot -- 2
- When this was a new series I read the first two books, and at that time of my life (when I also dipped into that series that starts with something about Angus and full-frontal snogging) they were the kind of frothy, harmless, light sort of break I needed from whatever was going on in my life. Or something. Because I liked them then. But however many years later, when I happened to be in the YA section and see that there were about four gazillion more of those Princess books, I checked out like four of them and found that they did not hold the same appeal. Or pretty much any appeal at all, to me. I think I got through about one and a half of them before I couldn't stand it anymore.
- When this was a new series I read the first two books, and at that time of my life (when I also dipped into that series that starts with something about Angus and full-frontal snogging) they were the kind of frothy, harmless, light sort of break I needed from whatever was going on in my life. Or something. Because I liked them then. But however many years later, when I happened to be in the YA section and see that there were about four gazillion more of those Princess books, I checked out like four of them and found that they did not hold the same appeal. Or pretty much any appeal at all, to me. I think I got through about one and a half of them before I couldn't stand it anymore.
- Second Honeymoon -- Joanna Trollope -- 3.5
- This was the first Joanna Trollope novel I'd ever read. I was thoroughly snagged in the first chapter by the central character's feeling of loss as her last child left the nest. At first she seems quite a pitiful character (I can see myself in those shoes in, oh, about twelve years, if I don't get on it with the night-class thing), but her development as a character and as a person were brilliantly handled throughout the novel, as her empty nest becomes uncomfortably re-filled. This is almost an "ensemble" novel, if there is such a thing, with the minor characters fleshed out so thoroughly and given such complex storylines that they pretty much become major characters in their own right. I found some of the resolutions a bit unsatisfying, but overall I do truly recommend this novel.
- This was the first Joanna Trollope novel I'd ever read. I was thoroughly snagged in the first chapter by the central character's feeling of loss as her last child left the nest. At first she seems quite a pitiful character (I can see myself in those shoes in, oh, about twelve years, if I don't get on it with the night-class thing), but her development as a character and as a person were brilliantly handled throughout the novel, as her empty nest becomes uncomfortably re-filled. This is almost an "ensemble" novel, if there is such a thing, with the minor characters fleshed out so thoroughly and given such complex storylines that they pretty much become major characters in their own right. I found some of the resolutions a bit unsatisfying, but overall I do truly recommend this novel.
- Brother and Sister -- Joanna Trollope -- 3
- Not as good as Second Honeymoon, but still very well-written. I took off half a point or so because the gender issues that were lightly touched on in SH take on a bit of a bludgeon-ish nature in this novel, and I got tired of being reminded that it's a man's world and doesn't that just suck. Seemed like the author had a bit of a chip on her shoulder as she was writing. Good points: characterization is again quite good. Also, rather than simplifying the issue around which the novel revolves (adoption), Trollope stirs things up into a quite complicated mess that really makes you think. She didn't change my mind, but she made me see some angles I hadn't thought of so clearly before. And that's good literature.
- Not as good as Second Honeymoon, but still very well-written. I took off half a point or so because the gender issues that were lightly touched on in SH take on a bit of a bludgeon-ish nature in this novel, and I got tired of being reminded that it's a man's world and doesn't that just suck. Seemed like the author had a bit of a chip on her shoulder as she was writing. Good points: characterization is again quite good. Also, rather than simplifying the issue around which the novel revolves (adoption), Trollope stirs things up into a quite complicated mess that really makes you think. She didn't change my mind, but she made me see some angles I hadn't thought of so clearly before. And that's good literature.
- Girl with a Pearl Earring -- Tracy Chevalier -- 4.5
- Intense, riveting, passionate novel that makes the reader see 17th-century Holland as if Vermeer himself had painted it -- all glowing light and gritty shadows. The central character is unforgettable for her suppressed passions which never find fulfillment in the way you think they will as you read -- which is a good thing -- and for her almost uncannily clear and real voice. The ending is perfectly done. Bravo. Recommended.
- Intense, riveting, passionate novel that makes the reader see 17th-century Holland as if Vermeer himself had painted it -- all glowing light and gritty shadows. The central character is unforgettable for her suppressed passions which never find fulfillment in the way you think they will as you read -- which is a good thing -- and for her almost uncannily clear and real voice. The ending is perfectly done. Bravo. Recommended.
- The Virgin Blue -- Tracy Chevalier -- 3
- This is another novel in which Chevalier demonstrates her vivid storytelling skills. I've never read a description of a color that made me see it in my mind's eye in quite the same way as she writes about a particular shade of blue in this story. I found the historical flashbacks to be the most intriguing parts of the book; the modern-day scenes quickly turned into an unfulfilled-wife-tempted-to-have-an-affair cliché, although the mystery angle was quite well-handled.
- This is another novel in which Chevalier demonstrates her vivid storytelling skills. I've never read a description of a color that made me see it in my mind's eye in quite the same way as she writes about a particular shade of blue in this story. I found the historical flashbacks to be the most intriguing parts of the book; the modern-day scenes quickly turned into an unfulfilled-wife-tempted-to-have-an-affair cliché, although the mystery angle was quite well-handled.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Thursday Thirteen
- Buy generic. Mind you, it wasn't the quality of the goods I objected to; it was the horrifying embarrassment of being seen at the checkout with those dreadful black-and-white (or, very marginally less embarrassing, store-brand) packages in the cart. What if someone from school was there? Nowadays, especially since store brands have become really pretty good, there are very few purchases I make where name brand is a requirement. (Like Grape-Nuts.) For everything else I'm more than happy to plunk down less money (or... um... swipe my card for less money) for Best Yet or Western Family or Equate or Kirkland or whatever the store brand du jour happens to be.
- Use the clothesline. When I was a kid and teen I hated the smell. I hated the stiffness. I hated the stickers and the extra work but even if I wasn't out there in the stickers doing the extra work it was just another of those things on the Cool People Don't Do This list. (more of those coming). Now, I actually like the smell, and the stiff towels especially are wonderfully absorbent. Not to mention: a) the fact that using the dryer costs something like 80c a load, and at two or three loads a day that adds up and b) I am guaranteed alone time at the clothesline. Quiet, sunshiny alone time, yet I'm not being lazy or neglecting the family, I'm actually saving money and being virtuously hardworking and all that. Yay clothesline.
- Buy non-name-brand clothes. which goes along with
- Shop for clothes at discount stores. There was a place called Family Bargain Center when I was in junior high which was simultaneously a life-saver (because from a distance, the clothes looked stylish) and the bane of my existence (because up close, people who cared -- read "pretty much the entire student body of the junior high" -- could easily tell the difference). People who are twelve, thirteen, and fourteen are, I'm convinced, capable of immeasurable cruelty about the most asinine, stupid things. Asinine and stupid, yet this was really a big huge major deal for me, on a daily basis. I swore that if I had to work two jobs and whatever else it took, my children would never have to appear in public in clothes that would cause anyone to make fun of them. (You homeschool? But what about socialization?). Mercifully we are free of the slavery of peer opinion about clothes and as long as they're clean, comfortable, and not ridiculous, they're fine.
- Wear, or make my children wear, homemade clothes. See above, times about fifty zillion. At present, I don't have time to make everything for my kids (although in six weeks I will have my sewing room again and by golly I just might try ;), but I like to see them wearing things I've made, and they like wearing them.
- Accept hand-me-downs. Are you noticing a theme here? As I was hanging clothes the other day I was noticing that we had bought maybe five percent of the things my kids wear. The rest comes from friends and family who were kind enough to have children a few years before we had ours.
- Make my children go to church if they didn't want to. This actually hasn't come up yet, because it hasn't occurred to them to not want to go, and even if it did they know they can't stay home alone. However, as soon as it does come up, I'm pulling out Thing Number 8:
- Assume that children have inferior knowledge and/or wisdom. Because, um, they do, which is part of the reason you don't know this when you are one. Sorry, guys. We try to put it as nicely as we can, really. Twenty years from now, you'll get it.
- Tell my children that they'd understand something when they were older that made no sense at the time.
- Tell my children to do something without giving them a reason why. This needs a note: I do actually tell them why, and in retrospect most of the time my parents did too. Sometimes the reason doesn't seem satisfactory to them, as it didn't to me (see #8), but that's generally because they can't see all the sides of an issue. Like say the future side.
- Live in the country. For all my ramblings about my idyllic childhood riding horses and living miles from town (which I truly did enjoy almost all the time), there was a period in my early teens when I found it shameful and embarrassing and downright inconvenient. It didn't help that our house was in actual fact really kind of strange. OH how I longed to live in a normal new house with ordinary rooms that wasn't pink and green with red hook-and-loop carpet donated by a church that was replacing theirs, or loaded with sixty years of (human) pack-rat detritus. Currently, we live in town. It's a town of 2,000 people with no traffic lights and nothing open late and we live at the edge of it, but it is in fact a town and it's the most urban I've ever been. And we have been eagerly awaiting (for twelve years) the time when we would no longer live here.
- Be strict about my kids' friends. I learned the fallacy of this when I was sixteen and had a pretty serious (for me) rebellion and took up with some people of whom my parents strongly disapproved. All the bad stuff my parents said would happen did happen. Right now this is not so much of an issue, but as time goes on it's fully my plan to know whom my kids are with and be in touch (HORRORS) with their friends' parents. See #8.
- Be a religious fanatic. In other words, someone who took faith seriously and let it alter my life and decisions. Uh, whoops.
