Pomp and Circumstance...

Graduation took place last Wednesday night. For those who graduated, anyway.

I could hear the fireworks going off in the stadium around 9:00 p.m. as about 750 seniors from the Class of  '09 threw their mortar boards sky high.

But, I didn't see it for myself. I didn't hear my son's name called. The chance for him to officially walk with his class is gone. It went when he failed his Algebra 2 final, one semester short of a Math requirement, and many of my dreams went with it.

When I was in high school I got through all those Math requirements by taking French. My senior year I was in French V, no lie, and I've since found that speaking French while in Paris to the true Parisians is much more valuable than Algebra 2 will ever be. But, someone in administration wizened up since 1979, and now you must take three years of Math. Even if you'll never use it again in your life.

It's pretty quiet around here. When I'm not crying, I'm reading (such a great solace). When my son's not sleeping, he's not home. I suspect he doesn't want to deal with me and my disappointment coupled with whatever he's stuffing.

There's a slim chance that some how, some way, some one over at the high school will find a summer school class that will satisfy this final requirement. If that's the case, we can have a celebration in July.

And you'll be sure to hear the party right where you are.

Best Intentions by Emily Listfield

Title: Best Intentions
Author: Emily Listfield
Published: May 2009 by Atria Books
Number of pages: 338
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

 "Suspicion crackles and pulls, nags and infiltrates, it coils around your brain, distorting your perceptions, it is the smoke you see everything through that refuses to lift. But a lie, hard and indisputable, freezes in your lungs, its ice spreading through your pores, chilling every synapse; a lie once discovered paralyzes you." (p. 73)

From the very beginning, this book seized my emotions and my mind. I was immediately caught up in Lisa Barkley's life as a thirty-nine year old mother of two, living in Manhattan, wondering if her husband is who says he is. Throughout the entire novel I questioned his plans, his actions, his excuses and responses to her inquiries. Not until the very end was I sure of who he is, or what he had, or hadn't, done.

I love that kind of book.

I love the puzzle, the innuendo, the intrigue, and the satisfying conclusion where I'm not left dangling at the book's conclusion to figure out for myself some multi-layered meaning which only the author is truly able to decipher.

"After tossing and turning all night, thirty-nine-year-old Lisa Barkley wakes up well before her alarm sounds. With two daughters about to start another year at their elite upper East Side private school and her own career hitting a wall, the effort of trying to stay afloat in that privileged world of six-story town houses and European jaunts hash become increasingly difficult, especially as Manhattan descends into an economic free-fall.

As Lisa looks over at her sleeping husband, Sam, she can't help but feel that their fifteen-year marriage is in a funk that she isn't able to place. She tries to shake it off and tells herself that the strain must be due to their mounting financial pressures. But later that morning, as her family eats breakfast in the next room, Lisa finds herself checking Sam's voice mail and hears a whispered phone call from a woman he is to meet that night. Is he having an affair?

When Lisa shares her suspicions with her best friend, Deirdre, at their weekly breakfast, Deirdre claims it can't be true. But how can Lisa fully trust her opinion when Deirdre is still single and mired in an obsessive affair with a glamorous photographer even as it hovers on the edge of danger?

When Deirdre's former college flame, Jack, comes to town and the two couples meet to celebrate his fortieth birthday, the stage is set for an explosive series of discoveries with devastating consequences.

Filled with suspense and provocative questions about the relationships we value most, Best Intentions is a tightly woven drama of love, friendship and betrayal." (front flap)

It's a great, satisfying, emotionally charged read. You won't be disappointed in it.

“A writerly page-turner… deft pacing keeps the action moving and the reader guessing. Listfield ensures no character is above suspicion, and in the end, no one is without blame.” -Publishers Weekly

“An intriguing story full of warmth, humor and insight.” - Joy Fielding
 
“The only territory Emily Listfield knows more intimately than Manhattan's social anthropology is a woman's heart, especially when it feels betrayed.” —Sally Koslow

Leave a comment if you'd like a chance to win a copy of your own.

The winner is Oh!

Friday Fill-Ins

 

 

 

 1. It's cold and I'm grateful for that as I wrap up another year with no air conditioning in our elementary school building!

2. Mozzarella balls, tomatoes and fresh basil make Insalata Caprise.

3. My favorite health and beauty products are lipstick and perfume.

4. Going down the Wheaton Prairie Path on my bike for a nice long ride is my favorite sport in the summer.

5. Well, first of all my son has to pass one semester of Algebra 2 before they'll let him graduate.

6. The people I used to teach with; those were the cast of characters in a recent dream and it was hard to believe I don't teach there anymore when I woke up.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to posting a review on Best Intentions, tomorrow my plans include bike riding and Sunday, I want to gear up for the last week of school before summer vacation!

Magickeepers by Erica Kirov

Title: Magickeepers
Author: Erica Kirov
Published: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky in May, 2009
Number of pages: 231

"Technenie reki i vremeni ne ostanovit. Time stands still for no one. Time stands still for no one. Time stands still for no one. He repeated the words over and over again. The Eternal Hourglass stopped time..." (p. 204)

When Nick Rostove, ready to enjoy his skateboard and summer vacation, pizza and cheeseburgers, is suddenly whisked away to the Winter Palace Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on his thirteenth birthday, he does not know anything about Magickeepers and their enemies, Shadowkeepers. But, he is soon to find out more than he wants to know.

Blessed, or not, with the gift of seeing into the past, Nicholai (as Nick is called by his newly discovered Russian family) also possesses a key with strange lettering. This key once belonged to his mother, and it is a key that Rasputin, leader of the Shadowmakers, desperately wants.

In this magical tale, we find jewel encrusted eggs, the Cyrillic alphabet, caviar and borsch, and even such famous Russian characters as Anastasia and Rasputin. These things give a glorious twist to the fairy tale genre, making a story which is both old in the time honored tradition of pursuing good not evil, and new in the exploration of Russian history and culture. I found it a delightful escape into imagination and intrigue.

While living with his new found family, Nick learns skills that are sure to delight the young readers this book is intended for. He is able to gaze into crystal balls and receive images of pictures which illuminate the past. He is able to produce fire, and he's learning to both  throw it and control it. He is taught to ride a majestic horse, Maslow, which thrills the audience watching him perform in the Winter Palace, where he also is seen transforming Sascha, the white tiger, into Isabella, his cousin.

Yet, at the close of the novel the Grand Duchess, Anastasia, reminds him that he has more power than two of his male cousins put together.

"Come closer. I have a secret."

Nick leaned in. The Grand Duchess leaned close to him, and in a ghostly whisper said, "You are stronger than both of them. You just need to find your destiny." (p.255)

I, too, am anxious to see Nick's destiny revealed in the books to come from the Magickeepers series.

Leave a comment if you’d like a chance to win a copy of your own.

Find other stops along the tour here: YA Books Central; Books 4 Your Kids; The Reading Tub; Book Loons; The Written World; Blog Critics (5/27); Abby The Librarian (5/28); Booking Mama (5/28); A Childhood of Dreams (5/29); Eva's Book Addiction (5/29); Word Candy (5/29); Book Views (6/1); Through The Looking Glass Book Reviews (6/5); Pop Culture Junkie (6/18); Beth Fish Reads (6/23)

The Old Becomes New Again...

While searching Guerlain for a replacement fragrance as they've discontinued my beloved Parure, I came across this ad:



it's enough to tempt one to buy a bottle, n'est ce pas? Ah, to be in my twenties again...

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan

Title: Mudbound
Author: Hillary Jordan
Published 2006, 336 pages
Bellwether Prize in 2006
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

"First time I laid eyes on Laura McAllan she was out of her head with mama worry. When that mama worry takes ahold of a woman you can't expect no sense from her. She'll do or say anything at all and you just better hope you ain't in her way. That's the Lord's doing right there. He made mothers to be like that on account of children need protecting and the men ain't around to do it most of the time. Something bad happen to a child, you can be sure his daddy gone be off somewhere else. helping that child be up to the mama. But God never gives us a task without giving us the means to see it through. That mama worry come straight from Him, it make it so she can't help but look after that child. Every once in awhile you see a mother who ain't got it, who just don't care for her own baby that came out of her own body. And you try and get her to hold that baby and feed that baby but she won't have none of it. She just staring off, letting that baby lay there and cry, letting other peop0le do for it. And you know that poor child gone grow up wrong-headed, if it grows up at all."  (p. 83)

This quote is the basis for all of the book in my mind. Sure, it has a theme of social injustice, of Black and White relationships right after WWII in the Mississippi Delta. Sure, there's a close look at husband and wife relationships, hardships of poverty, emotional wreckage from being a soldier in the war. But, more than anything, this book tells of a mama's love for her son and just what she'll do because of it.

I absolutely loved it.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Title: Great Expectations
Author: Charles Dickens
Published: 1860
Number of pages: 495
Rating: 4 out of 5

Expectations are a dangerous thing.  Held in check, they encourage us to achieve great things. Given free reign, they can cause destruction as great as any other folly: pride, greed, or jealousy. I was highly drawn to this book, not only because of it being a classic work of Dickens', but because of the whole concept of expectations which consume his characters, and if I'm not careful, me.

The book opens in a graveyard; is that not a fitting setting for the imminent destruction we will soon see? Our young hero Pip suddenly meets a convict, who has escaped from prison and entreats Pip to bring him some food and a file. Which Pip promptly steals from his sister's home where he lives. In helping the convict escape, he has no idea of the return he will find from that one act of kindness.

Unhappily living in his uptight sister's home, with the exception of her husband, Joe, Pip believes his benefactress to be Miss Havisham. She is a woman who lives in Silas Manor, dressed in the very same rags which were once her wedding dress. Jilted at the altar, she has refused to step away from the expectations she held for her wedding day. She wears her wedding dress, holds her wedding shoe, has all the clocks stopped at twenty minutes to nine. Her wedding cake is covered in cobwebs, and her bitter heart keeps her from experiencing life any longer. In fact, she raises an adopted daughter, Estella, to be as bitter and vengeful as she herself has become.

When Pip is told that he has come into a huge inheritance, and may freely live in London, he flees his humble home with hardly a backward glance. Never mind that he has turned his back on Joe, the one true friend and man of character that he knows; he's off to fulfill his expectations for a grander life than being an apprentice blacksmith to Joe can ever provide.

Assuming that his benefactress is Miss Havisham, he's greatly surprised to find his financial endowment has come from the convict, Provis. He is also terribly saddened by the scorn with which Estella treats him, despite his love for her. It is not until the completion of the novel that he finally recognizes the scorn with which he himself has treated Joe.

This novel gives us a chance to examine the effects of expectations on characters we are lucky enough only to observe. But, perhaps more importantly, it gives us a chance to examine our own expectations. Hopefully, we can draw an appropriate balance between too few or too many before we suffer their consequences.

Find another review at Rose City Reader.

The Tea Party, No Basis But Delicate Enjoyment

I could only get a few pictures in between the arrival of my guests and the setting of the table. But here are a few of the treats I prepared today:



These are miniature orange muffins, made of orange zest, raisins and raw sugar, filled with smoked turkey breast and quince jelly...



and these are scones made with my two of my favorite food groups (butter and cream) filled with honey baked ham and Dijon mustard.

Unfortunately, you are not able to see the cups and cups and cups of Tetley ginger tea that was consumed with the Droste cocoa brownies, nor the strawberries dipped in an orange cream, nor the three Calla lilies in the crystal pitcher at the center of the table.

I wish I could have invited all of you, my friends, because as everyone knows:

"Another novelty is the tea-party, an extraordinary meal in that, being offered to persons that have already dined well, it supposes neither appetite nor thirst, and has no object but distraction, no basis but delicate enjoyment."~Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, The Physiology of Taste

Friday Fill-ins

1. If we had no winter we couldn't hibernate with books.

2. Every day with a high school Senior is a perpetual astonishment.

3. If I had my life to live over I'd quit laying such heavy expectations on myself and spend more time enjoying what is.

4. I'll be sitting with my feet up anticipating a wonderful weekend  inside of four and twenty hours.

5. If you've never been thrilled you've never been properly kissed.

6. To be interested in the changing seasons is to be content living in Chicago-land where you can experience all four in one day.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to putting said feet up, tomorrow my plans include having a tea party for all the women in our family the very same day as my son's last prom and Sunday, I want to do nothing after church!

Crocodaddy

Title: Crocodaddy
Author: Kim Norman
Published May, 2009 by Sterling Publishing
Number of pages: 26

Did you ever play a game with your father? A game which was completely imaginary, and yet became so real because of a father's sense of fun? This book put me in mind of all the times we played Buckin' Bronco with my father, and never once did my brother or I stay on his back for more than ten seconds.

Crocodaddy, released this May,  tells the story of a boy who sets out on a crocodile hunt in the lake. Each page has a verse, set in rhyme, which is great fun to read aloud. From:

"Down in the pond by a mossy rock,

something slithers past the dock.

Minnows dart with startled jerks-

this is where the Crocodaddy lurks!"

 on the first page, to this on the last page:

"Crocodaddy,

Crocodaddy,

lyin' on the dock-

and I'm a little chip off the lazy old Croc!"

we follow the little boy's game with his dad. It's just a perfect book for Father's Day, whether you're the father or the child.

Visit other stops along the tour at: A Christian Worldview of Fiction, A Mom Speaks, A Patchwork of Books, All About Children’s Books, Becky’s Book Reviews, Booking Mama,Cafe of Dreams,  Fireside Musings, KidzBookBuzz.com, Looking Glass Reviews, Maw Books Blog, Never Jam Today, Olive Tree, Our Big Earth, Reading is My Superpower, SMS Book Reviews, The 160 Acrewoods, Through a Child’s Eyes

My Book Coveting Post

Debi, from Nothing of Importance, is hosting a mini challenge for the month of May.  It's called Write A Post About A Book You're Coveting (my words) and post about it here.

At first I was thinking, "A post? On a book? Is that girl crazy (in a good way)? I'm coveting as many books as I am the number of chocolates in a pound of Fannie Mays!"

But, it just so happens that Amazon.com emailed me with a book I'm coveting as we speak: The Stationmaster. Check this out:



Product Description
L to R (Western Style). To face the future, sometimes you need a little help from the past…An aging railway man facing the closure of his station and the sorrows of his past meets a mysterious young girl who brings an unexpected warmth to the old man’s cold and empty days.A man who has seen the rough side of life finds comfort in the memory of a wife he never knew.A husband and wife struggle to recapture the love they once shared by visiting the movie theater where they met as children. And more…In these eight short stories by award-winning author Jiro Asada, flawed characters haunted by loss find love, reconciliation and redemption in the most unexpected places.

About the Author
Jiro Asada is the author of numerous popular novels, stories, and story lines for graphic novels. Many of his works have been made into films, TV dramas, and plays. His collection Poppoya (The Station Master) won the prestigious Naoki Award for popular fiction in 1997. The title story, originally published in 1995, was made into an extremely popular film in 1999.

Alas, my coveting turned into purchasing. But, all is not lost! Behold one of the prizes for the Japanese Literature Challenge 3 coming in July, along with a myriad of other various prizes I have stored away...

A Son Like No Other

How typical of my son: do the untypical.

Is this where you'd expect to find your Mother's Day card?

When you lifted the lid of the Maytag?!

He must have this holiday confused with Easter, but then again, maybe not for this is what he wrote:

Dear Mom,

     I love you. Why, you ask? Cause I love you the most! You have supported me my whole life, and I thank you sooooo much for it! Today is your day and I hope it's the best day of the year. I know how hard I've made life for you for the past 3 years and I'm sorry from the bottom of my heart that you were effected.

Here's to a day made up of couch's, Books and Mounds of Fanny chocolate! All dedicated to you, Muff!

Love Always,

Daniel

Okay, apparently I haven't taught him perfect spelling or punctuation. But, I'll take the acknowledgement, and knowing who I am, any day of the year. In a way, graduation pales in comparison.

Strict Admonitions Not To Worry

I've just returned from a meeting with my son and another Christian woman, one who is far wiser than I about the trials of raising a man-child.

She asked him what he wanted from me, and he told her it would be for me to stop worrying. Which pretty much has been sucking the life out of me for three years.

So, she looked at me asking, "Can you do that?"

"Sure," I said, "I'll just stop it."

"Let me give you this verse," she replied, "and every time you worry say it until the peace washes over you:

The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4: 6-7

I want you to know, all of you who requested a prayer, that I held you up. For jobs, for money situations, for healing from intense grief, for marriage woes. I will continue to do so, and maybe this verse will help release you from worry, too. Isn't it perfect advice to come on this National Day of Prayer? Talk about timing...

Eat Sleep Sit by Kaoru Nonomura

Title: Eat Sleep Sit
Author: Kaoru Nonomura
Published in 2008 by Kodansha
Number of pages: 322

 

"Before coming to Eiheiji, I envisioned a life so hushed that you could hear ash falling from a stick of burning incense, with endless days of suspended motion and silent introspection. The reality was vastly different. Soon after arriving, I realized that the life of an Eiheiji trainee was a never-ending succession of loud, angry tongue-lashings and beatings-a world away from my fond imaginings. No where was the difference between imagination and reality more striking than in the kitchen." ( p. 151)

Being a Christian, and a Western one at that, I had no idea what living a life in a Zen temple would be like. Neither, it seems, did Kaoru Nonomura, before he found himself inside one.

Eat Sleep Sit tells of his year at Japan's most revered training monastery, Eihiji. Even the most basic parts of life become imbued with discipline, and therefore, meaning. But, they don't come easily.

 "When you passed a senior in the corridor, failure to join the palms in respect was punished on the spot with a blow. There were exhaustive rules for eating, walking, sitting, speaking, and every other human activity, and the slightest deviation from them met with intense physical reprisal." (p. 80)

Every aspect of life in the monastery must be lived in a precise way. Eating, sleeping, and sitting have rules which must be taught, and followed perfectly. It is the job of senior monks to teach the trainees, and in many ways, their methods reminded me of the harshness used in our American military. There is no room for error, or for pride; one must simply learn the correct procedure and do it.

There are at least three pages on the correct way to eat. Some of the rules are these:

"Do not eat from the center of the bowl. Do not seek extra vegetables or rice unless you are ill. Do not cover up the vegetables with rice in order to obtain more. Do not look into your neighbor's bowls or compare portion sizes.

Pour all your physical and mental strength in the act of eating. Do not roll the rice into a big ball. Do not fill your mouth with a large amount of rice at once. Do not eat spilled grains of rice. Do not chew noisily. Do not slurp. Do not lick anything." (p. 99)

If so much attention is given to eating, there is even more so on the proper ways to eliminate. Which I won't go into here.

This book is a fascinating look at what it means to live the disciplined life of a Zen monk. Much of the meaning, it appears to me, is brought on through the routine and self denial that is taught.

But, I was deeply moved at the end of the book where Kaoru Nonomura reflects on all that he has learned during his year long stay at Eiheji:

"By contemplating life as it is, stripped of all extraneous added value, I found I could let go of a myriad of things that had been gnawing at my mind. Through the prosaic repetition of Eiheji's exacting daily routines for washing the face, eating, defecating, and sleeping, this is the answer that I felt in my bones: accept unconditionally the fact of your life and treasure each moment of each day." (p.203)

Acceptance is a discipline I'm still practicing daily. There are few things more important than that, when for so long, I thought it was fighting to change what we can't really control in the first place.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Sunday Salon

I spent yesterday updating my sidebar with all the books I've been sent to review; be careful what you wish for, it just might happen!

I'm greatly anticipating each one, though, and after it's reviewed I'll host a give away. Our little house can only hold so many good books, and I want to share the wealth with those of you who would like your own copy of something you see here.

As today is Sunday, I also want to mention that Thursday, May 7, is the National Day of Prayer. It's the day my father is having the second stent placement in his heart for this particular round of "fixing", and I'll be praying a lot.

But, I wanted to ask, "Is there something I can pray for you?" You can leave your request in the comments, or you can email me privately, but rest assured that I will hold you up in prayer this Thursday, and longer if you wish.

Blessings on your week to come, Bellezza

A Game of Thrones

" 'When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die,' she whispered."

Title: A Game of Thrones
First in the series of A Song of Ice and Fire
Author: George R. R. Martin
Published August 6, 1996 by Bantam
Number of pages: 835 (US paperback)

Locus Award – Best Novel (Fantasy) (Won) – (1997)
World Fantasy Award – Best Novel (Nominated) – (1997)
Hugo Award – Best Novella for Blood of the Dragon (Won) – (1997)
Nebula Award – Best Novel (Nominated) – (1997)
Ignotus Award – Best Novel (Foreign) (Won) – (2003)

Here is the first volume in George R. R. Martin’s magnificent cycle of novels that includes A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords. As a whole, this series comprises a genuine masterpiece of modern fantasy, bringing together the best the genre has to offer. Magic, mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure fill these pages and transport us to a world unlike any we have ever experienced. Already hailed as a classic, George R. R. Martin’s stunning series is destined to stand as one of the great achievements of imaginative fiction. (Random House)


What a book! If you want epic, if you want fantasy, if you want to escape...if you want to care about your characters, not to mention what happens next, pick this up.

I normally wouldn't have chosen it, myself. But, with Carl's Once Upon A Time III Challenge, and needing to escape from certain stresses in my life right now, I reached for something other worldly, and I'm so glad that I did.

It's hard to say goodbye to Daenerys, and "her sun-and-stars" husband, Khal Drogo. It's hard to say goodbye to Jon Snow, bastard son of Eddard Stark, who has gone to join the Night Watch on The Wall. What is the mysterious force he's fighting, with his direwolf, Ghost?

But, it's easy to want to slap self proclaimed King Joffrey, who's killed Sansa's father and brought her to see his head on a stake before their forced marriage. It's easy to want to throw Joffrey's mother, Queen Cersei, off some parapet because she's the manipulation behind much of his decisions.

Those are only a few of my favorite characters. The book is so full of them, I'm sure you'll find a few favorites of your own. When you do, let me know; we'll have to discuss who should be King. Or, Queen.