Life: It Goes On - April 12

Happy Sunday! I would like to announce that I got 3 reviews scheduled yesterday! I'll admit, I kind of cheated and did books I've read more recently so that it was easier to recall them to write about them. Now, just 9 more to go...except that I'll finish at least two more books before I get all of those written. 

With my cat sitting duties done and a warm week ahead, I may be spending more time outdoors this week, prepping garden beds, setting out furniture, maybe even doing some painting. I've always said that summer is my favorite time of year, but I actually think it may be spring, when everything is so bright, the trees are blooming and I can get my hands into dirt again after months of waiting. 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: Steven Rowley's The Guncle, which I'm about half way through. Need to get some listening done today as I have three more audiobooks checked out already. 

Watched: Another episode of Wednesday. We're not enjoying this season as much as we did season one; it feels too convoluted and it's definitely more gruesome. 

Read: I'm reading Andrew Sean Greer's Less Is Lost (in 2018 I read and reviewed Greer's Less, which I loved).

Made: It was all about easy meals this week, since I was cat sitting and never got home before 6:30 to start dinner, including lemon pesto chicken and noodles. 

Enjoyed: Remember how I had underdressed to go to a baseball game last weekend? Well, I did the same thing on Friday, when we went to hear a friend do a solo gig and a local brew pub. In my defense, I had no idea they'd have him playing outside. We grabbed our favorite Chinese food, ate on their patio, were joined by a friend of the Big Guy's and the friend's wife, and got to spend time with our friend. Except being so cold, it was a good night. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: It's all about finishing up taxes the first part of this week. Still need to get my dad's finished up, which are the most complicated ones I have to do. 

Thinking About: Mattresses. Seriously, we still haven't figured out what mattress to get. I might be dragging my heels and pouting a bit now that I've acknowledged that a king-sized mattress won't fit where we like our bed to be. 

Feeling: Concerned. Between family and friends, we have so many people who are battling health issues. 

Looking forward to: The quarterly siblings dinner with BG's siblings and their spouses. 

Question of the week: I "won" some prints in an auction this past week. They are part of a group that I rather inadvertently began collecting. Now I'm beginning to think that I may have maxed out the space I have for any more, but I'm not sure I will be able to stop myself from buying more. Do you have any collections? Have you ever run out of room for them? Have you ever tired of a collection? 

The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott

Read by Carlotta Brentan, Cynthis Farrell, Mozhan Marno, Jonathan Davis, David Pittu, James Fouhey

10 hours, 55 minutes

Published September 2019 by Knopf

Publisher’s Summary: 

At the height of the Cold War, two secretaries are pulled out of the typing pool at the CIA and given the assignment of a lifetime. Their mission: to smuggle Doctor Zhivago out of the USSR, where no one dare publish it, and help Pasternak's magnum opus make its way into print around the world. Glamorous and sophisticated Sally Forrester is a seasoned spy who has honed her gift for deceit all over the world--using her magnetism and charm to pry secrets out of powerful men. Irina is a complete novice, and under Sally's tutelage quickly learns how to blend in, make drops, and invisibly ferry classified documents.

The Secrets We Kept combines a legendary literary love story--the decades-long affair between Pasternak and his mistress and muse, Olga Ivinskaya, who was sent to the Gulag and inspired Zhivago's heroine, Lara--with a narrative about two women empowered to lead lives of extraordinary intrigue and risk. From Pasternak's country estate outside Moscow to the brutalities of the Gulag, from Washington, D.C. to Paris and Milan, The Secrets We Kept captures a watershed moment in the history of literature--told with soaring emotional intensity and captivating historical detail. And at the center of this unforgettable debut is the powerful belief that a piece of art can change the world.

My Thoughts: 

This is one of those books that's been on my TBR for a few years. When I was looking for books for my book club to read in 2026 and saw that this one had been one of Reese Witherspoon's choices, I thought it was finally a good time to read it. 

First: the audiobook is definitely the way to go with this one. I really enjoyed having all of the different readers. 

Second: this is a good choice for a book club selection. There is so much to discuss - the history (both the history of Doctor Zhivago and the history of the U.S.'s choice to use it as propaganda, the way women were treated during that time, the multiple romantic stories some of which were scandalous at the time). 

I thought there were too many things going on in the book, another member felt like this could have been two separate books, others thought all of the different things worked well together. The very first thing someone said at our meeting when I said "let's talk about the book" was "and how bad the women had it then!" 

Third: I wish that the women had been the main focus of the book and that Prescott had found another way to get readers the background of Doctor Zhivago, without creating Olga's written history of her relationship with Boris and the book. 

In the end, I liked a lot about this book; I just wish it had been structured differently so that it didn't bounce so much between two story lines. 

Life: It Goes On - April 7

Happy Tuesday! Is there a good reason I'm not posting until today? Not really. I was tired after hosting Easter dinner on Saturday and then going to a baseball game Sunday afternoon and just couldn't make myself do much of anything on Sunday. And then yesterday, well yesterday was Monday. 

I have been reading - between a pile of physical library books and a Libby account that just keeps hovering at three books waiting for me, I've been happily absorbed in books. For a person who's so far behind on reviews, this is going to create a big problem. Reviews in the next few weeks are probably going to be very abbreviated. 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans and Doris Kearns Goodwin's Wait Till Next Year, which I finished today. Now listening to Steven Rowley's The Guncle, which my sister highly recommended. 

Watched: Basketball, The Voice, Will Trent, High Potential. 

Read: Claire Lombardo's Same As It Ever Was and Camilla Barnes' The Usual Desire To Kill.

Made: Ham, cheesy potatoes, layered salad and chocolate pie. Boy, am I enjoying the leftover potatoes and ham for my lunches! 

Enjoyed: Saturday we hosted Mini-him, Miss C and her parents, and friends for dinner. Sunday we went to our first baseball game of the season. One day I'll figure out how to dress warmly enough for the early season games. Sunday was not that day!

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: Taxes. Ugh. 

Thinking About: All of the paperwork I need to get done this week. Sure going to cut into my reading time! 

Feeling: Like I need to eat salad for a few days. 

Looking forward to: I'm cat sitting for Mini-him and Miss C this week. Their place is on my way home from work and it's not hard work. But I am looking forward to getting home from work at my regular time once they get back. 

Question of the week: If you celebrate Easter, what's the one dish you absolutely have to have? 

Life: It Goes On - March 29

Happy Sunday from sunny Omaha, where we continue to ride the temperature roller coaster. Wednesday it was 83 degrees, yesterday it was 53 degrees, tomorrow it will be 87 degrees, and Wednesday it will be 46 degrees. I've taken to just keeping a couple of coats in my car; and in the morning, when I get to work, I decide whether or not I need one and, if I do, which one to wear.

I've been hobbled all weekend by a knee that suddenly started hurting Friday evening. One more way for my body to tell me I'm getting old. Finally feeling better, but it's made for a lazy weekend. On the plus side, I've finally powered through a book. Which I a good thing, because I just picked up three more from the library last week and I have five audiobooks checked out! 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: I've been bouncing around. Not because I'm not enjoying the books, but because I have so many I need to listen to whichever is coming due soonest and set aside those that can be renewed in favor of those that can't. Right now I'm a little over half way through The One Hundred Years of Lenin and Margot by Marianne Cronin. 

Watched: As much NCAA basketball tournament as possible, The Voice, and a couple of episodes of The Gentlemen. The latter is not a show I'd pick, but the Big Guy enjoys it so I stay in the room, reading or shopping online while I "watch."

Read: I'm finishing Claire Lombardo's latest, Same As It Ever Was, today. It's almost 500 pages long and not the kind of book that has had me racing through it despite its length, so I'm happy to be done with it. 

Made: In this week's episode of strange things the Sheppards ate, I made bougie macaroni and cheese with hot dogs. Used ditali noodles, chicken broth, dijon mustard, cream cheese, Worcestershire sauce, and chicken and apple sausages and I must say it turned out quite well. Could I recreate it? Not exactly because I never pay any attention to how much of anything I put in dishes that I'm making up. 

Enjoyed: Book club on Tuesday. I'd been battling a headache all day, but good company and lots of laughs helped tremendously.

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: After a lazy weekend, my plans for this week will be to get done the things that I didn't get done over the weekend, 

Thinking About: Easter. It kind of snuck up on me and I don't know that any of the kids will be able to be here. Without my dad around, there hardly seems any point to cooking a big meal, which I'll miss. 

Feeling: Disappointed. I've been wanting a king-sized bed for years and I had finally talked BG into getting one. Then we measured and realized that it won't really fit where our bed most logically needs to be in our room. I almost feel like BG had measured it out, realized it wouldn't work, then said yes so that he could look like a good guy, knowing it wouldn't work. Not really - he would never do that; don't be mad at him on my behalf! 

Looking forward to: Last week had a lot going on so this week I'm looking forward to a quiet week. 

Question of the week: If you've ever had a holiday arrive with no family there, how did you celebrate? Did you still do all of the foods? 

The Maid's Secret by Nita Prose

The Maid's Secret by Nita Prose

Read by Lauren Ambrose

11 hours, 3 minutes

Published May 2025 by Random House Publishing Group

Publisher's Summary: 

Molly Gray's life is about to change in ways she could never have imagined. As the esteemed Head Maid and Special Events Manager of the Regency Grand Hotel, two good things are just around the corner-a taping of the hit antiquities TV show Hidden Treasures and, even more exciting, her wedding to Juan Manuel. 

When Molly brings in some old trinkets to be appraised on the show, one item is revealed to be a rare and coveted artifact worth millions. Molly becomes a rags-to-riches sensation, and a media frenzy swirls as she prepares to sell her priceless treasure. Then, on auction day, the treasure suddenly vanishes. and Molly and her friends find themselves at the center of the boldest art heist in recent memory. 

But the key to this mystery lies in the past, in a long-forgotten diary written by Molly's Gran. For the first time ever, Molly learns about her grandmother's secrets: how she was born into a wealthy family and fell head-over-heels in love with a young man her parents deemed below her. As fate would have it, Gran's greatest love was someone Molly knows quite well.

My Thoughts: 

The Pros: 

• Lauren Ambrose' reading. I'm sure these are quite enjoyable books in print, but Ambrose brings the characters to life, especially Molly. If you're interested in reading the series, I highly encourage you to "read" the audiobooks. 
• The back story - how Molly's Gran came to have a daughter with the Regency Grand Hotel's doorman, Mr. Preston. It wasn't going to be possible to have yet another death in the Regency Grand (I mean, no one's going to stay there if there are deaths there regularly, right?), so Prose had to find another way to work a mystery into Molly's life. 
• Molly. She's always an interesting character who's endeared herself to readers, and to so many people in her life. 

The Cons: 

• The story of how Molly came to be in possession of a rare and coveted artifact is a little improbable.  I wondered how Prose would it out, because it was equally improbable that Molly would suddenly become unbelievably wealthy. The truth of that felt equally improbable to me. Still, it's make believe and sometimes you just have to get over what feels improbable. 
• I'm not sure where Prose can go from here. There is the Christmas book that I reviewed in December but between all of these books, things seem pretty well tied up. 

The Verdict: 

Fans of the series will enjoy this one. The books are light and fun and great for reading between heavier reads.