Life: It Goes On - August 10

Happy Sunday all! I'm feeling so relaxed and recharged after a week away but I sure would like another one just to poke around the house and get things done!

We made a tour this week through Missouri. We shopped, we ate, we drank, we boated, we ate and drank some more. We discovered that my husband doesn't believe his GPS and that eating out with two vegetarians, especially a very picky one, is complicated (thank heavens for menus on the internet). We drank coffee made from ridiculously expensive beans, hit the tasting room at Boulevard Brewery, sat on a river bluff listening to music and drinking wine, toured "castle" ruins, and spent the day on the lake in a boat tubeing. We fought, we laughed, we had fun and created great memories. Love my family!

Got back in time to finish up plans for a bridal shower for my nephew's fiancee which we held yesterday at my parents' home. It was the first bridal shower she'd ever been to and the poor girl was so nervous! Her mom surprised all of us by making the long trip up which made the day even more special.

This Week I'm:

Listening To: I talked the crew into listening to some RadioLab podcasts while we were driving but mostly we've been listening to angry young men music. I'll be back to The Swan Thieves this week and hope to pick up some new audio books this week.

Watching: Preseason NFL football and the season finale of "Longmire."

Reading: I only finished one book all week, Piper Kerman's Orange Is The New Black. My reading was somewhat limited by the fact that Mini-me glommed  on to my Nook as soon as we got into the car and read all of Philip Meyer's The Son while we were gone.

Making: The only thing I've even made since we got home was a warm pasta salad. I'm going to have to get back in the cooking groove this week! I know for sure tomatoes and hot banana peppers will be involved - our plants are producing like crazy.

Planning: Absolutely nothing at the moment.

Grateful for: my kids who pushed me to do something this week that I didn't think I could do. I had so much fun and need to remember to be more daring.

Enjoying: A cool, rainy day. I'm about to go spend my last day off reading; I'll be finishing Jill Smolinski's Objects Of My Affection.

Feeling: Lazy. Oh well - I'm going with it.

Looking forward to: Not going back to work, I'll tell you that. What are you looking forward to this week?

Fairy Tale Friday - Into The Woods

When I first posted that Disney was in the process of adapting Stephen Sondheim's beloved musical "Into The Woods" into a film, I was interested in it only so far as that it was another fairy tale story being made into a movie. I'd never seen the musical on stage nor listened to the music. I still haven't seen it performed but I have become very fond of the music (thanks, Trish, for encouraging me to listen to musicals even if I haven't seen them!).

As a fan of both musicals and fairy tales, I was likely going to see the movie and likely going to have some opinion on the acting and vocal abilities of the cast. But not having been familiar with the Broadway version, I wouldn't have had any comparison and probably wouldn't have been disappointed. Now all of that has changed.

Disney, under the apparent impression that the story and music were familiar enough to audiences to make "Into The Woods" worth adapting, was evidently under the seemingly conflicting impression that they would need A-list celebrities and known faces to draw audiences into the theater.

Thus we get the likes of Chris Pine, Tracey Ullman, Johnny Depp and Meryl Streep. I know, I know - Depp and Streep have both sung previously in movies. But I can't say I really care for either of their voices and Streep is certainly no Bernadette Peters. Speaking of Peters, why wasn't she cast in the role she is so well known for?

On the other hand, Christine Baranski, Anna Kendrick and Emily Blount can sing and the cast is also loaded with largely unknown actors who come with a lot of theater experience and long lists of credentials. Also on the plus side, it's being directed by Rob Marshall, who also directed "Chicago" which I loved.

Then again, Disney being Disney, they've made some fairly significant changes to the story to make it more family friendly. The Wolf and Red Riding Hood's relationship is now longer sexual, Rapunzel doesn't die (which means one of the original songs had to be scraped), and The Prince and The Baker's Wife will not be sleeping together. Sort of taking all of the darkness out of the story which was to be expected, I suppose.

The movie is currently in post-production and is scheduled to be released on Christmas Day. I won't see it that day - I'm opposed to the theater employees having to work that day. But I definitely hope to see "Into The Woods" after some post-holiday shopping the next day!

Goodnight June by Sarah Jio

Goodnight Moon by Sarah Jio
Published May 2014 by Penguin Group
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Publisher's Summary:
June Andersen is professionally successful, but her personal life is marred by unhappiness. Unexpectedly, she is called to settle her great-aunt Ruby’s estate and determine the fate of Bluebird Books, the children’s bookstore Ruby founded in the 1940s. Amidst the store’s papers, June stumbles upon letters between her great-aunt and the late Margaret Wise Brown—and steps into the pages of American literature.


My Thoughts:
If you've read and enjoyed any of Jio's previous novels, you'll find exactly what you've come to expect from Jio in Goodnight June and you're certain to enjoy it. As with her previous novels, Jio once again develops two story lines, one set in the past, one set in the present, with love stories in each plot line. You may often find yourself saying "well of course that happened" or "isn't that just a bit too pat?" or "really???" And yet...

In Goodnight June the story line set in the past is told entirely through a set of letters which allows Jio to tie their story in better with the present day story line than I felt Jio was able to do with Violets of March, her debut novel. Jio takes on a number of themes here (sisters, love, grief, family relationships, death, betrayal, and corporate America) with varying degrees of success but most of it works and I came to really care about June as see grieved for her aunt, lost love, and her relationship with her sister and struggled to come to grips with the person she had become.

Not many books can make me tear up; Jio succeeded in doing just that. Sure it was manipulative but even though I knew what was coming, it was still hard to read and still pulled at my heartstrings. I appreciated that Jio didn't tie everything up in a tidy little happily-ever-after in the end, either. There is just enough sadness, meanness, to make things feel a bit more real, leaving me satisfied. And you've gotta love a novel that ties in the beloved Goodnight Moon.

What Is The What by Dave Eggers

What Is The What by Dave Eggers
Published September 2006 by McSweeney's Publishing
Source: I bought this one in paperback and audio

Publisher's Summary:
In a heartrending and astonishing novel, Eggers illuminates the history of the civil war in Sudan through the eyes of Valentino Achak Deng, a refugee now living in the United States. We follow his life as he's driven from his home as a boy and walks, with thousands of orphans, to Ethiopia. Valentino's travels bring him in contact with government soldiers, janjaweed-like militias, liberation rebels, hyenas and lions, disease and starvation-and unexpected romances. In this audiobook, written with expansive humanity and surprising humor, we come to understand the nature of the conflicts in Sudan, the refugee experience in America, the dreams of the Dinka people, and the challenge one man faces in a world collapsing around him.


My Thoughts:
I had this book in paperback and audio because, once again, I forgot I already had the paperback when I bought the audiobook. Which turned out to be a happy mistake; What Is The What was the perfect book to do a combination of reading and listening. The audio narration, by Dion Graham, is one of the best I have ever heard. I had quite a few driveway moments when I just could not make myself stop listening and go inside. As soon as I got inside, I had to pick the book back up and keep reading.

Before I started blogging, I read another story of a boy who's life was irreparably changed by war in his African country, Ishmael Beah's A Long Way Gone. Beah's story was autobiographical and he was forced to become a boy soldier. Achak Deng was spared that fate but little else when he is forced to flee his village when the government of Sudan attacks his village.

Deng and Eggers spent many years talking about what Deng could recall of his years on the run, in refugee camps and adjusting to life and an immigrant. Then Eggers did what Eggers does and blended that material with fiction, creating a nonfiction novel. The result is a story that truly is heartbreaking, frightening, and hopeful.

In the present day, Valentino is attacked in his own apartment and held for hours. When he is finally freed, he goes to the hospital to care for the wounds he has suffered and then on to his work in a health club. Throughout these hours, Valentino is, in his head, telling his captors, his caregivers and the patrons in the club about what has brought him to this point. It is a unique and very effective story telling device that serves to underscore the hardships Valentino and the other so-called Lost Boys of Sudan have survived and continue to struggle through.

This one is staying in my house (and if you've followed this blog for long, you know how rare that is). The only question now is, which Eggers book should I read next?

Life: It Goes On - August 3

Off for some fun for the next few days so I won't be around. I've got a couple of reviews scheduled so  the blog won't go entirely dead but I won't be around visiting until later this week. In the meantime, here's what I've been doing:

Listening To: I've got five discs left of The Swan Thieves but this week I'll be listening to podcasts.

Watching: Manhattan on WGN about the Manhattan Project. We just picked it up last week and really enjoyed it. Now if we can just remember to watch it again this week!

Reading: While I'm gone I've brought along Orange Is The New Black and The Princess Bride plus my Nook so I've got lots of options.

Making: Victory is mine! I made the chocolate scotcheroo krispie treats and they were delicious!

Planning: Nothing more than relaxing and enjoying my family until later this week.

Grateful for: Girlfriends who can be trusted to housesit and take care of our furry babies.

Enjoying: Time in one of my favorite places in the world with some of my favorite people in the world.

Feeling: Happy not to be talking to any customers this week.

Looking forward to: A bridal shower my sister, mom and I are hosting for my nephew's fiancee next weekend. We like her so much; can't wait to help celebrate their love.

What are you looking forward to this week? I'll catch up with everyone in a few days!