Life: It Goes On - November 20

Happy (late) Sunday! It's been a busy weekend as we continue to work on getting my dad's house cleaned out, try to get the final touches on my dad's place before my sister and brother-in-law arrive on Thursday, and get our house in order to host dinner on Friday and have family staying over. I'm sure it's been much the same at many of your houses this weekend. 

Last Week I: 

 Listened To: I've been listening to A Snake Falls To Earth by Darcie Little Badger, which my dad is also reading in print. In fact, it's the Big Library Read in November. 

Watched: The other night I caught a little of the latest adaptation of All Quiet On The Western Front on Netflix with my dad. I need to start watching again from the beginning; but, also, it's probably time for me to pick up this classic. 

Read: My hold on Denise Mina's Confidence came due to I'm trying to race through that...because I also picked up three more books at the library the other day. I have GOT to start actually reading more!

Made: I'm not sure we had the oven on all week. We are working to use things up in our freezers - they are both just packed and so much of it is boxed foods. Today was sesame chicken for three. But this week, oh, this week I will cook!

Enjoyed: Book club Tuesday and an evening with The Big Guy's brother and his wife (she gave me some recipes I'm very eager to try and made a delicious soup!). I'm sure I've mentioned before how happy we are to have them living nearby again but it bears repeating. 

This Week I’m:  

Planning: For dinner for seven on Friday (we will be a very small group this year) and guests in both guest rooms (the first time that's happened in more than three years - yea!). 

Thinking About: Making a run to Trader Joe's tomorrow...not unlike thousands of other people, I'm sure. My sister-in-law showed me a couple of wines I really think I need for Friday. Either that or it's just an excuse to go buy a lot of things I don't really need. 

Feeling: Like this week is going to fly by. 

Looking forward to: Getting my hair done on Tuesday and getting my first tattoo on Friday. 

Question of the week: Do you have any tattoos? I never thought I would get one but I decided I wanted a reminder I could always see of the strength I've relied on these past twelve years. 

Mini-Review: Midnight Library by Matt Haig

 Yeah, I could have written full reviews for the books I've reviewed this week and gotten another week of reviews; but, if I put this off longer, I'll forget the books, let alone what I want to say about them. So here's another mini-review of a book I've read, and really enjoyed, recently. 

Midnight Library by Matt Haig

304 pages

Published September 2020 by Penguin Publishing Group

Source: my public library

Publisher's Summary: 

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better? 

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig's enchanting blockbuster novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

My Thoughts: 

Recommended by a friend at work (thanks, Ann!), this is a book that really makes you think about the what ifs of your life, and there are so very many more what ifs than you ever considered. If you had a chance to see every single possible version of the life you might have led, which would you choose? Nora discovers that getting what you thought you wanted out of life isn't necessarily what you would have chosen had you known how it would have ended. 

I wasn't a fan of the ending of this one. I wish it had ended about six pages earlier, left the reader wondering. But there were some really great things in this book. 

"Nora had always had a problem accepting herself. From as far back as she could remember, she'd had the sense that she wasn't enough. Her parents, who both had their own insecurities had encouraged that idea. 

She imagined, now, what it would be like to accept herself complete. Every mistake she had ever made. Every mark on her body. Every dream she hadn't reached or pain she had felt. Every lost or longing she had surpassed. 

She imagined accepting it all. The way she accepted nature. The way she accepted a glacier or a puffin or the breach of a whale. 

She imagined seeing herself as just another brilliant freak of nature. Just another sentient animal, trying their best. 

And in doing so, she imagined what was like to be free." 

Mini-Reviews:

It's time to admit that I'm not going to get full reviews written for a lot of the books I've been reading lately and just go with some mini-reviews. 

Verity by Colleen Hoover

336 pages

Published October 2021 by Grand Central Publishing

Publisher's Summary: 

Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. 

Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity's recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died. 

Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen's feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife's words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.

My Thoughts: 

I've read that this is way out of Hoover's normal oeuvre but I don't know quite what to make of that. Does she normally not write mystery/thrillers? Or does she normally not write books that are almost soft porn in sections? I know, I know - I've repeatedly said I'm not a prude when it comes to my reading and then the sex in a book turns out to be a problem for me. Just felt like there was way more of it and far more detail than was necessary to move the story forward. 

As for the story itself, I'm super surprised to find this one has a 4.4 rating on Goodreads. There were just so many things that seemed contrived in the plotting of this book. Still, I was bought into finding out exactly what was going on and the ending took me by surprise so it wasn't a total loss. 

The Phantom of the Opera by Gason Leroux

Librivox Recording

Originally published 1909

Summary: 

The Phantom of the Opera is a riveting story that revolves around the young, Swedish Christine Daaé. Her father, a famous musician, dies, and she is raised in the Paris Opera House with his dying promise of a protective angel of music to guide her. After a time at the opera house, she begins hearing a voice, who eventually teaches her how to sing beautifully. All goes well until Christine's childhood friend Raoul comes to visit his parents, who are patrons of the opera, and he sees Christine when she begins successfully singing on the stage. The voice, who is the deformed, murderous 'ghost' of the opera house named Erik, however, grows violent in his terrible jealousy, until Christine suddenly disappears. 

The phantom is in love, but it can only spell disaster. Leroux's work, with characters ranging from the spoiled prima donna Carlotta to the mysterious Persian from Erik's past, has been immortalized by memorable adaptations. Despite this, it remains a remarkable piece of Gothic horror literature in and of itself, deeper and darker than any version that follows.

My Thoughts: 

I understand this book was written over one hundred years ago, when writing styles were different and I get that I was listening to a translation (but also following along with another translation in print). But also remember that this is not the first book I've read that was written long ago so I'm familiar with the differences in the time periods. This is by far the most stilted language in a book I think I've ever read - it was often painful to listen to and no easier to read in print, making it hard to enjoy the actual story. 

My book club read this one and only one person liked it. I can see why there have been adaptations of it; there is a lot in the story to parse out to create an interesting story from. But there is so much that muddies the story that I can hardly see how it came to be considered a classic in the first place. 

Life: It Goes On - November 13

Happy Sunday! It snowed (ever so little yesterday but it snowed) and it's really cold out. It may be sunny out; but, otherwise, it's feeling a lot more like winter than fall right now. Which means that even though I set my dining room table for Thanksgiving, I'm seriously thinking of breaking my rule and starting to pull out the Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving. Probably I should use that time to catch up on laundry and cleaning instead, right?

Last Week I: 

 Listened To: I finished People Person and started on Fredrik Backman's Bear Town. Both have terrific readers. 

Watched: Um, only sports, I think. 

Read: I realized that I had completely forgotten not one, but two, book tours in the past couple of weeks. I'm probably kicked off of both group's email lists now, deservedly so. Maybe then I could come close to keeping up with my reading. 

I have been reading, though. Just not getting the reviews written. I promise to do better this week. My plan is to catch up with mini-reviews (except the two that I owe to publishers) and then, maybe, I can get back on track. 

Made: Literally nothing. I don't even remember what we ate one single night. 

Enjoyed: I took my dad out to eat Friday night, just the two of us. He flirted outrageously with the server and she brought his tea in a mug that said "Chick Magnet." 

This Week I’m:  

Planning: Oh, let's be serious - my plans have fallen through most weeks lately. No point in making them. 

Thinking About: My parents' house. The less and less of them that is in the house, the harder it seems to be getting for me to be there. Maybe it's becoming more of a reality to me that it will not be ours soon. 

Feeling: My vote never counts because of where I live; but I do it anyway because, once in a while, it has made a difference. I'm so grateful to those who got out and voted this week whose vote really did make a difference. 

Looking forward to: Book club Tuesday. 

Quote of the week: “Goodbyes make you think. They make you realize what you’ve had, what you’ve lost, and what you’ve taken for granted.” – Ritu Ghatourey

Life: It Goes On - November 7

Happy (late) Monday! After a relatively leisurely weekend, somehow yesterday came and went without me getting a Sunday post up. And since that's about all I'm getting posted these days, I figured I'd better get one up today. Fingers crossed, I'll be getting some (at least mini-) reviews posted this week. Although I haven't been posting, I have been reading. And what with the new piece of furniture I put in my house two weeks ago, I may not be hitting these keys as much as I used to (more on that later). 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: I'm about finished with Candice Carty-Williams' latest, People Person. Very glad to be listening to this one - the reading is superb.

Watched: The usual football, volleyball, baseball, The Voice. Plus, a couple of episodes of The Crown and  Annika on PBS. 

Read: I raced through Verity by Colleen Hoover, although I can't say that I loved it. I'm not even sure I liked it. 

Made: Pizza, fried potatoes, fried apples, homemade mac 'n' cheese. I'm easing back into cooking. Yea, me!

Enjoyed: Seeing this smile on my dad's face as, more and more, we turn his new digs into his home. 

This Week I’m:  

Planning: Work continues on getting my dad settled and in getting things cleaned up in his house. 

Thinking About: How happy I'll be to not have to listen to these campaign ads any more. So much hyperbole and so many lies, and we get the ads from both Nebraska and Iowa since Omaha sits on the state line. 

Feeling: Excited about getting back to playing the piano. I've only stumbled a bit with it so far; this week I'll get the music brought up from the basement so I can get to it seriously. 

Looking forward to: Highs in the seventies for a couple of days this week. Dinners will be held on the patio in November...without jackets! We won't talk about the highs in the thirties later this week. 

Quote of the week: "Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be." - Abraham Lincoln