Life: It Goes On - May 18

Happy Sunday! We're back to having a sunny, if somewhat cool, Sunday. Meals on the patio are on the agenda, where we can enjoy all of the hard work we've done in the backyard. Things are looking good, even if it has meant constant watering on our part - we could really use some of that rain that so many are getting. 

You may have noticed that I'm not getting book reviews posted much of late. I am reading (although not as much as I should be); just can't make myself sit down to write the reviews. I'm pondering how I make them easier/faster to create so that I'm more inclined to keep them up. Since one of the original reasons for this blog was to create a place to store my thoughts about the books I've read for my own purposes, I do want to keep that up. Just need to find a way to do that which is also enjoyable and does justice to the books I'm reading for reviews for publishers. 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: I finished Remarkably Bright Creatures and started Eowyn Ivey's Black Woods, Blue Sky. I'm struggling with that one; not because it's not good, just doesn't seem to be what I'm in the mood for right now. 

Watched: The Voice, some NBA basketball, some college softball and baseball...you know, our usual. 

Read: Still reading The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett and enjoying it a lot. Will finish it in the next day or so. Not sure what's up next - have to check what's in my pile from the library.

Made: We were the lucky recipients of some delicious salmon so grilled that one evening and cooked it in the cast iron skillet. Second night I made a delicious lemon & dill sauce that I'll be looking forward to making again. Today I'm going to be making a strawberry/rhubarb pie since we harvested rhubarb yesterday. 

Enjoyed: So many things this week! Miss H was here cleaning (I hired her to come up and do some deep cleaning) - it was nice to have her around for a bit and to have that job done without having to do it! Thursday I had my hair done and you know I always love my evening of being pampered. Then last night we had our inaugural regularly scheduled dinner with the Big Guy's siblings and their spouses. BG's brother is such a great cook and dinner was delicious. We're hosting in two months and I'm already trying to figure out a menu that will live up to last night's! 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: While Miss H was here and working hard, I took some time off and body doubled her, getting some organizing and cleaning done in my office. Work there will continue this week; so far I've pulled out a bin of stuff to donate and gotten rid of two bags of trash. Miss H and I were in that room when she told me that if we leave them with as much stuff when we die as we have now, she will burn the house to the ground instead of sorting through things. That was a walk up call! 

Thinking About: I went much lighter with my hair color this time (wow, was that a process!) and I'm struggling with it. Wondering if it makes me look too much like a person who is trying too hard to hide the fact that she's going grey (which, of course, is true!). Do I go back to being a bit darker or keep this? 

Feeling: Frustrated. I'm still battling the back issue I've been having (although that is some better) and now a problem with my knee which will probably land me at the doctor's office this week. From there I don't know if I'm going to end up in physical therapy but having to have surgery. 

Looking forward to: A long weekend coming up. 

Question of the week: Do you get a three-day weekend? Do you have big plans for it? We will be staying home, but I'm not sure if that will mean relaxing or getting a lot accomplished. 

Life: It Goes On - May 12th

Happy Monday (if there really is such a thing as a happy Monday)! I hope all of the moms out there had a great Mother's Day. I had a lovely day - Mini-him and Miss C brought brunch, mimosas, flowers, and gifts and I got calls from Mini-me and Miss H. And then I gave myself permission to be largely lazy much of the day - a little Mother's Day gift to myself. I'm sorry to say that I'm regretting it today knowing how much needs to be done, but it was nice while I was doing it. 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: Shelby Van Pelt's Remarkably Bright Creatures, which I'm very much enjoying and will finish tomorrow. I'll miss Marcellus! Next up is, suddenly, Eowyn Ivey's Black Woods, Blue Sky, pushing Anne Tyler's Vinegar Girl back until next week. 

Watched: NBA basketball, The Voice, NCAA baseball and softball, professional volleyball. And then, just to throw in something completely different and comforting La Dolce Villa, on Netflix. 

Read: The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett, by Annie Lyons. I seem to have a thing for books about older women lately. 

Made: Lots of salads, grilled salmon, bbq chicken...it's summer cooking time already!

Enjoyed: Our first picnic of the season with friends Saturday night. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: Miss H arrives in a little bit. She's started a cleaning service and I've been wanting to hire someone to come in and deep clean my bathrooms; figured I'd rather pay someone I trust. I'm taking some time off to body double her...for my sake, not hers; if she's working hard, I'll have the push I need to get something done around here as well (gotta make up for that lazy Sunday!). Hoping that start keeps me motivated for the rest of the week. 

Thinking About: Politics. I try to avoid the news but then I also want to be informed. It's exhausting. 

Feeling: Been battling my depression more lately. Which is strange for me this time of year. So I'm trying to spend more time playing in the dirt, eating on the patio, walking in the grass. Such good therapy!

Looking forward to: Saturday we begin a new Shep family tradition - the three siblings will take turns hosting dinners at regular intervals (not sure how often yet) so we don't all find ourselves only getting together a couple of times a year. 

Question of the week: I got a candle yesterday that's lavender/bergamot, two of my favorite scents combined. Are you a person who loves scented candles, oils, lotions like I do? If so, what are some of your favorite scents? 

The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel

The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel

Read by Michael Crouch, Gail Shalan and Helen Lloyd

10 hours, 10 minutes

Published September 2024 by Penguin Publishing Group

Publisher's Summary: 

Alfred Smettle is not your average Hitchcock fan. He is the founder, owner, and manager of The Hitchcock Hotel, a sprawling Victorian house in the White Mountains dedicated to the Master of Suspense. There, Alfred offers his guests round-the-clock film screenings, movie props and memorabilia in every room, plus an aviary with fifty crows.

To celebrate the hotel's first anniversary, he invites his former best friends from his college Film Club for a reunion. He hasn't spoken to any of them in sixteen years, not after what happened.

But who better than them to appreciate Alfred's creation? And to help him finish it.

After all, no Hitchcock set is complete without a body.

My Thoughts: 

I'll be honest - it's been a while since I finished this one and my feelings about it are a little faded so this will be short and bullet points. 

• I loved the use of multiple narrators and all three did an excellent job. 
• I'm a fan of Hitchcock's work so this one was fun with all of the talk about and references to his movies. I had no idea how many movies he'd made. 
• I did struggle trying to figure out why any of the "friends" were friends with Alfred to begin with. He was always creepy. Think Norman Bates creepy. 
• There's a maid named Danny, which took me straight to Rebecca, the movie adaptation of which was directed by Hitchcock. 
• This one was a little slow building up but once it hit its stride, Wrobel had a lot of surprises for me. Maybe they won't come as surprises for you - you know how rarely I figure out who done it. 
• That's right, I said surprises. Who dies is just one of them. What happened to break up the friend group is another. And then there's of course, who done it and why. 
• This was my first book by Wrobel. While it was slow to get going, it was worth it and I'll probably pick up another of her books. 

Life: It Goes On - May 4

Happy Sunday and May the Fourth Be With You! 

I saw the original Star Wars movie shortly after it was released in 1977 with my boyfriend. We waited in a packed theater lobby for an hour (his idea, not mine - maybe that was the origin of my hatred of big crowds!). I'm no Stars Wars nerd but we managed to create two of them when we introduced our two eldest to the original trilogy when they were in grade school. Each of them got, as their first tattoo, a Star Wars symbol. When my Mini-him was in 2nd grade, he and a couple of friends played Star Wars at recess and he was Han Solo. May 4th always makes me think of my kids! 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: I finished Samantha Irby's We Are Not Meeting In Real Life and started Shelby Van Pelt's Remarkably Bright Creatures. When we saw Van Pelt recently I bought a copy of the book and had it autographed. But when she said that Marin Ireland and Micheal Urie read the audiobook, I knew I wanted to listen to the book and requested it from the library - loving it so far! 

Watched: The Storied Life Of A.J. Fikry - it's a lovely little movie that gave me all the feels. And made me want to re-read Silas Marner, by George Eliot, on which it is very loosely (think Clueless to Emma loosely) based. 

Read: Also The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, which I had planned to finish before watching the movie, but...oh well. I am really enjoying Gabrielle Ziven's writing. 

Made: It's been a very lazy week in the kitchen. Last night I made the version of goulash I learned about from a college roommate and today I'm making refried beans. 

Enjoyed: Two trips to nurseries this week, an afternoon yesterday spent getting those plants into pots, and an evening around the fire pit last night with friends, enjoying the work of the afternoon. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: Today will be about finishing up the planting, cleaning up a bed and planting seeds, and getting the outdoor decor out. Also, I've got a project I need to finish up that's spread out on the dining room table (more on that later) and a photo organization project that needs attention. 

Thinking About: The Big Guy went to the Berkshire Hathaway meeting extravaganza yesterday and came home with squishmallows of Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger. Add those to the other toys he's collected over the years and I'm left wondering two things if I'm not actually married to a little boy at heart. Where in the world does he plan to keep Warren and Charlie?!

Feeling: Happy! I got to play in the dirt for hours yesterday and almost nothing makes me happier than getting my hands deep into dirt and then seeing all of that lovely color throughout my yard. 

Looking forward to: Mini-him and BG are headed to the theater this afternoon to see Monty Python and the Holy Grail and then Mini-him and Miss C will join us for dinner on the patio. I love being able to entertain on the patio!

Question of the week: What's are your favorite perennial and annual plants? 

We Are Never Meeting In Real Life by Samantha Irby

We Are Never Meeting In Real Life by Samantha Kirby

Read by Samantha Irby

9 hours, 17 minutes

Published May 2017 by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

 

Publisher's Summary: 

Whether Samantha Irby is talking about how her difficult childhood has led to a problem in making “adult” budgets; explaining why she should be the new Bachelorette (she's "35-ish, but could easily pass for 60-something"); detailing a disastrous pilgrimage-slash-romantic-vacation to Nashville to scatter her estranged father's ashes; sharing awkward sexual encounters; or dispensing advice on how to navigate friendships with former drinking buddies who are now suburban moms (hang in there for the Costco loot!); she's as deft at poking fun at the ghosts of her past self as she is at capturing powerful emotional truths.

My Thoughts: 

We Are Never Meeting In Real Life was one of the New York Times Critics Book of the Year in 2022. As a general rule, that would make a book one that would be easily recommendable. This one? This one is definitely not for everyone and you should know that about it before you pick it up. 

Because you will not want this book playing in the background while you're ordering coffee just as it comes to a part where Irby is talking very graphically about sex. And there's a very good chance that will happen to you even if you only stop for coffee a couple of times while you're listening to this one. If you're someone who's already familiar with Irby, this probably won't come as a surprise; but it did come as a surprise to me. I like to think that I'm not a prude; but sometimes when I'm taken aback by sexual encounters in books, I think I just might be. Those parts made me uncomfortable and made me wonder if I wanted to keep listening to this book. 

But if you can get by that (or if you're then kind of person who this kind of thing doesn't bother at all), there's a lot to like about this one. Irby is funny; self aware and unafraid to make fun of herself; and very open about her difficult life growing up, her abusive father, how very bad she is when it comes to relationships. 

That cat on the cover of the book? Irby got stuck with a kitten who came with a boatload of medical issues and a very bad attitude, who she named "Helen Keller." In Irby's version of the relationship, you would think there wasn't one redeeming thing about Helen and that she lived to make Irby's life miserable. But you would probably also get the impression by the amount of the book that's devoted to Helen, that Irby grew pretty attached to that sickly, cranky girl, especially when you read the piece about Helen's final trip to the vet. As a cat mom (yes, I said "mom"), that part got to me! 

Will I read more of Irby's work? I'm not sure. But if I do, I'll know what I'm likely to encounter and that there will be plenty of humor and emotional openness to offset the tough-for-me stuff.