Reading for Pleasure, in Miniature

Over the past three weeks, my life has gotten significantly busier. Gone are the summer days of reading on the beach and sneaking in chapters between morning and afternoon sailing classes. Instead, the reading excitement I'm faced with are the joyous works from Journal of Social Service Research and American Journal of Evaluations. These scholarly pursuits may, hopefully, help me to land a job at the end of this long school year, but they make for less than satisfying blog posts.

I've had to adjust my pleasure reading to much shorter doses. Mostly my reading for pleasure has been online blogs, the Sunday Times, and the occasional retail catalog. Novels have all but disappeared from my life. Indeed, the spine I've cracked open most over the past few weeks has been Paula Dean's The Dean Family Cookbook (no matter how much studying, a girl has gotta eat!). I've tried a few new recipes lately. Most notably have been the "Banana Spice Cake with Peanut Butter Icing" (the name says it all -YUM!) and "Shrimp, Tomato, and Feta" (the name leaves out the most essential ingredient - liberal amounts of hot sauce!).

That's all that is new in my literary life. What's up with you madwomen?

Love,

The Pity Party in Boston, aka Miss H

eat.pray.love…..repeat.

This must be the 4th or 5th time I’ve read this book and I still can’t get enough. Each time I read it I have to remind myself to read slowly and enjoy every sentence of each page… even though in my mind I am already excited and anticipating the next part of Elizabeth’s journey. I love how she writes without trying to impress anyone. Nowhere in the book does she try to be politically correct… “Say the right thing” or try to appease any specific audience. In fact, at the beginning she calls out to anyone who might be offended of her use of the word God to close her book, and peacefully put it back on the shelf.
I feel like Elizabeth Gilbert and I are in our favorite coffee shop (you know, the one with art hanging on every wall… the smell of pumpkin spice coffee brewing… my favorite Frank Sinatra style song playing softly in the background…sitting on couches instead of chairs… nobody speaking above a ’12 inch voice’ or talking on their most trendy mobile device.) So there we are, sitting in our lovely little coffee shop and she is telling me about her year abroad. The year she spent on herself…finding herself. The year she spend doing exactly what she wanted to do. It doesn’t matter that we haven’t seen each other in ages… she still tells me every detail. She doesn’t paint herself to be a rosy white angel with wings and bells on. Instead she tells me everything that brought her to where she is now.
As I am listening to my bff Liz tell me her beautiful story, I can’t help but be pulled in and wonder where I would go. What I would do. What would I look for and what would I give up to find it? Would I ever take that leap of faith? I’d like to think I’d be able to, but I’m not so sure. …So back I go, listening to Liz go on about her adventure. And I’m transported to Italy. Ahh… Italy… the land of pasta, pizza, Italian men… and the most wonderful assortment of gelato available in the world. Turns out, gelato is a perfectly acceptable breakfast in Italy! Can I move there yet? Her description of authentic Italian foods will rival any New York Times foodru (that’s foodie and guru put together)… any Paula Dean cooking show, and will come fist to fist with the guy on Diners, Drive In’s and Dives. She keeps talking about visiting different towns in Italy and Rome and instead of museums and shopping and Churches… it’s where to find the best pasta, seafood or dessert. Usually, she is given a piece of paper with an address scribbled on it by a local… leading her to a hole in the wall restaurant that just so happens to have “..the fluffiest ricotta in all of Italy…” *sigh* I want to go there too… my heart keeps saying… Someday… my head says back.
I’m going to go back to listening to this story. India is coming up soon… and then Bali is next. I can’t WAIT to hear what happens in Bali.
Come over to our coffee shop. You’ll love this story. Liz would love to meet you and tell you everything. If you can’t make it, she wrote it all down. I’ll let you borrow my copy.

xoxo, Clementine.

A Luke-Warm Review

I tried to get through Wicked, the novel, before starting the madness of the school year, but just couldn't finish. Although the book brings in an interesting (and very social work appropriate!) view point that one shouldn't make assumptions about a person or a story without knowing the full background, it was bogged down by all sorts of political commentary about Oz. This may have been tolerable if Oz resembled a current nation or government, but, alas, it seemed to be a complete fantasy land. The life of Elphie, (who becomes the Witch of the West), is a bit too detailed, which makes reading slow going. It has some interesting portions, and the dynamic between Elphie and Glinda (the good witch) is great, but only takes place when the two are forced roommates in college.

All in all, I'm not terribly concerned that I probably will never finish the 100 pages or so that I have left.

Final Review: 1/2 a star

Miss H

Skeeter is a madwoman!

A couple of weeks ago I read The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. It was an incredibly powerful book with shades of both To Kill a Mockingbird and The Secret Life of Bees. It occurred to me as I was finishing up, that Skeeter is a modern madwoman. She's strong, powerful and evaluated by her peers as anything from eccentric to downright nuts! She breaks all the conventions, norms and unwritten rules in her society and as a result is cast out.
I know that at least two of the other madwomen have read the book. What do you gals think?

I hate to admit it, but Barbara Kingsolver changed my life

Loved The Poisonwood Bible. Hated The Bean Trees. Never realized that Barbara Kingsolver had a political agenda until Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. And when it comes to food and politics, I generally try to duck and cover (unless it's about fois gras...don't get me started on that one!) But I have to admit, her political ramblings in the name of locavorism and Slow Food were just that: ramblings. No rants, no diatribes. Aside from a few digressions, the book was a moderately interesting memoir of her family's endeavor to eat only what they or their neighbors produced over the course of a year.

Locavorism isn't for me. I live in a townhouse. There is no reasonable facility for housing pigs, chickens, cows or even a moderate-sized vegetable garden. But the principles of locavorism intrigue me. I'm all about food that tastes like food, and preservation of the environment is a nice side-benefit. So, after my fifteenth watery-flavored tomato from the grocery store this tomato season and many proclamations that it was time to check out the farmers' market, I decided to put my money where my mouth is. That was about a month ago. I've been three times, and my family has increased our vegetable intake exponentially. While Barbara portrayed the fun of farmers' marketing as meeting your suppliers and developing a friendship with them, I haven't seen much of that happening. For one thing, the farmers at my market are too busy weighing produce, refilling baskets and making change to engage in small talk. For me, the fun of the farmers' market is the opportunity to experiment with veggies. My new favorite kitchen staple: fairytale eggplant. Check out the photo. They're a little longer than my finger, and not nearly as bitter or tough-skinned as their full-grown cousins. Taste aside, they're just beautiful to look at and fun to eat. And anything that makes vegetables fun is a good thing in my book!

Sorry, Barbara, but I won't be giving up bananas anytime soon. However, I do thank you for the inspiration and I'll definitely be adding some shades of locavorism to my life from now on.

-Rebecca DeW.

Mockingjay Spoilers Halfway Through

I've been staying up late after work to read Mockingjay, and I'm longing for last summer when I had the luxury of reading the other two books in one sitting. So my progress has been slower than usual, but I'm at the point where they attack the Capital. Boggs just got killed (noooooooo!) and Katniss has taken control of the squad.
So many thoughts and not enough time to put them down thoughtfully, but here are a few:

• The Bread and Circuses passage in District Two - you were right Miss H! We must get to the bottom of all of the Roman references. I've emailed a good friend who is an ancient history expert with questions. I'm also wondering about the geography of the Roman Empire and whether the description of District Two corresponds with any of their provinces. Also, still ancient, not Roman, I'm wondering if any of the sieges have any references to the fall of Troy. Finally, I want to know how Rome finally fell! But not before I finish reading the book. Castor and Pollux are also either a Roman or Greek reference. Wish I'd paid more attention in history!
• What on earth is going on with Peeta??? I was so upset when he first appeared in Thirteen and tried to kill her. Then I felt bad for him. Now that he's in Two I'm wondering if he has recovered from the hijacking and this is another plot between Peeta and Haymitch to keep Katniss in the dark and manipulate her into doing the "right" thing for the rebellion.
• Why can Katniss feel empathy for Johanna and give her the pine sachet, but not for Peeta who is essentially in the same position - friendless, confused, manipulated by the Capital. Blinded by love again? Too stubborn to admit her feelings?
• To that end, earlier discussions have pointed to Katniss' inability to understand her own emotions. I gave it some thought last night and decided that, as mature adult readers, we are in touch with our emotions and able to speak logically about them. Katniss has been thrust into a mature situation, but we must remember that underneath it all she's only seventeen! Think back to how you behaved, especially around boys, at seventeen. Speaking from personal experience, I can say that I was stubborn, mercurial, and just generally a hot mess! I do feel Katniss' pain.
• Lastly, Gale is too quick to pull the trigger and not compassionate enough. My prediction: he ends up with Johanna.

That's all for now. I'm not going to look at any responses to this post until I've finished the book, so feel free to spoil away! Hoping to be done this evening.

-Rebecca DeWinter

What's up with e-readers?

I finally made it to Barnes and Noble to pick up Mockingjay. I haven't been in a book store in about eight weeks, and I had forgotten how much I love them! I was instantly overwhelmed by all of the possible choices, and began making a mental list of all the titles on my "to read" list. However, keeping in mind the eight giant boxes of homeless books in my garage and my desperate need to purchase bookshelves, I resisted temptation and only purchased Mockingjay. Note to self: must locate local library and apply for a card.
On the way out, Mr. DeWinter noted the new reduced price of the Kindle, and a lively discussion ensued. While I have sworn that e-readers are antithetical to all of my book-beliefs, I know that others can't live without them. What is the attraction of reading on a computer screen? I don't get it! For me, part of the joy of reading is the page-flipping, the dog-eared pages, the familiarity of a well-worn cover which is just as reassuring as the familiarity of favorite characters. Any of you using e-readers? Any of you considering making the transition? Despite my refusal to give in to technology, I remain curious.
-Rebecca DeWinter