Here, the man who got away (well the one she left) also thought she was the one who got away, which lead to some poignant moments.
Kennedy's husband h...moreHere, the man who got away (well the one she left) also thought she was the one who got away, which lead to some poignant moments.
Kennedy's husband had left her for his high school girlfriend. [I got tickled when I learned her husband's name was Frank Burns - pretty apropos.] The day she told him to pretty much quit his mid-life crisis, he challenged her to finally accept that it was over and move on. And that's what she did. Later that day, the old friend, that best friend, the one who was seen best to stay as a friend slipped into her thoughts. She goes to see him and there the story keeps going, along with her oldest daughter's desire to see her father, who Kennedy left because of his addictions. So after many years, they do meet again too.
I kept flying through the chapters because I really wanted to know what was going to happen.
The one moment that got me was after all was said and done was when she realized how many times over the years in her marriage she had to talk herself into realizing it was best to marry him, to stay, to be his wife; all the while, she never stopped wanting to leave.
Complete with her way-too-sassy-for-me teenage daughter, best friend, and embarrassing (yet at times hilarious) ribald mother. It was a good quick rainy weekend read.(less)
Nice read. Sandra's a home stager, trying to get her husband to sell the family home so they can move on to the next chapter of their lives without wo...moreNice read. Sandra's a home stager, trying to get her husband to sell the family home so they can move on to the next chapter of their lives without worrying about their adult children. After time away in Atlanta for a job and helping to get a homeless woman back on her feet (a part of the story that really moved me), she returns home to Massachusetts with more appreciation for her life. The narrator also provided lots of great home and life tips, too, which I greatly appreciated.
Just the other day, this little book on Tudor England in the juvenile fiction department of the library called out to me. It’s not a genre I particula...moreJust the other day, this little book on Tudor England in the juvenile fiction department of the library called out to me. It’s not a genre I particularly read, but since I was on the heels of having completed Bring Up the Bodies, what was I to do?!
It’s a sad, often times, heart-wrenching story about the young, tragic life of Lady Jane Gray, who inherited the throne after King Edward’s death. Jane was his second cousin and she tells the story.
She ruled England for nine days at the age of fifteen. Bloody Mary, the first daughter of Henry VIII, hot for being bypassed to the crown by her own brother to preserve Protestant rule, gauged support by the region along with a large militia. Soon after she was seated to the throne, Mary had her cousin, Jane, executed for treason. She was sixteen years old.
It’s a very good educational read for young readers. Given the context of the story - Tudor England after the death of Henry VIII, it’s full of escalating tension and terribly depressing. It also presents a valuable way to introduce the lessons of the era to students through Rinaldi’s first-person approach. This was a bloody time, yet Rinaldi does not overwork the graphic nature. She is sensitive and Jane’s depiction of her life is told as a young girl in turbulent times trying to comprehend it all. Sadly, she’s in the middle of it.
During my read, I even learned the fate of many of Thomas Cromwell’s contemporaries. Sadly, of course, Master Cromwell was not in this book and I'm anxiously waiting for the third book of that trilogy. But, I digress…
Growing up, I read a lot of biographies. This book reminded me just a little of the Young Americans biography series I absorbed as a child. Ann Rinaldi is a wonderful author for young readers of historical fiction. She has a wide range of periods she explores through the eyes of the youth, so it can very engaging for all readers.
I may now pick up Alison Weir's Innocent Traitor, the grown up's version.(less)
A difficult story to read at times, but I kept turning the pages! It was like watching the proverbial train wreck. I had to know...
Christine suffered...moreA difficult story to read at times, but I kept turning the pages! It was like watching the proverbial train wreck. I had to know...
Christine suffered from a horrible case of amnesia as a result of a horrific accident. She remembers enough for one day. After a night of sleep, she starts over again to figure out who and where she is and who are the people in her life. It's really horrifying, claustrophobic, demanding of trust in ways I can't even comprehend.
Well, when I got near the end, I had to put it down for a few days. Disturbing on so many levels! What a frightful way to live. Absolutely frightful.
Watson got me emotionally tangled up in Christine's life and I'll admit, right now, I still am. Damn good book.(less)
**spoiler alert** It's been a while since I've read Lee Smith's stories and it felt great to be back. Told in the series of Christmas letters through...more**spoiler alert** It's been a while since I've read Lee Smith's stories and it felt great to be back. Told in the series of Christmas letters through three generations, The Christmas Letters, is an interesting trek through the past. I did get a little ruffled by the sweet gentile essence in Birdie's letters ranging from the 1940s to 1960s, but I later realized that was her nature along with her strong faith in the Lord that kept her going. However, she didn't bite her tongue about the frustration she had with her mother-in-law, but in classic Southern form, it was expressed with honey.
Mary's letters revealed a strong woman who eventually came into her own. I was so happy since she was the one to stop her education to raise a family and marry such a prick. I don't know why, but I wasn't at all surprised about her husband. His inadvertent phone calls that she mentioned puzzled me from the get-go. Smith has her coyly reveal the news about her son, that, too, wasn't very surprising. Mary was a woman growing with the times, that's for sure (her letters ranged from the late 60s to the 90s). A whole range of generational unrest here, including her brother's disturbance after serving in Vietnam.
I was a bit put off by the sudden and abrupt end of the book. I wanted to hear more from Melanie. I think I wanted to know why she and her siblings were so damned agreeable about their father's new life, but we didn't get to see those letters, if they came to exist at all. We only got her first.
These women were writers. They loved to share and they obviously loved the written, and later typewritten, word! I was impressed with Mary. She really evolved, yet she'd indicated in her correspondance, that everything really isn't everybody's business (until you say so).
Through these letters, Smith shared some recipes that sound quite yummy and worth a try.(less)
**spoiler alert** Interesting story about a newly-retired pilot, Marshall Stone, who returns to France to seek out those who helped him after his plan...more**spoiler alert** Interesting story about a newly-retired pilot, Marshall Stone, who returns to France to seek out those who helped him after his plane crashed during WWII, especially the young girl in the blue beret. He was an emotionally distant man, more dedicated to his flying career than his family. After his wife's passing, he realized after retirement he had little to hold his interest on the homefront. Ennui had set in deeply for him. His kids were grown and detached. His past beckoned in the form of photos and music around his home: married life and the war. The war decidedly gave him a project; so off to Europe he moves.
Strangely glamorizing the lives of those in the Resistance who risked their lives for him and the other aviateurs, he wanted to thank them and to see, pretty much, how they were doing. It was an eye-opening experience in many ways for him.
His drive to get back to Europe was fueled by his longing to see the family and the young girl who were a major part of his three weeks in safe harbor. His own family knew little of his experience, as was the case for many outside of this book. Daring vets endured so much; it's through movies and books like these where family members get an inkling of their previous lives before they became husbands, fathers and grandfathers.
Marshall's family was as distant to me, the reader, as to him. He was an interesting character to watch unfold in his new life. I love historical fiction, since I always believe I can learn more about past events through personification. Mason was inspired by her father-in-law's experience as a WWII pilot. She further researched about the events and people involved in helping the aviateurs back to safety and wrote.
Mason typically writes southern fiction, and although most of the setting was in Europe, Marshall's Kentucky upbringing was brought to the front quite a bit, filling the pages with moments of southern down-home wit and notions. His surroundings, during the war and his present-day 1980, were beautifully rich in detail.
I was very interested in his life and happy he had found the girl. She remembered him, too. I found myself wondering if they were they reaching out to each other due to the past or if they were they falling in love? There was care, concern and compassion in their relationship, but for me, I could also sense some type of void. They never acknowledged how they felt about each other. I wanted to know... for them to let me. I dont want to guess. He got the girl, but did he really?
Their war stories were intense. I did sometimes think Annette's dialogue was a bit forced to carry the story. I would have given it more stars, but the abrupt ending took something away for me. I guess his thoughts and plans with her expressed the future, but Mason's conclusion jarred me too much. I expected a bit more.(less)
Mesmerizing love story, full of charm and mystique. More than I expected. I enjoyed the Victorian era setting, the atmosphere of the circus and Morgen...moreMesmerizing love story, full of charm and mystique. More than I expected. I enjoyed the Victorian era setting, the atmosphere of the circus and Morgenstern's descriptions kept me engaged (pretty much like the patrons in the tale). (less)
This was an emotive story about Tony who thought, for over sixty years, he'd been going along in life pretty much without a care in the world. One day...moreThis was an emotive story about Tony who thought, for over sixty years, he'd been going along in life pretty much without a care in the world. One day, one unexpected piece of mail forces him to reflect on the section of his life he thought he'd left alone. This then leads him to an analysis of his life as he thought it'd happened vs. his life he had to finally see as it really happened.
Barnes presented this reflection as a stunning opportunity, a worthwhile exercise. We follow Tony in his quest for understanding and it unfolds beautifully. Life's not always pretty. We can paint it so, but this piece reminds us that the haze doesn't always remain. (less)
This was a brutally honest memoir of Afeni Shakur, co-written with Jasmine Guy. Of her trials in life, Afeni learned from it. Jasmine seems to have wa...moreThis was a brutally honest memoir of Afeni Shakur, co-written with Jasmine Guy. Of her trials in life, Afeni learned from it. Jasmine seems to have wanted us in the room with them as they spoke and I loved that. I felt close to both of them. It took her some time for Afeni to even out her course. However, with this book, she gave it back to Jasmine (as she later notes), to me, to all of us, who read about it, as a testimonial of gratitude and extra chances. (less)
Inspector Alan Grant is laid up in the hospital with a busted leg, the result of apprehending a suspect. He is now bored out of his mind. Thankfully,...moreInspector Alan Grant is laid up in the hospital with a busted leg, the result of apprehending a suspect. He is now bored out of his mind. Thankfully, one of his dearest friends understands how he requires something to analyze to keep going. So she brings in photographs of faces for him to examine. One stands out: King Richard III - the monarch forever villied for the death of the Princes in the Tower (his nephews - heirs to the throne). Was he responsible? Alan realizes he has plenty of time to find out.
At this point, Alan's brain begins to work overtime. Using contemporary period resources (highly important over centuries of hearsay!), an American scholar who happens to have such oodles of time on his hands and a grand way around the British Museum, and his own intellect, Alan begins to trek through the mystery (myth or legend, if you will). He actually works to solve the crime 400 years later!
Was Richard III responsible for their murders? Who did the deed? Why would he have done it? Why, what, who, and especially when?
This is the first time I'd read Josephine Tey. She was a delightful writer. The Daughter of Time is considered to be one of the best mysteries ever and even though it's not my favorite genre, I found it captivating and full of that classic British humor and wit that I really love. Her secondary characters coming in and out of the hospital room were so well fleshed out, too.
As I read it, in my mind's eye, I saw Inspector Hubbard from Dial M for Murder as Grant. "My blood was up!" Hubbard had said as he got closer to figuring out that case and I sensed that same feeling throughout the story from Grant. He loved his work and to him it was important the truth be revealed and come hell or high water, he was getting to the bottom of it.
Was Richard III responsible or not? Read the book!(less)
Understanding the subject matter of this book, I can’t say that I expected to fly through it but I did think I’d finish it sooner than I did. I was wr...moreUnderstanding the subject matter of this book, I can’t say that I expected to fly through it but I did think I’d finish it sooner than I did. I was wrong…
It was at times difficult to read, as Joan Didion was taking us back with her to the night her husband, author John Dunne, died suddenly in front of her at dinner, as well as to the days and nights she dealt with her daughter’s sudden illness with her husband and then just as suddenly, without him.
Her strength not only came from her family and friends. It also came from learning… really as she put it: Information. “Information is control” was her mantra and it paved way for her to piecemeal each event as it happened. Not just from medical publications and journals, but literature as well.
It took her about a year to revisit it all. About a year to face it. By seeking her past and holding on to the works of others who’d strived to decipher their grief in art and literature, she was better able to relate her own. As a writer, writing was naturally the only way she could process it.
I remember one aspect of Didion’s analysis of herself towards life, living, death and memory was what she called the “vortex effect”. That really stood out to me, because she named such a thing. That association from one thing that brings on a flood of memories, even so much to the point where all strength is even garnered to avoid seeing said certain place or even person. It made perfect sense.
There were some heart-tugging moments here. They were married for over thirty years. They worked together at home, seldom spent more than several days apart at time.
After a time, days without him were a bit more bearable. Days of not wondering if he was coming back. Days of not thinking about whether or not to donate his shoes, since he might be back to get them. She reminded me that she was a widow not only going through the grief, but in trying to understand it, she was also leaving her dedication of her love to John in this book, as she read of others who’d done so in poetry and paint.(less)
It took me a while longer to read Wolf Hall than I expected, even though I got the large print, but that certainly didn't take away any of my apprecia...moreIt took me a while longer to read Wolf Hall than I expected, even though I got the large print, but that certainly didn't take away any of my appreciation for this book. I had sat it down for a while at times - got a wee bit bored with Henry's rogue desires and antics all in the name of marrying Anne Boleyn (not like it's never been heard before) - Mantel's personification of Thomas Cromwell continued to pull me back and I'm so glad she did. She made that man a part of my life for better of a few weeks.
A man's man, he was. A loving and influential father and paternal figure, a grieving widower, a sharp, intelligent self-made man. A brute with a heart at times. Reading Wolf Hall was also like developing some sort of crush on the man for me; certainly given the circumstances of his true character and various outcome of those left in his wake, I don't think that was to be the case. But - she fleshed this man out so damned well.
It didn't take me long to understand the methodology of the pronoun "he", for this was under no uncertain terms his story. Mantel kept me grounded with him, in his footsteps, standing next to him, within him.
She has a glorious way with words, turning them, flipping them, shaping them, molding them. Life wasn't just described, it was felt, smelled, tasted. Sure writing is supposed to convey action this way, but it was just Mantel's beautiful use of language and dialogue. It was a joy to experience.
She managed to expound upon one of history's most odd moments, which was probably best done through the eyes of one, Cromwell, and make it as plausible as possible.
NOW, I can read the sequel, Bring Up the Bodies(less)
**spoiler alert** As soon as I began Bring Up the Bodies, I noticed that it was well to my own advantage that I'd just read the prequel, Wolf Hall. Ot...more**spoiler alert** As soon as I began Bring Up the Bodies, I noticed that it was well to my own advantage that I'd just read the prequel, Wolf Hall. Otherwise, I would have been staring at the pages, trying to piece myself into the story. In this case, I swiftly tore into it...
Mantel jumps in with that grand proverbial "he"! I love it!
Take this: "... the sky is so clear you can see into Heaven and spy on what the saints are doing." My God!!! Oh, to write like this!
I did find that Cromwell speaks quite a bit more in this story than in the first, in longer paragraphs. He seemed a just a tad less enigmatic this way – just a tad, but it's still his story though by all means. He was also much more full of himself than before, and add that with age, he was getting tired. This time, his ambitions nearly got the best of him – when Henry realized Cromwell had outsmarted him and boy how he let him and everyone know how he didn’t like it one bit. Hell, his job was to outsmart everyone else for Henry – not for himself (well, no one but Cromwell was to know that, no?).
I can’t say I remember “Crumb” as his endearment in Wolf Hall, but I was glad to see “Cremuel” was still pronounced for me.
Halfway through it, my dad and I were talking about him – in conjunction with Henry VIII. He says “Well he (or shall I say: ‘He, Cromwell’) was Henry’s flunky”. Mon Dieu! How dare he?!
I was absolutely appalled and came to Cromwell’s aid. I pretty much defended him: “He was saving his hide! Anything for His Majesty!”
“I guess you’re right” was the response.
So there!
Mantel’s take on Tudor England through his eyes has been so refreshing. I have really enjoyed her phrasing, her astonishing way with words! Such glorious sentences. This too (at Katherine of Aragon’s death towards Anne’s reaction):
"She will die that day, she says. She has studied death, many times anticipated it, and she is not shy at its approach. She dictates her wishes about her burial arrangements, which she does not expect to be observed. She asks for her household to be paid off, he debts to be settled.
"At ten in the morning a priest anoints her, touching the holy oil to her eyelids and lips, her hands and feet. These lids will now seal and not reopen, she will neither look nor see. These lips have finished their prayers. These hands will sign no more papers. These feet have finished their journey. By noon her breathing is stertorous, she is laboring to her end. At two o’clock, light cast into her chamber by the fields of snow, she resigns from life. As she draws her last breath, the sombre forms of her keepers close in. They are reluctant to disturb the aged chaplain, and the old women shuffling from her bedside. Before they have washed her, Bedingfield has put his fastest rider on the road.
"8 January: the news arrives at court. It filters out from the king’s rooms then runs riot up staircases to the rooms where the queen’s maids are dressing, and through the cubby holes where kitchen boys huddle to doze, and along lanes and passages through the breweries and the cold rooms for keeping fish, and up again through the gardens to the galleries and bounces up to the carpeted chambers where Anne Boleyn sinks to her knees and says ‘At last God, not before time!’ The musicians tune up for the celebrations."
Ah… such imagery, such description, detail. I watched every bit of that happening! Sigh…
I enjoyed this book a lot, but I have to say I prefer the depth, the language, the masterful storytelling in Wolf Hall. BUTB was a bit more concise, condensed, yes, tighter. I'd like to give it 4.5 stars. It was still an engaging piece of work, and I was panting along towards the end as everyone was gathered for the Tower.
I’m looking forward to the third of this trilogy, but then again, I’m not…(less)
This was the textbook for the Hitchcock film class I took in college and I loved it. I wish I knew where my original copy was, but I bought another co...moreThis was the textbook for the Hitchcock film class I took in college and I loved it. I wish I knew where my original copy was, but I bought another copy for my library not too long ago. Because of that class and this book, my passion for Hitchcock films remains strong and I've passed it down to my kids.(less)
This was one of the most moving books I've read in a long time. So much, I wept at the end. It all began with a query from a writer in New York to a L...moreThis was one of the most moving books I've read in a long time. So much, I wept at the end. It all began with a query from a writer in New York to a London bookseller's advertisement which blossomed into a lovely transcontinental written relationship between them and their families and acquaintances. There was a great amount of love and respect that transpired in only their letters, it was pure joy to read. We bibliophiles are indeed an interesting lot! It was simply a beautiful book.(less)
This book was one hell of a ride! I cannot recall how often I talked back to a book as I did with this. Along with the questions of his wife's disappe...moreThis book was one hell of a ride! I cannot recall how often I talked back to a book as I did with this. Along with the questions of his wife's disappearance was the pulse of our economic strife at key points that affected the main character: writers, such as he, losing print work to the new wave of online publishing; the dot-com bubble; the mortgage/homeowner crisis. Quick-paced, full of wit and delicious dark humor, and lots of jaw-dropping on my end. I won't spoil a thing here, I can only just say - read it!(less)
This movie is my favorite modern day film. I read it in one sitting and I know I'll read it again soon. Reading Ephron's intro about how the movie cam...moreThis movie is my favorite modern day film. I read it in one sitting and I know I'll read it again soon. Reading Ephron's intro about how the movie came to be with Rob Reiner was an additional treat. As I dived into the story, it was so much like watching it. Every angle, piece of scenery, and delivery of dialogue was all set in my mind, so much that as one particular small movement wasn't addressed (at The Sharper Image), I was thrown off for a moment before heading on.
I had so much fun reading it. It's a special movie to me and I'm glad to have the ebook to dive into for a moment when I want to get away and I don't have another book on hand (which is quite rare by the way).(less)
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