I'm a stay-at-home mother of two. Despite the insanity of my life, I always find time to read...it is my outlet and my passion. I also love to cook and appreciate a good glass (or bottle) of wine. If you would like to contact me, my e-mail is rnawrot@cfl.rr.com.
Good morning Sunday Saloners! What a week it has been! The kids were home with me all week, so they demanded some entertainment (beyond house cleaning and Rock Band Beatles!). As a result, we saw New Moon (for my daughter and myself primarily...Taylor Lautner's pecs definitely put me firmly in Camp Jacob), 2012 (totally insane special effects, to the point where I laughed insanely throughout) and Fantastic Mr. Fox (a clever delight). Needless to say, I got little exercising done this week. Only 9 miles, thanks to my elliptical trainer, bringing me to a total of 120 miles. After my Thanksgiving feast, my rear end desperately needs to be back on the walking regimen. Speaking of feasts, here are some photos of the culprits of Sandy's big butt:
Cranberry relish, ala Dawn. This stuff is nearly sinful. Let's just say it will be served at Christmas as well.
Maple roasted turkey with sage butter, and just a few pieces of thick-sliced bacon on top.
Homemade macaroni and many cheeses. Ooey and gooey.
Three berry pie, converted to four berry pie because of some extra blackberries. Great with Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream.
One of the big highlights of the week was Friday. No, not because all of our favorite shopping establishments were open at 4am! Because I got three book packages in the mail. One from James (C.B. James), one from my secret santa of the Holiday Book Swap, and the recent release from Connie May Fowler from the goddess herself. See my ecstatic post here.
I'm happy to announce that to curtail stress and fighting in the Nawrot household, all Christmas cards have been completed and mailed the day after Thanksgiving. And the tree is up. Shopping, however, has yet to be completed. I refuse to get into fisticuffs to secure a parking spot. I will make my first attempt on Monday...
From a bookish perspective, I continue (very slowly) on Dennis LaHane's audio "The Given Day". I'll blame it on lack of personal space. BUT, we did finish "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"! Now we are quickly moving onto "Catching Fire" on audio, which we have been patiently awaiting for months on the library reserve list. With regard to my printed books, I've been working my way through my list for the Shelf Discovery Challenge. I have officially proclaimed December to be my Shelf Discovery Challenge Rampage Month.
I will attempt to review all 10 books that I have listed for this challenge in the month of December. So far, I've read six, and just need to get to the last four before the end of the month. So far, this has been a total blast. I'm finding it fascinating to read my favorites from my middle and high school years, and comparing it to my impressions back then. So stay tuned, here they come!
Hope you all have a relaxing and unstressful Sunday...a tall order for this time of year. What are you all up to on this fine day?
Recently, I was awarded with the Kreativ Blogger award from Catherine at Words World and Wings. Catherine and I hooked up recently as a result of our participation in the 100 Mile Fitness Challenge, and I've really enjoyed reading her blog. She is a Children's Librarian who reviews books appropriate for babies through young adults. She mentions something about grandchildren, but honestly from her profile picture, she looks like she is about 16! Everyone should go check her out!
So now for my part. Kreativ with a K and no E, huh? Not sure about all that, but I thought long and hard about the bloggers I follow who are creative, and I came up with a long list. But I would like to introduce you to one, who, if you haven't met, will make your head spin. I came across her blog during BBAW, and have followed ever since. With every post, I sit reading, with my mouth hanging open, in sort of a trance. Where does she get her insane, manic energy? Is she like this in real life? (Her profile says she is.) And the wit! She leaves me baffled and confused, and highly entertained. Everyone, please meet Raych at Books I Done Read. I don't think she "does" awards, so I'm not expecting her to pass it on, but would not be a good friend if I didn't make sure you'd experienced her at least once.
And with that little bit of gush, may I leave you with the most creative video I could think of. My dear beloved Peter Gabriel got into the fruit one day and this is what happened.
It is Black Friday, and I have no intention of getting anywhere near a shopping mall. My plans today were to drop my daughter off at a friend's, then clean my house (my son is thrilled). I just happened to stop by my mailbox on my way out, and I found it FULL of stuff. A few bills, some flyers, but most importantly, three books. Normally I don't participate in mailbox memes, but people, I just couldn't help myself. Here is what I received:
From my friend C.B. James @ Ready When You Are, C.B. sent me his copy of "The Drinker" by Hans Fallada, which he recently reviewed. We both read and loved Fallada's Every Man Dies Alone (my review here and his review here), and he graciously offered me this book as a result. James you are the absolute best.
Then! I opened this package and found an advanced copy of Connie May Fowler's "How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly", sent by Connie herself with a little note asking about a possible guest post. OMG!!!!! I had seen Kathy @ Bermuda Onion mention receiving this earlier this week, and I about lost my mind. I wanted a copy of this book so bad, but I knew that Connie had promised me a copy and I just had to be patient. Have I told you lately how much I love Connie May Fowler? Not in a week or two?
And the goodies just kept coming. I had a mysterious Amazon package in the pile, and it was from my secret santa from the holiday book swap, Trisha @ Eclectic-Eccentric. Taking the lead from my wish list on Amazon, she sent me Stone's Fall by Iain Pears, a highly recommended book from Jackie @ Farm Lane Books (her review is here). In addition, Trisha sent me a beautiful bookmark that says "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step", and a set of 8 magnetic page markers that are marked with "Dream", "Love", "Laugh" and "Energy". Thank you so much Trisha!!!
So my big question is this...how the hell am I am going to settle myself down enough to clean my house?
"Truth is stranger than fiction." Those famous words from Mark Twain have been a driving force in my reading life for at least the last decade. Somewhere along the line, I discovered Ann Rule, a widely-known true crime author, and never looked back. I became addicted to these types of stories...the personality disorders, the trail of evidence, the deceptions, the trials, the victims. I literally have read hundreds of these stories. I think somewhere deep down in my psyche, I thought that if I learned the signs of sociopathic personality, I might have a better chance of avoiding them! Where am I going with all of this? Well, recently I was offered the chance to review this book and I jumped at it. While I have diversified my reading selections since I started blogging, this is one of my favorite genres.
The author, Lynda Drews, has an interesting tale to tell. Her and her husband, Green Bay, WI natives, have been avid runners and marathoners most of their adult lives. The running community in Green Bay is a tight-knit bunch...they run together, they party together, they are each others' support systems and are all good friends. On April 7, 1984, however, this world imploded for Lynda. Her best friend, Pam Bulik, was found drowned in her bathtub, presumably of suicide. Soon, after the facts begin to emerge, Lynda, the rest of her group, and the police know this was no suicide. They all believe Pam was murdered by her husband Bob.
The Buliks' lives are unspooled before us. From Lynda's own knowledge, police interviews and crime scene details, we learn about the deterioration of the Bulik marriage. Of Bob's long-term affair with a fellow school-teacher, which becomes the primary motive. Of a mysterious attack on Pam nine months earlier, which was never solved. Of Pam's fear that Bob was drugging her, her depression, and fight to lift herself out of the quagmire. Of Bob's convoluted and lame explanation for what happened on April 7th. Lynda provides the history, the evidence, the trial, the verdict, the aftermath, and Lynda's involvement in process, from a point of view that is as street-level as it gets.
Throughout the book, you get such a sense of Lynda's raw devastation from the loss of her friend and the senselessness of the crime. This book is truly a labor of love, and a tribute to Pam's memory. But most impressive is her ability to also step away from her emotion and present the facts, and look at the case from different angles. I suppose time allows her a bit of this control, but from where I sat, I was ENRAGED. At one point, while my husband was playing with his iPhone and I was in my chair reading, I caused him to start when I exploded "ARGH, damn I hope they fry this guy!". I was highly disturbed that the legal system prevented the inclusion of certain, very important facts in the trial. I was disturbed by Bob's cocksure attitude and pathological lying. All of this adds up to a phenomenal true crime story, matching up nicely against anything else out there.
So how does it all end? Is Bob found guilty or innocent? Where is Bob now? Well, it is public record of course, but you aren't going to hear it from me. You need to read this book for the goods.
I also wanted to mention that this was the book (if you've been following me for the last few weeks and remember my distress) that I left at the park accidentally, and someone stole before I could return to retrieve it. Graciously, Lynda sent me another book, but at that point I had lost a week and had to reschedule the review. I was beginning to worry that I was more trouble than I was worth. So an extra big "thank you" goes out to Jaime at Pump Up Your Books Promotion and to Lynda Drews, who both were very patient and understanding with me!
On this day of thanks, I want to reach out to each and every one of you and wish you all the best. I'm thankful for many things in my life, and you are one of them. May God bless you all and your families, and may you have yummy, bountiful food! So, as you all know, when I get mushy, I like to leave videos, and this time is no exception! My gift today is one of my favorite artists, Dido.
This would be the view of the backside of the Ratusz, or the Town Hall, of Wroclaw, that I pictured last week. It is the hub of all activity in the city center.
After listening to and loving The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters this summer, I made a dash to the library to find more of her work. Particularly, I wanted to find the audio of Fingersmith, which is supposed to be her Magnum Opus. While they did not carry that audio (and will now require an interlibrary loan!) they did have The Night Watch. It has been locked and loaded on my iPod for months, and I've just now gotten around to it.
The book starts out post WWII in London, when everything is dark, shabby and in a state of disrepair and rubble. We are introduced to a cast of characters that are loosely related...sort of a six degrees of separation type of thing. There is Viv and Helen, two ladies in their early 30's working for a matchmaking service. Viv is in a long-term relationship with a married man, and is living a life filled with clandestine meetings. Helen is in a relationship with Julia, a writer, and suffers from a lack of confidence in her ability to maintain Julia's interest and affection. Kay is a lonely, masculine woman who wanders the streets aimlessly and listlessly, and who was once involved with both Julia and Helen. Duncan, Viv's "fey-looking" brother, lives a sheltered life with a creepy "uncle", and frequently experiences anxiety issues stemming back to his life in prison during the war, and the death of his best friend. Instantly the reader's mind is filled with questions. What on earth got them to this point? Everything is grey, blanketed with ugliness from the war, an atmosphere you can feel in your bones.
Chronologically, we then turn the clock back to the heat of the battle, in the dead center of WWII in 1944. How does Helen meet Julia? And what of her relationship with Kay? Why is Duncan so damaged, and why was he in prison? How did Viv meet her married lover? The scenes are almost surreal, with the details of lives unfolding while bombs and buildings fall around them, endangering themselves every time they step out of the house. The war forces circumstances upon all of them, as they all try desperately to grab hold of a shred of normalcy and happiness.
Turn back the clock one more time, to 1941. It is here that we get the answers to our questions about the inception of our characters' relationships and their fatal flaws. It is an interesting way to build tension in a novel, to back into the story, from end to beginning. You don't see if often, but when you do, it is brilliant.
This is a highly character-driven novel. While there is action and chaos in the war happening around them, and the setting is highly atmospheric, the characters' lives themselves are outlined in slow detailed conversations, fractured and damaged psyches, and internal struggles. It is a dark, troubling story with personalities that are so well-developed, personalities that are so real, you feel you know each and every one of them as you would a good friend.
Amidst the experience of listening to The Night Watch, I kept asking myself the question "What is the damn plot????" and "What is the point???". I intentionally avoided reading any synopsis of the book, so I felt I was tromping around blind, waiting for something to happen. But the more time I spent with Helen, Kay, Julia, Duncan and Viv, the more I became invested in their welfare. It took me a week just to mull over the story after I'd finished before attempting a review, and found that I became more and more fond of it as time passed. I'm starting to think that Waters has this effect...she works on your subconscious. And of course her prose is a delight. It flows easily, it is highly descriptive, and is beautiful.
While the presence of lesbianism is subtle in The Little Stranger, in this book it is overt. In fact, it becomes a common theme (i.e. frustration in suppressing their real selves and their relationships in public). And while it is overt, it isn't ever preachy or uncomfortable. Waters actually approaches it in a very natural way and is not distracting whatsoever.
One word about the narrator, Juanita McMahon. Phenomenal. She rates up there with the best of the best. She is not only reading her script, she is ACTING. She is adding emotion, a tremulous voice, a flirtatious lilt, hesitations, inflections, attitude, fear, joy, you name it. It was if there was a little movie going on in my head.
My best advice is that if you like Waters, give The Night Watch a try. You may have to tell yourself to stick with it. There were times I felt I was force-feeding myself, which is a fairly easy thing to do with audio. At the end of the day, however, Waters worked her magic on me.
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